Xochor

Path of The Aegis

Realm

When one thinks of stone, they often envision an unchanging mass, a structure impervious to the flow of time, and they would not be far off when it comes to Xochor. This realm is naught but sprawling mountains and fields of cracked rock, changing only through eons of stone grinding against one another. Within this realm no life lays but the hardiest of minerals and spirits, whom roam the never changing land and inhabit the many faces of the mountains that have formed.

Universal Passive

The shaman is capable of seeing through the earth through their feet. This will allow them to sense where others are around them within a five meter radius in every direction around them. They can sense movement and disruptions in the earth both above and below, serving as a form of eyesight for the shaman.

Spirits

Spirit: Oreic

Domains: Earth, Emotion, Spirit

Description: Oreic is seen as an armadillo spirit, with strong plates of metal for its outer shell. An Oreic is often viewed as a protector spirit, and while some may call them noble they are generally passive beings. They serve as a reference for boundaries, trust and peace in how they uphold themselves, even considered a judge at times. Oreic will bond with shaman who are natural protectors, preferring shaman who will be mostly passive, but not a pushover as they expect them to be firm and strong. They also enjoy a shaman who is capable of acting as a fair judge to others.

Bond: The shaman’s body turns into pure metal and takes on the appearance of an armadillo’s hide, similar to Oreic’s own metal one. The shaman is capable of moving as if they were not in armor, and is granted the protection of a steel form. This makes them resistant to piercing and slashing damage but vulnerable to blunt. Any damage that ends up being mild or below will not damage the shaman and will instead make them lose stamina instead of taking damage, decreasing their speed tier by one for every three mild or below wounds. This cannot make them speed tier 0, but may make them speed tier 1.

Harmony: The shaman is capable of passively knowing the emotions of those around them, able to tell if they are hiding something due to being able to sense their guilt. This also includes whether or not they are lying to them or not. The shaman is capable of targeting up to two people at harmony and three people at enlightenment, forcing them underneath a command by overloading them with guilt. The targets must roll a dc 14 to resist this, and may roll it every two turns. This command lasts the entirety of the merge, and all targets may be commanded at once or they may be commanded individually. There is no word limit on commands, and the targets must fulfill them to the best of their ability. This cannot be used to tell the targets to kill themselves or otherwise cause lethal harm to themselves.

Enlightenment: The shaman curls up into a ball almost like a boulder, and is capable of rolling at much faster speeds. They can roll at 9 meters per turn on flat ground, and are unphased when rolling into people or animals. They can roll into buildings and be unphased, however they will stop their rather fast roll immediately. Should the shaman wish to roll up a steep hill, their rolling speed will be reduced to 6 meters per turn. On the other hand, rolling down a hill will increase their speed to 12 meters per turn. They can roll for the entirety of their merge. Upon making contact with another with this roll, they will inflict moderate bludgeoning damage as well as knock the target prone. Once prone, the target must take their next action to stand up.

Spirit: Slena

Domains: Earth, Fire, Portal

Description: Slena is seen as a majestic yet terrifying dragon. They are extremely small, just a tad bigger than the size of a large bird. Slena is selfish, often hoarding things and people for its own uses, known to enslave just about anything that does not deserve life in its eyes. Slena is often malevolent to the common man, however once bonded with Slena becomes overprotective and gives its shaman a fraction of its own being. Slena looks for shaman who are just as greedy and otherwise selfish as her, seeking a companion who is also malevolent to others.

Bond: The Shaman generates a powerful earthquake with themselves as the epicenter, causing the earth to violently shake in a five meter radius around them, disrupting the concentration of all those within the radius and forcing them to forego their action to roll a DC14 saving throw or be knocked prone, which means they must forego their next action to stand up. If they remain within the radius, they cannot concentrate and have their movement cut in half, as well as being unable to feasibly take any attacking action against anyone within the radius, including the Shaman. Each turn that the earthquake persists, it expands by five meters, being a five meter radius on the first turn, a eight meter radius on the second, and a ten meter radius on the third. Each turn that a creature starts in this earthquake they must roll a DC14 saving throw to avoid being knocked prone, unless they have already been knocked prone in which case they don't have to roll to use their action to get up and they must roll instead a DC 12 to move out of the area. Finally, this earthquake lasts a total of three turns after its activation and on the third turn, it violently shatters the earth in a chasm five meters long and three meters wide in front of the Shaman, creating a massive rift in the earth that will cause any of those who are caught in it to be rooted for three turns as their legs are caught in the rift, as well as suffer from Severe blunt damage as their legs are crushed by the rock and debris. They can roll a DC16 saving throw to jump out of the rift, foregoing their action to make such a check. This can be done once per merge.

Harmony: The shaman is capable of sucking in breath, absorbing all flames around them within a five meter radius. Regardless of if they absorb any flame, they may also breathe out fire from their mouth in the direction they face fifteen meters in length, three meters in width. This will apply second degree burns to targets regardless of mundane protection as they mimic their spirit, burning all projectiles and causing metal weapons to become hot so that they are forced to be dropped. This fire breath will last for the one turn, and the absorption also lasts for one turn. The shaman is capable of breathing out flame and consuming flame each three times per merge at harmony level, and six at enlightenment.

Enlightenment: Passively the shaman is capable of opening a portal to a dimension that is entirely unique to them. This dimension is infinite in size and is capable of storing things inside of it, though the shaman must be merged in order to access this dimension. Living things can be put in this dimension and are able to interact with things inside of it however they will be forced out of the dimension after [24 OOC hours] and land next to the shaman. Once per merge the shaman is capable of summoning a creature that looks like and acts like Slena themselves, which is considered Monstrous tier and requires a DM to play. This creature will not take direct orders from the shaman and acts as a combat pet, however Slena will listen to the shaman in determining who is friend or foe. Slena will not attack the shaman unless the shaman forces itself in the way of the creature’s path. This creature is capable of breathing fire and creating earthquakes similar to the shamans bond and harmony merge, also capable of using its strong claws and jaws as weapons. Slena will seek to essentially kidnap and take everything from those around them that aren’t the shaman. Slena will last for five turns before returning back to its own dimension.

Spirit: Rexil

Domains: Earth, Decay, Shadow

Description: Rexil is seen as a dark colored mole, covered in earth and boasting dark colored fur. The Rexil cannot see in bright light, and can barely make out shapes even in pure darkness, rendering it essentially blind. Rexil is a compassionate creature to anything that ventures across its path, offering its help as best it can. Rexil seeks to bond with a shaman who is compassionate and willing to help others, though who might be a bit naive.

Bond: The shaman is capable of burrowing similar to a mole, able to manipulate the earth beneath them with their hands to create tunnels. This will be the size of the shaman, and the tunnels will remain even after their merge ends as long as it naturally can sustain itself. In the case that it can't, it will collapse after the shamans merge ends. The shaman can burrow at a rate of six meters per turn at bond, eight meters at harmony and ten meters at enlightenment. The shaman is capable of burrowing indefinitely throughout their merge, however it consumes an action. Upon breaking out from the earth the shaman is capable of activating an ability in that turn, throwing out earth in the form of shards that deal moderate piercing damage to targets, piercing through armor. These shards follow projectile rules, and the amount of shards that are thrown out upon doing so depends on the shamans merge level. At bond the shaman throws out three at once, harmony six, and enlightenment nine. The shaman is only capable of activating this shard ability twice at bond, three times at harmony and four times at enlightenment.

Harmony: The shaman's body is now passively considered toxic, granting second degree acid burns upon contact with others exposed flesh. If they are cut, their blood will also apply this damage however it will burn through metal armor in two turns and then apply the damage. Should any of the shamans flesh/blood be consumed during the merge, it will cause death within two turns as it burns their insides away with acid. In addition to this, the shaman is capable of creating an AoE of five meters within ten meters of them, forcing acid up from the ground in order to apply second degree acid burns to the target's lower body. This will affect them in two turns if they are wearing metal armor as their armor gets corroded away. The shaman can create these acid AoE’s twice per merge at harmony and four times at enlightenment.

Enlightenment: The shaman is passively able to see in any form of darkness despite their Rexil being blind. The five meter radius around the shaman is now entirely enveloped in darkness, rendering everyone within that range blinded unless they are able to see through darkness. For each turn that someone stays within this darkness that is not the shaman, they will experience a degree of necrosis capping at third degree if they remain inside it for three turns. Should they be wearing metal armor it will take an extra turn to inflict damage from this shadow. In addition the shaman can now reach outwards with shadow to target individuals within fifteen meters, rooting them in place for one turn as they are enveloped with shadow, preventing anyone from harming them. For the turn after they are rooted, they will be protected from one attack of any kind by the shadow as it goes to envelop the attack, splitting away from the person it was previously on. This shadow protection may be used up to six times on others or on oneself.

Spirit: Valurnic

Domains: Earth, Animals, Healing

Description: Valurnic is seen as an abnormally large ant, being around the size of a medium sized dog. This spirit is extremely determined and values teamwork, often being patient as they easily accept failure and bounce back from even the hardest of mistakes to persevere and set an example for their comrades. These strong spirits help others and put them before themselves, going out of their way to help their comrades and heal them. Valurnic is most likely to bond with shaman who value others just as if not more than they value themselves and who are easy to bounce back from failure.

Bond: The shaman sets an example of self sacrifice, their body becoming chitin and animal like, shaped vaguely similar to Valurnic themselves for the duration of the merge. This gives them resistance to slashing and piercing damage but vulnerability to blunt. For each turn that they spend defending a target, their wounds and the target's wounds will heal by one degree. This will stack depending on how many targets they’re defending with their action. For example if they’re protecting three targets, their own wounds and the targets wounds will heal by three tiers. This is a passive effect, and neither party receives healing if the shaman is not making an action that could be considered protection. This will apply standard healing mechanics after the merge is complete.

Harmony: The shaman selects a target within ten meters and petrifies them in stone for a singular turn, stunning them. In addition to this, ants will appear all over the person who was just stunned, applying bites and dealing moderate piercing damage, mild if armored, as they find themselves covered in ants for the turn after their stun. These ants will obstruct vision and render the target blind as well for the turn. The shaman cannot stun the same person more than once with this ability per merge. The shaman can do this four times at harmony and six at enlightenment.

Enlightenment: The shaman takes one to turn to summon large ants made out of earth, being around the size of a large dog. These ants will both be combat pets for the shaman, taking up both of their slots. They have tier five strength and tier four speed. They are capable of taking any command in the combat pet rules. These ants are able to burrow themselves underground to travel at double the movement speed, and upon bursting out of the ground, they will throw everything within a 3 meter AoE, with themselves as the epicenter, into the air by five meters. Upon hitting the ground the targets will take moderate blunt damage. The ants may do this burrow attack three times each per merge. The shaman may also bury themselves underneath the earth, taking a turn to do so to double their movement speed. They will also be able to perform the same attack that the ants do once they erupt from the ground, they themselves may do this three times as well.

The World of Aethius • The Multiverse of Aethier