The story of the gith is rooted in a cruel twist of cosmic fate. Inspired by the great leader for whom the race is named, the gith rose up to overthrow the mind flayers that held them in servitude. But after they won their freedom, two factions among the gith disagreed on what kind of civilization they would forge. That disagreement quickly flared into open hostility, and the two groups distanced themselves from one another to pursue their separate agendas. They remain bitter enemies today, each side willing to fight to the death whenever they cross paths.
Children of Gith
Gith were tall and emaciated-looking humanoids. They had pale yellow skin, sometimes with greenish or brownish tones. Their skulls were long and angular, with deep-set eyes, flattened noses, and long pointed ears. Typical hair colors included black, red, russet, and sometimes gray.
Like all gith, githyanki are tall and slender humanoids with rough, leathery yellow skin and bright black eyes that are sunken deep in their orbits. They have long and angular skulls with pointed teeth, with small and highly placed flat noses, and ears that are pointed and serrated in the back side. They typically grew either red or black hair, which they styled in topknots.
Born to Slay
The githyanki were motivated by revenge and convinced that they deserved to take whatever they wanted from the worlds they traveled. Ranging out from the titanic city of Tu’narath on the Astral Plane, they send raiders out to plunder the Material Plane and other worlds, bringing treasures and slaves back to their ageless realm. At the same time, they hunt down and kill mind flayers whenever possible, as recompense for what the illithids did to them.
If the two races were ever to team up against the illithids, a combined force of gith could conceivably tip the balance in their favor. But as long as the githyanki and githzerai stay at each other’s throats, their goal of ultimate victory over their original common enemy will likely remain unachieved. The brutal githyanki are trained from birth as warriors.