Ordinal Elementals

Elementals embodying one of the ordinal elements - air, earth, fire, metal, water, or wood - or the fundamental viridianites.

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Dendral

Wood elementals.

• Lifespan: 800 years
• Diet: Photosynthesis, minerals, water
• Habitat: Woodlands
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Dendrals appear to be knotted, anthropomorphic masses of wood, root, vines, leaf, and plant parts. They stand about 8' tall, but usually are very hunched.

Dendrals walk with their feet always beneath the ground if they are outside, absorbing minerals from the soil. If they go inside, they reveal massive feet of roots. They are very strong and weak to fire. They can sense plants, speak to them, and shape and alter wood with a touch. If dead or rotted wood is nearby, they may refresh it. They can turn some wood back into the plant it once was with a great effort.

Dendrals must return to their woodlands once a year or they will tire or die.

Dendrals are protectors of forests and woodlands who protect only the plants in the region. They hate fire and axes. They hate imperials and are often enslaved by them.

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

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Genomos

Proto-gnomish earth elementals.

• Lifespan: 500 years
• Diet: Minerals
• Habitat: Underground
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Genomoses are 3’ to 4’ tall beings with pointed ears, stony teeth, bright eyes, and spotted skin. Their skin color ranges from palest white to darkest black, with varying shades of brown, grey, green, and gold in between.

Genomoses seem to be made of flesh and blood, but when they die, they turn back into earth and stone.

Genomoses eat by draining minerals from stone and earth with their mouths.

Every genomos has a different kind of magical olfactory sense. Some have cavefinding sense, others gemfinding, attunement to different kinds of stones or gems or dirt or even fossils, elevation or depth sense, or any other sense relating to earth, stone, and the underground.

The longer a genomos lives underground, the more earth magic they absorb, and the more powers they gain (or the stronger their powers become). Some powers they might have include the following:

• Shape earth

• Malleable stone

• Dust puff

• Gravitational spin

• Bodysqueeze (move through tight spaces easily)

• Burrowing dive

• Tunneling breath

• Earthshaker stomp

• Rockfish (swim through stone)

• Lutifying touch (turn to mud)

• Petrifying touch

Though many others are possible, so long as they derive from earth, stone, or underground.

Genomoses live in deep underground in sprawling, complex communities. They create vast tunnel systems and carve massive cities into deep caverns and hollows. They are run by elected communal councils.

Art in genomos communities focuses on sculpture, architecture, ceramics, mosaics, and other earth-based forms, including certain kinds of painting and drawing and etching. They are known for their complex, multifaceted works that depict the wonders of the world. Geodes are especially sacred to them.

Because their diet is primarily minerals, drained directly from stone and earth, mining and quarrying are central not just for building and crafting, but also as their source of food. They do this work communally.

In the imperial core, genomoses are usually either enslaved or exploited for their mining and magic. They work in the hills and mountains, and those who come to the cities are either brought as workers or slaves. Those who are free live in basements and dark places.

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

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Ka'ar

Salamandrian fire elementals.

• Lifespan : 100 years
• Diet: Over-cooked mortal fare
• Habitat: Arid mountains and volcanic areas
• Socioeconomic Status: Ruling class, privileged oppressed, or oppressed, depending on nation

Ka'ar appear to be hairless humans with mottled, scale-like skin, usually reddish or orange in color. When they pass through a shadow or are in the dark, they glow as if surrounded by a faint flame.

Ka'ar require very little to drink and have small amounts of the various humors in their body. They can breathe smoke, and the most powerful among them can take the form of smoke, though they can only do this once a year.

Ka'ar are beings of aetherial flame, which courses through their blood. This allows them to create and control fire. They can bring fire from within themselves at will on any part of their skin, though they tend to use their hands. They can control any fire near them if they can touch it. Ka'ar are born with a natural talent at controlling and creating fire, and there is a genetic component to how powerful they are at birth. However, it is possible for them to learn better control or practice to be more powerful. In moments of intense excitement, their aura may appear even without shadow around them.

Ka'ar have the power to consume that which they personally have burnt, no matter what it is, to draw back the aether they used. Culturally, this practice is rare, as in their own communities, there are other sources of fire magic to restore them, but it is never looked down upon. Among other cultures, this can alarm people, especially if they have burnt something not usually seen as food.

Ka'ar are resistant to heat. The most powerful can touch lava without harm. Even the weakest ka'ar can walk on hot coals or put their hands in a bonfire. If they drink pure water, it will impact them as a poison. If they are submerged in water, it can kill them.

In the imperial lands, most ka'ar belong to the Niazari nation. Niazari, or cef-ka’ar, dwell in a powerful city called Niazar on the border of two eastern empires, and the city has changed hands between the two for millennia, though always semi-autonomous. The ruler of the city is always the most powerful ka’ar there, no matter their birth, but they prove their power by wielding infernal fire, infernum, which they gain from deals with demons. Their culture encourages ruthlessness and cruelty, and only those who embrace these live long. Regardless of which empire they are part of, they retain some of their original culture and send a force of fiery warriors to serve the imperial military. They worship themselves and sometimes demons. The Niazari are a ruling class nation in the empires and colonies.

If a player chooses to be a Niazari ka'ar, they will have to be one who has either lost their demonic contract, never had one, or is in violation of it and being hunted by their demon. Other ka'ar are the Azari (the originals) and many other cultures from around the world. Consult the GM for more.

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

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Sylph

Air elementals.

• Lifespan: 60 years
• Diet: Water vapor
• Habitat: Air
• Socioeconomic Status: Privileged oppressed

Sylphs are invisible beings made of wind. They can take on more tangible forms by gathering clouds, mists, vapors, dust, and other materials to them and coalescing into a shape. They often take winged shapes, either bird or moth wings, and will sometimes use clouds to give themselves beards. If they take a human-like form, they will be taller than humans. They also sometimes take animal forms, especially moth, horse, deer, bird, or lizard shapes.

Sylphs move through the air with ease, having no need of touching the ground. They fly at any height, so long as there is enough air to move through. If they take on physical form, they tend to be supernaturally strong; in their wind forms, they may be a breeze or a a gale.

Every sylph has a connection to a direction. There are four ordinal directions, four intermediate directions, and two axial directions.

Ordinal:

• North: cold winds.
• South: dry winds.
• West: rainy winds.
• East: warm winds.

Intermediate:

• Northwest: still air.
• Northeast: air pressure.
• Southwest: currents.
• Southeast: turbulence.

Axial:

• Up: whirlwinds.
• Down: gales.

Directions are determined when they come of age and embrace a wind from a specific direction.

There are many native sylph nations amongst the natives of the area. They are integrated into them, living amongst other species, often in egalitarian communities.

Though they are oppressed in the imperial lands, they are considered a more privileged species becuase they are not automatically targeted for enslavement. They are stereotyped as mercurial and irritable, but this is in part due to their sensitivity to the air pollution in the area, which leaves them ill more often than not. They have very distinctive, flute- and percussion-based music that their families often still practice.

PRO 8 ATH 14 STR 9 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 9 STH 11

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Undine

Water elementals.

• Lifespan: 300 years
• Diet: Underwater mortal fare
• Habitat: Underwater
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Undines have fluid forms. Their base form is living water, anthropomorphic figures within the waters, with an unclear boundary between undine and the water they are in. However, they can draw in silt and kelp, coral and stone to create flesh and blood forms. These forms range from animal forms (bulls, cats, fish, serpents) to various mortal species. They have a preference for greens and blues in hair and skin.

Undines have the power to alter their form by drawing in materials from the waters they live in. They can hold these forms for as long as there are three moons in the sky; when any given moon is new, they must return to the water and restore their power. When they start to lose their forms, their flesh becomes very slippery.

Most undines have strong voices. If their lips touch a landdwelling mortal, they can will the landdwellers’ lungs to fill with water (if they have lungs).

They have inherent control of water. They can control water through gestures of their hands. This includes water within a person’s body, which they can influence with to either harm or heal. The most powerful thing they can do is restore fertility to someone.

All undines have an affinity to the waters they are born in. They are stronger in these waters, can restore their health in these waters, and can influence this kind of water more easily than others. There are seven kinds of waters:

• Brackish water: intermediary waters between salt and fresh bodies.
• Lake water: any freshwater that isn’t flowing.
• River water: includes streams, creeks, and so on.
• Sea or ocean water: most saltwater bodies.
• Swamp water: swamps, bogs, bayous, other wetlands.
• Urban water: canals, wells, sewers, aqueducts, any water in a mortalmade structure.
• Waterfall water: rapids, waterfalls, and other strong moving currents.

They cannot live in water that is too shallow to completely submerge them, non-liquid water (ice or vapor), or rain.

In the imperial core, most undines are river-based, urban-based, ocean-based, lake-based, or brackish. They are oppressed, with fewer rights, and often enslaved, but there are many of them who live in the area, and they have organized for more rights than some other species. The river-based, urban water-based, lake-based, and brackish undines are either locals or descendants of slaves, and their forms and cultures vary greatly. If they are local, they are mostly assimilated, though they are known for their disgust with the polluted state of the waters there. They have a reputation as disliking land-based species, but this is overblown.

There are native undine nations in the waters of the region, mostly small communities embedded with other native species. Most live in egalitarian communities there.

Some common nations include the Anguane, whose alternate forms mix fish, goats, hens, ducks, reptiles, and humans. They have complex beliefs about time, the sky, the sun, darkness, and caves. They are connected to spiritual waters. In the islands, there are the Marabbecca, who live in reservoirs and wells and have amphibious appearances. They prefer to work at night. Similarly, on other islands, there are the Pettenedda, who also dwell in wells. They have long hair and nails and are often seen combing themselves. The Manalonga are spiteful and live in ditchwater and canals and pull people in as acts of vengeance.

PRO 8 ATH 10 Swimming 14 STR 9 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 9 STH 9

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Viridianite

Living elemental energy.

• Lifespan : Varies

• Diet: Natural energies

• Habitat: Unsettled regions

• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Viridianites are elemental embodiments of different forms of aether, with a core of viridian aether that binds them together. They take on different appearances depending on the kind of aether that surrounds their core, which is always a green orb of energy. Those that are pure viridian aether usually take the form of a figure that combines features of plants, animals, fungi, and landforms.

Viridianites have near absolute power over nature within their locality. They have influence over other living things near them that are part of their sphere, and they are capable of drawing from their core and channeling viridian aether in its purest form to alter nature around them.

Some viridianites draw other forms of aether around their core, becoming elementals of different kinds. None have multiple forms of aether around their core - it's always one form of aether plus the viridian core. They therefore have forms and powers that reflect the different aethers they wield.

• Chaos: these primordial elementals usually have fluid forms that can generate any natural thing.

• Lifeforce: these elementals of lifeforce often take on the form of silvery flames or silvery living things.

• Metal: these elementals of metal take on the form of metallic humanoids or animals, usually tigers, unless shaped into objects by mortals.

• Weather: these elementals of storms take on the form of storms, sometimes with faces within them in order to relate to mortals, or humanoids made of clouds.

• Light: these elementals of light take on the form of shining humanoids or flashes of bright light.

• Water: these elementals of water take on the form of fluid, watery humanoids or faces within bodies of water.

• Creation: these elementals of creation take on the form of stony figures with tools for hands.

• Sand: these elementals of deserts take on the form of humanoids made of sand or faces in sand dunes.

• Flower: these elementals of spring and flowers take on the form of green beings encrusted with flowers.

• Ice: these elementals of ice and snow take on the form of humanoid figures made of snow or faces within snow drifts.

• Island or Volcano: these island elementals take on the form of humanoids made of the island landscape (varies by island) or humanoid figures made of lava.

• Earth: these elementals of earth and stone take on the form of humanoids made of soil or rock or of faces in rocks or mountains.

• Wind: these elementals of the wind take on the form of humanoids made of wind.

• Fire: these elementals of fire take on the form of fiery humanoid figures.

• Grass: these elementals of the grasslands take on the form of earthen figures covered in grass.

• Moons: these elementals of the moons take on the form of lunar stone and ice with soft reflected light flowing from them.

• Sun: these elementals of the sun take on the form of golden flames with humanoid figures.

• Animal: these elementals of animals take on the form of chimerical animals.

• Swamp: these elementals of the wetlands take on the form of watery, vegetal humanoids.

• Death: these elementals of death take no form whatsoever.

• Wood or Plant: these elementals of plants take on the form of humanoid masses of vegetation, especially trees and moss.

• Star or Cosmos: these elementals of stars and the cosmos take on the form of humanoids of starry expanses.

• Sound: these elementals of sound take on the form of vibrating air in the shape of a mortal form.

• Time: these elementals of time take on the form of ecru light that rapidly ages and de-ages everything within range of them. These are not playable as PCs.

• Harvest: these elementals of harvest take on the form of earthen humanoids covered in fruit and vegetable.

• Shadow: these elementals of darkness take on the form of mortal shadows.

• Conifer: these elementals of the taiga take on the form of earthen figures covered in plants, dry leaves, and conifer needles.

Viridianites have an affinity for other elemental beings, whether elementals or of other species with natural aetherial energies. They can influence them or even control them if they are powerful enough, but they only do so if they feel it necessary to protect their sphere.

Viridianites are embodiments of an element and exist mostly individually, manifesting within areas that are heavy with the energy they reflect - i.e., viridianites within a forest reflect the forest, etc. They exist in communion with the aether around them and therefore fight to protect and preserve it.

Most mortals think of viridianites as nature spirits, which are a separate but similar thing (and invisible), and generally, they are feared because they are willing to kill to preserve their spheres. Many class societies try to either control and harness them or to destroy them in order to exploit the lands they protect. Some, however, try to work with them cooperatively and build around and with them.

PRO 14 ATH 17 STR 19 AWA 19 WIL 19 PRS 14 STH 14