Genasi

Key Similarities with Faerun's Version

• Genasi are elemental humanoids, folks similar to humans who have aspects of their appearance and magical abilities that reflect a certain elemental heritage - usually fire, water, air, or earth.
• The primary division between the various kinds of genasi is language - the languages that the Genasi of the Sun Soaked Sea speak today are all the same ones that their ancestors were bequeathed in ancient times. The traditional lands of the earth, air, fire, and water genasi traditionally speak terran, auran, ignan, and aquan respectively. Still, today genasi of all kinds can be found in the traditional lands of an element not of their own, and earth genasi frequently speak ignan just as well as fire genasi do, as an example.

Key Differences with Faerun's Version

• Genasi are not simply a kind of heritage which any race can have, like an Aasimar. Instead, Genasi are their own race in Adra. They were created by the elemental princes (the demi-gods of the elemental planes) sometime many thousands of years in the past. Since then, they have become a fully integrated culture and people in Adra, concentrating mostly in the isles of the Sun Soaked Sea and the Great Southern Sea.
• Genasi are all renowned travelers and explorers, known for their abilities as sailors. While there are permanent settlements, and even cities among their cultures, most genasi live in small tribes made up of multiple families, and most tribes have friendly relationships, allowing genasi to travel between islands, staying in different parts of the sea throughout the year, or in more extreme cases, rarely setting down in one location in their entire lives.
• While the different kinds of genasi have different physical appearances, and different magical abilities, their elemental heritage does little to play into their personalities or culture (for example, fire genasi are just as likely to enjoy sailing as water genasi), at least psychologically speaking. Despite this, outsiders see it differently - non-genasi frequently maintain that fire genasi are hot-tempered, that air genasi seem to be flighty, and that water genasi seem to go with the flow, etc. These kinds of assumptions tend to bother some genasi, but many just find it like a kind of inside joke that non-genasi aren't in on.

Subraces of Genasi

• Air Genasi: Air Genasi are the ancestors of those who were created in the elemental plane of air in ancient times. They tend to have thinner frames than their bretheren, with long curly white or grey hair, white or grey skin, with milky eyes.
• Earth Genasi: The ancestors of those who were created in the elemental plane of earth in ancient times. Earth Genasi tend to have skin the color of earth or stone, and indeed the appearance of earth or stone, smooth and craggy, or soft and flakey, etc. They have brown eyes and tend to grow little hair, but the hair they do grow is usually brown or black in color. Earth genasi are also a little beefier usually than their other kin.
• Fire Genasi: The ancestors of those who were created in the elemental plane of fire in ancient times. Fire Genasi will tend to have red hair that seemingly grows upwards, orange eyes, and burnt orange or brown skin. Legends have it that when the fire genasi were first made, their hair and bodies burned with flames, a fire that took many generations to cool down.
• Water Genasi: The ancestors of those who were created in the elemental plane of water in ancient times. Water Genasi have barely noticeably-translucent skin, akin to certain kinds of deep sea fish, as well as thick flowing hair, usually green or blue in color, with green or blue eyes. Their skin is fine when exposed to the air, but most water genasi maintain that they are more comfortable being submerged in water at least once a day.
• Blended Genasi: Genasi with different elemental heritages have a harder time producing offspring than those of the same elemental heritage - they are about 5 times less likely to do so. Still, many relationships form between different kinds of genasi anyway, and sometimes they are persistent enough to successfully produce offspring. These offspring still can only result from certain kinds of parings - earth and water genasi can produce Ooze Genasi - fire and earth genasi can produce lava genasi - air and fire genasi can produce ash genasi - and water and air genasi can produce ice genasi. No other kinds of pairings between genasi are able to successfully produce offspring.

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