Hey all. This is my draft idea for the Githyanki. Its does use a little material form my post in Changes to the Planes though its not critical. I also have not been following the Rrakkma Project...hope you enjoy.
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The pirates of the Astral, the Gityanki are the bane of many astral travellers.
Once, in the distant past, they made war against the prime of Ortho, the Harmonium, and though they were driven back from their prize, they do not see it as a loss. They tested themselves and found that they were the masters of the Astral.
Now they prey upon those sailing through the Astral and beyond. Githyanki soldiers favour great wickedly curved two handed blades and stealth, forgoing body armour, favouring the philosophy that a dead enemy can not strike back, a philosophy reflected in the designs of their ships a well. Their Astral ships are the most advanced of any found throughout the Astral, quick and agile fighters supported by capital ships of terrifying statue, firepower and magic! Their pilots are some of the best and their marines are equally feared as ruthless murders that kill or enslave their victims.
Githyanki ships are also one of the few designs that can operate in the high orbit of prime worlds, their astral propulsion systems adaptable enough to function in the near weightless environment of orbit and their armoured hulls and sealed environmental cockpits withstanding the airless environment. A favoured tactic of the Githyanki when they assault a prime world is to open astral portals in high orbit above the prime and disgorge their fleets, where the capital ships can co-ordinate and support ground operations with their massive firepower and magical teleportation capabilities. Their fighter’s propulsion system can be re-configured for gravitational flight and their heat shielding is enough to withstand atmospheric entry and exit, to offer direct support of Githyanki ground forces. However, the sealed cockpits and hulls of all their ships do not offer existence reserves of air, so Githyanki assaults of this sort are thankfully quick and rare.
Githyanki cities and outposts are often relativity small, but well defended and usually have the capability to build, repair or at least repair Githyanki ships. The Githyanki capital city is one of the largest metropolises on the planes, a command and control centre for the entire species, with massive fleet logistical support, and one of the most notable, extensive and successful slave markets in the Multiverse. The city houses several embassies to other species of the Multiverse, including many of the Genies of the Inner Planes, giving the Githyanki access to many rare material resources of those planes. In potential clients are welcome to make requests for invitation to the city, all but two other species. The first are the Githerzi. Even after millennia of conflict, each still has absolute hatred of the other. The second species are the Mind Flayers, which the Githyanki continue to hunt. It is intelligence reports of significant Mind Flayer activity on a prime that is the most prominent reason for the Githyanki to launch their fleets into prime orbits. From time to time, Mind Flayer agents attempt to reach the city and arrange slave purchases. Any such individuals caught are often publicly executed at the targeted auction, in front of the other buyers, just to remind them the price of buying for the Mind Flayers. Of course, some agents still fall through the Gityanki’s fingers…
Many authorities throughout the multiverse would like to see the city crippled, and many more would like the city for themselves. However, the city has one ace up its sleeve that keeps enough trouble out for the rest of it to be manageable (i.e. killable). The city is built within the eye of an astral storm that has been raging since Ragnorok. It keeps all but the most determined fleets out unless the Githyanki guide them in and it makes magic so unstable that few choose to use it while in the city, and not to mention the hefty fines if AWOL magic causes harm or damage to the city or its merchandise, fines which include enslavement or death.
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Thats it so far, its only a start but what do you think?
Kal