Tag: OSR (Page 5 of 19)

A new kind of primordial. This is a bit different in that I do not describe the plane as much as the distinctive physical features of the primordials themselves.

The Men of Iron and Stone (Menois) stand roughly five and half feet tall to six feet tall. They appear as hairless humanoids with webbed hands and no outer ears. They are primarily carnivores that prefer the taste of red meat. Any kind of farming is done solely for the benefit of livestock. They are very sensitive to water and will not come in contact with it for any length of time. Water doesn't cause any damage, but produces an uncomfortable feeling akin to nausea. For this reason, all Menois carry a coin made of zinc. If an individual Menois needs to have contact with water for any length of time, the Menois will place the coin in their mouth for the duration of their contact.

Their name comes from the fact that their bodies appear to be composed of stone with areas of metal floating on top covering a small area. Despite the appearance of stone, their flesh is similar to soft leather. Each Menois is distinctive as the amount and location of the metal covering an individual's body is unique to that individual. Most Menois have twenty to fifty percent of their body covered in half-inch think metal. The metal has flexibility, but remains as tough as steel. Commonly, the metal usually covers an entire hand or limb with a small amount forming an type of birth mark on their abdomen. The metal will also shift to cover an area of the body perceived to be in the most danger. During battle, the iron will cover the entire chest, the face and head before covering other areas.

The Menois breathe through their skin covering the "stone" part of their bodies. As a result, they wear very light clothing or none at all. The unique nature of their bodies does not permit wearing any kind of armor or using shields. Except in battle, the abdomen is always exposed to allow individual Menois to identify each other by their birthmarks. Due to their webbed hands, they also do not wear rings. Outside of light clothing, they also paint on the stone and metal parts of their bodies. These temporary tattoos are popular and fairly common.

Culturally, the Menois refer to the dual nature of their bodies as Yerkat (the iron) and Kav (soft stone or clay). The metal part of their bodies represent strength, focus, heat, aggression, fire, sky, and light. The stone part of their bodies represents the opposite qualities: softness, diffuse, cold, passivity, water, earth, femininity and darkness. In game terms, this makes them neutral in regards to law and chaos as the Menois believe that both work together.

Those Menois that study magic research spells and craft magical items for a unique kind of magic that affects the metal part of their bodies. The most common spells and items  increase the size of metal covering their bodies. They have already discovered magic that allows for covering the entire body; the difficulty in their research pertains to breathing once the entire body is covered. No more than ninety percent of the body can be covered in metal or the Menois will die. Despite records from their ancients describing Y'Mard Odayin (The Breathing Man), no magic has yet been discovered that will allow a Menois to breathe while covered completely.

Other spells and magic items manipulate the metal of their bodies into weapons and shields. The unique nature of their bodies allows them to use only magic items that are one-handed weapons, staves or potions. The Menois craft special magic items designed to fit as a thin plate inside their mouths as the inside of the mouth is one of the few parts of the body that does not change as the metal sheath moves around their body.

The Menois' home plane is characterized by a complete lack of rain. It never rains and fog of any kind is extremely rare. Despite the presence of two large oceans and an abundance of lakes, it does not rain. Menois legends speak of the time of the ancients when large bodies of water did not exist in their home plane. The ancients devised a plan to create the two great seas by crafting gates that connect their world with plane(s) that were mostly water. In fact, first contact was made with humans when the ancients attempted to build a gate on the humans' home world.

The presence of these gates leads to constant enmity between the Menois and the Water Primordials. Water Primordials will generally attack Menois on sight if circumstances allow: the Menois are seen by them as ancient aggressors and thieves. Outside of Water Primordials, the Menois have no major enemies.