Pusaran

Souls made manifest.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Insubstantiates

• Alignment: Nommic

• Energy: Soul Energy

• Lifespan: 1,000 years

• Diet: Varies

• Habitat: Rainforests

Origins

As life began to develop into mortality, the first souls were formed. Early mortals who became conscious of their own essence sought then to understand it, separating it from body, mind, and heart, and in doing so, released twelve souls that resided within the dark of the forests for many years. Eventually, these souls attained their own independent enlightenment, becoming the pusarans.

Description

Pusarans appear to be swirling vortices of blue and white light with a single eye in the middle. Their vortex bodies have tendrils that whirl around them, and each tendril is covered in markings. They speak only soul-to-soul, and often only with one another.

Procreation

Pusarans reproduce in many ways, depending on how they individually evolve based on their experiences. Some reproduce sexually with one another. Others reproduce sexually with other beings. Others still reproduce asexually through budding, sporing, cloning, spawning, or cleaving. Others still do not have reproductive capabilities.

Powers

Pusarans see only inwardly with their central eye, but the tendrils of their vortex bodies have supernatural senses that perceive all souls around them. Anything without a soul is invisible to them.

Experiential Powers

The soul is the inmortal essence within the living, the ageless animus of all things. Pusarans are beings whose souls are manifest without the shell of a body, mind, or heart; they are sometimes called “living souls” (though all souls are living) for they interact directly with the world without filter, without anything to prevent immediate alteration to the soul. Thus, pusarans constantly react to the experience of existing.

As pusarans experience different things, they change. Every experience leaves a tiny mote of light in them, and this mote may grow and change as they experience new things. Eventually, experiences may amplify into features or powers. Powers vary greatly, but most revolve around interacting with other souls. Most pusarans cannot even communicate with non-pusarans until they gain enough experience with other beings.

Weaknesses

If some esotericist binds them to a physical body, they will go mad and die.

Nations

There is only one nation of pusarans, synonymous with the species. They dwell in a cluster of forested islands in Gamayaran.

Culture

In the forests of Gamayaran, on the myriad islands, the pusarans dwell in their isolated communities. At one time, close to their original inception, they sought to spread out and engage the world, but the experiences they lived altered them so radically it was terrifying, traumatizing. They fled to isolation, sought to control the process of alteration that came with experience, sought to slow their individual evolutions. A culture arose from this.

The culture of pusarans is one of protectiveness. They seek to maintain a consistent evolution of individuals within each community. Each community therefore has their own customs, but some things are common. All pusaran communities, for example, practice a masking ceremony as a pusaran becomes an adult, usually around the age of 30. The masking ceremony involves creating a physical mask that reflects the markings on the pusaran, allowing them to take a physical form. This form is often anthropomorphic, resembling the local humans, but with the massive mask covering the entire front of their bodies. The mask will have feathers, leaves, or fur plumes that resemble their tendrils.

New pusarans are sometimes created fully formed and sometimes birthed as children. Either way, they must be trained and educated, cared for and guided, and the task of doing this falls to those within the community with the most experience doing so. Their masks always have the same stripes, which vary by community.

In order to ensure similar evolutions, pusarans follow the same growth patterns: infantile care, early education, intentional play, intensive education, testing, ritual of cleansing, naming ceremony, first conflict, first romantic or sexual encounter if wanted, further education, and ceremony of maturation.

After the ceremony of maturation, the pusaran is sent on a journey. The journey takes from one to 100 years, along a path set for them by their community. On this journey, they must encounter certain things before they return - an enemy, a friend, a sailing challenge, a fishing challenge, a hunting challenge, assisting people in need, an act of violence, treachery, a quest, it all varies by community. The encounters will always number ten. When the pusaran returns, there will be a ceremony in which they share with the other members of the community their story and experiences, allowing everyone to share in some variation of their changes while retaining some individuality.

Once back with the community, they take up a role or roles within the community based on their experiences. These vary greatly and always involve subtle distinctions between individuals.

Pusarans fear strangers greatly and will use their powers to encourage them to leave them alone. They rarely engage in violence, but they are capable of it in many ways.

Esoterica

As beings of soul energy, pusarans are capable of developing the power of sorcery more easily than others, but they fear doing so for it uses up their entire being. They are not capable of other nommic arts, for that will embody them and turn them into other than pusarans. But they will use other esoteric arts.

Religion

Pusarans believe in the Inner Way, Cara Batin, an introspective philosophy that claims that the entire universe is contained within all beings and can be understood through meditative arts. They are led in this by gurus called memandus.

Gender

Every pusaran develops a different gender, which may change as they experience life.

Economy

Pusaran communities vary in their economic form. Most are matriarchal, early slave-based economies, or some form of feudal.

Military

Some pusarans develop martial arts skills to protect their communities.

Language

Pusaran language is based on Indonesian.

Occupations

Some common roles within pusaran communities include the following:

• Elder

• Caretaker

• Memandu

• Teacher

• Mask maker

• Tukang sihir (sorcerer)

Outside View

Pusarans are little known except by the mortals dwelling near them. These mortals view them as a dangerous, isolated group who are either evil sorcerers, witches, or cannibals to be avoided.

Notables

• Melahirkan Satu, She Who Birthed a Soul, Pusaran Manifest, Aeonian

Estimated Populations

• Gamayaran communities: 200,000

• Other: 10,000

Sample Stats

PRO 7
ATH 7
STR 4
AWA 7
WIL 15
PRS 8
STH 7