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    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Jul 2010

    Default [3.5 Vestige] Yusei, the Dichotomy of Nature

    Yusei, the Dichotomy of Nature



    Legend: Yusei was once a great druid, an active defender of the natural order. Untouched by the ravages of age, she traveled the world for what would have been many lifetimes in any other creature. Everywhere she went, Yusei righted the damage done to nature, whether innocent or intentional, with words or staff as needed. Wherever she spent a night, she planted a single acorn, a small act of thanks to the earth that continued to shelter her.

    Yusei might have spent eons in this fashion, were it not for a corrupted elven druid named Kinas, who approached her under the guise of one who still followed the traditions of the forest wardens. Kinas spun a tale of great tragedy, telling Yusei of an entire forest laid to waste, each animal tortured and killed and the trees that shaped their home burned to the ground, all on the order of a greedy king who sought to expand his palace as far as the eye could see. With every word, Kinas wove an insidious web of magic around Yusei, twisting her mind until she saw only what he wished her to see, blinding her to what would have been reasonable objections, piercing questions that might have prevented what was to follow.

    Beguiled by the dark magic infecting her mind, Yusei sought out the audacious king, slaying those who would stand in her way until she stood before him, guards dead all around her. The king pleaded for his life, swearing innocence, but Yusei struck him down like the many before. As she left the palace with her grisly deed done, Kinas appeared before her a second time, a twisted grin on his face.

    Kinas told Yusei the truth then, how it had been he who had seen the forest burn and its inhabitants slain, how the king had been a friend to nature his entire life, religiously preserving the lands of his kingdom. She was a murderer now, not a defender of the natural order, Kinas assured her. Tainted. Corrupted.

    In a fury, Yusei attacked him with all her might, but he only laughed and vanished into a shadow, his final mocking words ringing in her ears. Horrified by what she had done, she retreated from the edges of the civilized world that she had always trodden, fleeing into the depths of the deepest wilds she could find. None ever saw her again, for she would no longer take a hand in the protection of nature lest she again spill the blood of innocent victims.

    In time, even her nearly immortal flesh failed her, and Yusei's spirit left her body, still tortured by the horrible mistake she had made. The gods saw her anguish, and in an act as much enforced atonement as punishment, transformed her into a vestige. It was no kindness, but Yusei welcomed the chance to atone for her great wrongdoing. Though she floats in the vestigial void much of the time, unknown to many binders, Yusei zealously aids those who call her, so long as they allow her to, however vicariously, continue her life's mission.



    Special Requirement: Yusei refuses to answer the call of a binder who has knowingly and willfully slain an animal or grievously harmed nature (such as by cutting down a healthy tree, or allowing a campfire to burn out of control and start a forestfire) within the last 24 hours.

    Manifestation: Yusei manifests in a whirlwind of dead leaves that fly together to form the shape of a human woman. She steps out of this shell of leaves a moment after it is completed, and wherever the leaves fall to the ground, a tiny patch of fresh grass springs up, regardless of the environment.

    Sign: A pair of branchlike antlers as long as your forearm sprout from your forehead. The tips are covered with leaves, half of which are dead, the other half new buds.

    Influence: Yusei requires that you do no harm to animals or plants unless they attack you first. Additionally, she requires that you plant a single seed (which she provides) in fertile ground for every mile of travel, provided such ground is readily available.

    Granted Abilities: In life, Yusei was one of nature's greatest champions before becoming corrupted and destroying all that she had worked to preserve. She grants you the ability to create an entangling staff, conjure swaths of animated plants, and sap the life of living creatures.

    Yusei's Staff: You may draw a masterwork darkwood quarterstaff from any natural surface with a touch. You may use your Charisma modifier to determine your attack and damage when attacking with this staff. When you strike a creature of your size or smaller with the staff, you may transmute the staff to a multitude of darkwood bindings as a swift action. This effect functions as a Bands of Steel spell, except that the size limitation is as noted above, and the save DC is 10 + ½ effective binder level + Charisma modifier. The staff is effectively destroyed by this transmutation, but you may create another with a standard action provided there is a natural surface around to touch.

    Step of the Forestmother: You may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at your normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. Additionally, you may spend a move action to grant yourself immunity to any magical natural impairment (such as an Entangle spell) for one round.

    Druidic Knowledge: You gain the ability to speak flawless Sylvan and Druidic while bound to Yusei. Additionally, you may use several druidic spells as spell-like abilities, based on your effective binder level. Use your binder level in place of your caster level when determining the effects of these spells. Once you use one of these spells, you may not use any others granted by this ability for 5 rounds. You may use each of these spells only once per encounter.
    {table=head]EBL|Maneuver
    7 and below|Call Lightning
    8-9|Poison Vines
    10-11|Wall of Thorns
    12-13|Panacea
    14-15|Drown
    16-20|Word of Balance[/table]
    Last edited by Circle of Life; 2012-01-17 at 06:43 AM.
    Dealing with massive extended family DRAMAAAAA, posting slow to nonexistent until issues resolved.

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  2. - Top - End - #2
    Dwarf in the Playground
    Join Date
    Sep 2011

    Default Re: [3.5 Vestige] Yusei, the Dichotomy of Nature

    The forest fire requirement seems a bit strange. There are large varieties of naturally occurring plant life that thrives off of fire.

    In my opinion, it should draw a distinction between man-made and natural fire.

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