The Onivero are an ancient species, one of the native inhabitants of Jaern from before its long journey across the stars. They are credited with ensuring the planet's survival upon entry to the Onra system, using their powerful psionic abilities. Though many Onivero did not survive the trip, a few still live on Jaern to this day.

A recommended racial block for playable Onivero can be found here. As of now, using this block requires the Unique Parentage trait. You do not have to use this block; other fitting combinations of racial traits can be used to achieve the same effect, as well as rate 50 allowances and/or magic items. There is a playtesting project currently active for playable Onivero as of Spring 2025.

Onivero are a semi-aquatic mammalian species. Their bodies are covered with short fur, which is waterproof much like an otter's. They can come in colors from brown and black, to ginger and white, to even shades such as light blue and pink. Often, Onivero coats are patterned, with stripes or splotches or spots. People have compared the range of patterns to those of cats. Their “hair” is a gelatinous mass that can be shaped at will, with trailing tentacles many have compared to jellyfish. Similar gelatinous, translucent sections can be found on their bodies, with every individual having different translucent spots. Onivero have large eyes and slightly pointed ears, and most other races consider them exceedingly cute or beautiful - some Onivero enjoy being seen this way and play into the cuteness, and others find it intensely offensive.

They have three fingers and a thumb on each hand (which resemble paws) and both their hands and feet are webbed. Onivero have tails, which are flat and serve to assist swimming. Despite not truly being able to breathe underwater like their lizardfolk neighbors, they can close their nostrils, use a set of weak gills, and swim underwater for 3-6 hours before needing to resurface. Onivero children resemble large jellyfish, only growing into their mammalian forms after a few years of life. They live about 150 years, maturing at about age 20.

There are three Onivero Clans, which differ significantly in appearance and culture.

• The surface-dwelling, social Praxia are short, often compared to the Dwarves or Halflings of the humanoids. They have a pair of horn-like protrusions on their heads, and their “hair” is often styled in a round, jellyfish-like manner. For this reason, other clans often see them as childish. Praxia often do not engage in full hiveminds, keeping to an empathic connection within communities, or eschewing psionic links entirely. Most Praxia live in small tribes, villages, or nomadic bands. They stand about 4-5 feet tall.

• The also surface-dwelling, but isolationist Vama are tall and slender, often compared to Elves. Unlike the Praxia, they have long, pointed ears and no horns on their heads. They often have fin-like structures on their arms, whose function is unknown. Many Vama have a more silver or bluish sheen to their skin and fur, and most grow their “hair” in long, tentacle-like forms. Traditionalist Vama communities are likely to engage in full hiveminds, and few if any are found with no telepathy between their members. They are thought to build large city-states in the wilds of Jaern's oceans, unlike the Praxia. They range between 5.5-7 feet tall.

• Little is known of the deep-sea-dwelling and heavily isolationist Amatia, who are thought to be entirely blind across the whole clan. They sport bioluminescent antenna-like “eyebrows”, and have little fur patterning unlike their surface-dwelling cousins. They are often dark in color and reddish, to serve camouflage in the deep oceans. Nothing is known of their societal structure, or their opinions on hivemind connection. They range between 5-6 feet tall, similar to Humans. Interestingly, due to their undersea lifestyle, most Amatia can hold their breath for days - and many undergo psychic mutations at an early age to grant them true waterbreathing.

Onivero have vocal cords, but prefer not to speak verbal language - although speaking out loud is a rite of passage, doing so with other Onivero can be seen as exceedingly casual or even rude. Around non-Onivero, they are more likely to speak out loud, but most prefer to simply maintain mental communication.

The bulk of Onivero communication is telepathic, and one will have to get used to a little voice in their head when traveling with one. While all Onivero are taught to speak telepathically, and all have the potential for psionics, this potential is not always realized, same as other mortal psions. Mastery of their innate cognitive abilities requires study and hard work. Community leaders are usually knowledgeable psions.

All Onivero were once bonded in a single psychic hivemind which encompassed the entire species. At some point in the past century, this hivemind has been broken down. Some Onivero communities still live in local true hiveminds, while others are individualized, with each Onivero maintaining their own individuality. A level of telepathic connection and empathy still exists within these individual communities, though.

It is thought that the level of individuality has something to do with the community's level of contact with outside beings, such as Torandoran races and abysslings. More contact is generally associated with a lack of a true hivemind. All Onivero which choose to adventure are not part of a hivemind - either they hail from an individualistic community, or have been cut off from their hives somehow.

The Onivero are “trioecious”; meaning they have three distinct biological sexes. These are referred to as Anvero, Pevero, and Tivero: respectively, they resemble what others understand as male, female, and intersex - having the traits of both. Individuals can change between these sexes at will with a simple psionic ritual - this is usually done for personal fulfillment or for the sake of the community. There are no gender roles associated with these sexes in Onivero culture, though some that travel outside of their communities and intermingle with other cultures may adopt a more conventional gender identity for the sake of convenience (or because they like the notion).

During the mating season, which usually falls around the hottest months of the year, the Anvero and Pevero will mate, and the Pevero will lay a jelly-like egg. This egg is given to a Tivero, who carries it for about seven months. Most of a village will experience their mating season at once, and the entire village will assist in delivery and care of the newly born children.

Twins and triplets are extremely rare, and considered omens of great change when they are born. Baby Onivero are small and larval in form, looking almost exactly like mundane jellyfish save for the pair of hornlike protrusions coming from their tops. As they grow, more of their mammalian form becomes apparent. Onivero are considered to be full adults when they are able to speak out loud, as the vocal cords are the last parts of their bodies to develop.

Most Onivero live far away from major population centers, and are cautious of other species. However, in more recent times, those of the clan Praxia have begun to veer closer to Jaernian cities, with some even making landfall and traveling from town to town hawking wares and offering psionic services. It is unknown what cultural shift caused this change. Caution is still prevalent - Onivero have a reputation for being flighty and nervous, especially when around crowds of non-Onivero. However, they also have a reputation for being incredibly empathetic and kind; perhaps because they can sense and understand the raw emotions others around them are feeling.

Praxian and Amatian communities tend towards the smaller size, usually being around 1,000-5,000 people - though a few larger cities are thought to exist. Vaman communities may compare to landwalker cities, from 10,000 to over 100,000 people.

Most Onivero are communistic, with personal property existing but each individual being expected to share with the community to ensure everyone's survival and comfort. Larger cities are often direct democracies, facilitated by telepathic links. They are rather more technologically advanced than most of Jaern, being more comparable to Cahyali in terms of technology. This technology is often alien and organic to land-dwellers' perceptions, being made out of living material and controlled psionically.

The Praxia take on the notion of “it takes a village to raise a child”, with many parents pitching in to raise their children together. Still, it is commonplace for individual children to spend most of their time with the pair or trio which gave them life. On the other hand, most cities of the Vama place no weight on biological parentage at all, instead sending their children to crèches where trained, professional caretakers raise and nurture them. It is possible, but frowned upon, for a Vaman to raise their child themselves. To become a certified Vaman caretaker is a career path that can take decades, much like doctors in real-life society.

The Amatia commonly use psionic mutation to structure their societies. Some are capable of walking on both land and sea, while others have adapted for strictly aquatic survival. Many visitors to Amatian cave-villages have seen tiny Onivero-like creatures farming and building in the caves - only about two or three feet tall. It is still debated if these creatures are a strange type of adapted Amatian, or a separate but closely related species of Jaernian fauna.

The Abysslings are longtime enemies of the Onivero, with enmity tracing back to the early 1000s when the Onivero barely managed to suppress an Abyssling incursion which would have been devastating to both shallow-water communities and land-dwellers. The Vama have dedicated themselves to Abyssling suppression ever since, and a sense of superiority in this effort has led in part to their utter refusal to interact with the surface. To date, the only way to conduct trade with the Vama is to go through a Praxian middleman.

The Abyssling threat has battered Amatian cities, forcing them to split into smaller and smaller groups for survival and eschew settling down in any single area for long. Other than the rare cave fortress, Amatia are often nomadic, or live in small pastoral groups of only a few hundred individuals. They are less psionically connected than the others as a result.

Whether a true hivemind or not, Onivero communities regardless of clan maintain a “Core-Mind”: a single or small group of psionically trained Onivero whose role in the community is to psychically reach out across Jaern and contact other villages. Even with the old species-wide hivemind broken down, the Onivero still maintain close contact with each other and place value in working as a whole people.

When Onivero are born, they are given child names, which are usually monosyllabic and are considered diminutive. Many are common nouns, translating to natural objects such as “Wave”, “Sky”, “Kelp”, etc. After growing up and becoming full-fledged adults, they are given a new name by the community leader(s) or choose it themselves.

Most Praxian names remain one or two syllables long, with extra long names being considered pretentious and annoying. In contrast, Vaman names are often spiraling and elegant, and are shortened for daily use. Amatian naming conventions are short like the Praxia, but often translate more easily to Paroli (and other languages) and read much like titles or nicknames. The noun in them is often the individual's childhood name.

Onivero do not have last names, as entire communities are considered to be one family. However, when multiple settlements meet, a hyphenated form of a name is normally used to avoid confusion: for example, an individual named Pekpek from the Praxian Seafoam Village would be referred to as “Seafoam-Pekpek” or “Pekpek-Seafoam” during multi-village/town meetups.

Prevalent across Jaern is the material Prempek, which was invented by the Onivero and shared with the rest of the world. It is composed of refined kelp and shells, which is carefully molded and reinforced to create a light material similar to wood in strength. Many Onivero dwellings and ships are built from prempek. Some communities settle down in shallows or on island chains, while others construct impressive ships and live in massive “village-fleets” that can drift and sail about the Jaernian seas.

Praxian homes are positively whimsical in the eyes of other races: little squat places built in round, organic shapes with small, twisting decorations and splashes of gardens. Some “orb-villages” are in the middle or at the bottom of the ocean, sealed perfectly airtight. Many Onivero report being confused when showing their home to a human friend, only to be met with cries of “It's so cute!” and “Will I get stuck in the door?”

Vaman cities have only been seen by landwalkers in the forms of pictures and transmitted psychic images, but they are reported to be splendid, massive constructions of prempek floating in the middle of the ocean and poking above the surface like urban icebergs. Machines generate and pump air, and strange tendrils connect solar panels which float on the surface.

The Amatia, in contrast, rarely build structures themselves. Most move into abandoned lizardfolk settlements, or in underwater caves near the bottoms of the oceans. There, they live simpler lives of subsistence farming and hunting. Some caves have been expanded to a grand scale, going on for miles beneath the seafloor.

All Onivero can harness solar power on a large scale. Using several closely spaced islands or a specially constructed floating platform, a large reflective cloth is spread out at the exact angle to focus and collect sunlight. This is either immediately used to power mechanisms, or stored.

Energy storage often comes in two forms: prempek canisters containing incredibly compressed air for most forms of physical energy, and the minds of young Onivero for psychic energy. A young Onivero's mind is wide open, and they know little of how to harness the psychic power they are born with, so a village will often siphon this excess power for the community. This serves a double purpose of keeping the child safe from an overload of psionic power, and grants extra energy to the whole village. This practice has waned in Praxian communities in recent years, but is incredibly prevalent among the Vama.

Medical technology is also quite advanced. The Onivero have a solid grasp of things such as germ theory, basic pharmaceuticals, and surgery - however, many Onivero remedies are built specifically for Onivero biochemistry and don't work well, if at all, on other races. Some enterprising individuals, though, have taken the initiative to share their principles and basic knowledge with the rest of the world. Medical students the world over clamor to watch Onivero lectures.

All Onivero clans have a long-standing mutual respect with dragons. As Jaern's first co-inhabitors, their civilizations existed in collaboration together millions of years ago, before the destruction of Jaern's first star. This goodwill has persisted into the modern day. Onivero settlements are common in territory controlled by the dragon-ruled kingdom of Keer'Levex, and as a consequence, Keer'Levexi merchants are rich with Onivero goods.

The most diminutive of the Onivero are also the most social. As of the past few years, many have moved their villages closer to centers of land-dwelling civilization. Floating villages have steered into the Rhine, and Praxian towns have begun to dot Osiris' Necklace in Lojem. A few bands have even made their way into Cahyali to assist with the world war of the late 2550s. The population of Praxia living in constant contact and trade with other civilizations is increasing every year, and they are becoming a downright common sight in larger cities. They are eager to trade, both goods and services - mostly of the medical or psionic nature.

This clan utterly refuses to interact with non-Onivero, citing a need to stay uniquely vigilant against the abyssling threat. They name themselves the supreme vanguard of the seas, and do not spare thought for daily interactions with the surface world in the name of supposedly protecting it. According to Praxian and Amatian diplomats, the Vama are arrogant and pretentious even in intra-Onivero matters, though their technology and war strategy is unmatched. Vaman goods are in high demand by the other two clans, and their currency is used throughout the Onivero world.

Despite their hostile homes at the bottom of the ocean, the Amatia have done their best to reach out to the outside world. They have maintained contact with undersea lizard civilizations such as Lizantis, and are making efforts to engage in trade with the surface. Constant threat from the abysslings has made this difficult, much more so than the Praxia, but the Amatia are a hardy people and are determined to make allies in the world. They are connected with the Montoya clan of nomads, and often accept any aid that is offered to combat the abyssling threat.

While most Onivero who have close interaction with other folk train themselves to speak in a manner more palatable and understandable to non-Onivero, Onivero language in its natural state is rapid-fire and difficult to make sense of in the moment. They do not pause for punctuation in their words, instead speaking much like a telegraph. They also place adjectives and adverbs after the words they describe, and usually forego articles. For example, to mean “I saw a large lizard on the beach. It quickly ran away to the north,” an Onivero might say “Saw lizard beach on large I stop ran north quickly away it stop”.

While Onivero have historically used the word “alien” to refer to any intelligent non-Onivero, more recent generations consider this an offensive term and prefer to use the same words to refer to other races that they use to refer to themselves. Onivero, having no concept of gender in a social sense, use one pronoun (usually translated as “we” or “they”) to refer to themselves or others. Mechanically, the Onivero language is represented by Aquan.

Onivero art is much like their language, heavily steeped in telepathic content and meaning. For the most part, it appears dull and meaningless to humans. On the other hand, Onivero are always amazed and bewildered by how beautiful human art can be without the telepathic component.

Dancing, however, is a purely physical endeavor for Onivero, and is often performed along with percussive, rhythmic instruments reminiscent of steel drums or bongos. The Onivero dance form is considered extremely difficult, yet rewarding to master by humans. It involves hard stomps on the ground, quick and large movements, and athletic leaps and spins.

Onivero music is also highly percussive, though it is sometimes accompanied by woodwind instruments. Playing an instrument also involves a level of telepathic “singing”, to better accentuate the emotional impact of the piece. Simply listening to an Onivero folk song has been known to bring others to tears.

Though the Onivero are aware of the existence of the Jaernian gods and recognize them as powerful beings, they do not revere or worship them. The most a god is afforded is a basic level of respect: the same respect that a human might afford a lion, or that a farmer may afford a noble.

The Onivero have a few folk superstitions and believe in spirits of the land, the sky, and the sea that suffuse the world and are responsible for many wondrous happenings. Due to this, they tend to get along quite well with nomads. They also revere a mythological hero from antiquity, named Jaern. It is unknown if the planet is named after them, or if their title is that of the planet due to their widespread influence on Onivero culture.

All three clans describe their afterlife as “the mist of spirits”: a place of serenity where the dead can rest and wander. Modern planar theorists surmise that this mist refers to either the Kurago or the Dreaming; some sort of spirit world. No one has yet found a place filled with Onivero spirits in either of these planes, however - but perhaps they are simply hiding.

A folktale regarding the final days of the Onivero homeworld can be found here.