Genasi
Basic Information
Biological Traits
Genasi are mostly like other humanoids on a foundational level, but possess unique characteristics depending on their specific elemental heritage. For example:
Air genasi typically have light blue skin, hair, and eyes. A faint but constant breeze accompanies them, tousling the hair and stirring the clothing. Some air genasi speak with breathy voices, marked by a faint echo. A few display odd patterns in their flesh or grow crystals from their scalps.
Elemental earth manifests differently from one individual to the next. Some earth genasi always have bits of dust falling from their bodies and mud clinging to their clothes, never getting clean no matter how often they bathe. Others are as shiny and polished as gemstones, with skin tones of deep brown or black, eyes sparkling like agates. Earth genasi can also have smooth metallic flesh, dull iron skin spotted with rust, a pebbled and rough hide, or even a coating of tiny embedded crystals. The most arresting have fissures in their flesh, from which faint light shines.
Nearly all fire genasi are feverishly hot as if burning inside, an impression reinforced by flaming red, coal- black, or ash-gray skin tones. The more human-looking have fiery red hair that writhes under extreme emotion, while more exotic specimens sport actual flames dancing on their heads. Fire genasi voices might sound like crackling flames, and their eyes flare when angered. Some are accompanied by the faint scent of brimstone.
Most water genasi look as if they just finished bathing, with beads of moisture collecting on their skin and hair. They smell of fresh rain and clean water. Blue or green skin is common, and most have somewhat overlarge eyes, blue-black in color. A water genasi’s hair might float freely, swaying and waving as if underwater. Some have voices with undertones reminiscent of whale song or trickling streams.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Due to their inherently unique origins, Genasi can be found anywhere on Neuorban.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Most Genasi are named in their native language, Primordial. However, in Primordial, names are more a conveyance of one's inner person. So a Genasi name in Common may be Treads-On-Coals, Winding-Waters, Waking-Cloud, Follows-Chalk, etc. These names are rarely perfect in translation, but serve their purpose when dealing with "Untethered".
Beauty Ideals
Genasi find beauty in nature. Not just in wilderness, but the very natural processes of the world. Whether it is admiring the slow process that formed local rock formations or being awestruck and humbled before a great storm, Genasi believe that beauty lies in the essence of a thing, and that adding to it often times diminishes said beauty.
Courtship Ideals
Inked Lady missionaries note that most Genasi are monogamous in nature and believe in life-long bonds. Though to say they believe in marriage like the outside world does would be a falsehood. Genasi believe in marriage so far as believing the two people in question are bonded to the other, but it lacks much of the undertones of control. They do not refer to one another as "my husband" or "my wife". In fact, in Primordial, they are often referred to as the same entity, with the distinction between the two relying on context and the special conveyance of magic in the language itself.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Primordial is the tongue of all Genasi, imprinted in them from the moment they are born into the world. Primordial is not a written language so far as the Material Plane is concerned. Those select few who have knowledge of the Elemental Planes claim that "written" Primordial can be best understood as "living script". Sigils are randomly constructed and ultimately mean nothing. Sigils of the exact same structure can mean infinitely different things based on the magic imbued in their initial creation. It is that magic infused in the script that carries meaning, but only those of elemental nature can see said magic. So, Genasi tribes can and do carry written histories, stories, etc. but only Genasi can hope to read it in Neuorban realistically, aside from extremely rare exceptions.
History
Genasi have been in Neuorban as long as other mortal races have been, though many have never felt a true part of the rest of the world. Their creation is widely believed to be the product of early rifts that existed and connected to other planes when the world was young. While the intermingling of denizens from the Elemental Planes with mortals did play a role, the greatest factor was the sheer outpouring of altering elemental energies, which quickly morphed them into what they are today.
Genasi know they are of dual nature: products of both the Material and Elemental Planes. They live with the constant knowledge that another place calls out to their very spirits, though whether that place would truly be a fit home for them either is uncertain. Because of this, Genasi are very rarely seen integrated into the rest of the world. This isn't due to any ideas of racial superiority or inferiority, but ties once again into the kindred feeling of being strangers in Neuorban. Even their first tongue cannot be understood by most denizens of the Material Plane, aside from the odd learned wizard or scholar. They also are very content in their nature, most seeing no desire to build great cities or construct technological marvels. While to most this has branded them a backwards people, that notion reflects more on the outside world than it does the Genasi. The Genasi are capable and have produced great epics and poetry, have mastered their lands without breaking harmony with it, and are overall not so different from the other races at their core.
The major obstacle was and very much still is the language barrier. However, in 56 MIE, the first missionaries of the The Chapel of the Inked Lady bridged the gap that divided Genasi and Untethered. It was an equal effort of both sides, with the missionaries choosing to live with the tribes for months, even years, in order to not only build relations but a system to teach Common to the tribes and in turn learn how to speak Primordial from the Genasi. Missionaries of the Inked Lady are one of the only groups of people who are likely to speak Primordial, as they still have strong relations with the Genasi tribes and have ensured those first missionaries who were taught by the tribes in turn taught the next generation. This was further bolstered when Genasi would become converts to the Chapel. While this meeting of two worlds was indeed a great success, the Genasi in truth have few allies in the world outside their people. In the Esen Confederacy, Genasi tribes are often seen by their Confederate neighbors as nuisances rather than potential allies. They do not understand or care to understand why the Genasi do not desire a materialistic lifestyle, or that their self-imposed isolationism hold no ill will. This has lead to violence from time to time, for the Genasi are vehement about not becoming integrated and losing their identity. Though there are some Genasi tribes that are in good standing with Confederate settlements, even having open trade with them.
Genasi know they are of dual nature: products of both the Material and Elemental Planes. They live with the constant knowledge that another place calls out to their very spirits, though whether that place would truly be a fit home for them either is uncertain. Because of this, Genasi are very rarely seen integrated into the rest of the world. This isn't due to any ideas of racial superiority or inferiority, but ties once again into the kindred feeling of being strangers in Neuorban. Even their first tongue cannot be understood by most denizens of the Material Plane, aside from the odd learned wizard or scholar. They also are very content in their nature, most seeing no desire to build great cities or construct technological marvels. While to most this has branded them a backwards people, that notion reflects more on the outside world than it does the Genasi. The Genasi are capable and have produced great epics and poetry, have mastered their lands without breaking harmony with it, and are overall not so different from the other races at their core.
The major obstacle was and very much still is the language barrier. However, in 56 MIE, the first missionaries of the The Chapel of the Inked Lady bridged the gap that divided Genasi and Untethered. It was an equal effort of both sides, with the missionaries choosing to live with the tribes for months, even years, in order to not only build relations but a system to teach Common to the tribes and in turn learn how to speak Primordial from the Genasi. Missionaries of the Inked Lady are one of the only groups of people who are likely to speak Primordial, as they still have strong relations with the Genasi tribes and have ensured those first missionaries who were taught by the tribes in turn taught the next generation. This was further bolstered when Genasi would become converts to the Chapel. While this meeting of two worlds was indeed a great success, the Genasi in truth have few allies in the world outside their people. In the Esen Confederacy, Genasi tribes are often seen by their Confederate neighbors as nuisances rather than potential allies. They do not understand or care to understand why the Genasi do not desire a materialistic lifestyle, or that their self-imposed isolationism hold no ill will. This has lead to violence from time to time, for the Genasi are vehement about not becoming integrated and losing their identity. Though there are some Genasi tribes that are in good standing with Confederate settlements, even having open trade with them.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Genasi have a universal term for non-Genasi: Untethered. Genasi believe they are bound to the very elements of creation itself, while others are clearly not. The term is not meant to be derogatory, rather it is a reminder to themselves that they see the world inherently different than most other races. Though they hold no inherent ill will, this fundamental difference between them and the rest of the world, alongside a very real and unfortunate history with their foreign neighbors, leads many to be cautious around Untethered. In Esen, many Genasi do hold Aestabari as inherently dangerous to their kind. Being of otherworldly descent themselves, Genasi that once lived in The Great Scorch thought they might finally have neighbors who could understand them and help them combat the diabolic tribes. However, their people shared even more polarizing differences between them than other Untethered, which led them to be unceremoniously ousted from lands they once called home. Inked Lady missionaries have tried and some even have successfully helped returning Genasi tribes reinstate claim to their ancestral homes in the desert in recent years, though this has been a hot issue in Esen-Aestabari relations.
Lifespan
30 -120 years
Average Height
5-6 ft.
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