The Gillykin are the cheerful amphibians of rivers and wetlands, their bulbous eyes and wide mouths giving them an expression of perpetual surprise. These frog-like humanoids bound through life with infectious enthusiasm, their powerful legs carrying them in great leaps that defy their small stature. Their skin ranges from bright greens to deep blues, often mottled with patterns unique to each individual.
Despite their jovial nature, Gillykin face a constant challenge: their amphibian biology demands regular submersion in water. This need shapes their settlements, which cluster along the rivers and oxbow lakes of the Tamadrez and Pesalolo river networks, where dozens of slow-moving tributaries provide the constant access to water they require. Gillykin society is largely solitary; a traveler along the Feejaka or the Jobanga might pass a lone Gillykin's reed platform without seeing another for miles. Many who venture beyond their wetland heartland carry large water skins for emergency skin-wetting rather than drinking.
The making
Like the Bogies, the Gillykin are frog-folk named at the Birth of Man, though a separate making with its own true name (see Beastman). Gaea built the wet skin of the riverbank frog into them, and that skin still has to be returned to water or the body fails. Everything else about Gillykin life, the scattered reed platforms and the long string of settlements down the Tamadrez and Pesalolo, is arranged around that one standing need.
Aspects
- Eternally optimistic
- Needs water to survive
Vitals
- Size: Small
- Height: 3-4 ft
- Weight: 40-80 lbs
- Max Age: 70
Game mechanics
Hoppy
Passive ability.
Rather than moving any amount of distance up to your move speed, you get two hops each turn. With each hop you may move up to half your move speed. Ignore all difficult terrain, enemies, and opportunity attacks between your starting location and ending location. Whenever you hop, you may forgo any amount of horizontal distance for half as much vertical height.
Amphibious
Passive ability.
You can breathe underwater and gain a swim speed equal to half your move speed. If you do not submerge yourself in water for 5 minutes once a week, your skin dries out and you begin to die. For each week that passes without submersion, your maximum hit points fall by 20.