Embri

Embri

(Creature)

Type

Aberration

CR

By class level

Environment

Any (Embroi)

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Adjective

embri

Source: Alien Archive 2, pg(s). 48-49

Embri are a race of masked intelligent gastropods native to the planet Embroi. They live in an exceptionally strict fascist society, and few know that their homeworld lies in thrall to Hell's devils.

Appearance

Embri have four strong limbs ending in sharp claws that allow them to use tools and walk upright on land. A large, developed brain sac lies on the top of their head. Their face consists of two small, closely set eyes above an orifice that serves to smell, hear and speak. The mouth of an embri is used solely to eat and hidden under its body when not eating. The average embri is 4 feet tall, measures slightly longer, and weighs around 200 pounds.

History

When the first embri evolved and moved onto land, just intelligent enough to cry of rage and wield coral spears, they came into conflict with the yeddins, who had already built their own terrestrial society. The warlike embri soon conquered the yeddins and adapted their technology.

The embri were conquered by the malebranche Occhiorasoi before the onset of the Gap in the name of Asmodeus and Hell.

Society

The embri live in a strict social hierarchy: every individual is expected to know its place and perform its duty without complaint if it doesn't want to be replaced. Individual desires are considered disruptive and have been quashed after centuries of repression. Free thinkers and rebels are rare and either ostracised or executed when discovered. In school, young embri are taught to be diligent, compliant and watchful for deviant or independent behaviour among classmates. For their obedience, individual embri are rewarded with paltry comforts and hollow promises. This has allowed the embri to rapidly advance technologically and magically, though outsiders consider them soulless or even gruesome.

Embri are asexual. Naturally, they reproduce by budding according to Embroi's seasons, but all reproduction is now rigidly controlled and scheduled by the spawning administration. Eating is considered an embarassing private affair, and the embri find communal eating repulsive.

Embri are socially conditioned to not display any emotion; doing so is considered barbaric and dangerous. Embri wear masks at all times in order to better hide their emotions and designate their social standing, even when sleeping. Because of this conditioning, they are immune to magical charms, resistant to enchantment and can easily distinguish signs of emotion, though they are too distracted to use these abilities when not wearing a mask, which is considered a grossly embarrssing exposure.

Few embri are aware that all of their activities are directed by devils hidden in the extensive tunnels of Embroi. A group of mystics known as Speakers serve as the liaisons between the devils and their people, and enact their masters' will in exchange for magical powers. Speakers also serve as diplomats to the Pact Worlds, shielding the rest of the embri from individualism and extending the devils' design. Speakers are usually accompanied by devoted embri servants who idolise them.

Deific obedience is shunned by the embri, who consider such a thing an overly emotional connection to deities. However, their architecture frequently features stylised diabolic iconography, due to the pervasive, subtle infernal influence on their society.