Elemental Faithful

Followers of an elemental or natural religion or philosophy.

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Aturula

One who preaches with a voice of thunder. An aturula is a follower of an elemental Divine(s) or inmortal being, often a powerful elemental. While they gain favor with their subject of worship, they also directly draw power from the elements.

They gain the ability to wield elemental magic by communing with the weather. They must spend time outdoors in all kinds of weather, seeking different ones, meditating and taking in every aspect of it. If they survive this process every day for a year and a day (meditating on at least six different kinds of weather during that time, including at least one thunderstorm), they can go out into the next thunderstorm and draw its power by opening their mouth to it. If they are a friend of nature - not responsible for pollution or other violence against the environment - and truly attuned to the storm, they will swallow it entirely.

Once this happens, the storm will live in their voice. They will use up some of the magic when they use their abilities, but they can recharge it in the next thunderstorm by doing the same thing. Abilities include the following:

• Voice of thunder: their voice is filled with the power and boom of thunder, giving them +3 to their preaching and +3 intimidation in general. This costs 3 points of magic for every ten minutes of use, +3 more points for every +1 point of preaching/intimidation they add to it.

• Lightning aura: an electrical aura forms around them, giving them +3 PRS and intimidation, protection from infernal powers (power 13), and causing electrical damage (13/17/21/25) to any infernal being who gets within 5’. This costs 10 points, +3 more for every extra point of aura power they add to it.

• Torrential wall: they can summon a wall of torrential rains around their congregation (50’ diameter) to drive off any attacks, creating a barrier strength of 30. This costs 15 points, +3 points more for every extra 5 feet of diameter they add after 50).

• Cloudstriding: they can take one step and suddenly be on the nearest cloud. This costs 5 points if the cloud is within 50’ (not counting vertical feet). If it is further, it is +3 more points per 50’.

• Galeforce touch: they can touch someone and strike them with the force of the winds, 10/16/22/28. It costs 8 points per use.

Other powers are possible. Consult the GM.

The faith of aturulas is banned in the colonies, but common among the natives. Aturulas are known for rallying their people in resistance against the colonials.

PRO +1 ATH +1 STR +1 AWA +2 WIL +3 PRS +2 STH -3

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Druid

Druidism is meditative and communal art that allows one to draw upon the viridian aether throughout the world, communing with all life, wielding Mother Shem's wrath, and channeling it through staves. Druids wear special robes and are protectors of forests.

They wield the energy of the structure of nature, of natural law, of raw, unformed elemental order.

All druids have an intermediary who guides, protects, supports, and empowers them. The intermediary is the being that serves as the conduit between them and the full power of Mother Shem. Most druids' intermediaries are simple viridianites, though some have more powerful aetherial figures that they serve. While intermediaries often exist almost anywhere, they can only be communed with by a druid within a natural setting of some kind, with rare exception.

Viridianites are conscious elementals taking the form of a raw element - fire, water, earth, storms, metal, etc. They are a mere facet of the power of Mother Shem. They take many forms and embody many different elements, but they also have general types that relate to how they interact with a druid and the natural world:

• Beast: embodiment of an animal representative of the aether in question. Usually offers summoning powers.
• Collective: embodiment of a multiplicitous form of aether in question. Usually offers form-changing powers.
• Crone: embodiment of wisdom and power of the aether in question. Usually offers control or influencing powers.
• Elder: embodiment of firm, devoted service to the form of aether in question. Usually offers the power to be a conduit to that aether.
• Fighter: embodiment of the aether as a form of attack, and usually offers combat-based powers.
• Guide: embodiment of the aether in question as a form of seeking, finding, or awareness, and usually offers powers based on the senses
• Healer: embodiment of an aether's power to heal. Usually offers powers that heal bodies, minds, souls, hearts, or Names.
• Maiden: embodiment of a fresh and innocent servant of an aether. Usually offers powers of improvement.
• Mother: embodiment of an aether's supportive, nurturing form of an aether. Usually offers the ability to imbue powers on others.
• Plant: embodiment of a plant representative of the aether in question. Usually offers cleansing powers.
• Protector: embodiment of the aether as used to defend or repel attack. Usually offers shielding, barriers, or other protective powers.
• Representative: embodiment of the aether or one of its sub-forms. Usually offers greater powers of any kind.

Communing with an intermediary requires meditating in a natural place near where the viridianite (or other intermediary) dwells. While meditating, the druid must take in nature with all of their senses. They must feel, smell, hear, see, taste the world and focus on those sensations above all others, opening the druid to nature itself. While in this trance-state, the viridianite or other intermediary will engage the druid’s consciousness, their very soul, and if the druid is attuned to natural law, they will infuse the druid with their power.

For a druid to be attuned to natural law, they must serve nature’s interests, live in nature, and protect nature. They must dwell in nature and live amongst it without violating it for a year and a day, standing up against any who might violate it that they are aware of in their area, and cause no unnecessary harm to it (i.e., they may hunt for food, but they may not kill unnecessarily; they may dispose of natural waste, but not in a manner that harms the environment; etc.). Then, on one of the sacred days of nature, they must perform a blood oath.

Once they have performed their blood oath and communed with their intermediary, they must serve natural law for so long as they are a druid, for so long as they are bound to their intermediary. This means being a defender of nature and wielder of viridian aether in opposition to those who violate it - polluters, poachers, clearcutters, arsonists, etc.

Druids may need to or choose to alter the form of their service during the course of their lives because of their relationship with their intermediaries:

There are many reasons a druid might need to or want to change intermediaries. They might simply have need of a different set of powers or a different type of aether for some task or purpose, or they might have need to move to a new landscape where their intermediary would not survive. Or they might simply want a change. Regardless, in order to change, they must commune once more, meditating on nature, and engage directly with their intermediary.

Almost all intermediaries will respect a request to disengage, to disunite, as they are not evil, though some will be reluctant or disappointed. If there is, in rare circumstances, an intermediary who refuses to disengage, it becomes a contest of wills between the druid and the intermediary, and the results of the exchange - no matter how it goes - will cause severe metaphysical damage to both.

To gain a new intermediary, the druid must commune with nature in a different area and attract a different intermediary. It will be much easier, having done it before and proven their trustworthiness and dedication to natural law, unless their previous intermediary had a bad relationship with them. This may be done almost immediately after leaving a previous intermediary.

Viridianites are not inmortal. Sometimes, they die. Sometimes, they are killed by pollution or other violations of nature in spite of a druid’s best efforts, and sometimes, they simply grow old. In these cases, the druid suffers as well, and there must be a time of mourning, cleansing, and recovery for the druid before finding a new intermediary. During this time, the druid will be especially vulnerable.

Sometimes, intermediaries initiate the disunion. This can be for many reasons - the druid may be a failure, or the intermediary may know they are dying, or there may be some task or quest or even just a thing the intermediary wishes to do that requires leaving the druid. In these cases, the intermediary calls the druid, who must meditate to engage them, and the intermediary will usually, if they have a good relationship, leave the druid with some power to hold them over until they can find a new intermediary, though it will be less than what their full power is.

If a druid betrays natural law, the intermediary is betrayed. If the druid, for example, compromises with or allows for pollution within the intermediary’s realm, this is a grievous violation of natural law and a betrayal of the intermediary. It will harm the intermediary, who will often react by violently rejecting the druid, stripping them of power. This process is also painful for the intermediary. It often inadvertently creates brown aether, the infernal power of pollution and industrial toxins, and creates afulianists (see Infernal Druids).

Natural law is concerned with the balance of power between intermediary and druid. If one is greater than the other, there is always a risk that one will dominate and control the other, and this is a violation. Therefore, the unity between them is always a situation where it is clear who has the power and what the terms of their agreement are. There is always clear consent between them. But sometimes, feelings develop between them - they are mortal, after all - that leads to complicated relationships. If a druid or intermediary realizes their feelings have become inappropriate to the power-relationship they have, they are bid by natural law to sever their communion. Love between a non-viridianite and a viridianite is not a violation of natural law - it is considered a beautiful thing, though obviously complicated - but being in communion while these feelings are present is a violation, as it creates too many complications. If disunion is brought about by this circumstance, the disunion is always gentle, consensual, and respected, causing no metaphysical damage (though perhaps a broken heart is involved). Some power is always left behind, permanently, within the druid.

As a druid serves their intermediary, they build up aether through ritual, meditation, and service. If they have need of power from their intermediary, they may make a specific request, not unlike a supplicative prayer, but usually, they simply are granted new powers from their intermediary as they complete tasks, achieve goals, or simply earn respect.

Each intermediary is different in the kinds of powers they give and the number of powers they are capable of giving (or the strength of the powers). Types include

• Sense: a druid may be able to sense their aether or variations thereof. Example: a druid serving an intermediary of the desert may be able to sense shifting sands or distant oases.
• Improve: a druid's touch can improve an object or organism attuned to their intermediary's aether. Example: a druid serving an intermediary of the winds may improve the flight abilities of a bird, may a breeze stronger, or strengthen the lungs of a mortal.
• Protect: a druid may grant protection to another, to a place or a thing, or to themselves from either their own element or from an energy their aether opposes or is strong against. Example: a druid serving an intermediary of flame may make someone resistant to heat or repel cold. A druid serving an intermediary of plant life may turn their skin to bark; a druid serving a metal-based intermediary can create a wall of metal.
• Attack: a druid may channel their intermediary's power through their staff and unleash raw aetherial blasts. Example: a druid serving an intermediary of elemental light may unleash elemental light that blinds foes.
• Heal: every aether has a healing quality of some kind that a druid may invoke if they have the appropriate material. Example: a druid serving an earth intermediary may turn loam into a healing substance that cures illness or wounds.
• Cleanse: a druid may channel their intermediary's power through their staff and unleash aetherial waves that cleanse any area of pollution or infernal energies. Example: a druid serving an intermediary of natural law may unleash a wave of viridian elemental magic that eradicates pollutants from a pond or stretch of land.
• Influence: a druid may sing a song that is imbued with their aether that influences beings or things attuned to their intermediary's aether. Example: a druid serving an intermediary of animals may sing a song that draws animals to them.
• Imbue: a druid may infuse something or someone with their aether, giving them temporary powers. Example: a druid serving an intermediary based on the wetlands may give a person the power to know their way through swamps, or a druid serving an ice-based intermediary may give a person the ability to breathe frost.
• Summon: a druid may summon their intermediary or a being their intermediary sends. Example: a druid serving intermediaries of the sea may summon one of her the Sea Mother's fish children.
• Conduit: a druid may become a conduit for the full might of their intermediary. Example: a druid serving an intermediary of a continental elemental may draw upon the full might of the continent they represent and unleash power to reshape the land around them.
• Greater: a druid may invoke a very potent power based on their aether. Example: a druid serving an intermediary of Death Herself may make someone temporarily immune to death; a druid serving a weather-based intermediary may be able to create the storm for which the elemental is named.
• Form: a druid may take on another form based on their aether. Example: a druid serving an intermediary of volcanoes may become a living wave of magma; a druid serving an intermediary of natural law may take the form of an elemental ern.

An intermediary may grant a druid multiple powers of the same kind (i.e., improve flight ability and improve breathing granted by a kiir) as well.

The strength of a druid's powers varies by the druid's own personal mental and physical strength, the power of the intermediary, the amount of favor a druid has with their intermediary, how much their intermediary agrees with what the druid intends to do with the power, and their environment.

• Personal condition: if a druid is tired or wounded, they will be less able to channel their powers. If a druid is not physically strong, some powers will be harder to manage. If a druid is not mentally prepared, some powers will overwhelm them.
• Intermediary power: if a druid's intermediary is a common elemental, it will not be able to provide as much power as a Divine. If the intermediary has been weakened somehow, it will also not be able to provide as much power.
• Favor: if a druid has displeased their intermediary, they will have to regain trust and good graces from the intermediary to be allowed to have more power.
• Agreement: if a druid, for instance, lashes out in anger with their power, an intermediary may draw back their power. If a druid sets about cleaning up pollution from an area, an intermediary is likely to grant more power than usual.
• Environment: if a druid serving an intermediary of the desert, their intermediary will be able to send them more power. If the same druid is in a swamp or rain forest, much less so.

These are determined by GM's discretion and player's input.

Druids often have living companions drawn by their aetherial power. These are most often animals, but may sometimes be plants, fungi, or esoteric creatures. These companions can communicate with the druid (and only the druid), though this is interpreted through the druid’s understanding. Usually, this is a wild animal indigenous to the area the druid is in, and one associated with the druid’s primary energy.

The intermediary will grant not just powers to the druid, but also “beneficence”, or kindnesses that are reward for good service. This may take the form of improving the taste of food or other bodily pleasures, bringing a sense of comfort and certainty, or granting strength or powers that benefit the druid in ways that may not directly serve nature but do not violate it either (i.e., the power to stay warm in spite of the cold). In rare cases, a druid may be granted an incredibly powerful beneficence, such as resurrection from the dead, invulnerability to disease, or the power to re-direct storms, in exchange for profound acts of service.

Druids commune with nature in order to engage their intermediary directly to initiate themselves into their power, but they also regularly commune with nature to remain connected to it and to their intermediary. They do this in part to recharge their aetherial powers.

The more loyal they are to natural law, to their intermediary, to Mother Shem, the more powerful they become.

Intermediaries often test druids. They do this by asking questions to test their knowledge, by sending them on tasks or quests to see if they will protect and preserve nature, and by observing them as they engage the mortal world’s temptations of power and luxury. Though druids are welcome to partake in natural pleasures, they are forbidden from engaging or using things that violate natural law. This takes the form of things like using plastics or combustion engines or in more esoteric powers.

Some druids entirely merge with their intermediary upon their death, leaving part of their consciousness with the viridianite or other being.

PRO / ATH +1 STR +1 AWA +2 WIL +3 STH n+1 PRS /

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Greenwife

A priestess of an ancient nature religion who communes with the forest.

As a priestess of the forests, a greenwife is “married” to the trees and the woods themselves. Sometimes called a huldress, greenwives worship an ancient nature religion that views the living embodiment of the world as an ultimate deity. They perform rites and rituals in her honor, and they serve as protectors of the world and the forest they dwell in.

Greenwives gain power by communing with the forest itself. Communion requires mindfulness of all plantlife around the greenwife and a deep meditation. The aromas of plants, the feel of moss beneath them, the way the canopy alters the light, the sound of leaves crunched underfoot or the swish of branches in the breeze, these must all be taken in as the mind slips into the collective consciousness of the green. Once meditating, the greenwife must be accepted by the plants. This requires they not be involved in, for instance, industrial pollution, logging, or serial littering. In other words, you must be a friend to the plants. Once this is done (a series of AWA and WIL rolls), the greenwife will be able to sense the energies around them when they are near enough greenery. To draw these energies to oneself to use, one must be within the forest and, using the power to sense these elemental energies gained from green communion, focus on the breath of the plants and sync with it, focus on it, and will it inward.

Once a greenwife has done this, the forest will give them a branch staff, a leaf dress, root sandals, a mantle of moss, and a crown of vines. These will give the greenwife these powers:

• Cleansing whisper: their whisper releases a soft wind that cleanses the entire area of pollutants.

• Greenlight blast: their branch staff unleashes a wave of green light that is raw elemental power.

• Entangling grasp: the nearest tree will reach out with branches and grab the target.

• Deep soil consciousness: the greenwife’s consciousness will delve deep into the ground, speaking to the roots of all plants within 100’.

• Photosynthesis: the greenwife is nourished via photosynthesis.

• Cooling shade: the greenwife can extend the shade of a tree beyond its natural range to cool people.

• Plantspeech: the greenwife can speak to plants.

• Tree march: the greenwife can call trees nearby to march to their aid.

Other abilities are probable. Consult the GM.

Greenwives must return to their home forest once per month or lose their powers. They need to sleep outside near trees regularly to maintain their powers as well.

PRO / ATH +1 STR +2 AWA +2 WIL +2 PRS +1 STH +1