Wind Dukes of Aaqa

The Wind Dukes of Aaqa (sometimes written Aqaa ), or Vaati, were a race of powerful beings dedicated to law which opposed the forces of the Queen of Chaos; the Obyriths; and the Elemental Chaos. The nature of the Wind Dukes was unclear: some sages believed them to be powerful denizens of the Elemental Plane of Air, while others believed them to be angels of Bahamut.

Description
Vaati were androgynous humanoids with ebony skin and white eyes. They had muscular builds, yet smooth skin, and on average grew to be tall. Their hair was velvety and black, but they would usually shave it closely.

Vaati seldom wore clothing, with the exception of belts and harnesses to carry equipment or weaponry.

Personality
Vaati were peaceful, usually preferring negotiation over fighting. As creatures of Law they would often appear narrow-minded to other races, and were overly concerned with rules and etiquette.

Abilities
Vaati were immune to all forms of aging, resistant to spells or abilities based on elemental air, and were capable of flight. Their eyes had infravision, being able to see as far away as. Uniquely, their eyes could see through all forms of air impediments to vision, such as fog and dust.

All of them possessed an innate spellcasting ability, allowing them to cast powers similar to the spells: control temperature, 10' radius, dust devil, feather fall, and gust of wind.

Combat
If they ever had to resort to combat, the vaati would typically seek to gain height advantage against their opponents and then bombard them from above with spells and ranged weaponry.

Before the war
Prior to the Dawn War, the Wind Dukes became some of the earliest practitioners of elemental magic. Beginning as elementalists of air and lightning, they eventually mastered other elements and as their mastery of the elements grew, dozens of lawful races and elementals swore fealty to them, such as djinn, inevitables, and salamanders. At its peak their empire comprised most of the elemental planes, uniting them under one rule, as well as several worlds on the Prime Material plane.

Most of their empire was destroyed during the Dawn War.

The Rod of Seven Parts
During the Dawn War, seven Wind Dukes were responsible for creating the Rod of Law with the help of the Soulforge of Moradin in Torzak-Belgirn. They went on to use the rod on Oerth, during the battle of the Fields of Pesh, in order to banish Miska the Wolf-Spider.

Post-Dawn War
In the late 15 century DR, Mwaxanaré, oldest living descendant of the last queen of Omu, forged a warlock pact with the Wind Dukes to gain magical powers.

Society
The vaati were an immortal race of beings, with most of them being at least three thousand years old, and had very low birth rates. No more than one or two vaati were born each century.

Each vaati belonged to one of seven castes, which were assigned to them during adolescence.
 * The Wergedeam was the biggest caste, and was comprised of the workers. Every vaati would be a member of that case during their childhood.
 * The Houdeam were the leaders; guards; and soldiers. During the Dawn War, they formed an elite corps known as the Captains of Law. Houdeam were stronger than regular members of their race; had better martial training; displayed a mastery of martial arts; and were known to magically animate their swords to help them in battle.
 * The Haikjadeam were the teachers; police; and lore keepers. Most of the vaati in this caste had access to paladin powers, focusing on the Law versus Evil aspect of alignments. They also had access to spell-like abilities allowing them to reveal the truth; dispel illusions; reveal invisibility; and force polymorphed or shapechanged creatures back into their true forms. During the Dawn War, they helped the Houdeam by destroying or taking control of undead troops.
 * The Trygrideam took care of the plants and animals, and commanded teams of Wergedeam. They were also the judges of the society, mediating disputes between individuals. Wind dukes of this caste had access to druid powers, and saw nature as proof of universal order.
 * The Kheirdeam were healers and spiritual counselors. They had access to cleric powers, and could reveal the truth and influence undead similarly to the Haikjadeam.
 * The Vindeam and Bledrudeam were wizards, advisors, philosophers, scholars, and ambassadors. Vindeam specialized in spells from the Elemental air sphere, while Belrudeam were abjuration specialists.

Finally, some vaati decided to exile themselves and live a life of adventure. Those were called Wendeam, and were not recognized as part of any other caste. They had access to ranger powers, and could track teleporting creatures in the same way a hound of law could. After the defeat of Miska, some of those individuals wandered the planes looking for the lost parts of the Rod of Law, and secretly kept contact with the Trygrideam in order to help in their quest. Some of them had the particularity of being Lawful good, which caused some tensions with other vaati.

Diet
The vaati were an omnivorous race. They ate very little, subsisting primarily off of air itself, but produced a wide variety of food in their society.

Languages
The vaati spoke their own unique language. This was very rhythmic and melodic, featuring many complex whistling sounds. A group of vaati talk with each other could sound to other creatures like mere chanting or whispering. Adventuring vaati also knew how to speak Common.

Relationships
Some aarakocras felt a strong connection to the Vaati and sought to retrieve the shattered pieces of the Rod of Law. Some were said to report directly to the Dukes, and searched for the temples dedicated to evil archomentals.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Tomb of Annihilation • Candlekeep Mysteries: "Zikran's Zephyrean Tome"
 * Video Games
 * Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation
 * Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation
 * Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation