“‘Sterile.’ ‘Split-souled.’ ‘Stuck between light and dark.’ You think I haven’t heard it all, and worse? You think I don’t notice people staring? I know how my skin looks, my eyes. I don’t know how we got like this, what changed us. But I do know we’re still human.”
—An Earthborn Awoken on the Pilgrim Road
A neohuman subspecies born during the Collapse, at the very moment and at the very boundary of the cosmos-shaking clash between the Traveler’s Light and the encroaching Darkness. One shipful of spacefaring humans present by chance at this inconceivable nexus were changed by their exposure to the otherworldly forces at play, and translated into a new people, touched by the paracausal powers that pressed upon them.
People of Starlight
Awoken anatomy is structurally no different from that of homo sapiens, but several superficial characteristics are radically divergent. Most prominently, their skin pigmentation is expressed mostly in gray, blue, and purple tones, ranging from rich shades composed of those colors to extreme paleness. Awoken skin also presents an otherworldly subcutaneous glow which flows in regular organic patterns. The irises of their eyes are strongly luminescent, and take on a greater variety of vivid colors than typical human eyes, ranging from sharp blues and greens to bright red and orange, or even shining purple or silver. Their hair also grows naturally in bright, dramatic colors, and even when dark or muted it typically shows colorful undertones.
Between Darkness and Light
All Awoken are descendants or still-living survivors of the 891 crewmembers and 40,000 colonist passengers of Yang Liwei, the Golden Age colony ship designated Exodus Green. During its acceleration toward the heliopause, the ship was caught at the interstice between the oncoming Darkness and the farthest point where the Traveler extended its Light in defense of humanity. At this brink, the cataclysmic concurrence of godlike powers concentrated so intensely resulted in an energy density great enough to severely warp space, forming an event horizon that swallowed Yang Liwei and its crew like a sea-monster of spacetime.
Yet within this inescapable enclosure, instead of infinitely crushing oblivion, a new world took shape. Touched by both the Darkness and the Light, the mind of Mara Sov, first of the Yang Liwei crew to enter the newborn singularity, gained an unaccountable power to shape the parameters of a subsidiary spacetime. In this fresh universe, its passage of time vastly accelerated relative to the outside, an entirely new, unblemished cosmic history unfolded. After untold eons, the people of Yang Liwei, transfigured by their passage into the universe they would come to call the Distributary, began to return to physical embodiment, and awaken into new lives.
An entire civilization of immortal Awoken sprang up and flourished for millennia within the Distributary while the ashes of the Collapse settled and grew cold in the universe outside. While most adhered to the so-called Sanguine belief that the Awoken were perfectly free to enjoy their happy eternity, Mara Sov waged a longsighted influence campaign to convince some of them to return to their original universe to aid humanity’s survivors, even if leaving would cost them their immortality. After a long and terrible upheaval, Mara and her followers built a fleet of transdimensional ships to cross back over the event horizon. They arrived to find Earth in a benighted Dark Age, and the system beset by the invading Fallen, and so concealed themselves in the Reef—where Mara Sov would become queen, guiding the Awoken as they set about building a new society in hiding.
Reefborn and Earthborn
After establishing themselves in the Reef, many Awoken felt they should proceed to Earth immediately to assist the struggling remnant populations there, rather than bide their time consolidating their position in secret. Despite Mara’s wishes and driven by this urge to bring relief to surviving Earthlings, a third of the Awoken broke ranks and departed on self-directed missions of aid. This schism divided them and their offspring on Earth from those who remained with the Queen in the Reef. Thus arose the distinction between Earthborn and Reefborn. Over generations, most Earthborn Awoken forgot the Reef, the Queen, and their history, and integrated into human society on Earth. Almost all Awoken Lightbearers are resurrected from among the Earthborn.
Regina Astrorum Umbrarumque
The Awoken of the Reef remained extremely insular after Guardians and others from Earth became aware of their presence. Outsiders are mostly unwelcome, even other Awoken from among the Earthborn. However, over time the Queen would find Guardians more and more useful as allies—or pawns—and many would take part in joint operations with Awoken Corsairs, undertake missions on behalf of the Reef, or come to fight in the Prison of Elders’ arenas.
The Awoken are defined by the joint influence of Light and Darkness that created them, and their philosophical disposition and general outlook tend to reflect the nuances of that tension. Although not inherently in possession of supernormal abilities, Awoken are sensitive to paracausal powers, and their innate grasp of such effects enabled their science and technology to develop to the point of appearing magical. Relatedly, all Awoken are at least loosely bound by a psychic connection to Mara Sov, a mysterious aftereffect of her imprintation upon the Distributary. Even Earthborn who know nothing of the Awoken’s origins or existence in the Reef feel a quiet pull toward space, and the region where the Queen resides.
All Awoken share certain traits, whether born in the Distributary, the Reef, or even as hybrid offspring of Earthborn and humans.
Ability Score Increase. One ability score of your choice increases by 2, and a different ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Age. Awoken attain physical maturity at the same rate as humans, and appear as developed adults at 20–30 years of age. Although they are no longer immortal, Awoken lifespans can still be extraordinarily long.
Size. Like humans, Awoken stature tends to fall between 5–7 feet, with weight varying accordingly. Of course, smaller and larger individuals are not unheard of. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Always a Way Home. You are always at least vaguely aware of Mara Sov, the Awoken Queen, so long as both you and she are in the same plane of existence. Even when lost, you can use this sense to direct yourself or a vehicle you are operating along a straight path toward her.
Paracausal Resistance. When you’re subject to a saving throw caused by a spell or Power, you may use this trait to grant yourself advantage on the saving throw. You can do this after making your roll, but not before learning the result. You can’t use this trait again until you complete at least a brief rest.
Paracausal Sensitivity. You gain the effects of the sunsinger’s Detect Light and Dark feature.
Psychokinesis. You have the ability to move or manipulate objects by thought. As your action, you can exert your will on one object that you can see that is within a number of feet equal to 5 times your proficiency bonus, and that doesn’t weigh more than 10 pounds. If the object isn’t being worn or carried, you can automatically move it up to 30 feet in any direction, but not beyond the range of this trait.
If the object is worn or carried by a creature, you must make a Charisma ability check contested by that creature’s Strength check. If you succeed, you pull the object away from that creature and can move it up to 30 feet in any direction but not beyond the range of this trait.
You can exert fine control on objects with your psychokinetic grip, such as manipulating a simple tool, opening a door or a container, stowing or retrieving an item from an open container, or pouring the contents from a vial.
You can affect the same object round after round, or choose a new one at any time. If you switch objects, the prior object is no longer affected by your psychokinesis.
Additional Trait
Choose one of the following additional traits.
Agile Movement (Typically on Reefborn Awoken). Moving through an opening one size smaller than you does not count as difficult terrain for you. You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks you make in zero gravity.
Natural Athlete (Typically on Earthborn Awoken). You have your choice of either a swimming speed or climbing speed equal to your base walking speed.