Facetal Node

Facetal nodes are the youngest facetals, having lived for mere tens of thousands of years. Though nearly eternal from the viewpoint of mortals, nodes measure their lives on a geological time scale, regarding themselves as neophytes compared to elder facetals and other immortal elementals. Most facetal nodes travel far and wide to gather knowledge, using their projected humanoid bodies to blend in among other sentient beings. They tend to observe the affairs of mortals impassively, unmoved by hardships which, from their perspective, last no longer than the blink of an eye.

Formed under immense geological pressure over untold eons, facetals are intelligent, eloquent elemental gemstones. While facetals can’t affect the world in their true gem forms, they can focus their inner radiance to create corporeal bodies made of hardlight.

Everpresent Gem

No matter what form they project to the world, a facetal node's true body—their gem—is always visible somewhere on their hardlight body. Since a facetal node senses the world through this gemstone, they often go to great pains to hide the stone's significance, disguising it as an ordinary piece of jewelry, the crystal on the tip of a walking staff, or some other mundane jewel. A facetal's gem is functionally unbreakable, requiring the will of a god or similar force to shatter it.