Xag-Ya/Xeg-Yi

Ah, life – there's no spot in the multiverse where it hasn't managed to take hold. Perhaps, in a tome dedicated to the creatures of the inhospitable Inner Planes, such a concept should be a theme, or even the theme. There's life everywhere.

The Positive and Negative Energy Planes are no exception to this rule. Somehow, on both of these seething planes of force, consciousnesses formed and adopted bodies made of the essence around them. The Positive Energy Plane - a brilliant sea of explosive vitality - spawned the creature known as the xag-ya, whereas the Negative Energy Plane - a cold pit of devouring darkness - brought forth the xeg-yi.

On the other hand, some say that neither creature is a true native of its plane at all. These folks claim that the xag-ya and xeg-yi came into existence elsewhere (perhaps on the same plane, perhaps on different planes), forming in isolated pockets of positive and negative energy. The beasts might even have been created by some intelligent agency for an unknown purpose.'Course, this is just idle speculation, but it comes about for a very good reason. The Positive Energy Plane is practically life incarnate. How could a creature attain enough true individuality in such a place to achieve consciousness and an ambulatory body? And the Negative Energy Plane is as antilife as a basher can conceive, which makes the idea of a living creature of negative energy seem a bit of a contradiction.

The graybeards can rattle their bone-boxes all they like about these problems, but the fact is that no one really knows how or why the xag-ya and the xeg-yi exist. The two creatures are similar and yet opposite in appearance and nature - so much so that it makes a body wonder if their geneses didn't have something in common.

In any event, both are spherical beings with multiple tendrils of energy writhing about them, almost like the tentacles of an octopus. Each creature's main body is a globe of energy that's unremarkable except for two narrow spots that suggest eyes. These eyes, in turn, suggest an unknowable and alien intelligence. At first glance, there's only one way to tell the two creatures apart: The xag-ya appears silvery and lustrous, while its negative counterpart is black and dull.

Combat: Both monsters attack foes by striking with their whiplike tendrils of energy. The touch of the xag-ya carries with it a powerful jolt that overloads living creatures and causes them 1d6+6 points of damage. Combustible, nonliving items such as paper, cloth, and wood catch on fire when exposed to this raw force.

Every other round, the xag-ya can fire a bolt of this cnergy at a target up to 10 feet away. Like the touch of the creature's tendrils, the bolt ignites combustibles and inflicts 1d6+6 points of damage, but it also heats metal objects. Such items glow white-hot and remain so for 1d4 rounds. During that time, they cause 1d4 points of damage per round to anyone in contact with them. Magical metallic items are allowcd a saving throw versus electricity to resist being heated.

The life-draining tendrils of the xeg-yi corrode whatever they touch. They inflict 1d6+6 points of damagc on living targets and cause nonliving items such as paper, cloth, and wood to age and rot.

Every other rotund, the xeg-yi can discharge a bolt of negative energy with a range of 10 feet. It has the same effect as the touch of a tendril, corroding materials and inflicting 1d6+6 points of damage, but it also rots sturdy materials like metal and stone. Such items must make a successful saving throw versus electricity or become corroded and worthless.

A basher's got to have a weapon of +1 or better enchantment in order to harm either creature. And rather than discuss what kind of magic the pair is immune to, it's easier to list the few spells that do affect them. Xag-ya are vulnerable to cold-based spells, while xeg-yi are harmed by magical fire. Both are subject to disintegration and magic missile, and neither can penetrate a shield spell. If a cutter runs into either monster elsewhere in the multiverse, he can send it back to its home plane with one of the following spells: abjure, banishment, dismissal, dispel magic (treat the level of magic as twice the creature's Hit Dice total), holy word, limited wish, plane shift, or wish. No other spells can affect them.

A rod of absorption or a wand of negation can thwart the attack of a xag-ya, while a rod of cancellation or a mace of disruption provides protection from the assaults of a xeg-yi. What's more, these four magical items can't be harmed by either creature.

If a xag-ya or xeg-yi is slain, it explodes in the appropriate release of energy – either an overloading jolt or an enervating drain). This burst has a radius of 10 feet, and all within the area suffer 2d6+12 points of damage. Victims and objects are also affected as if struck by a bolt of energy loosed by the creature (thus, certain items must make saving throws).

Habitat/Society: Neither the xag-ya nor the xeg-yi seems to interact with other creatures – not even those of their own kind. Though they're thought to be highly intelligent, they have no language or real means of communication. They're completely solitary beings. Still, they're also quite curious about what lies beyond their own planes and oftcn wander about the multiverse, observing.

While they're not outright hostile, their touch endangers virtually all things, so it's inevitable that they find themselves in combat fairly often – others can't help but perceive them as a threat.

Should a xag-ya and a xeg-yi ever meet, they instantly rush toward each other. If they come into contact, they annihilate themselves in a conflagration of energy that inflicts 4d6+24 points of damage to every living thing in a 30-foot radius. The blast randomly corrodes or heats nonliving objects within this area. No one knows exactly why the creatures do this; some bloods believe it0146s motivated by hatred, while others think it's due to some other need or flaw.

Ecology: Xag-ya and xeg-yi feed on all sorts of energy. Their means of reproduction is unknown but must be asexual - after all, individuals of these species never interact.