Aetherborn
“A day not spent indulging the senses is a day wasted.”
When the events of a lifetime are compressed down to almost nothing, each fleeting moment must be savored—drained of every drop of enjoyment it can offer. This is the philosophy that informs the lives and minds of the aetherborn. Given just a few short years—or sometimes only a few months—to live, each aetherborn views time as exceedingly precious. Each moment spent in a way that does not bring delight is a wasted moment. And though aetherborn differ in their drives and pleasures, nearly all of them share this desire to squeeze the most out of the brief time they are given.

Aetherborn come into being spontaneously as part of the aether refinement process. Their bodies and minds are apparently formed out of some interaction between the volatile elements of aether that are removed during refinement and the psychic impressions created by the people involved in the process. But each aetherborn is a unique individual, not a mere copy of some other person’s mind and shape. This race is little understood, and few aetherborn are willing to waste any of their short lives allowing vedalken scholars to study their biological and psychological characteristics.

Aetherborn and Gender
Aetherborn are a strange living by-product of the process of aether refinement, cast in humanoid form but lacking any of the biological qualities of other races. They don’t eat or sleep, and they don’t reproduce—nor do they have any physical sexual characteristics. Language that categorizes people into male or female categories thus breaks down when it comes to aetherborn. Most aetherborn prefer that others use the pronoun “they” to refer to them, since it doesn’t attribute a gender that they don’t possess. Only a relative few prefer “he” or “she,” having chosen to adopt a gender.

Aetherborn Politics
The relationship between aetherborn and the Consulate is complicated. On the one hand, aetherborn understand that their race wouldn’t exist without the Consulate’s aether refining operations, so they feel at least some motivation to ensure that those operations continue to run smoothly. On the other hand, few aetherborn have any patience for the tedious and cumbersome politics and regulations of the Consulate, which gives them at least a little sympathy with renegade philosophy. Typically, aetherborn are drawn to one side or the other more by the lure of excitement and entertainment than by any serious political beliefs.

Aetherborn Traits
Your aetherborn character has certain traits deriving from your unusual nature.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
Age. Aetherborn come into being as adults and live no more than a few years.
Alignment. As a rule, aetherborn are driven by hedonism and self-interest, making them neutral at best and thoroughly evil at worst. Neutral aetherborn might devote much of their time (and wealth) to parties and social activity, while evil aetherborn are usually involved in the criminal underworld.
Size. Aetherborn are about the same size as humans, ranging from 5 to 6 feet tall. They are quite light—only about 100 pounds—and their weight diminishes as they age and more and more of their substance returns to the aethersphere. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. Accustomed to the night, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Born of Aether. You have resistance to necrotic damage.
Menacing. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and two other languages of your choice.

Gift of the Aetherborn
An unknown aetherborn, desperately seeking a means to extend their short life, discovered a process of transformation that prolonged their existence—by giving them the ability to feed on the life essence of other beings. Since then, other aetherborn have learned and carried out this monstrous transformation, and aetherborn with this “gift” have become a small minority among an already small population.

A gifted aetherborn has the ability to drain the life essence of other beings. Similar to the way heat is transferred from a warm object to a cold one, a gifted aetherborn need only touch another living being with a clawed hand to draw life essence out, fueling their own continued existence while draining strength and vitality from their victim.

For many aetherborn, living as they do for indulgence and instant gratification, the concepts of “want” and “need” are virtually synonymous. But Aetherborn with this gift understand what it is to truly need, for they develop a hunger for life essence that far exceeds any desires they might have felt before their transformation. A gifted aetherborn who abstains from this feeding deteriorates even more rapidly than other aetherborn, while enduring unspeakable agony caused by the deprivation of life energy.

At the DM’s option, an aetherborn character can research methods of achieving this dark “gift.” The process is similar to inventing and manufacturing a rare magic item (see “Inventing and Manufacturing Devices” earlier in this document). But rather than aether, the process requires a variety of rare unguents and unusual ingredients that make up the cost of researching and undergoing the transformation.

An aetherborn with this gift gains the Drain Life ability: a natural attack that deals 1d6 necrotic damage and restores the same number of hit points to the aetherborn. However, if the aetherborn goes for 7 days without dealing this damage, their hit point maximum is reduced by 1d6 per week. This reduction can’t be removed until the aetherborn has used their Drain Life ability and completed a long rest.

Vedalken
“Of course it’s flawed. Everything is. And it’s a good thing, too! Can you imagine how dreadful it would be if everything was already perfect?”

Vedalken have an unusual view of progress. They believe that nothing is perfect, nor can it ever be perfect— and they rejoice in this. Every imperfection is a chance for improvement, and progress is an endless march toward a state of perfection that can never actually be reached. Thus, pointing out imperfection is hardly an insult—which leads vedalken to note flaws and problems with an enthusiasm that members of other races sometimes find exasperating.

This enthusiasm extends to every aspect of vedalken work, both practical and theoretical. They are curious and excitable, and often become deeply engrossed in their labors. It’s not uncommon for a vedalken to spend hours on end caught up in the details of an abstract question or a minute engineering problem.

Vedalken can be utterly oblivious to their surroundings while meditating on thorny issues, and they are prone to launching into lengthy explanations of their current research, since most find that talking about a problem often leads to a solution.

As a rule, vedalken are gregarious in conversation. However, they are quite circumspect concerning their personal lives, and they engage more with ideas than with people. They form close friendships based around mutual interests or compelling disagreements, and their interactions focus on their thoughts about those issues rather than their feelings about them. Emotional dynamics don’t particularly interest vedalken, either as a conversational topic or a field of study. When they talk about their feelings, it is primarily to provide information that might be helpful to others. For example, a vedalken might tell her colleagues, “I’m feeling irritated right now, so I might not be reacting appropriately. Perhaps we should continue this later.” But any questions about the cause of the irritation are likely to be brushed off as being irrelevant to the situation.

Vedalken Politics
Most vedalken care far more about invention and inquiry than about politics. They would rather unlock the hidden potential of aether-based devices than dwell on the question of how aether should be distributed to the Consulate’s citizens. For that reason, though vedalken are found both among the officials of the Consulate and among the renegades, their dedication to either cause often lacks the partisan fervor found in the members of other races.

Vedalken Traits
Your vedalken character has certain characteristics in common with all other vedalken.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age. Vedalken mature at the same rate humans do, and most are expected to settle down into an adult life by around age 40. They can live 350 to almost 500 years.
Alignment. Vedalken are most often lawful and rarely evil.
Size. Vedalken are taller than humans but more slender. They average 6 to 6½ feet tall, but usually weigh less than 200 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Vedalken Cunning. You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.
Aether Lore. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to magic items or aether-powered technological devices, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Vedalken. The Vedalken language is renowned for its technical treatises and its catalogs of knowledge about the natural world and the aether that pervades it.