| Medium | Aberration | Anemonian |
To drift is not to be lost; it is to be in harmony with the universe’s every whim.
Anemonians are sentient, floating beings native to the crushing pressures and roiling skies of gas giants. Their gelatinous, bell-shaped bodies trail a vibrant cascade of prehensile tendrils, and they communicate through intricate, shifting patterns of bioluminescent light. Having evolved in a world without ground, Anemonians are beings of immense patience and contemplation, accustomed to observing the slow, grand cycles of their atmospheric homes. They value wisdom, serenity, and a deep understanding of one’s surroundings, approaching life with a calmness that others can find both unnerving and deeply reassuring. Their unique physiology makes them surprisingly resilient and mobile, able to absorb tremendous physical shock and leap through the air in great, buoyant bounds.
If you want to play a character who is perceptive, serene, and unexpectedly resilient, you should play an Anemonian.
You Might…
- Speak slowly and deliberately, pausing for long moments to consider the full weight and implication of your words before emitting them as soft, resonant tones.
- View problems from all angles—above, below, and from the sides—often finding solutions that those bound by a terrestrial perspective might miss.
- Find comfort in enclosed, quiet spaces that mimic the supportive pressure of your ancestral home.
Other’s Probably…
- Mistake your calm demeanor and patient watchfulness for apathy, slowness, or a lack of intelligence.
- Feel unnerved by your lack of a distinct face, finding it difficult to read your intentions without understanding the subtle language of your bioluminescent patterns.
- Assume you are physically fragile due to your soft, gelatinous body, underestimating your incredible resilience and defensive capabilities.
Physical Description
An Anemonian’s body consists of a primary bell-shaped or dome-like mantle, which houses their complex organs and provides their natural buoyancy. The mantle’s texture can range from smooth and translucent to opaque and velvety, with a diversity of colors and patterns as varied as any coral reef. Trailing from this central body is a “bloom” of countless tendrils, which serve as their primary means of locomotion, manipulation, and sensation. While two dominant clusters of tendrils function as their “hands,” all are prehensile to some degree. Anemonians lack a face in the conventional sense; their sensory organs are distributed across their body, and they perceive the world through changes in pressure, temperature, and light. Their most striking feature is their intricate network of chromatophores and photophores, which allows them to produce silent, complex language through shifting light, color, and pattern.
Anemonian life cycles are a matter of philosophical debate among xenobiologists. It is believed they reproduce asexually, budding off small “polyps” that attach to floating solid matter (such as frozen chunks of ammonia or derelict technology) before maturing and detaching to join a flotilla. As such, Anemonians have no concept of biological sex or gender, often finding the rigid binary of other species to be a curious limitation.
Society
Anemonian society is built without foundation, both literally and figuratively. Their “cities” are magnificent, miles-wide flotillas of interconnected individuals, drifting on the great atmospheric currents of their gas giant homes. Lacking a concept of “up” or “down,” their society is naturally non-hierarchical, with governance handled by consensus among shifting councils of the most experienced and philosophically adept. Leadership is a temporary burden, not a permanent station. Personal relationships are fluid and complex; without traditional family units, an individual’s “clutch” consists of those they have chosen to drift with, forming deep bonds of mutual support and intellectual companionship. They value artistry—especially that which involves light and sculpture—and philosophical debate above all else, seeing material wealth as a strange and cumbersome burden.
Names
Anemonian true names are complex sequences of light and color, but they adopt spoken names for the convenience of other species. These names are often soft, multi-syllabic, and resonant, mimicking the sounds of wind through atmospheric crystals or the hum of a planet’s magnetic field.
Example Names Aluum, Bellorine, Coromon, Eolani, Hespyr, Iolida, Jellian, Lumae, Morianth, Nalloom, Olorun, Pelliah, Solune, Umani, Vorl
Beliefs
The Anemonian people do not typically worship deities. Instead, their spiritualism is rooted in a collection of philosophical schools of thought known as the “Great Currents.” Anemonians believe the universe is an endless, flowing medium, and that wisdom is achieved by understanding and moving with its currents rather than fighting against them. They might revere abstract concepts as guiding principles: The Silent Storm, representing chaos and sudden change; The Inner Light, representing consciousness and self-knowledge; and The Great Respite, representing entropy and the peaceful end of all things. Anemonians do not seek divine intervention, but rather personal enlightenment and harmony with the cosmos.
Popular Edicts Seek understanding before acting, Respect the natural flow of all things, Communicate with clarity and honesty
Popular Anathema Act with frantic haste or panic, Obscure the truth or communicate with deceit, Permanently bind or imprison another being
Mechanics
Hit Points
8
Size
Medium
Speed
20 feet, climb 15 feet
Attribute Boosts
Dexterity, Wisdom, Free
Attribute Flaw
Constitution
Languages
- Animonian Lumina
- Common
- Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from Aeolian, Aquaine, Disirean, Kassyn, and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).
Buoyant Leap [one-action]
Your body is naturally buoyant, granting you a fly speed of 20 feet. If you are not on solid ground at the end of your movement you fall.
Low-Light Vision
You can see in dim light as though it were bright light, so you ignore the concealed condition due to dim light.
Prehensile Tendrils
You have numerous tendrils you can use to manipulate objects. At any time, one pair of tendrils is designated as your active “hands” for this purpose. You can change which tendrils are active by taking the Switch Active Tendrils action, which is a single action. You can only perform actions with your active tendrils. This does not include any tendrils used for movement, and you are treated as having two hands free when climbing.