Aquan are a race of plentiful ancient traditions with imperfect knowledge of an imperfect history. They stand around 5 feet tall, though they can diminish to the height of a draconic child more or less on a whim; their flesh pumps blood of copper, rather than iron, through dynamic veins of living liquid. They drip with potential, their brio-enhanced forms oozing with power. They are remarkable children of great power, mono-coloured flesh tinted blue with their rushing azure blood.
Though their exact racial history is lost - it took some time to properly develop their heirloom mind - it's clear to most that their origins are from amongst the black puddings and gelatinous cubes of Reverie. The oozes share some vague resemblance, regarding their origin story, to the dissonant golems - though the aquan are an ancient invention, perhaps akin to the chimeras of ancient arcane experiments, their exact history lost to the ravages of time and imprecision of ancestral memory. Originally from the dark depths, where the mindless oozes yet dwell, the aquan have built a community-based societal structure that lends itself to rituals and tribalism.
Integrating with the mainstream society presented by the Draconic Empire has lead to a fractured yet resilient system of familial ties between close-knit groups. As the Empire slides ever so slowly toward its seemingly inevitable collapse, the aquan Families garner ever more power, working in the cracks and seams of society. Operatives of the aquan work their way invisibly through society, meeting unprepared resistance and carrying out ever more grandiose tasks for the cryptic purposes of their veiled higher-ups.
While the kami, sheltered ones, and seeds each work to gain the trust of the draconic, isle dwellers, and children of Destiny, the aquan work in the shadow of a greater past. Burdened by isolated histories and kept tightly knit by shared memories, their race is ever a minority among the members of the great Empire. They know they are not those of who the whispers speak; they are the whisperers - ever increasing in intensity, broadcasting portents of an ever-nearing great change.
Personality
Most aquan love the traditions of their people and are averse to inviting outsiders to participate. At the same time, an aquan typically avoids travelling far from their Family; that said, an aquan Infused is said to have found a true calling, respected for their sacrifice for the Family in whatever form. Instinctively keeping to the cool, darker places, under shade or in armour, the aquan find themselves with every incentive to be short with their words.
Representatives who often live far from their point of origin, an Infused aquan is said to more often be mentally unhealthy than would a member of another race. Though perhaps merely a widespread rumour, it nonetheless affects perceptions of travelling aquan - those with a predilection for the arcane are already suspect, and a keeper of secrets with no home is hardly encouraging in and of itself. A heroic aquan, though lauded and praised, is rarely treated to trust.
A Loyalist aquan is most often devoted to the Principle of Discovery - the Principle of knowledge and understanding - according to their culture of memories. Other aquan devote themselves to Destiny, preventing stagnation. The family guard and even some keepers of secrets often obey the Principle of Freedom, seeking to act more than perfect; many, though follow Power. Generally, a member of the Principle of Order exists in every Family for integrity and artistic preservation, though not much more.
Age and Weight
Traits
Size. Aquan are Medium sized, eye-to-eye with even the draconic when they stand at their full height. They receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Racial type. Although kin with ooze, aquan are themselves rather like the other Complete races, and have the humanoid (shapechanger) type. They eat, breathe, and sleep, and have no special immunities except as described below.
Base speed. Aquan are familiar with their humanoid form and glide smoothly along the ground at a pace of 30 feet.
Languages. All Aquan begin with the languages Common and Aquan. Aquan with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages).
Basic Features
+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength. Aquan are lithe and carry much ancestral guidance, but find it difficult to perform heavy physical labour given their amorphous form.
Special Features
Downsize (Ex). As a standard action, an aquan can condense her unnecessary internal structure. She is treated as if affected by reduce person for up to one minute per character level. These minutes do not need to be consecutive, but must be spent in 1-minute increments.
Heirloom Mind (Ex). As a 15-minute ritual at no cost, an aquan can duplicate up to 4 contiguous hours of detailed memories and transfer the duplicates to another aquan. These do not necessarily need to be original or natural memories. Both subjects must be willing.
Lethal Knowledge (Ex). An aquan receives a +2 racial bonus to damage rolls with melee attacks and ranged touch attacks. This damage is not multiplied on a critical hit.
Liquid Skin (Ex). Whenever an aquan would take cold damage, she instead takes 150% of that damage. However, she also gains a +1 racial bonus to all saving throws, reflecting her slipperiness of body and mind.
Precision Knowledge (Ex). An aquan receives a +2 racial bonus to Escape Artist and Disable Device skill checks, but also receives a -4 racial penalty to CMB, reduced to a -2 racial penalty to CMD.
Unusual Anatomy (Ex). Aquan automatically ignore their character level in precision damage from the first attack which deals precision damage to them each round.
Just as there are many types of memories, so also do the keepers of ancestral memory take many forms; just as Reverie is home to many varieties of ooze, so also do the aquan express themselves in many ways.
Keeper of Secrets
Some aquan are fed an abundance of heirloom memories during childhood. Though it can be caused by any number of heirloom memories, this process triggers a more regimented structure of mind. These aquan have the following modifications:
Ability score modifiers change to +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength.
Keeper of secrets aquan lose the downsize racial trait.
Keeper of secrets aquan gain the secret-keeper and foreign mind racial traits, as follows.
Secret-Keeper (Ex). Up to three times per day, you may take a +2 racial bonus to a single Intelligence-based skill check before rolling or increase the DC of a spell you cast by +2 for one of its targets. This is a non-action, like choosing whether to use Power Attack on an attack action.
Foreign Mind (Ex). Seeds take a -2 penalty to Diplomacy checks when interacting with members of other races.
Family Guard
New techniques, invented by the isle dwellers upon their arrival to the mainland, have discovered a technique by which they can induce select aquan to develop a chitinous plating akin to that of the sheltered ones. These aquan have the following modifications:
Ability score modifiers change to +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence.
Aquan family guards lose the downsize and precision knowledge racial traits.
Aquan family guards gain the guardian and expansion racial traits, as follows.
Guardian (Ex). An aquan family guard receives a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate but receives a -4 armour check penalty to skills affected by armour check penalty. This does not stack with armour check penalty gained by wearing armour; take the greater of the two. This penalty always applies to Disable Device checks.
Expansion (Ex). As a standard action, an aquan family guard can expand her honeycombing internal structure. She is treated as if affected by enlarge person for up to one minute per character level. These minutes do not need to be consecutive, but must be spent in 1-minute increments.