| The Locals Air Sentinels Copyright © 2000 by Rasgon It is said that in Bytopia, all do the work that pleases them best. The Air Sentinels bravely patrol the stormy, dangerous layer of Shurrock, but it seems their true love comes after their labors are done. Air sentinels love stories. All agree that the reason they first came to the plane was because, unlike most of the rest of the multiverse where secrets and lore are kept close, Bytopians are more than willing to trade them freely, under the theory that everyone should benefit from the labors of each individual. Air sentinels, when grateful rescuees offer favors in return, generally ask for stories. Some tales tell of the air sentinels being brought to Shurrock by Ukko, the Finnish god of weather, or perhaps Untamo, the god of dreams. Others say a young lord of the djinn beseeched his servants to find him new entertainment, or Hajama and Najm, gods of the Land of Fate, worked out the deal in order that stories of valor and courage might better spread across the planes. Still others say it was the plane itself that saw the need for guardians, and so modified itself to be exactly what every air sentinel wanted. The sentinels themselves will eagerly give a story of their origins, or multiple ones, to anyone who asks for the most minor of boons. They tell of a city made of legends and lore that sold itself to their lord in order that it might live forever; it exists now in Shurrock, where they forever guard it and all who venture near that most sacred of places. They tell of their quest for the ultimate story which would allow them to ascend to the next level of reality, or even of their quest for their own origins, lost in myth long ago. Air sentinels are born on Shurrock, and they live without aging for approximately 200 cycles. At that time, they vanish, perhaps returning to their fabled city or their lord in the Elemental Plane of Air. Or maybe, just maybe, they find that greatest of all stories, and take it with them to the Great Unknown. Sources: This work is heavily inspired by "Ramadan," by Neil Gaiman, and the description of Air Sentinels in the Outer Planes Appendix. Making them tale-hounds is the exclusive idea of Rasgon. |
