What Are Justicators & Visilights/Parai?

[Kaodi]

The Law vs. Chaos thread got me thinking about how it might relate to Eberron, and while I haven't really done any heavy thinking on that yet, I did look through the info for Daanvi, the Perfect Order, and its inspirational plane, Arcadia. Under monsters, it has formians, two kinds of inevitable, axiomatic creatures and the two I am asking about, the justicator and visilight. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any information about them, other than that Visilights are the victims of an inexplicable name change, and that apparently Shemeska wanted to do an ecology for them...

I started out wanting to know so that I could develop a new race of lawful neutral creatures for the plane, but I need to know whether the role I had envisioned can already be filled by these two unknown quantities. Any help would be appreciated, or a discussion would be great too. Thanks.

 

[Clueless]

Well - to get you started on the visilight: The Parai and Justicators.
In regards to the Justicators - I suspect looking up the information on the Inevitables will be of more help to you.
And there's some source references in that entry for you as well to look up in the canon material.

 

[Shemeska]

I <3 the Parai/Visilights (and not just because DiTerlizzi's image of them from 2e strongly resembled Angelina Jolie). Sadly they're underdeveloped, and the namechange was in my opinion needless.

As for the Justicators, I'm of the opinion that the name is wretched to the point of self-parody, but not nearly as bad as the mini-handbook spawned Protectar. Name aside, I'd link them to the extinct LN race known as the Aphancts, and both of them as offshoots of the original but nameless LN race that likewise spawned the baatezu as corrupted/banished offspring.

 

[Kaodi]

Thanks for the direction. I guess I'll do some thinking on how they might be different and fit together in Eberron. As I said, Daanvi is supposed to be very close to the Great Wheel's Arcadia, which gives an idea of what the Formians of Eberron are like, but Parai and Justicators are from Mechanus and Acheron respectively, so they two must have some sort of less, viral, personalities in Eberron, at least on the whole. The connection between Justicators and Inevitables may still exist though, with a few twists, because not all Inevitables are residents of Daavi. Maruts, for instance, roam Dolurrh, the Realm of the Dead. Quaruts and Varakhuts aren't even mentioned in the ECS planar inhabitants, yet the Fiend Folio is referenced at least once.

 

[Glyfair]

Thanks for the direction. I guess I'll do some thinking on how they might be different and fit together in Eberron. As I said, Daanvi is supposed to be very close to the Great Wheel's Arcadia, which gives an idea of what the Formians of Eberron are like, but Parai and Justicators are from Mechanus and Acheron respectively, so they two must have some sort of less, viral, personalities in Eberron, at least on the whole. The connection between Justicators and Inevitables may still exist though, with a few twists, because not all Inevitables are residents of Daavi. Maruts, for instance, roam Dolurrh, the Realm of the Dead. Quaruts and Varakhuts aren't even mentioned in the ECS planar inhabitants, yet the Fiend Folio is referenced at least once.

Unfortunately, the planers are sadly undeveloped in Eberron. There are a few things to remember.

First, I doubt the planes are direct conversions of any "Great Wheel" planes. Don't assume that just because a plane has similarities that you can make one on one comparisons.

Second, clearly the planar "races" aren't as closely tied as they are in core D&D. Take the demons. They are all over the place in Eberrons planes based on their role and not their race. I wouldn't be surprised if when they do a planar book that they will drop their relationship all together (although there has been more of a "let's do it like standard D&D" feel from some of the more recent authors).

 

[Kaodi]

After taking a quick look through the ECS again, it seems that Daanvi is the only plane that specifically described as being similar to a plane on the Great Wheel. I interpret this to mean that the general feel and features of the terrain is similar, though of course the exact layout would be drastically different. Daanvi though is strongly lawful-aligned, like Mechanus, where as Arcadia is only mildly lawful aligned. Also, I will assume that Eberron's planes have only single " layers " until I see, or remember, it being specfically stated otherwise. So, that is another point of difference.

I was specifically thinking of making a race that would be the " connection " for the various groups on Daanvi. I was thinking of calling them the Arbiters, descended from those who originally devised the laws and order of Daanvi, but that name is too similar in style to Justicator, and too generic I suppose as well.

Anyway, back on topic... I agree that the planar order is and should be unique, but that doesn't necessarily mean that everything has to be different, and that all connections must be broken. Ultimately, it is assumed constructs had to be built by something, so the question becomes whether it should be the same something or a different something. After all, the demonic Retrievers occupy Shavarath with their other demonic buddies, yet they too could have been placed somewhere else.

Also, it's shaping up to look like Planes of Eberron is a popular choice for aspiring Fluffy D&D Brand Managers everywhere, so maybe we'll be seeing some action on that soon, if it isn't already in the pipes (and I kind of imagine it was already on the agenda for somewhere).