TimberBuff 2105 Popular Post Share Posted November 22, 2020 Sycophants of Boletius The mysteries of the Fae Realm contain many surprises for the descendants of the realm, one of which being a symbiotic spore based lifeform that has a peculiar drive to nestle themselves in the brains of random beings to cause minor mischief. They don't do it for survival, or out of malice, they're mostly just bored. Feat Explanation Sycophants of Boletius are spore based fae creatures, who's attention got caught with all the happenings on the mortal plane. Descendants in particular catch their eyes, so they decide to nestle in there and cause mischief. They settle in the brain of the host, usually passing through airways and the like to make their way inside. This happens at seemingly random times, with no clear pattern. Sycophants are not inherently malicious, and their goal is not bodily takeover. The most control they'll have over the host's body are things not necessarily visible to other people. Sudden cravings for tuna, minor hallucinations (eg your pen is two inches farther right than it appears), and most notably, a voice in your head. It makes it quite clear that it is indeed a foreign being, usually announcing in a grandiose fashion that it now lives inside your head. They have no physical form, but will usually have their host hallucinate a mock form for them to look at, but it's mostly another avenue to annoy the host. It is open to conversation, leading hosts to appear as though they are arguing with thin air. Self Teaching One method to acquire a sycophant from a currently infected host, is by simply being near them and the sycophant choosing to spread. This most commonly happens when the sycophant is near active mana, but may happen at random. A person may also gain a sycophant by themselves if they spend time within a forest and around bugs often - this does not require another host to be nearby. Explanation - To receive a sycophant from another host is to do so unwittingly and likely unwillingly. Have the person who infected you comment on your FA. - One may roleplay receiving a sycophant from spending time within a forest or from staying extended periods of time around bugs within a forest. Effects Usually these would be feat abilities, but as all of these actions are involuntary IC, they are labelled as effects. Minor Hallucination The Sycophant decides to mess with the host's head, and causes a hallucination with no real malice. It can be the noise of a fly buzzing by your ear, that chair being slightly lower than it appears, it's very freeform in what can happen. This is also what it uses to "appear" to the host, usually as a sprite-esque creature, but can be anything from a weird dog to a talking flower. Redlines Sycophants attempt to play with the host, not harm them. Hallucinations that cause inherent harm to the host or anyone other than the host will not play out. Hallucinations will not appear in combat. It wants to mess with you, not get you killed. The sycophant will not have you hallucinate injuries, on yourself or others. Cannot be mitigated by magic, substances, or otherwise. No body takeovers, this isn't edgetown, shade is down the hall to the left. Voice of the Fae Pretty self explanatory, this is what the Sycophant uses to speak to its host. It's voice is minorly annoying and judgemental of your actions at worst, and is usually used to make comments on the host's day to day life. Redlines The Sycophant will speak to the host at random, and its purpose is to mildly annoy the host at best. It will not insult your deepest fears, make you question yourself, etc. At worst it makes fun of your shirt or calls your friend pudgy. The voice is only in your head, and cannot be heard by anyone but the host. The Sycophant will not attempt to impersonate loved ones or people in general. At most, it'll make it sound like someone is calling your name. It's pranks are intended to be mostly harmless, so hallucinations that would trigger severe reactions or violent tendencies will not come about. Cannot be used to meta in any way, and cannot be used as a middleman to talk to nature. It will not help you during combat, actually staying quiet so that the host can focus properly on not dying. The sycophant holds no wisdom the host doesn't. No snarky "oh I bet that dude's a shade!" Comments. As above, it cannot be mitigated by magic, substances, or anything else. Housekeeping Arguably the only "useful" thing about keeping a Sycophant around, the symbiote will decide that as recompense for playing around with you, it'll clean up shop some. Slowly fixing things it finds "sub optimal", such as heart issues or liver damage from overdrinking, though it takes quite some time for these to take effect. The Sycophant has no idea how to handle wounds, however, so on those, it's traditional medicine for you. Redlines Wounds such as cuts, stabs, broken bones, and concussions are not fixable by the Sycophant, as they cannot fix them in any meaningful time. For the sake of simplicity, they cannot heal these wounds. All housekeeping ceases in combat. Physical deformities, minorly damaged organs, and minor diseases will be repaired over a period of 10 OOC weeks per defect, and it cannot work on multiple things at once. For example: You have a damaged liver and scoliosis, it'll take ten weeks to fix the liver, then another ten weeks to fix the spine. It is impossible to properly explain injuries and "teach" the sycophant how to heal wounds. The Sycophant cannot grow back removed body parts, such as limbs, ears, eyes, etc. It cannot cure blindness, but can mend poor vision. Cannot cure infertility, or increase poor fertility. Pregnant women's children are unaffected. The Sycophant cannot fix issues with your brain, such as bleeding, or mental illness. You cannot get enhanced anything utilizing a Sycophant, you will at most be at a base level of health for your race, and it does not help you gain strength or dexterity. Scars are able to be healed, but won't always be healed. If they cause pain, it is likely. Life threatening deformities and diseases are not fixable by the Sycophant, it merely states that it tried it's best, and that it's sorry. Disdain for the Void Sycophants are Fae of the Eternal Forest first and foremost, and will have a disdain for practitioners of the Void. As such, they'll be quite the bother to mages, even going so far as attempting to break their concentration while casting. Redlines Sycophants dislike mages, and will attempt to make their casting more difficult. As they cast, the Sycophant increases it’s annoying nature. The mage cannot cast for more than three (3) emotes, consecutively. Ridding Yourself of the Sycophant Some people don't quite like the idea of having a fae in their brain, and will obviously attempt to get rid of it in some fashion. Thankfully, there are two solutions, should you wish to rid yourself of the sycophant. You may speak with a druid, who can get into contact with the fae via Communion, and politely ask it to leave. It will usually oblige, though not always. The only sure way to rid yourself of a sycophant is a cut from Azhl steel, even the smallest cut will do. The sycophant values its life over its fun, after all. Should one be rid of a sycophant, but wish to call them back for whatever reason, there is also a way to do so. Again, talk with a druid with the Transcendence feat, and they are able to call your sycophant back to the material plane via a fae ring. Redlines Tier 3 and above druids are able to speak to the Sycophant, utilizing the ability Beastspeak. Druids may not use a sycophant to read the host's mind, and if an attempt is made, the sycophant will simply tell the druid off. Whether the sycophant listens to the druid or not is up to player discretion. If they succeed, contact an ST to deny your feat application. Azhl steel will immediately rid you of the sycophant, whether willing or unwilling, and you must let an ST know so they can deny your feat application. If the host is a druid themselves, they must get the help of a separate druid. You cannot ask it to leave on your own and it listen. Passive Effects Hosts of Sycophants will find that butterflies are inexplicably attracted to them. Additionally, hosts will find that they have a certain draw to butterflies, and strangely, mushroom based foods. Complete incompatibility with Afflicted or any other type of “other person in your head” magic. Sycophants don’t like roommates. When an actively communing druid, or a T5 druid with passive communion, focuses on a Host, they will get a distinct feeling that the Host is fae, but won’t be able to discern the exact nature of it. OOC Purpose I wanted a fun avenue of roleplay not seen very often on the server outside of darker magics, and it seemed like something with a lighter tone might be something that people would be interested in. There is no real mechanical or roleplay benefit or deficit, and it's quite easy to acquire and remove. You want a person in your head? Go ahead. It doesn't have to be a shade, it can just be a prankster. Edit: Added a redline to say druids cannot get rid of their own Sycophants. 71 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronin_champloo 5951 Share Posted November 22, 2020 [redacted] 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archipelego 2095 Share Posted November 22, 2020 poggers 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyrvun 1268 Share Posted November 22, 2020 3 minutes ago, TimberBuff said: they're mostly just bored. I like this already. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latelle 719 Share Posted November 22, 2020 i like this. +1 i need an imaginary friend @LatteSupremacy Get your own fae fren and let's be twinsies 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AfroJoeTheOlogBro 1093 Share Posted November 22, 2020 Approve it or Flat 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valannor 6345 Share Posted November 22, 2020 +1 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztrog 1031 Share Posted November 22, 2020 Pretty poggers +1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kholibrii 978 Share Posted November 22, 2020 Seem kinda pog🥴 +1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaffenOutLoud 352 Share Posted November 22, 2020 infection feat infection feat infection feat infection feat 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unwillingly 11177 Share Posted November 22, 2020 1 hour ago, TimberBuff said: No body takeovers, this isn't edgetown, shade is down the hall to the left. 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sevastiel 285 Share Posted November 23, 2020 +1 even though shade and fae arguments weren’t mentioned and that is a thing that must exist. Solomon laughs, for he already hallucinates and hears voices. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloralHedgehog 411 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Still can't believe I roleplayed Boletius before it was considered cool with the kids. Good knock-off with actual lore 10/10 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myleres 1658 Share Posted November 23, 2020 flavour lore that doesn't hurt anyone?? sign me up heck yeah + 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DISCOLIQUID 1963 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Neat idea! Well written. 🙂 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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