Kalo

• Be inspired by exploring the beauty of nature.
• Make friends in unexpected places.
• Personalize your equipment as a means of self-expression.

• Ask you for style advice.
• Assume you're out of your element on land.
• Fear your martial prowess.

Kalos are aquatic humanoids covered in scales that appear predominantly blue and green, though occasionally pale pink or gray as well. They range from five to six feet tall as adults, but their slight builds and cartilaginous skeletons mean they average just under 100 pounds in weight. Wings of translucent membrane connect kalos' arms and legs, helping them to move effortlessly through the water. Sensory tendrils cover the lower halves of their faces, surrounding mouths full of small, needlelike teeth. Their large eyes can move and focus independently to sense predators and prey alike and faintly glow with a soft luminescence that kalos use as a means of silently signaling each other. An array of decorative spines sweeps back from their forehead down through the base of their skull. Kalos breathe through gills that only function in water, so they typically wear fluid-filled helmets, respirators, or full environmental suits when on land. Even so, they must periodically immerse themselves in water lest their scales dry out and painfully flake away.

Artistic self-expression is very important to kalo cultures, and nowhere is it more prevalent than on kalo bodies. The most common target of alteration are a kalo's decorative spines, which they frequently pierce, color, or shape, often changing them many times over the course of a lifetime. Kalos also frequently modify their sensory tendrils and wings as well as their bioluminescent eyes, which they often recolor with tinted lenses. In addition, kalo industry has developed extremely effective underwater makeup compounds, of which many kalos make frequent and dramatic use.

Today, most kalos live in densely populated metropolises with access to magitech amenities that make life extremely comfortable and safe. Centered around warm geothermal vents that provide ample energy for their needs, cities on Kalo-Mahoi are busy hubs of industry, art, and technology, and most continue to expand. Colorful and bright, these cities are welcoming beacons to locals and tourists who flock to them seeking excitement, fortune, and like-minded communities. Kalo cities usually have extensive bubble districts filled with breathable atmosphere that makes them more hospitable to air-breathing visitors from offworld.

For kalos, life is art. Kalo-Mahoi's breathtaking architecture, groundbreaking art, and fresh fashion draw visitors from around the Pact Worlds, especially the Deep Gala that transforms Grand Inza into a uniquely designed paradise every year. Because of the value placed on artistic pursuits, many kalos highly value customized and unique versions of everyday items. Industries based on crafting bespoke clothing, cutlery, furniture, vehicles, weapons, and myriad other things thrive in kalo culture, and these custom goods are in high demand both on and off Kalo-Mahoi.

Thanks in part to abundant sources of geothermal energy and primal magic, kalo society quickly developed the political will to preserve the natural wonders of their home. Significant public investment into magitech systems for waste recycling and pollutant sequestration prevented the waters of KaloMahoi from suffering the fate of many rapidly industrializing worlds. Kalos designate vast swaths of wilderness as nature preserves, though some activists see the kalos' rapid urban growth as a threat and push, sometimes violently, for more stringent restrictions. Though most pay lip service to the importance of conservation, many corporate entities and trade organizations quietly lobby for expanded access to natural resources and loosened restrictions, viewing the more ardent conservationists as dire threats to their bottom lines.

In addition to ecological preservation, some kalos are concerned about the rapid changes to kalo society brought about by the shift from traditional kalo tribal settlements to the modern urban centers. Most ardent of these neo-traditionalists are a group called the Deep Resurgence. This extremist faction is led by a radical deepspeaker (a traditional position that once served as a kalo liaison to a linnorm) who decries the practice of building bubble districts within kalo cities, preaching that Ragadahn will punish kalo society for inviting the surface into his domain. As they fail to find any traction among mainstream kalo society, some within the Deep Resurgence push for more extreme measures to accomplish their goals.

During their time wreaking havoc on Kalo-Mahoi, linnorms encouraged the worship of Ragadahn of the Eldest, who they consider to be their progenitor. Ancient carvings in sea caves demonstrate that kalos were worshipping Ragadahn for millennia before the arrival of his children. This has led to theories that kalos originally came to Kalo-Mahoi from the First World.

Today, Ragadahn's faith is greatly diminished, many seeing it as a remnant of their people's long oppression. Some still hold to the traditional faith, however, praying to Ragadahn as a force to be appeased. Other faiths enjoy scattered popularity among the population, including Eloritu, Weydan, and Zon-Shelyn.

Popular Edicts celebrate and encourage diversity in all things, leave everywhere you go more beautiful than you found it
Popular Anathema betray an alliance, disrespect another's self-expression

Huur-Lithu, Olaavhu, Shavhiul, Shuuthul, Ulluumoth

6

Medium

Swim 30 feet

Dexterity, Charisma, Free

Constitution

Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it's positive). Choose from the list of common languages and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent on your home world).

You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.

Your body requires you to return to aquatic environments or to don armor with environmental protections at least once in a 24hour period. You must submerge in water in order to rehydrate your water-acclimated skin. If you fail to do this, your skin begins to crack and your gills become painful. After the first 24 hours outside of water, you take a –1 status penalty to Fortitude saves. After 48 hours, you struggle to breathe air and begin to suffocate until returned to water.