IceAndWave/GodsAndElementals

The Court of Osikuthe, Storm Mother

Osikuthe

Truly ugly, even for a Storm Mother, Osikuthe has scaly skin, a disfigured and warty face, and heavy drooping breasts. Jovial at first, she affects the persona of a dirty-minded old woman, until she is thwarted when the rage and fury of her kind flares up. Her territory is in the Northwest, on the southern edge of what is known as the White Sea, approximately 1200 miles north of Azure, and includes a small, wind-blasted archipelago. On the largest island she keeps her court, housed within a pavilllion finely made from several hundred thousand fish-skins all carefully sewn together.

Solidarity-of-Waves

A Water Child and chancellor to the Storm Mother, Solidarity-of-Waves appears to be as an eternally dripping wet child of about 9 years of age. He has strong opinions over who and what are fit to associate with his mistress, and can often barely keep his contempt for others in check at times.

Uushuthseths

In appearance Uushuthseths seems to be little more than a pillar of eternally swirling water some 6' tall. When it chooses to speak, which is rare, the spirit has a deep, gurgling voice that sounds like someone eternally drowning. Uushuthseths has a fearsome reputation amongst Osikuthe's court.

Five Peaks

Hajimo

One of the five brothers, a mountain.

Koromo

One of the five brothers, a mountain. Married to, and deeply in love with, Sena Riel.

Idasho

One of the five brothers, a mountain. Angry and jealous of Koromo. He blinded and caged Sena Riel.

Ratiyo

One of the five brothers, a mountain.

Sena Riel

A wind spirit, she takes the form of a beautiful woman with pale skin and clouds for hair. She was blinded by Idasho.

Thakito

One of the five brothers, a mountain.

The Frozen Tempest Court

Adenatim

Major-domo of the Frozen Tempest Court and announcer of guests and petitioners to the Court.

De'Firn

In charge of most, if not all, of the Court's staff.

Hawk

The assistant to Old Ketari, Hawk is one of the junior members of the Frozen Tempest Court, taking the shape of a raptor cut from a block of ice, and about the size of a large dog. Unfortunately for his superior, Hawk is somewhat lazy and prone to playing games with the servant spirits of the Court rather than attending to his duties, giving Old Ketari plenty of opportunity to berate the younger bird-spirit.

Juen Nine-Branches

A particularly notorious Wood spirit, reknowned for his cantankerous attitude and general unpleasantness to everyone.

Lady Orinela

An extremely talkative Wood spirit who takes the form of a large tiger formed entirely of writhing vines and ropes of greenery. Her quartet of amber eyes are the feature most people remember after her ability to talk about trivia for days at a time.

Old Ketari

Gatekeeper to the Frozen Tempest Court and a friend to Sian Nerivus, Old Ketari takes the form of a man-sized eagle, his body made of eternally roiling clouds and with feathers limned in lightning. He has a strong command of language, particularly profanity, and together with his general irascibility, this makes the life of his assistant, Hawk, something between interesting and miserable.

Poran Red-Cloud

An Earth spirit who takes the form of a two-headed snake made of black stone. Known for having a vicious temper if set off.

Stokes-the-Eternal-Hearth

A City Father who attended the Court to negotiate, unsuccessfully as it turned out, for better weather.

Othakaar

Gleaming-Quartz-In-The-Darkness

A recently-murdered spirit of unknown type, largely humanoid in form but with a body that appeared to have been made from thousands of crystals. Its voice sounded like wind-chimes.

Northern Kingsmoor Forests

Envoy

An urbane and cultured wood spider, much larger than most others of his kind. While aware of the niceties of negotiation his physiology means that he attends most such from the walls, something that can unsettle.

Forest King

Ruler of the Northern Kingsmoor Forests, this elemental takes the form of a huge deer carved from pale wood, with emerald eyes and a rack cut from darkest ebony. Currently engaged in preliminary hostilities with an unknown foe.

Whitewall

The Syndics

A triplet of near identical beings some 7' in height and apparent sculpted from ice and silver, the Syndics are the spirit-rulers of the city of Whitewall, and while their reign is sometimes lacking in compassion, it is more than competent. The three of spirits have the disconcerting habit of talking in shifts, each continuing the sentence and train of thought of its predecessor in a manner that has led some to think that they are, in fact, one being with three bodies.

Sliding Joy

The Syndics' seneschal and the being charged with controlling access to the rulers of the city (a duty which she takes extremely seriously), Sliding Joy is a frightful sight to those not used to the strange shapes that some spirits can take. With eight legs, a large tough shell (that she keeps her books and schedule inside), and six expressive eyes on her otherwise human face, she has caused more than one visitor to experience an extreme attack of arachnophobia, something that the spirit has learned to take in her stride.

New Spirit Types

Synethote

Roughly the same size and shape as a riding dray, only with a skirt of swirling vines where legs should be, these elementals are usually summoned by sorcerors in need of rapid travel or who wish to revitalise tired farmground. They travel by means of green vines springing up from the ground in front of the elemental, rapidly growing to maturity and then joining the roiling mass while the vines towards the rear turn brown and fall off, rotting away into mulch over the course of an hour.

Synethotes have a short life-span, going from first sprouting to final dissolution over the course of 28 days, but they neither tire nor slow during that time, and a sorcerer can thus travel many thousands of miles on a summoned vine-horse. Their mode of travel means that a vine-horse can only pass over land that is earthen to some degree, a field of volcanic rock or a barren desert is impassable to one, but they can cross muddy-bottomed rivers albeit at a somewhat lessened pace.

The trail of rotted vegetation that a vine-horse leaves in its wake is extremely fertile, and on open grassland it can be seen for several years as a continuous line of particularly strong growth. This trail is also laced with the miniscule green crystals that are synethote seeds, which can lie dormant for decades before a sufficiently strong expenditure of Essence causes one to spring forth as a wild elemental. Sorcerors who bargain for service, rather than compelling it, are invariably asked to plant a fist-sized seed and to tend to it for a month. What springs from this seed is a synethall, identical to its progenitor but stronger and with a much longer lifespan.