Bestiary > Energons > Xong-Yong
Energon, Xong-Yong
DESCRIPTION: These mysterious beings are often called the energons of sound, but there’s much more to them than that. The xong-yong are actually the energon of motion—movement and kinetic energy—and sound is merely the manifestation of this energy which is most familiar to planewalkers. Xong-yong look like translucent, blue pulsating spheres wreathed in iridescent streamers. Their tentacles quiver like jellyfish tendrils and make the very air hum, but in fact xong-yong are incorporeal and can pass through anything that can conduct vibrations. The better the conduction, the faster the energon can travel.
Touching a xong-yong feels like touching rapidly vibrating water, and your arm easily passes through the creature harmlessly, even as the numbing tremors crawl through your bones. Planewalkers report that close encounters with xong-yong produce synesthetic effects: Your own heartbeat suddenly sounds too loud, metal emits a strange buzzing sound, you can hear your own hair growing, or perhaps the world around seems to shiver in microbursts.
PREFERRED HABITAT: Most xong-yong can be encountered in loud or high-activity areas where vibration is abundant: the constant motion of the Ringing Layer of Tintibulus in Acheron, or the clashing of cubes on Avalas draws the, in numbers. They also haunt to quakes and mining galleries of the Plane of Earth, and the thunder corridors and conductor lattices of Lightning. Xong-Yong move fastest through substances that carry vibration—dense stone, metal, or tightly packed crystal lattices—phasing along seams, pipes, and tunnels; the better the conduction, the swifter their passage and the more animated their displays. Outside these location, they appear near to portals and noisy planar thresholds, riding the footfall of Blood War armies, the rumble of cities, and the clamor of foundries as they migrate around the Great Wheel.
PHILOSOPHY / SOCIETY: Xong-yong are mostly solitary or gather as transient swarms around spectacular events—collisions, rockbursts, symphonies of industry—then scatter when the show ends, leaving little evidence of communication beyond harmonized ambient sound which slowly echoes to fading. They do not speak in words, even to one another, so little is known of their goals or purpose. They appear driven by an urge to witness and sample motion itself. Graybeards speculate that they that they feed on motion, with sound being the most familiar face of that hunger to planewalkers. Their philosophy, if any can be surmised from their activity, is kinetic curiosity: Xong-Yong seek motion, portals, and impacts, avoiding still places. They are neither creators nor destroyers, but celebrants of momentum.
ECOLOGY: No one knows for sure the dark of how energons are born, but some graybeards reckon it involves particularly great concentrations of the appropriate energy type—in the case of the xong-yong, that would be great motions of the Anvil, the crashing together of large cubes on Avalas, or the a collision between celestial bodies on the Prime.
COMBAT: Xong-yong are not usually aggressive, and use their incorporeality to their advantage, and tend to retreat inside solid objects if they are attacked. This makes them tricky foes to capture, as they will readily slip into walls, floors, and pillars to reposition themselves unseen.
Shockwave Pulse: By intensifying their internal oscillation, a xong-yong can emit a cone or ring of kinetic force that staggers creatures, shivers bone, and cracks brittle objects. Tightly packed formations suffer cascading knockbacks and potentially sonic damage to their equipment.
Scalpel of Sound: A xong-yong can focus a narrow beam that can slice through soft objects and tissue. First it sends out a warning pulse of sound, which planewalkers report being a way to ‘read’ the vulnerabilities of its foes using a resonance. The xong-yong will then target the opponent with the least armour or protection
Explosive Crescendo: Few things can actually harm xong-yong. Solid objects pass through them unless they are magically enchanted. They are immune to magic which causes explosive, sound, or force effects. Not that there’s much reason to harm them, cutter—dying xong-yong explode in a crescendo of sound, damaging everything nearby, while leaving nothing behind but persistent a ringing that will remain in your ears for a long time after.
Known Weaknesses: Force cages, resilient force barriers, and ghost touch weaponry can anchor xong-yong or harm them reliably. Dense padding, sound-damping cloaks, and wax earplugs. The greatest weakness of the xong-yong however is a vacuum—if you can trap a xong-yong in an airless space then they become completely helpless and immobilised.
Sources
Full Statistics: [ D&D3e / PF1e ]
Canonical Source: Planar Handbook [3e] p121
Source: Margarita and Jon Winter-Holt. Canonwatch: We’ve expanded the remit of the xong-yong from just sound—which is the motion of molecules in air, after all—to give them dominion over all forms of energetic motion.