Uthras

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Uthras

Home Plane: Unknown (possibly the Ordial Plane or the Far Realm); now reside on Bytopia

Alignment: Lawful Good

Themes: Strange creatures from the world long gone. Good, but in their own unknowable ways.

This dialogue was recorded in Ecstasy, in the Philosopher’s Court, where the codex archon Baramiel and the eladrin who goes by the name Acantix engage in a friendly argument concerning the nature of the most mysterious celestial race of them all.

Acantix: So, you claim to have seen the dwelling place of the uthras on Bytopia?

Baramiel: Indeed! That was back my spyglass archon days mind, when I was tasked with the surveillance of the far reaches of Shurrock. Those places were thought to be uninhabited, but after many years of searching, I discovered that those initial reports were misguided. Among mountainous peaks shrouded in golden clouds I discovered a realm that hosted the uthras. And more of them than had ever been observed before.

A: Hold on. Why Bytopia of all places? Wouldn’t Elysium or Mount Celestia be more appropriate for such creatures? Wait, aren’t there uthras on both of these planes?

B: Yes, and I admit I struggle to provide an explanation for this choice. I assume, uthras’ morality doesn’t fully align with either of those planes, so they reside halfway between them.

A: If their followers’ scripture is anything to go by, then the Bytopian spirit is conductive to their ultimate goal of rigorous purification, and rapturous ascension.

B: Followers?

A: Oh yes! I had the honour of speaking with some of the worshippers of the power whom the uthras serve. In fact, I received most of my information from them, even if it was quite cryptic and contradictory.

B: Let’s hope your interpretations of it were correct.

Felthis ap Jerran (who has noticed the large amount of wide-eyed newcomers in the audience): Apologies, but would you mind reminding us what are these “uthras” of whom you speak?

B: With pleasure. Uthras are the most mysterious kind of celestials—gargantuan creatures superficially resembling humanoids. They are incredibly rare and very secretive, not to mention frightening to look upon.

A: Chant goes, they hail from the Multiverse which came before our own, much like obyriths.

B: I wouldn’t be too quick to suggest that, friend. There are many theories of how the Multiverse came to be, most of contradictory.

A: But you cannot deny that there is certainly something lurking out there, beyond the Great Wheel. So could there be something existing in another time as well?

B: Uthras may simply come from the Far Realm. Ha, I say ‘simply’ as if the Far Realm was a mere bagatelle. But surely there must be something out there, other than chaos and evil. To add to that, the Power whom the uthras supposedly serve seems to exist on neither Bytopia nor anywhere on the Upper Planes. I can only assume it exists outside of the Multiverse as we know it.

A: Good point… Though I like my own theory better. In my humble opinion, if there’s a place uthra higher-ups live, that would be the mysterious Ordial Plane. Think of it friend, uthras have connections to the elements and they have been spied on the Outer and the Inner Planes, but avoid the Prime. And remember, guardian uthras were spotted in Yetsirah just thirty three cycles back, near the only known portal to Chronias. As I’m sure you know, the crowning layer of the heavenly mountain is rumoured to have the direct access to the Ordial…

B: You can’t be serious! I’ve never seen a single mote of evidence that this so-called Ordial Plane even exists! Surely you don’t believe the ramblings of that barmy old medusa?!

Felthis ap Jerran: Dear speakers! This is all well and good, but I suggest we return to the previous topic of conversation for a minute.

A: Sorry for that, king. So, uthras are celestials, like me and my friend here, but they are very… alien. Their forms vary widely, but any one of them can blow your brain-box away with their sheer weird grandeur.

B: There are three kinds of common uthras—if you can call anything about them common!—and one paragon race, so even they fall in line with the universal Rule of Threes…

A: Or an alternative Rule of Four…

B: Pssh! So first, there’s the anana or cloud uthra. They are the smallest of them all, although they still stand as tall as a storm giant, although they are a good deal more slender. Ananas have featureless faces with a single eye dominating their face. Their bodies are pale and thin, and they have long black claws. Ananas’ bodies constantly exude streams of mist that weave around them like silken threads, but otherwise they are completely naked—though not immodestly so—for they also lack any sexual characteristics.

A: Ananas are thought to be caretakers and companions of other uthras. Scriptures describe them as “wives” of naktas, but this shouldn’t be taken as meaning they have genders and marriages. I assume it is a symbolic description of their assistive role. The ananas are also the ones who watch over the divine rivers in the Matarta, concealing them with mists and purifying interlopers.

B: Next are gufnas or vine uthras. They are strikingly different from their kin, because they manifest as enormous unmoving stems of heavenly plants. Their trunks are engraved with inhuman faces, that change their expressions to match the mood of the gufna. They reach high into the sky, disappearing into the clouds, and deep into the ground. They are adorned with giant leaves and bunches of large otherworldy fruit. Some of these fruits have blurred figures visible deep inside of them—but I didn’t dare to ask what that was all about.

A: No one knows the place that gufnas extend to or where do they take root. To me it seems like they pierce the planar boundaries not unlike Yggdrasil or the Infinite Staircase. Gufnas allow uthras to travel along them, through Outer and Inner Planes. I personally believe they access the Ordial Plane. From what I’ve gathered, the role of gufnas is to guide souls towards what the scriptures call the World of Light. Perhaps, those souls are the silhouettes visible within their fruits? Or maybe those shapes are would-be invaders, imprisoned by uthras, until they change their minds?

B: The most recognizable kind of uthras are naktas or guardian uthras. They are giant humanoids with two searching lights in place of eyes. Their heads have no mouths—instead, their entire faces open up, revealing truly fearsome toothed maws. Like ananas, naktas appear gaunt and emaciated, but they are more than twice as large, dwarfing most creatures with their sheer size. Glowing fiery spikes protrude from their backs, crudely mimicking wings. Naktas wield holy clubs or staves that are said to sprout a dozen flaming blades when they’re used in a battle. The guardian uthras, as their name implies, patrol the places important to their kin. And while all uthras are distinct in appearance, naktas often stand guard as an inseparable pair of twins. Such pairs can be seen around the Covenant Rock, where Mother of Waves dwells, in the distant realms of Jovar, and even on the Inner Planes.

A: And finally, the high-ups. Ziwas or radiance uthras are hard to describe, since their appearance is not only bizarre, but also shrouded in blinding light and an enchanting aura of awe. For all I know, they are easy to recognise by their heads—vertical hoops of bone and gold with two dancing lights inside their circumference acting as eyes. These hoops float freely just above their shoulders. Below the shoulder, ziwas are somewhat humanoid, but they are also strangely geometric in appearance. Some of them wear additional limbs, some wear strange cloaks. Moreover, the few witness accounts that exist, describe the radiance uthras shifting their forms depending on their and onlooker’s positions relative to each other. It seems to me that those beings definitely manipulate the very space they occupy.

B: No corpse or any fragment of an uthra has ever been found. As such, we can only speculate on their internal structure. At least, from my observations I can infer that the matter uthras are made from might resemble our own flesh (even when it appears metallic), but it is much more durable than that of mortals or even celestials. If separated from the uthra, it quickly evaporates into mist and light. Uthras don’t seem to have genders or reproduction habits, but graybeards reckon they can join together to produce new uthras through emanation of their combined energies.

A: I think this is the perfect time to bring up my hypothesis. I say that the multiverse from which the uthras came, was one where the planes of alignment and the planes of the elements were one and the same. All four uthra subraces are associated with the elements: Steam for ananas, Wood for gufnas, Fire for naktas and Radiance for ziwas. Their eternal enemies, the obyriths, have their elemental allegiances too. It’s not a coincidence that Dagon, Pazuzu, Ubothar and Bechard are each strongly associated with elements, and other obyrith lords including the Queen of Chaos herself have staked their claims in the Inner Sphere too. I’ve even heard barmy tanar’ri claim that the Abyss itself was a stolen part of the Elemental Chaos. Of course, this is highly implausible, but perhaps this tale has its origins in the obyriths’ elementalism.

B: But how can elements even be good or evil?

A: It’s not exactly that. What I’m saying is that in the previous Multiverse the elements of creation were also morality itself.

B: These suggestions are far too far-fetched to be derived from such limited information. But it does explain why uthras place so much importance on the ritual cleansing of everyone who comes to their domain. And perhaps why there are elementals aligned to good and wickedness even now.

Someone in the crowd: That’s good and all, but what exactly do these creatures… do?

A: Ah, yes, of course. Uthras are really rare to encounter, since most of them stay in their own obscure realms. But every once in a while they can be seen on Lower Planes. Unlike us, they don’t do it to fight mundane fiends. Their primary targets are the obyriths, whom they exterminate on sight. Of course, as most of those loathsome things hide deep down in the Abyss, battles between uthra and obyrith are rarely observed.

B: Having said that, uthras go out of their way to help any creature they see that is in danger—even mundane fiends. They do not actively seek out those in need, however. Religious texts explain that uthras and the mysterious Power they serve believe that every creature of this multiverse is capable of redemption and therefore shouldn’t be harmed without a very convincing reason. Apparently, obyriths do not count as “creatures of this multiverse”. Uthras also regularly battle kaijus— but they don’t kill them. Rather, they drive them away, back to the chaotic side of the Great Ring.

A: Despite all those god intentions, uthras are very unsociable. They can talk to any creature through telepathy, but rarely deign to do so—unless they are speaking with some real high-up. Sealtiel, for example, has apparently managed to get one of guardian uthras named Yorabba to guard Jovar. Yorabba can be seen visiting Pax Exaltea once in a while, although it is understandably hard to see them. Two twin naktas, Adathan and Yadathan are said to stand their eternal guard near the Cliff of the Mother of Waves. It’s said they were the final argument made by guardinals that ended the War of Marble and Feathers. Some very reliable sources add that Queen Morwel is currently attempting to forge an alliance with uthras to finally free Androlynne—but they don’t seem best pleased by her chaotic nature.

B: Uthras definitely have more foes than just obyriths. They were seen prowling in the void around Carcerian planetoids and in the darkness between Gehennan volcanoes. Recently, the stem of a gufna was seen on the Plane of Smoke, surrounded by the troop of naktas. They seem to be searching for something—I assume for the Prince of Darkness, an ancient evil entity, who chant goes had possessed and corrupted four archons.

A: There’s another notable enemy though…

B: Well, yes. Ptahil, the fallen ziwa uthra, and his allied uthras are said to be worshipped on some Prime world named Tibil. Now it isn’t unheard for uthras to conflict with each other—even one ziwa, Yushamin, had a brief rogue period. But Ptahil isn’t keen on returning to other uthras. Uthras typically avoid the Prime—their worshippers reckon that the plane is somehow unclean for them, and they consider it imperfectly formed. Yet Ptahil and his progeny are said to not just dwell there, but claim to be the creators of all of the Prime (or at least the crystal sphere containing Tibil). It is assumed Ptahil is consumed by pride, and refuses to admit his creation doesn’t hold up to the uthras’ moral standards. No wonder—in his creative passion he decided to team up with beings called Ruha, the Mother spirit. My research suggests this is likely to be Pale Night, the obyrith lord best fit to wear this title, and Ur, which seems to be just an another name for the Chained God Tharizdun—who was also tricked by the obyriths.

A: Now while I too hate obyriths with a passion, I’ve got to stop you right there, friend. Surely a conflict between the uthras and Ptahil is more of a conflict between Law and Chaos, although in a more bizarre, primeval and otherworldly way. In scriptures, Ruha is not described as an evil being, merely as one opposed to the uthras and their Power. I personally identify Ruha with the Dark Mother, the primordial being of love, creation, death, joining and a host more concepts. The major belief of uthras and their worshippers is that manda (or divine knowledge) is the only way for a petitioner to reach salvation and the World of Light. Hayyi Rabbi, the Power whom the uthras serve, is the source of this knowledge, and they’re described as a formless being of light and guess what? Water. Just how the Mother is described as the endless dark sea. Even their epithets—Father of Light and Dark Mother are juxtaposed. Uthra worshippers claim that Ruha will some day be redeemed (another reason why she cannot be an obyrith) and merge with her ideal counterpart in the World of Light. Although I view that as wishful thinking and simplification on their behalf.

The King of Light is the force of order, eternity and rationality, and seeks to contain all beings within the World of Light in their supposed ideal forms. Meanwhile, the Dark Mother is the force of chaos, change, life and death, unrestrained emotion and irrationality, which by its nature is compromising for her counterpart. The serpentine Ur in this paradigm can only be identified with Leviathan, the Elder “Evil” of Chaos, left over from before the days of creation—or perhaps the logical end result of this creation? Just like Ptahil cannot accept that his world turned out to be quite full of suffering and unwelcome change, uthras cannot accept that without change their ideal world will become stale and dead. Or, well, at least that’s my opinion. No disrespect to you, friend.

B: There is quite a bit of inconsistency in your idea, friend. If Ptahil and Ruha have nothing to do with good and evil, then why are they so closely associated with demons and even the undead? If Hayyi Rabbi is antithetical to emotions, then why does love and mercy seem so important to uthras and their followers? But I think we have to agree to disagree.

Felthis ap Jerran: Why do all debates between archons and eladrin end up like this?… I’ve got a bunch more questions to record into this mimir.

A: Well, we don’t know much. Someone should hire some adventurers to dig up more dark! But there is something else I can share…

More chant on Uthras

• Uthra
  • Anana (cloud uthra)
  • Gufna (vine uthra)
  • Nakta (guardian uthra)
    • Adathan and Yadathan
  • Ziwa (radiant uthra paragons)
    • Abatur
    • Ptahil
    • Yushamin
• Powers
  • The Dark Mother (Primordial Power of love, life and death)
    • Ruha (the Seductress spirit, possibly a malevolent fragment of the Dark Mother or a face worn by Pale Night)
  • The God-Planets (the living genius loci Prime worlds)
  • Hayyi Rabbi (the monotheistic True Power of the Tiblian pantheon)
  • Krun (the flesh mountain of the World of Darkness)
  • Leviathan (the chaotic Elder Evil left behind by Powers of creation)
    • Ur (the serpentine monster, who is almost certainly one of many faces of Leviathan)
  • Mother of Waves (one of Lepirahs, the primal progenitors of guardinals and, possibly, all other celestial races)
  • Pale Night (an unimaginably old and horrifying obyrith lord, Mother of Monsters, possibly known to uthras as Qin)
• Realms
  • Covenant Rock (hidden realm on Thalasia)
  • The Last Matarta (the last toll-station between the layers of Bytopia)
  • Tibil (the imperfect Prime world of the Uthras)
  • World of Darkness (in the planelette of Perdition)

Source: Margarita. Mythwatch: The uthras are homebrew, but are based on the celestial entities from the ancient Gnostic religion Mandaeism. Influences from Abrahamic religions and mysticism aren’t unheard of in D&D and Pathfinder (archons, qlippoths, peri, divs and devas, azatas—basically the entire spectrum of Near Eastern religions is already canonically present), but my version references living religions much more, so if you are Mandaean or know more about this religion than me and notice some misrepresentation, then please comment it and I’ll gladly change or remove it. The appearance of uthras isn’t clearly specified in the religious texts, so I used some imagery from pop culture, notably the short film “The Giant God-Warrior Appears in Tokyo”. Surprisingly, Tokusatsu movies and mecha anime represent eldritch celestials in a refreshing way that isn’t just “Biblically-accurate wheel of eyes” all over again.