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Insubstantial Elementals
Species without hard physical bodies, usually made of elemental gas or energy.Awan
Living chemical clouds.- Lifespan: 50 years
- Diet: Matter
- Habitat: Anywhere
- Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Ebbling
Living currents.
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Lifespan: 50 years
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Diet: Energies
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Habitat: Moving water
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Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Ebblings are made of water with two orbs of soft blue and green light that move independently within their bodies, acting as eyes. They can draw in materials from the waters around them to make themselves more visible.
Ebblings are elementals of currents. They are attuned to the flowing waters they are born in - fresh, salt, or otherwise - but they can adjust to others. They can sense the flow and currents around them of both water and all esoteric energies.
On their own, ebblings live in small clusters in the wild, absorbing energies, and protecting one another and the waters they dwell in. Many, however, have been captured by powerful societies and countries and used for industrial purposes, their flowing bodies enslaved to machinery.
PRO 8 ATH 12 Swim 15 STR 10 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 7 STH 9
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:
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Exiguus: the first discovered nation, the originals, who dwell in forests and thrive on decay.
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Haurio: festuca who are more parasitic.
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Informis: festuca who shed their flagella and take on amoeba-like shapelessness.
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Limus: festuca who farm slime molds.
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Verbera: festuca whose flagella are longer and stronger.
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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.Hinkypunk
Motes of light that embody the wetlands.
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Lifespan : 200 years
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Diet: Moisture
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Habitat: Wetlands
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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
Jiknjon
Elementals made of freezing air.
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Lifespan : 50 years
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Diet: Heat
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Habitat: Polar regions
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Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Jiknjons appear to be hominid figures made of blue or white air. They are made of freezing vapor.
Every jiknjon has the power to draw heat from anything they touch, leaving it frozen and nourishing themselves. If they do not do this every day - always from some physical, solid object - they will themselves become solid and frozen, dying.
They can float, but they do not have defenses against the high-strength winds and currents of the atmosphere, so most remain close to the ground.
If they are breathed into someone even partly, they can freeze that person and take over their body temporarily (for about an hour before they must leave).
Physical weapons cannot harm them if they are in vapor form, unless they are dispersed by them.
The average temperature inside a jiknjon is -400 degrees.
Jiknjons live in small family groups, surviving off the literal land, keeping it frozen solid for miles around as they nourish themselves. If the group gets too large for their territory, the most able will separate and either find a new group or form one. They have an egalitarian culture, not needing shelter and having no fear of food scarcity, but they are under constant threat from other living beings who blame them for the cold weather or area.
PRO 8 ATH 10 STR 8 AWA 8 WIL 8 PRS 7 STH 9
Mahpiyatuwawa
Living storms.-
Lifespan : 40 years
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Diet: Water
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Habitat: Wide plains
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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
Shabbura
Living nebula dust.
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Lifespan: 50,000 years
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Diet: Energy
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Habitat: Nebulae
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Socioeconomic Status: Unknown to the ruling class or Oppressed
Shabbura appear to be clouds of living dust, coming in every color imaginable. Most are extremely colorful. Within them are flashing lights. Shabbura can will their dust forms into different shapes, and it is a custom among them to shape themselves to have the general outline of the beings they are interacting with. Within the nebulae they live in, their size is mutable, taking in and releasing dust. Outside of their nebulae, they shift size to their intended environment - if they are going somewhere vast, they will be vast; if they are going to a planet, they adjust to its gravity and the standard size of conscious beings there. On Shem, they tend to take on a size about 6’ tall, unless they wish to be intimidating, going as high as 9’, or unobtrusive, going as low as 3’. The longer they live among a people, the more definition their form takes.
All shabbura can absorb energies of any kind, converting them into sustenance, though infernal, imperial, or industrial energies are much more difficult for them to consume and come with great risk. Their bodies are amorphous in their natural state, and even when they are willed into a general shape, they tend to be a little loose.
Shabbura are immune to radiation, cold and heat, pressure or lack thereof, and have no need of breathing. They dwell in deep space, and outside of orbital gravity or atmospheres, they can plicate (fold space) like an asterian. On a planet, mesoplanet, centaur, satellite, or star, they can become amorphous dust and move with the atmospheric flows or similar.
As they age, they gain new powers, but they can only have up to eight at a time. They gain a new power every 500 years, replacing the earliest ones they gained with the newest ones (their shapechanging powers never go away). Some powers they may have include but are not limited to the following:
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Control cosmic dust
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Summon (or create) cosmic dust
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Radiation aura, blast, or core
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Ionized hydrogen shell (absorb radiation)
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Radioactive dust storm
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Cosmic ray
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Long-distance energy sense
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Gravitational control
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Freezing touch
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Burning touch
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Cosmic lightning
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Diffuse matter (not possible with fluctuate soul, solidifying draw, or memory of supernovae)
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Fluctuate soul (not possible with diffuse matter, solidifying draw, or memory of supernovae)
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Solidifying draw (not possible with fluctuate soul, diffuse atter, or memory of supernovae)
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Memory of supernovae (remembering past lives) (not possible with fluctuate soul, solidifying draw, or diffuse matter)
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Pareidolian response (taking form based on the perception of others)
And many others.
Shabbura live in complex cultures within the vast expanse of the nebulae they are born in. They are deeply religious, worshiping Father Cosmos and Mother Chaos, the nebulae, and other cosmic entities. They use their powers over the cosmic dust to solidify it into massive structures, creating temples, warrens, and towers within the nebulae. Their societies are without hierarchy, as they have enough food via the energies of the cosmos that scarcity is unknown, and their forms are so individualized and different that no concept of territoriality exists within a single nebula - and contact with others outside is extremely rare, given the size of a nebula (measured in lightyears).
Those who travel abroad do so seeking new experiences. This is encouraged in their cultures, and given their extremely long lifespans, it is not uncommon for someone to spend thousands of years elsewhere before coming back.
As Shem is a focal point of so much magical energy in the universe, many shabbura travel there, usually seeking to learn more about magic in general. Those who do are advised to go in disguise and to be prepared for the possibilities of hostile enslavers or exploiters. Thus, many shabbura who go to Shem choose to either be unobtrusive or intimidating in form rather than trying to take an average. They think in very long-term ways, so a visit would generally be measured in centuries. Though there are abundant energies on Shem, they learn quickly to be discerning about which ones they absorb, seeking mostly sunlight, natural electricity, or elemental magic. If they spend eight hours under the sun, this keeps them fed for at least a week. A single bolt of lightning keeps them fed for six weeks. The GM will devise a mechanic for this if a player chooses to play a shabbura.
Average: PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 9 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 7 STH 7Intimidating: PRO 9 ATH 9 STR 15 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 7 Intimidate 10 STH 5
Unobtrusive: PRO 8 ATH 10 STR 7 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 7 Unobtrude 10 STH 10
Smaranashakti
Fossilized memories.- Lifespan: Eons if not animate, 40-60 years if animate
- Diet: Seismic vibrations
- Habitat: Underground
- Socioeconomic Status: Unknown or Oppressed
Smokeling
Elementals of living smoke.
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Lifespan : 30 years
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Diet: Wood
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Habitat: Temperate to subpolar regions
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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
Ssthesseme
Living steam.
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Lifespan : 30 years
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Diet: Moisture
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Habitat: Springs and geysers
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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
Vox
Living sound.
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Lifespan : 200 years
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Diet: Echoes
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Habitat: Canyons and caverns
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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
Wakuda
Electromagnetism elementals.- Lifespan: 100 years
- Diet: Energy
- Habitat: Space
- Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Whisp
Living air.
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Lifespan: 100 years
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Diet: Energy
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Habitat: Atmosphere
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Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Whisps are figures of living air, nearly invisible anthropomorphic outlines in the sky. They are made of all the things that exist in air except pollution. Most are very faint in color, but have some sort of visible tinge, usually blue, grey, yellow, or white. They have no discernable facial features.
All whisps have the power to fly. Their bodies expand and contract with atmospheric pressure. They cannot live if they go above the exosphere, and even within the exosphere, they are very weak.
Whisps can sense movement of gases within a mile of themselves so long as there are not too many solid objects to distract them, meaning it mostly works higher up in the atmosphere. If the gases are within 25’ of them, they can sense their movements so long as no solid object surrounds the gases (i.e., they can’t sense gases moving within a boiler or jar, but they can sense air moving around them).
If they choose to create wind, they must sacrifice part of their bodies temporarily to do so.
They absorb radiation and sunlight as nourishment.
Whisps live in nearly invisible communities in the skies, mostly around Gyrah or on clouds, which they sleep on. Their communities are simple and egalitarian, small and tight-knit. Those in the colonies are mostly enslaved, used for air-cleansing or -moving purposes in cruel fashion. Those few free ones in the colonies are often confused for ghosts.
PRO 8 ATH 13 STR 4 AWA 9 WIL 7 PRS 8 STH 12
GrandGuignol
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