Tome Sprite

Magic is the culprit behind a great many horrible things. Evil spellcasters across the globe commit atrocities on purpose, and quite a few arcane and divine accident cause continent-wide destruction. Yet, at least one thing has come from the wild fluxes of magic that can be considered rather decent: the incorrectly-named 'tome sprites'. Often referred to as 'children of magic', these housecat-sized creatures seemed to evolve from the bat familiars of wizards, sorcerers, and witches. Often happening after their master has perished, the small creatures become almost humanoid, but very clearly batlike in appearance. The arcane spellcasters that actually know about tome sprites have differing views on them: some really do consider them like children and would welcome the beings into their towers and libraries, others consider them thieves and would exterminate them. They are entirely unknown outside the realms of arcane spellcasters, owing to the race's desire to stay hidden away.

Physical Description:
Tome Sprites stand the height of a domestic cat, often weighing less than ten pounds. Their small size often result in them being much weaker than creatures of halfling or human size, giving them a gentle touch. Their legs are digitrade, ending in feet similiar to a canine (as such, their footprints are rather easy to identify to those who know about them). Their upper and lower torso are humanoid in length and style, which extends to rather human proportions for the rest of their body. Male and female tome sprites are visably different, resembling human men and women. Their arms are lanky and oversized, mostly because they extend into leathery wings. These wings can be folded like a cloak around their bodies, while still allowing them to use their arms and fingers fully. Their faces are as varied as bats themselves, from the sleek 'fox' appearance to the upturned noses of 'vampiric' bats. Occasionally, a tome sprite will grow a pair of small horns on it's head. The reason for this is unknown, but the horned tome sprites are often nicknamed 'tome imps', and are often more playful than their kin.
Tome sprites reach adulthood at the age of 18, and live for 75 years, plus 100 for every level of a spellcasting class that they belong to. They lose the ability to sire or birth offspring after their 41st year, for some unknown reason (though this knowledge is unknown with them only being around for the last thirty years).

Society:
Tome Sprites, despite their relative youth in the world and their rareness, often band together to form "enclaves" of tome sprites. The creatures aid each other in infiltrating the libraries and towers of larger spellcasters, taking what magic they can use for themselves (and often eating whatever food they can find in the spellcaster's pantry). Finding traps laid out for them is often a hint for them to leave, which they do post-haste (before the spellcaster they're intruding upon exterminates them more fully). Tome Sprites who find themselves welcomed, however, often move in happily. Though still wanting to avoid their larger kin, they find ways to repay the kindness: working on a wizard's research, completing magic items, keeping the place clear of pests, and even defending their hosts' stuff with their own magic. As such, they can be both symbiotic or parasitic.
Tome Sprites look to magic to defend themselves from a much larger, hostile world. It evens the playing field quite a bit - a tiny spellcaster still produces a normal-sized 'fireball'.
They are wary of the larger world, and often look to other tome sprites for companionship. Unlike their larger kin, tome sprites openly share arcane knowledge with each other. They are a true race, and breed true.
The tome sprites are as curious to why only bat familiars seem to have this happen to them. Many search for the reason, while others try to enhance yet-'unenlightened' familiars and ex-familiars to their state.

Relations:
Tome sprites are most comfortable among their own kind. A lone tome sprite often devolves into a frightened wreck of a creature, reaching out to any kind of interaction at all. It's theorized this is a result of the race being ex-familiars: they are more used to being connected to another than being alone. However, they find the company of small and medium-sized arcane spellcasters preferable to non-spellcasters. Gnomes and elves are most accepting of tome sprites: all three races are fascinated with arcane magic, and all of them understand the desire to be secretive. Gnomes often joke about finding a friend even shorter than they are: which would be insulting to most, but tome sprites fixate on the word 'friend' and ignore the rest. They find an intellectual equal in elves: a tome sprite can often work comfortably in view of an elf, and the two can become an effective (if rather quiet) team. They rarely have close relations with other races, but the race is fairly new.

Alignment and Religion:
Tome Sprites are often true neutral, owing to their shy dispositions and gentle desires. However, many have personalities derived from their favorite school of magic - an evocation specialist might be prone to rash behavior, a necromancer might be sullen, and a diviner might be inquisitive. Other tome sprites emulate a larger spellcaster that they admire (and some attempt to copy their former masters entirely).
Divine magic and the gods are a curiosity for them. Some have taken to treating churches as they treat the libraries and towers of wizards, and are often puzzled at the rituals and religions of bigger folk. Many take to staying in the rafters and belfreys of such places (often coming as a shock to priests who spot them).
Tome sprites are rarely clerics - they have difficulty wrapping their minds around that style of magic - gods are bigger than people (who hardly notice them), what chance do they have of gaining the attention of a diety? Some take to the path of the oracle fairly well, however, treating it as another arcane discipline. Druidism terrifies the tome sprites. As creatures born of magic and the city, the thought of being in the wild with all the larger creatures is enough to give many night terrors.
Among tome sprites that do worship find the minor diety Sivanah (and her prestige class, Veiled Illusionist) very appealing. Even tome sprites that don't worship her find her struggles against Zon-Kuthon to be very close to their own experiences and often go out of their way to make the jobs of that evil diety's followers much harder. Rarely, a tome sprite or tome imp becomes a follower of Zon-Kuthon, gaining much power: bats happen to be Zon-Kuthon's favored animal.

Adventurers:
Tome sprites often form adventuring parties purely of spellcasters among their own kind in quests to improve their people's situation in the world. Rarely, a tome sprite joins a much larger group, pretending to be the familiar of another character and being as unobtrusive as possible. The gentle beings often find multiple ways to be useful to a party that welcomes them.


TOME SPRITE RACIAL TRAITS
*Monstrous Humanoid Type
*Tiny size. Tiny races gain a +2 size bonus to their AC, a +2 size bonus on attack rolls, a –2 penalty on combat maneuver checks
and to their CMD, and a +8 size bonus on Stealth checks. Tiny characters take up a space of 2-1/2 feet by 2-1/2 feet, so up to four of these characters can fit into a single square. Tiny races typically have a natural reach of 0 feet, meaning they can't reach into adjacent squares. They must enter an opponent's square to attack it in melee. This provokes an attack of opportunity from the opponent. Since they have no natural reach, they do not threaten the squares around them. Other creatures can move through those squares without provoking attacks of opportunity. Tiny creatures typically cannot flank an enemy.
*Ability Score Modifiers: -4 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence.
*The race has a base speed of 20 feet.
*Gliding Wings: Members of this race take no damage from falling (as if subject to a constant non-magical feather fall spell). While in midair, members of this race can move up to 5 feet in any horizontal direction for every 1 foot they fall, at a speed of 60 feet per round. A member of a race with gliding wings cannot gain height with these wings alone; it merely coasts in other directions as it falls. If subjected to a strong wind or any other effect that causes a creature with gliding wings to rise, it can take advantage of the updraft to increase the distance it can glide.
*Spell Familiarity: Members of this race gain spell resistance equal to 11 + their character level.
*Avoidance: Perception and Stealth are always class skills for members of this race.
*Tricks of Service: Members of this race gain a +2 racial bonus on Appraise and Perception checks to find hidden objects (including traps and secret doors), determine whether food is spoiled, or identify a potion by taste.
*Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Auran, Elven, Gnome, Celestial, Abyssal, Infernal, Ancient Osiriani, Ancient Azlanti.



Alternate Racial Traits:
Tome Imp: You were born with (or grew) a small pair of horns, causing you to become a little more playful than other tome sprites. You gain a +2 to Charisma. This replaces the tome sprites' +2 to Intelligence.

Open Practitioner: You're a bit braver than other tome sprites. You want to show what you can do, and focus a lot more on the practice
of magic than in taking it from others. You gain Spell Focus or Weapon Focus (ray) as a bonus feat, regardless of the prerequisites. You gain a +1 bonus on Knowledge (arcane) and Spellcraft checks. This ability replaces Avoidance and Tricks of Service.

Familiar Magic: Rather than using your knowledge of spells to passively protect yourself, you choose to become more utilitarian. Choose two 1st level spells or one 2nd level spell. Your choice becomes a spell-like ability useable once per day. As an added benefit, you gain two cantrips, useable at will. Your caster level for this ability is your character level. This ability replaces your Spell Familiarity trait.


Favored Class Options:
*Oracle: Add 1/2 to the oracle's level for the purpose of determining the effects of the oracle's curse ability.
*Rogue: Gain 1/2 of the Major Magic rogue talent (the Tome Sprite must gain the Minor Magic rogue talent at level 2).
*Sorcerer: Add one spell known from the sorcerer spell list. This spell must be at least one level below the highest spell level the sorcerer can cast.
*Witch: The witch gains 1/4 of a new witch hex.
*Wizard: Gain 1/3 of a wizard bonus feat.


Kiss the Night.
The ability to fly is considered a romantic trait among tome sprites.
Prerequisites: Fly 6 ranks.
Benefit: You gain a fly speed of 30ft (average maneuverability) if wearing light armor or unencumbered. You cannot fly in medium or higher armor, or with
a medium or heavy load. Fly becomes a class skill, if it wasn't already.

Spell Reflection
Your knowledge of magic allows you to grasp spells used against you and turn them back on their caster.
Prerequisite: Spell Familiarity trait, Spellcraft 12 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 12 ranks.
Benefit: Single-target spells cast against you that are successfully identified with Spellcraft, and successfully resisted with your spell resistance, are turned
back upon their originator as if you cast the spell in question.