Elemental Insubstantiates

Species without hard physical bodies, usually made of gas or energy, with inherent elemental powers.

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Derek’ineti

Elementals of the dry seasons.

• Lifespan: 80-100 years
• Diet: Moisture
• Habitat: Anywhere with a dry season
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Derek’inetis are swirls of dust and wind that sometimes take a hominid silhouette form. Their size varies, but they usually prefer to be about 5’ to 6’ tall in silhouette form.

Derek’inetis live in regions where there is a dry season and wet season. In the wet season, they go into hibernation; in the dry season, they come out in full force. They can absorb even the tiniest bits of moisture for sustenance and live off them for weeks. They can control winds, sense water, and speak over vast distances in a whisper. In their silhouette form, they can drain moisture from objects or bodies with their touch.

Derek’inetis live in communal groups in the tropical regions they are from. They are nomads who move through a specific set of locations throughout the season, starting and ending at their hibernation homes. While they hibernate, some few of them take turns standing guard, but they are much weaker during this time. Their nomadic culture is very spiritual and connected to other communities in the area, which they trade with, often performing acts to help with funerary rituals, preservation, or other desiccating tasks.

Those who somehow end up in places without a dry season often find themselves much weaker than they would otherwise be, and they find odd ways to survive, though they rarely fit into other societies. In imperial lands, they are often enslaved or exploited for their powers.

PRO 8 ATH 10 STR 8 AWA 10 WIL 8 PRS 7 STH 9

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Festucam / Festucovector

Conscious and sentient bacteria. Pl. festuca.

• Lifespan: 200 days
• Diet: Detritus
• Habitat: Anywhere
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Festuca have a spirochete form - a helix shape - that has a flagellum. When observed under plain light, they appear to have a green hue.

Festuca are elemental bacteria. Most form a symbiotic relationship with other elemental beings, living in animal guts or amongst the detritus of a forest or deep in a wetland. They are everywhere. They are sometimes spread into other bodies if they are in drinking water.

Because they are bacteria, their senses are bacterial - chemical and tactile.

Festuca can influence the growth and actions of other microbes, specifically other bacteria, protists, and archaea.

If festuca get into the system of non-elemental beings, they may cause infections. These infections vary by species and taxonomic family; consult the GM. Each festucam has a STR rating that determines their infectious power.

Non-industrial beings rarely die of these infections, passing it within a day or so, even with the strangest effects. Industrial beings die quickly.

If a cluster of festuca gather strongly enough in a pile of detritus on a forest floor, and if they have the need to engage with the larger world, they will draw the detritus together to form an anthropomorphic figure that can act on a larger scale. They still will not have speech, but can try to communicate through gesture. These conglomerations will seem very slick and foul to others, as the massive amount of festuca forms a film over them. Festuca only use this to address some urgent danger to their environment, such as pollutants or clear-cutting, making them the subject of many spooky stories told by loggers.

A conglomeration form that merges with another species of elemental alignment shares sentience with them and replaces their natural powers with microbial magic, including the ability to communicate with and sense microbes, the power to direct microbes, an infectious touch, and other powers.

Festuca are intelligent microbes, numbering in the trillions, and there are millions of nations amongst them. The only ones that have made contact with larger mortals are those that hypermicrobists, druids, and other wielders of elemental magic have found. They have identified six notable nations among them. Because the festuca communicate chemically, their names and language has been translated into scientific language:

• Exiguus: the first discovered nation, the originals, who dwell in forests and thrive on decay.

• Haurio: festuca who are more parasitic.

• Informis: festuca who shed their flagella and take on amoeba-like shapelessness.

• Limus: festuca who farm slime molds.

• Verbera: festuca whose flagella are longer and stronger.

• Veteres: “the ancient ones”, festuca who farm archaea.

Their awareness of it is limited to the ways in which they can interact with it - either by directly touching it or through sensing of chemicals. They can, however, determine a great deal from both that goes beyond what one would expect.

Their lives are considered brief by comparison to other mortals, but they consider them full and rich. They know that part of themselves lives on every time they reproduce, and therefore, they focus on what they call obnatus (“growing”), the progression of their lives from fission to fission. In the first five days, they are guided and taught how to use their inherent powers to draw sustenance. In their next ten days, they are guided in seeking out information via the chemicals and materials they interact with. In their next twenty days, they are directed to explore. For the next forty days, they are directed to engage with their community. For the next fifty days, they take part in the tasks and celebrations of the community. And for their final 75 days, they are celebrated and honored as leaders and elders until they split into new festuca.

Common tasks in their community include bringing sustenance to those who can’t find it themselves, protecting the community from dangers such as certain chemicals that are deadly to them, and monitoring the detritus for signs that it is being tainted or reduced. Community celebrations take the form of dances, chemical sharing (which is equivalent to both singing and kissing), and shaping of detritus (devouring it in such a way as to form unique shapes, a form of sculpture). They also often bump into each other intentionally in what is a greeting that is a cross between hugging and handshaking.

Many festuca believe in Primogentius, a first-born festucam who all of them are a copy of. Primogentius is worshiped among some of the festuca communities, usually through special dances of thanks. Larger mortals believe in Primogentius as a god of “good bacteria” or “good microbes”, a sign of decay in nature.

If a player wishes to play festuca, they will play a congolmeration of them who has merged with an elemental being (any other species with an elemental alignment) in a symbioitc relationship, giving the elemental species special microbial powers that replace their other elemental powers. They will not be limited to a 200 day lifespan, as they will be constantly replacing themselves within the body of the host. The lifespan will be slightly longer than the host species' natural lifespan. This only happens if the festuca have a purpose that requires they communicate with larger beings, and this will be determined in the backstory of the character.

Stats vary by host.

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Hinkypunk

Motes of light that embody the wetlands.

• Lifespan : 200 years

• Diet: Moisture

• Habitat: Wetlands

• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Hinkypunks are also called by many other names, including the following: will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp, ignis fatuus / ignes fatui, foolish flame, jack-o'-lantern, friar's lantern, hinkypunk, feu follet, irrlicht, irriwsch, naga fireball, paulding light, spooklight, abu fanous, Sainte Glorie light, hob lantern, corpse candle (erroneously), luces del dinero, luces del tesoro, fifollet, boi-tatá, luz mala, la bolefuego or candileja, aleya, spunkie, or min min lights depending on the area they are from.

They appear to be floating lights, usually a soft greenish white, though some vary in color depending on location. Some may take more solid forms for specific purposes.

All hinkypunks have the ability to sense when someone has entered their territory, usually within 500’ of their homes. More powerful hinkypunks can sense anyone within their entire wetland. They have some control over the wetlands they dwell in, being able to open paths through them for others or influence animals and vegetation around them. They also have excellent memories and know their territories in great detail.

A hinkypunk can blind someone by “taking the light from their eyes” if they are able to touch them. They can fade away at will, becoming invisible for up to five minutes while in their swamps, and for 30 seconds outside of them. They can see further at night.

If someone is a threat to the wetlands, they will lure them into dangerous areas to kill them or scare them. Anyone they kill, they will leave to the wetlands to decay, unless the body is toxic for some reason. Then they will expend some power to turn the body into a simple copper coin.

They float about 3’ off the ground. Because they are made of light, they can enter structures through the smallest cracks. Though they are made of light, they do not give off heat unless they choose to. If they choose to, it is a soft warmth that cannot cause harm.

If they leave the wetlands, they must find sources of water or moisture or they will die within a day. When they leave, they sometimes take on a human-like form that is surrounded by smaller lights; they cannot hold this form for long without returning to the waters of their home unless they have been given power from their entire community to go on some sort of quest for some purpose.

If the wetlands are in danger, they grow in number.

Hinkypunks live in small communities in deep wetlands. They consider themselves the souls of their territories, and they take protecting it very seriously. They do have a mischievous streak in their culture, but they are rarely malicious toward anyone who is not a threat to their homes. Some who see them catch them as they dance with one another or mistake them as they move about as offering guidance, and thus get led into danger, but if they are aware someone is nearby, they will usually do their best to help them through their territory unless they pose a threat. Their dances sometimes include long lines of hinkypunks that others believe to be a fiery serpent.

They view graveyards and burial grounds as sacred and will often shine more brightly within them.

Ancient tales claim they originated from people who were cursed or doomed to haunt the wetlands, but in truth, they were formed as elemental, protective powers. Because they sometimes lure rich and powerful polluters to their deaths, they end up having troves of treasure in their territories.

PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 8 AWA 10 WIL 8 PRS 9 STH 9

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Mahpiyatuwawa

Living storms.

• Lifespan : 40 years

• Diet: Water

• Habitat: Wide plains

• Socioeconomic Status: Native

Maĥpíyatuwáwa are living storms, massive, towering walls of dark, thunderous clouds that form anthropomorphic or therianomorphic forms within their bodies.

Maĥpíyatuwáwa draw in water in the same manner as mundane clouds, but as they do, they convert any elemental energy within it into usable energy. They are living storms; they can control where their bodies go, though they are susceptible to winds and weather patterns that can push them in certain directions - it takes more energy to go against the air currents. They can control when they unleash lightning, rain, sleet, hail, tornados, gales, and so on, but all of these take energy that they must recharge.

Maĥpíyatuwáwa create and influence weather patterns, usually to cultivate areas and protect and preserve nature, while still respecting weather cycles worldwide. They are able to sense and predict the consequences of any alterations they make to the weather in an area and act accordingly, unless the area is polluted, which disturbs their senses. They create patterns by forming their bodies (with one or more maĥpíyatuwáwa) that draw in weather magic in massive amounts, then unleash it into the atmosphere in order to alter the climate.

Maĥpíyatuwáwa can absorb other forms of weather and mimic it in their form so long as there are clouds involved. Though they expend much energy with the more violent forms of weather, they also find themselves expending energy to diffuse their cloud forms to mimic clement weather as well.

Maĥpíyatuwáwa can absorb other forms of weather and mimic it in their form so long as there are clouds involved. Though they expend much energy with the more violent forms of weather, they also find themselves expending energy to diffuse their cloud forms to mimic clement weather as well.

Maĥpíyatuwáwa can shape their cloud forms into almost anything, and they often take the form of a face or even a mortal body in order to communicate. Because they do this rarely, when they do, they are often misconstrued as Divinities by those who have never heard of them.

Sometimes, individuals enjoy the reverence they receive and make a habit of it, which leads them astray of their cultural prerogative to protect and preserve nature. Instead, they become influenced by the culture that worships them, often becoming warlike or dominant until their arrogance gets them driven away, sealed or bound, or destroyed. Other times, they choose to bind themselves to an anthropomorphic form in order to pursue relationships with other mortals (platonic or otherwise) or for some other purpose.

Maĥpíyatuwáwa belong to a single nation in western Palhur, the Oyate nation, which is a nation of many species. While there are other maĥpíyatuwáwa in the world outside this region, they are individuals with no specific cultural identity.

Among the Oyate, the maĥpíyatuwáwa are respected as protectors, guides, and experts on nature and weather. They warn the people of coming storms and floods, protect the animals and water the plants, and bring their wrath upon the enemies of the nation. The maĥpíyatuwáwa stay separate in their cloud forms for the most part, living in valleys and near river sources or over great lakes.

They raise their young, who grow to maturity within months, collectively, then introduce them to other mortals carefully. By the time a maĥpíyatuwáwa is an adult, they are encouraged to explore the world - as clouds, they can travel rapidly - and many do, spending a few years wandering. Most return home and rejoin their people, coming back with stories they share to the community, trinkets or treasures for the non-maĥpíyatuwáwa in the nation, and usually a gift of water for the other storms.

They play certain common roles in the nation - warrior-protector, water-provider, guide, weather-sage, druid, and - but in their own ways. As protectors, they hover around the borders of their nation’s territory and maintain menacing but not storming forms, unleashing their power only if a major threat approaches. They often flow near patrols and provide them cover if they need to rush back and use their extended senses to communicate with them. Water-providers serve as living irrigation systems. Guides disguise themselves as mundane storm clouds and lead mortals on the ground to good hunting spots or other resources. Weather-sages make weather predictions to the community and dance in the skies to communicate it. Druids - called yuwakape - commune with the weather patterns and bring religious guidance to the people.

The maĥpíyatuwáwa are considered conduits to the god(s) and spirits of weather and storms among the Oyate, and they themselves honor Ošíčeča, the Great Storm, who guides all weather. They honor Ošíčeča by offering him discharges of lightning into the sky, leading the mortals below in dances and festivals, and creating cloud patterns that are aesthetically pleasing.

PRO 9 ATH 15 STR 15 AWA 15 WIL 9 PRS 11 STH 9

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Smokeling

Elementals of living smoke.

• Lifespan : 30 years

• Diet: Wood

• Habitat: Temperate to subpolar regions

• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Smokelings appear to be smoke in a vaguely human shape, sometimes with no legs, often with elongated features like ears, fingers, or toes that extend disproportionately. Coloration, composition, and size vary greatly, being any color smoke can be, any composition of smoke (so long as it is elemental smoke produced from elemental fire), and ranging in size from a few inches tall to 20’. They have two burning embers as eyes.

Smokelings have the ability to draw any form of smoke into themselves. They can create heat from their bodies by expending some of the smoke within, using this to burn wood, which they consume as fuel. They have the ability to see heat. They move via flight.

If they are breathed in by someone, in part or in whole, the person breathing them in will be severely burned.

As beings of smoke, most physical attacks do not harm them unless it completely disperses their bodies. The only exception is their eyes, which are solid enough to be damaged and destroyed. If this happens, they are blinded, and may die if they do not replace them within a week.

If they get too cold, they die.

Smokelings form in places with natural sources of smoke, usually wildfires or volcanic areas. After they form, they find others like themselves to band together for survival, seeking fuel together and comfort. They are often captured and enslaved to work in high-heat environments or be used as sources of heat, which they despise and rebel against. Commoners fear them because they are associated with uncontrolled flame.

PRO 8 ATH 9 STR 6 AWA 8 WIL 8 PRS 6 STH 10

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Ssthesseme

Living steam.

• Lifespan : 30 years

• Diet: Moisture

• Habitat: Springs and geysers

• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Ssthessemes are elementals of vapor and steam. They appear to be anthropomorphic silhouettes within clouds of steam. They have two motes of blue light for eyes. Most range between 4’ and 7’ tall.

Ssthessemes have the ability to control water vapor. They can draw moisture out of the air and absorb it for nourishment, or they can alter its temperature or density. They are immune to physical attacks unless it completely disperses them. If they are afflicted with too much cold or too much heat directly, they will be condensed or eradicated. They move via flight.

Ssthessemes exist in places where steam forms naturally, such as natural hot springs, geysers, and similar locations. They form small communities for survival, seeking moisture, living in egalitarian groups. Many are enslaved and used to produce steam, like small batteries that are used up rapidly. Those who live free in the city-states are misunderstood as ghosts.

PRO 8 ATH 10 STR 6 AWA 8 WIL 8 PRS 7 STH 10

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Vox

Living sound.

• Lifespan : 200 years

• Diet: Echoes

• Habitat: Canyons and caverns

• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Living sound, vibrations, only visible when interacting with visible matter; voxes take up about the same volume of space as an average human. They can control their shape, insofar as they have one, to some degree if they wish to, often forming anthropomorphic forms by drawing the vibrating air together. Usually, however, they are amorphous, conscious vibrations in the air.

Voxes are living sound. They build size and volume by absorbing other sounds that echo within the areas they dwell - they can only consume echoes, not original sounds. Many sounds echo in ways that others cannot perceive, a bird’s trill echoing off a branch infinitesimally or the click of a bug’s foot against a leaf on the forest floor nearly silently bouncing off the crack in the leaf. Voxes can absorb these if they can perceive them, which they can as living sound. It takes thousands of these to make the vox grow.

Any sound a vox produces will echo as well, and they can consume these echoes. But in order for this to be worth it, the echo must be more substantial than the original sound, which is extremely rare. Therefore, voxes find places that amplify sound to dwell in - usually echo canyons, caves, and special buildings.

If a vox fills solid matter with their vibrations, they may possess and shape it, sometimes using it as a surrogate body if need be. This lasts as long as they wish or until the material is vibrated to pieces.

Voxes can control the sounds generated by other things, as long as the sounds are either unaligned or aetherial (celestial, infernal, and fey sounds are much more difficult to influence). Some sounds that may seem mundane - a person singing a beautiful song, a story being told, a command being given - are actually aligned - beautiful song may be celestial, stories may be fey, commands may be infernal. Context matters, including the purpose and source of the sound.

To a vox, sound is as solid as stone is to a human. Their control of it is “manual” in that they do so by bodily interacting with it, their living sound touching it and moving it by wrapping around it. If they choose to consume it, they surround it entirely and absorb it. If they choose to control it, they handle it and alter it by altering its shape and speed (pitch and rhythm, frequency and volume, amplitude and intensity).

Most voxes in the region dwell in the wilderness in their own small communities or embedded with native nations. Those who are in the imperial lands are usually enslaved and captured in some kind of magical device.

PRO 8 ATH 10 STR 10 AWA 8 Hearing 14 WIL 8 PRS 9 STH 7