Aerial servant

Aerial servants were a semi-intelligent form of air elemental.

Description
Aerial servants appeared dimly visible on their home planes, but completely invisible on the Prime Material plane. They resembled the upper halves of humanoids made of sparking blue vapor. Their white and blue smoky bodies had only slits for facial features, and large ethereal hands with four stretched-out fingers.

Behavior
Aerial servants never displayed interest in the affairs of other planes and would never voluntarily leave their home plane. This was due in part to the fact that residing in calm weather was known to cause aerial servants to gradually grow weaker and lifeless. They also held no desire to collect treasure.

When summoned a summoned aerial servant would obediently complete any task for their conjurers, with the exception of fighting, unless prevented from doing so.While on the Prime Material the aerial servant harbored resentment towards their summoner. If they were prevented from fulfilling their task, aerial servants were known to go insane at striking out at their masters.

Biology
Possessing ultra-high speed and strength, they could carry weights in excess of 10,000 gp, and move at speeds twice that of an invisible stalker.

Aerial servants could only reproduce in areas of extreme weather, where they were drawn to. Whilst engaged in such a storm, there was a chance that the servant would be blown with such force that it would create another of its kind. However, this process was incredibly painful for them, thus they strove to avoid it.

Combat
Although they generally preferred to avoid combat on their home planes. When summoned to another, they fought using their supernatural strength. Strangling opponents with their extended fingers until they suffocated. Only exceptionally strong opponents could break free of their grasp.

Aerial servants often used their invisibility on the Prime Material to surprise opponents.

Society
These elemental kin did not form families or communities, but only appeared to wander alone. They spent much of their time soaring through their native plane, revealing its infinite mysteries.

Diet
Aerial servants fed on the planar wind of their home plane, which constituted their life force. These elementals had to be nourished in such a way at least monthly.

Homelands
Aerial servants were not known keep lairs or specific territories. As the cyclones, wind storms, hurricanes, and maelstroms of the Elemental Plane of Air generally did not pose a threat to them, aerial servants were often found in these areas. In the Astral plane they were found around its psychic wind storms, while in the Ethereal plane they were found around its ether cyclones.

On the Prime Material plane, aerial servants were often found throughout Calimshan, either guarding others creatures' treasure chambers or wandering around after their summoner had failed to control them.

Relationships
Aerial servants typically didn't associate with other creatures, though had a natural affinity for their fellow air elementals. However, their kin often discouraged interaction with them; many air elementals viewed aerial servants as being inferior to them.

Powerful clerics were capable of summoning them to Prime Material by means of the aerial servant spell. Clerics typically prepared for any resentment and hostility the semi-intelligent elementals might feel towards them by casting protection from evil beforehand.

Appearances

 * Magazines
 * Dragon magazine 67
 * Dragon magazine 81


 * Trading cards
 * Spellfire: Master the Magic
 * AD&D Trading Cards


 * Video games
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
 * Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon
 * Icewind Dale
 * Icewind Dale II