Post by Lepa on Dec 28, 2023 4:44:53 GMT -8
Name: Sorcha (Pronounced SOR-ka)
Aliases: The Horned Lady
Gender: Female
Age: Appears 19; Potentially ~2000 years at oldest
Race: Nature Guardian Spirit
Home: Hollowed Thicket (Forest - Druid Territory)
Alliance: The Hollowed Oak
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Family: Unknown
Friends: Farren Feine
Rivals: N/A
Enemies: The Duhan/Malign
Likes: Music, dancing, alcohol
Dislikes: Formalities
Job: Nature Guardian of the Hollowed Oak Druids
Relationship:
She ends up guiding Farren, the current Archdruid of the Hollowed Oak.
Personality:
In contrast to the revered image of the Hollowed Oak's protector, Sorcha is a young, fiery woman brimming with vitality. She can be surprisingly brash and outspoken, if not a bit childish and even a little hot headed. She's very outgoing and constantly jokes about looking for an excuse to dance and drink, with parties being her favorite pastime. She seems to be open to making friends, though partaking in the aforementioned activities with her is a quick way to get into her good graces.
While she doesn't mind being doted on because of her position, she can be a little impatient and is more than willing to do things herself. She especially hates formalities and sometimes grows irritated with her own druid circle's over complicated reverence, even scolding them if she's annoyed enough. She also dislikes being treated as if she were fragile, and is more than willing to throw herself into the front lines and get her hands dirty.
Despite her informal, boisterous demeanor, Sorcha is an experienced, capable leader to her druids, but she will try to put the good of nature first and foremost.
Powers:
As the guardian of the Hollowed Oak, Sorcha has innate access to the power of nature. Her abilities mostly center on plant control, animalistic shapeshifting, and nature based healing. Unfortunately, since she has slumbered for centuries and used up most of her magic to purge an old threat, she's not as powerful as she used to be, and is patiently awaiting the day she reaches full power again.
Melee Combat
Though Sorcha has access to druidic abilities, she's not above fist fighting people. She also has a pair of tonfa sticks made of horns and bone, which she can use for blunt striking. She can also use the pointed ends for stabbing.
Plant Control and Empathy
Sorcha can bend plants to her will. She can instantly grow smaller plants, using them to attack or create makeshift shelter, obstacles or other creative uses. Her standard attack usually summons vines, varying in shape or size depending on what she wishes to accomplish. Examples are thorny ones for damage or barriers, or root vines for ensnaring feet. She cannot use these if there is no soil around, unless she destroys the flooring to the earth below.
She can also understand a plant's "feelings," mostly used for tracking or assessing the life state and health of the general area.
Animal Shapeshifting and Empathy
Sorcha can transform into any animal she's familiar with, but this is usually forest creatures. She can be easily identified by her flowered antlers, which she keeps in all of her animal forms. Her favored animal is the deer. She'll shift into a hawk for scouting, or a wildcat or fox for stealth and reconnaissance.
She retains her animal shape with magic and cannot be forcefully polymorphed out of it, but she can lose her form if physically injured enough or mentally strained from magic overuse. Sorcha also cannot perform certain actions while shapeshifted and will have to return to her human form to do them.
Like her empathy with plants, Sorcha can also understand the feelings of animals. She can get a better understanding of a particular creature if she shifts into their species.
Healing Magic
Sorcha has a form of healing magic that draws upon nature. It generally uses the energies from the surrounding to heal wounds, making this more effective in greener areas. She can even use this to revive the dead, but they must be recently deceased or kept in good condition. However, it uses a substantial amount of nature's life force to bring them back, so Sorcha generally dislikes doing this unless there is a very good reason for it.
Weaknesses:
Sorcha used up most of her magic that put herself into a centuries long slumber, putting her at a fraction of her original power. While she is more experienced, her abilities are right now only slightly better than Farren's, a human druid. She can be killed by normal means and is particularly susceptible to iron or modern weapons. She can revive if killed, but it will take some time and negatively affect the surrounding nature, as it pools its own resources into reviving her. Attacks involving slicing or fire tend to be effective against her plant magic. Her druidic abilities also focus on a forest biome, so her abilities aren't as potent in other environments like the desert, tundra, or urban areas.
History:
Sorcha is a guardian spirit worshiped by the druid circle known as the Hollowed Oak, but her exact origins are unknown. She may have been a founding druid who ascended into spirituality so that she could continue to watch over druids. She may have been a lone nature spirit that gave the original group their knowledge. She may even have been an animal who became enlightened by the druids. Whatever her origin was, she swore to teach and watch over the circle many centuries ago when it was originally known as the Hallowed Oak.
Named for the mighty, magical oak tree that stood at the center of their home of the Hallowed Thicket, the circle of the Hallowed Oak strived to keep peace and live in harmony with nature, maintaining order when needed. Unfortunately, as time went on and generations passed, younger druids began to lose sight of the circle's original purpose. Infighting arose. Politicking became common and power struggles became prominent. It annoyed Sorcha to no end. The guardian objected to what was happening, but with the druids too preoccupied with their quarrels, Sorcha's own protests were ignored.
The infighting wasn't the only source of the guardian's headaches. A threat called the Duhan, or Malign, loomed within the earth. It was a dark, negative energy born of natural disasters, but it was normally kept in check by the natural order. Though the druids themselves were meant to live within nature's balance, their squabbles had exacerbated the energies of the Malign. Their fighting had fed into it, and in turn, it added more fuel to their fighting.
The tensions eventually lead to bloodshed, which then unleashed the full might of the Malign. It consumed plants and animals alike, inflicting disease and horrible corruption. Many druids perished from the Malign, but the most ambitious and wicked ones mutated into twisted forms of themselves. They reveled in its power, no longer advocates of the nature they vowed to help protect. They then turned on the guardian they once revered, believing they could take her place.
Horrified and angered at the insolence of the traitorous druids, Sorcha sought to destroy the circle of the Hallowed Oak for good. It had become corrupted by selfish ideals, and she knew it had to be purged in order to save the surrounding area. The only thing that stopped her was the plea of one lone druid - a soft sort who had refrained from all the conflict and continued to revere her throughout all of the turmoil. He pleaded to allow the circle to continue, promising to start over if they had to. Sorcha initially refused, but when he shielded her from the Malign infected druids, the selfless act was enough to convince her.
In her final effort, Sorcha channeled her power through the druids' mighty oak tree. There, she used up all of her energy and magic to purge the Malign from the Hallowed Thicket, cleansing the blight and destroying the corrupted. The sheer amount of magical energy shattered the tree, and the surviving stump is where Sorcha's spirit slumbered for centuries to come.
After Sorcha's sacrifice, the remaining druids changed their name from the Hallowed Oak to the Hollowed Oak, signifying the loss of their holy tree and its transformation into a shell of its former self. Those who had survived would make peace with each other. (However, some disagreements remained, and a smaller group opted to split off and go their separate ways to avoid further conflict. This group would one day become the settlement of Serenity Grove.)
Centuries later in the current day, tensions seemed to be rising again, and a strange creature drew upon the magical energies of the mighty oak's stump. Sorcha felt it. It felt familiar, but also not. It wasn't right... It wasn't natural. Then, she could hear a sad plea... Sad enough to reach her through her slumber. Who was it, she wondered?
She wasn't yet at full power, but maybe it was time to wake up...
Anything else:
- Her name is Irish, meaning "bright" or "shining."
- She had an older, more mature look many centuries ago. She appears younger now due to having to regenerate and not being at full power.
- Full body:
