Editing Mysterium (section)

==='''ZELK'''===
''The look of disgust. The sheer mistrust in your eyes. It is not new to us. We are used to those avoiding us and trying to avoid speaking with us. But the burden that the Zelk carry, the things we know and see makes your disapproval very small in the scope of the many worlds. If you are ever unlucky enough to see the true horrors in the shadow of this world, then I hope you have one of us with you to protect your life and your sanity.''

Azaeli, Zelk Investigator of the Queen's Eye

The Zelk are refugees after a fashion. They have escaped another world in another plane of existence where the Ancient Sleepers fully awakened into their world and brought it to ruin. The Zelk escaped, but they did not escape completely intact nor do they resemble the noble and elegant peoples they once were. The Zelk are forever tied to the Nightmare World and the denizens from its shores. The close proximity to the Forgotten Ones has created a link that is forever a gift and curse upon the Zelk people. 

Due to their ties to the Nightmare World, the Zelk have an unnatural "presence" even beyond that of their appearance. Most people feel a slight unease to the Zelk people and will go out of their way to give them a wide berth, not quite meeting their eyes and doing their best to avoid looking or talking to them. Event he Mysterium who a vast number of the Zelk serve, don't completely trust them and the Zelk, for their part, tend to understand even as more of them give in to the calling of the Ancient Sleepers. 

The Zelk tend to be taller than the average human but with very sickly, frail and skeletal frames. Their cheeks and eyes are sunken. They have the pointed ears hinting at a sylvan race though they claim no relation to elves in their own world if there were even such a race. The gray skinned Zelk have eyes ranging from purple to green to red. Their hair tends to be black or almost black reds and blues. They also have a third eye that is kept closed most times except when they call on their frightening innate ability inherent in their people. When open, the third eye glows with a baleful light and their other two eyes glaze over as if with blindness. Energy, magic, and foul things are summoned into the world through their third eye, usually reeking havoc on their enemies in the process but also calling like a beacon to the Forgotten Ones who come to that beacon as a moth to flame. 


'''The Ties That Bind'''
The Zelk are connected to the Nightmare World and can feel its presence and influence even when they do not want to like a cold, dead appendage on the back of their necks. Though the Zelk learn to put this in the back of their mind like an unpleasant picture or memory, they still feel the presence of denizens from the Nightmare World and their touch on the world intensely the closer they get to them. When a Forgotten One or a place influenced by the Nightmare World are within half a mile of the Zelk, he or she becomes very uncomfortable and know that feeling, know that something awful is nearby. Zelk can tell the approximate distance of this horror as well as the basic direction if stopping to concentrate. 

'''Zelk Names'''
The Zelk's very lives are devoted to vanquishing the same nightmarish realms they are connected to. This is extended in their customs, rituals, and even in their very names. Often the names of the Zelk are a string of words that invokes a ward against the World of Nightmares.

Male Zelk Names: Algamar, Calthri, Coronos, Dargath, Gilgith, Igramon, Nargath, Slithari, Torr, Xargot
Female Zelk Names: Behori, Elorim, Fremeth, Hiltari, Kalori, Lamenath, Priori, Ulani, Zeleem

'''Zelk Traits'''
Your Zelk character has the following traits. 

• Ability Score Increase - Your Intelligence and Wisdom are each increased by 1.
 
• Age - Zelk mature early in life, usually reaching adulthood at about 16 and they live to be 120 years on average.

• Size - Taller than humans, averaging at around 7' , the Zelk nonetheless are very skeletal and appear to be frail, deceptively so, averaging around 55 lbs on average.

• Speed - You move at a walking speed of 30'

• Languages - You know Common and one other language of your choosing. 

'''Opening the Conduit'''
When you open your third eye, it unleashes the power of the Nightmare World onto those around you. The DM picks a random spell that is one level higher than your current level. The spell is unleashed on an enemy of your choosing. If there is no enemy around, then the spell is launched at a random person within range at the DM's discretion. 

The spell acts exactly as the spell description accept that the appearance is that of something unworldly and horrific. Magic Missile by example might appear as tendrils with biting mouth at the end of them erupting from a portal before your third eye and attacking those within range of the spell. A lightning bolt may manifest as an eerie unnatural storm spewing green lightning, and so on. Furthermore, the target(s) of the spell catch a glimpse of the Beyond and are stunned for their next turn. 

This power comes at a price, as you unleash your power upon your enemies, you also draw the Forgotten Ones. The nearest Forgotten One as determined by the DM knows your location as a source of power manifested from the Nightmare World and will go towards you. It will know where you are until you take a long rest At that point it will still move to your location where you began resting and will likely reek havoc on the area. 

If you use the power more than once before you long rest, the Forgotten One (or a handful of cult members if the Dm prefers) will be able to follow until your second long rest. Though the power does not create a longer tracking time after this, it can draw more Forgotten Ones or cult followers.