Estella is often the practical head of Anima, and Auraluna's matriarch. Yet even she can become troubled by circumstances beyond her control, and seek to sway the balance of spiritual power in favour of the Good. Of course, if she makes a profit in doing so, then where is the harm in that?

Recently Estella has learned through her telepathic link to her ghost mother, that some very disturbing circumstances are brewing in the Leporidaen Wardens, and she has gone to a cafe in Arbaelf to seek the help of one of the High Elf Queens' students.

He is also a High Elf, known as Ybrect. Yb for short.

While sipping his hazelnut liqueur coffee, Yb greeted Estella, "My lady, how may I be of service?"

"There is a serious problem on the planet where the wardens are deployed. There is a large number of demons and unpleasant spirits. It seams some of the warden spirits are working with the demons now, I can only guess because they think it is simply easier to accept the state of the world than change it, and ...for now... the demons are no threat to the plants."

Yb responds, "My goodness! You have quite a situation. First, are you sure that there are more demons and unpleasant spirits than would normally be expected?" ((yes)) "Well, how much more?" ((Estella wouldn't be certain))

"As for the attitude of the Kodama, that is no surprise. Kodama have one priority only - plantlife. They will do things that they can see benefits plantlife, regardless of its moral implications. To them, morality is based on the life of the plants around them."

Tells him the history of the planet and WHY there are so many nasty spirits. "I can understand why they think this way but evechaly ether the demons will use them to make golem bodies for them, or will start torturing the plants to feed on there and the Kodama's suffering. The Kodama are convened this wouldn't happen because they think if the demons over steep there bounds then a war will start with the angels, but if they have a planet so catered to there needs they could very likely go to war over finishing it. The world is already a breeding ground for there kind, they could turn it into a proverbial factory of demon and foul spirit production."

"We have no idea how to deal with this, we are still learning about spirit matters, and the wrong steps could lead to a Kodama civil war or more Kodama siding with the demons... or worce other species getting scared of the situation and chosing to shut down the wardens... in order to save the planet life and the planet, most the planet life on the planet is tied to the wardens now, to shut them down now kill the planet and leave the Kodama deffenceless agenst the demons."

"Yes, but are you certain that Leporidae has more nasty spirits than elsewhere?"



"How do you know these things?"



"You really don't understand demons at all, I'm afraid. The number of demons which exist is set and unchanging. Foul spirit production may happen, but demons will not multiply."

"As for your concerns that the planet might be Ended, what makes you think that? How is Leporidae a threat to anyone? Those with the power to do as you fear wouldn't be harmed by Leporidae - at least not as far as they could tell. Nothing happening on Leporidae is reaching very far into the physical world. There are no wars. No terrorists. No murders - at least none attributable to supernatural things. Why would anyone attack Leporidae? The Leporidaens are practically afraid of their own shadows. They certainly won't be attacking anyone anytime soon."

"My 'mother' is a spirit now, she visited here a while back. The planet before we arrived was in bad condition." She explains how the history of planet plaied out. "Years and years of planet wide cannibalism and such abuse to there own children the wyld-lands have a massive concentration of dark spirits, and the cities where not much better. We set up the wardens and things started to turn around, a the magic was reducing negative energies and increasing positive ones. But she fought and killed a demon who ran from her before, it turns out when she was beat by a dark spirit it turned her spirital remains into a dark spirit and now there atleast three of them going around teaching rituals to the Leporidae that work in favor of the dark spirits and demons. The deamon said they are working on a ritual of there own and she found that the energies of that warden are amplfing negitive emotions and not working with the spells we set up, lots of things there pointing to the Kodama are working with them. She servayed the whole network of the wardens and found that a large number of the wardens are like this.... around 20~40% are like this. The only way this could happen is if the Kodama are working along and she spoke with the Kodama leading the others in the warden.... and she just denyed everything acting like everything was perfectly normal so ether she's lying or she's not a very good Kodama. Then when talking about what COULD happen if things escalate she took it as a threat and became exstreamly agresive. There is just so much pointing to this....  and I wish I could tell you how unbalanced things are but you would have to go into the wyld-lands for that... and that's prity much suicide for a spirit and we would rather not send people out into that, not only are there Leporidae who stick to there cannibalistic life style and think the wardens are blasphemous deaseas on the land and would kill anyone that comes from them, but I don't want anyone affected by those spirits out there ether.

OOC: This is not true. The spell is still working, it's just that alongside the positive output, some positive is being reverted to negative again using the same spell infrastructure. It would be like if you built a dam to keep tide water out of a beach, but some of the water was being kept on the beach by the dam as well. It isn't supposed to be that way. It isn't due to neglect. Something changed to make it this way, and you've guessed right that it has to do with the dark Stellas.


OOC: This is not true. The spell established a spiritual infrastructure. It exists without anyone contributing to it. The spell infrastructure itself has been corrupted.

Yb responds when Estella finishes, "Wow! Those certainly are intense allegations! However, I see no reason why I couldn't go into the wildlands. I am not a spirit - I have a body - so I will not be consumed by the dark spirits there. I am not a plant, so they won't see me as food. And I am not Leporidaen, so they will see me as a creature to be feared and avoided. As for the effects of the dark spirits, I have protections and skills of my own.

"I think I should clear up some of the terms that you are using though.

Demon: fallen angel
Daemon: spiritual entity of non-living origin - ie a spirit that isn't a ghost
Dark Spirit: Any spirit with an evil alignment
Shadow Creature: A specific species of Dark Spirit which usually doesn't have visible features beyond indiscernible shadows and a shadow body. It is unclear what their origins are. They are not demons, and they are not ghosts (probably), and they are not ordinary daemons either.
Kodama: any spirit created by plantlife whose sole purpose is to benefit plantlife.

"I would sugest bringing back up and checking out a corrupted warden first... they are little but there are a lot of them and the ones still in the badlands are paticuarly nasty sort and likely still would eat you...there is no life out there but there own and what ever they are getting from demons and dark spirits. With out children being tossed into the wildlands anymore it leaves them with a dwindling 'food sorce' yet there numbers persist..."

OOC:
Estella would know these things:
-Wildlings still cannibalize each other, but mostly as follows
  -a Leporidaen from another region who happens to come into their territory
  -injured Wildlings
  -old Wildlings
  -unwanted pregnancies
  -criminals
-they never canibalize the insane or sick
-Wildlings are just as xenophobic as normal Leporidaens and will run away from almost all aliens
-Wildlings eat the Warden food that they are provided with
-Wildlings identify their home region with tattoos, so a stranger could disguise themselves by using a tattoo

IC:

"Would you like me to go with you to inspect a Warden? I can provide you with a disguise to keep your identity hidden. We could even go as Leporidaens."

(ok informs him of this stuff and agree's to go in discise)

Ybrect gives Estella a pair of Groucho glasses. As soon as Estella puts them on, she can see the Spirit realm. "I'll need these back when we're finished," Yb informs her. Together they go to Leporidae. No one recognizes Estella - even by voice. Estella doesn't seem to be wearing any disguise, but it seems the glasses are a disguise. Then Yb explains that the glasses make people see her as something else - something they'd expect to see, but not her original self. Yb puts on the glasses as well, and Estella sees... nothing abnormal - she still looks like she always has - but with funny glasses. "You expect to see me, so that is who you see." She turns her back on Estella, "I'm going to take off my glasses." She takes them off. She turns back around with the glasses off. "I'm still wearing my glasses. You probably expected to see me without my glasses on - if so, then that is what you saw." In fact, the glasses almost phase in until Estella can see them again. It seems that the Spirit vision can be fooled as much as normal vision.

Once they are in the Warden, Estella notices that there are a few more dark spirits than other places, but not overwhelmingly so. More like 5% more than Arbaelf had, and 25% more than Nexus.

You posted this in the wrong place. I fixed it
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:49, Sat 22 Oct 2016.

So Estella is in the Warden and she can even see the Network Spell's structure. It is converting negative, neutral and positive energy. All in all it looks like this:
INPUT
Neg:%40
Pos:%30
Neu:%30

OUTPUT
Neg:%35
Pos:%30
Neu:%35


It should look like this:
INPUT
Neg:%70
Pos:%0
Neu:%30

OUTPUT
Neg:%0
Pos:%30
Neu:%70

She explains this. "It's way off, but the kodama said it was working perfectly."

I didn't explain this part. The AMOUNT of energy being converted is correct. It's just what that energy is being converted TO which is off.

Additionally, if you analyse the numbers, you will see that there is still an overall advantage for positive energy in the spell. It would just take a lot longer.


Ybrect replies, "Can you tell me why the Kodama might say that?

She shakes her head. "The demon was saying though soon things will shift back in there derection again, and they are working on a mass spell of there own. If any kodma is involved it is likely less than it may seam, as most are only now aware that the demon possesed stella's are infact demon possesed, but there not to conserened about it as the results arn't curently that threatenting to planets I'm guessing."

"It is true that, generally speaking, Kodama only care about plants. They won't usually knowingly associate with actual demons, but they may occaisionally have dealings with lesser evil spirits.

"What do you want to do about all of this?"

"I don't know, I was hoping for advice on how to handle it"

"Well, anything you do will have to be motivated by you directly. Kodama won't join a cause without payment of some sort. Nor will most elemental spirits. I have my duties I must return to eventually, but I can help you figure things out for now.

"So, you say a demon claimed there was a larger spell being worked on? If demons are truly involved, then so are angels. And seeking help from God or angels would be appropriate. If you don't have a God or a belief, then seek the help of angels. They are fairly blatantly obvious and easy to spot. Of course, demons like to parade around as angels, but they can always be tested. Angels don't mind being tested. Usually.

"With a larger spell, you could probably find signs to direct you to where it might be initiated. There may be a gathering of powerful sorcerers, or a certain area may be getting more and more tainted with evil each day. Look for patterns such as stars and demonic symbols. Larger spells always require the gathering of large numbers of persons or spirits, so keep an eye out for such gatherings.

"If there are demon possessed Stellas, then you might want to find them and exorcise them. Demonic possession requires a body."

OOC:
TYPES OF DEMONIC INFLUENCE
-Possession: a body is completely under the demon's control (usually spirit and mind are quieted). Possessed person must be body-spirit-mind-soul.
-Oppression: a demon is following and tormenting a body-spirit-mind-soul
-Spirit Doppelganger: a demon has eaten the remains of a spirit-mind and taken on their form and memories
-there may be more, but this is enough for now.

IC:
"If they are Spirit Dopplegangers, then you'll need to educate people about the false-Stellas, how to recognize them and what to do about them. The same would be true if a lesser spirit had become a Spirit Doppleganger. But as a living physical being you wouldn't be powerful enough to handle a demon, but you probably could handle something lesser.

"If it is a demon, NEVER EVER EVER summon it. That would be stupid. Very very very very very stupid. If it is lesser, summoning it may be dangerous, but properly done it may be advantageous.

"ah hell... I think Stella is interupting a demon summoning right now an is a little to late..... and they just found out she was there"
This message was last updated by the player at 16:45, Sat 29 Oct 2016.

"That isn't good. Shall we try to help her?"

"Imedeatly."

Together the two of them run to the appropriate place.

((It's okay to post as Stella here too now.))

The find themselves in among the Leropidaens who suddenly all turn to them. In the spirit realm, they see a large unshapen creature sitting inside a now broken magic circle. The creature was preparing to attack the spirit of Stella, but now it hesitates.

Uses vines to toss the inocent bunny sacrafice over in the derection of the elf and estella.

So I never told you what happened when the circle was broken. You'll need to adjust things accordingly.

When the circle breaks, Stella sees that the sacrifice has already fallen through the hole and died. The sacrifice was impaled on a spike, and the blood has drained down the spike into the cesspit. The summoned creature has its head down and slowly raises its head. The lead Leporidaen points at Stella and commands the creature to attack.

Just then, Estella and Ybrect burst in. They both see all of the people and spirits (due to the glasses Ybrect gave Estella).

The creature suddenly realizes that it is free and that the binding spell the Leporidaens had been performing is incomplete. Instead of attacking Stella, he stands up and bites the leader's spiritual head off. The leader slumps to the ground crying uncontrollably. The other Leporidaens scream and try to run for the exit which is currently blocked by Estella and Ybrect.

Well hopefully grabs the spirit of the sacrificed one and tosses it to safety if it wasn't taken to stella land. (not sure if it was warring the symbol or if that had been set up yet or not).

She then tries to use vines to hold the beast down so it don't kill any of the other guys.

"Ok this is worse than I expected." She creates bio weapons that shoot seeds imbuned with the same sort of energies as the spirit seeds Stella made that eat away at evil stuff... this was the fastest... and easiest way she could think for her to produice a way to hurt something like this.... and she opens fire on it, blasting the seeds into it's mouth/head.

The spirit of the sacrificed Leporidaen is nowhere to be seen. It wasn't wearing the symbol.

---

Spoiler for what happenned to the spirit while the wall was still up an Stella couldn't see in: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
It was devoured by the creature. The soul was "moved on" to the next plane of existence.

---

((without doing the dice rolls, basically this is what would probably happen. If you want to do dice rolls to contest this, let me know.))

Stella's spirit vines are shattered by the creature easily. It is clearly far too powerful for her to defeat.

Estella isn't a spiritualist, and in fact, her ability to work with Magem is inhibiting any spiritual ability. Nevertheless, her attack on the creature is far more effective than Stella's. The seeds soar through the spirit and land on the ground. But they do take root, and grow quickly - feeding off of the energy in the room. The growths are difficult for the creature to move through.

Ybrect says, "Spirit of Fertility, in the name and traditions of Grandel the Wisest, I command you to arrest your violence immediately." The sound of her voice echoes loudly in the Spirit realm.

The creature hesitates and turns to Ybrect. "I am neither beyond my bounds nor accords. I was summoned and my cage crumbled." Gesturing around her, the creature says, "This is my home. This is my fiefdom. I have taken nothing which was not mine. You have no right to interfere."

"Spirits of Fertility eat people?... er..... well I guess that kinda makes some sense in a way.... but" she sighs..... "where these people trying to do what we asked all along?" Setlla will feel like such an ass if they where done here to try and reduce there fertility.....  though sacrificing some one?  Surely there could have been another way.....

The other Leporidaens who had been present have all run away. No one is left except the Leader who is still crying on the ground.

The Spirit of Fertility looks at Estella, "I don't "eat people". I take that which is given, and protect that which is my own. I have no idea how to answer your other question."

Ybrect looks confused at Estella, "What did you ask them to do?"

---

Spoiler for Assuming Estella explains...: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
The Spirit replies,"Their leader intended to increase the fertility of the Leporidaens in this Warden, and increase its food production as well. He also sought to gain power and influence."

---

"So have they contacted you before in the past or is this something new?"

The Spirit of Fertility replies, "This one has approached me once before. Prior the days of the Warden, I was approached regularly with offerings from many different people."

She sighs and explains what is going on seeing as this is a sort of a 'local god' of sort, and apologizes but don't take to much favor in people forcing others to do things like that... and the 'sacrifice... didn't seam very willing. Considering the things going on hopes the spirit can understand why she though they where feeding demonic forces here....

"Far as I know there messing with my head, even if my other spiritual form was infected thats still only one not three..."

The Fertility Spirit ignores Stella's explanation and question, but then asks, "What brought you here? Why did you come here?"

"I get the distenct feeling the kama (or how ever it was spelled) of this warden is testing me."

The Fertility Spirit replies, "Ah, the Kodama named Bella Donna? What were you sent to accomplish?"

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Bella said, "I want you to ensure that the root system of this Warden is being properly fertilised. "

---

"She wanted me to make sure the roots where being properly fertilized."

The Fertility Spirit looks pleasantly surprised, "I wouldn't have expected her to take an interest. ... I suppose it all depends on the meaning of the term 'properly'. I currently receive offerings of uneaten meals, unwanted cookware, various refuse and occasional blood sacrifices - as you witnessed today."

"I guess she intentional left that out.... I suppose there is some lesson to these tasks though if thats the case why she couldn't just explain things is beyond me." and there was the bit of her mother in her showing lol

The Spirit of Fertility turns to Ybrect, "Am I released?"

Ybrect turns to the spirit of Stella, "Do you have any other questions for the spirit?"

---

Spoiler for what happens after questions are asked and over: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
The spirit disperses into an energy that pervades the ground and vegetation of the Warden.

---

Sighs when thats over. "This is getting all a bit to complicated... who knew being a plathrapist was esechaly declaring war on demons...."

Ybrect looked at Stella slightly surprised, "When you love people you are the enemy of those who hate people."

Estella has been silent for awhile.

Stella must now decide what to do about Bella's request. Is it time to return to Bella or is there something left to do?

---

Spoiler for what Bella says if Stella returns to her: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Bella speaks before Stella gets a chance, "What are you doing here? What makes you think you're finished?"

---

She sighs some "The roots shouldn't be tending to, the spirit must be blocking there normal function, they are invading it's teritory." The tree's should not have any problems gathering energy. She cheeks the tree to see is she's right and just how large this spirits teritory is.... if the roots/leaves could take root some where else and get the power they need her and Estella could help them grow there.... otherwise they could always help hook it up to the forming network earlier than it would be able to otherwise.