Post by Moonlight on Feb 13, 2015 4:11:26 GMT
The Virstalli
Distinguishing features
The Virstalli are a race of humanoids who are distinguished from humans at birth by their hardier dispositions, with sharper senses and more resilience. Years ago, they were able to easily mingle among humanoids, but were thought to be crafty spirits or shapeshifters that latched onto a person, and slowly stole their soul and identity. They can be born with minor animal features, such as tails or claws, but their more prominent features only become realized once they have made a Bond.
Religious Views
The Religious views of the Virstalli usually vary from place to place, but there is a belief in large Virstalli civilizations of a Prime being known as Kela’Drost, the first Virstalli, father and mother to all, an entity of two souls, one body. They are revered as the peak of their race, and are seen as the ideal state that Virstalli hope to achieve with their own Bonded. It is believed that when a Virstalli and their partner pass together, their souls merge and they are given one form to join Kela’Drost and the other perfected Virstalli, but Virstalli who pass without their partner, or who lose their partner too soon can never reach Kela’Drost, and must try in another lifetime to find their Bonded One again. In a Virstalli’s case, soulmates do exist.
Culture
Virstalli are less civilized than most races, but are not complete savages. Many live in large farming/hunting communities that frequently do trade with bigger cities, but prefer more rural lifestyles, as they believe it offers them more opportunities to meet their Bonded one, where the hum and dull city-life may numb their senses to the feeling of their Bonded one when they are close. The architecture of their communities differ heavily, as each might have a specific animal or creature that is frequently bonded to; such as a community within the mountains or trees with Virstalli that are typically bonded to flying beasts, or communities that live underneath the earth that are more commonly bonded to burrowing beasts, but in terms of architectural style, it depends on the region and home, as they tend to take inspiration from whatever culture’s style is best fit to the lifestyles they live.
Abilities
The Virstalli are skilled hunters with diets that adapt to their environment. Usually stronger and more adapted to live in the wilderness or in harsh environments, a Virstalli, along with adapting to their Bonded one, are highly adaptive in general. Minor shapeshifters, they can grow comfortable even in environments such as a volcano or underwater, and can grow certain physical features depending on the environment they live in, such as stony skin, thick hair, or fins. Aside from gaining abilities from their partner, they might also bestow a certain resilience or resistance against the elements to them. As much as their partner completes them, they also complete their partner.
Bonding
Bonding for a Virstalli is a process that varies in its length. The “end” of a bonding process is when a Virstalli is fully connected to their partner, sharing a link of life-force and mind, with new features taken from their partner now adopted onto their own-this usually takes about a month or two with a Virstalli’s highly-adaptive body. There are various old rituals that Virstalli hold that can make this an instantaneous albeit painful process; rituals left over from times of old where they were called to war, and their success was dependent on the advantageous traits gained from their partner.
Additionally, there are two ways to begin the process of forming a bond. One is the natural way, a Virstalli slowly growing close to their partner and over time forming a connection that strengthens with each passing day, and the other is a series of complicated rituals that forcefully binds a Virstalli to a chosen partner, which are frequently used in arranged bonds.
Bonds differ from their simple adaptive abilities in that they last forever, no amount of distance or hatred between the bonded pair can break the bond except in extreme circumstances, though there are ways that a Virstalli can lose that bond, one of them being the death of them or their partner. Another way is through painful rituals, after which the bonded one and the Virstalli must remain separated for at least a week to fully shatter the bond. These rituals are usually not done of a Virstalli’s own will, and can be so taxing on the body that they lead to the death of both parties, so they must be done very carefully. When a Virstalli loses their bond, they also lose any abilities, magic and physical traits that come with it, but it is at a much slower rate than then gaining them, losing these over the course of a few years.
Connected Form
When Bonded, a Virstalli gains a new myriad of abilities, both from their partner and their own natural magics that take hold. One of these abilities is to be able to combine their forms into one, creating a powerful but fragile soul made of two into one body. In this form they’re more powerful than the two of them separated, but very vulnerable, as even the slightest discourse between the two souls, whether it be the difference of opinion or the rage that one feels to the other’s calm, can seperate them and shunt them out of this form. This can only be done when a Virstalli is fully bonded to their partner and is a revered art in their communities.
Other points
The natural lifespan for a Virstalli is a little over 110 years, but due to sharing life-force with other beings, that life span can be extended far beyond that. Likewise, they can also extend the lives of shorter-lived creatures.
Despite their parents taking on features of their bonded ones, oddly enough newborn Virstalli will not inherit the traits of their parents that have been gained from a bonded partner, only the natural magics and abilities that they had prior to being bonded.
When Bonded, a Virstalli gains a new myriad of abilities, both from their partner and their own natural magics that take hold. One of these abilities is to be able to combine their forms into one, creating a powerful but fragile soul made of two into one body. In this form they’re more powerful than the two of them separated, but very vulnerable, as even the slightest discourse between the two souls, whether it be the difference of opinion or the rage that one feels to the other’s calm, can seperate them and shunt them out of this form. This can only be done when a Virstalli is fully bonded to their partner and is a revered art in their communities.
Other points
The natural lifespan for a Virstalli is a little over 110 years, but due to sharing life-force with other beings, that life span can be extended far beyond that. Likewise, they can also extend the lives of shorter-lived creatures.
Despite their parents taking on features of their bonded ones, oddly enough newborn Virstalli will not inherit the traits of their parents that have been gained from a bonded partner, only the natural magics and abilities that they had prior to being bonded.