Helian

These creatures are born on the elemental plane of Fire, formed from the union of the soul of a deceased follower of the fire elemental gods and the extreme heat of the plane. Helians are highly sentient creatures, but they do not retain the personal experiences of their former lives. They retain the intellect, the knowledge, and the wisdom gained throughout their lives, but they would not recognize friends, enemies, or even their spouses or immediate family members.

These creatures are made completely of living flame. They possess a quasi-metallic bone structure which the flames of their bodies cling to. Helians do have definite form, their eyes and other facial features being clearly visible. In fact, their skin appears to be elastic and smooth, even though 1t is made completely of semi-liquid flame. There is definition in the creature's musculature which makes it appear as though a helian were a very buff humanoid with reddish-yellow skin.

Combat: Helians have several different attack modes. The first type of attack is a strike with the fists, inflicting 3d4 points of damage with each blow. If the helion is able to strike someone in metal armor of any kind, this inflicts an additional 1d4 points of damage, because the residual heat takes longer to dissipate from metal than it does with living tissue, normal cloth, or leather.

The helian's second attack is very special and lethal. It is able to conjure a gelatinous ball of flame from the elemental plane of Fire and throw it at a target. This attack causes the same damage as a 12-die fireball, inflicting 12d4 points of damage. This ball of flame has been called "a piece of the Sun." It gained this name because the heat damage inflicted by this attack mode is much higher than that of the standard fireball.

The helian is also known to hug an opponent to death. This attack style inflicts 3d6 points of damage every round. A normal attack roll is needed to grip the opponent, but once contact is made, the only way to escape is to slay the helian. Weapons can be used, but healing spells cannot. Touching a character in the grips of a helian causes 1d6 points of damage immediately, and this is enough to halt all healing spells from working because the caster loses concentration.

The helian must roll to hit normally to strike its target. If it misses by 2 points or less, it still inflicts half damage. There is no saving throw for the damage inflicted by the helian, whether by its fists or by its attack with the glob of flame.

Habitat/Society: Helians tend to gather together in troops which they call tribes. They protect each other whenever they are attacked by an enemy of any sort. They do not blindly attack with no regard for return fire; they know when to back down to assure their survival. They live to fight the enemy another day.

All of this might give the impression that helians love to fight. Nothing could be further from the truth. They attack only when they feel threatened. For example, the helians living on the Sun in the center of Realmspace attack any ship that comes close to their domain, because they see what these races do to their own kind, and they witness the brutality thrown onto races that are not their own. This racism is an appalling factor they cannot bear; so to save their tribal members, they attack these spelljamming humans before the humans ever get a chance to attack them.

The helians that live on the Sun were the few that were able to flee from the persecution of the efreeti and the other fire-dwelling creatures that inhabit the elemental plane of Fire. That they are now free beings is one reason they hate the humans so much. They know how it feels to be persecuted.

Ecology: