Liesp

A race of long-lived symbiods, each liesp is composed of two separate beings, an Element and a Host, working together to survive. By themselves, neither Hosts nor Elements can live for long in any environment. Hosts are too fragile, having no true strength of their own, and Elements are too insubstantial, having no true substance. Only by fusing have these two races managed to be strong enough to survive the harshness of the Elemental Realm.

Etymology and Other Names
Their name comes from the Motille phrase, lien des espirs, which translates literally to 'linking of spirits'. The phrase is indicative of their symbiotic nature. They are also commonly referred to simply as Elementals or Symbioids, though the latter can sometimes be taken as an insult.

Biology and Anatomy
In truth, liesps are comprised of two creatures, the Host and the Element. While Elements have many different subraces, Hosts are uniform in nature. Hosts are small, weak humanoid creatures. They are incredibly fragile, with black skin and hunched, shivering forms, appearing almost as mere shadows.

Elements themselves do not have substance in their forms, being merely pieces of consciousness and power contained in small wisps of the elements themselves. Elements come in many different forms, though the most common are Fire, Water, Earth, and Air.

When merged through a magical process known as Fusion, Hosts and Elements become a symbiod liesp. Liesps vary somewhat in appearance depending on the type of Element they are comprised of. However, all liesps are humanoid in form, and all have dark, shadowy skin, augmented with the various signs of their Element. For example, an Earth liesp may appear as a thick, clunky boulder-like humanoid, with veins of black skin showing through the cracks. In contrast, an Air liesp may appear as a thin, wispy humanoid, with dark skin and swirling accents of fog.

Despite appearances, all liesps share the near-immaterial forms of their Hosts and Elements. Though they are stronger together, they are still relatively insubstantial, and the the heaviest liesp wouldn't weigh more than eight pounds. However, the Elements are powerful, and combined with the shadowy bodies of their Hosts, they are capable of power similar to that of a more material creature.

Liesps are unusal creatures. They do not appear to have organs or the like. Hosts are simply made of shifting, semi-solid shadow, while Elements are, of course, their respective elements given consciousness. Because of their unusual anatomy, they do not need to breathe or eat to survive. Oddly enough, they still require sleep and rest.

Hosts do not die of old age, though they may perish through grave injury. However, Elements are much shorter-lived, lasting anywhere from eleven to twenty-nine years before they pass away from old age. Because of this, Hosts must seek out new Elements when their symbiotic partner is nearing death. Hosts who are unable to find a replacement Element before their own passes away often perish themselves. Because of this, liesps have created Sanctum, a place for Hosts and Elements who are not Fused to gather and find a suitable partner.

Sociology and Culture
The first Fusion occurred in ages past, over ten-thousand years ago. Since the first Fusion's wild success, Hosts and Elements have worked together to survive. Though 'working together' can be a relative term. Control of a Fused symbioid body is generally shared between both individuals; though in some cases, the more dominant personality holds authoritative power over the body. This, however, is rare; more commonly, Hosts and Elements get along and work in tandem.

Though by themselves, Elements and Hosts are reclusive and xenophobic, when Fused, they often seek the company of small communities, especially those with other races. They do this not because they require or even particularly enjoy the company of others; in fact, many liesps would choose to be hermits living on the outskirts of society if they were not afraid of forgetting or being forgotten. Because of their differing lifespans, and inability to clearly remember everything from previous Fusions, liesps often entrust their friends with helping them to remember who they are and what the accomplish from Fusion to Fusion.

Behavior
Because of the difference in lifespan between a Host and an Element, and the manner by which they control their symbiotic forms, a liesp's behavior can change radically throughout its life depending on the personality of the Element they are Fused with. This behavior also depends on the internal decisions of power a liesp has made between the Host and the Element.

For example, a righteous and upstanding Host may be Fused with a bitter and wicked Element. In such a case, the internal power struggle between the two consciousnesses may result in volatile personality shifts. Though such personality clashes are rare in Fusions, when they do happen, it is usually because either the Host or the Element was near death, and they could find no other partner to Fuse with.

That same Host may go on to Fuse with a different Element later. At such a point in time, most traces of the previous Element's personality will seem to vanish. However, most Hosts find echoes of their previous Elements thoughts in their minds, almost as though the Element left imprints of itself in their consciousness.

Naming Conventions
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Notable Liesps
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Racial Traits (3.5e)
Most liesps are Small, incurring the benefits and penalties of their size. However, larger than average liesps may instead be Medium, incurring no benefits or penalties for their size.

All liesps use a form of Telepathy to communicate. They can communicate with any creature so long as the creature has an Intelligence score of 1 or higher. This telepathic communication has a range of 300ft. It does not work both ways. For example, a liesp may telepathically communicate something to an ally, but the ally cannot telepathically communicate in response (unless they have their own method of doing so).

Thanks to being (Mostly) Insubstantial, all liesps gain +2 to Hide and Move Silently.

combat utility

unique