The Seraphim
This page details the seraphim mutation, which may be applied to a character with a seraphim slot from the Bits Store.
The Seraphim were once the powerful spiritual guides of the windwyrms in a time before the Tempest came to rule the former five kingdoms; they stood alongside kings and queens, providing advice and protecting the people from dangerous spirits.
When the Tempest came to power, they were cast out, branded as liars and traitors; they had deceived the monarchs of the past and were, in fact, entirely powerless. They merely used their odd looks to their advantage and to hold power. But no more; the Tempest would do everything in her power to punish them for their machinations, and it was believed for over a century that she had massacred every last one of them. Recent events on the Isle of Ghosts, however, have proven that the Seraphim may have endured far longer than anyone could have anticipated… |
Seraphim are an ancient windwyrm tradition; it is believed that the ceremony they conduct to create them calls upon the spirits themselves to bless an individual and grant them greater strength to guide their kind. Despite how that might sound and how they’re spoken of in legend, the Seraphim can be any kind of dragon, or even humans, although non-windwyrm ones are (historically speaking) quite rare.
The ceremony to become a Seraphim is usually only conducted on unhatched eggs, as for more conscious individuals it is quite painful. On a full moon, a chamber open to the sky is filled with a bed of embers and the eggs - and any other participants - are placed within. At least one non-Seraphim adult must make the sacrifice of remaining inside the chamber to place one of Fintan’s sacred feathers (which can be of any species, so long as they were found in the Trickster’s Vale) onto the glowing coals. They are usually offered a numbing potion so that they do not have to feel what follows.
The fire ‘explodes’ outwards in plumes of red, green, and violet and, after a few minutes, vanishes, taking the embers with it and leaving the room cold. Those within are marked forever with the blessing of one of the Three Primordial Gods of the windwyrms.
The ceremony to become a Seraphim is usually only conducted on unhatched eggs, as for more conscious individuals it is quite painful. On a full moon, a chamber open to the sky is filled with a bed of embers and the eggs - and any other participants - are placed within. At least one non-Seraphim adult must make the sacrifice of remaining inside the chamber to place one of Fintan’s sacred feathers (which can be of any species, so long as they were found in the Trickster’s Vale) onto the glowing coals. They are usually offered a numbing potion so that they do not have to feel what follows.
The fire ‘explodes’ outwards in plumes of red, green, and violet and, after a few minutes, vanishes, taking the embers with it and leaving the room cold. Those within are marked forever with the blessing of one of the Three Primordial Gods of the windwyrms.
For eggs the effects of this ceremony are not seen until they hatch; the only sign that anything peculiar has taken place is that the shell changes colour, either to a blood-red, tawny gold, or deep blue colour.
The rare adult participant, however, walks out of the chamber with the effects of the ceremony immediately visible. No matter what, every Seraphim gets a third eye on their forehead, of varying colour, and an extra pair of wings. For non-born seraphim, if they were a human or a dragon that was born without wings/lost them due to an accident, they will come out with a double-pair of fully functional wings, no matter what.
Seraphim will always have the following traits:
The rare adult participant, however, walks out of the chamber with the effects of the ceremony immediately visible. No matter what, every Seraphim gets a third eye on their forehead, of varying colour, and an extra pair of wings. For non-born seraphim, if they were a human or a dragon that was born without wings/lost them due to an accident, they will come out with a double-pair of fully functional wings, no matter what.
Seraphim will always have the following traits:
- Two pairs of wings, usually feathered. It is very unusual for a seraphim not to have feathering.
- Extra areas of feathering and crests. For non-windwyrms, they will often gain windwyrm-like features.
- Red, blue, or gold ‘eye’ markings on their wings, depending on what type of seraphim they are.
- A third eye on their forehead, either red, blue or gold. Born seraphim’s eyes will always match that of their third eye, while adults who become seraphim later in life will retain their natural eye colour. Even a revived seraphim will not lose the gold/blue/red tone of their third eye.
- They will age at half the natural rate of their species after reaching maturity (20 years).
Types of Seraphim
Information on the three types of Seraphim and their abilities.
Most who undergo the ceremony will come out as a crimson seraphim, those blessed by the deity Fintan. They gain a second pair of wings, a red third eye, and reddish eye-markings. They are gifted with the ability to read the moods of the spirits and receive premonitions, of sorts, of natural disasters before they happen in the form of ‘feelings’ they get when gazing at the source of the potential catastrophe. For example, looking at a cliffside that will soon collapse will bring the seraphim great anxiety, the intensity of which grows as the time the disaster is due to occur gets closer. It is up to the individual seraphim to learn to use their ability and ‘read’ their own emotional reaction through direct experience with things in order to judge more accurately when to expect a disaster.
Their ‘feeling’ does not tell them exactly what or when to expect it; the former is impossible through just their gift alone. They must investigate the area they are experiencing the reaction to or inference based on what they’re looking at what might be about to happen. If it’s a tree, but not the rest of the forest, it is unlikely to be a warning of a fire and instead of a lightning strike or the tree falling. If it’s a sudden wave of dread staring at the ocean, a tsunami might be imminent. This ability can extend to living creatures that are about to be killed or injured; crimson seraphim can advise someone, perhaps, to take a sick day instead of going out to fight on a day where a feeling of foreboding is especially strong. Due to the nature of the crimson seraphim’s abilities, it can be incredibly draining to use, and they aren’t capable of turning it off; the only way to ‘disable’ their foresight is to literally go about blindfolded. If they aren’t careful, they can burn themselves out, and thus most born crimson seraphim are taught from a young age to take breaks and methods to reduce their stress and to relax. |
A crimson seraphim.
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A golden seraphim.
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Some few who are reborn as Seraphim are blessed by Maura herself with her keen vision and emerge from the moon chamber with a golden third eye, a second pair of wings, yellow eye-markings and the ability to track like no other. The golden seraphim are sometimes referred to as ‘Maura’s hunters’, as they gain the ability to - if they stare at something through their third eye for around five or more minutes - place a mental ‘tag’ on it. This ‘tag’ allows them to if they meditate on it and it’s not too far away (the reach of a golden seraphim is usually within the same country) they will feel a slight tug in the direction the tagged item or individual is.
When they are far away the tug is weak and it can sometimes be hard to tell which direction it is coming from, but as one gets closer the pull gets much stronger, like being drawn towards something magnetic. Experienced golden seraphim can tell how fast their tagged target is moving - or if it’s moving at all - depending on fluctuations in the pull, but those who are inexperienced and just getting used to their abilities generally have no clue how to do something like that. They still have to travel after them, of course, and if the individual gets too far the tag will falter and dissipate, but it is an incredibly useful ability for a hunter, for a parent with particularly adventurous children, or for someone with a habit of misplacing their favourite pen. Unlike the abilities of their crimson kin, the golden seraphim can disable their tracking senses by ‘releasing’ their current tag and enable it again by meditating on something else. |
Finally, there are the Azure Seraphim, blessed by Muirchertach with his silent wisdom. They gain a second pair of wings, and a blue third eye and eye-markings to signify their status. When they view another through their third eye, they are capable of reading their emotions rather like a springsinger. This emotional empathy extends to things like pain and exhaustion as well as more positive emotions.
Their ability to sense the emotions of others is not foolproof. They feel a lessened version of what the other person does, and generally, only pick up on the strongest emotion with traces of weaker ones. They cannot read others’ minds or thoughts, only the feelings that are passing through their mind. An azure seraphim’s own emotions can muddy their reading and without keeping calm themself, they can get a confused and inaccurate picture of what the other person is feeling like. Azure seraphim can use their ability on animals, but it’s much weaker and vaguer. Seeing through anything other than their third eye does not allow them to ‘read’ emotions. Similar to crimson seraphim, although for different reasons, azure seraphim’s abilities can be incredibly taxing to use. As not only can you tell some of what the other person might be feeling, you also feel it yourself - which can be very unpleasant if the other has a painful injury or has just gone through something traumatic. |
An azure seraphim with stormherald blood.
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A very rare… accident that can occur. Said to by some to a punishment delivered to the unworthy who try for the blessing of the windwyrm gods, and others to be a guardian sent by them in times of need. Grey seraphim get a mess of eyes and wings and become quite massive; they are uncomfortable to look at as a result, and unlike others of their kind receive no special abilities from their rebirth.
Their existence is a difficult one and they are often in great pain, and regard anyone who has not been marked by the old windwyrm gods with hostility. Although they display intelligence and problem-solving skills, the grey seraphim do not speak. |