Marid

Marids were powerful genies native to the Elemental Plane of Water. They were also prevalent throughout Zakhara, the Land of Fate.

Most Zakharans revered marids as the most wondrous and powerful of all geniekind.

Marids could communicate with telephathy like all true genies. They were also fluent in Jannti, the common tongue of all genies, and Midani, the native language of Zakhara. When angered, a marid's native language resembled the sound of a clashing storm at sea or waves crashing against a rocky shore.

Description
The average marid stood a towering 18 ft. (5.5 m) tall, looking down upon all other genies. Marids were beautiful genies whose skin matched all of the hues of the vast ocean. In fact, marids changed their skin color to reflect their current mood, with darker shades of blue indicating anger. Most marids had blue-black or dark gray hair, though white haired marids did exist. Generally speaking, the white-haired marids were the most turbulent of their kind.

While on the Elemental Plane of Water, or in seas or oceans, marids usually wore scant clothing or went bare. On land they preferred colorful flowing robes or large pantaloons. Both males and females enjoyed showing off their impressive physiques, so flimsy vests were usually the most clothing they wore to cover their torsos.

Combat
Marids were wondrously magical creatures, matching archwizards in terms of spellcasting ability. They could use the following spell-like abilities: detect evil, detect good, detect invisible, detect magic, invisibility, polymorph self, purify water, assume liquid form, assume gaseous form, lower water, part water, wall of fog, and create water. Once every year they could alter reality.

Any water-based magic was utterly useless against a marid. They were also partially resistant to cold-based spells. However, fire-based magic was their weakness. They were particularly vulnerable to attacks with open flames.

Marids could travel between any of the Elemental, Prime and Astral planes at will. They could also move freely upon the Ethereal Plane. Due to their strained relationships with the other genies, they rarely visited the other Elemental planes.

Habitat/Society
Every individual marid claimed to be noble, creating a confusing hierarchy of titles and honorifics that was not officially recognized by true noble marids. Though powerful in their own right, common marids claiming to be noble paled in comparison to the legendary power of the true noble marids.

Marid households on the Elemental Plane of Water usually had 2-20 members led by marid with a title. Servants, slaves, and other water creatures worked within a marid household. Marids enjoyed using air-breathers as servants because the marid's gift of water-breathing to the servant insured their compliance.

The seat of power for the marid community was the Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls. This majestic location was ruled by the great Padisha of the Marids, Kalbari al-Durrat al-Amwaj ibn Jari. In addition to being the capital, the Citadel was also the home of many noble marids. Few mortals ever viewed the Citadel and returned to tell the tale.

Because of their free-spirited attitude, marids often visited Zakhara for adventure. The sites for these forays were usually inaccessible to mortals, such as the Great Sea in the midst of a violent hurricane.

Since marids had such high opinions of themselves, a view that was only slightly less than reality because of their immense power, mortals who dealt with them often found that bribery and flattery were the wisest methods to deploy, though this did not guarantee the expected outcome.

Marids were fond of embellishing nearly anything. They were creative liars, but not in a malicious sense. As one would suspect, they were fabulous storytellers, making it difficult to keep a marid from straying off-topic during conversation. It should be noted that interrupting a marid was a crime for lesser creatures (any non-marid) as far as they were concerned. Offending a marid was a sure way to incur their terrifying wrath.

Ecology
Marids did not need to consume food or beverages in order to survive, though many did so because it pleased them. They were quite sensitive to flavors. Many kept tensers within their homes to release exotic salts, infusing the water with pleasing flavors.

These mighty genies were sea creatures, but could breathe on land with ease.

Because of their noble self-belief, all marids collected wealth in many forms. Some even kidnapped skilled human or demihuman craftsmen so they could work on their homes or produce artistic creations. These kidnappings did violate marid law, so they kept their "borrowed" workers a secret to avoid the wrath of the true noble marids.

Marids treated all other races, including other genies, as inferiors. They tolerated the djinn and jann but openly despised the dao and efreet. Humans as a species were tolerated as well, but were considered the most disgusting species with whom the marids had dealings. Powerful human sha'irs and leaders like the Grand Caliph gained the respect of the marids if it was deserved.