Aetherborn Beasts

NOTE: THIS PAGE IS UNDER EXTENSIVE REVISION. 8/31/2020.

As awe-inspiring as they are enigmatic, Aetherborn beasts have (quite literally) roamed Ransera since the dawn of creation, their unpredictable behavior making them feared natural forces. Powerful, ephemeral and enchanting, these living constructs of raw Aether manifest unheralded and disappear the same way, scattering their essence into the world as part of the Aetherium cycle. The havoc or blessings they leave behind… well, there’s no way to foresee.

Life cycle

The Aetherium, both the space beyond the Material Plane and the primordial boundless substance that dwells in it, are the source the planes feed on. Its vast potential, however, is a permanent threat to the balance Ransera thrives on, and as such it needs to be filtered. The Land of Nod forms that necessary veil that separates the chaotic substance and the Material Planes, filtering the Aetherium into substances bearable to the world.

However, the Land of Nod is also the barrier that prevent mortal souls from drifting too far in their sleep; as such, it doubles as the mysterious realm where dreams take place. In Nod, dreams really do happen for the dreamer, and thoughts that crystallize there often leave traces of that consciousness after the dream is over. These shards sometimes become strong enough to attract the processed Aetherium that flows through the land and create large ethereal accumulations fused to those small slivers of consciousness. Though Aetherium usually filters through nod and filters into the world steadily, these gatherings permeate the veil to Ransera all at once.

The large aether mass manifests into the realm; just kept together by its living essence, the forces that form it are still unstable. It needs a stable form to prevent its aether from instantly dissipating; one that allows its living essence to function and interact with its environment. The living essence needs a vessel, senses and body that will allow it to fulfill its needs as a living being. Extracted from the memory fragments it bears, the entity takes the shape of a living beast, an ethereal animal of large dimensions composed of purely concentrated Aether. However, this newfound balance isn’t perfect: the aether that forms it is slowly filtering out of the beast, attracted by the surrounding world. That means that Aetherborn beasts have short, finite lifespans; their Aether slowly depletes due to passive diffusion towards their environment, usage or damage to their ethereal bodies. When the aether keeping their bodies together weakens to a certain point, the beasts simply dissolve: the aether that formed them scatters across the landscape, stabilizing and usually revitalizing its surroundings.

The Sundering had a long-lasting weakening effect on the veil; while it survived the impact, it was severely destabilized, and it hasn’t reached full stability ever since. Because of this, the sightings of Aetherborn Beasts are more common than they have ever been, though they remain a relatively uncommon phenomenon.

Characteristics

Appearance

As mentioned before, the Aetherborn are ethereal constructs, composed entirely of large masses of living, condensed aether. The living essence that shapes them give all Aetherborn Beasts the shape of a known animal; however, their size is usually much larger, most ranging from 10 to 50 ft in height. They seem to be made of a glowing, translucent or transparent substance, showing their magical nature; most leave some kind of trail that fades into thin air, this trail being the aether their bodies continuously release.

Abilities

Because they’re made out of pure magical energy, the beasts don’t need to eat, sleep or breathe, and they can’t reproduce, even if they share the aspect of an animal. However, their behavior is partially animalistic; a component of it is their animal essence, but the other is related to the exact dream fragment that formed them: predominant emotions, personality, ideas… affect their behavior in unexpected ways. As such, no Aetherborn Beast shares its behavior with any other one. Their bodies exist in a state of continuous degradation from the moment they’re born; while their individual lifespans are variable and hard to tell, no Aetherborn is eternal. Some of them last hours, while some might live for days before dissolution. Very few of them have lasted more than a week.

The nature of their energetic bodies is also interesting; while they usually behave similarly to the animals they mimic, they are not bound by the same natural laws solid creatures are bound to. As such, beasts could, theoretically, walk on air or stand on the bottom of the sea. Their bodies can also be made partially intangible to ignore small obstacles, but they lose a small amount of aether when doing so. For yet unknown reasons, though, they usually behave similarly to the animal they share a shape with. Among known exceptions are aquatic creatures; several Beasts with such forms have been observed swimming mid-air several times. Land based forms have also been observed walking on bodies of waters at times.

Because they’re beings made out of pure aether, they interact with it in a way mortals can’t. They have a sixth sense that detects living beings and magical activity in the distance, as aether flows through all of them. The aether they continuously discharge usually creates changes of all sorts in the environment. They also have the ability to manipulate this energy at will, but in very primitive ways: they project it in the form of beams, shockwaves, bombs and similar constructions; the complexity is much lower than that of spiritual or mortal beings, but their power is unmatched by most beings capable of magic. However, by doing so, they use part of the aether that forms their bodies, and thus their degradation is accelerated. They’re still capable of physical aggression, which doesn’t make them any less dangerous, given their size and power.

Variations

Elemental Aetherborn

Sometimes, when manifesting, the flux of aether within the body of the newborn beast is altered, and polarized to show an elemental affinity. Elemental Aetherborn seem to be composed of an element (or para-element) in their entirety, including the range of elemental powers humans have never properly harnessed. They look fairly more corporeal in some cases, given that their emanations are material in nature. Their projection abilities also become partial to their own element, generating and bending it in nature.

Dreadborn Beasts

Dreadborn Beasts are, without a doubt, the most feared natural phenomena in Ransera. They’re formed when a Dread Mist and an Aetherborn Beast form in the same place; although rare, this happens in places where the veil is weakest or even fractured. The living aetheric essence and the leaking Aetherium merge into a living form, a beast that spreads Dread Mist corruption around itself wherever it goes. Fueled by something even more powerful, the danger they pose is much bigger. They also commonly last more than the Mists: their shape provides them with stability that the Dread Mists can’t achieve on their own. They are classified with the same system the Mists are, since they share very similar effects.

Category 1

Most Dreadborn Beasts belong in this category. They look fairly similar to the Aetherborn; they spread their influence as they walk. Their effect on the environment is fairly weak, but in exchange the Aetherium fueling them remains more stable and they tend to live for a few days before scattering.

Category 2

Within the Dreadborn, uncommon. The corruption they spread is more intense, and their appearance is more chaotic, their composition often shifting and changing color and texture. Their effect is more powerful; wherever they step, change ensues. However, their power makes their composition more irregular, and they lose material at a faster pace. They don’t last more than a couple days.

Category 3

Rare; to practical effects, a once in a lifetime event for most of the people that actually get to see one. They warp any environment they show up in irreversibly; most people don’t survive a direct encounter, or if they do, they’re changed forever. Their corruption flares visibly out of their body; their lives are fleeting, and most only live for some hours before disappearing

Category 4

Unknown. There’s a single category 4 Dread Mist; the Eye of Chaos over Daegos Kaitel. Though it’s theorized that Beasts could possibly form within the storm, no sightings of any have ever been confirmed, as reaching the Eye is a feat in itself. As such, their existence has never been proven and there’s no data on what such a Dreadborn could do. Nevertheless, if they exist… they’re likely very deadly.

Player Rules

Aetherborn Beasts are powerful and rare phenomena, and as such, they're intended to appear as events or modded threads. Unless given explicit permission for a previously discussed plot by a member of staff, players shouldn't use them in their own plots.