Samsah'ra

The Samsah'ra are a race of humanoid creatures living in swamps and deserts throughout the World.

Description
The Samsah'ra are oft referred to as beings of decay. All living creatures in their presence slowly have their life force drained, flowing out into the world. Eventually, weak-willed beings will die, but humans and most magical creatures will simply be weakened and exhausted. Those who possess an affinity for magic will gradually start to lose it, but recover while they are no longer in the Samsah'ra's presence. Other Samsah'ra do not seem to be affected by this ability, presumably because of their extremely strong attachment to the World.

Those who have laid eyes upon the Samsah'ra are few and far between. Whilst these people are not legendary, as the Samsah'ra is by no means a secretive race, it is still an achievement as contact with them is usually limited purely to travellers or those affiliated with the Guilds. Their resemblance to humanity is uncanny, the only immediately noticeable difference being their flesh. Samsah'ra are often split into two types: Those who belong to the swamp, and those of the desert. The easiest way to distinguish the two is by determining the colour of their skin. Swamp Samsah'ra have smooth olive-coloured skin, whilst the Desert Samsah'ra bear rough orange scales.

Amongst their other distinct features are their large, circular, pitch-black eyes. Those who stare into them have often been noted to go into a frightened trance, as if staring into an endless abyss. The Samsah'ra also lack hair of any kind, making their pointed, elfish ears ever so more noticeable.

Peculiarly, the Samsah'ra produce a ridiculous amount of sweat, often trailing behind them as they move. This is not sweat in the traditional sense however, and yet again differs per type of the Samsah'ra. Desert variants excrete sand, whilst the swamp release a slightly acidic slime. Some believe producing such an absurd amount of sweat is the exchange they make for draining the life force of those around them, though how true this is is unknown.

Lastly, the Samsah'ra will often wear primitive hooded rags as attire, preferring to leave very little of themselves visible. Consequently, this also adds to the mysterious atmosphere surrounding the race in general.

Unique Properties
Atrophy: Those near a Samsah'ra will have their life force drained. The Samsah'ra exercise no control over this ability. Weak-willed creatures will eventually die, whilst humans and most magical creatures are weakened and exhausted. Mages and magical beings will gradually lose their affinity for magic, but recover it whilst not in the presence of a Samsah'ra. Those who have sustained exposure to Samsah'ra for considerable amounts of time have also been noted to drift to insanity. In addition to this, magical items will fall in effectiveness, but will recover like creatures.

Worldly Attachment: The Samsah'ra have an unusually strong life force, making them unaffected by most abilities that directly interfere with it. This also causes them to live noticeably longer lives, the oldest known individual being over a thousand years of age.