Idea #5: The Rokhs and their Plane of Air
Any high fantasy setting.
These are concepts I created during a god-game that seems to be winding up, I thought I'd share them.
Rocs are an anthropomorphic bird-folk (two arms, two legs, taloned hands and feet, bird heads and a big pair of wings sticking out from their backs), just slightly smaller (usually) than normal humans.
They tend to have a wide variety of different appearances, some looking like hawks, others like ravens or ducks or even big-beaked toucans; most have down in just a single color, but it's not unheard of for rocs to be two-tone, tricolor or even have rainbow feathers.
They're generally good-aligned and have friendly and peaceful personalities; though thieves and bandits aren't unheard of, there have been no recorded examples of true rokh villains. It's unknown if they can even feel hatred.
The first rocs were created by powerful elemental magic; woven from living grass and wood, they were brought to life using the power of water, wind, and sacred fire.
Having no connection to the earth element
You know all those creation stories about mankind being forged from clay? This isn't one of them. |
*, the rocs wield magic as easily as breathing, but at the same time, magic affects them much more strongly than other mortal creatures.
Furthermore, their lack of 'earth' makes them lightweight and fragile; while their magic can heal and protect them from harm, most rocs who try to wade into a melee are likely to (metaphorically and literally) be sent flying.
Most rocs live in the Plane of Air (of a variety described below), leading a fairly idyllic existence of farming, arcane study, divine worship or just artistic endeavours.
A small few live in the cities of other civilised creatures on the material world; this usually happens when a rokh called by a spell makes friends with the local humans/elves/dwarves/etc and decides to stay for a while.
One of the rokh race's worst kept secrets is their capability for rokh-fusion.
An ancient magick created long ago and closely guarded by rokh arcanists and various summoner guilds in the material world, rokh-fusion allows a rokh to be converted into a spirit form and sealed within a living creature or other material vessel.
In this way, rocs can lend their tremendous magical powers to mortals without putting themselves in the line of fire, making rokh-fusion highly useful to adventurers and soldiers.
It's not without its risks, though; rocs sealed through rokh fusion have only limited control over how their host uses their magic, and if they're fused in an item that is later lost, it can be years before they're found again and rescued.
Summoner guilds frequently hire adventurers to track down and recover rocs whose vessels have been lost or turned to evil for this reason.
Hmm, maybe some of this could be adapted to 5e D&D. Anyway, terminology stuff.
Arcane Rocs: 'Normal' rocs, in a sense. They're used to using their magic to manipulate the world around them, and are commonly found in all walks of life.
Martial Rocs: Less common rocs who use their magic for self-improvement, or just let it build up, resulting in their becoming significantly larger and bulkier than other rocs. While they still can't match a mortal warrior for strength and endurance, they're extremely fast and agile, and tend to enjoy competitive sports and exploring.
Blessed Rocs: Rocs who receive a blessing from a patron, be it a god, nature spirit, or some other extraplanar being, tend to undergo significant aesthetic changes to reflect who they serve, as well as their magic becoming ever so slightly stronger. Obviously, most blessed rocs serve as priests or as cultists, though some found on the material world might be missionaries or shamans.
Taakh: The traditional pharaoh of the rocs; theoretically immortal (confirmed extra-long-lived) and a powerful magician, he has the strange trait of never casting a shadow (but he's not a vampire, we checked thoroughly). Most rocs don't serve him anymore (instead forming their own independent states), but he still owns his own great temple in the depths of the Plane of Air, being attended to by scores of devotees and followers.
Garuda: A title given to the most accomplished rocs, who have mastered some art or field of magic. Whether a master shapeshifter, master of song and dance or supreme ninja, every rokh garuda is unique, but most all of them qualify as heroes or alternatively, major boss fights.
Dark Rokh: An extremely,
extremely dangerous kind of undead, created when a sufficiently powerful rokh is captured and has its life force extinguished via a specialised necromantic ritual. With a gaping void filling the hole where their soul once was, they roam the land, sucking the energy out of everything in their vicinity just by their mere presence, and leaving frozen wastelands in their wake. Only powerful holy weapons can dispel the ritual that created one and end its unlife.
Idea #5 Part 2! The Plane of Air (as promised)
This particular Plane of Air is...well, from a certain, metaphysical dimensional point of view, akin to a multiple-layered bubble.
The outermost layer of the bubble is
Sector Theta; this layer of the plane is mostly a space-like void filled with a thin atmosphere, sparsely dotted by nebulas and floating islands; viable entry points from the Astral Plane (or Astral Field, or whatever space in between planes holds them together) tend to have 'space stations' nearby them, small settlements where native rocs monitor visitors to the plane and provide them with care and supplies where necessary.
As well as natural entry points from the Astral Plane, there are also natural warp portals scattered throughout Sector Theta; these all lead directly into the Cloud Corridors.
The structure of the Plane of Air interferes with dimensional teleportation; to enter deeper into the plane requires passing through the
Cloud Corridors, a thickly clouded, stormy realm crackling with elemental energies that distorts and interferes with transportation magic...and a lot of other magic, too. Only a very few types of creature live here, mostly phoenixes and thunderbirds.
Despite that, the Cloud Corridors, while inhospitable, aren't too difficult to travel through; portals from Sector Theta almost always lead to tunnels of clear air that provide safe passage through the fiery, thunderous storm, ending at exit portals that allow passage into the Inner Layers of the Plane of Air. In a sense, it's sort of like a road network where everywhere off-road is walled off by high winds and explosive elemental energy.
The Inner Layers! First up is
Cael Regna, a massive open expanse of shining blue sky, constantly lit by far off suns and stars and dotted by many gas giant planets.
Gravity is unusual in Cael Regna; the gas giants will pull in whatever's near them, but at the same time emit a repulsion field that stops anything from falling too deep into them, creating a sort of equilibrium point that might as well be called their 'surface'.
On the 'surfaces' of these gas giants is where the vast majority of rocs live, forming earthen matter into floating islands and asteroid belts
Do you like Super Mario Galaxy? |
*, and then using those mini-planets/moons to farm, build houses, and otherwise form communities.
Arcana Regna is another of the inner layers; it has no suns or gas giants, instead the whole region is filled with dim, luminous fog, which can make it somewhat tricky to navigate for visitors.
Rocs live here too, hidden deep in the mists, having entire foggy cities or dungeons or wizard towers, pretty much guaranteed to not be attacked by invaders.
This is actually prime real-estate for ancient wizards and other powerful mortals who need a place where they won't be disturbed; a few anti-scrying wards and the natural fog ensure that nobody will find and bother them.
The last of the Inner Layers is the
Garuda's Nest; unlike the other layers (Inner and Outer) with their wide open spaces and limited gravity, the Garuda's Nest is one great
flat plane, with a universal up and a universal down.
The Garuda's Nest is pretty close to a mortal world, with grasslands and plains and oceans extending in all directions
Wondering what happens if you fly far enough up or dig/swim far enough down? You get turned around at some point; non-euclidean space stuff. |
*...except, that, most of the plane's surface is covered in clouds.
Mountains exist in the Garuda's Nest, but are difficult to climb, due to each one typically being shielded by hurricane force winds and tornadoes and whatnot; nevertheless, the tops of these mountains poke above the clouds, and these mountaintops are popular places to rocs (and a few mortals) to live.
Another trait of the Garuda's Nest is that it has a clear 'center' of the plane; the biggest mountain, with the biggest hurricane circling its midpoint, with the top of the mountain featuring Taakh's own Grand Temple.
Beyond the Inner Layers are the Deep Layers; usually inaccessible, though powerful magic used in the Cloud Corridors can enter them.
The
Grand Vortex is the first of the Deep Layers, and is an absolute
maelstrom of elemental chaos; this part of the plane is responsible for soaking up stray magical energies and purifying them (if necessary) before releasing them back into the Cloud Corridors or compressing them into powerful mana crystals.
Living here is not recommend; visiting here is not recommended, unless you're a powerful wizard who wants to collect the aforementioned mana crystals; they make powerful spell components, you see.
The
Bleak Abyss is the deepest, darkest layer of the Plane of Air; constantly drained of energy, magic and lesser matter by the Grand Vortex, it is a pitch black, frozen over void.
Very few creatures would be able to survive even setting wing into the Bleak Abyss, and even fewer (mostly divines) would be able to muster the magic required to escape it; this makes it a pretty good dumping ground and/or prison for the irredeemably evil, and dangerous artifacts.
Bonus mini-idea: Levitium!
Levitium is a kind of translucent mineral; it faintly glows and has a cloudy appearance, making a chunk of it look like a crystallised lightning storm.
It's got unusual properties in that it makes itself float. It's a floating rock. And it's pretty good at supporting weight.
For this reason, Levitium is useful for making archaic hovercraft and floating platforms, or in large amounts floating islands, without much or any magic being required.