[Race] Ghiyri [TO BE PROCESSED]

[Derin Edala]

Technically not native to Pal Tahrenor, but I thought it was about time to cement the details of Derin’s race in public discussion.

Nomenclature: While they call themselves “ghiyri” in their own language, this race is known as ‘demons’ on Pal Tahrenor. It is unlikely that all creatures known as demons are ghiyri as they end up on the material plane so rarely, but the ghiyri don’t care; they will usually accept the term as a translation of their species name into the local language, accurate or not.

Homeland: Ghiyri are extraplanar beings; their homeworld (Ghi) would be considered bland and featureless to Pal Tahrenor races. Naturally, they do not consider it as such. Ghiyri do not have what could be called physical forms in Pal Tahrenor, but they interact with objects on their world in a similar way to physical interaction, so if summoned to Pal Tahrenor and provided with a physical form, they can generally figure out how interact with the world.

Everything in Ghi, including the very ground, can be thought of as a pattern of flowing energy. Ghiyri absorb this energy for strength in a manner roughly analogous to eating, so territory and the power to manipulate the world around them are basically resources for survival. There isn’t much in the way of biodiversity on Ghi, since it’s a bit difficult to determine what is ‘alive’; there are nonsentient gatherings of energy, and sentient ones of varying degrees of intelligence. Ghiyri do not really develop a concept of species on their home plane; everything that can think is ghiyri (or, if under the direct control of its creator, a thinking spellform), everything that can’t is territory.

Magic: All ghiyri practise magic as a basic way of interacting with the world around them. The way they drain energy, grow things and manipulate objects can be thought of as ‘magic’. Ghiyri magic consists of moving energy through patterns called “spellforms” to create an effect and is roughly analogous to engineering. It is highly formulaic and understandable by study and practice; the apparent randomness and inexplicability of Pal Tahrenor magic is frustrating and incomprehensible to them. Ghiyri magic is primarily about energy manipulation; the more energy you have and the more effectively you can use it is a major factor in how strong you are. As such, magic is a highly prized skill.

Interpersonal behaviour: While ghiyri do have social structure, they can hardly be said to be social creatures. They do not feel compassion or pity and long-term familial or friendly relationships are unknown to them. As far as a ghiyri is concerned, interpersonal relationships are either beneficial or pointless. While they are perfectly capable of working together in groups, this is a matter of self-interest; completing a mutually beneficial project, for example, or protecting a territory that cannot be held by one individual.

Similarly, while they may despise the weak or fear the strong, ghiyri have no real concept of hatred. They do not hold grudges and are not inclined to revenge; indeed, revenge is considered a sophisticated, reasoned strategy designed to discourage further injustices, with no real bad feeling behind it. As such, ghiyri can be thought of as highly practical when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Benefit-based alliances and bargaining come naturally to them, and any relationships that are not mutually beneficial are usually maintained by fear or force.

Sometimes, ghiyri of similar strength with mutual respect and well-suited personalities will come together and learn from each other. This is the closest thing to real friendship found among ghiyri, but these relationships, too, are understood to be temporary; ghiyri in such a situation might protect and look out for each other because each is still useful to the other. These pairs or small groups usually band to train each other in skills, and the relationship is terminated when one feels that the exchange is no longer beneficial to them.

Despite their lack of empathy, ghiyri can be surprisingly trustworthy when it comes to promises; more powerful ghiyri have to maintain a reputation for honesty in order to continue to deal with others, so betrayal is rarely in their best interests. As such, backstabbing or reneging on a deal is considered a sign of childish weakness. Ghiyri children, however, will gladly backstab or steal as needed, as they tend to be fighting for their own survival with no time or intelligence to worry about long-term goals.

Society: Ghiyri groups are inherently unstable and too small and fluid to be considered tribes or factions. The strongest ghiyri (or in some cases large groups of weaker ghiyri) will hold territories. Some areas are wild, violent stews of refugee children, which are normally avoided by anybody with any sense. Apart from these areas, there is no unclaimed land on Ghi – anybody who wants territory has to fight for it. Many territory-holding ghiyri will have a few others hanging about their territory, who might act as assistants, guards or servants in exchange for the protection and availability of land offered by the territory holders; in a conflict, it is usually these who do the fighting. Many will hold territory all by themselves instead (which is often preferred, since side-switching among the weaker ghiyri is an accepted survival strategy under certain conditions; more than one territory holder has found themselves displaced when they lost all of their servants to an attacking territory that offered a good deal). Solitary territories tend to change hands a lot more rapidly, simply because there is only so much a lone defender can do and there’s only one person to defeat, so the long-lived territories tend to be those held by stronger ghiyri who allow the presence of assistants. The size of these communities is limited by the power of the territory holder; if they allow more on their territory than they can control, they risk mutiny, as well as the fact that every extra occupant is another source of energy drain from the territory.

Among themselves, ghiyri prize the elements of power and control – knowledge, intellect, self-control, magical competence and access to energy. Because territories (and thus access to energy) are often impermanent, mental abilities are considered the greatest assets; scholarly-minded ghiyri are usually the most powerful and most highly respected. They are rarely aggressive unless fighting for territory or resources, but some will nearly always attempt to manipulate anybody of similar skills that they meet if only for the practise.

Reproduction: Ghiyri children are barely-sentient pockets of energy. Ghiyri who want to increase their power and influence frequently construct semi-intelligent spellforms to do their bidding, usually as sentries or general servants. This is quite complicated, and if someone creates too many or too powerful ones to tightly control, they can gain experience, grow in ability and, sometimes, escape. Once free from the control of their parent, they can develop into their own person, gain power and maybe someday have a territory of their own. Ghiyri childhood is vicious and desperate, with a high mortality rate. Thinking spellforms which are not able to (or do not develop the desire to) break away from their parent are usually terminated when they are no longer useful or their parent finds them threatening. Attempts have been made for two or more ghiyri to create such spellforms together, but they never end well; creating shield or energy-collecting spellforms is easy to do as a group, but something as complicated as a thinking being inevitably creates disagreement. Ghiyri children usually scrape a living as scavengers until they gain the strength and intelligence necessary to be useful to anyone, at which point they will try to become assistants to territory holders or band together to try to take a territory.

Because they don’t degenerate over time (although they tend to become more complacent), ghiyri power is roughly equivalent to age. The youngest are semi-sentient scavengers, the mid-range powerful ghiyri who tend to sell themselves as mercenaries or assistants are thought of as young adults, and the most powerful territory holders are usually the oldest.

Ghiyri and Pal Tahrenor: Interplanar research is not a very big field on Ghi, and very few ghiyri are interested in anything outside their own plane. As such, the only ones who know that much about Pal Tahrenor are those who have been forced there, or those few curious enough to have traded with them for information about it (there is usually a price for information on ghi).

When summoned to other planes, ghiyri retain their own natures; they will shrug off or evade most sorts of magic easily, but are particularly vulnerable to certain kinds of formulaic magic that resemble the kind that they practise. A clever summoner will get around this by binding them into a physical form using this sort of magic, as the body (and therefore the ghiyri living in it) would presumably be normally vulnerable to magic. For those who are practised in ghi-like magic, it is relatively easy to summon a weaker ghiyri and compel it to obey them, but also quite dangerous, as the first instinct of one able to circumvent this control is usually to kill the aggressor or put them in a world of hurt to compel them to send it back home. Like every interaction with ghiyri, summoning or controlling one comes down to a battle of wits and magical competence; a carelessly formed spell can be forced through or undone from the inside, which tends to spell bad news for the summoner unless they can convince the ghiyri that they are no longer a threat. There is little benefit in summoning a very young ghiyri; the weakest tend to have trouble adapting to the new plane and will usually disintegrate in the unfamiliar magical field.

To nonmagical eyes, a ghiyri summoned to the physical plane and not bound in a form is invisible, although some see a shadow or a shimmer. Somebody capable of seeing such things and trained to know what to look for would easily detect the organised knot in magical forces that forms an undisguised ghiyri if it stood still long enough. Ghiyri not bound in physical forms can move faster than the human eye and wield magic (of greatly diminished force compared to their home world), but not manipulate physical objects; as such, their only notable ability to influence the world in such a state is to mess up the spell of people who use similar magic to them. Stronger ones may be able to create minor illusions or faint sounds by manipulating light or air, but that's about the limit of their strength. This would sound pretty harmless if they weren’t so inventive about it; it’s quite possible to kill with a tampered spell. However, since the main priority of a ghiyri who found themselves in such a state would be to get home, they’re unlikely to be a danger to anybody except spellcasters that they may attempt to manipulate for this purpose.

[Amm]

I love Derin and I love the concept behind this race. I was wondering though, what uses might a summoner get out of a Ghiyri? I'd be interested in maybe including some flavor of this race in other threads. >>

[Derin Edala]

I love Derin and I love the concept behind this race. I was wondering though, what uses might a summoner get out of a Ghiyri? I'd be interested in maybe including some flavor of this race in other threads. >>

Ghiyri are inherently magical beings, and relatively powerful if confined to a magical environment similar to their home. To use Derin as an example, she was basically used as a magical conduit -- she was bound to a bracelet with the ability to compel the wearer, and her summoner could compel her, thus giving him control over whomever wore the bracelet.

They could also make decent spies, and would be invaluable sources of information for those who happen to use magic in a similar way to them.