Ilthisarian

Ilthisarian

(Creature)

Type

Monstrous humanoid
(ilthisarian)

CR

By class

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Adjective

ilthisarian

Source: The Thirteenth Gate, pg(s). 56

Ilthisarians are an intelligent race of multiheaded, serpentlike monstrous humanoids with forked tails instead of legs, native to the marsh planet Arshalin.

Appearance

Ilthisarians are big serpentine humanoids with powerful bifurcated tails and a cluster of snake heads on long necks surrounding their primary one. They can speak with several voices at once in an overlapping harmony of sounds that is so hard to imitate to the point that many other races train whole teams of diplomats to speak together as a chorus to communicate with ilthisarians. Biologically, ilthisarians have twin tails and redundant duplicates of key internal organs.

History

Ilthisarian civilisation arose on Arshalin many thousands of years ago. Some time in the distant past, an immense structure made of ultra-dense steel fractured into massive fragments and crashed into the planet, shattering the ancient ilthisarian civilisation and leaving behind gigantic, impenetrable sheets of metals higher than mountains called worldshards. Following the catastrophe, the ilthisarians continue to regularly journey around the worldshards while rebuilding their society.

Modern ilthisarians have a spacefaring society with a cultural sophistication and mastery of science and magic that rivals those of the Pact Worlds. While ilthisarians have been aware of the science behind spaceflight for centuries, most have never left Arshalin. Their long tradition of avoiding exploration has begun to fade only in recent years.

Society

Ilthisarians are served by a race of brutish mammal servitors called ethesks. Their genetic engineers have bred ethesk servitors displaying incredible loyalty and durability.

Ilthisarians have a cultural predilection for risk aversion and redundancy. They are uncomfortable without multiple back-up plans and failsafes in daily life, particularly in new endeavours. Ilthisarians are slow to accept untested innovations, which they see as dangerous. Regions of Arshalin known to be dangerous and without resources are ignored, as there is no obvious benefit to the risks associated with exploring them. This makes ilthisarians an extremely cautious race.

Ilthisarian society is remarkably stable, with many long traditions. Ilthisarians appreciate the mastery that comes with thorough research of socially useful fields, and they have constructed their society accordingly. Ilthisarians attribute their survival in the wake of the fall of worldshards to their many well-maintained food vaults and fortified bunkers which continue to be diligently maintained.

Modern ilthisarians are generally irreligious; the few religious ones almost always follow Abadar. Crumbling temples to ophidian gods with depictions of mass sacrifices stand deep in the trackless marshes of Arshalin. Modern ilthisarians are disdainful of such barbarism, although hidden cults are rumoured to keep these practices, sacrificing unlucky travellers to gods of carnage.