Genasi Species in The Twisted Realms | World Anvil
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Genasi

Genasi are planetouched humans, either infused with the power of the elements. Along with aasimar and tieflings, genasi are the most common planetouched found in the world. Technically speaking, the genasi are not a race but rather a general classification of humans who have a heritage (usually unknown) that included some planar being from one of the elemental planes, most often a genie, (dao, djinn, efreet, marid, or jann,) which is whence their name is derived. 

Subraces

Each of the four fundamental elements have associated genies, so the most common genasi were air genasi called Sylphs, earth genasi called Oreads, fire genasi called Ifrits, and water genasi called Undines. Rarest of all genasi is the illustrious Suli, genasi infused with all the four elements at once. These, however, are so rare that they are almost classed as myths.   

Appearance

No two genasi are alike in appearance. Some can pass as normal humans, bearing the marks of their human ethnicity; for others, their elemental nature is impossible to hide. Their heritage is nearly always evident in one or two physical traits, such as skin or hair colour or an elemental aura. Some genasi do not have hair at all; for such genasi, the substance that appears to cover their heads is actually a supernatural expression of their elemental nature.   Ifrit
Ifrits usually have pointy ears, red or mottled horns, flickering hair, and sometimes scales the colour of charcoal covering their limbs or brass-coloured skin. They prefer bright, revealing, fancy clothing.   Oread
Oreads are stout, with stony hair and skin of earthy colours. A few show their elemental heritage even more explicitly, with shining skin, rocky outcroppings, glowing eyes, or crystalline hair but, despite this, oreads are still creatures of flesh and blood. They prefer practical clothing and simple adornments to complex jewellery.   Sylph
Sylphs usually look pale and delicate, but are often more resilient than they look. If they hide the swirling blue markings on their skin, sylphs can easily pass for humans. Other subtle signs of their elemental heritage include slight gusts of wind that follow them and become more pronounced as they experience passion or anger. The most exotic sylphs have hair that twists and coils like mist.   Undine
Undine appear as humanoids with distinctive coloration that resembles bodies of water such as lakes or oceans. All undines have blue eyes, but their skin color ranges from pale blue-white to deep blue or green. They have fin-like ears, webbed hands and feet, and straight, thick hair of a darker shade than their skin. However, they lack gills and cannot breathe underwater. Some undines can change their skin to blend with humans or underwater terrain. In order to facilitate swimming, undines wear little clothing, tie their hair into tight knots, avoid necklaces or shoes, and prefer weapons that are equally effective on land and in water.   Suli
Sulis are the most humanlike geniekin, to the point that they are nearly indistinguishable as children and can pass as tall, beautiful members of their mortal parent's race as adults. Sulis stand out for their vibrant eyes, brilliant bronze skin, and the charm and intensity from their heritage.

Ecology

The child of an elemental creature with a human is a half-elemental. The child of a half-elemental and a human is a genasi. The child of a genasi and a human might show planetouched traits or purely human ones. Thus, overtime, the elemental bloodline is diluted until it is no longer obvious in most individuals. However, every few generations, a child might display his or her elemental heritage as a genasi.   Iftrit
Ifrits are most often the product of an union between a mortal and an efreeti, or less commonly an azer or salamander. Sometimes, an ifrit is born to two human parents, either as a result of a curse or magic. It is said that the rulers of the City of Brass sometimes use powerful magic to seed ifrits on the Material Plane, before contacting them to serve as agents for the Dominion of Flame, but not all such ifrits accept.   Oread
Most oreads are children of unions between humans and shaitans, or more rarely earth mephits or xorns. They can also come into being when their parents mingle with elemental earth energies through various ways.   Sylph
Sylphs are most often the product of an union between a mortal and a djinni, or less commonly an invisible stalker or air mephit, or another sylph. Sylphs can also be born to human parents, as elemental heritage can skip generations.   Undine
Undines are the result of unions between a humanoid and a marid, or less commonly a water mephit, ooze mephit, triton, or nereid. They remain capable of breeding with humans but view themselves as a separate race. Undines tend to be more perceptive and agile than the average human, but are generally more lithe with less muscle mass. They are natural swimmers, have darkvision, and are naturally resistant to cold.   Suli
Sulis are most often the result of unions between mortal humanoids (usually humans) and jann; in this case, they are known as suli-jann. Two non-suli geniekin of different types can also produce suli offspring, as can dual-elemental beings and humanoids; the resulting suli will only possess an affinity for these elements. Suli heritage is usually only known and manifested in adolescence (usually accidentally), or when awakened by an encounter with a genie. Unlike other geniekin, sulis only live for as long as humans do, and their human nature expresses more in their development due to their weaker elemental influence. Signs of janni heritage are easily misinterpreted, and many sulis have been mistaken for sorcerers.

Society

Genasi are a rare sight on the material plane, as such, they don't have any communities of their own since they are mostly born into human society, more often than not to unprepared parents. Despite this and the fact that genasi could be extremely passionate in a way that might seem violent, the race as a whole had a love for family and friends, to the point that few genasi marriages ended in divorce.   Ifrit
Like their element, most (but not all) ifrits are hot-headed, consume life fully, and live for the moment. They often have difficulty adapting to cities due to their tempestuous personality and occasional pyromania, but this behaviour is rarely motivated by true malice. They fit better among tribal societies, where they can easily rise high in the hierarchy due to their instinct to explore and conquer their surroundings. Ifrits are vagabonds and loners by nature, and only have a few close friends. Ifrits endlessly hunger for power and glory, and consider making a name for themselves the greatest achievement, leading them to excel at their job. Ifrits usually see other individuals as tools to be controlled, get along with easily controllable races, as well as elves, whose calm, aloof demeanour tempers their impulsiveness, and tieflings, who share many physical characteristics with them. Ifrits tend to avoid sylphs, and are disliked by halflings, half-orcs, and dwarves for their imperious nature.   Oread
Oreads are generally calm and contemplative, and their rage is difficult to rouse but terrible. While protective of their friends, most do not have concern for the world's good as a whole. Most oreads are conservative and rarely approve of disruptions to their daily life. Despite their seclusion, middle-aged oreads usually feel an irresistible pull to some far-flung location. This pilgrimage's destination varies from oread to oread, usually a place of great magic, splendour, or learning that they are somewhat familiar with. A few are drawn in a blind direction, without any indication of what they will discover at the end of their path. Oreads have much in common with dwarves, feel a sense of kinship with other half-human races, and respect the studiousness and devotion of aasimars and elves. They have few friends and no enemies among other genie-kin. They usually find gnomes too weird and halflings, tieflings, and humans too brash and excitable. Oread adventurers are usually youngsters who wish to see some measure of the earth's width and breadth. They need a goal to justify adventuring, and see little point in seeking peril just for its sake, but once accustomed, oreads often continue to pursue a long career as adventurers. Oreads are sometimes hired by adventuring parties as mercenaries, but they are willing to work without pay if the cause aligns with their own.   Sylph
Sylphs are often raised by their human parents according to human customs. They can be traumatised when discovering that they are not human, especially if the cause is an involuntary reaction to stress, or if they live in a region where sylphs are distrusted, in the process reinforcing their discretion and curiosity. Due to the unwelcome scrutiny they often receive when growing up, sylphs tend to leave their homes and move to other settlements as soon as they come of age. Most sylphs are shy and reclusive, and spend their time eavesdropping on people while remaining unnoticed, in the process learning of dangers to be avoided. A sylph who discovers another of their kind will start spying on them. If the other party is unaware, the sylph will try to learn as much as possible and formulate plans for all outcomes before introducing themselves; otherwise, both sylphs will try to gain the upper hand, eventually becoming inseparable friends or arch-enemies. Sylphs often have an affinity for music. Wind chimes are popular, and often serve to subtly signal other sylphs in case their owner needs to conceal their nature. While sylphs like to spy on most other races, they rarely associate with them. They share the elves' aloofness, but often breach on their privacy. Dwarves consider them flighty and untrustworthy. Sylphs appreciate the bravery and social skills of halflings, to cover their weaknesses, and gnomes share their curiosity. Ifrits find them annoying (which sylphs find amusing), and oreads are regarded as too boring to pay attention to. Communities that have been blackmailed by sylphs or whose dark secrets have been uncovered by them tend to avoid associating with them.    Undine
Undines frequently trade with numerous other races and hold no prejudice against any of them. They are especially friendly toward tritons, elves and gnomes, who share their goal of protecting the water environment, share many interests with non-evil humanoids, and most commonly trade with humans and dwarves for resources. Undines are usually neutral-aligned, focusing on the welfare of themselves and their people over all else. They become adventurers for various reasons: some wish to defend their community's body of water, others seek to learn about their ancestors, and yet others are simply possessed of wanderlust, or are forced to take up adventuring after being exiled from their home.   Suli
Sulis are usually boastful, arrogant, and consider bragging a cultural institution. They boast about their own accomplishments as well as their friends and family, seeking to be remembered for centuries. They are competitive and stubborn, leading to explosive interactions with equally acerbic people. Sulis are friendly with halflings, due to their mutual hatred of slavery. Humans and half-elves are also considered to be friends, and sulis often pass as them in hostile lands. Sulis become adventurers most often to meet people and travel to exotic lands, which they value as much as wealth and power. Their empathy can also motivate sulis to take action against all kinds of threats. Due to their natural charm, sulis are likely to become leaders or take responsibility for diplomacy.

General

Type: Outsider   Adjektive: Genasi   Age: Up to 150 years old   Height: 5ft. 10in.   Weight: 165lbs

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