Creatures of the Astral Sea
“It's nothing. It's a place of total nothing that most people can’t even spend a few hours in without dying or going mad. And yet, scattered all throughout it, you can find things that live inside it and treat it like home.”
The Absences[edit]
“Serving the Sea into Eternity”
Introduction[edit]
Strewn about the infinite expanse of the Astral Sea are clusters of black noise given physical form. They take all shapes and sizes, ranging from average humanoids to skulking leviathans, as they drift across the cosmos. While a rarity for decades, the shattering of the Viridian Gaol and Fah'nadir’s return to Rhyst’s moon has brought an abundance of these beings into the public eye. What little is known about these beings reveal that they digest planar magics and potent sources of mana and convert them into the fabric of the Astral Sea. Due to their seemingly massless forms and apparent lack of spiritual substance, many sightseers of these beings have taken to referring to them as the Absences.
Background[edit]
When planar magics foreign to the body of the Astral Sea enters its system, Absences - whether alone or in a pack - arrive to investigate. Seemingly harmless, Absences will rarely initiate with hostile actions. Gathered observations indicate that the Absence are emotionless beings that operate on drive and stimulus alone. They watch and observe with static whites for eyes, fidgeting like static or ripples in a puddle, as they monitor their subject. From afar, passing seafarers may easily mistake them for faraway stars. At first, the Absence may come off as docile or unintelligent, functioning like lobotomized men or women seeing events play out before them. To a careful person, interactions with the Absence can be outright peaceful.
However, at the first sign of planar magic utilized in its presence, the Absence will make its approach. Casting whatever powers one can summon at it will result in the spell being absorbed into its “physical” being. Once it restrains its target, the Absence will lean its head in, the hollow whites enlarging and emitting a horrid ear-scratching static blocking out all other sound from approaching. The target’s mana is absorbed into the Absence until the attacking Absence is sated. Surviving in this state is unlikely, though the Absence has no interest in killing their targets; the only goal is to consume as much mana as it can withstand. Once satisfied, it will attempt to disengage, moving on from the scene entirely to finish digesting the stolen mana and magics and mold them into the Astral Sea.
What exactly happens to the corpses of beings who were killed by the Absence remains relatively unknown. However, many speculate that, while depowered, the remains of the body are overwhelmed by the fabric of the Sea until they are no more than black silhouettes of their physical bodies, soon puppeteered and molded into becoming an Absence. Though this is just a rumor and has served as the basis for many horror stories, there is no legitimacy to this claim. No information backs such an idea - nor is there any to disprove it.
Trivia[edit]
A massive cluster of Absence circles around Rhyst’s moon like a ring. Many speculate that the reliable source of mana to intake allows them to keep their forms far longer than the norm for these beings.
A research mission led by various Isegradian planarologists was conducted in 1049 to study the Absence for a full year. By 1050, the team, reduced to a fourth of its staff, returned sickly, shriveled, and warped. Full results have yet to be released.
The effects of an Absence entering another plane have yet to be properly studied, if it is even possible.
Maewiil[edit]
“Those who blot out the lights in the sky.”
Introduction[edit]
In the starscape of the Astral Sea, the elements as they are known on Rhyst are seemingly absent. Should one hear roaring drums of what could only be compared to thunder and flashes of white behind fluorescent mists in the far distance, they should realize that it is from no storm. When the incomprehensible cries of a being awoken from its decades of sleep rupture the ears, panic should and must take hold. To react calmly and collected in the face of a colossi like the Maewiil is an act reserved for the gods themselves.
Background[edit]
If the creatures of the Astral Sea all carry some directive that compels them to serve the Sea in some fashion, then the Maewiil’s could only be to ensure the cosmic emptiness remains as just that. Where there is life, where there is magic, where there are stars and the Astral Pockets, the Maewiil ensure there is nothing. When awoken, their serpentine leviathan bodies flash a blinding light from inside their cores that can be seen from hundreds of kilometers away. Seconds later, the maw opens, unleashing the mental-break of a sound that could unnerve even the Generals of Eidolons.
They are beings that exist only to destroy; when exhausted and their targets cleared, the Maewiil possess little reason to continue its activity. They will retreat back to their dens, gaseous clouds housing destructive bolts of mana and turbulence. Some theorists claim that they embody the rage of the Sea; only when something is enough of a bother will the Maewiil awaken, and when they do so, they will not yield until satisfied. Perhaps paradoxically, Maewiil have gotten into lethal encounters with others of its own kind for this reason. Scattered across the Sea, one may find expansive clouds of gas and mana drifting through the black canvas of the Sea. These are the empty nests of deceased Maewiil, their bodies having long since eroded and absorbed back into the expanse that formed it.
A myth persists that, should the Sea ever find itself in grave danger, all living Maewiil will awaken and unite, ushering forth untold destruction throughout the cosmos until all has been reset to a blank slate.
Trivia[edit]
Survivors of an encounter with a Maewiil are said to be cursed with nightmares and visions of the creature until the day they or the creature perish. This often leads to madness and an obsessive fury taking over the victim’s mind. There is no known cure for this affliction.
It's said that Maewiil, in their rampages, can tear the fabrics between planes and open rifts leading in and out of the Astral Sea. It is currently unknown how intentional this may be.
Passing Maewiil are often mistaken for shooting stars thanks to their size and shape, though one can tell the difference between the two thanks to the curvature in their bodies. Wishing upon one is said to bring misfortune.
Manaflayers[edit]
“The filters of the Astral Sea”
Introduction[edit]
The Astral Sea is no stranger to eager venturers and novice mages looking to explore the cosmic realm. To ensure the Sea cannot be disturbed by such intrusions, the Manaflayers exist to excise those looking to come through and seal away the planar rifts leading into and out of the Sea. In recent years, they have earned a legacy of being the first obstacle many aspiring portalmancers face when attempting to reach the Astral Sea, providing a lesson on the importance of never daring to enter unprepared.
Background[edit]
The role of the Manaflayers is a simple one; they patrol the Sea, surveying the borders between planes, observing their surroundings for any open portals or rifts and closing them. It matters not if these openings have been caused by mortals, the Extraplanar, by chance, or even by the Sea’s own creatures like the Maewiil. For this reason, some explorers have taken to calling them the Sea’s “clean-up crew”, though such a description fails to capture the fatal risk of engaging with these creatures.
When a portal opens within the Astral Sea, any Manaflayers within the area will immediately gather and investigate the newly made portal. Should their attempts to catch travelers to the Sea prove successful, they immediately toss them back through the opened portal by any means necessary. Roaming Absences tend to hitch rides with these Manaflayers in the hopes of finding new sources of mana to absorb. As a result, the two species often work as a team when locating interlopers to the Astral Sea.
Manaflayers often travel in packs ranging between three to six, though outliers exist. Those too reckless to coordinate with a group tend to travel alone, rarely surviving for long, while those extremely potent in power can lead packs of up to twenty. Sizes also tend to vary; the smallest recorded size of a Manaflayer measures to a standard horse, while the largest has been compared to the size of a two-story building. Their soft-bodied forms also allow them to amend their shapes to slip through tight gaps and weave through asteroid belts and debris scattered in the Sea.
Trivia[edit]
When a Maewiil awakens, Manaflayers are often in hot pursuit to seal away the rifts they tear open.
Strangely, Manaflayers are more concerned with sending foreign bodies away than absorbing their magic like the Absences. When non-natives of the Astral Sea are expelled, Manaflayers find their duties complete and return to their idle states.
Some have compared Manaflayers to Brachiathids, or Soulflayers, for their forms and means of engaging with entities new to the Astral Sea.
Credits[edit]
Author: IroquoisRedgrave https://forum.verdict.dev/showthread.php?tid=3874