Protean

The denizens of Manywhere are beings of pure chaos, with minds and forms unknowable to sapient beings with physical bodies.

Basic Information

Anatomy

In Manywhere, a protean may be a woman, a stone, a dragon, an atom, a moon, or a single hair. When they escape through rifts to the material plane, they appear as sheets of colorful flashing light, which they often form into a shape like that of a worm or serpent. They are capable of temporarily becoming physical, but soon revert to their immaterial form. Many classes of proteans exist, typically increasing in intelligence and power along with their size.

Biological Traits

Many proteans have the ability to create and manipulate ripples in reality known as warpwaves. Although they do not seem to be able to control the effects of their own warpwaves, the phenomenon is unpleasant enough for creatures with bodies bound to the material plane that the proteans can use it as a weapon.

Genetics and Reproduction

The method of reproduction for proteans, if there is one, is not readily apparent. They do appear to form social groups which may or may not be analogous to mating pairs/triads/etc.

Growth Rate & Stages

Proteans certainly grow, but they also shrink. They have been observed to change very rapidly, over the course of minutes, but due to the difficulty of holding a protean captive for observation it is unknown how long they can maintain the same growth direction. Some proteans, called voidworms, stay relatively small and weak - no bigger than a large dog - as long as they have been observed.

Dietary Needs and Habits

It is unclear whether proteans need sustenance in their true forms. When they take physical form, they require nourishment and may extract energy from their surroundings in the form of heat, magic, or flesh.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Proteans are native to Manywhere, but frequently find their way to the material plane through planar rifts. They pose a serious threat to natives of the material plane, because while they are not always aggressive, their chaotic behavior and explosive powers cause a lot of damage to their surroundings. The large number of rifts in eastern Anaya constitutes most of the reason for the dearth of lasting geopolitical claims in Midir.

Average Intelligence

Although their alien minds cannot interface with those of non-proteans and they do not seem capable of understanding language, their behavior and the observations of mind mages (undertaken at significant risk to the mages' faculty of mind) indicate sapience even in lower proteans. Some sages of the Green Sun claim to have gotten fragments of sense from proteans during their meditations; these form a subset of the Order's scriptures.

Lifespan

Conditionally immortal?

Average Height

Variable

Average Weight

Variable

Average Length

Variable