[✗] [Magic][Dark] Patron of Tayl: Grigario Gift of the Briarheart

[BrandNewKitten 2788]

Patron: Grigario

Dark/Mortal > Tayl  > Briarheart

Tayl, Daemon of Companionship

 

 

Introduction to the Patron: Grigario

Spoiler

Mountains rose so high only to make the reveal of what lays beyond them so immeasurable. A kingdom of cherry trees and festivals, soaked in the resource enriched geography; Safely tucked away in a flourishing hamlet.

Prosperity in one kingdom makes enemies of all its neighbors and soon the cherry trees blossomed no more. Their trunks burned in raids and culled for war supplies. Thousands upon thousands of boots trampled the soil, and as the rains fell in desperation the evidence of an apocalyptic war grew abundant.

The kingdom itself, once a mosaic of color and joy, had sunken into a swamp as the unceasing rains which steadily raised a lake over it. The remnants of its people were driven from their homes and faced with leaving the prosperity they once knew.

Granted unto them was a meager being, a cloak over his head and a white left eye, glazed over. His voice was a soft crackle and his graying burnt orange hair like a dull hat of straw. He seemed an ordinary being, perhaps a bit estranged, but not unlike the commoners of any great kingdom.  He was known as Grigario and it was by his will that they had a future. He would rid them of their enemies so that they might survive this war but in exchange their people would come to him to learn and to be in his company. He would not bid them do more but simply give their respects to him in their future temples.

It was only a few that chose Grigario's way. The old, the hungry, the farmers and common folk that tended the lands, and the youngest prince of the kingdom sat with him in hopes that his words would give their last moments some meaning. He would steal no glory from those who did not wish his help and it wasn't until the King's death towards the end of this kingdom’s sovereignty that many would even dare turn to the zealots that now gathered around the old man. One by one the royal bloodline fell and soon it came upon a time that the young Prince would take up the crown and announce Grigario's Faith as the path the kingdom would now take. With that sacred promise the kingdom perished, reborn anew from the sinew of the old.

 

Many left at first thought of this sacrifice. Their old ways too strung within them. Many scowled at the heretic and pronounced curses to him. Others looked on tentatively. Only a small few came and sat with him to hear him speak.

Those that left eventually fled the kingdom, and as its numerous enemies were already vying for the enriched lands, faced swift deaths at the hands of their enemies who had surrounded their home. Those that scowled met their fate as they prayed to their old gods in their temple which now lay sunken in the swamp.

Within days heavy rains fell with greater strength, and the landscape began to quickly deteriorate past the point of recognition, the last of the cherry trees eventually grew gnarled, the soaked earth gradually shifted down into itself. Rivers turned into lagoons and ponds turned into lakes. The city itself sunk under its own weight.  Those that looked on tentatively waited until their homes lay beneath the sediment to turn to him but it was too late. Those that chose to follow his faith gained the chance to live but at the cost of their mortal fortunes.

The survivors followed Grigario out of the city, abandoning all but their lives, and began anew. Grigario's kindness extended further when upon a time that he was asked for proof of his deed he responded not about how the changing conditions swallowed their enemies, punished the unworthy, or that the wartime had quickly come to a halt. Instead he extended his hand and greeted the first Briar "My companion, I will teach you to control."

 

 

Grigario's Faith

Spoiler

The Tenants

1. Disregard the prayers of the righteous. They bind what is weak.

2. Mortal flesh is bound to dirt. What once was given must be returned.

3. Faith given only to the cycle of life and death. We are all companions in this.

4. Control the balance; Control your fate.

5. We are the consequence; We are the endless cycle.

 

The purpose of the faith is to grant mortals control over the cycle of life and death that has bound them and in doing so begin to strip away the subconscious/conscious need to follow the will of other aenguldaemons, including the druid aspects. While each individual follower may have their own aim the common thread is that they are now bound to a single goal. "Let the dirt reclaim what is owed."

 

How they approach this goal is not specified and whether or not it is done through coercion or persuasion is left to the judgement of each individual. Some may seek to exterminate holy orders while others may wish to grow their following in a less direct way, allowing untampered nature to repair the cycle. Nature was controlled by outside forces. Forces that dictated the way of the realm and only accepted a narrow vision of what is natural. Nature is a companion to the Briar as much as another descendant and should be given the power to control itself, no matter the form. 

 

 

The Faith as it Once Was

Spoiler

Those that began to follow the basic set of tenants given, usually known as Briars, often lived by the ideal that nothing is considered a waste and to use everything as a tool for survival. Their lands are often dotted with effigies to Grigario, strung together ritualistically with the bones of fallen prey and pyres, built to give small sacrificial ceremonies in respect to their savior. 

 

There is no true good or evil in their faith as everything serves a purpose in the cycle of life and death. Though they regard life as equally important to death they work to not bring drastic changes between the two unless necessary. In this regard they are usually of a rather passive nature and don’t tend to cling to worldly possessions. They take what they are given by the land knowing their bodies will repay it in time. Companionship is reached through the old ways and by doing away with the teachings of the gods, mortal power can be harnessed much akin to modern Xionism. Reclaiming the nature of the realm isn't just for the benefit of the Briar but for all the descendants. The ferocity of nature should not be muted but instead allowed to drive out its course in the cycle.

Beyond the basic faith a Briar is responsible for their territory and the land they serve within. While it is not expected that grand gardens or majestic trees rise from their soils Briars often take pride in the naturalistic design of their briarpatch. A briarpatch being the place of service or territory controlled by the Briar. Despite the legend of the Savior Grigario granting a boon unto an assemblage of people those that receive it owe him nothing and thus suffer little from dismissing him in terms of consequences. Many of the facets that make up this pseudo-culture are derived from the boon itself rather than the history that came before it and in truth the Patron asked not for their worship but rather their respect. Any ceremony or ritual done in worship is born through cultural pursuit rather than affirmation cast down from Patron to follower.

 

 

Grigario's Gift: The Boon of the Briarheart

Spoiler

"Those that devote themselves to the cycle will be granted the privilege of carrying my gift. You shall control it. You shall arbitrate it. You shall dominate and you shall live."

 

Seeing how misused the resources of the world were and how often the mortals, in fact all living things, were discarded as fodder for the gods Tayl bestowed a mortal gift upon his followers in the form of the Patron, Grigario. A gift that would reside in the heart like the great furnace of their eternal flame. Upon receiving this gift the Briar would have access to a set of abilities that derived from controlling the cycle of life and death they were bound to.

 

As pestilence grows from rot and decaying life Briars may absorb it into their body, their chest growing hot and visible streams of amber hues coursing through their veins, in order to re-purpose it and manipulate it in distinct ways. The first is applying it to plant life and by doing so imbue creations that grow gnarled, hardened and thick. In some applications this may allow the Briar to harvest the malformed plants to craft wooden armours as strong as steel, or mount natural defenses that usurp the druids rite of communion. The second is the application onto animals and by doing so the life granted to the fauna by the aspects becomes feral and indomitable. The last application of imbued pestilence is unto one’s self or another that possess a briarheart. Should this occur any flesh torn asunder or illness that consumes them begins to smolder, and in the case of flesh wounds, made to be thick like hide.

 

The briarheart and unlocking the gift is done in a ritualistic manner in which the follower brands a heated golden blade through their on heart. Normally this would result in a painful death but when surrounded by great amounts of pestilence, and the tenants cried out, they forgo death and instead are granted a new role in the cycle. The two most notable attributes of a briarheart are that it shifts the aura color of the individual towards an amber shade, which fumes like smoke upon use, and the other being the altered state of death.

 

With a gift of control so comes a curse to be the antithesis thereof. Normal death is not an option for a Briar and should they be culled their briarheart will revive them anew, on the spot, until a blade or some force ruptures it. Should the briarheart not be ruptured the risen Briar will gradually take on a list of attributes.

 

• Their skin would begin to smolder and thicken as they arose, their flesh steaming as the briarheart rekindles their flame, disallowing their call to death.

• Bones would strip from flesh and grow in unnatural, contorted ways.

• Their chest cavity opens up and the briarheart is revealed.

• Their sense of self is lost to a frenzy that drives them to kill anything in their way.

• Like bones, the follicles that grow hair rapidly grow and cover much of their form.

 

In this feral state the Briar are no stronger or more agile but instead throw themselves back into combat without the ability to control or stop themselves. This state drives the Briar back towards their briarpatch in a blind rampage and upon re-entering their territory they begin to degrade until their bones are all that is left. Similarly any Briar that enters this state and is killed by their heart being pierced decays in a similarly abnormal fashion. Feral Briars can be soothed by the company of additional Briars and guided home to rest without having to resort to violence.

 

 

 

 

Deeper Understandings

Spoiler

Pestilence - The essence of death and decay.

Aura Color - Each individual has a unique magical signature attached to them.

Grigario - Patron of Tayl. He is manifested in the form of a briarheart.

Briarheart - The manifestation of the Patron lies in the branded heart of a Briar.

Briar - Those that have received this boon through a ritual.

Briarpatch - Usually the location where the Briar was created & the briarheart ritual performed.

Bone-bark - Name given to cultivated plants.

 

Creating a Briar

It is possible for a Briar to take on Grigario’s faith without the assistance of another and thus allowing any who stumble upon the knowledge to proceed on their own and take fate into their own hands. In order to create a new Briar one must build some sort of monument to hold a mass of pestilence. This can either be collecting and using a large amount of rotting plant life or bodies or even piling bones in a graveyard tomb. The rot is then set ablaze, the tenants exclaimed, the a golden dagger heated, and branded, or rather stabbed, into your own heart as a sacrifice. The Briar will proceed to die, or rather almost die, and if the sacrifice is enough they will awaken. Where their heart is located an amber glow will be present and the self-inflicted wound healed over and their body will forever possess an abnormal warmth to it. Offerings towards the Patron do not have any positive or negative consequence on the ritual and it is left to the discretion of the individual on how they wish to proceed. It should be noted that the bones of dead and resting Briars make the most suitable monuments for this ritual and thus it is much easier to create new Briars when in the presence of those that have come before. That being said while Briar bystanders may watch the ritual they are helpless in the actual performance thereof. 

 

Implementation Clause: It is inherent in this lore piece that any person should be able to access it if given the knowledge of how to proceed with the ritual. While Briars can teach the ritual to other Briars they cannot perform it for them, self-sacrifice being apart of the ritual. A tome of faith will also be planted&locked into an event location. Upon finding the tome (which shall remain in this location) that individual may attempt the ritual. 

 

Red Lines;

• Proof of information must be given.

• Proof of sufficient sacrifice must be given. ( Rotten food, bones, rotten flesh, rotting corpses, skulls, tombs, effigies, graveyards, etc etc...)

 

The functions of the Briarheart in regards to Pestilence

 

The Briarheart uses mana to function and absorb or imbue pestilence. Because of this the amount of pestilence absorbed or used is determined by the users mana pool and thus prevents Briars from stockpiling Pestilence. Once Pestilence enters the body it is slowly burned off by the briarheart making any one source of pestilence only usable for that elven day. Should it be absorbed and not used that same elven day then it will be wasted. Pestilence being absorbed tends to appear as mists or fumes of sickly green as it travels into the Briar and through the briarheart. The resulting substance takes the same form but the hue shifts to an amber orange, a color that can be seen glowing from the very veins of the Briar as they make use of this gift.

 

Red Lines:

• Absorbed pestilence only lasts for that same elven day.

• Pestilence has no effect on a being that does not have a briarheart.

 

Plant/Animal Imbuement

 

A common trait between anything imbued with pestilence is that it becomes feral, aggressive and uncontrollable by the aspects. The act of imbuement breaks the hold the aspects have over their creation and thus it cannot be communed with. Plants become uncontrollable, dangerous brambles of thorns and occasionally take on attributes common in carnivorous plants. When properly cultivated these imbued plants, namely trees, take on the aesthetic of hardened bone and may be referred to as bone-bark. In return they can be cut and used for things like armors that when mounted are alike to steel. Additionally these sets of armor never seem to stop growing and it is necessary to maintain them else their thorns and gnarled roots may come to dig into the skin of the wearer.  

 

Animals afflicted tend to grow horns and protruding bones that inflict pain upon the beast. Likewise their skulls appear to become more prominent and even protrude from the flesh as their bones harden and gnarl. This causes them to become aggressive and uncontrollable beasts that cause chaos in the natural realm. Not even the Briar can control these beasts although they may learn to make use of them and by default those beasts turned feral are somewhat soothed by the presence of a Briar. Not enough to control them but instead allowing the Briar to maintain distance without being attacked. The process for both of these takes time and acts like a substitute nutrient for the plant or animal rather than an immediate manipulation of their form. That being said rampant growth for plants is inevitable as the surplus of nutrients drive them to expand beyond reason. Both animals and plants afflicted with pestilence tend to smother or outright kill other plants and animals but it is noted that the company of fellow feral plants and animals, including feral Briars, are an exception to this.

 

Red Lines:

• Takes 1 week to change or grow.

• Cannot commune or manipulate directly.

• Bone-bark is no stronger than steel.

• Not immune to the damages they cause.

• Animals bigger than your average mule are too large to be done without MT permission/guidance/without more than 1 briar.

 

Briar Healing

 

Pestilence is but coal to the furnace that is the briarheart and while it takes time to mend wounds the Briar can use this source of power as way to heal themselves. This greater boon must be done with full concentration and cannot completely heal something. Instead the wound is scarred over in ghastly ways. Where normal flesh should mend over the skin, it grows thick hide-like flesh that is discolored. Likewise this ability cannot heal a wound all at once and instead seeks only to enhance the cycle of healing rather than promoting on the spot nurturing. Because of this the ability to heal one’s self isn’t applicable to combat and due to the rather painful process this method is usually left for more severe wounds. Should they be in the presence of a companion Briar the act of healing can be sped up further. 

 

Red Lines:

• Only capable of speeding the self-healing process up to x3 of the normal speed. Meaning it will not save a briar who was just stabbed in the head.

• For each additional briar the speed goes up one. ( 1 Briar - x3 ) ( 2 Briars - x4 ) ( 3 Briars - x5 ) etc...

• Does not completely heal but rather scars over the area. 

 

Death of a Briar. Redeath.

 

When killed the Briar loses control much like an animal or plant loses themselves to their feral nature. The process of reanimation can be stopped by stabbing the heart but should this fail to be done the chest cavity of the Briar opens and the briarheart begins to rapidly beat, appearing to glow a bright amber as steam rises from it. Things such as armor and weaponry are eventually dislodged from the body in this shift as well. The feral Briar that rises from this is no longer the person they once were and is instead a horrid creature that seeks to get back to its briarpatch in order to properly die. Only then, or if their heart is ran through, may the cycle continue and in some cases be interrupted by the monks once again. Should a Briar continue to perish outside their briarpatch they will continue to reanimate until a proper death is given. If a limb is severed the feral Briar may slowly begin to grow one anew though relatively rapid growth of bone and tissue will not take form as it once was. Instead gnarled bone and toughened flesh replaces it. Rather than being a boon the degrading Briar would have even less control over this body part, making them easier and easier to kill. Feral Briars don't necessarily recognize a fellow Briar as one might recognize a friend but can sense the warmth that is produced by the companion briarheart and thus are more or less docile towards them. This allows fellow Briars to lend aid to their fallen kin and guide them to rest. That being said should the additional Briars act in a hostile manner by attacking the Briar the feral Briar will have no hope of controlling their ferocity. 

 

Event Clause: Briars and their magic make excellent Event Characters and so long as the Event isn't being used to spread the magic illegitimately (or is under the watch of the lore-holder or MT) the ET may make use of the feral briars and their creations. Whether it be to justify a spooky forest or as a small faction used to interact with the community. The point of the this lore isn't to create a guild-locked magic but instead make it available naturally through RP and then allow for any factions to grow naturally, if at all. 

 

Red Lines:

• No physical attribute is enhanced.

• Reanimation is slow and thus can be stopped.

• Growth of a limb is just as slow and is usually only done so that movement towards home can continue.

• In this state the effects of holy magics are applied.

• Suicides will still end in PK.

 

 

OOC:

Spoiler

This magic acts under the system Benboboy put in place in that Tayl, the Daemon of Companionship, seeks to give mortals tools in order to fight against other deities. Those that follow the Patron have no clue of Tayl’s intentions but in this case he is rather straightforward in his approach. Revert nature to a feral state and gain the control yourself rather than having aspects or other deities manipulating descendants and the cycle/balance between life and death all while seeking companionship outside the confines of the aengudaemons. The consequence is that you are dislodged from that cycle and set in your own endless cycle that you cannot die unless struck through the heart and instead take on a pseudo-werewolf form that rampages its way back to its briar in order to properly die. Tayl is never so sincere as to give someone exactly what he says so while his Patron preaches about control it is the lack of control, and the freedom that warrant the philosophy born from this magic. If you have higher beings controlling things for you then you never have the chance but if you are free of that cycle and have choices and things to fight for/against you gain more control over your own being.

This magic lore is meant to act as an antithesis to druidism so while certain spells may enact similar things it is done so in a much darker, feral way as opposed an aspect friendly manner. While this does not mean the user must strive to create chaos it does give them the option. Likewise the feral state of continual death is as much a boon as it is a curse. No greater feat of strength or agility is given and instead the character becomes a reckless monster of flesh and bone that is unable to follow any will but the one that leads them home. It is my hope that this will be self-teachable as well as teachable but the MT can discuss this in private.

 

TLDR;

• Tayl Patron

• Pestilence is found in rotting or decaying objects.

• After a ritual heart becomes a briarheart which allows Briars to suck up pestilence like a vacuum and redistribute it.

• Plants imbued become nasty, gnarled and hardened. Suitable for defensives and armor.

• Animals become feral horned-beasts.

• Self-healing can be done outside of combat which triples the speed of regen but is painful and completely scars over the wound instead of actually healing.

• Briars cannot die unless stabbed through the heart else they reanimate into feral beings that also become gnarled masses of flesh, hair and bone.

• Dark Magic incompatible with Holy Magic.

 

 

 

[ski_king3 0]

Not going to read through all of this now, but this was really dope whenever it was last submitted. Unless something terrible has changed, I am hype.

[BrandNewKitten 2788]

Just now, ski_king3 said:

Not going to read through all of this now, but this was really dope whenever it was last submitted. Unless something terrible has changed, I am hype.

 

A lot of it changed but the basis is kept the same. Pestilence used to give a distinct attribute to plants, animals and the self as well as being a pseudo-werewolf lore.

[ski_king3 0]

1 minute ago, Sir K Andruske said:

 

A lot of it changed but the basis is kept the same. Pestilence used to give a distinct attribute to plants, animals and the self as well as being a pseudo-werewolf lore.

 

Hype hype hype hype hype

[BrandNewKitten 2788]

If you find any inconsistencies please let me know. When lore is rewritten it can be difficult to separate past iterations. I believe I scoured through it properly but I am open to feedback and possible changes to solve balancing issues.

 

EDIT: Here it the old lore in case you were curious I submitted it little over a year ago.

[cj_scout 305]

I hated fighting these guys in Skyrim.

Jokes aside, I like this lore a lot, definitely something I'd be interested in seeing. Seems fairly balanced and consistent from what I've read.

[BrandNewKitten 2788]

4 minutes ago, Seejayscout said:

I hated fighting these guys in Skyrim.

Jokes aside, I like this lore a lot, definitely something I'd be interested in seeing. Seems fairly balanced and consistent from what I've read.

 

It's always funny where we get our inspiration from. The fact that hagravens basically make super zombie soldiers in that game always struck my fancy. 

[Runabarn 1026]

I may be wrong, but from the looks of it this encourages random killings, followed by even more random killings.

[BrandNewKitten 2788]

Just now, Fuffy said:

I may be wrong, but from the looks of it this encourages random killings, followed by even more random killings.

 

Actually I had in mind that the main source of pestilience is from rotting food, bone and rotten flesh drops, etc... but like all forms of RP the user may do as they please with it. If, for example, they go around killing people then they also have to let them rot and I am sure someone is gonna catch on. 

[Aesopian 1124]

Is there a reason why a Daemon of companionship screws around with nature? 

 

There are some other issues with this lore as well, besides my typical complaints about grammar. A lot of similarity to regular Druidism in terms of abilities. This can be fixed when I make a more detailed post, however.

 

Also, we really should NOT steal ideas from popular videogames. People see it and think we're thieves. It's distinct enough you could just rename it, though.

[KBR 1484]

8 minutes ago, Aesopian said:

Is there a reason why a Daemon of companionship screws around with nature? 

 

There are some other issues with this lore as well, besides my typical complaints about grammar. A lot of similarity to regular Druidism in terms of abilities. This can be fixed when I make a more detailed post, however.

 

Also, we really should NOT steal ideas from popular videogames. People see it and think we're thieves. It's distinct enough you could just rename it, though.

 

 

Grigario is a patron of Tayl, a patron of Tayl like Lord Knox, Alistaer, etc. It's not actually the Daemon that is doing this, but the patron.  I'll leave the rest to BNK 

[BrandNewKitten 2788]

1 hour ago, Aesopian said:

Is there a reason why a Daemon of companionship screws around with nature? 

 

There are some other issues with this lore as well, besides my typical complaints about grammar. A lot of similarity to regular Druidism in terms of abilities. This can be fixed when I make a more detailed post, however.

 

Also, we really should NOT steal ideas from popular videogames. People see it and think we're thieves. It's distinct enough you could just rename it, though.

 

Tayl screws around with all the aenguldaemons. This is just his approach to the ones that call themselves the aspects. So by giving power to a Patron (that in turn is passed down to the followers to come) Tayl's objective is achieved. This being said I could take another look through and see where I can work in the theme a bit more.

 

As stated in the lore post (and the original for that matter) I worked to create a piece that was more of an antithesis to druidism. 

 

The name of briar and briarpatch/briarheart came from version one of this lore. I still enjoy the name and it so happened that I had saved some skyrim art from a year ago on my laptop which is why it made it into this piece. While it shares some names it is by no means a rip-off of that game. With how much dark souls references we see on LoTC I doubt that a name alone will stir much confusion though if need be some of the art can be replaced.

 

EDIT: Updated OP as of 9am PST 

[Scuba 281]

I think the lore would of been better posted sooner, rather than later, as it now fights with an already rogue subtype of Druid able to use blood magic. They invigorate nature to high degrees, not bring about pestilence, but I think the two share the same underlining desire to be a different form of Druidism.

[Aesopian 1124]

1 hour ago, ScubaSteveee said:

I think the lore would of been better posted sooner, rather than later, as it now fights with an already rogue subtype of Druid able to use blood magic. They invigorate nature to high degrees, not bring about pestilence, but I think the two share the same underlining desire to be a different form of Druidism.

 

This is one of the other issues I should probably point out. There is something of a need to construct a single, unified 'dark druidism', rather than have a bunch of individual magics which each are sort of kinda dark druidism. 

 

How we go about that that is probably a discussion for later. Tomorrow evening, probably.

[BrandNewKitten 2788]

30 minutes ago, Aesopian said:

 

---

 

How we go about that that is probably a discussion for later. Tomorrow evening, probably.

This sounds like you are asking me out on a date.

 

My answer is yes.