Ardande (
Versatile Heritage)
Uncommon Ardande Source Rage of Elements pg. 46The strength of a baobab trunk and flexibility of a yew branch, flowers and fruit sprinkled across a forest canopy like jewels in a crown, soft moss blankets, and the daytime constellations created by pinpricks of light through leaves—this is what ardandes are made of. Ardandes are geniekin, or elemental planar scions, born with elemental wood for flesh and blood-like sap flowing through their veins; just as much elemental essence as they are mortal. They are the descendants of
wood elementals,
kizidhars,
dryads, and
forest dragons, or were born under the influence of powerful elemental forces tied to the
First World or
Plane of Wood.
Ardandes often share a connection to specific aspects of wood, such as spring blossoms, ancient and rotten stumps seething with life that feeds on their decay, or sap dripping down tree bark; this is called an ardande lineage. Typically, an ardande has the same lineage as their ardande parent, though some are born with a new or different lineage, or to parents who didn't have one. Sometimes a lineage reflects where an ardande was born, such as
springsoul ardandes born in the vibrant, portal-riddled Grungir Forest in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, or
moldersoul ardandes influenced by the Darkblight infection of the Southern Fangwood. They can also occur as a reflection of the ardande's planar ancestry, like
ambersoul ardandes who descend from kizidhars.
If you want to play a character who embodies the tenacity, flexibility, and succor of elemental wood, you should play an ardande.
You Might...
- Associate your personal identity with elemental wood, and believe the characteristics of wood, plants, and trees form core aspects of your personality.
- Enjoy giving gifts or expressing love for your friends with food and hospitality.
- Take pride in your elemental lineage and your connection to the previously lost Plane of Wood.
Others Probably...
- Look to you as an authority on plant creatures and the Plane of Wood.
- Take you for granted as an endless well of energy, patience, and support.
- Mistake you for a ghoran or dryad, perhaps not even realizing there is an elemental Plane of Wood.
Physical Description
Ardandes vary in appearance just as much as their different ancestors do. Green, brown, and ash gray are the most common skin tones, though many also have bodies covered in moss, bark, or knotted wood. Ardandes are often born with coils of ivy or flowering vines for hair, but just as common are those who grow beards made of petals or leaves, or hair that rustles like a leaf caught in a perpetual wind. Most smell like dew on fresh grass, wildflowers, or a mossy forest floor. Rarely, an ardande is born with amber or bark for nails, leaves or delicate petals freckling their skin, or even rotten, mossy bodies that shed spores and resin.
Society
Poorly understood by both themselves and others, ardandes born before the Plane of Wood's return have struggled to fully comprehend their own heritage. Due to the Plane of Wood's longstanding absence from the Universe, Golarion has had too few ardandes for the wood geniekin to form their own societies or cultural norms. In most regions where ardandes are found, only a single family might have a connection to elemental wood, and the norms of the elemental scions of wood in those areas are simply those of that single ardande family.
Alignment and Religion
Many ardandes value community and family. Religious ardandes gravitate to the faiths of wood and nature deities, such as
Gozreh,
the Green Mother,
Shyka, or the elemental lords of wood,
Shumunue and
Verilorn. Some venerate the kings of the leshies, known as the
green men, or join
druidic orders or other spiritual practices focused on nature, like the
Green Faith. Evil ardandes sometimes look to gods who represent destruction, disease, and rot for guidance, like
Urgathoa,
Groetus, or the demon lord
Treerazer. The ardandes who venerate these vile gods often interpret corruption and disease as necessary components of nature's eternal cycle: death that carves the way for renewal, rather than death as a final ending.
Popular Edicts flow with the cycles of nature, grow the world I want to live in
Popular Anathema betray my family
Adventurers
Misunderstood and unexplained, many ardande children turn to lives of adventure as they search for answers and information about themselves. Backgrounds as
artists and
artisans are common, as woodcrafts and sculpture often help them to feel connected with kizidhar ancestors, though many also become
scholars and elementalists in their quests to uncover the secrets of the Inner Sphere and their place inside it.
Other Information
Ardande Relations
Forest dragons and
dryad are common ancestors for ardandes born before the return of the
Plane of Wood, or kizidhars who became trapped in the
Universe and were forced to make new lives for themselves. Ardandes with
wood scamp parents are often short and bushy, like living shrubs, and are often mistaken for
leshies and
conrasus.
Ardande Settlements
In most parts of Golarion, ardande bloodlines are only just beginning to return. Two families of ardandes in Tian Xia (both descended from the same forest dragon) managed to retain their connection to elemental wood, while across the world in distant Arcadia, ardande families have kept their elemental heritage intact through continued dealings with the
fey
.
Versatile Heritage
Uncommon Source Rage of Elements pg. 47Ancestry Page ArdandeYou descend from wood elementals or have some other heritage influenced by the elemental
Plane of Wood. You might have green, mossy skin, vines that grow from your head instead of hair, or thin appendages that resemble twigs. You gain the
ardande trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You also gain
low-light vision, or you gain
darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision.
You can choose from ardande feats, geniekin feats, and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.