Source: Exploring Eberron
Risia’s few natives are rarely seen. The concept of the plane is bleak isolation, and an active population would defeat this purpose. A few layers hold creatures that have crossed into Risia from Eberron, ones that can thrive in arctic conditions; there are remorhazes hunting in the Frozen Sea and yetis in the Frostmantle. But these things come and go. The two primary forces in Risia are the native spirits of the plane and the frost giants that have carved out a home in the ice.
Spirits of Ice
At first glance, Risia appears to be barren and empty. But some travelers have described a presence, a sense of being watched, and most feel this presence is malign. On the surface, the concept of Risia seems entirely neutral; there’s nothing inherently evil about ice. But there’s a hunger to Risia—an innate desire to consume warmth and to bury living things in ice. In the Planar Codex, Dorius Alyre ir’Korran calls this force the Killing Cold. This greatest power of the plane of isolation is uninterested in being known, and has never interacted directly with outsiders, but its presence can be felt through its manifestations. These include bheur hags, frost salamanders, ice devils, chain devils, and the Lonely (sorrowsworn). The appearance and nature of manifestations reflect the themes of Risia—a chain devil might be shrouded by frost-mist and can bind its enemies with chains of ice. Regardless of their form, these spirits don’t speak with outsiders. Their intelligence reflects the cunning with which they stalk their prey, but they are spirits of the Killing Cold, of bitter isolation, and of the ice that entombs and preserves.
When these manifestations aren’t active, they’re absorbed into their layer; they manifest when they’re needed, in the form that’s needed. And in the meantime, as spirits of stagnation and isolation, they’re perfectly content to sit in silence for centuries before something compels them back into physical form.
Frost Giants and Dwarves
The Group of Eleven was an alliance of empyreans of tremendous skill and power. Each studied a different plane (leaving Fernia to the Sulat League and Dal Quor to the Cul’sir). The archarcanist Il’Ara was devoted to Risia, and she magebred her own lineage of frost giants over millennia. When the forces of Argonnessen began to lay waste to Xen’drik, Il’Ara gathered her faithful children and passed through to Risia, certain that they could find sanctuary in the isolation of the Plain of Ice.
Il’Ara’s children have since established themselves across the layers of Risia. There are a few citadels where multiple giants live together, while others have established their own solitary outposts. Each has found a different path to surviving the endless tedium of immortality in the icy wastes. Some have become artists, writing poetry or sculpting massive works of art that take centuries to complete. Others pursue physical diversions such as wrestling, hunting fiends, or crafting ornate games. These denizens always take great interest in outsiders as a source of diversion. The crueler giants take joy in hunting newcomers, but others can be excellent hosts. Many artists yearn for an audience—though a genteel giant artist can be deadly if guests don’t show proper appreciation for their work. As these Risian frost giants are remnants of the grand civilization of Xen’drik, the DM may wish to increase their intelligence and abilities as suits the story.
Il’Ara continues her arcane studies in her fortress, Winter. She may have found ways to wield vast power over Risia and to protect her children from the fiends . . . or she could be bored of her immortal existence, considering entering the ice and embracing stasis.
The frost giants of Risia have dwarf servants. Their origin is a mystery: the giants know that Il’Ara produced these first dwarves, but they don’t know—or at least remember—if she created them herself or pulled them through from Eberron. These dwarves know no other existence than their servitude to their giant masters, and Risia holds few other options for them. Mysteriously, these dwarves—and all dwarves—are immune to the Stillness of Flesh property of Risia. They age just as they would on Eberron, and unlike other mortals on this plane, they can give birth to children who grow and mature. So every giant in Risia came from Xen’drik, and as they die, no new giants replace them; but the dwarves that dwell in Risia were born there, and know nothing of the ancient past.
Ice devil, ice mephit.
Manual of the Planes: Ice paraelemental (all).
Monster Manual II: Frost salamander, immoth.
Monster Manual III: Chraal, rejkar, snowflake ooze
Chraal
In the EBERRON campaign setting, chraals are native to the icy plane of Risia, which is coterminous with the Material Plane for one month every five years.
Rejkar
In the EBERRON campaign setting, rejkars hail from the icy plane of Risia. Herds of rejkars inhabit the Frostfell, and a lone rejkar is sometimes encountered in the cold tundra of northeastern Khorvaire.