Quasielemental, Negative, Vacuum [412]

Climat/Terrain	Quasiplane of Vacuum
Organisation	Band
Fréquence	Peu commun
Diète	Anything
Cycle d'activité	Any
Intelligence	13-14 - Hautement intelligent
Trésor	Nil
Alignement	Neutre Absolu
Nombres	1-6
Classe d'armure	-1
Mouvement	Au sol : 36" Vol : - Classe de vol : Nage : Enfouissement : Web :
Dés de vie	6, 9, or 12
Thac0	6 HD: 15 9 HD: 11 12 HD: 9
Nbre d'attaques	1
Dommage / attaques	1-4 + 1hp/HD
Attaques spéciales	Draw air
Défenses spéciales	See below
Résistance à la magie	Nil
Taille	S - smaller than a typical human ( 2+' to 4' ) (4’ diameter)
Morale	15-16 - Champion
Valeur en XP	6 HD: 2,000 xp 9 HD: 5,000 xp 12 HD: 8,000 xp

Commentaires : Every time a body thinks he’s nailed down the Inner Planes, they just get more complicated still. It’s easy enough to understand the four Elemental Planes, and not too hard to tumble to how they mix to form the Paraelemental Planes. But it doesn’t stop there. In addition to combining with one another, the four planes of the basic elements also mix with the Positive and Negative Energy Planes to produce the eight Quasielemental Planes. And, as sure as Sigil, those eight quasiplanes spawn their own elemental beings – namely, quasielementals. For reasons that graybeards love to rattle their bone-boxes about, quasielementals simply aren’t as powerful, in general, as elementals or paraelementals. The explanations range from mere coincidence to the idea that the quasiplanes have lower energy levels than the others. Most scholars, however, believe that the quasiplanes are the least fundamental of the Inner Planes, and therefore produce beings of less inherent power. ’Course, this doesn’t mean that quaslelementals’s pushovers. Far from it. They’rs bloods to be respected, particularly when encountered in their home environments. This entry takes a look at the negative quasielementals – the ones that hail from Ash, Dust, Salt, and Vacuum. They’re considered “negative” because they come from quasiplanes formed from the conjunction of the Negative Energy Plane and Air, Earth, Fire, or Water. Some folks look upon these negative quasiplanes – and their quasielementals – as representing the disintegration of the main four elements. While some graybeards like to categorize these creatures as the embodiment of the destruction or absence of air, a truly canny blood knows the real dark – vacuum quasielementals embody the absence of everything. The things’re completely invisible, and their shape is that of an amorphous, rubbery, hollow skin.

Combat : A vacuum quasielemental can ram foes with its shapeless body, inflicting 1d4 points of damage plus 1 additional point per Hit Die (6, 9, or 12). But more importantly, it also draws any surrounding air into itself. An area of 60 feet around the creature is treated as though a continual gust of wind spell blew toward the quasielemental. Any air-breathing sod within that area automatically suffers 1d4 points of damage per round – the monster literally sucks the breath away from him. (’Course, this doesn’t apply on an airless void like the Quasiplane of Vacuum.) If in a confined space, a vacuum quasielemental can reduce a 60-foot cube of air to a vacuum within a single round. However, it can maintain the airless state for only 10 rounds; it must then stop and rest for an hour before using this power again. Like all quasielemental beings, vacuum quasielementals can be struck only by +1 or better weapons. Air-based spells (such as gust of wind) cast by a wizard or priest of a level higher than the quasielemental’s total Hit Dice slay the creature if it fails a saving throw versus death magic.

Habitat / Société : Vacuum quasielementals are surprisingly gregarious creatures, gathering in small groups whenever possible to converse and interact. On the other hand, they have no love for any other beings and usually attack intruders on their quasiplane. Like their cousins of salt, vacuum quasielementals prefer to remain on their home plane. Sure, every elemental feels a certain level of discomfort when in an alien environment, but vacuum quasielementals actually dislike using their absorption abilities, which physically tire them.

Ecologie : Much about vacuum quasielementals remains dark. Fact is, no one really knows how they sustain themselves; it’s just conjecture that they feed upon the air they draw into themselves. They may not need anything at all to survive. Or perhaps, like the strange egarus fungi also found on the Quasiplane of vacuum, the creatures literally survive on nothing – that is, nothingness.