Stock - Oreades

a.k.a. Orestiads / Rock Sprites / Lithites / Gemfolk

Partly inspired by a few things in Veins of the Earth, by Patrick Stuart. Archeans meet Greek mountain faries meet Tolkienian dwarves.

They move like aged dancers... They haunt volcanic rims and know the terrors of the Igneous Wrath and see the hunts of Pyroclastic Ghouls. Albino crabs that bathe in sulphur fumes from deep-sea vents might startle at the touch of pale metallic fingers, climbing precisely up out of the boiling smog and into the abyssal sea. In pressure liquid lakes a mile beneath sub-artic frozen seas a ferrous-copper eye might blink. On xenolith interior moons. In mines. Between rocks, and within them. Without light. Without heat. Without time. They feast on radiation, blackness, and silence.

— Veins of the Earth

Mannish civilisations know very little about oreads. If they know anything, it is that they are old, indifferent, and have little need of anything from the surface world. They are almost completely outside of the normal cycles of organic life. They may be slow, but attacking one with a sword is like trying to cleave an anvil: You'd more likely fuse your weapon to their flesh.
See Oread Traits & Lifepaths for game rules about playing Oreads as PCs.
Note: Use 'Dwarven' Lifepaths (BWG pg 110) as a temporary stand-in.

History

In truth, they were created by accident, but they were there since the beginning. When Loke came into existence they were pockets of chaotic energy trapped and sealed within Her form as she expanded to fill the Void; it took untold centuries for them to precipitate through Her flesh and to settled out into resonant minerals. Then the breath of Alígra passed through Her capillaries and vitrified them into abstract consciousness. Millennia followed as they fumbled around their new minds in ignorance, incapable of understanding their isolated surroundings. Millions of years of absorbed radiation and exposure to wild magics slowly but finally gave them autonomy, and they were released from their stony sarcophagi. It till took decades before any of them found each other and they learned they weren't alone.
The first oread tribes were small and disparate. Some barely lasted a few years, thanks to external disasters, being trapped, or simply each of them running out of energy. It could take centuries for some of them to recharge, during which time their bodies might be subjected to more natural torture. It's a wonder they didn't all go mad, or perhaps they did for a time...

Class Schema

The Katharόs or "Queens" were the first and the purest of the species. They started out as heavy radioactive elements. Some were more physically stable than others, like Titanium and Gold; others were less lucky, like Iron or Phlorine; and don't even ask about Rubidius. Churned by the gizzards of the world and unable to truly die, these too broke-down and reformed in the earth becoming simple compounds: alloys and crystal gemstones, reforged by high pressures and chemical soups. A new class was born—these became the Ikanόs or "Workers"—the back-bone of all oread society taking on roles as artisans, scholars, engineers, and millitary leaders. Eventually though they would get melted or shattered too. Drifting sentient gasses and aggregated consciousnesses were compressed or reconstituted into a third class: the Miktόs or "Drones". Though they are perhaps the most stable forms of the oreads, they have also lost the most of their acuity and mass and are often only used in oread society as laborers, guardsmen, farmers, secretaries, and—only when absolutely necessary—as expendable soldiers.
Out of a necessity to preserve their oldest and wisest citizens, they banded together. The veins of the earth are a cold and unforgiving place; and mere survival is not enough. The oreads do everything they can to preserve their culture, because they know what awaits them if they do not:

They will cut cities from bare stone, tear up every vein, embelish every surface, then when there is no unworked spot or unplanned gap, when every single piece and thing has become a channel for planned creation, when even the pebbles stare up from the floor with idly-carved eyes, then they move on.

— Veins of the Earth

They are known as the Trelόs or Vathýs, Dvargir, or Deep Ones. They are a breed of oread beyond civility. They are the oreads that never found neighbours, or who were cut off by the fallout of surface turmoil, tectonic motion, or other disasters. They are completely insane. All they do is work, all they know is work. Something snapped in their minds, and now the passion that the Ikanόs share for artistry and industry is stuck in an eternal feedback loop. They work themselves to death; then get back up seven centuries later and start working all over again. It's the only thing they understand. They are working to be working. Work is the plan. Work is the point.
The oreads try avoid the vathys as much as possible. Getting in their way only leads to war. Entire colonies have been moved in the past, simply because a band of Trelόs were passing through. They scare the oreads so much because they are a reflection of their ultimate fate: Eventually, they will all become like this, all they can do is delay.
Note: Since the Trelόs are a 'broken' sort of oread, it doesn't really refer to a specific class, so vathýs is usually a better collective term for them. But below even the Trelόs or the Miktόs the there is a sort-of fourth tier called the Zόs. These are similar to Miktos in chemical composition, but they have lost all of their sapience and so behave more like wild animals. They even lose their humanoid shape. Some are kept as pets or familiars, others are abandoned. Such is the curse of the oreads strange immortality.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Their skin is often lustrous; their muscles, angular and crystalline; they are Shaped from Earth and Stone.
Bipedal humanoids with electric nervous systems, bones of metal, and flesh of living stone. The tall and often lithe Katharόs have Massive Statures, whereas the Miktόs are Diminutive and stout, and the Ikanόs are Middling and most human. They are Unageing though, and do not grow as organic creatures would: Long lost individuals may be awakened and unearthed by new mining operations, but the majority of the populace come from the foundries that function both as 'graveyards' and 'nurseries'.
Oreads are slower than mortal men though. They almost live on a different time-scale: Their Stride is 6, and their max Speed is also 6. But they are a hardy folk: Their Forte cap is 9. Additionally, Katharόs have a Will cap of 9, but a Power cap of 6; and the Miktόs have a Will cap of 6 but a Power cap of 9. And all other stat maximums are 8.

Genetics and Reproduction

There are a finite amount of Oreads in this world. They are all sexless, and so reproduction more akin to death and rebirth: shattering and reconstitution.
There were once all of them Katharόs, but over time they began to fissure: Reacting with their surroundings, shattered from high impacts, melted by lava tubes, or otherwise decaying. It took millennia for them to reformed later as the lesser breeds: Ikanόs and Miktόs. Those that have completely lost their minds in the deep and the dark are called Trelόs.
It seems that there is no strict formula for predicting how many workers fit inside a queen, or how many drones may come out from a single worker. There have been some instances when the death of a Katharόs produces a new Katharόs along with several Ikanόs, or a shattered Ikanόs only makes more Ikanόs; but there is a typically an exponential trend: A queen's corpse will eventually make workers, a worker corpse eventually makes drones.
Sometimes 'lineages' can be tracked: A bronze Ikanόs may be thought of as the 'child' of a copper and a tin Katharόs, for instance. Suffice to say that a part of bronze's 'mother' and 'father' are contained within them, but they are a wholly new individual. As such, this sort of familial / biological terminology serves only as as an inappropriate and insufficient metaphor. And one that most oreads find offensive.
It is estimated that of the total population of remaining Oread, only 10% are still Katharόs, 30% are Ikanόs, and the remaining 60% are Miktόs. The Trelόs population has never been counted.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Deep in the the Veins of the Earth lapping at the earth's passive teat are several species of radiotrophic fungi, slimes, archeae, and algea. The oreads cultivate them all. And they tend the Atomic Bees. Between those two sources; they have all the nutrition they need.

Be sure to bring extra rations, and whatever you do don't drink their damn mead!

— Common travel advice

Oreads are radiosynthetic. They brew mead more immediately toxic to man than anything a profession poisoner has ever concocted. This sustains them: Fuel for their nuclear heart. Then their cities may grow and their work may be done at a semi-human rate. They are still slower, but they have a lot more time to get things done. Beyond their sterile alcohol, they might simply also eat the noxious mushrooms, but culinary arts are not their speciality.
They are almost completely lacking in natural predators or enemies, save the occasional man. Natural disasters are their biggest killer.
Even if they run out of food, or get trapped in a landslide, they might starve; but they won't die. Loke's great burning hearts produce all the food they need, just at a much reduced rate. Oreads are always civilised, but their rate of civility is localised and temporal. When the crops are good and the honey is plentiful humans may observe them as another sapient species. When there are droughts of heat and the bees migrate; mannish explorers may only find empty cities.
Oreads do come up to the surface from time to time, but they seldom set up colonies there as their primary energy sources can't be cultivated. Their excursions are more like outposts: they last a few hundred years up there, and then pack up and report back home. Such out-skirt towns are only sustainable too when times are prosperous and there's a stable trade-line back to the underworld.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

When they're up and active oreads are warm to the touch: They are living radiators, literally. Organic creatures aren't in any immediate danger in their presence, the effect attenuates quite rapidly beyond their main mass; but prolonged exposure to them and their farms—especially underground—and over several years—can slowly induce disease.
A freshly shattered oread is a huge health hazard for most organic life. Their bodies may be made up of precious materials, but the few mannish civilisations who have come into contact with oreads, warred with them, and then tried to process their bodies, have quickly learned that anyone who handles the corpses of the mountain sprites dies within a few years from radiation poisoning or cancer. This poorly understood but easily observed toxic effect that oreads have on people almost always leads to stalemates, followed by uneasy peace, and eventually limited trade—but there is always an err of caution.

Facial characteristics

Most oreads look remarkably mannish. The Ikanόs especially: They have articulate expressive faces and thoughtful eyes. The Miktόs tend to wear more hardened expressions. Most of them even grow crystalline structures on their heads that a human would probably identify as hair or beards (though restyling can take a few decades), these can be very beautiful and colourful depending on what crystals they choose, but they try not to grow them too long, lest they become hazardous. They are otherwise bald though. Some surface-dwelling oreads have even opted to start wearing wigs made from animal or human hair instead.
Queens are more alien; often sporting horns or crowns of metallic flesh, glowing molten eyes, a second or third set of limbs, billowing gaseous hair, a highly reflective lustre, and a genius intellect. Add to that their already towering stature. They can be quite intimidating.

Morgaine le fey by DC comics

Oread by Paizo Publishing

Geographic Origin and Distribution

The oreads are found all across the world on Loke: Set up in underground hotspots and deep-sea ocean trenches. They are technically a migratory species, but humans would never call it that. There's probably a few colonies in hell too.

Average Intelligence

Queens have an extraterrestrial acuity, they are strange to us, their language is dense with triple-entendre. They are ironclad.
Workers have a roughly human-level of sapience. They question things like a child in a classroom, they always seek new understanding, but they immediately seem wiser after they get their answers.
Drones are more docile, more terse, less energetic. They may be slower of mind, but by no means are they lesser of mind.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The audio-visual receptors of Oreads make them Accustomed to the Dark. They cannot see in complete darkness, but they can see perfectly well in every other lighting condition. They predominantly light their houses with slow burning oil lamps and carry candle lanterns down their dark roads. Their perceptions are aggregated from electro-magnetic radiation and physical reverberations: Sight and sound are practical inseparable from their point of view. They can hear colours and see music.
They have absolutely no sense of smell, and are in fact Unbreathing. They have a sense of touch, but this is partly combined with their visual senses. They have a thermal reception, and they can feel pain and shock and pleasure in approximately the same way that humans do. Their sense of balance isn't much different from humans either.
These facts combined with exceptionally high weight compared to most men means they will sink in water. Somewhat surprisingly though, this can actually improve their senses, letting them "see" in total blackness while underwater, though they move even slower (Stride 5). Thus, some sections of Oread cities are built into underground lakes, half above the water, half below. This helps to conserve lighting fuel. Other civilization are completely submerged, built on the ocean bed in deep tectonic crevasses. Humans have no idea that such cities exist.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Among themselves, the oreads use the True Names of their composite materials to address one another. While professions may be used as part of a title or surname. And Katharόs, Ikanόs and Miktόs are ethnic dividers that serve as a way to clarify social status or formal address.
When interacting with different cultures (especially surface people) they will use the names of their material in a local language rather than revealing the true name of a given material to that person.
Note: On the side-bar to the left you'll see a list of names. For the Katharόs, the list in in atomic order and of the names ending in the suffix -όs are the true names of those elements. All the other names are just common names for common minerals and metals in alphabetical order. Feel free to make up the true names of other materials if you make an Oread character of your own.

Major Organizations

Agartha is the largest known oread settlement in the world, situated directly beneath the central island; built around part of heavenspear's axis.

Beauty Ideals

The lithites find those of their kin who are tenacious and lustrous to be the most beautiful. A perfect cleavage, good grain, and a high refractive index are equally adored as well. Striation lines and conchoidal fractures are appreciated like how humans appreciate freckles. A geometric mind, and good spacial awareness are celebrated mental traits. Horsts, and fibrous or hackly fractures are usually considered ugly.
Very rarely, an oread is born with a crystal twin. The twins are nearly identical clones and are conjoined initially, but become separated after a couple of years. This is the only known way that an oread is able to 'multiply', the the exact mechanics and conditions required for the process to take places isn't exactly known. So when it does happen the pair are culturally celebrated like a power couple; and they are frequently known to take each other as adels in later life.

Gender Ideals

Being sexless, they are almost all agendered. The only oreades who take on mannish gender identities are those who must regularly deal with surface societies, and even then they seldom carry those identities back to their home colonies.

Relationship Ideals

While it is true that all oreades are asexual, they are not necessarily all aromantic. 'Idyl' is their word for it. The closest translation is probably akin to most mannish concepts of romance or love, but there's a deeper layer of camaraderie to it too. There are two main 'romantic structures' or 'family types' typically seen throughout Oread societies:

Intraclass Idyls

An oread's 'adel' (plural: adels) are romantic interests within their own ethnic class. Two or more Ikanόs, say, who become fiercely loyal to one another. A triad of Katharόs who rule a colony together. A family of Miktόs who all live and work in the same mine.

Interclass Idyls

This usually takes the form of a singular 'mité' of higher class and one or more 'kóri' of the class below. A Katharόs and her royal Ikanόs guards. An Ikanόs craftsman and their Miktόs apprentice. Or an Ikanόs hoplomachos and his Miktόs hoplites.

The haremesque interclass romances are curated by the larger class schema: In a certain sense an entire colony is one big family consisting of sub-familes. Interclass relationships bind them through subordination, and intraclass idyls bind them by association. All of this is to say that—as their common class names suggest—the analogy with bees and ants is not unwarranted, as the oreads are a predominantly Eusocial species. This was a collective cultural choice: The choice to prioritize survival of the whole over survival of fittest. The choice to preserve and celebrate the legacy of the group, that may in some instances span over a million years.
The dreaded vathys seem to have taken this utilitarian ethic to a different extremum.

Average Technological Level

Certain limitations imposed by either living underwater or deep underground, and certain exploits attained by being made of ageless stone, means that the Oreads have made some remarkable leaps and bounds in technological advancements within certain niches; but are completely lacking in other areas.

Notable Oread Inventions

Specifically these are things that were probably first invented or discovered by oreads, and have either been subsequently traded with humanity, or independently invented elsewhere on the surface world. Things like: Enchanting, apiary, alcohol fermentation, braille, binary algebra, stoneware, ceramics, watermills, dynamite, scrimshaw, glue, hammers and mattocks, lathes, palaeontology, wax casting, simple metallurgies, and safety lamps.

Things That Oreads Want

With their bounty of specific knowledge to share, and easy access to rare earth metals, the oreads have plenty that they'd like to trade for. These are things that oreads have no easy access to underground. They're not always things that they have any real need or use for, but they are fascinated by surface world cultures and craftsmanship:

• Clothes, Rope, Fashion and Textiles— They like the patterns and colours and intricacies and textures. So soft and smooth. Such things are their biggest import.
• Wood and carpentry and paper— Ha ha, what's a tree? (Second biggest import).
• Bottles and glassblown wares— They don't have lungs remember.
• Advanced metallurgies— They lack a consistent source of hot enough fuels to make more advanced metals like crucible steel (unless they go very deep indeed or tap into a lava tube, which is always risky).
• Taxidermy— Skeletons and stuffed animals and sculptures for learning about surface ecology and history. Bouquets of flowers are of particular interest because they are so temperamental.
• Beds— Oreads sleep to conserve energy, but just sort of power-down. They find the idea of lying down first quite novel.
• Boats— Again mostly for the novelty of trying to go on top of the water instead of under.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Oreads can learn mannish languages but they have smaller mouths and narrower lips than most humans, and most don't have teeth per-say, more of a ridge of blade-like metal. They lack any breath too, so their voice comes from guttural reverberations. This makes their speech heavily accented.
Their native tongue—referred to by surface scholars as Ellinika, or simply Orestiad—is quite hard for most men to pick up, so a sort of intermediate language was developed over the centuries in places where oreads came to the surface. Each of these developed independently though, which has lead to several breeds of this pseudo-language, each with several dialects and loanwords. So oreads have continued to speak 'Old Ellinika' with each other back underground; but traded items that they have no suitable words for get carried back with them too. So there's cross over in both directions.
The oceanic and coastal oreads have another language again; one that is practically unheard and unstudied and unpronounceable by man because it requires a lung full of water.

For writing

Oreads developed a Braille-like language that they can read blind. This consists of small dimples cut into stone. Each character fits within a 2 by 3 grid, for a total of 64 major characters, plus 16 intermediary grammatical characters formed on a 4 by 1 grid. It was originally used to carve stories into long corridors, so that you would walk down it with your hand on one wall and recite the tale. Very old roads in the veins have days-long epics inscribed on them. More modern books are written on clay tablets in smaller print, and they reads in a boustrophedon pattern (right-to-left alternating left-to-right) so that a reader never has to take their hand off the text. In Agartha and a few other places they even have rudimentary printing presses for distributing state news and edicts.

Common Dress Code

The oreads are largely naked, and rarely wear armour on top of their natural stone or brass skin. Thus, anything they adorn is an accessory really. They don't need clothes to survive, but they like them nonetheless. Oread fashion began as an attempt to find a use for the skins and bones of native animals in the veins: Traditional oread clothes are things like priest-pig leather wrist and ankle sleeves adorned by scissorfish scales; ruffs of alkalion fur; cloaks made from spotlightdog pelts with blackfoot ermine trim; scrimshaw tiaras; toraptoise shell jewelery; and so on. They can get quite creative, but they are sure to never cover any of their joints with stiff articles that would impede movement. Hence, their faces, hands, elbows, armpits, belly and chest, pelvis, knees, and feet are almost never covered.
Modern mannish fashions are really starting to catch on though, even below-surface. They go against the traditional sensibilities, but because the human clothes made from fabrics are far more flexible, it usually doesn't matter. (Most of the time such clothing is worn in cities and such too, not while out of expeditions). Certain types of clothes are still preferred though, specifically: Vests, skirts and kilts, scarfs, hats, legwraps, and shawls. Dresses and gowns are a particular favourite. Oreads never wear shoes.
The oceanic and coastal oreads are different again, and are adorned more frequently by symbiotic corals, sea weed, barnacles, and other small sessile critters. They do not trade in clothing.

Historical Figures

Prajapathia, Veruna, and Yamdeva were the local names of the triad rulers of Agartha. Only Veruna is still alive today.

Caryatid column by Paizo Publishing

Scientific Name

Alígra Orestiad

Conservation Status

Threatened / Declinining

Average Weight

Weight is very dependant on composite materials and densities. But a metallic Queens frequently weigh well over a tonne. Workers can weigh anywhere between 250-750 kilos. Drones rarely exceed weights of 400 pounds. This can cause problems for the gemfolk, as hauling an oread corpse requires a Heracleian effort. They like to care for their dead, to give them a proper burial and rebirth a few decades or centuries later. They employ the use of chains and pulleys and cranes to move their dead; trying to keep as much of the body in-tact as possible to decrease the chance of decay and dissociation.
When an oread dies in an inconvenient location, down a cravass, or too far away from home, then the scouts always make a note of the location and report back home; so that an expedition can be made back to that location in a few centuries.

Katharόs Names

Hydrόs, Heliόs, Lithium, Veruliya, Tincal, Diamond, Numuin, Vyan, Phlorine, Novum, Natrun, Magnesia, Amalia, Silicium, Lumerόs, Zarniqa, Chlorόs, Argόs, Potash, Calx, Gadenite, Titanium, Erythronia, Chromia, Thessalia, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Zinc, Thyella, Voumnόs, Arsenic, Selenium, Muride, Eosiόs, Rubidius, Ischyrόs, Baltavas, Zargun, Niobe, Erebodus, Masuria, Adistaktόs, Rhodόs, Pallasia, Silver, Vasilia, Indigo, Tin, Antimony, Prithvia, Iodan, Xenόs, Azurium, Barium, Lanthanόs, Ochroite, Praseiόs, Didymόs, Promόs, Samarskite, Occidentia, Polynestrium, Lucia, Dysprόsitόs, Philipόs, Nisiόs, Makrinόs, Choriόs, Cassiόs, Celtium, Tantalus, Wolfram, Potami, Osmόs, Irisia, Platinium, Gold, Hydrargyrum, Thallόs, Lead, Bismuth, Farmakόs, Astatόs, Nychtόs, Gatόs, Peramόs, Aktόs, Vrontia, Protόs, Prajapathia, Veruna, Yamdeva, Pandemonium

Ikanόs Names

Aphanite, Agate, Alabaster, Antanium, Anzonite, Amalgam, Amber, Amethyst, Ametrine, Ammolite, Andalusite, Apatite, Aquamarine, Ashtadhatu, Aurichalcum, Aventurine, Azurite, Babbitt, Baryte, Bastnasite, Bead, Benitoite, Beryl, Billon, Bismanol, Blackstar, Bloodstone, Brass, Brightray, Calcite, Carnelian, Cavansite, Cerrosafe, Chalcedony, Charoite, Chrysoberyl, Chrysocolla, Chrysoprase, Citrine, Coral, Cunife, Danburite, Diaspore, Dioptase, Dioside, Druzy, Electrum, Emerald, Eudialyte, Feldspar, Fireagate, Fireopal, Flowerstone, Fluorite, Fuchsite, Garnet, Galfenol, Galinstan, Glucydur, Goloid, Gunmetal, Gypsum, Hastelloy, Heliodor, Hematite, Hepatizon, Hiddenite, Howlite, Inconel, Iolite, Ironstone, Jade, Jasper, Jeremejevite, Kunzite, Kyanite, Labradorite, Larimar, Lazurite, Lepidolite, Manganin, Magnetite, Malachite, Megallium, Melchior, Moldavite, Molybdochalkos, Moonstone, Morganite, Nichrome, Nicrosil, Nimonic, Nisil, Obsidian, Onyx, Opalite, Ormolu, Orthoclase, Panchaloha, Pearl, Peridot, Petalite, Pewter, Pietersite, Prasiolite, Prehnite, Pyrite, Pyroxene, Quartz, Rhodochrosite, Rhodonite, Rhyolite, Ruby, Sapphire, Scapolite, Selenite, Septarian, Seraphinite, Serpentine, Shakudo, Shell, Shivalingam, Sillimanite, Sodalite, Solder, Spectrolite, Sphalerite, Sphene, Spinel, Spodumene, Staballoy, Steel, Stellite, Sterling, Stichtite, Sugilite, Sunstone, Tanzanite, Talonite, Tektite, Terne, Tiffanystone, Tigereye, Tigeriron, Tombac, Topaz, Tourmaline, Tremolite, Triphane, Tumbaga, Turquoise, Variscite, Verdite, Vitallium, Whitegold, Zamak, Zebrastone, Zircon, Zoisite

Miktόs Names

Amphibolite, Andesite, Basalt, Breccia, Caliche, Chert, Clay, Coal, Dacite, Diatomite, Diorite, Dolomite, Flint, Gabbro, Gneiss, Granite, Hornfels, Lapislazuil, Limestone, Marble, Mariposite, Novaculite, Obsidian, Oilsand, Ore, Pegmatite, Peridotite, Phyllite, Phyolite, Pumice, Quarzite, Rocksalt, Sandstone, Schist, Scoria, Shale, Siltstone, Skarn, Slate, Soapstone, Tuff, Unakite