Elimo

An insubstantial being manifested by a mortal’s intense beliefs. Pl. bilimu.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Insubstantiates

• Alignment: Ambrosial

• Energy: Likanisi

• Lifespan: As long as they are believed to live; this varies by culture or individual; the Elili are believed to live for 200 years

• Diet: Belief

• Habitat: Varies, but the Elili live in rainforests

Origins

When mortals began to put their faith in concepts higher than themselves without a concept of the Divine, bilimu began to manifest.

Description

Bilimu take the form of what they are imagined to be. The originals were all imagined to be invisible, shadowy figures whose eyes glow pale yellow, but those formed in other cultures might have different forms, though all take on some kind of shadowy substance.

Procreation

Bilimu are formed by intense mortal belief. They may reproduce with one another if they are believed to be able to.

Powers

Bilimu have the powers those who believe in them believe them to have. This varies drastically by culture, individual, and time period.

Bilimu exist because they are believed in, and once they are manifested, they must find a way to absorb enough belief to exist independently of their believers. To do this, they must appear before those who do not believe in them, preferably beings of entirely different communities or cultures. To do this, they must influence their believers to interact with others in a space or way that allows them to appear. Until this happens, they are bound to their believer and can only manifest near to them.

Once freed, they may believe in themselves and manifest individuality. They will retain any powers they had at the time they broke free.

Almost all bilimu are believed to have insubstantial bodies but still be able to interact physically with their hands, if they are believed to have them.

Believed Powers

Some bilimu are known to have certain powers because of the culture that believes in them. The main example is the original bilimu who are believed to have the power to complete almost any simple task for the believer if the proper ritual is performed. Some have the power to steal the souls of anyone who threatens their ward, as they are the imaginary protectors of children. Others believe them to be imaginary monsters, boogeymen, who take children away to the Nether Realm, and others still believe them to be invisible servants who take care of various tasks while the believers sleep.

Weaknesses

If those who believed in the bilimu to begin with stop believing before the bilimu free themselves, they will cease to be.

Nations

While bilimu exist in many nations around the world, manifested temporarily, only four are believed to be an extant nation and therefore are an independent, extant nation:

• Elili: the original nation in southwestern Taggarus.

• Niḻal: a nation in northern Vimala. [tamil]

• Sena: a nation in southeastern Jesenranu. [serbian]

• Yīnyǐng: a nation in Wuordon, considered a servile nation.

Culture

The Elili were formed in the early days of the many mortal nations of southwestern Taggarus, before any were even in permanent settlements. They existed at first as shadows that followed nomadic tribes, but as these many different tribes interacted and developed technologically, as they began to settle in one place, the Elili began to coalesce into a distinct people who began to drift and dwell independently in the deep rainforests there.

The local nations - of many different species - still create new bilimu all the time, and the Elili welcome them to their homes. They often travel into the spaces of these nations to recruit new bilimu, and for the most part, they are welcomed, for it is believed that the permanence of an elimo is a sign that the needs that manifested them in the first place have been met. The Elili are also believed to be able to create new bilimu on their own, so they can and often do.

An Elili community is one built to foster shadows. Canopies and tents (often made with leaves or animal skins) with openings to the sun are used in every structure; there are no glass windows, but there are openings for light to come through when heavier materials (such as wood) are used for the structure. Every room has many nooks and crannies where they might lurk, which is how they rest.

Elili communities are led by their spiritual leaders, the molobi. The molobi guides the community in everything, not just religion, but their spiritual guidance is their primary role. Usually, the molobi is the wisest and eldest of them, but not always. The Elili are believed to center their whole culture on their faith. Every member of the community’s role ties into their faith somehow.

The most important roles in the community after the molobi are the mopesi whose role is to take care of new bilimu; the kosala whose role is to make things; and the moluki whose role is to go into other mortal communities to find new bilimu and to interact with other mortals.

New bilimu, whether birthed or recruited, are given seven years of education in their religion before they are expected to take part in the community. If they are birthed, they grow to full form by this time. If they are believed in, they grow to full form only if they weren’t already fully formed by their believer. After seven years, they are expected to take up a role in the community; the molobi usually assigns one based on the perceived needs of the community. If the individual is not skilled enough at the role, they will be reassigned. If they fail seven times in the next seven years, they are banished.

The Elili are believed to have clawed, shadowy hands that allow them to rend the flesh of animals or the bark or leaves of plants. They use these not for food, but to gather materials for their communities - leaves and skins used for canopies and tents, bones and branches used for support structures, blood and sap used for rituals, flowers and eyes used for ornamentation, and so on. Every animal or plant killed must be ritually honored.

They fear fungi and never kill it. The power of belief from fungal beings is overwhelming to them.

The Elili wear clothing only among their own. When they leave for other mortal communities, they go naked so that they can hide more easily. Amongst their own, they wear desiccated animal eyes as amulets, believed to allow them to see better, and dried and pressed flowers as headdresses, believed to make them prettier to one another. To give an Elili a flower is to tell them they are ugly; to snatch a flower from their headdress is to tell them they don’t need ornamentation to be beautiful.

National Cultures

The other bilimu cultures have some variations:

• Niḻal: this nation is known for being animalistic silhouettes who exist in the shadows of dantakatha. They are associated strongly with cycles, reincarnation, and strength.

• Sena: a nation in Murja known for their association with wind and dried leaves, plants and the Wild Hunt. They are believed to be trouble-makers.

• Yīnyǐng: a small nation in Wuordon who were created and believed to be servants to the Wuordonese ruling classes, and they are effectively enslaved. They are formless shadow figures who can gather dirt and dust into themselves to have a solid form.

Esoterica

Bilimu are beings of likanisi, the ambrosial energy of belief in concepts or ideals, and they are its most potent wielders, as they use it to believe themselves into being. They do not use blasphemy, botshepehi, ambrosia, edayilu, or spirit energy, but they can wield mortal will and the Law, though like all mortals, they are discouraged from use of the Law by Divine retribution.

They are able to use metaphysical, emotional, and mental nommic energies; if they are believed to have a slightly more physical form, they might be able to use some physical nommic energies.

Otherwise, they are able to use any energy they are believed to be capable of.

Religion

Every Elili community is believed to be led by a spiritual leader, a molobi, who conveys the fundamental beliefs of the community and leads them in rituals and rites that exemplify the concepts they most believe in. For the Elili, the concepts and beliefs they follow are that belief itself is a tangible thing - hence, they believe in and worship themselves. The Elili are believed to practice hundreds of rituals that reinforce their self-belief.

Gender

Bilimu have the genders their creators believe them to have. Among the Elili, there are three genders commonly recognized: liboso (female), mibale (non-binary), and misato (male). Liboso take on caregiver, nurturing, or builder roles. Mibale are always spiritual leaders. And misato are usually recruiters. Other roles are not gendered; anyone can be them.

Economy

The Elili’s economy reflects the local mortal economies, and therefore varies by era. Mostly, they are barter-based or slave-based.

Military

All Elili are capable of some fighting to defend themselves from the dangerous beasts of the rainforests, but the manzaka are those bilimu with larger claws that allow them to be more dangerous fighters.

Language

The Elili language is based on Lingala.

Occupations

Some common roles include the following:

• Kosala: crafters and builders.

• Manzaka: hunter-warriors.

• Molobi: spiritual leaders.

• Mopesi: care-takers.

• Moluki: recruiters and liaisons to other nations.

Outside View

The bilimu are thought to be entirely fictional and imaginary by most people. Those who know them to exist think of them are boogeymen, unless they come from a culture with a different relationship with them - i.e., those who know of the Elili see them to be spiritual guides; those who know of the Niḻal see them as spiritual shadows; those who know of the Sena think of them as mischief makers; those who know of the Yīnyǐng believe them to be slaves.

Notables

• Aza Akosala, Elimo Manifest; Aeonian

Estimated Populations

• Elili: 1 million

• Niḻal: 1 million

• Sena: 10,000

• Yīnyǐng: 1 million

• Other: 1 million

Sample Stats

PRO 9
ATH 9
STR 9 Insubstantial form n/a
AWA 8
WIL 10
PRS 8
STH 12