Enhancements
Starting with the final arc and the gods' return, additional abilities and transformations are now available.
Please note that some enhancements require criteria to be met or claims to be made, and all are irreversible once applied. More may be added as the plot progresses.
Jump to:
Blossoming
Ascension
Mindspeak
Godspeak
Ochi Simera
Blossoming
Available to: All elves
From the 19th Fire onwards, with no discernible pattern, many elves throughout the world experience a feverish tingling in their skin and tenderness in their joints. Slowly over the days for some and within mere minutes for others, changes bloom across their bodies.
No claims are necessary to gain the Blossoming enhancement.
LIght Elves
Light elves find their skin, hair and eyes glowing with a soft, golden light. The glow is constant and cannot be controlled. Features can be partially glowing but it always looks natural, e.g. glowing smears on the skin.
Members can choose which features glow, e.g. can be hair only, and in what design.
Wood Elves
Wood elves find new hues or patches of earthy green in their skin and hair. Patches are always natural shapes, e.g. smudges, streaks, veins, dapples, flecks, no patterns or symbols. The green can vary in value and warmth.
Members can choose which features gain green, e.g. can be hair only, and in what design.
Dark Elves
Dark elves find their sclera, mucosa, teeth and nails turning an inky black or indigo. Mucosa includes tongue and gums. Features can be partially darkened but it always looks natural, e.g. black mottles on the tongue.
Members can choose which features darken, e.g. can be sclera only, and in what design.
Ascension
Available to: All elves and half-elves with light or dark elf heritage
Starting from the 19th Fire, a mysterious impulse comes over those with light or dark elvish blood. Light elves, as well as wood elves and half-elves with light elf heritage, feel a constant urge to seek Aurea. Dark elves, including wood elves and half-elves with dark elf heritage, are drawn towards Atros. Humans are unaffected, regardless of their ancestry.
While the compulsion can be resisted, not all succeed and not all wish to. Those who succumb to it journey to their god and, once they touch the raw power of Their divine beings, they transform completely.
LIght Elf Heritage
Those with light elf blood are bathed in searing light. Six ethereal wings with feathers like shining blades form around them, not touching their body. A golden halo shaped like an upper crescent (below) crowns their head. Their skin turns bright and lustrous, as if they were cast from purest gold. Their blood stops flowing and turns into light, and their entire figures become taller, more slender, elongated.
With these changes come incredible power. Light magic becomes as easy as breathing, letting them burn and burst things at will; unnatural vitality heals them with amazing speed; their wings carry them like lightning through the air. But the changes come with a heavy price as well - all memories of their life before the transformation are lost, along with all emotions and bonds. There is only unquestioning obedience to Aurea left in their hearts and they follow Her every will. They have ascended to being, once again, Aurea’s perfect soldiers.
Dark Elf Heritage
Those with dark elf blood are washed in inky shadows. Darkness pours from their eyes and arms, covering them in a shroud of ever-shifting void. Twisted, misty horns frame their head and a pitch black halo shaped like a lower crescent (below) crowns it. Their skin turns translucent like the night, and teeth and claws glimmer all over them. Their entire bodies become bloodless, taller and more skeletal.
With these changes come incredible power. Dark magic becomes as easy as breathing, letting them freeze and crush things at will; unnatural immunity keeps them unaffected by injury; their shrouds carry them like ghosts through any space. But the changes come with a heavy price as well - all memories of their life before the transformation are lost, along with all emotions and bonds. There is only unquestioning obedience to Atros left in their hearts and they follow His every will. They have ascended to being, once again, Atros’ perfect soldiers.
Please be warned that this enhancement is permanent and the effects cannot be opted out of. Further effects may be added later and there is no guarantee this will end well. This is a very dramatic option that requires you to give up your character’s fate to the group plot, so please only choose it if you can commit to this!
To claim the Ascension enhancement, please comment on the thread below:
Mindspeak
Available to: All humans and half-elves
From the 19th Fire onwards, with no discernible pattern, many humans and half-elves throughout the world are struck with ringing headaches, nausea and fainting. After they recover, they find themselves capable of something that has always, previously, been impossible in Alva: speaking mind-to-mind with other people.
This fledgling ability is still difficult and unstable. Only short, one-way sentences can be sent, to one person at a time, and it requires strong concentration from the sender. The target must be within sight or their exact location known, and of a certain race. It can only be used a few times a day.
Humans
Humans can send their telepathic messages to other humans and half-elves. No claims are necessary for a human character to gain the Mindspeak enhancement.
Half Elves
Half-elves can send their telepathic messages to other half-elves and either humans or the elvish race of their heritage. Please canonise here which non-half-elf race your character can contact.
Godspeak
Available to: Characters with a God's Favour
As changes begin to strike people on the 19th Fire, a few undergo a stranger, deeper shift. There is no discomfort with this one - instead, an unusually long and sound sleep takes them, from which they cannot be woken. During their slumber, they dream of sharp but fragmented scenes, like memories that are not theirs. When they wake, at least twelve hours later, they feel clearer, calmer... different.
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They can sense the direction of their patron god, no matter where they are.
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They are immune to damage by their patron god’s element while praying to that god, e.g. a Godspeaker of Mareus cannot be hurt by water while praying to Her.
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They can touch minds with their patron god and thus occasionally commune with or see visions from Them.
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They can dreamwalk with other Godspeakers who have the same patron god, meaning they can visit each other’s dreams and lucidly communicate there. They can visit one person per dream and both must be asleep at the same time.
To commune or seek visions from a god, comment on the thread below:
Ochi Simera
Available to: Characters who have earnt it via Valentines 2020 or wishlist
With the gods' awakenings, a wild storm of divine magic is unleashed upon the world. It ignites rampant destruction and chaos, but also an unforeseen tenacity in some to survive it. When confronted with disaster, a few people find themselves able to resist the fallout of a god's powers to a supernatural degree. It isn't perfect but it's far beyond anything ever seen before in Alva, and enough to slam the door in death's face.
There are five distinct types of these resistances, each corresponding to a god's element:
Aurea
The ability to withstand temperatures up to ~ 100°C / 210°F. Clothes and items will heat but cause them no harm, and their body temperature remains normal.
Atros
The ability to withstand temperatures down to ~ -100°C / -150°F. Clothes and items will freeze but cause them no harm, and their body temperature remains normal.
Therras
The ability to endure impacts from all solid, unrefined minerals with masses below ~ 6 tonnes. A dulled impact can still be felt but it inflicts no or minimal damage. Unrefined minerals refers to raw ores, boulders, etc. Organic materials (e.g. a fist) and refined minerals (e.g. steel sword) can still inflict damage.
Mareus
The ability to breathe underwater in depths of ~ 40m / 130 ft or less. Their lungs will fill with water but they are able to take oxygen from it without issue (though their body may naturally expel the water when back on land.) Water pressure at these depths will also not harm them.
Iridus
The ability to resist wind speeds of up to ~ 300km/h / 190mph. This means a character can maintain their position in these wind speeds without being buffeted aside, and the wind pressure will not harm them. Hair and clothes will whip around dramatically but also cause no harm.
Important Notes:
Those with God's Favours already have a stronger version of the Ochi Simera enhancement associated with their god, via the Godspeak enhancement's 'immunity to your god's element while you pray'. For example, an Aurea-favoured character can already withstand temperatures of up to (and over) 100°C, as long as they are praying to Her.
Water oriads can also breathe underwater already, to greater depths than the Ochi Simera Mareus enhancement.