Plane-soul

This document has been contributed by: Dr. Cain Temple

Plane-souls are a type of mortal that results from the union of a body on the Material Plane and a spirit from one of the four prime Elemental Planes: Ignis, Torra, Aurelle, or Aquar. This union occurs when a child is born in the right time and place for their soul to be affected by an Elemental Plane shortly after their birth. There also exist extremely rare forms of plane-souls from the other planes, including the transitional planes and the Elemental Planes of shadow and time.
Alternatively, there is another group of people technically classified within this species, though their biology is entirely different from typical plane-souls. These are people who are the offspring of djinni, efreeti, dao, and marid. Appearance-wise, they are very similar to true genasi, and also have ties to the elemental planes due to their otherwordly parent, but are not elementals themselves. For the sake of future clarification, we will call these creatures plane-touched, and the creatures that result from an elemental soul inhabiting a mortal body will be referred to as plane-souls - note that this is not a typical distinction, as the two terms are generally used interchangeably, and that this is purely for the purposes of ease of distinction in this article. Seeing as my primary focus in research is on plane-souls, the majority of the information here will be about them rather than plane-touched; However, I will try to add information about plane-touched as well where I can.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Elemental

Lifespan

100-300 yrs.

Geographic Distribution

• Elemental Planes

Physical Biology

The physical appearance of a plane-soul is similar to that of their parent's traits, however, with a clear influence of the element of their spirit. For example, a fire plane-soul born to dwarves may be shorter and stouter, but with fire instead of hair, red skin, and yellow eyes. Alternatively, a water plane-soul born to goliaths may be as tall as their goliath families, with the same stone-like patterns on their skin, but with green skin and dark blue hair, or an air plane-soul born to gnomes would be short like their parents, but with light blue skin and white hair.

Genetics & Reproduction

Plane-souls cannot reproduce normally to create other plane souls, with their genes instead being passed on as though they were the race of their parents. Plane-touched, however, can - though the further down the bloodline one goes, the less apparent the elemental aspect of their appearace is. Plane-souls are only formed when a newborn's spirit is subject to overwhelming elemental power from the Elemental Planes.

Lifespan

Plane-souls around 100-300 years, depending on the species they were born of. They reach maturity at around 18-25 years of age. They have proven to be uniquely suggestible in their younger years, which may be a factor of their souls being unfamiliar with their environments. My latest research suggests that the best course of action for the mental health and well-being of a plane-soul, as well as for the development of their magic, is to educate them in a separate environment surrounded by their peers.
Notes from Saibra

Dr. Temple's research is now regarded as highly unethical and harmful. Dr. Temple is highly knowledgeable about the topic of plane-souls (which is why his research is here in the first place), but financially incentivised.

Cultural Traditions

Plane-souls tend to be named after the elements that they embody, not as a cultural tradition but more because their parents notice the elemental aspects of their children and tend to name them as such. I find this practice to be somewhat dehumanising, so I do not use this naming scheme for the plane-souls in my foundation.
Fire names: Ash, Cynder, Ember, Char
Air names: Gale, Zephyr, Gust, Echo
Water names: Brook, River, Cascade, Delta
Earth names: Onyx, Diamond, Clay, Pearl

Abnormal Plane-Souls

While most plane-souls are from the primary four elemental planes, they can also come from Tempor and Shadar.

Shadar

Plane-souls from Shadar are rare, as the Elemental Plane of shadow is much more contained, as it is slightly conscious, and so does not leak into the material plane as much. Furthermore, when a creature emerges from Shadar, this is often in the form of a shyft. For information on the shyfts, I refer you to an esteemed colleague of mine, Dr. Fritz Haber, and his research.
Notes from Saibra

Another reminder that older research tends to be less ethical than what the standards today currently are held at.

As for the plane-souls that originate from Shadar, these are much rarer. I count myself among one of the lucky few to have been able to encounter and study one such plane-soul, who has proven to be unique amongst each of the specimens that I have studied. This plane-soul was able to harness the very essense of darkness and shadow, which proved to be an incredibly deadly weapon, especially when wielded at night or otherwise in the dark.

Tempor

Tempor, on the other hand, only ever has one plane-soul alive at once. This plane-soul retains some of the memories of all of the previous iterations from Tempor to exist, both past and future, recieving these memories occasionally in visions. For some, this has caused them to go insane - some bodies are simply unequipped to handle this many memories at once. Others, however, become prodigies in their field, able to manipulate reality. Most notable to me is Athlai Lealla, who has no doubt contributed to this library.