Vampiricdoll
Six Thousand Club
AcceptedAgata said:Name: Fan. He styles himself with the title of "Nature Spirit of the Ocean of Space and the River of Time," although it is more for the sake of elevating his self-confidence rather than trying to be boastful.
Type of Creature: Nature spirit of water, space, and time. Fan is one of the innumerable nature spirits who roam the mortal plane. These ethereal entities arise from the features of the natural world, such as air, earth, light, sound, and gravity. Most spirits are born from a single such natural feature, but a small percentage spawn as gestalts of two or three aspects of the physical world. In Fan's case, he is a triune nature spirit given form by the element of water and the primordial laws of space and time.
Appearance: Fan's true form is a half-centimeter-wide, floating orb of spectral, wispy, prismatic, gaseous spiritstuff. For the sake of being more relatable towards more humanoid creatures, Fan projects a visual avatar of a very cute-looking, slender, preteen merboy (see below).
Age: 16. It has been that many years since Fan arose from the world. He has the mental maturity of a human of about that age. However, the nature spirit's visual avatar appears to be a preteen (see above).
Gender: A meaningless concept for a nature spirit. Nevertheless, for the sake of convenience, Fan refers to himself as a "boy" and defaults to male pronouns. The nature spirit allows others to refer to him using whichever gender and set of pronouns they prefer; it makes no difference to Fan.
Bio: Fan's past is little different from that of any other nature spirit; their society is one of traditional upbringings for the sake of educating younger spirits. His true parent was Mother Earth, but he was quickly taken under the wing of a pair of nature spirits. One was of water and space, while the other was of water and time. They raised him with love and care, and nurtured in him the values of spiritkind and the importance of helping the "people of matter," for they are no less the children of the world than any spirit. After "home-schooling" him in the lore of the spirits and of the world, they sent Fan to a quaint high school so that he could better learn how to live with and help the "people of matter."
Morals: Fan is a good-hearted and altruistic nature spirit. He has sworn to himself an oath to make the world a better, brighter, happier place, bit by tiny bit. Fan eagerly offers his spiritual services to try to help others in their everyday lives however he can; even if they cannot perceive him and thank him, it makes no difference, for the nature spirit is content to see the world brighten even just a bit. He tries to see the best in other people and is hardly one for prejudice, but Fan is not beyond halting a bully from ruining a good person's day. The nature spirit yearns to eventually find a way to help the world in a grand, major fashion; Fan has come up with nothing so far, but wants to change that.
Personality: Fan does his best to speak politely, cordially, and humbly. Unfortunately, he is somewhat unconfident; beneath a mask of composure lies a bashful nature spirit who struggles to introduce himself to new people and to join into conversations. Fan tries his best to elevate his self-confidence by giving himself titles like "Nature Spirit of the Ocean of Space and the River of Time" and advertising his spiritual services, which sometimes make him come off as haughty. Even worse, as a nature spirit, he has a difficult time trying to sound normal and natural; Fan just wants to help others, but people might look askance at such an alien-seeming entity. He is only partially self-aware of these flaws.
Likes: Fan finds himself at ease while near sources of non-polluted and non-poisoned water; timekeeping devices such as clocks, watches, sandglasses, and chronometers; and space-measuring devices such as rulers, compasses, maps, and GPSes. Even objects with built-in clocks or GPSes, such as computers, smartphones, and microwaves, give the nature spirit comfort. While near such things, he feels as though all of his worries wash away in gentle waters. Fan really should be less at ease though, for these objects can be turned against him and used as his banes (see below).
Default Nature Spirit Powers:
- Incorporeality: A nature spirit is neither solid, liquid, gas, nor plasma, although their half-centimeter-wide true forms superficially resemble concentrations of gases. Such an ethereal entity is composed of spiritstuff, a phantasmal substance spun into being by nature and given life by the world's physical aspects. Almost all matter simply passes right through spiritstuff, for good or for ill. However, certain types of supernatural matter can physically interact with spiritstuff, such as "spirit jars," "spirit weapons," "spirit cameras," and "spirit food" that can be used to capture, harm, record, or nourish nature spirits respectively.
- Imperceptibility: A nature spirit is, by default, perceptible only to other nature spirits, to those with senses specifically attuned to ethereal entities, and to those who have forged a covenant (see below) with that particular nature spirit. However, a nature spirit can selectively render themselves perceptible to certain people; these must be people gifted with heroic potential (this includes anyone important enough to be a player character).
- Avatar: A nature spirit can project a visual avatar of themselves up to about five feet away. This avatar is purely visual and illusory; it even "more incorporeal" (if such a thing was possible) than the nature spirit's half-centimeter-wide true form, because it is simply an unreal glamour. The avatar can appear as anything the nature spirit wishes, up to the size of an elephant, but most of them favor a single form that they identify with. However, the avatar is subject to the same perceptibility limitations as the nature spirit's true form; only those who are capable of sensing the spirit can see the avatar.
- Telepathy: A nature spirit can engage in two-way telepathic conversation with creatures up to about a hundred feet away. This is the only way for spirits (of natural aspects other than sound) to "verbally" communicate, even amongst each other; they and their avatars simply lack vocal cords. This communication is, again, subject to the same perceptibility limitations of the nature spirit; only those who are capable of sensing the spirit can hear the mental speech.
- Telekinesis: A nature spirit can employ telekinesis up to about five feet away, with the power and finesse of a strong and dextrous human. However, if the nature spirit uses this telekinesis to deliberately leave a message other than a cryptic sign or omen, the message again becomes subject to the spirit's perceptibility limitations; only those capable of sensing the spirit can understand the message, while all others simply cannot process it.
- Warded by Nature: The natural world protects the spirits it begets well. A nature spirit is highly resistant to extraordinary and supernatural powers, but this resistance is much lower against magic specifically designed to target ethereal entities.
- Spiritual Services: A nature spirit can accept special rites in exchange for services; the nature of these rites varies from spirit to spirit. See below for more details.
Fan's Spiritual Services:
- Ritual of Tribute: Once per day (per person), someone can perform a ritual of tribute to Fan, regardless of where the nature spirit might be (thanks to his affinity for space), and regardless of their capability of sensing him. The person must lay out on a table the following three objects: a vessel of non-polluted and non-poisoned water, a timekeeping device, and a space-measuring device. There must be three, even if an item falls under two categories, like a water clock or a smartphone. The person must then verbally and reverently request a minor service from Fan. The service must be made with good intentions, must be something that Fan could reasonably and successfully complete by devoting a few hours to it, and it must fall under the purview of water, space, and/or time.
-- Result: The objects sublimate or evaporate into water vapor and then individually reform in front of people in the world who are in dire need of them. Fan instantly becomes aware of the requested service, and becomes bound to perform it as soon as possible, automatically adding the service to his "first come, first served" queue. The nature spirit cannot choose to ignore a request; if it comes up on his queue, Fan must perform it once he has the opportunity to do so. If he fails to perform a service, whether due to his own actions or due to external circumstances, then there is no punishment for him save for a lost opportunity for growth.
-- Growth: Upon successfully completing a service, Fan grows just a bit more spiritually powerful. The greater the magnitude of the service he performs, the stronger he becomes. More power for the nature spirit means an expanded ability to carry out services, so everyone wins.
- Covenant: Anyone who successfully requests a service from Fan under the ritual of tribute can, immediately afterwards, verbally and reverently offer to forge a covenant with him. The offer must be made with good intentions, a person can be under only one spiritual covenant at a time.
-- Result: Fan instantly becomes aware of the covenant. The person is immediately and permanently imbued with the ability to create and manipulate water, space, and time in minor, cantrip-like ways. They can also always perceive Fan, and they can communicate with the nature spirit telepathically regardless of distance. The person can offer to perform minor services on behalf of Fan, but he dictates the nature of the service; any such service must be something the person could reasonably and successfully complete by devoting a few hours to it, and it must fall under the purview of water, space, and/or time. Of course, the nature spirit will most likely have the services be something like "use your new powers to brighten someone's day."
-- Growth: Each time a person successfully completes a service on behalf of Fan, both the person's spiritual power and that of Fan grow just a bit. Again, the greater the magnitude of the service the person performs, the more they and Fan become stronger. It is a veritable mutual symbiosis that is a win-win for both parties.
- True Name: Every nature spirit has a true name that fully define the spirit's existence. Elder spirits can wield the might of their true name for world-shaking effects, but for younger spirits, a true name is little more than a liability. Nature spirits must take care to guard their true names from occult research, divinations, and spirit magic that can uncover such binding words. Once per season (for everyone, not just per person), someone can verbally speak Fan's true name, regardless of where the nature spirit might be. The person must then verbally demand a major service from Fan, even with ill intentions. The service must be something that Fan could reasonably and successfully complete by devoting a whole month to it, and it must fall under the purview of water, space, and/or time.
-- Result: Fan instantly becomes aware of the demand, and becomes bound to perform it as soon as possible. It moves to the top of his queue, regardless of any other services that might be on the queue. Just like with a minor service from a ritual of tribute, the nature spirit cannot choose to ignore the demand. If he fails to carry it out for whatever reason, Fan becomes painfully scoured by the power of his own true name, and becomes incapacitated until someone can properly treat him.
-- Growth: Unlike successfully completing a minor service from a ritual of tribute, even if Fan does so for a major service from an invocation of his true name, he simply does not spiritually grow all that much. It is an extremely one-sided affair, hence why Fan, much like any other nature spirit, greatly fears the discovery of his true name.
Fan's Personal Powers:
- Creation and Manipulation of Water, Space, and Time: All nature spirits can create and manipulate the facets of the natural world that they were born from. As a triune nature spirit, Fan holds dominion over the element of water and the primordial laws of space and time. Unfortunately, he is still a very young nature spirit; while the breadth of his abilities is as vast as the ocean, he does not quite know how to apply them creatively, and his depth at any given application is far from deific. Nevertheless, the nature spirit does his earnest best to apply his powers to help people out in their everyday lives, particularly through his spiritual services. In the event that he is forced into battle, he finds allies to back him up, and then takes up a "support" role to bring out the best in his companions.
- Examples of Everyday Utility Usages: Creating rain to help a garden or a farm, cooling the water vapor in the air to make a hot day more bearable, transmuting plain water into delicious soups and sauces, parting a large body of water to allow people to cross it (or simply letting them walk on water or breathe underwater), spatially locating a lost object or person, teleporting an object to or from another location, creating a portal for people to step through, adjusting distances to make places larger or smaller, hastening someone's work pace, peering into the past to solve a mystery, giving minor auguries to guide people in the immediate future, knowing exactly the right place and the right time to do something for optimal results, creating a timeless dimensional pocket within a pool of water.
Fan's Weaknesses:
- True Name: See above.
- Honest Heart: As a benevolent nature spirit, Fan simply cannot lie, even if he wanted to. He cannot knowingly communicate a lie or a misleading half-truth in any way. He can still lie by omission or by keeping quiet, but the nature spirit is loathe to do so with the intent of unscrupulously deceiving others.
- Anathematic Substances: Every nature spirits have banes based on the aspects of the physical world that they represent, and Fan is no exception. He cannot cross any doorway marked by deliberately fatally poisoned water, a knowingly destroyed time piece, or a voluntarily broken space-measuring device. If lured into a triangle, a parallelogram, a pentagon, or a hexagon whose points are demarcated by such woeful paraphernalia (even if they are all of the same category), the nature spirit and his powers cannot cross or affect the polygon until it is broken. Most worryingly, if Fan's half-centimeter-wide true form fails to dodge contact with such an anathematic item, as the object passes through him, it rends the spiritstuff composing the nature spirit; Fan is incapacitated until properly treated by someone else.
