The guardinals are the people of Elysium, just as the eladrins are the folk of Arhorea or the tanar’ri are natives of the Abyss. Most resemble beautiful, muscular humans with noticeable animal traits – a thick, lionlike mane for hair, a flat muzzlelike nose and mouth, or pawlike hands. The degree of animalistic features vanes between individuals, but guardinals frequenting the Beastlands appear most beastlike (and least human) of all.
The guardinals aren’t a numerous race, even compared to the eladrins or the archons. In Elysium they live in small groups, watching the upper layers for any signs of trouble, or roaming the magnificent landscapes in nomadic hands. Guardinals are quick to laugh and slow to anger on Elysium; they’re living embodiments of the peacefulness of the plane, and don’t lightly disturb it.
While guardinals’re peaceful enough in their home, they show a different face away from Elysium. They’ve got no tolerance for evil of any type and often journey into the Great Ring or the Outlands to seek out evil and confront it. Guardinals’ve even been known to mount lightning raids into the first layers of the Gray Waste, Carceri, or Gehenna just to strike hack at the evil fiends living there. Unlike the eladrins, who respect mortals’ freedom of choice as much as their right to live untroubled hy evil, guardinals make no secret of who or what they are and take whatever steps’re necessary to defeat evil wherever they find it.
Combat: All guardinals boast the spell-like powers of detect illusion, detect invisibility, detect evil with a 100’range, dimension door, dispel magic, infravision, and protection from evil in a 10-foot radius. Much like paladins, all guardinals can also lay on hands, healing a number of hit points equal to their own total every day. (This healing can be divided among several individuals as the guardinal sees fit.) Guardinals are affected hy attack forms as noted below:
| Attack | Effect |
|---|---|
| Acid | Full |
| Cold | Half |
| Electricity (lightning) | None |
| Fire (magical) | Full |
| Fire (nonmagical) | Full |
| Gas (poisonous) | Half |
| Iron weapon | None* |
| Magic missile | Half |
| Poison | Half |
| Silver weapon | Full** |
Guardinals have a special form of telepathy that allows them to communicate with intelligent, nonmonstrous creatures or natural creatures of any kind. A beholder or catoblepas wouldn’t fall into these categories, but a human, dog, or giant eagle would. In addition, normal, nonmagical animals or giant animals will never attack a guardinal, even under magical compulsion.
Planar Travel: Guardinals’re unrestricted in planar travel. They can leave Elysium by an innate ability resembling probability travel, which allows them to enter the Astral Plane with their physical bodies. They can also make use of any gate, portal, or conduit they find. In addition, guardinals can travel directly to the first layer of Bytopia, the Beastlands, or the Outlands from any point in Elysium.
Habitat/Society: Guardinals are basically unorganized; in Elysium there’s little need for laws or orderly societies. A cutter traveling across Elysium won’t find guardinal cities or fortresses scattered across the landscape. Instead, he’ll find guardinals living wherever they feel comfortable – some can be found in the peaceful towns of Amoria, others prefer the solitude and beauty of Eronia or Belierin. Guardinals of any type tend to be solitary, introspective creatures who like being left to their own devices when the land‘s at peace. On the other hand, they’re also capable of handing together with military discipline when evil threatens.
Although the guardinals don’t have any real hierarchy or structure, they’re led by the mighty leonals. These noble creatures are the most vigilant and powerful of the guardinals and act as gathering points for guardinal causes. A typical cause might he the defeat of a powerful evil empire on the Prime Material Plane, the recovery of a good artifact stolen from its rightful place by fiends, or the monitoring of a powerful organization that might begin to lean toward evil activities. The guardinals associated with a cause rarely abandon it, although they might temporarily turn aside to attend to a more immediate issue.
Guardinals are creatures of exceptional honor and integrity, and do not lie, cheat, or attack needlessly unless the cause at hand is in the direst jeopardy.
