Tem’Mat

The tem’mati are a splinter race of the githzerai. No one knows how or why they ended up in a remote corner of the Inner Plane of Ash, in their fortress city of Ammet Han’sha, not even the tem’mati themselves. All that is known is that these wayward gith established themselves shortly after the branch of the race calling themselves githzerai settled in Limbo. Physically, tem’mati are identical in nearly every way to a typical githzerai. The only outward difference is their skin, which instead of the standard cream to mahogany tint, is a lightly, soft gray colour. The similarities end in appearance, however. The tem’mati split from the githzerai when githzerai culture was very young, so the language, customs, and government are different (although the tem’mati have the same chaotic outlook, and a more disorganised society).

COMBAT: The tem’mati are a fairly vicious people (living on Ash, this is no surprise). They are very brave and capable fighters. They have the same standard classes available to normal githzerai (although due to isolation, are no longer subject to the limitations imposed by the sorcerer-king), and fight accordingly. The vast majority of tem’mat are fighters. Typical armament includes a light chain mail suit (metal is fairly rare here, and armour is considered sacred to the warriors), and one weapon, typically some kind of axe. Although unwieldily, axes are the primary weapons of the Warrior Guild, and nearly all have one. Warriors in defence of Ammet Han’sha always travel in squads of 3 to 7, made up of fighters or varying experience level (although it is rare to see any of higher level than 5, more experienced soldiers often have more important duties).

HABITAT/SOCIETY: The tem’mati have a fairly sophisticated, if chaotic, society. Every tem’mat belongs to a Guild, and those Guilds rule themselves in a mostly democratic fashion. There are Guilds: the Warriors (charged with the defence of Ammet Han’sha and the tem’mati), the Hunters (charged with the duty of finding food), the Travellers (charged with the duty of trading with other peoples and exploring the rest of the planes), the Observers (charged with recording the history and keeping records), and the Caretakers (charged with the thankless task of upkeeping the city and stopping riots, which is actually necessary). If a member of one guild has problems with a member of another, the offended tem’mat goes to the leaders of the offender’s Guild leaders and demands punishment. Obviously, this fact and the fact that there is no central government at all, makes the Tem’mati a very fractured people. Disputes arise over crimes, territory, food rights (in the plane of Ash, food is a very large concern). The only thing, it seems, that the Guilds will unite to tackle are outsiders. The tem’mati are very suspicious of other people, even members of other Guilds. 

ECOLOGY: The tem’mati have somehow managed to survive in the inhospitable plane of Ash. They eat primarily vermin and other native beings close to the fortress-city of Ammet Han’sha, and whatever they can get though trading. They have also found a pocket of pure Water very close to their city. All in all, they have totally adapted to this hostile place. All tem’mati can breathe ash (and have little trouble breathing dust) as well as air, and have a very high heat tolerance. They also need very little food and even smaller amounts of water to survive. 

VARIANTS: A group of highly-respected tem’mati within the Travellers Guild seem to have lost their natural aptitude with psionics. These cutters, known as the Ash Treaders, have instead developed a psychic ability to propel large ships through the wastes of the plane.

Source: Chris Murphy