The Mira are mirror-skinned, and the skin is the first thing anyone notices: a reflective surface like polished chrome or mercury, catching light and throwing it back in moving patterns. They come in three forms, and a Mira is born into one with no say in the matter. The males are huge and heavily built, armored in their own hide, and they do the fighting and the hard labor. The females are slender and faceless, with a strong aptitude for magic, and they serve as mages and counsel. Between the two stand the Common, sometimes called the third gender, who carry something of both and rule over both. Mira society runs on this order and tolerates no exception to it. They hold that a person's reflection shows the true condition of the soul, and a Mira whose reflection comes back warped or clouded is treated as corrupt and pushed to the margins.
The Mira keep no country. They live scattered across Alaria, and what binds them is not land but the orb-ships: enormous metal spheres, each larger than a city, that the race has always lived in and around. Where the spheres came from, the Mira do not say. Every sphere gives off an aura, a steady presence a Mira feels in the mind and comes to need, and a Mira kept too long away from it goes listless and dims. So the race gathers wherever a sphere has come to rest, and treats each one as something between a hearth and a relic.
The most famous of the spheres is the one that fell in the central Tethryn Mountains, where it lodged in a peak and the city of Xi Chin grew up around the wreck. There the aura reaches past the Mira and takes hold of anyone who lingers, which is why Xi Chin is a place people enter far more easily than they leave. The Mira of Xi Chin are the one branch of the race that can reliably be found in a single spot. The rest treat the lodged sphere as half shrine and half grave, and make the climb to it when they can.
Vitals
- Size: Medium (Large for Males)
- Height: Varies by caste
- Weight: Varies by caste
Aspects
- Reflection of the soul
- Caste destiny is absolute
Game mechanics
Reflective Skin
Major ability. Your mirrored skin can turn magic back on its caster. Once per long rest, when a spell or magical effect targets you, you may reflect it back at the source. The original caster becomes the new target of their own spell or effect. Alternatively, you can use this ability to blind all creatures within 30 feet who can see you for 1 round (no save).
Caste Trait
Passive ability. Choose your caste at character creation:
- Male: Your size is Large. You have +2 to defense rolls against physical attacks and A2 on all Might checks.
- Female: Your size is Medium. You have A2 on all checks involving magic, and elemental talents cost 2 less XP.
- Common: Your size is Medium. You have A2 on all Presence checks and can communicate telepathically with any Mira within 100 feet.