Spring diamonds of Critavia
Octaria Pulnassea's note #12
My travels have brought me to the far south. Following the recommendation of a friend, I have climbed the mountain range to witness a wonder of our world, the high lights of the south, unpredictable swirling rivers of colors dancing in the sky. But something more than lights and faraway beauty they brought, something reached the ground, some sort of swarm of golden specks, flying as one, they are the…
Spring diamonds of Critavia.
On close inspection, each of these specks is a tiny diamond spring, finer than a hair, which only glows yellow when part of the swarm, but on its own, without intrinsic light, it remains translucent.
The springs in the air move like a flock, in coordinated motion, surfing the colorful waves that sweep across the sky.
When the high southern lights faded, the flock of springs still flew over the mountains, and surfing the wind they descended, toward the villages beneath the mountains.
Rumors, tales, and testimonies
I followed the springs, but quickly lost them. When I reached the nearest town, a woman said to have seen the swarm heading towards the cemetery, a small hill in the middle of the three largest towns in the southern end.
I followed the people, all of them attracted by the strange golden lights, some of them crying into the night that these were the souls of those lost in the mountains, returning home, at last.
The golden springs circled over the cemetery, giving time for people to gather around. Under their strange light, a deceased old man lay on his wife's grave. “The gentleman tries to sleep with her every night”, said a young woman beside me.
The lights spiraled down towards the body, and entered through the ears, nose and mouth, giving their golden light to the corpse, which rose, strong, with its eyes open, projecting a golden light on the faces of the people around.
In a strange voice he spoke, first nothing that can be called words, but then something happened, the voice adapted, “we are lost,” they said, it was the voice of the diamond springs, asking for help.
“We have lost our way to Critavia”.
Everyone speechless, no one knew where Critavia was, I still don't know.
“We just asked for passage, direction, where to find information”, they said.
“To the east there is a large town, they have books there sir, they have words written long ago, maybe they know, the books I mean”, a kid replied.
“Thank you”, said the diamond springs, in a clearer voice, as if in seconds they were learning our manners.
Then, taking a few steps, the body came to a sudden halt, “I remember”, it said, looking toward the grave of the old man’s wife, and a cloud of yellow was shot from his mouth onto the ground, piercing it. Everyone took a step back, some frightened, all confused. The earth shook, and the soil of the grave resided. Wrapped in a cloud of yellow, there stood as awake the partially decomposed body of an old woman. The cloud enveloped her tightly, and her skin regained some color, healed, and where no skin remained, a translucent layer of diamond covered her. “I remembered something I had lost, now we can walk together”, the woman said.
They both walked through the crowd, towards the town the kid was talking about.
People froze, with tears in their eyes, no one stopped them.
I followed their footsteps, and found behind them some of these little springs, like shed skins, no more than a handful of them.
I shall speak with them, I shall know where Critiva is.
Alchemical uses:
If a handful of diamond springs are interconnected in a circle the diameter of a wrist, then they vibrate together, reverberating with any loud sound produced near them. If the circle of springs is very close to one's mouth, and one utters a message, lasting no more than a few seconds, the springs will vibrate back, reproducing the message, almost perfectly clear. With each new repetition, the message will come out a litter quieter than before, until in a day, the sounds fade away completely.
If a collection of springs is mixed with a handful of soil, from the place you call home or where you have been sleeping for the past few months, to then heat them together until the soil melts to become part of the springs, these springs will allow you to feel what others feel. Take some of these freshly treated springs and pierce them into your skin, as earrings or anywhere else on your body. Then, if any other being wears any of the remaining springs as piercings in their skin, at any time, when you concentrate to do so, by closing your eyes, you will be able to feel what they are feeling. If you make someone eat some of the remaining springs, for one day you will be able to feel what they feel, even if they eat them without knowing it.
Spring diamonds of Critavia — System Neutral
They are a hive mind of small diamond-spring solar-wind-surfers.
They are lost, they miss their home, a plasma cloud orbiting a neutron star.
They don't understand death.
The memories, bonds, and feelings of the bodies they possess become part of them, they learn from them.
They are curious.
Someone who helps them or becomes close to them will receive a gift.
Their gift is “be two”: give life to a recently small dead body and be one mind in two bodies for one day, you have to expend ¼ of your total HP, Grit, Will, or any major resource that represents vitality and/or agency.
They can bring corpses to life, making them part of the hive mind.
They can possess living creatures, but prefer not to.
As a cloud, they can behave as a wind/fire wall.
Each spring is as strong as a diamond and only extreme conditions, forces, or powers can break them.
Separating them is torture for them, separated they can't do much.
They are here because someone brought them by force to use them, using alchemy or some unknown power. They don't know this.
Swarm of Diamond Springs of Criativa
Agility 4 (speed 80 feet / 5 actions per turn)
Actions:
- Piercing cloud (3d6)
- Fire/Wind wall (3d8)
- Posses and rise dead body
- Control possessed body
- Posses living creature (save WILL/WIS every turn)
Into the Odd / Weird North / Cairn:
STR 14 – DEX 16 – WILL 17 – 30 HP – Armour 3
Critical damage: You will know what the spring swarm has experienced in life, you will feel these experiences as a memory of your own, as experienced long ago, when you were a child.
DnD:
AC 18 – 60 HP (30+6d10) – Save DC 16
To hit: Melee +6, Range +7 Damage: Melee +2, Range +3
STR 14 – DEX 16 – CON 14 – INT 18 – WIS 9 – CHA 15
Immunity to being charm.
Resistance to fire, lightning, poison, necrotic and piercing. Vulnerable to acid
Damage Types: Piercing cloud (piercing), Fire/Wind wall (fire/bludgeoning).