Tellus: Character Concepts (Ulma Variants and Moon Folks Redux)

By default, the four major races available to players on Tellus are Ulma (Humans), Dragon Clans (Dragonborn), Sky-Folks (Siren) and Gigas (Firbolg and Goliath) with the possible fifth being the Moon Folks (originally Eladrin, but more on that in a bit...), who current write up predates the current version of that setting. Some groups of Ulma, while technically 'human' can exist having the stat blocks of other races. One thing with Tellus is that, beyond the basic core assumptions nothing is properly 'canon' until I run a game.

Moonfolks and Daeva (Aasimars)

Taking cues from D&D 4e and Vedic mythologies, the Daeva is a suitable replacement for the Aasimar stat block. Not so much the descendants of Celestials as a form of true Celestials themselves (albeit mortal), the Daeva work well with the many concepts highlighted in the last post, where Ulma are sometimes born touched by Divine powers or possibly reincarnations of great celestial souls.

Remember the Moon Folks and how sometimes a Moon Folk is born to a human? Well, forget the part where I said those were Eladrin: Moon Folks are now a sub type of Aasimar. These are a stable population of aloof Daeva-like beings who nearly always reincarnate in their celestial abode on the moon rather than being a form of Bodhisattva-like beings. The two, nonetheless, are higher souls with a strong inclination toward White Magic and extremely long lifespan. Of course, if there ever was a race of token oh-so-pure good guys who would produce an edgy bastard with delusion of Godhood and Justice it would be Daeva...

Mutated Ulma

Mera may not be very 'anime' but
she's still an example of 'pretty fish people'.

The vast majority of Ulma are of the basic, unmodified stock and only distinct among each others via variations in phenotype which don't really change much. Southerners, for example, tend to have darker skin and some groups have enough Dragon Clan blood to have more reddish hue to their hair and eyes or have slightly larger builds but these are still baseline Ulma. Having spread over Tellus for centuries, if not millennia by now, some of the Ulm have deviated from their original stock through exposure to the planet's energies or through contact with the beings native to the world. These races are human in ancestry and nature but they are physically and mentally distinct enough to be considered a separate race. Most of them are limited to a single population living in a specific area whose geomantic energies have infused the people more deeply.

• Dwarves, if they exist on Tellus, would be fairly similar to the stock D&D race. They would descend from ancient clans of hardy miners and metal smiths and indeed would have inspired the early development of the Sheradil Empire's technology. These Dwarves would be similar to the D&D race but have human-like lifespan. Indeed, Dwarves could be seen as almost an exaggeration of the best and worst Ulma traits, when compared to the other races: proud, industrious but also fearsome and war-like.
• Gnomes stats may be appropriate to the bizarre and stunted people of the chaotic land of Ysmin. The people there aren't really normal Ulma anymore by any stretch of the imagination, having become odd, small gnomish beings. They never seem to quite fully develop to adult size while paradoxically also appearing quite aged, leaving them as short and stunted weirdos with bulbous noses, busy eyebrows and crazy hair. Weird stuff.
• Triton are unique in that they are the only fully aquatic Ulma. Interestingly, they claim to not be Ulma and their own race in spite of looking just like Ulma but with gills and (usually) blue or green hair. They also don't lay eggs, birthing live young as all Ulma do. Even more puzzling, they seemingly do appear in the oldest records of the Sky-Folks suggesting they existed before modern Ulma. In addition, unlike baseline Ulma they can be Sorcerers.