Scile (sing & pl), also referred to as incandescents, were ageless creatures of pure radiant energy native to the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Radiance that subsisted upon colors, both the naturally reoccurring ones of the plane and those of non-native creatures.[1]
Description[]
An individual scile was a minuscule mote of light, measuring roughly 0.01 inches (0.025 centimeters).[1]
Abilities[]
When working as a group, scile could drain the color from any creature within roughly 10 feet (3 meters) of them in under a few minutes. This draining of color rendered the victim and their possessions transparent, making them effectively invisible to both themselves and others, and thus causing them to lose all awareness of their own body. This especially made it hard for spellcaster victims to use somatic components. And any magic items rendered transparent ceased to function until restored to their former state. This transparency could be cured with either dust of appearance or the remove curse spell, though dyes and paints were also said to gradually reverse the process.[1]
Scile could only be harmed by weapons with a +1 or greater enchantment and as they were pure energy the scile were unaffected by all magic that altered physical forms. This included magic that caused paralyzation, petrification, polymorphing, or disintegration. Physical barriers, such as those produced by wall of ice or wall of force, could keep scile at bay and the darkness spell would drive them away.[1]
Scile could telepathically communicate with any other scile in sight.[1]
Combat[]
When hunting the scile typically traveled in clouds of around thirty or more individuals.[1]
Society[]
Scile lived in intricate societies based around huge, permanent cloud-clusters. Each community was an autonomous egalitarian collective consisting of many thousands or millions of scile.[1] Many scile traveled in hunting clouds in search of non-native creatures, as their colors differed from those naturally occurring on the plane in subtle degrees noticeable only to them.[2]
It was unknown to scholars how, or even if, the scile reproduced. Some theorized that they couldn't and thus only a finite number of them existed.[1]
Sub-Races[]
Ravagers of Color were a vastly more intelligent and chaotic evil breed of scile that were believed to exist within the deep reaches of the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Radiance, living apart from other scile. They differed from normal scile in that they would only drain a single color from a victim but, depending upon which color was drained, the victim suffered a different effect until cured of transparency.[2]
The draining of orange caused a victim to become physically weaker, violet caused a reduction in intellect, green made a victim incapable of lying and prone to relating information about themselves, yellow caused them to suffer depression, red caused them to lose all motivation, and finally the draining of blue caused there to be a small chance the victim would fly into a frenzied rage once every day.[2]
Relationships[]
Scile sometimes acted as servants of the elven deity Labelas Enoreth.[3]
In regards to other natives of their plane, they were considered by radiance quasi-elementals to be mere annoyances, rather than a threat.[4] And darklights sometimes formed strange, symbiotic alliances with scile that craved the colors of planewalking outsiders.[5]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Monte Cook, ed. (1998). Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix III. Edited by Michele Carter and Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 94. ISBN 0-7869-0751-7.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Monte Cook, ed. (1998). Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix III. Edited by Michele Carter and Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 95. ISBN 0-7869-0751-7.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (November 1998). Demihuman Deities. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 118. ISBN 0-7869-1239-1.
- ↑ Monte Cook, ed. (1998). Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix III. Edited by Michele Carter and Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 84. ISBN 0-7869-0751-7.
- ↑ Monte Cook, ed. (1998). Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix III. Edited by Michele Carter and Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 11, 29. ISBN 0-7869-0751-7.