Elemental Succubi in the Horticulturati World

While most of the magic in my Horticulturati world are in the magic plants (and magic fungi), there are also a few magical creatures. The Greenies, for one – but we’ll get to those in a later post. (Buckle up – they’re weird!)

One group of magic creatures that makes several appearances is the elemental succubi and incubi. One of the main characters in all three of my Horticulturati stories so far is Iara, who is a water succubus. She’s sassy and sultry and a lot of fun to write about.

But what is an water succubus? And how do the other elemental succubi and incubi work? First let’s talk about the elements.

In this case, contrary to what many might expect from me, we’re not diving into a discussion of science and chemistry and the periodic table of elements. (Another time, friends, not to worry!) In the Horticulturati world, there are three elements, roughly aligning with the three common states of matter: earth (solid), water (liquid), and air (gas). No fire here (sorry firebenders).

Each of these elements has elemental succubi and incubi that embody them. These creatures are made out of their element but have a natural form that is shaped like a seductive woman (succubus) or man (incubus). For example, Iara the water succubus is made entirely out of water but that water tends to take a curvy woman’s form when she’s not trying to do something else. Their human-like form is their default, and the easiest to maintain, but they can also shift into their element and move as it does. Iara can move around as a stream of water, even to the point of being able to slide under or between doors that way.

They use their seductive natural form to attract their prey: humans, which they need to eat to survive. Elemental succubi eat biologically male humans, and elemental incubi eat biologically female humans. (Yes it’s based on some aspect of biology and not gender; no that’s not necessarily fair.)

Fun fact: Taz, one of the other main characters, is transmasc. He is initially very offended that elemental incubi want to eat him, and there’s a lot of discussion (sometimes indignant) about biological sex, gender, and related topics. Eventually he becomes less concerned about it, since it means he can safely spend time with Iara without her trying to eat him alive.

The need for appropriate prey is so strong, elemental succubi and incubi have predatory instincts that take over when a human of the right biological sex is nearby. They grow sharp teeth, and the hunting instinct gives them very little choice about whether to eat or not. It’s full-on crazed hungry predatory mode. When they catch humans, they swallow them whole and rapidly digest them, leaving nothing but bones behind.

“Fun” fact: the River Bone and the River Teeth were both named after humans found lots of bones and teeth along their shores. Turns out, both rivers were (and still are) home to colonies of water elementals! Those bones and teeth are what’s left of their many past meals…

The elemental creatures don’t always like that their biological instincts take over when hunting. For some, they lament the ability to be choosy about prey. For others (including Iara), they hate losing control.

While it is possible for an elemental succubus or incubus to eat a human of a different biological gender, they “taste bad” and don’t provide nutrition in the same way. (It’s magic – don’t ask!) There’s also a limit to how many of the wrong kind of prey they can eat, and doing so means they need to “clean” themselves by replacing part of their element from their territory.

Elemental creatures are as (or nearly as – I have my doubts about some of those incubi…) intelligent as humans, and can interact with humans of their non-prey sex easily and fluently. However, most don’t – at least partially because humans are scared of them. (Do you blame them?)

While the occasional elemental succubus or incubus lives and acts independently, most are social and live together in groups. Each colony claims and protects a territory. Once a colony of elementals has claimed an area, they’re hard to evict; even one of their number present in the territory gives them a magical “anchor” to the site, making it almost impossible to wrest control from them.

Fun fact: each elemental type uses a different name for their social colonies. For water elementals, these colonies are called pods; for earth elementals, they’re called labors; for air elementals, they’re called flocks.

When an elemental is injured, eats the wrong thing, or loses part of their mass, they can only replenish themselves from the element in their territory. For example, if Iara was exposed to high heat and a lot of her water evaporated, she would have to return to her territory in the River Bone. While she can drink other liquids to temporarily increase her mass, they will never be incorporated as part of her body.

Despite the fact that there seems to be two different genders of elementals (female succubi and male incubi), elemental succubi and elemental incubi are different species. In fact, often they are enemies! Their reproduction is actually asexual. When hunting is good, a succubus or incubus will split into two fully autonomous individuals, sort of like budding. They’re not clones of one another, and will each look different and have a different personality.

---

There’s a lot else I could say about elementals in the Horticulturati world – their behavior and ecology and history and social structures and…etc etc etc. But I don’t want to write an entire book on the topic (after all, this book also has magic plants and heists and weird sentient parasites, too!), so I’ll stop here for now. I have to cut myself off sometime, after all. XD

If you’re intrigued by my Horticulturati world, you can find out more:

• Read “Sweetening the Deal,” a short story featuring water succubus Iara and transmasc rogue swordsman Taz – available in Myths, Legends, and Dreams
• Watch for “Charitably, a Thief,” also featuring Iara and Taz, coming out in the Worldsmyth’s LGBTQ+ charity anthology Rocs and Rainbows later this year
• Wait patiently for my novel The Horticulturati Caper, again with Iara and Taz as two of the main characters (release TBD)
• Follow me on social media for snippets, teasers, and more!

Hope you enjoyed this look at some of the worldbuilding for my Horticulturati world! Come back again next time. In the meantime, watch out for hungry waters. 😉

---

Keep in touch!
nicole@nicolelsopergorden.com