Lillend
Pathfinder |
Though natives of Ysgard, the winged snake-creatures known as lillendi are found across the planes of chaos, where they do all they can to protect works of creativity, both mortal and non.
Appearance
One of the many centaur-like creatures across the planes, lillendi have the upper torsos of comely women (or rarely, men) but the lower bodies of snakes. On top of this, from their backs extend broad feathered wings. Though the human-like portions of their anatomy are fairly normal in appearance, the feathered and scaled portions are all brightly colored, with striking patterns that are unique from individual to individual. Some lillendi choose to tattoo their flesh, covering their entire body with artistic patterns, though this is not the majority. Lillendi tend not to wear clothing but usually have jewelry of some form, and those of higher status possess totem masks indicating their membership into various secret societies, known as mysteries.
Each mystery revolves around a specific morsel of information passes from generation to generation, and held onto within lillendi society. A lillend's status is determined by the number of mysteries they are members of, and each mystery is devoted to specific musical forms, songs, instruments, and weapons, determining those used by those specific lillendi. The masks of these societies are usually only tangentially related to the mystery, with each design originally belonging to a specific family, in the days when each family lived together in a single lodge, all wearing the same type of masks. One of the more well-known mysteries is the Infinity, to which those lillendi charged with guarding the Infinite Staircase belong. These lillendi each wear faceless masks of infinity, blank masks individually and subtly styled by each lillend, engraved only with the symbol of infinity and allowing a lillend to take the form of a similar symbol emblazoned upon some sort of solid surface.
Lillendi tend to be somewhat serpent-like in their biologies, though only vaguely. Able to feed on most anything, both material food and magical essences, they can even survive on moonbeams and the essence of the wilderness, though they prefer solid food. With broad tastes, they consume most anything, though they get special pleasure from gorging themselves on meat, which induces in them a state of torpor. This state, though slowing them and making them gneerally sluggish, is quite enjoyed by the lillendi. These creatures are thought to excrete nothing, able to digest all substances with equal capability, though a few claim those substances they cannot digest are converted into the fog they are occasionally seen to exhale. Lillendi neither mate nor marry, reproducing parthenogenically, producing lifeforms that tend to resemble their mothers. Even those that appear male reproduce in this manner, being biologically female though acting with male human patterns of custom.
The strangest aspect of their biology, however (if it even is biological in nature), must be the Silent Hour. A lillendi is said to be able to choose the hour of her demise, a quality alternately claimed as a gift or a curse, depending on if the sage believes it bestowed from the gods of the moon or the various lawful powers. Before passing on for good, a lillend ties up her loose ends before disappearing in a misty fog, absorbed by her power's realm. Some occasionally arrange things so as to enter the Silent Hour when a battle is to occur, as lillendi in such situations are fierce combatants, wishing to make a good impression on their power before their passing. Lillendi are most certainly not otherwise immortal, with accidents or violence still quite able to kill one outside the Hour. However, the faces of such lillendi are always found wracked with despair after their death, as it is a belief among their race that those that pass on outside the Silent Hour will never join with the power they serve.
Devoted to the progress of art and culture, lillendi prize such pursuits more than any sort of material gain, finding a skilled piece of carving or a new manuscript worth far more than any amount of gold. The destruction of artistic works stirs in them a special horror, one they are usually quick to avenge. As such, the lillendi consider the Infinite Staircase a sacred site to their people, and desecrating it is an act quick to bring their wrath. This belief likely also comes about due to their status as servants of the various gods of the moon. Most often found in the service of the Faerunian power Selune, lillendi are in fact servants of all the various lunar deities, and though able to enter the Prime, they refrain from doing so unless ordered by the power that commands them. Many lillendi serve as proxies to their deities, though such proxies are most often the least involved in Prime affairs.
Though generally peaceful folks, the lillendi are quick to violence when they feel offended, and hold long grudges. Beyond their attitudes to those who disrespect the arts, they often feud with the more violently-inclined petitioners of Ysgard, and are considered rivals of the asuras, devas, and valkyries. They have a special hatred for the baatezu and modrons as well, considering quite ill of such races and looking for any excuse to attack when dealing with them.
References
- Planes of Chaos - Monstrous Supplement, pp. 16-17
- Tales from the Infinite Staircase, pg. 15
