Jyoti
The jyoti1 are winged, bird-like creatures native to Creation's Forge. Though some assume that because they reside in a place that is the source of all the life energy in the Great Beyond, that they would be good. The truth is that they are quite xenophobic and attack most visitors to their home, especially those who serve a deity.23
Appearance
Jyoti appear as radiant glowing humanoid birds.2
Ecology
Jyoti spontaneously form from the raw essence of Creation's Forge. They neither reproduce nor age.2
Society
Jyoti dwell in living cities made of towering, radiant crystals. They are xenophobic and defend their cities from all invaders, especially those that serve the gods or come from different planes.3 Jyoti claim that they were appointed to be protectors of their plane and cultivators of unborn souls; who actually appointed them is unknown, and their activities keep the River of Souls constantly flowing.2 They sometimes agree to hold dangerous artifacts for visitors, but those with religious significance usually end up destroyed by the jyoti, and are never returned to their owners, due to the jyoti's distrust of the divine.3
Jyoti have a strange relationship with turuls, another form of avian outsiders native to the Creation's Forge. Some believe the jyoti and turuls to each be incarnations of the same genesis, with others suggesting that turuls represent a higher form of reincarnation than jyoti. Neither turuls nor jyoti discuss such hypotheses. A single turul might rarely dwell at the centre of a jyoti city to serve as a protector and advisor, even though jyoti pay little attention to them, and adopt the jyoti's attitudes towards outsiders and deities.2
Manasaputras temper the instinctive xenophobia of jyoti, and both races respect each other, although jyoti do not actively seek out manasaputras to interact with. Jyoti despise the danavas that came to the Creation's Forge, seeing them as meddling by the gods in the jyoti's task; their presence in the Creation's Forge might have been the cause of the jyoti's hatred of the gods.2
Jyoti despise negative energy and everyone that tries to harness it. Their relationship with sceaduinars is complicated; jyoti view their Void counterparts with pity and consider their destruction to be a mercy.2
Stars
The xenophobia of jyoti is manifested in the guard duty they undertake within the Universe's stars. Most stars surround portals to Creation's Forge, and groups of jyoti choose to stand guard over these portals and prevent access from the Universe to their home plane.34
References
- ↑ Jyoti is used for both singular and plural.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 . “Chapter 3: The Great Beyond” in Planar Adventures, 119. Paizo Inc., 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 . “The Inner Sphere” in The Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse, 11. Paizo Inc., 2009
- ↑ . “Distant Stars” in People of the Stars, 20. Paizo Inc., 2014