Pengin

The young man stood along the bedside, his hands held in a frail hold by the withering woman before him. Tears strained his face as he listened to her final words, a simple request. To him, who had been broken by desperation and meaningless strife, what else could he feel but despair when cheap, hollow laughter and an empty, fraudulent smile was all he could offer his mother in her final moments... ⋞⦕⧰⦖⋟ The albatross was spiraling to the ground in the midst of the winter storm. Why did such a recollection suddenly come to him as searing pain coursed through his body? He had been amongst the clouds just before, yet now his vision blurred amongst the agonizing pain of burning alive. He was certain he had been traveling to a cluster of everwinter trees along the winter winds, so why was it that his wings were locking up, and why was his body unresponsive as he continued to fall from the sky? The previously mild blizzard seemed to grow stronger amidst his moment of weakness, hail beginning to pelt his form as the ground grew closer within his strained sight. The avian's form began to unravel as he was thrown about the harsh, frozen winds. Feathers turned to floral flesh as he crashed into the frozen canopy of a forest of everwinter trees. The sound of ice being smashed spread through the frostbitten forest as his husk smashed into snow-laden ground, impaled by the icicle-like leaves. The elderly highlander felt his husk fracturing as he lay within the winter wonderland he had carved the purpose of his life from. Frostbite settled into his form despite an immolating sensation flowing through his body. How strange was it that he was both burning alive and freezing to death simultaneously? A broken laugh echoed from the whimsical man as his husk continued to break apart. His gaze lingered on the surreal forest before him as he began to laugh to his crumbling heart's content. The blizzard raged on, hail pounding the forest like drums as the forest of ice began to echo with a symphony of chime-like sounds of sleetwood being shattered. His laughter was hoarse, but it only grew stronger as his body continued to fragment. He could feel his limit being reached, his laughter melding with the deafening song of the forest until the very moment his husk finally broke apart. In the end, his laughter was merely another note in the unforgiving melody of the hinterlands, and he felt nothing but joy in his final breath. ⋞⦕⧰⦖⋟ His soul settled after some moments, the faint feeling of the world around him coursing through him once again. In that moment, a voice was heard. He recognized it, and then understood what the words they had spoken to him implied. In that moment, he pondered his life. What would others think of how he lived? What did he think of how others thought? He supposed it didn't truly matter in the end, as he had only lived for himself in his selfish pursuit of pure joy. The only sin in the world was boredom. Just about everything else could be forgiven, including the current circumstances. So he finally gave them a response. Through communion they had exchanged their final words, and through communion he could feel the wretched torment within them. Why were they so distraught? Scoria had no regrets in his life, even if this anti-climatic undoing was how he departed from the world. He had been reduced to ash and shattered like ice, yet now he was the one who was trying to console a somber soul. It was humorous in a way for a dead man to wish the best for the one who had brought about their demise, but how could he wish them anything else? He didn't try to understand their circumstances, nor did he care to do so. He only wanted them to be happy, and he hoped he had properly conveyed such. He knew the world would be against them for what they were doing, and he knew that should he not have been killed, that he himself would've been the first to point a blade at them... but that didn't mean he could ever hate them. So in that final moment, all he could do was hope that this choice would make them happy in the end. ⋞⦕⧰⦖⋟ It was truly a strange life he had lived. While he was bound to an eternal fate within the realm beyond, he had still spent a quarter of a millennium wandering this mundane realm. He had long outlived his own family, he had found kinship amongst the strangest of folk, he had made friends of all unwieldy sorts. He wondered if he brought as much joy to those around him as those around him brought joy to him. He believed he spent his life well, and so it was. He wished he could share a few more laughs with the denizens of the world before his untimely, albeit long-delayed, departure, but alas, he was not permitted such. It was a fleeting hope that didn't weigh on his mind whatsoever, for he knew that he would have had the same wish regardless of when his time would have come. And so what else was left to do? He shared one final laugh with the world, a cacophonous cry of joy made with all his soul could muster... and then the world was merely a little bit quieter than it had been mere moments ago, for the ever-boisterous Everwinter Druid had met his end.

If I could offer one thing that might be worth adding onto this, perhaps look into @JuliusAakerlund's comments on the 3rd page of the sprite rewrite. Should it be of interest for alchemy-involvement on sprites to return, giving symbols to Faerie Dust, or potentially other parts of their vessel (such as sprite wings) might be of high interest. While I was never too particular about the concept of sprites having alchemy, mainly due to miscellaneous concerns, I think Julius has some very well made points on it that should be considered if alchemy is to be made learnable (Mainly in regards to redefining would-be sprite reagents, such as Faerie Dust, which had their alchemical properties removed in the rewrite.). I've linked both of Julius' comments below for ease of access should you wish to incorporate any of their ideas into the amendment. I do hope this goes through for the sake of the players who want to incorporate this into their RP. Best of luck on the amendment passing. 👍

I drastically dialed it back, so hopefully it's a bit more acceptable as just a flavor effect. As for the CRP stuff, I have never seen CRP happen in a fae ring or close to one. I also imagine that if CRP does happen around a fae ring, it will happen while people are outside of it. There is very little reason why somebody would want to enter a fae ring, let alone be near one - especially a corrupted one, in a potentially combative scenario.

~={ Faerie Rings }=~ “If you see a fairy ring in a field of grass, very lightly step around - tiptoe as you pass; Last night, fairies frolicked there, and they’re sleeping somewhere near.” - William Shakespeare °❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ By Hester Margetson, 1890-1963 .✦ ݁ ˖𓂃.⚘. ݁˖ ~= History =~ Whispers of yore tell of a time when the Aspects touched down upon the realm, vague recountings speaking of the sanctuary within nature that melded the Mortal and Fae Realms together. The Mani stood guard within this pure land where nature flourished, with fae in the forms of both fauna and flora alike thriving within it and driving out those who sought to sully it. The merge stood for centuries until the day the Betrayer and his undead army damned the ancient forest, blighting it with death wherever their unholy march trod through. Only after a long war did the Aspects and their creations, aided by the elves and the druids, eventually repel the unholy army, but by then the damage had already been done. The once pure lands were wrought with destruction, the realms severed from each other. Only silence ensued for the time to come, and the hope that the realms could be connected once again slowly faded over time. That was, of course, until the day a discovery was made. Deep within the forest, a dedicant had lost their way from being sent to gather herbs for a task. The sun lowered over the horizon, drowning the forest in darkness. Fireflies flickered through the air, illuminating the aimless path that the dedicant wandered. The dedicant meandered the woods in search of an escape when they saw a glimpse of moonlight descending from the sky above. Drawn in by curiosity, they began to chase the falling light deeper into the woods, nearly catching up to it by the time it hit the ground. Breaking through the trees into a clearing, the dedicant witnessed a spiral of shimmering moonlight strike the ground, erupting into a brilliant glare. The clearing shivered as life erupted within it, flowers blooming and overgrowth running rampant. The dedicant, who had slowly walked forth as if in a trance, paused before the center of the clearing. In the wake of the light’s impact was a calm layer of grass encircled by an orderly ring of mushrooms and flowers alike. The air before the dedicant distorted, and a small figure forged from flora blipped into existence from within the ring with a brilliant glow. The dedicant stood in shock, staring blankly at the critter, who stared back, their eyes widening as more creatures began to spill out from beyond the veil of the ring. The creatures erupted in cheer and dance as they emerged, pulling the baffled dedicant into their festivities as they guided them into the ring. Unassumingly following their lead, the dedicant collapsed upon entering the ring, voices immediately filling their mind. The flow of life itself could be felt within their very being, their thoughts splintering as the ebb and flow of nature tore at the seams of their mind with something so wondrous yet utterly incomprehensible. The dedicant pulled themselves together just enough to drag themselves from the ring, clarity returning to them in an instant as they idly observed the fae creatures continuing to dance in glee around the ring of flora. Only when the sun rose did the dedicant finally return to their guide, several of the critters accompanying their trip home. The news of what had happened was nothing less than shocking, and the very same day the dedicant had returned to their guide, they left for the forest once again, this time with a gathering of druids in tow. Upon returning to the location, the druids were stunned by the sight, many shedding tears at the realization that the connection to the Fae Realm had returned to their world. These thin points of connection where the realms melded once more were henceforth called Faerie Rings, named aptly after the creatures that the druids cherished ever so much. .✦ ݁ ˖𓂃.⚘. ݁˖ By Olya Demidova, 2020 .✦ ݁ ˖𓂃.⚘. ݁˖ ~= Description =~ Faerie Rings, in their simplest form, are rings of flora which act as anchor points for dense rivers of fae energy, mana graced by the Aspects, to bond to. These anchor points serve as both exit and entrances to these rivers of energy, enabling them to connect the Fae Realm to the Mortal Realm. Many stories and tales, whether they tell of caution or of whimsy, believe the Rings to be a mystical means through which descendants may accidentally slip into the Fae Realm. While there is some truth to such tales, that is anything but their main purpose. These mystical formations exist so that the Fae may slip into the Mortal Realm, and Druids may get but a taste of what awaits them in the afterlife. The Rings themselves take on various appearances based on where it is they lead to. Most naturally-occurring Faerie Rings will adopt a simpler appearance, with their rings composed of a variety of mushrooms and flowers - perhaps even a particular pattern etched into the grass within the circle. There are more specific Faerie Rings that may be created based on the specific domains to which they are tied. Dayward Domain Rings may primarily find themselves composed of different colourful wildflowers and flora rather than mushrooms, with spires of Blooming and Evergreen Kuila growing within and around the circle - giving off a faint passive glow due to the thinning between the Fae and mortal realm. Twilight Domain Rings take on a more autumnal appearance as it’s made up of mostly mushrooms of different varieties, with small animal bones often appearing unearthed around the site of these rings. The grass nearby turns brown and leaves around it turning all shades of red, orange and yellow in various states of decay. Nightfall Domain Rings tend to look the most otherworldly out of the three, bearing bioluminescent flowers and mushrooms within its circle - motes and embers of fleeting fairy fire fizzling in and out of existence around it with a magical shadow creeping in at the edges as if night were truly falling. These Rings now have become gateways to and from the Fae Realm itself, allowing fae creatures like Sprites to travel between worlds on a whim and to aid the balance of the mortal realm, while also allowing Druids to traverse to the Fae Realm via their spirits through Walk of the Aspects. The concentration of pure druidic energy may also be used as a brief funnel of power towards any druid within the Ring, working similar to the Power-sharing spell to mitigate any stress that casting may bring. .✦ ݁ ˖𓂃.⚘. ݁˖ ~= Formation =~ Faerie Rings may be found in any open area with access to the night sky and teeming with nature. While they typically form within pure, untouched wilds, such as deep within forests, they can also form anywhere where natural energies densely gather, such as druidic settlements. They would not form somewhere within a cave or a lack of open air, given it would obstruct the moonlight, and any attempt at trying to create one within a closed space, or build over the Ring would result in the flora slowly withering and dying - rendering it unusable. There are two categories of Faerie Rings, Natural Faerie Rings and Inscribed Faerie Rings. Natural Faerie Rings are as described - naturally occurring circles of abundant flora consisting of various mushrooms, flowers, and even occasionally growths of Kuila crystals. These appear in the mortal realm in spaces rich in natural energy, under the light of the full moon. When the veils between the realms grew the thinnest, these Rings begin to form with a shimmery outline of a circle. The natural song within the Faerie Ring begins to change into something stronger, as the natural energy becomes more concentrated. As this coalescence of energy draws to its peak, a burst of moonlight erupts from the earth and impacts the land, causing a ring of assorted flora to bloom in its wake and cementing the newly formed Faerie Ring in its place. These Rings hold no alignment to any specific region in the Fae Realm, serving as a general connection to the realm as a whole. Inscribed Faerie Rings are Faerie Rings that were artificially created via the Ritual of the Fae Ring, a rite passed down unto Transcendent Druids which allows them to make and tie Faerie Rings to Aspect Domains. Based on its name, the ritual requires druidic runes to be inscribed into the earth to summon the flora to make up the Ring the druids are attempting to create. .✦ ݁ ˖𓂃.⚘. ݁˖ ~= Interactions =~ Conduit of Nature’s Song Faerie Rings, being places with heavy concentrations of natural energies, can cause entities who enter them to forcibly resonate with such energies, the interpretation of which is commonly referred to as the ‘Song of Nature.’ Due to the inability for beings outside the Aspects influence to comprehend these energies, it can cause assorted effects on the minds of those subjected to something inherently incomprehensible. These effects, while incapable of causing lasting harm, greatly impact the senses and thought processes of those exposed to them while being unable to understand them. This song provides a sense of serenity and peace to any Druid that listens to it, while the unattuned are typically greeted with a strange, indecipherable noise accompanied by an onset of disorientation and dizziness on par with inebriation. Some individuals may enjoy the feeling of being disorientated and may end up sitting in a ring for some time, unable to pry themselves away from the song should they become too sluggish. Sprites, while able to travel back and forth between realms, are able to withstand and understand the strange droning song that emits from a Faerie Ring, for they are purely Fae. The same ability to withstand and understand the song applies the Mori'quessir, children of Nemiisae, as well. Demi-fae creatures, such as Epiphytes, are able to withstand the song without being disoriented - however, it is still uncomfortable to hear. Should those of Undead origins enter a Faerie Ring, they would feel a sense of hollow unease - as if their absence of life is clashing with the very essence of the Ring. Practitioners with Unmodified Souls of otherwise Corruptive or Dark Magics will find themselves being able to experience the Faerie Ring as if they were mere unattuned mortals. Creatures of Undead, Dark, or Voidal origins would feel an intense scrutiny on top of the disorientating effect, culminating in a horrid sense of nausea. Voidal machinations and creations would immediately feel wholly unwelcome, with the song growing into a deafening uproar to assail the senses. The noise from within would be disorientating enough to prevent casting anything other than druidic magics. Any attempt to cast nefarious magics that may harm nature within a Faerie Ring would be met with absolute rage and anger roaring at them, accompanied by a sickening malaise - making it impossible to continue. Golems, being artificial entities with no soul nor organic matter, are unaffected by faerie rings and do not experience anything while within them. Corruption Faerie Rings are able to be corrupted by an assortment of sources. While a corrupted Ring doesn’t heavily affect its environment due to the contained nature of Rings, it causes problems for druids and fae alike who attempt to utilize it, with the effects varying depending on the nature of the corruption. Natural and Fae entities will corrupt over the course of [2 Emotes] while within a corrupted Faerie Ring. Fae who attempt to utilize a fae ring to travel between realms will be immediately corrupted upon arrival or departure through said ring. Blood Magic Variant Rings corrupted by Blood Magic become sickly and partially wilted, their flora tainted by reddish hues and mutated to possess unruly thorns, or any other hostile quality as if mutated. The song becomes distorted and uneasy, greatly perturbing those who hear it. Animals in the nearby area will not willingly approach the corrupted Ring and will react hostilely when approached - senses on overdrive due to the corruption nearby. [!] Tree Lords & Epiphytes that are Blood Mages will not be corrupted. Unattuned individuals will still experience the same effects as a regular Faerie Ring, as well as the added distortion and distress of being in a mutated space. Voidal Variant Rings corrupted by Voidal Magic become distorted by unnatural colors and mutate with tumorous blemishes, causing the flora within to warp eerily in an unappealing way. The song of nature becomes pained and agonizing, causing grief and anguish to those who hear it. Nearby animals may appear sickly or frail, refusing to eat or drink while within the vicinity of the ring and avoiding it when possible. [!] Unattuned individuals will still experience the same effects as a regular Faerie Ring, as well as the sudden onset of sadness and pain. Necrotic Variant Rings corrupted by Necromancy have become all devoid of any type of life. All of the grass, and flora has turned various shades of black and grey, withering away and turning to ash and dust if touched without care. The song in the area has all but been snuffed out - silence reigning over the area in a suffocating manner. No animals would be found nearby at all, having abandoned the death-infested site. [!] Unattuned individuals will still experience the same effects as a regular Faerie Ring minus the song, as well as an uncanny and uncomfortable fear in the silence. Should any individual find themselves staying within the ring for [5 Emotes], they would find their extremities slowly turning black and rotted akin to severe hypothermia. Destruction In regards to destroying a Faerie Ring, one must destroy what makes up the Ring in itself. Natural Faerie Rings may only be destroyed if its natural environment had been stripped away, such as a city being built around it, or excess pollution poisoning its space. Inscribed Faerie Rings are more artificial, and came to be through druidic runes written into the earth to anchor itself there, rather than occurring without interference. Given they were created with pure Fae energy, only select things may properly destroy them. Magical Fire, whether it be an Azdrazi's Flames or Voidal Fire, will require [5] continuous emotes to fully burn away the Ring. Mana-Nullifying Effects, such as Thanhium and Auric Oil-treated weapons, require [3] continuous swings and or blows to destroy the Faerie Ring. Purging of Deific Energy, such as through Shamanism, will completely dispel a ring should a spell capable of it be completed with the Faerie Ring in its area of affect or as its target. Physical Disruptions, such as simply stepping on and stamping out the Ring, simply makes it fall dormant and quiet. Druids and nature will hear a pained noise within the song [2] blocks away from the Ring before it falls quiet, in which a [2 OOC Hour] cooldown will be applied while the Ring attempts to repair itself. During this time period, the Ring is unusable to anyone and its once-vibrant Song had been reduced to a whisper. °❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ Purpose The Fae Ring lore was submitted back in 2017, and its age is very evident when trying to read through the lore. With updates done to the general Druidism magic as of recent with the general Druidism rewrite and other parts of the general Druidic World Lore, the Fae Ring lore was the next to be updated to be more in line with current lore, other marriage pieces, and more recently-updated interactions. Credits Authors: @marslol & @Pengin Review: @Fleur___ Original Author: @NightcastorKitty Citations Original 2017 Write - https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/166951-✓-rewrite-~~fairy-rings~~ Blight Healing - https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/227298-✓-magic-lore-druidic-blight-healing Transcendence - https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/225732-✓-%C2%A0druidismfeat-druidic-transcendence Sprites - https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/242890-✓-ca-sprites-the-faeries-of-a-thousand-whims Epiphytes - https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/217365-✓-creature-lore-epiphytes-the-dryad-curse Druidic Blood Magic - https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/213242-✓-magic-lore-druidic-blood-magic

An elderly norn stood before the missive, huffing once as he finished reviewing it. "Eh much needed change indeed... we're disorganized, stagnated, slowly withering away n' losing purpose. Th' vigilant do their duties, but 'et's too haphazard ta keep proper tabs on things. We ne need some fancy ruling class, nor do we require any outrageous means of keeping our people in line, but we require some amount of direction to remain in-touch with what our community requires." Clasping his hands behind his back, he'd start to pace away. "Eh matriach ta guide th' Nevaehli n' protect our way of life, 'es well 'es represent our people... th' triumvirate ta handle our internal affairs... n' th' guilds te ensure our people remain satisfied and well-displayed in our current ways." His stroll continued on, the norn descending into the depths of Faerie Hollow. "I wish ta see our kin flourish again... to do more than just exist... we just need 'eh spark 'eh change ta ignite us once again."

A certain norn clasped his hands behind his back after jotting down his signature. "Wot 'n excellent effort. Some more trees are always appreciated 'round these parts fer certain." X: Scoria Memoras

Extremely pleasant to look at, extremely thematic, and extremely well designed to solve the issues base druidism currently possesses. Werew0lf is my druid jesus.

The proper way to engage with a sprite in roleplay tbh.

I've made it so flavor spells do not trigger the detection, nor are they able to exactly pin-point it. I'll shift around the wording more if it I've done the redlines in a way that doesn't fully prevent this, however.

At least for the fantasy of the sprite that I intended to capture with this rewrite, I do not believe alchemy do be a contributor to its goal, nor do I want to write in an ability half-heartedly just to tack it on when I view it was unnecessary. The Promise of the Pixie idea was intentionally designed for sprites to be able to trigger the punishment by perceiving deals made in their favor, which was the ideal way for them to affect others with mischief. With the current goal in mind as well, they could still make certain concoctions and wacky mischief through the use of herblore, although not to the extent you're desiring. I had intentionally removed the alchemy reagents from sprites as I viewed their ability to create reagents as redundant. Despite playing a druid with alchemy who heavily interacts with sprites, I've never seen a sprite produce a reagent nor found a use to try to obtain them. Especially with the overhaul of the noded herb system for balancing potions, any reagent that sprites would find use in creating would need to be both powerful, to make it worth collecting over mechanical herbs, and specific, to prevent it from messing with the balancing of potion recipes the staff have created. I do not find it to be worthwhile or contributing to RP, at least not in a way that will ever see use that genuinely contributes to a sprite's story beyond some form of min-maxing, to randomly tack in the fact that they have a powerful player-signed alchemy ingredient they can create at will. I actually really like the idea of sprites having some form of movespeed buff while flying, but that is an extremely finicky thing to do in practice. While it may be possible to add as a spell that temporarily bolsters speed later on, I do not think it's a good idea to add to their base kit when it's inherently unnecessary. They can already fly up to 5 blocks into the air and have two very effective "I'm outta here!" tools through Dance of Dust and Second Whim, which were designed to solve their current problem of being 1-shottable hand-sized flies in the presence of combat. While the rewrite's acceptance and application in RP is the only way to truly see how these abilities land in practice, I think they are fine at the current moment for the extent of what they require to survive in CRP scenarios and get to safety without getting wiped out from a single strike. That being said, I fully agree with your recommendation for redlining sprites against using potions for combative purposes, at least in Waning Form, as I think a meta of B52 bomber sprites is extremely unideal. --------- Overall, while I'm still unwilling to try to re-add any alchemy-focused changes to the CA in the rewrite attempt, I will support and encourage an amendment to be made should it pass. A sprite alchemy patch which properly introduces some of those features, such as the sprite concoction mixing and a re-introduction of sprite reagents, would be neat to see utilized in RP, but I can't see it doing much more than generalizing the current kit Anakaona and myself have given them and making the CA feel unnecessarily overloaded, especially when other characters, such as epiphytes, can perform similar things with alchemy but still delve much deeper into the alchemy scene. My stance on raw alchemy, regardless of the reagent and sprite concoction ability, still stands firm with the belief that it encourages and promotes unhealthy patterns for sprites to bypass the current goal of trading random, sentimental things in RP. I gave them a mindset that discourages the usage of minas, even if they can understand its value, because it's not sentimental and carries no inherent value. I think that the introduction of alchemy to sprites would create an 'optimal gameplay pattern' for sprites to barter with that I don't think would benefit the CA's playerbase, both from a perspective of wanting it to be distanced from the mechanical collection grind that alch involves and from the belief that it becomes an unhealthy trend if other players start to expect that sprites will be seeking alchemy and pursuing it, and thus potentially expecting/encouraging sprites to 'use alchemy' or 'return with a potion' for trading once that RP-loop is established. I will fully admit that I could be blatantly incorrect about some of these expectations, but it's what I believe will occur and the reason why I'm hesitant to add alchemy as a feature, even if I'm fully willing to support an attempt for it to be added by another player. It's simply not something I'm interested in doing myself.

I've changed the redlines regarding detection and weakened the radius a fair bit. I had made it only made it 20 blocks as I figured it would just be a 'within #RP distance' thing. Should this rewrite push through and pass, I'm certain it'll get more refined through LT review to prevent any form of utilizing sprites as a metamancing tool. The ability was meant to be a flavorful way for them to detect and flee from things they deemed dangerous, not turn them into a radar for mages and darkspawn by any means.

It's not a nitpick at all, it's rather helpful to have that pointed out. I'll make some changes to the weaknesses list when I get a chance and separate voidal arts from corruptive magic so they can have a more proper description. The weakness for this was taken from Epiphyte's lore page and amplified some, which actually specified some of these. I had generalized the weakness while modifying it for sprites without realizing the importance of its clarification. Corruptive Magics: Epiphytes have a natural disdain for voidal magic and dark magics natural to all of their fae cousins. The casting of a dark or void spell within 10 meters of them will cause the epiphyte to grow somewhat nauseous. This nausea becomes too debilitating to focus within the range of a proper voidal influence, such as a voidstalker, voidal obelisk, or voidal tear. Greater sources of these, or spells which corrupt specifically, might blight the epiphyte akin to a tree lord. When blighted (which takes at most 2 weeks after exposure) the epiphyte will become a feral and violent husk of their former selves until cured by druidic means.

=| Sprites |= - the faeries of a thousand whims - -| Origins |- by Gilbert Williams Amongst the sprawling, twisted, erratic lands of Eternal Forest is life as wondrous as it is confusing. Strewn with threads of life unbound from mortal logic, fae-kin are those who beyond whatever mundane concepts mortals hold near and dear. Among the most prime examples of such are Sprites, fairy-like creatures that break every boundary of reality that the descendent mind perceives as absolute. Whispers from across the realm theorize what sort of otherworldly forces may have led to their creation, the truth of such woven deep within the secrets of a land beyond mortal concepts. Beginning as nothing more than a handful of scattered seeds, the first sprites were sparked to life by an archaic fae curious about curiosity itself. Upon the first full moon to pass since the scattering of the seeds, the first generation of spritelings would blossom beneath the moon’s blessing, arising from the land as they took in the essence of life that surrounded them. Embedded with a deep sense of insatiable curiosity and wonder, the sprites embarked on a journey, roaming the fae realm as they flipped every rock, tasted every flower, and watched every fae they chanced upon. With each encounter, the spritelings further their fascination with the world around them, each sprite’s muse seemingly different from the rest of their kin. Their melodies would resonate with the world as they explored, their forms slowly coming to replicate that which intrigued each sprite the most, whether it be fungus, plants, critters, beasts, or even other fae, taking on an increasingly otherworldly look with each adaptation made. As their journeys grew longer and the moon cycle circled once more, the fae rings would once again begin to beckon them. As the veil between the fae and mortal realm thinned, the sprites would feel the allure of the unknown once more. One by one they would disappear into the wayportals, flocking to the otherside like moths to a flame so as to discover what lay beyond. Once again would they embark on a venture, this time experiencing the oddities of the mortal realm and the descendents within. By the time the moon rose over the mortal plane, most sprites would find themselves disenchanted by the conflict, chaos, and clunky creations of mankind, fleeing to the fae realm to escape the array of dark arts, voidal corruption, and pollutants that mortals spread across the land. A handful would, however, find respite amongst the world before them, feeling a pull towards the everyday lives of the inhabitants within. These sprites would become some of the first fae to reside semi-permanently within the mortal plane, and while they would inevitably return to the fae realm as their kin already had, their intent to frequently linger within the mortal plane would never cease. Witnessing the estrangement of their choices, the fae would become satisfied with their endeavor, shifting into a state of dormancy once more. Every so often, however, another handful of seeds becomes scattered throughout the fae realm whenever the archaic being grows bored once more, bringing forth a new generation of spritelings to rise from the land. This event, deemed the Sprite Moon by the inhabitants of the fae realm, continues to this day, occurring several times a century without warning. While how many will appear and where they shall go is unknown to all but the sprites and their creator, each sprite moon grants the certainty that mischief will rise across the lands, both fae and mortal, as the spritelings venture forth once more. -| Mentality |- by John Anster Fitzgerald Behavior Being bound to seek what fascinates by the hand of the fae who created them, sprites are reliably unpredictable when it comes to their personalities and mannerisms due to their individual fascinations. Sprites adapt traits from flora, fauna, and fae that they derive their interests from, their personalities being wholly reliant on mimicking what they’ve encountered for a short while after their formation. This changes once they’ve wandered for a while, however, and start to determine what they favor over others. From this point onwards, the sprite’s mindset will probably form and sapience will be birthed, enabling them to push beyond shallow thoughts and start to develop more complex thoughts and emotions. Upon pushing past the threshold of sapience, the behavior of sprites greatly shifts. They will begin to seek out life which aligns with their developed fascinations, continuously driving forth in pursuit of this fascination. When combining this with their fae nature, which causes them to be far more aligned with nature than mortals might, it grants them a rather whimsical directive that is incomprehensible to many. This tendency to solely pursue their muses gives sprites their estranged reputation, their erratic focuses leading them to collect random trinkets and junk, create dens filled with bits of flora and fauna, explore wherever intrigues them without regards for a location’s inhabitants, and host nonsensical conversations over interests with those who pass by, amongst a plethora of other peculiarities. ✦ Trickster’s Tendencies The oh-so associated mischief of sprites is not an innate behavior embedded within them, the fickle-minded fae often first learned from observing fae, animals, and humans playing. Once a certain type of game sparks a fae’s interest, they adapt their own values to them before reciprocating them to others they meet. Combining their erratic penchants and mortal misunderstandings only amplifies these means, such as when a sprite may hide a sentimental or precious object in a simple game of hide and seek, to which a mortal may become enraged at what they see as thievery. These negative reactions are often viewed as engagement by the sprites who have yet to comprehend ill-intent, leading them to create more complex forms of mischief as they come to accidentally associate the irritation of mortals with amusement and fun. These tricks, while usually mundane, can occasionally be severely dangerous and even life-threatening due to the differences in morals and concepts between sprites and the mortals they’re toying with. Beliefs While a sprite who reaches the threshold of sapience holds intelligence on par with descendants, their inner thoughts are inevitably far from aligned with mortal races. The limitations of physics, laws, and general lack of magic within the mortal realm is lost upon a sprite’s logic, those who do make home amongst descendants never managing to fully comprehend the mundane restrictions that most life is placed under. Concepts treated as severe by mortals, such as death, laws, wealth, and other intricacies, are more trivialized by the mind of sprites due to their tendency to apply the standards and expectations of their own existence to others. These differences tend to lead to the wrongful perception of sprites as being child-like. When it comes to conversation and language, sprites hold similarity skewed capacity. While they host an innate comprehension of chatter by creatures within the fae realm due to their ability to commune, which often involves the direct translation of concepts, topics, and emotions themselves, tongues of the mortal realm are something they have to adapt to over time. Despite being able to pick up on the basics of languages like common within months, learning the dialects of more unique languages can often take much longer. Their tendency to view the world solely through their own experiences and notions causes them to improperly perceive metaphors, phrases, jokes, and references alike, typically skewing, misinterpreting, or rephrasing them to fit their own whims and intents. Additionally, mannerisms translated from their fae tongue, such as names being used exclusively when referencing individuals, tends to give people the further notion that sprites are incapable of proper speech. These traits tend to lead to somewhat distorted speech patterns, common speech habits being referring to all individuals, including themselves, in third person, constructing utterly nonsensical attempts at metaphors and jokes, and generally incomprehensible statements from thoughts that can’t be properly translated into mortal tongue. ֎ Merchant’s Motives One of the most famous known traits of sprites is their habit of bartering, a trait born from their heartfelt enjoyment of trading trinkets and items of their fascination. As one of the few concepts that translates well between mortal and sprite behaviors, it has become one of the most common interactions that sprites have with descendants. Despite being a rare common ground, sprites almost always fail to recognize mina as being exchangeable for goods and services, finding no value in currency which has no sentiment behind it. More often than not viewed as an insincere trade, attempts to barter Minas, or other currency equivalents, yield irritation and confusion in sprites who are offered it during attempts to trade. -| Physiology |- by Iris Compiet Anatomy While the true of sprites are ageless, incorporeal fragments of nature’s song equivalent to a Lesser Soul, each one hosts the ability to form a physical vessel to inhabit and experience the world through. The physical make-up of a sprite’s vessel is simplistic in essence, yet complex in possibility. All sprites have two marble-sized organs within their vessels which help facilitate body functions. The first one which is located in their head, always taking the appearance of a type of seed, helps to facilitate greater thought and perceive basic senses. The second is a glass-like core within the center of their torso, which helps transmutate nutrients into raw energy to supplement their vessel with. Sprites require both for their vessel to function, their vessel perishing should either be heavily damaged or lost, effectively ‘killing’ the sprite until they eventually reform. The seed within their head houses their spiritual form, the bodies of sprites quite literally sprouting from it and growing into an appearance favored by the sprite. These bodies, while always humanoid in overall form, are greatly varied in nature, capable of replicating the prospects of any natural or fae entity a sprite has encountered even just once prior. This leads to a slew of appearances for sprites, different traits including feathers, scales, mushrooms, flowers, moss, fur, flora, chitin, and more. These bodies can take an array of shapes, sprites able to possess multiple arms, legs, eyes, and other miscellaneous appendages, such as antennae and tails. A sprite may crudely mimic vocal chords by reverberating energy throughout their form, offering an estranged voice unique to the sprite. While not applicable to all sprites, many have a mixture of soft thrums, hums, and echoes within their words. Some occasionally adopt traits native to other creatures as well, such as speaking with the pitch of songbirds or slurring their words with depthful grumbles akin to a snarl. The endurance of a sprite’s vessel is rather low, the overall durability of their body being equivalent to a herbaceous stem. While non-floral parts of a sprite's body, such as chitin, scales, horns, and feathers may feel tougher or firmer, it is primarily aesthetic. with a beetle’s exoskeleton for traits such as scales, horns, and chitinous plates. Sprites may maintain their bodies indefinitely by absorbing natural energies from their environment, the energy stored within a sap-like blood that flows throughout their vessel. Sprites may bolster their energy by consuming natural substances related to the composition of their vessel. An example of this is a sprite with chitinous bits snacking on bugs while one that takes after a bird would favor munching on dropped feathers. In the event of injuries, a sprite will survive so long as their brain and core aren’t heavily injured, passively recovering damage taken to their vessel while [Out Of Combat]. Minor injuries, such as lacerations or bruises, will recover within [1 OOC Hour]. Moderate injuries, such as broken body parts or the loss of quarter-limbs, will recover within [12 OOC Hours]. Major injuries, such as impalement or dismemberment, will within [2 OOC Days]. Sprites may expedite this healing process by over-eating, rapidly converting the excess energy into materials to reconstruct their vessel. They may also be rejuvenated by a Druid with Blight Healing through Blooming, bringing the sprite back to its ideal state at a cost akin to mending a small bush. ઈ Spriteling Wings [Flight] The most recognizable trait of the sprites, their wings, enable them to explore the world to their heart's content. While their appearance tends to vary in shape and quantity, the design doesn't impact their ability to fly. This is because a sprite’s flight is not physically bolstered, but rather magical in function, allowing them to seemingly levitate, float, and flutter around irrelevant of the motions their wings make, although only up to [5 Blocks] high. This capability is lost in the event their wings are damaged or destroyed, only being returned once the sprite has had time to regenerate. ҉ Faerie Dust [Magic Aura] The unique manifestation of a sprite’s magic, their dust, is a byproduct of their tendency to materialize mana. Faerie dust takes on coloration that resembles a sprite’s current vessel and hosts a sand-like consistency and kuila-like appearance. When a sprite channels their fae magic for any purpose, faerie dust is formed where their mana flows, replacing the ethereal tells of most mages with flowing patterns and streams of dust around a sprite’s body in a pattern reminiscent of a sprite’s appearance. Should a sprite cease using magic, then the faerie dust fizzles into thin air. The sole exception to this, which grants sprites a notable reputation, is when a sprite flies. The mana circulated with a sprite’s wings crystallizes as part of their vessel, slowly sapping sprites of their energy and exhausting them should they fly for great durations of time. This dust then breaks off from the wings due to their unstable formation, remaining materialized as it scatters to the ground. Faerie dust’s luxurious quality, behavior of constantly shimmering and glowing, and common misconception that it can grant wishes gives it a status as a highly valuable material, being sought after by those who wish to display their wealth or try to line their pockets with coins. Moonlit Forms The vessel of a sprite serves as its manner of interaction with the world around them, but the extent it can do so with their diminutive size is rather limited. They are not without their tricks, however, as sprites may spend [2 Emotes] channeling their energy to enter a special state known as their Waxing Form. This form is much larger than their standard form, which is known as their Waning Form, and allows them to interact with the world similarly to how a descendant might. Sprites can passively hold their Waxing Form transformation indefinitely once they're within it and may return their vessel back to their Waning Form at any time by releasing their Waxing Form transformation, causing their vessel to rapidly condense back to its normal size over the course of [1 Emote]. Sprites cannot maintain this form while asleep or heavily injured, however, causing them to automatically release their transformation under such conditions. [Channel] [Expand Form] [Indefinite Waxing Form] // [Condense Form] ☾ Waning Form [Default] [Mobility] The more stereotypical form associated with sprites is their Waning Form, being lightweight in nature and standing at merely [6”/15cm] to [10”/25cm] in height. Capable of freely fluttering about using their wings within this form, sprites can comfortably traverse most landscapes, both of the wilds and of cities, often bounding along vertical surfaces to scale cliffs or buildings they’d be otherwise incapable of flying up to normally. Despite having such luxurious mobility, they are unable to properly grasp many items in this form and may only comfortably carry things up to [1 Pound/ Half a Kilogram]. Should they try to carry anything heavier than that, they'll find themselves encumbered by it and unable to fly, having to resort to pushing it or dragging it around. ☽ Waxing Form [Alternative] [Interaction] The larger, less-prevalent form of sprites which is utilized to interact with things they’d be otherwise incapable of interacting with. While unable to fly and utilize several of their innate abilities, this form stands from [2’/60cm] to [3’/92cm], has a weight increase respective to the change in size from their Waning Form, and possesses strength on par with that of an average Musin. While sprites find this form unpreferable to be in, it enables them to handle and carry items and trinkets that would be too clunky or heavy to interact with in their Waning Form. Their appearance in this form doesn't notably change aside from being upscaled, although some differences may be present in some sprites due to their vessel adapting to a more descendant-like. [!] While [In Combat], it takes [3 Emotes] to expand their vessel to their Waxing Form. [Channel] [Start Expanding Form] [Finish Expanding Form] [Indefinite Waxing Form] // [Condense Form] -| Sprite Abilities |- by Charles Vess Nature’s Communion [Passive] [Druidic Communion] Sprites possess a natural affinity to resonate with nature’s song, able to passively echo a melody of their own. Through this sixth sense, a sprite may freely communicate with nature, fae, and druids alike within [15 Blocks/Meters]. Sprites may transmit emotions, messages, and abstract visuals through this, as well as passively perceive and interpret the songs of other flora, fauna, and fae. It was through this means of broadcasting their emotions that Sprites initially learned how to communicate. Even though many of them pick up body language from descendants or even animals, their innate natural melody will always take precedence. Because of this, their emotions often seep into their surroundings, causing the natural world to react accordingly. A Sprite full of anticipation and excitement might cause flower buds to bloom or bees to dance in the air. On the other hand, the grass surrounding a disheartened Sprite might lose color or lean away. Foundry of Fascination [Combative] [Appearance Alteration] [Camouflage] Just as descendants may hold an array of attire to wear, sprites possess a means to shift their appearance to their daily desires. Sprites may trigger a shift in their melody over the course of [2 Emotes], an echo resonating throughout their vessel as their appearance begins to shift. While not able to change the base of their vessel, they may alter the matter it mimics and small miscellaneous traits upon it. These changes may be small, such as a sprite sprouting a horn, or large, such as a sprite whose body consists of flower petals changing to look like they’re made of mushrooms. [Channel] [Catalyze Change] [☾ Waning Form Exclusive] As an alternative to a permanent change in their appearance, sprites in their waning form may also use this art to disguise themselves as parts of flora. Once a sprite has chosen what to warp into, they may channel their energy before rapidly distorting their body to appear as part of the plant, such as deeply mimicking a rose on a rose bush or a patch of bark upon a tree. This state is often used by sprites when they sleep, enabling them to remain safe within the wilds while they rest. A sprite may end this state at any time by releasing their disguise at any point in any emote they perform while disguised. This state is automatically undone should a sprite break away from their hiding spot or receive damage. [Channel] [Meld into Flora] [Indefinite Disguised State] While [in Combat], disguises only last up to [3 Emotes]. A sprite who refuses to discard their disguise will have it forcibly released at the end of their [3rd Emote] of being disguised. [Channel] [Meld into Flora] [Hold Disguised State] [End Disguised State] [!] Disguised sprites may be noticed by entities within a [2 Block Radius] from their hiding spot. Wealdweaver [Non-Combative] [Active] [Feat Enhanceable] Being fae entities born from seeds, sprites hold a particular connection to flora. Sprites may channel their energy for [2 Emotes] to enter a state where they may perform minor manipulation of small flora within [20 Blocks/Meters] of themselves. This state lasts indefinitely until the sprite is disrupted or chooses to end it, letting them grow or shrink flora in small bursts, alter their positioning, or force them to yield byproducts such as fruits and seeds. This art is most effective on flora around the size of a flower, but may manipulate small parts of larger flora, such as twisting the branches of a bush or causing part of a tree trunk to ungrow, leaving a hollowed hole within it. This art is usually used by sprites to sprout snacks from berry bushes and fruit trees or to warp nature into an ideal den. [Channel] [Intertwine with Nature's Song] [Indefinite Wealdweaver Mode] [!] Sprites with Herblore may cast the feat's abilities while in [Wealdweaver Mode] Tittertongue [Passive] [Sound Mimicry] While some proclaim that mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery, sprites utilize mimicry for nothing more than to serve their own interests. While their own imitation of vocal chords tends to result in a crude or estranged voice, their range of vocalization far exceeds that of other creatures, and even many fae. So long as a sprite has a good impression of a sound they've heard, they're able to learn replicate it with uncanny similarity by twisting the energy they use to create sound until they're satisfied with their imitation. Through this trick, they can not only imitate the voices of others and the sounds of animals, but even the noises that objects and instruments can make. While these imitation are never truly perfect, always having a couple notable distortions or flaws which allow them to be identified as a sprite's trickery, they are always eerily similar to the original, typically to a discomforting degree. Flickerwick [☾ Waning Form Exclusive] [Combative] [Utility] While often fond of going wherever they please, sprites don't hold the ability to see in the dark. As a remedy to this, sprites can distort their vessel to become fully bioluminescent by channeling their energy for [1 Emote]. Once channeled, their body will begin to glow vibrantly in a color of their choice, appearing as a pulsating, sparkling, glowing orb to any onlookers. This glow illuminates up to [10 Blocks/Meters] away from the sprite in a sphere, its glow seemingly fizzling away at the edge of its active range. This state may last indefinitely once entered, and sprites may alter the range of the illumination each [Emote] they spend in the state. The state can be cancelled by spending [1 Emote] to stop glowing. The fae light produced by this ability holds unique properties, capable of illuminating magical darkness and causes all entities with at least an inferior soul to shimmer within its illumination range. [Channel & Illuminate] Dance of Dust [☾ Waning Form Exclusive] [Combative] [Evasion] Sprites are often perceived as shifty, slippery creatures with more than just a bit of justification. By spending an [Emote] tapping into their fae magic, sprites can enter a Dust State, in which they briefly convert their vessel and items upon their person into pure faerie dust for up to [2 Emotes] afterwards. During this state, a sprite’s body may phase through anything with a gap, such as cages and nets. Attempted physical interactions, such as grabbing them or striking them with a weapon, will phase through them and do no harm to the sprite whatsoever. Once a sprite has run out of time in their Dust State, their vessel will reform at the beginning of their [Next Emote], although they may opt to end the state early and reform at any point in one of their two emotes of duration. [Channel] [Start Dust State] [Finish Dust State] [!] This ability may only be used [1 Time] per [Combat Encounter]. While [Out of Combat], this ability has no cooldown and may be cast consecutively, akin to the sprite blipping in and out of the state. Promise of the Pixie [Non-Combative] [Magically Binding] As denizens of the Fae Realm, sprites are not unfamiliar with trickery and deceit, so they have learned a thing or two on how to ensure someone keeps to their word. Using the whimsical energies that make up their soul, they can bind the spoken words of another into a pact. While the binding is not powerful enough to cause any harm, it often leads to descendants mindlessly making, then breaking, promises with sprites after thinking little of them. While the consequences of a broken promise tend to fade away quickly, some can last years, or even decades, after a promise was broken, causing great inconvenience to whomever made light of speaking carelessly to a faerie. Sprites may begin to bind a promise by channeling their faerie dust for [2 Emotes] to bring forth a manifestation of their fae magic. Examples of what this may look like are an orb of light circling around their head, druidic sigils in the air, or ethereal worms crawling out of their mouth. This manifestation will then lie in wait for the next [4 Emotes] until the moment someone utters a promise to the sprite, where it will then make its way over to them and harmlessly seep into their skin. A sprite may tack on a promise of their own to this binding if they wish. However, should no one make a promise to them within that time, the faerie dust will become too unstable to hold and it will shoot back to the sprite to trigger a punishment outside of their control. It is impossible to dispel a failed binding to avoid a punishment, so sprites know to be careful when attempting to trick another in this manner. [Channel Dust] [Produce Manifestation, Ready to Bind] [Hold] [Hold] [Hold] [Binding Fails, Punishment Triggers] After a promise has been successfully completed, it will fade away immediately, freeing all parties from its constraints. However, a broken promise will swiftly inflict a punishment on the betrayer. While these tend to be more tedious than anything truly harmful, you will find no other creature more skilled in crafting a punishment than a sprite. They can range from feeling uncomfortable around flowers, to chitinous growths upon their skin. These effects will usually last [3 OOC days] before fading away overnight once the duration ends, although it is not unheard of for them to torment unlucky betrayers for much longer. [d12] Example Punishment Table A promise, once bound, cannot be taken back. It will remain dormant for as long as it takes for it to be fulfilled or broken, which will be immediately felt by both parties. A Transcendent Druid or Cleric may sever a promise or relieve an individual of their punishment as they see fit by spending [2 Emotes] to pry the fae affliction from them, but they must be aware of it in the first place. However, two sprites who decide to make a promise to each other have no option other than carrying it out or breaking it. All promises and punishments created this way must fall within a basic set of tenets, and sprites will inherently never attempt to create deals which circumvent these tenets. These tenets are applied to both sides of the deal, and neither the sprite nor the promise-partner may have any obligations that go against these tenets on their end of the bargain. Any violation of these would result in an unsuccessful binding, the promise never taking hold and fading into the air. I. Promises must always benefit the sprite in some capacity, such as serving their fascination or pushing forward their personal goals. II. Promises may never involve descendant currency, such as minas or other mina alternatives, as rewards. III. Promises cannot be made to kill, maim, or otherwise severely harm individuals that pose no threat to the sprite. -| The Endless Journey |- [Rebirth] by David Wyatt Despite being heavily reliant upon their vessels to interact with the world around them, sprites aren’t reliant on them for survival. Should a sprite’s body be destroyed through any means, whether physical, magical, or through blight, their spirit will instinctively flee to a place of dense natural energy to recover and reform from the nearby flora. Even though a sprite may recover from ‘death,’ they cannot escape the consequences of their vessel’s destruction, losing all memories of the scenario leading up to their death. Despite losing their memories which would’ve led up to their death, sprites will usually develop a temporary fear related to their cause of death. While most sprites will have this fear fade away after several years, severely traumatizing deaths may ingrain such fears for decades or centuries, potentially even for the rest of their life. [!] After dying, a sprite may not be played again for an [OOC Day]. They considered to be 'reforming' during this period, and may only fully recreate their vessel after this cooldown period is over. -| Weaknesses |- By Shyam Art Corruptive Magics Voidal magic, necromantic magic, and blood magic cast within [12 Blocks/Meters] of a sprite cause great discomfort within sprites, an innate sense of wanting to distance themselves from the source embedding within their mind. If cast within [8 Blocks/Meters] of them, their senses will become moderately distorted, a mild pain riveting throughout their body. When cast within [4 Blocks/Meters] of a sprite, they will feel a deep sense of dread and a large amount of pain, often trying to escape the vicinity of the corruptive arts at all costs. Spells which actively corrupt nature, such as through blight, curses, or disease, cause sprites within [4 Blocks/meters] of their casting to be passively afflicted with blight. The blight will set in slowly over the course of [1 OOC Hour] or until the end of the scenario they were corrupted in, whichever would take longer. A blighted sprite will have its vessel slowly wither away over the course of another [3 OOC Hours] unless treated. Azhl An antithesis to all things natural and fae, azhl anemia will set in within [4 Emotes] after being wounded by azhl. If not treated within a [2 OOC Hours], then the sprite’s vessel will wither away. If a moderate or major wound is received, then a sprite will instead begin to immediately wither away, perishing over the course of [3 Emotes]. Additionally, sprites will feel a severe sense of dread exposed to azhl, often trying to distance themselves from any azhl they perceive. Thanhium Wounds received from thanhium will temporarily disable a sprite’s innate magic and silence their connection to the natural world around them for [8 Emotes]. Their abilities will be suppressed during this time, unable to cast anything, and the sprite will be forced into the waning form if not already within it. While silenced in this manner, sprites will often express a severe amount of discomfort, becoming paranoid and depressed, until the thanhium poisoning wears off. Fire Being inherently floral in composition, sprites are often quick to light aflame. While burnt parts tend to fizzle off quicker than they can spread, a sprite’s vessel will rapidly burn away should a large portion of it catch aflame. Should a flaming sprite not be doused within [4 Emotes], their vessel will be burnt away and yield a death. Contact with fire will always yield burns one degree higher than what it might normally yield on a descendant, charring the sprite wherever it touched. Holy Magics As fae with abnormal souls, holy magics cannot heal sprites, nor grant them any beneficial effects. -| Compatibilities |- by minazoko0 While sprites possess a Lesser Fae Soul, which bars them from learning and practicing most magical arts of the mortal world, they aren’t inhibited from all of them. Their innate talent in manipulating mana allows them to quickly pick up on some of the less straining mortal arts when taught them. While sprites can manipulate mundane mana in addition to fae mana, it still ends up being channeled in the form of their faerie dust. This is a list of valid compatibilities sprites have with various magics and feats as well as special interactions with other lore present on the server. Any magic or feat not listed here should be presumed incompatible. Anything which is to be compatible with sprites will either require it to be specified in their lore submission or amended with valid reasoning. - [Magics] - Sprites possess [5 Magic Slots] Bardmancy Sprites may learn all facets of Bardmancy. Housemagery Sprites may learn all facets of Housemagery. Blood Magic Sprites may learn all facets of Blood Magic. - [Feats] - Herblore Sprites may learn Herblore due to the similarities it has to their inherent talent in floramancy, being capable of mimicking all facets of the feat through Wealdweaver with proper guidance. - [Miscellaneous] - Special interactions sprites have with various lore pieces on the server. Any magics or feats listed in this section are unable to be learned, merely interacted with. Kuila Crystals Kuila chunks, crystals, and dust within 3 blocks of sprites will react with a low glow due to their passive communion. Singing Trees Sprites may interact with singing trees without the usage of an index, although they may only read memories within it, being unable to add or remove memories. Fae Rings Sprites can utilize fae rings to freely slip between the mortal plane and fae realm while a full moon is present on the side they are currently within. Once they’ve swapped realms, they’ll need to wait until the next full moon to slip through a fae ring once again. -| General Redlines |- - Sprites may not partake in romance RP nor may they have topics related to 'romance' as their fascination. Additionally, they most certainly may not possess any genitalia, and absolutely under no circumstance may they FTB. This should be self-explanatory, but it’s listed anyways because there are bound to be freakbobs who would try to do it elsewise.🤡 - Be whimsical and have fun. Having fun while playing a sprite is actually mandatory <- real. - Sprites require a Creature Application to be made, and then accepted, before one can be played. -| Purpose |- To be blunt, sprites are in a rather mediocre state right now. They are meant to be a whimsical, easy-going CA which fills a niche for fae trickery, shenanigans, and light-hearted fun. While they do embody this in their current form, they simultaneously manage to fail rather harshly, for numerous reasons, at bringing the intended RP fantasy of the CA to life. This leads players who do pick it up to often abandon any commitment to the character once they start encountering the CA’s flaws. While sprites will likely never be a mainstream or popular race, it should at least be consistently engaging for the players who do choose to play them as a side-character, and especially for the rare sprite mains. To start with the most notable flaw, sprites have no ability to feel like a main character in their own adventure. Once players begin playing it, they slowly burn themselves out trying to exhaust their options to sustain RP, only to discover there is none. Prior methods of encouraging engagement and exploration, such as the alchemy reagent system, prove useless in the current rp atmosphere of LOTC (especially after herbs were rebalanced). They are unable to communicate, unable to provide meaningful engagement to others, unable to contribute to storylines they want to participate in, and unable to progress their own character in the ways literally every other race and CA on the server can. They have been reduced to being perceived as one-off gag characters by any non-druidic group due to their inability to interact with them, and yet they still find themselves unable to do much within druidic communities aside from flying around eating sugary hand-outs while others do meaningful RP. This rewrite brings sprites more in-line with the narrative power of Imps, becoming utility characters which can hold up on their own while having an overarching goal of being supportive to storylines they find themselves within. We hope to have achieved a total overhaul of their anatomy, behavior, and abilities to provide stronger foundations for RP, give a better sense of character progression, encourage healthier behaviors when engaged in CRP, and possess more reliable patterns as utility characters in events. Credits Authors - @Pengin & @Fleur___ Spell Advising & Balancing - A special unnamed individual General Review, Feedback, & Proofreading - @ClassyDryad , @Tav , @chaoscorvus, @DizzyGrey Imp & Sprite Consultants - @Turbo_Dog, @Periphonics, @Mikaelia, @Moumins Inspiration for Promise of the Pixie - @Agy References Previous Sprite Lore - https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/191706-✓-ca-race-lore-sprites/ Epiphytes - https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/217365-✓-creature-lore-epiphytes-the-dryad-curse/ Agy’s Sprite Amendment - https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/235446-sprite-fjarriagua-ability-addition-seasoned-dealmakers/ Changelog