Celestial Insubstantiates

Celestial species without physical bodies or who take on non-physical forms.

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Apoysurat

Living outrage.

• Lifespan: 500 years
• Habitat: Rain forests
• Diet: Resistance
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Apoysurats are living clouds of emotion. They appear as red, orange, and yellow swirling forms.

Apoysurats are attracted to certain kinds of emotions. They sense people's outrage, frustration, anger, fury, and other reactions to injustice, oppression, tyranny, and exploitation. If they are near to someone feeling this way, they are able to fuse with them temporarily to give them powers to help them fight back against what is filling them with outrage. If the person accepts their help and acts on it, the acts of resistance the person engages in feeds the apoysurat. The powers they may grant someone vary by the individual, but they are usually related to channeling emotion into acts of resistance. An apoysurat may not empower or fuse with someone who is acting as an oppressor, exploiter, abuser, or other imperial or infernal agent or power.

Apoysurats exist within rain forests on Shem where people are fighting against colonial and imperial incursions, and they spend most of their lives empowering different freedom fighters and revolutionaries. They move from one person to another, helping in the resistance against oppression, until eventually they grow too old to move on from their host and die with them when the host dies.

Players playing an apoysurat would play both the apoysurat and the host.

Independent: PRO 10 ATH 10 Flight 11 STR 8 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 9 STH 6
Possessing: PRO +2 ATH +2 STR +2 AWA +2 WIL +2 PRS +1 STH -2

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Bukhana

Living loyalty and faith.

• Lifespan: 500 years
• Habitat: Savannas
• Diet: Togetherness
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Bukhanas are swirling clouds of energy and shadow, a mixture of black and white. They have vaguely recognizable faces within their forms that reflect the most common species in the area they formed in.

A bukhana forms when a group of people are tightly bonded to one another in faith and fidelity, when they are united as one for their own greater good. They form out of close communities with a common spiritual practice that is, at its core, a set of beliefs that encourage them to support one another and refuse and resist oppression and exploitation. Bukhanas are a reflection of their beliefs, living in part in the hearts of everyone in the community and in part as an independent spirit among them. A bukhana living among people with shared beliefs (always celestial or popular) will give everyone within the community who shares those beliefs bonuses to all faith rolls or any specific skill or ability that is part of that faith or set of beliefs, if there is no faith ability involved. They can also give anyone near them who shares their beliefs clarity of mind for one hour, a soothed heart for one hour, or restorative rest for a full night once a month. As they grow with the community, they may gain other powers, usually reflecting the species and occupations of those in the community, as well as their set of beliefs.

They are usually an honored and cherished part of their communities, as their powers allow them to protect and amplify the faith and connectedness of everyone there.

PRO 8 ATH 10 Flight 11 STR 8 AWA 11 WIL 14 PRS 10 STH 6

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Dabelalaa

Living beauty.

• Lifespan: 500 years
• Habitat: Montane rain forests
• Diet: Self-esteem
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Dabelalaas are living clouds of blue energy that appear beautiful to whomsoever looks at them. Many confuse them for angels.

When someone looks upon a dabelalaa, they will automatically think of the dabelalaa and themselves as beautiful. They will see the best qualities of themselves and those they care about who are within the light of the dabelalaa. If someone near the dabelalaa is consumed with self-loathing, body dysmorphia, dysphoria of any kind, self-hatred, or any other self-directed negative emotion, the dabelalaa can join with them (if they consent) and assist them in combatting those feelings for up to a day. If someone is an oppressor, exploiter, or abuser, the dabelalaa will show them what is good about them, but it will be contrasted with their harmful actions and ideals. As such, oppressors, abusers, and exploiters try to destroy them.

Dabelalaas exist in small communities remote regions on Shem, but they can be found anywhere. Their main goal is to help others see their own inner beauty, and as such, they will often roam the world seeking those who need help, which they find tragically in abundance.

PRO 7 ATH 9 STR 6 AWA 10 WIL 9 PRS 17 STH 6

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Nalukneng

Living energy beings who possess megaliths.

• Lifespan : 1,000 years

• Diet: Energy

• Habitat: Anywhere

• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Naluknengs are living souls with no substance. They are embodiments of equilibrium who are only visible as a vague light brown light, unless they have possessed something. They cannot possess anything small because what they possess must be equal to the power within them. Thus, they only possess megaliths and large stones. Most possess carved megaliths, which they then reshape to have arms and legs.

Naluknengs have the power to possess stone and bring it to life if the stone is of sufficient size. Once possessed, they can alter it to take certain shapes reflecting their essence, usually giving it mobility and some kind of grasping ability, usually hands. They can see the souls of others if their stone form has eyes or if they are in their insubstantial form.

A nalukneng can absorb other energies directed at them and turn them into celestial essence if they have as much energy of their own to do so. They can only absorb and transform as much energy as they themselves already have, not more and not less. If they choose to wield some of their energy for something other than sustenance, they can unleash a blast of light that can alter the stats, abilities, powers, or skills of everyone in range, equalizing them.

Naluknengs live in small clusters, often found in secret places where people have been living in matriarchal, communal, egalitarian cultures for very long periods of time. When they form, they seek out physical forms that can hold them, then seek enlightenment and peace within themselves before seeking to see the world. Those who travel the world are outraged by what they find and often seek to fight for equality.

PRO 8 ATH 6 STR 14 AWA 9 WIL 10 PRS 8 STH 6

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Transcendant

Joy brought to life.

• Lifespan: 200 years
• Habitat: Coastal regions
• Diet: Emotion
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Transcendants appear to be wisps of lavender mist. They grow from about 6” when they are first formed to upwards of 30’ in length. Their voices are rich and resonant.

Transcendants have bodies made of mist which makes them impervious to many physical attacks. They inherently float in the air.

Transcendants are beings of emotion, which they feed off of. They interact with other mortals, seeking to evoke natural emotions from them in order to draw from their emotional resonance. They do not remove the emotions they feed off, just the resonance. If they use their aromas to evoke these emotions, it requires they use up parts of their bodies, and this is not a sustainable feeding method. Therefore, they seek to evoke joy, euphoria, pleasure, happiness, or delight (pleasant surprise) to feed off of, as these are the most potent forms of food. However, they can live off any emotion they can generate (see below).

Transcendants have empathic senses; they experience this as a form of smelling. Negative emotions repulse them, causing them to shed small strands (an inch per point of revulsion, negative emotional resonance rolled against their STR). Therefore, they seek to reduce negative emotions when they encounter them.

They only have to feed every three months or so.

Their base aroma brings intense feelings of joy to most mortals if inhaled by that mortal. A strand of three inches of their lavender-hued mist will evoke a full minute of joy in a target. Joy smells like lavender. However, they can generate other aromas for other purposes. Each aroma has a different color, cost to the transcendant, and duration:

• Acceptance: acceptance of a situation will be evoked by a strand of at least one foot in length, white in color, and will last for nine seconds per foot. This smells like bitter leaf.

• Admiration: admiration of any target will be evoked by a strand of at least nine inches in length, grey in color, and will last for twelve seconds per nine inches. This smells like jute.

• Affection: affection for any target will be evoked by a strand of at least six inches in length, pink in color, and will last thirty seconds per six inches. This smells like jointfir.

• Amusement: amusement will be evoked by a strand of at least three inches in length, pale violet in color, and will last 45 seconds per three inches. This smells like bush buck leaves.

• Arousal: arousal will be evoked by a strand of at least eighteen inches in length, dark pink in color, and will last six seconds per eighteen inches. This smells like the mortal's own body odor.

• Contentment: contentment will be evoked by a strand of at least 21 inches in length, dark yellow in color, and will last nine seconds per 21 inches. This smells like water leaf.

• Curiosity: curiosity in something will be evoked by a strand of at least 36 inches in length, bright yellow in color, and will last twelve seconds per 36 inches. This smells like sweet basil.

• Ecstasy: intense, pure ecstasy will be evoked by a strand of at least nine inches in length, dark purple in color, and will last 24 seconds per nine inches. This smells like agbalumo.

• Elevation: elevation (uplift by witness of goodness) will be evoked by a strand of at least two feet in length, black in color, and will last six seconds per two feet. This smells like bird of paradise flowers.

• Enthusiasm: enthusiasm for something will be evoked by a strand of at least fifteen inches, orange in color, and will last fifteen seconds per fifteen inches. This smells like june plums.

• Euphoria: euphoria (the emotion, not the energy, though the former generates the latter) will be evoked by a strand of at least three inches in length, dark lavender in color, and will last 45 seconds per three inches. This smells like roses.

• Happiness: happiness for oneself will be evoked by a strand of at least six inches in length, light lavender in color, and will last 39 seconds per six inches. This smells like icheku fruit.

• Interest: interest in something will be evoked by a strand of at least 27 inches in length, light green in color, and will last eighteen seconds per 27 inches. This smells like purslane flowers.

• Kindness: a feeling of kindness toward a target will be evoked by a strand of at least four feet, dark brown in color, and will last 27 seconds per four feet. This smells like garden egg fruit.

• Passion: passion for something will be evoked by a strand of at least 42 inches, deep green in color, and will last 33 seconds per 42 inches. This smells like redflower ragleaf.

• Pleasure: general pleasure will be evoked by a strand of at least nine inches, dark purple in color, and will last 33 seconds per nine inches. This smells like baobab.

• Pride: pride in oneself or others will be evoked by a strand of at least 51 inches, bright red in color, and will last nine seconds per 51 inches. This smells like giant taro.

• Relief: relief from negative emotions, stress, etc. will be evoked by a strand of at least one foot in length, pale blue in color, and will last 51 seconds per foot. This smells like lillies.

• Social connection: a feeling of social connection with others will be evoked by a strand of at least five feet, dark blue in color, and will last three seconds per five feet. This smells like jollof rice.

• Surprise: a spurt of surprise will be evoked by a strand of three inches, glittering yellow in color, and will last three seconds per three inches. This smells like hibiscus.

To generate different emotions, a transcendant must transform the euphoria energy within themselves by intermingling with either a special substance (usually nectar or other plant-based fluids), a specific kind of mud or dirt or sand (found near rivers or seas where they live), or a certain kind of shell (shellfish common to their territory). When they intermingle, the material is turned into colored mist.

Most transcendants keep a collection of all of these things in their homes.

The target must breathe in the entire strand for the emotions to be evoked.

There are six nations of transcendants on Shem. Those on the moons were either brought there as slaves by colonizers or fled there to escape oppression on the world below. They mix either with native or colonial cultures, often taking work as sources of emotional support if they are not already enslaved for that reason. They are severely oppressed.

PRO 5 ATH 11 STR n/a or 8 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 14 STH 9