Brenneri

• Want to weigh all sides of an argument before making a decision.
• Take care to identify a peaceful solution to a conflict.
• Maintain a collection of objects that comfort you.

• Expect you to lead negotiations.
• Assume that your charms and cute looks can smooth over any social difficulty.
• Tread gently around your emotions to avoid upsetting you.

Brenneris are bipedal otter-like humanoids who reach an average height of 5 feet, with typically slight builds. Their webbed claws and powerful tails make them excellent swimmers. While they can hold their breath for long periods of time, they're not truly amphibious creatures and can't breathe underwater. Their home world of Varturan is completely aquatic, which leaves them exposed to dangers from oceanic creatures such as the predatory angler of its deepest waters, the many-mouthed lumigorge.

Over millennia of evolutionary drift from their lutrine ancestors, brenneris retained their large, round, shining eyes. Their sensitive whiskers use electromagnetic signals and pheromones to sense emotions, particularly sudden shifts in mood or disposition. While these traits were originally only found in infants, almost all brenneris now retain these adaptions into adulthood. Though they react to all creatures, the intensity of the sensation they feel around emotions varies based on the strength of the feelings that they're exposed to. This sensation is especially powerful when a brenneri empathizes with creatures that they have a deep and profound relationship with, such as pets, old friends, family members, or partners.

Brenneris' hearing can detect both infrasound whale songs and ticks from the tidally migrating swillibird. Likewise, their sharp eyes help them identify danger in time to flee. With few natural defenses, their instincts are to avoid risk. When that fails, they often turn to emphasizing their more adorable features in order to disarm foes with their charm. Due to the combination of these impulses and the information from their empathetic whiskers, brenneris constantly monitor changes in their environment. In social circumstances, this can manifest as hypervigilance around changes in emotional states. When a brenneri can't immediately resolve a conflict or sense another's hidden emotions, they're likely to become quite anxious. Many carry objects that they find distracting or comforting, such as rocks or smooth shells. These are typically kept in their water-resistant armpit pouches, which aid in protecting the keepsakes from salt and moisture.

Varturan brenneri communities exist in balance with the diverse range of life hosted by their home world. Water covers the planet, and what land exists drowns beneath the high tides that come every 6 hours. As one of the few semi-aquatic species, brenneris evolved to fit their niche: adapting to a constantly changing environment and surviving the cycle of submerging beneath the tide. Brenneri pods tend to establish homes on land, though each group's techniques to handle the constant ebb and flow depends on their specific environment. Some pods build their daily habits around the tide, while others build structures that stand tall above the tideline. The deep water Leundak pod invested in a technological solution and lives in a submerged dome that cycles breathable air for its inhabitants.

The brenneri pair is the keystone around which many brenneris build their lives. These partnerships vary based on what's needed. A pair can be romantic, professional, lifelong, or short-lived. Each community has its own traditions and expectations around forming pairs. Those outside of communities, such as solitary brenneris that find each other independently, typically discuss what their pairing will mean. Those that are paired up by a corporate matchmaker, such as those going offworld for work, typically undergo a 2-week trial period. This bond is dissolved whenever a member decides it is time to move on. While brenneris typically think of these small group relationships as two brenneris, pairs can include as many as six individuals. Non-brenneris also join pairs, though it does raise friendly but invasive questions.

Communities are structured around combining smaller groups into a larger one. Several pairs connect with others in a mesopod, focusing on shared goals for their community. Typically, fewer than 10 groups connect in this way, so that all individuals in a given mesopod can know each other well. These can either stay as an independent pod or can connect with other mesopods to form larger societies. The largest known pod involves five levels of organization and includes nearly 12,000 brenneris. Brenneri connections can last anywhere from a season to a lifetime, as shared goals drive the bond. An accomplished goal can be both a time of celebration and mourning, since bonds quickly fall apart when the work is finished. Outside of larger communities, independent pairs are somewhat common. Brenneris that choose a life of solitude face concern and scrutiny, particularly about the lack of alternative perspectives available to one without a partner.

Over their history, many brenneris played important roles as mediators to help bring about an end to conflicts. The first brenneri mediators assigned a member of their team to each group participating in a conflict, hoping to advocate fairly in multifaceted circumstances. More modern brenneri ambassador groups tend to prefer sending members of the same pair to the opposing parties. This method has proven to build bridges between the parties at odds, often beginning long-term diplomatic processes with the reassurance that all parties will be earnestly heard by the mediators. Ambassador pods require a minimum of two hired staff per contract (on penalty of immediate cancellation). This pressures the pairs to work through their differences and maintain strong working relationships.

Traditionally, brenneris begin their diplomatic training when they leave their family's pod as adolescents and join one composed of others around the same age. They're trained initially as mediators and sent to assist with minor conflicts. Those who prove successful enter into apprenticeships with seasoned diplomats; those who don't take to diplomatic work often find passions in other charismatic fields, such as entertainment, patient care, or marketing.

Brenneri names are short and easy to pronounce, though many use nicknames that reflect hobbies or collections.

In times of stress, many brenneri communities focus on rafting, where individuals link arms to float as a group. When linked in a raft, their stomachs provide a dry space for babies, disabled adults, and other community members who struggle to swim to take shelter upon. Rafting also provides emergency docking points for small watercraft or for a rescue operation of tidal creatures washed out to the deep sea. A perfect microcosm for most brenneri communities, rafting embodies the collaborative social structure and practices of communal mutual aid. Brenneris often are asked to set aside their individual concerns for the betterment of the community and to center compromises while in conflict.

While worship of deities is a common practice within brenneri communities, individuals typically choose religious beliefs that mesh well with the beliefs of the community at large. Deities that emphasize connections, reconciliation, and stability have known worship within brenneri pods, such as Abadar, Hylax, and Talavet. Veneration of Zon-Shelyn has a curious practice among brenneris, with some pairs attempting to recreate their embrace.

Popular Edicts listen to all sides of a conflict, protect the most vulnerable
Popular Anathema force others into a community against their will, stoke conflict without purpose

Algo, Dako “Bluepaw,” Krill, Ont, Preen “Cardsniff,” Seldi, Shine, Zinks

8

Medium

Swim 20 feet

Constitution, Charisma, Free

Strength

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 whiskers continuously sense the emotions of those around you, which makes you susceptible to mirroring their feelings. You take a –1 circumstance penalty to Will saves against emotion effects. When you end your turn adjacent to an ally with the frightened condition, you must attempt a DC 5 flat check. On a failure, you become frightened 1.

You gain the Breath Control general feat.