GoCorral

Physical Description

Outsiders have no unifying physical characteristics. While many of them are humanoid in appearance, others take wildly different shapes. The subraces of outsiders are unified by ideology rather than biology. Thus, within an outsider subrace there can be drastic differences in appearance and physical capability.

Outsiders do have some uniformity in their magical powers. All outsiders can see in the dark. All outsiders have the magical ability to communicate with any other creature, either through speech or telepathy. All outsiders have strong skin that protects them from physical and magical attacks. All outsiders are immortal and gain strength as they age. Magical powers associated with the identity of the subraces are also common. In addition to more thematic magic, many outsiders can shape shift, teleport, or summon others of their subrace. The most powerful outsiders of a particular subrace can also fly, either with wings or due to magical power.

Culture

The culture of outsiders varies dramatically between the different subraces with even further variations within the subraces. If there is one thing that unifies outsiders it is a disdain for food. Outsiders do not need to eat or drink, so they have no cultural traditions associated with food. They do appreciate art and music in various ways. Angels and beings of law love manufactured beauty. Elementals love natural beauty and representations of it. Demons love destroying beautiful things of all kinds in the same way mortals love consuming delicious food.

The attitude towards food extends to other industries as well. Outsiders have little need for any manufactured goods. Their magical nature coupled with the infused magic of their home planes allows outsiders to create almost anything they might need from thin air. Without any physical needs to fulfill, outsiders focus on spiritual needs. There are three main activities for outsiders, creating or appreciating art as already stated, engaging with mortals, and playing games.

Engaging with mortals is the job of outsiders within the divine hierarchy. The divine hierarchy is organized by physical and magical strength. This power goes hand-in-hand with age, thus outsiders indirectly have a hierarchy based on age, with the gods themselves at the top of the hierarchy. Those at the bottom serve the needs, desires, and duties of those above them. They answer prayers sent to the gods, reward the just, and punish the wicked. Many outsiders also use their superior power to sadistically oppress mortals.

Outsiders enjoy playing games against each other when they aren’t performing their duties for mortals. Angels play board games of competitive strategy and also ones that involve cooperation with difficult moral choices. Demons enjoy games focused around battle and destruction, either board games, card games, or physical sports. Elementals enjoy games structured around slow growth of set of cards or other objects collected during play. Beings of law prefer puzzles and riddles, where learning the answer sets the world to an ordered state. Each of the subraces of outsiders feels their style of game is best as it models their vision of the true nature of reality. Victories in these contests are often taken as small but meaningful proofs that their philosophy is cosmically correct.

History

Outsiders have existed throughout Cimmerian history as the messengers of the gods. All of Cimmeria’s greatest heroes have interacted with outsiders in some fashion. Angels sent by the gods aid heroes. Demons and beings of law impede mortals when their ego’s outgrow their position.

The largest incursion of outsiders into Cimmeria occurred to punish King Aeëtes of Colchis. His profanely extended life was in violation of the rule of Hades. The God of the Underworld sent his minions to claim Aeëtes’s renegade soul. Demons and beings of law descended on Colchis during solar eclipses over the centuries. Aeëtes repurposed the beings of law to defend his city along with many other defenses to ward off the servants of Hades. His soul was finally claimed during the First Alliance War and Colchis has been spared the irregular attacks by a god.

Demons had a profound impact on the dwarves of Cimmeria by creating the Duergar Dwarves. The creation of Duergar started when Dark Elves captured the Dwarven Prince Albirnon. They subjected him to dark rituals that resulted in Albirnon’s possession by a demon. That demon was able to copy itself into the bodies of other dwarves, extending the demonic possession like a virus. King Cogard stopped the spread, but those who were affected remained twisted and evil. The possession now passes to the children of Duergar Dwarves.

Elementals were used prominently by the Dragon War heroes. The great wizard Tentineh had always used elemental summoning as part of his magic. When he built his city in the sky, elementals were a part of that as well. Tentnieh bound all kinds of elementals to the flying structure. These indentured spirits powered the spells that kept the city running. Additionally, Tentineh was not the only Dragon War hero with a connection to elementals. Danar also had an earth elemental patron that gifted him his magical gem eye.

In recent history outsiders maintain their action behind the scenes of mortal conflict. They are always there in one way or another. The most prominent outsider appearance at the end of Second Alliance War occurred when Amalius swapped bodies with a powerful angel. With his unlimited psionic mind and the magical physicality of an angel he was a force to be reckoned with. Amalius planned to use his power to upset the divine rule of the Olympians. Hektor spent his life hunting down the angelic psion, succeeding in the end at the cost of his own life.

Subraces

Outsiders are a multitude of physical and spiritual forms. All have a measure of magical power and a connection to their native planes outside the world of mortals. Angels are creatures of good opposite to demons which are creatures of evil. Elementals exist as primal forces of nature. Beings of law uphold divine law when no one else will. Each of these subraces can also breed with mortals forming crosses known as planetouched.

Angels: Angels are all humanoid in shape with wings coming out of their backs. Some angels have animalistic features for their heads or extremities, but still maintain an upright posture. They possess magical powers related to healing, blessing, and seeing through deceptions. Angels are also ferocious fighters when provoked. Nike, Dike, and Bia lead the angelic hordes with the furies being the vanguard of angel justice in the mortal world. Angels of all sorts can come down from their home on Mount Olympus to render aid to mortals.

Angelic planetouched are known as aasimars. They possess silver, golden, and purple features, reflecting their divine ancestry. Aasimars tend to be slightly taller, stronger, and smarter than others of their mortal race. Along with these physical features aasimars have magical abilities related to light and healing.

Angels within Cimmeria include the common D&D creatures of angels and archons.

Demons: Demons are often humanoid in shape, but they come in a variety of forms. They are always blended with some sort of animal or object that reflects the type of sin they enjoy. A lustful demon might look goat-like in appearance while a greedy demon might be composed of golden coins. They possess magical powers related to pain, disease, lies, and desecration. Demons live in the Underworld, primarily in Tartarus where they punish wicked mortals in the afterlife. Some demons live in Erebos as well, but as guards preventing the dead from escaping.

Demonic planetouched are known as tieflings. They possess red or black features, with striking eyes due to the color extending into the cornea. Tieflings have horns growing from their head and some also have forked tails. Tieflings are stronger and smarter than others of their race, but in civilized parts of Cimmeria they are looked at with fear and disgust for their tainted parentage. Their demonic ancestry also manifests with magical powers related to darkness and deception.

Demons within Cimmeria include the common D&D creatures of demons, devils, slaads, and yugoloths.

Elementals: Elementals are the primordial forces of nature that break off from their respective natural forces. The most common elementals are composed of air, earth, fire and water, but others such as ice, lava, metal, and wood are known to appear. Their physical forms are mutable, but always with the outer shell of their forms reflecting the element they are composed of. These creatures are able to control their element in the environment in a manner similar to telekinesis. As they grow in age, they also grow in size and magical power.

Some of the most powerful elementals adopt a permanent humanoid form. These creatures are known as genies. Their physical form matches their element, but with less intensity. Rather than being composed of fire, a fire genie is red in color with an intense heat coming off it. A wood genie would be brown or green in color with leaves for hair. Each genie has fantastic control over their element. They are able to summon the element out of thin air and weave it into magical objects. Their powers are sought after by mortals of all kinds, resulting in some genies becoming imprisoned to serve their mortal captors.

Most common elementals cannot produce offspring with mortals due to their physical nature. However, genies are capable of breeding with other mortals. Their children are known as genasi. Genasi reflect the power of their genie ancestor, having similar coloration and physical features blended with their mortal race. Genasi also inherit a portion of their genie parent’s magical power, but on a much weaker level. Their spells are minor, serving more as tools than weapons in combat.

Beings of Law: Beings of law come in various shapes based on the laws they enforce. All beings of law possess a vision of what an ordered society should look like, however these visions are not aligned. Different types of beings of law have different visions of what the world should be.

The most famous beings of law are the inevitables that enforce divine laws. Inevitables are elegant metallic constructs in the forms of various mortal races. Inevitables have magical powers related to finding criminals and punishing them. Mortals have their laws, but the gods have also set forth their own list of crimes that must be published. Mortals are expected to enforce the divine laws, but when they do not, inevitables are called in to do what must be done.

The next most common being of law are the formians. They are large ant-like beings with a carapace-covered humanoid upper body attached to their thorax instead of just a head. The formians live in giant ant hives led by a queen. Each queen rules her hive with absolute authority through telepathy and mind control. Formians seek to make the rest of the world as ordered as their hives using the queen’s magic. Mortals that formians encounter are kidnapped, brainwashed, and forced to labor in their underground hives just as the worker ants do. Formian hives exist throughout Cimmeria, but there is a notable concentration in the Shacklack Desert.

Rakshasas are another being of law known to act in Cimmeria. Rakshasas are tiger-like humanoid shapeshifters with magic powers. Despite their shapeshifting, rakshasas hands always have the palms facing outwards. Rakshasas impose order on the cyclical nature of reality. Parents are replaced by their children, seasons progress in order every year, and the moon changes its phases over and over again. These cycles are overseen by the monstrous god, the Dahak. Most rakshasas serve the Dahak and restart these cycles when they are disrupted. A few rakshasas enforce order by preventing cycles from repeating. An everturning wheel is one type of order but a static wheel is another. When rakshasas are not engaging with cycles they are ruthless sociopaths, hoarding wealth and luxuries for themselves with no concern for the morality of their actions.

Beings of law do not have planetouched children with other races. Of the beings of law only rakshasas sire children, but their seed breeds true. All children of a rakshasa are also rakshasas, regardless of the race the rakshasa mated with.

Location

Most outsiders live on other planes of existence. A few live in mystical locations within Cimmeria. Angels are frequently sent to Cimmeria on divine missions to punish or aid mortals. Demons seek to enter the physical world to indulge in their base desires. Beings of Law come to Cimmeria only to enforce their vision of order on the chaos of the real world. All outsider types are brought to Cimmeria by summoning magic. These summonings are almost always temporary, lasting a few days at most before the outsider returns to its native plane of existence.

Relations with Other Races

Outsiders have profound influence over the other races of Cimmeria. As messengers of the gods, ignoring an outsider is disrespectful to the deity that sent it. Disrespecting a deity is often deadly for mortals, thus in most situations mortals are obliged to carry out the will of outsiders as representatives of deities.

Each of the outsider subraces has different activities they are associated with. Angels bring aid to the faithful or dispense justice to the wicked. Demons corrupt the weak-minded for evil while also torturing and destroying anything of the mortal world they can get their hands on. Elementals serve the whims of arcane spellcasters, but rarely have any impulses of their own. Similarly, beings of law are rarely involved in the mortal world. Regardless of the subrace, outsiders of all kinds are a tremendous force that other races would be wise to respect and fear.

Common Deities

The line between outsiders and deities is blurred at the top of outsider hierarchies. Angels are the descendants of the Olympians and other gods. Demons descend from the Titans, Echidna, and Typhon. Elementals are born from the primordial gods and energies of the world that existed before time itself. These relationships make outsiders more like family than petitioners.

Outsiders do not worship the gods, but rather have a particular god that they favor over others. Angels typically favor their divine ancestor or Zeus as the king of the gods. Demons are connected to the Titans or Hades as the current ruler of their home in the Underworld. While elementals are born from the primordial gods, they do not worship or favor any deities. Beings of law are almost always sworn to the Fates as they are the ultimate upholders of laws and destiny.

Place in Adventuring

Outsiders are some of the most powerful beings in Cimmeria. They act as quest givers or dangerous enemies for adventurers. Angels are the most common quest givers while demons are frequent enemies of adventurers. Novice adventurers are outclassed by outsiders, but the many variations of outsider subraces make them a foe that adventurers of all experience levels can face. At the top end, the most powerful outsiders are a deadly threat to even the most legendary heroes.

Outsiders themselves do not go on adventures, but their planetouched children often do. Aasimars favor their connection to the gods above the angels. They typically choose the paladin and cleric classes. Tieflings’ connection to the darker gods draws them to the rogue, warlock, and cleric classes. Genasi’s connection to elemental magic makes them strong sorcerers and druids. All planetouched perform well as fighters due to their enhanced physical strength and speed.