So, Voidwalker on the Piazza wanted to do more with Athasian gith; he likes the githyanki, and was disappointed by the ones in Dark Sun, who are these crazy, semi-reptilian raiders, with little in the way of culture or hooks. He asked for a bit about them; being bored that day, I whipped something up. A lot of this is drawn from the Black Spine adventure for 2e, but, of course, I had to riff off 4e's Dark Sun Campaign Setting.
***
Gith society is centered around Mount Narran; while there are "wild
gith" throughout the Tablelands, but the cultural center is Mount
Narran. This is also where you'll find most of the "high gith", who look
more like the standard githyanki. Their own name for themselves is the
Githrathki, or "Gith of the Cracks", referring both to the phrase
jez'rathki, "seeping through the cracks", which means plane shifting,
and for the fact that they survived the cracking of worlds and minds.
The standard gith is githrevrykal, or simply "githrev". For the most
part, I'm not going to talk about the githrev; they're as outlined in
the monster entry.
Githrathki are few; only 3-5000 live on Athas. As with many people, they
are divided into factions; the Gith'draa'zvir, or Gith of the Dragon's
Breath, the Gith'tl'a'ikith, or Gith of the Sword Saint, and the
Gith'vlaakith, or Gith of Death. These factions are contentious, but not
often murderous-as-policy; all agree that the Githrathki are central,
but they contend with each other for resources. There is a final
faction, the gith'ghustil, or Gith of Healing.
Gith'draa'zvir are so named because one of their founders, one of the
survivors of the githzerai attack, became a low-level dragon (well, 21st
level is low for a dragon king...) soon before the disaster. This
partially explains the appearance of the githrev; the power of the
original Gith'draa touched and protected them, and resulted in them
becoming more like a dragon... more reptilian. The Gith'draa'zvir do not
suffer this; they are descended from those who survived the attack
relatively untouched. The Gith'draa'zvir regard all Gith'draa as sacred,
and THE Gith'draa, the original, is regarded as the Aldlishar, or
"first among many." To the Gith'draa'zvir, the Gith'draa are the leaders
and protectors of the Githrathki, and the natural leaders.
Gith'draa'zvir have many defilers and psychics, all with the goal of
becoming a Gith'draa themselves (the psychics will pursue a paragon path
which gives them access to the necessary Arcane Daily power).
The Gith'draa'zvir have extraordinary influence on the githrev, and that
is their main political power; the wild githrev bring them much in the
way of plunder, which serves as githrathki trade. Through the
githrevrykal, the Gith'draa'zvir gather much of the worked goods that
the githrathki possess, but cannot, or do not, make for themselves.
Largest of the four factions is the Gith'tl'a'ikith. Led by gishes, they
possess a dozen silver swords, passed down through the generations. The
most conservative of the githrathki, they still hold true to the
worship of Gith herself; their isolation from her is a temporary thing,
and they seek to use resources to open a "pure" portal to the Astral
Plane, which would allow them to rejoin the githyanki. Part of the
reason they are the largest faction is that they have intermingled with
the elite of the githrev; select members of the githrev will be promoted
to the Gith'tl'a'ikith, and bred into the lines. This provides the
Gith'tl'a'ikith with a much larger genetic stock, and results in many
more births among them. The majority of Gith'tl'a'ikith are psychics,
rather than wizards; their wizardry is usually ritual. However, their
focus on planar travel means that they are often suppliers of water;
they are keen on seeking out portals, and control those that allow them
access to Water or Rain. They do not have a monopoly on water in the
mountain, but they do exercise significant control.
The Gith'vlaakith are mostly necromancers and shadow wizards, and, perhaps surprisingly, control much of the agriculture of the githrathki. Using the githyanki facility with planar travel, they make contact with the spirits of the Gray and the Black, and so wield their magic without the possibility of defiling, and have a facility with making undead servants, who are then used for the drudgework of agriculture, often under the direction of non-wizard members of this faction. Githrev are regularly animated as corpses, as are non-gith slaves, but the animation of githrathki is contentious... Gith'vlaakith have no issues with being so used, but many among the Gith'tl'a'ikith and Gith'draa'zvir think that is not a proper use for the body of a githrathki; the Gith'tl'a'ikith burn their dead, and the Gith'draa'zvir are split between those who burn their dead, and those who are eaten by the Gith'draa. Animation of a githrathki of these factions is seen as an insult, and the most common reason Gith'vlaakith will be in contention with the others.
Lastly, there are the gith'ghustil. Many gith'ghustil are Clerics of
Fire or Wind, or druids of the many spirits in the area. Their powers
are vital to the survival of the githrathki, but they are marred by a
central fact... they are survivors of the githzerai attackers, left
behind in the aftermath. The githrathki themselves have very few
clerics, and no druids. The ancestors of the gith'ghustil fled the
epicenter of the attack, and found connection with the elements and the
world of Athas. As githrathki society developed, the gith'ghustil stayed
near, absorbing githrathki exiles and deserters into their small
communities, often as servants or guards. The gith'ghustil have thus
become mixed with githrathki, and are very rarely pureblooded githzerai.
To the githrathki, the gith'ghustil serve as hermits and healers...
outcast, but too useful to eradicate.
Only a few gith'ghustil exist, scattered in individual hermitages and two small villages.
****
4e stats for the races of Gith:
Githrev
Abilities: +2 Str, +2 to Con
Skills: +2 to Endurance
*Telekinetic Leap: (Encounter, move, psionic; githrev can fly 5 squares)
*Danger Sense: +2 to initiative
*Gith Mobility: When a power requires or forces movement of a githrev, they may slide 1 square after the movement
Githrathki (much like a standard githyanki for 4e)
Abilities: +2 Con, +2 Int
Skills: +2 to History, +2 Arcana
*Danger Sense: Githyanki gain a +2 bonus to initiative checks.
*Githyanki Willpower: Githyanki gain a +1 bonus to Will defense, and a +2 bonus to saving throws against charm effects.
*Telekinetic Leap: Githyanki gain the telekinetic leap racial power.
Telekinetic leap is an encounter power that allows the user or a nearby
ally to fly 5 squares.
Gith'ghustil (much like standard githzerai)
Abilities: +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom
Skills: +2 Nature, +2 Heal
*Danger Sense: You have a +2 racial bonus to initiative checks.
*Defended Mind: You have a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against effects that daze, dominate or stun.
*Shifting Fortunes: When you use your second wind, you can shift 3 squares as a free action.
*Iron Mind: You can use iron mind as an encounter power. (Encounter,
Interrupt; Trigger by being hit; +2 to all defenses until end of next
turn)
