| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Alignment | Lawful Neutral |
| Type | Outsider (Air, Lawful) |
| Publication history | |
| First appearance | Dungeon Master's Guide (1979); stats first appeared in The Rod of Seven Parts (1996). |
The Wind Dukes of Aaqa (pronounced /'ɑː kɑː/, or "A-ka"[1]), also known as the Vaati, are fictional characters of legend in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. They were powerful lords of the elemental plane of air.
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As outsiders, vaati do not need to eat, subsisting off of the air they breathe. However, the Vale of Aaqa produces a wide variety of foods that they can offer travelers or partake of as they desire.
Vaati do not age. Most are at least 3,000 years old, as they reproduce very slowly. It is unlikely the race will ever recover its losses from the ancient war with the Queen of Chaos.
Vaati are native to the Elemental Plane of Air. At their height, their empire had conquered all four of the Elemental Planes and much of the Prime Material Plane, though the war against Chaos annihilated most of them. Today, almost the entire race exists within the Vale of Aaqa on the Prime Material.
The Vale of Aaqa is a secluded realm surrounded by protective mountains. It cannot be entered by any means except flight; even teleportation is cut off.
Vaati are ebon-skinned and androgynous, though well-muscled. They rarely wear clothing, though some wear belts or harnesses to carry tools or weapons. Their eyes are pure white, glowing with the light of Law, and their velvety hair is typically closely cropped.
Most vaati are always lawful neutral almost by definition, although members of the unofficial wendeam caste are lawful good.
Vaati society is divided into seven castes. An eighth caste, the wendeam, is considered unofficial by the other Wind Dukes.
Nothing of vaati gods has been mentioned. The closest thing to priests that they have are the kheirdeam caste, who have the ability to use divine magic relating to law and air and act as physicians and spiritual councilors.
The Wind Dukes spoke an ancient form of Auran known as Vaati. The Vaati tongue is musical, both rhythmic and melodic and containing complex whistling sounds. Vaati conversation sounds more like distant chanting or the whispering of leaves in the trees than human speech. Some vaati adventurers have taught themselves Common, however.
In the pre-history of the world, the Age Before Ages, the Wind Dukes' empire spanned all of the elemental planes and many worlds of the Prime Material. Eventually, they became a major player in a great war, representing the forces of Law against a powerful entity known as the Queen of Chaos. Seven of their number, known as the "Wandering Dukes," created a powerful artifact known as the Rod of Law, which was used in the Battle of Pesh to slay the Queen of Chaos's greatest general, Miska the Wolf-Spider. The rod was sundered in the battle, fragmenting to form the Rod of Seven Parts.[2]
The following Wind Dukes are known by name:
In the Age of Worms Adventure Path, the Wind Dukes figured heavily as an element of the backstory that brings the characters into the campaign and sets them on the path toward confronting the primary opponents of the storyline.
In the Oriental Adventures setting, the Wind Dukes lived in a valley, Aaqa, was located in the northwestern area of the Adribandha mountains.[3]
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