Family: Spirit
Type: Birdman
Habitat: Libraries, schools, ruins
Disposition: Curious, gregarious, affectionate
Diet: Ink, written words (via reading), spirit energy
Occasionally when pen meets paper a spirit is born. These companions, made of ink and born of letters, serve a special purpose as natural historians. Though hummingways come in many shapes and sizes they are best known for the meek appearance of sleek, oiled finches. They live a flock life in a complex hierarchy dwelling in places of great historical importance such as archaeological digs or libraries.
The purpose of a hummingway is to ensure the upkeep of knowledge. These creatures come prebuilt with the knowledge of many languages; these social birds connect to a variety of peoples and species to understand complex language and social structures. These ultimate translators will keep ancient texts up to date with the most commonly understood language and make minute changes as terms pass into and out of use. Upon meeting someone new, assuming the flock size is large enough, they will make quick work to create copies and translations into the newcomer’s form of speech.
Within the library there are three types of hummingway with their rarity increasing with their size. The youngest of them are palm-sized oil spills appearing as fluffy birds. These are the ones who handle most translation and upkeep of text. In some rare cases they also live as familiars to mages. The second kind are larger and nearest in appearance to the common avian, and therefore are sometimes mistaken for harpies. They branch out gathering food and the occasional addition to their lost treasures. The third and the largest type of hummingways have the forms of winged women; they are closest in appearance to the people whose words they grew up reading. These elders maintain order within their flocks, taking care of young and organizing texts. They frequently sport headdresses made from bird skulls filled with notes and feathers easily stashed within their reach. They are icons of beauty in their homelands. While every hummingway begins life as a small, pudgy bird with time and resources a small one may grow into one of these womanlike beings, but they may never go back.
A hummingway can be summoned by writing with a quill taken from an elder’s wings and ink from another hummingway; this is how they manage their flock sizes, though they will readily give these items to people they trust in hopes of further preservation.
Name That Mamono: Aisha
Aisha is the most respected elder in her library. Not just because of her beauty, which is considerable -- her luxurious eyelashes, flawless olive skin, and prodigious bosom are the envy of the town -- but also for her knowledge and graciousness. Her flockmates marvel that she has yet to find a man. Aisha smiles and says nothing. That she is waiting for a scholar, a man of knowledge whose respect for learning matches her own, is nobody’s business but hers.
WINDSBRUID
Family: Majin
Type: Majin
Habitat: Villages
Disposition: Passionate, impulsive, prone to addiction, lustful
Diet: Omnivorous; spirit energy
A windsbruid (plural: windsbruiden) is a type of storm witch that is closely related to the dark mage. Like the dark mage a windsbruid looks like an alluring human female, though it is not unheard of for a windsbruid to have elfin ears. The only obvious mamono feature that all windsbruiden have is that their hair always seems to be dancing as if it is being caressed by a strong breeze regardless of whether or not there is any actual wind. While windsbruiden typically live within civilized society they prefer living in villages over city life.
As their name already suggests windsbruiden are associated with the wind, but they are also connected to rain, storms, and tornadoes. This would put them somewhere between ryu and sylphs. Unlike sylphs windsbruiden can exert influence over rain too, but unlike ryu they cannot fully change the weather; they can only empower what is already there. For example they can turn a rain shower into a thunderstorm or a thunderstorm into a tornado, but they can’t make it rain when the skies are clear nor can they dampen a storm.
A windsbruid’s skin is highly sensitive to the wind, so she tends to wear revealing clothing to expose as much skin to the air as she can get away with. Her mana is constantly roiling inside her, which leaves her magic powerful but fickle. A gust of wind can empower her, while fully exposing herself to a storm brings her to such heights that it sexually arouses her. During a storm she will surrender herself to her mana and let her magic run wild, tearing off her clothes and empowering the storm outside as well. Those that retain enough clarity to divert storms from their villages or towns to prevent damage to buildings and crops are welcome neighbors, while one who cannot will quickly find herself cast out and living as a hermit.
While rarely malicious, like the wind, windsbruiden tend to have tempestuous personalities, and they are very prone to develop addictions, especially to spirit energy. Furthermore a windsbruid is a powerful spellcaster, but they tend to be too impulsive to fully control their magical abilities. This is why a windsbruid needs a grounding force in her life, namely a mamono with a strong connection to the earth. Gnomes, dwarves, doromes, and trolls are examples of such mamono. By intertwining their souls through marriage the worst of a windsbruid’s wilder excesses and her proneness to addiction can be curbed while the bond simultaneously helps her wife to loosen up a bit, thereby leaving both of them better off. In the rare cases where a windsbruid finds a husband before having found a grounded wife the opposite happens; her wilder aspects get exacerbated. This is why it is important for a young windsbruid to first look for a suitable wife before beginning the search for a husband.
Having grounded herself through marriage does not leave a windsbruid any less wanton for intimacy; windsbruiden tend to have high libidos and like their sex passionate. To support such active intercourse a windsbruid’s partners will always find themselves in no short supply of invigorating fresh air. Another kink that seems to be prevalent among windsbruiden is that they greatly enjoy sex in the outdoors.
Name That Mamono: Kanza
Kanza had the luxury of having been raised by both of her parents. After her father passed away Kanza decided to follow her dreams and move to Westholm to become a student despite not having much money. She had not only formed a deep connection with the wind and the rain, but she also had developed a scientific interest in weather phenomena. Since there were no specific courses pertaining to weather she decided to first learn valuable scientific skills by taking courses on other natural science subjects. It was during these lectures that she met Ellnela, a gnome geology professor in the employ of the university. The two quickly developed a very close friendship… perhaps a bit too close. Ellnela offered the financially struggling windsbruid a place to stay and a bed to sleep in -- her own bed. Kanza happily agreed and moved in with Ellnela. The gnome encouraged Kanza to begin scouring the library for books on meteorology. What Kanza found were myths, folklore, and a glaring lack of proper research on this subject. To do something about that Ellnela arranged for a scholarship that turned into a permanent position after Kanza published her first treatise.
tygertygerAug 1, 2022 5:59 AM
"When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling
Hmm, seems I broke the tie again. I really would like to see this one ending up in a H-off. But not voting just to keep the tie is not really an option either...
