Undine

These dynamic, fluid mortals trace their ancestry to creatures from the Plane of Water, such as marids, water mephits, and brine dragons.

Undines often go through life in a series of shifting phases, their interests waxing, waning, or sometimes morphing altogether as old loves are discarded for new interests. Structure provides a much-needed focus to undines' lives, and without strong goals or support from those around them, undines can find themselves stagnating in feelings of despondence. Most undines feel they personify specific aspects of water, some seeing themselves with the strength and power of the waves, the speed and tenacity of a river current, or the calm of a peaceful lake or pond. Others identify with all these aspects and more, their demeanors shifting like the tides from one situation to the next.
Undines born with a connection only to a specific subtype of elemental water, such as ice, brine, or mist, might have a specific undine lineage. These are typically passed down from parent to child, as with other geniekin, but on occasion, a child is born with a lineage never seen in their family. Sometimes lineages are the result of where an undine's ancestors lived, such as rimesoul undines being born in the cold northern countries or at the tops of mountain peaks. At other times it can be related to the undine's elemental heritage, as is often the case with brinesoul undines, who usually descend from brine dragons. Mistsoul undines might have a distant but powerful connection to elemental water, or might even have a bit of elemental air mixed into their ancestry.

Physical Description

With all the same diversity in height, body type, and physical characteristics as any other member of their ancestries, undine coloration runs a vast breadth of variation. Most commonly, an undine's skin and hair mimic the colors of the lakes, seas, or oceans near where they were born, ranging from the palest of blues to sea greens and navies. A rare few undines may even take on the bioluminescence of deep-sea fish, the bright colors of corals and anemones, or the pale bone hues of seashells. More unusual traits can include fin-like ears, thin layers of shimmering fish scales covering their bodies, coral growths at their joints or temples, tails with caudal fins, and even webbed hands and feet.

Versatile Heritage

Undine

Uncommon, Undine
A water elemental ancestor influences your bloodline. You gain the undine trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain a swim Speed of 10 feet and the amphibious trait. Like all creatures with the amphibious trait, you can breathe both water and air. You can choose from undine feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Undine Feats

Other Information

Family Relations

Most undines descend from marids— the water genies native to the Plane of Water—and the mortals they take for lovers. These mercurial genies usually show their favor to musicians, dancers, and other artists, inviting mortals of exceptional talents to live with them. Other planar creatures occasionally have undine progeny as well. The children of water, ice, and salt mephits are often born with small statures, nub-like horns, hooked or beak-like faces, or vestigial wings and tails. Those related to brine dragons are sometimes born with draconic wings and tails and almost always have the brinesoul lineage.

Geniekin Cuisine

For geniekin, food is about elemental unity. The tradition of tea is particularly important in Haljaluk, and geniekin tea makers—undine and ifrit in particular—are known for their ability to tease subtle flavors and aromas out of blends. Oread and sylph cuisine emphasizes aroma above all things, infusing rice or wheat with cardamom, cloves, anise, and other spices that create complex and intense tastes. In recent years, ifrit cuisine has taken a turn toward eating dangerous animals and plants. Whether it be snapping flytrap salad, lemon-fried dragonfish fillet, or herb-crusted cockatrice breast, the thrill of taming a dangerous creature into culinary art has become a trend. Oread cooks use components from spellcasters and alchemists in Veldon and machinists in Thrana; with such ingredients, they create dumplings that hold far more soup than they should, cakes that produce bursts of sparks, and even entrées whose steam spells out the cook's name.

Geniekin Trendsetters

Geniekin often find tight clothing restrictive and prefer generous, flowing garments. Recently, this trend has spread from geniekin to everyone in Haljaluk, with people of any gender wearing skirts, though the fabric tends to be cut and folded differently based on the outfit. Jewelry, perfume, and makeup, which geniekin of any gender use to express inner elemental identity, are likewise broadly fashionable there.

Geniekin dancers enjoy the benefits of celebrity and patronage among the urban elite across the Dragon Reach Isles, Dendrah, and the Wyrm Coast. For geniekin, dance forms a narrative, and they often recreate ancient Dendrin tales with elemental flair. Performers accompany the music with ankle bells or, in places of great natural beauty, with the sounds of the elements themselves. In recent decades, geniekin dance companies have emerged, touring the Dragon Reach Isles, Dendrah, and the Wyrm Coast and spreading their cultural influence.

Undine Settlements

Undines are the geniekin most likely to form their own settlements and communities, whether on Mythgrios or the Plane of Water. Many undines live in the Dragon Reach Isles a stretch of hundreds of islands that exist between Nethran and Avashier with a powerful, primal connection to elemental water. In Shokaiton, the Chidao Provence was struck by a series of storms that flooded the land; now, many of Chidao's children are born as undines.