#imix

"Vision in the Flames" © Aaron Nakahara, accessed at his deviantArt here

[Sponsored by @wizardsandwardrobes. I gotta be honest, Imix is the Prince of Elemental Evil with the consistently worst art across D&D editions. A pillar of fire is boring. 3e and 4e gave him a skull-headed look, but the art for both those editions isn't great (and no good quality scans of the 3e look are online). So I went with something not bespoke to represent him.

A lot of the flavor text around Imix has focused on his vanity, temper and paranoia, so I immediately knew I wanted my take on him to be a spoiled prince. Considering how much damage failsons are currently doing to the world, I think it fitting. The stuff about suns is partially a way to justify giving him Sun and Thirst as domains, and partially inspired by my immersion in Numenera. In that setting, Earth still exists and can support life a billion years from the present day because one of the previous Eight Worlds tinkered with the sun to slow its life cycle. So why not create a power that wants to speed that up?

If you'd like to sponsor your own monsters, or just help out an unemployed writer, check out the Creature Codex Patreon here!]

Imix CR 22 NE Outsider (elemental) This column of fire resolves itself into roughly humanoid shape, its head like a monstrous skull.

The All-Consuming Fire, The Eternal Flame, Fire Lord NE Primordial Elemental Portfolio arson, obliteration, wrath Domains Destruction, Evil, Fire, Sun Subdomains Arson, Entropy*, Rage, Thirst Worshipers arsonists, firenewts, fire giants, pyromancers and pyromaniacs Minions efreeti, evil fire and magma elementals Favored Weapon battleaxe Unholy Symbol a red diamond Obedience set fire to a previously existing structure (not one purpose built for this obedience). Whether is burns completely or not is of no consequence, but you and your allies cannot attempt to quench the flames. Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws vs. fire effects Boons 1: scorching ray 2/day; 2: wall of fire 2/day; 3: sirocco 2/day *worshipers of Imix can use the Entropy subdomain to modify the Destruction domain.

Imix the All-Consuming Fire is perhaps the most arrogant of all the primordial elementals, and he has reason to be. Instead of having a fractious relationship or rivalry with his equivalent elemental lord, he is instead the favored son of Ymeri. Ymeri leaves him mostly to his plots and schemes, but regularly gifts him with followers and treasure. He thoroughly expects to inherit the throne and power of Ymeri eventually, and has even gone so far as to allow his worshipers to call him Fire Lord Imix. Imix is passionate and intense, but also incredibly vain and temperamental, and his tantrums are notorious for extending across multiple planes.

Imix is a brilliant strategist when he has to be, but his baseline tactics are simple enough: burn everything. Imix radiates the corrupted light of a star, which erodes the resistance and immunity to fire of all creatures but those composed of elemental fire. He can rattle off elemental spells quickly and often isolates foes with walls of fire or lava in order to pick them off one by one. Imix greatly enjoys getting to burn creatures to death by hand, making hit and run strikes with his flaming limbs then stepping back to watch the carnage and smell the smoke. For all his bravado, Imix is terrified of water, and flees from a battle if enemies are able to regularly exploit his weakness.

The Eternal Flame has several projects he is pursuing, as befits his station. He despises Olhydra, his watery counterpart, and has plotted multiple assassination attempts—all at a distance, of course. Imix is good at stoking the fires of his cult, and he is among the most worshiped of the primordial elementals. Those who pursue fire magic to kill their enemies are among his most zealous followers, and his cult is popular among the most militant of fire giants and firenewts. Imix’s long term goal is brilliant in its subtlety and brutal in its efficacy—accelerating the deaths of stars to extinguish life on a cosmic scale. In any solar system where Imix’s cult takes hold, his worshiper’s zeal is transmitted directly into the heart of its sun, causing it to burn faster and brighter and hotter and hotter. So far, these adjustments are only relevant in the scope of deep time, but Imix sees himself as eternal, and a few million years less of complex life on a planet a fair investment. He hopes that, if all the sapient life on a planet venerates him at once, he can directly induce a nova… but such grandiose ideas are currently outside his ability to achieve.

90s playlist

2000s playlist

Today is Maya day 4 Imix (Imox in Aztec) and the start of the 20-day deity cycle. In Maya mythology, the center of the world is said to have grown from the back of an enormous crocodile who slept in the center of the primordial ocean. In some versions, it is a turtle rather than crocodile similar to Chinese, Tibetan, and Indian world creation stories. Imix is the the day sign of our primal, pre-conscious self and the symbolic beginnings of life and existence. Imix represents the energy of the ocean and is said to contain its sacred energy. Because Imix rules the ocean, all sea creatures are symbolic of this day. Each of the four elements have at least one day sign ruling over it, but water has three and Imix is the sign that rules over the oceans. An Imix day is the traditional day to pray for rain in Maya society. An Imix period is a time where people struggle for security. Societally, institutions, groups, and organizations fight for territory and representation while individuals may seek out family in all forms. 

The ocean symbolizes the collective unconscious and people born on an Imix day are known to prefer residence in here rather than deal with the material world. Imix people are born mystics and natural artists, poets, and visionaries. They tend to prefer home, appear eccentric to outsiders, and somehow always land on their feet despite their distaste for work and authority. Imix people are drawn to a kind of magical, hedonistic realism that their charisma easily attracts into their life. They tend to swim in otherworldly waters and frequently exhibit extraordinary psychic perceptions. Because the veil between the real and magical is so thin for Imix people, they can easily lose their way into delusion if they become too ungrounded from the present. To outsiders, they may appear organized by by their desire to categorize and compartmentalize; however, this is part of their desire to manifest magic into the material world. They spend long amounts of time alone in the worlds they create and have a strong need for privacy while remaining close to family. 

Words used to describe people born under this sign are psychic, mystical, libidinous, charismatic, caring, magical, emotional, protective, visionary, eccentric, artistic, poetic, adventurous, ungrounded, confused, cranky, creative, idealistic, lazy, manipulative, unrealistic, delusional, selfish.

Conflagration Orb Medium elemental, chaotic evil Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 112 (15d8 + 45) Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover) Str 19 Dex 20 Con 17 Int 15 Wis 17 Cha 22 Damage Immunities fire Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks Condition Immunities exhaustion, petrified, poisoned, prone, unconscious Senses passive Perception 13 Languages Ignan, Primordial Challenge 8 (3900 XP) Burning Body. At the start of each of the orb's turns, each creature within 5 feet of it takes 5 (1d10) fire damage, and flammable objects in that area that aren't being worn or carried ignite. A creature that touches the orb or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 5 (1d10) fire damage. Illumination. The orb sheds bright light in a 30 foot radius and dim light in an additional 30 feet. Rolling Flame (1/Turn). The orb can spend 5 feet of movement to force one creature within 5 feet of it to succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 7 (2d6) fire damage and catch fire; until someone takes an action to douse the fire, the creature takes 5 (1d10) fire damage at the start of each of its turns. Actions Multiattack. The orb makes two scorching bolt attacks. Scorching Bolt. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 50 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (4d6) fire damage. If the target is a creature or a flammable object, it ignites. Until a creature takes an action to douse the fire, the target takes 5 (1d10) fire damage at the start of each of its turns. Fire Tempest (Recharge 5-6). The orb hurdles sparks of magical fire to three points it can see within 50 feet of it. Each creature within 10 feet of one of those points must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature in the area of more than one spark is affected only once. This ability damages objects in the area and ignites flammable obbjects that aren't being worn or carried. Waves Of Flame. The orb unleashes waves of fire and each creature within 15 feet of the orb must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 31 (7d8) fire damage and is pushed 15 feet directly away from the orb and falls prone. On a successful save, the target takes half as much fire damage and is not pushed or knocked prone. This ability ignites flammable objects in that area that aren't being worn or carried. Until the end of the orb's next turn, this area is filled with flames. Each creature that enters the area or ends its turn there takes 11 (2d10) fire damage.

The Princes of Elemental Evil are a major faction within the elemental planes, corrupted by the god Tharizdun into serving and bringing about utter annihilation. Imix is the Prince of Fire, and brings a chaotic, burning destruction down upon the world whenever his cults gain power. Among the other creations of his cults are the conflagration orbs, minor avatars of Imix that give the elemental lord a direct hand in mortal events. A tiny fragment of his power rests in the center of the orb, ensuring it is only loyal to Imix and no one else. This focused loyalty means it doesn’t even care for Imix’s other servants, and rarely bothers to avoid them with its attacks, often incinerating allies who have no fire immunity.

Unlike basic fire elementals, the conflagration orb has a solid core from which the flames it commands spring forth. It appears in the sky like a miniature sun, sending bolts of fire and massive explosions down upon the world. The evil of Imix directs it, giving it joy as it watches its victims burn alive, cackling with a threatening, sizzling laugh. 

It’s been a hell of a week. Let me tell you. But a good thing that happened was that we ran the final session (apart from some wrap-up and epilogue stuff) of a 2-year long campaign today. The crew of the Parhelion defeated the elemental cults and killed the god of evil fire - a god who had forsaken the creative and sustaining aspects of its element and wanted nothing more than to burn the “impurity” that is the Material Plane.