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Old 02-06-2008, 04:37 PM   #1
robkelk
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Default Feral Peeves

From the Fungus thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by William
...the notion of a Feral Peeve is rocking my socks. Do please write it up. %^D
Okey-dokey:

Feral Peeves
Variant Dream-shades


Corporeal Forces: 0 Strength: 0 Agility: 0
Ethereal Forces: 1 Intelligence: 2 Precision: 2
Celestial Forces: 0 Will: 0 Perception: 0

Skills: Knowledge (any one)/d6 (roll once per feral peeve; some peeves know more about their field than do others)

Element: any one, related to the Knowledge skill

Affinities: one minor affinity, of a type related to the Knowledge skill


Occasionally, a human will die while asleep, leaving behind the parts of his dreamscape that he won't need in his final reward. If the human was so passionate about a particular field of knowledge that mistakes in that field routinely upset him, some of those dreamscape fragments will reflect - or be, in some cases - the human's "pet peeves".

A Seraph of Dreams was the first to discern the True nature of one of these partial dream-shades. A flippant Mercurian of Creation in service to Blandine who had just spent years on Earth pointed out that pets have owners, so this ethereal had to be a feral peeve. The (annoyed) Seraph admitted the Truth in the statement, and the name stuck.

Feral peeves appear to be miniature versions of their creating humans. They never answer to that human's name, though; they're fixated on the knowledge that the human had in one (usually narrow) field to the point that they identify completely with that field, and have a compulsion to correct errors about the field spoken within its hearing. This can be annoying if the human was incorrect about the field ("luminiferous aether physics," for example), or very handy if the human's peeve related to something useful ("rituals to summon the August Prosperity Collective," perhaps, although only Sorcerors are likely to leave behind that sort of peeve).


Adventure Seed: Rei, a Cherub of Protection newly in service to Blandine, has been having trouble fulfilling her duties ever since the death of a Soldier she was attuned to for years. No matter what she does, a group of Nightmares' Servitors thwarts her actions. At first everyone thought this was because Rei was having trouble coping with that Soldier's death, but last week the demons came close to soul-killing her in an ambush tailored to her personality. It's obvious they know how she'd react... Rumour has it that that Soldier left behind a feral peeve that has Knowledge (how Rei behaves)/5, which was captured and is being interrogated by those demons. Can you help?
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Old 02-06-2008, 05:26 PM   #2
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Default Re: Feral Peeves

Very nice, very clever.
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Old 02-06-2008, 05:40 PM   #3
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Default Re: Feral Peeves

Quote:
Originally Posted by robkelk
A flippant Mercurian of Creation in service to Blandine who had just spent years on Earth pointed out that pets have owners, so this ethereal had to be a feral peeve. The (annoyed) Seraph admitted the Truth in the statement, and the name stuck.
Your article, in its entirety, I found quite interesting and useful. This one comment, however, sealed the deal for me. ;)

Franklin
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Old 02-07-2008, 03:58 PM   #4
robkelk
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Default Re: Feral Peeves

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moe Lane
Very nice, very clever.
Thank you, Moe. Coming from you, that means a lot.

Quote:
Originally Posted by fwcain
Your article, in its entirety, I found quite interesting and useful. This one comment, however, sealed the deal for me. ;)
I try... <g>
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Old 02-08-2008, 08:51 AM   #5
Archangel Beth
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Default Re: Feral Peeves

Oh, I do like.

However, should one of my peeves become feral, it will probably take the form of a small centaur -- as I frequently call it my pet hobby horse.

Or are feral hobby horses a different (though clearly related) sort of ethereal? O:D
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Old 02-08-2008, 04:33 PM   #6
robkelk
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Default Re: Feral Peeves

Quote:
Originally Posted by Archangel Beth
Oh, I do like.

However, should one of my peeves become feral, it will probably take the form of a small centaur -- as I frequently call it my pet hobby horse.

Or are feral hobby horses a different (though clearly related) sort of ethereal? O:D
Good question... and are they related to feral high horses? The taxonomy of variant dreamshades is vaster than I expected when I came up with this.

I might be able to mine the idea for a Pyramid article, if only I had time to write a Pyramid article... <sigh>
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Old 02-09-2008, 10:53 AM   #7
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Default Re: Feral Peeves

Quote:
Originally Posted by Archangel Beth
Or are feral hobby horses a different (though clearly related) sort of ethereal? O:D
A wild hobby horse is a pretty rare commodity; they're quite valuable, and very few have the Essence capacity to make use of their skills without a partner, so they're almost always found serving a more powerful Ethereal. They end up being associated with legends of riding animals ranging from winged horses to Garuda to flying crocodiles.

This despite the fact that riding a hobby horse can't take you anywhere the hobby horse hasn't been -- an old hobby horse has been a lot of places. Since they're valuable to begin with and only get more so, they tend to be well-protected. Older ones often achieve sentience, and enter a contractual working relationship rather than being owned. The below is the absolute minimum set of statistics required for a hobby horse to be minimally effective.

Hobby Horse
Ethereal Riding Animal

Element: Beasts (often Horses, or a flying creature); sometimes Information (News). Only the newest Hobby Horses are Vehicles-strand.
Affinities: Not always, and usually minimal when present. Often Animals, of its Image type; sometimes Air (if a flying animal) or Speed.

Corporeal Forces: 0 Strength: 0 Agility: 0
Ethereal Forces: 2 Intelligence: 4 Precision: 4
Celestial Forces: 0 Will: 0 Perception: 0

Skills: Are Knowledge (the Marches)/n

Songs: Location(Ethereal)/n, Projection(Ethereal)/n

Stats of n are at least 1 and usually much higher.

Artifacts: Reliquary/6. This reliquary typically manifests as a lavish caparison, saddle, or other piece of tack. A Hobby Horse is crippled without this Reliquary, unless it has 6 Forces of its own and arrangements for Essence on demand. Hobby Horses with more forces may have smaller reliquaries and still function, although this usually means an older one has been stolen and replaced.

-----

The Hobby Horse is a means of fast retreat to a known location. In short, it Projects to a place it has been, sets up one end of a bridge with Location, has the other end set up by hook or by crook, sees itself and its rider across the bridge, and then either gets the rest of a group through or (if retreating) shuts the bridge down by cancelling its Song of Location.

Logistical details must be borne in mind. The Hobby Horse, and its reliquary, must have quite a bit of Essence to function. Upon command, it uses its Ethereal Song of Projection (2 Essence) to send its viewpoint to a place it has been before. It then uses Ethereal Location to create one end of an ethereal bridge of a size at least large enough for the Hobby Horse itself. This requires a minimum of 6 Essence, and at least as many as the Hobby Horse has Forces, so the Hobby Horse always requires a reliquary of sufficient size to perform this Song. A Hobby Horse with 3 Forces will have at least 1 Essence left over to use the bridge itself; one with just 2 Forces requires a gift of 1 Essence from its master to join it in crossing the bridge. Back at the starting location the Ethereal Song of Location must be performed again; either the Hobby Horse can do it itself, with a refill of its reliquary from its master or yet another reliquary, or the master can do the necessary singing. Sorcerers making use of a Hobby Horse typically make elaborate preparations of large Essence Jars, as they cannot usually sing Ethereal Location themselves.

The minimal Hobby Horse described above can create a bridge that will transport a 6-Force Ethereal which has 1 Essence to spend personally.

A Hobby Horse with a second reliquary/6, and a third reliquary/1 (or Rite, or another way to obtain Essence) can transport itself around the Marches between places it has been, without intervention of a master! The services of such couriers are in intense demand. Several Hobby Horses are said to be discussing the possibility of investing in a collaborative Essence cache system, setting up "Pony Express" stations with reliquaries available and staff on hand that can courier goods or passengers to numerous Marches locations fast. If this begins working, this "banking system" could develop in interesting directions for the Marches, as the Knights Templar were doing in Earth's medieval European era.
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Old 02-14-2008, 10:48 AM   #8
Archangel Beth
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Default Re: Feral Peeves

Coooool! *applauds*
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