The Reaves of Acheron

The Eternal Battlefield of Acheron is not a forgiving place. The iron wastes of the great cubes hardly support much life, aside from the endless armies of Bane and his opponents. But even here, life has grown, out of the iron sand and chemical springs, to stand on rusted peaks and bathe in acid rain.

The Reaves, as they are known, are the natives of Acheron. They evolved here, in the distant and hazy past, and they much resent the colonisation of their plane by Fiends and the souls of dead mortals.

Your average Reave stands around seven feet tall, with hard, grey skin. Upon that skin, there are hard, reddish patches, that resemble patches of rusted iron. They have two sets of arms, splitting out from broad, boxy shoulders. They are heavily muscled, and their powerful legs allow them to leap far, perhaps between the whirling cubes of Acheron. As for their faces, not a soul knows; for the Reaves do not reveal their faces except to each other. When in the company of the 'two-arms', they wear distinctive helmets, with curving spikes and red plumes.

Beneath the helm, a Reave has broad, chiseled features, a short strip of coarse black hair (which is often styled into a design resembling a mohawk) and four yellow, reflective eyes, which are placed on the front and sides of the head.  Reaves have excellent vision, even in darkness, and have a visual span of 240 degrees, as opposed to your average humanoid's 120.

The strength of a Reave is never to be underestimated, and with their powerful pairs of arms they can achieve enviable martial feats, such as dual wielding greatswords, or utilising metal bows with massive draw weights. They are skilled climbers and unequaled wrestlers.

The most famous weapon of the Reaves, aside from their four-handed bows, is called the zakuhrrar, a blade, as long as the Reave is tall, that requires all four of their arms to wield. It was invented to hunt the achaierai, the massive, quadripedal avians that make up the most reliable food source in Acheron. The zakhurrar is made of a strange, crystalline material, the construction of which is a Reavish secret. This material was designed to resist the corrosive breath of an achaierai.  A humanoid with 20+ Strength, or 18+ Strength and the Powerful Build feature, can wield one of these monster blades, which deal 3d6 Damage a swing.

No two armed Humanoid could manage to wield the drughaa, the 'four-handed bow'; the draw weight is simply too high, the bow simply too large, and the possibility of an improperly drawn string slicing an ear off; too great. Still, when a Reave uses it, they can shoot accurately up to 400ft. with terrible force. They use spike-tipped, javelin sized arrows, designed to kill Fiends in one shot to the head.

These weapons are often used with great enthusiasm - against the Mercykiller colony of Vorekhan, against the armies of Bane and New Nishrek, and even against the Bladelings, Acheron's other natives. In recent Cycles, the Reaves have even begun to offer their martial abilities to those outside of Acheron, with mercenary companies appearing in the streets of Sigil, Dis and the City of Brass.

Reaves, despite their history of war, and the dangerous nature of their home plane, are often skilled artists, with one particular Reave - Excahor Longsight - being a member of the artisitic side of the Bleak Cabal. She is the inventor of the Sigilite equivalent of impressionism, which is similar to our impressionism but with more ennui and urban decay.

The most impressive power that the Reaves wield, however, is that of 'phasing', where the Reave becomes briefly semi-corporeal in response to an attack. This power does not allow them to leap through walls, but if they focus hard enough on it, it will pull them into the Astral Plane temporarily. If they release their focus, they will be returned to where they left from.

The traditional Reave cosmology consisted exculsively of Acheron and the Astral Plane, and in their mind these two planes still form the 'axle' of the Great Wheel, with the Outlands taking Acheron's place between Baator and Mechanus. Middling adventurers and self-important arcanists scoff at this 'ignorance'. Philosophers and factioneers simply say: who knows? maybe they're right?

As Reaves continue to expand into the Multiverse, they have come in contact with other planes, and hundreds have migrated to the City of Doors, mostly living in a small neighbourhood in the Market Ward called 'Little Avalas'. Many are beginning to join factions, with every faction (except the Mercykillers) having Reave members. The Bleak Cabal, Believers of the Source and Doomguard line up fairly well with various Reavish cultural concepts, and are the most popular.