User:SocomSeal/Aetheris

The Aetheris embodies the potential of magic as it seeks to combine with the natural world. Shooting gouts of flame, earth, water, or wind with nothing more than a wave of their hands, Aetheris can turn a simple battlefield into a maelstrom of energy at a moment’s notice. However, each Aetheris can only focus their power through a single element. And as each Aetheris chooses their path, and refines their techniques, the very nature of their power shapes them as well.

Standing between four and six feet tall, with an average around 5’6” the base Aetheris portrays the full range of human appearance. Depending on one’s heritage, they could bear any range of skin, hair, and eye colors. In fact, it is nearly impossible to distinguish an Aetheris from a regular human female, unless you were to notice a brief elemental discharge as the Aetheris experimented with her magic. This is something they do frequently, as even the most indecisive Aetheris will seek one of the four elemental paths to follow. Thus it is quite rare to actually see a base Aetheris, and most are very young.

Once an Aetheris chooses which path she will follow, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Most of the time these are simple things, lasting only a few days as the Aetheris seeks a natural focus at which to meditate. Water Aetheris for example may go to the nearest lake, or river, and spend hours focusing on the water there, looking to discover and understand its true nature. Once the Aetheris has found her answers, she gains the knowledge with which to conduct elemental spells of her chosen element more easily. This change is always marked by an outpouring of magical energy, which stabilizes as a tattoo somewhere on the Aetheris’ body. Each elemental path has a different tattoo, and newly chosen Aetheris will often hide their tattoo from others until they come into their newfound power. After a certain amount of training, however, the tattoo is the least telling feature of an Aetheris –their magic changes them, taking their human appearance and adding supernatural features.

A Fire Aetheris’ hair will change from whatever color it had been before to a much warmer color. Reds, fiery browns, and striking blondes have been recorded. Likewise, their eyes will change, most becoming a vibrant orange, with other ‘hot’ colors reported. Fire Aetheris may also find their skin darkening slightly, taking a permanent tan shade, if it wasn’t already, and the raw force of their magic empowers them, allowing the otherwise unassuming girl greater strength than their form belies.

A Wind Aetheris will find her body slimming, becoming more aerodynamic. Many are reported to have slightly pointed ears, and every member of this path to date has had pupil less eyes, though this does not affect their eyesight. In addition, their magic allows them to always move with the wind at their backs, achieving greater speeds than the other Aetheris paths.

A Water Aetheris seems to change the most. Initially the changes are very hard to perceive, though the Aetheris will attempt to spend more time in the presence of water. As time goes on the webbing on her feet and hands becomes more pronounced, as are the gills that form on her chest. Bypassing the windpipe, these gills feed oxygen directly to the Water Aetheris’ lungs. This combined with her proclivity to use low level hydrokinesis to keep her body moist allow the Water Aetheris a greater oxygen supply than her other paths, allowing her to keep moving longer, even when her Tamer has long since collapsed out of breath. This ability unfortunately has its drawbacks; leave a Water Aetheris dry for a large amount of time and her gills will close in order to preserve whatever moisture they can. This sudden lack of oxygen can cause the girl to seize up, as muscles that usually work harder find they need to slow down. Thus it is recommended to always keep a Water Aetheris well hydrated, be it by natural water sources or high humidity environments, or just a bath twice a day.

An Earth Aetheris changes inversely to the Wind Aetheris. While the Wind Aetheris’ body slims for greater aerodynamics, the Earth Aetheris’ body bulks up. Her muscle mass expands, and while this does not provide the strength inherent in the Fire Aetheris, it proves quite useful for taking blows. Strikes that would break another Aetheris’ body are shrugged off as a mere annoyance by an Earth Aetheris. In addition, she also has some changes to her appearance; skin color universally darkens, and hair stops growing at shoulder length. The resulting Pokegirl looks more like a bodybuilder than the mage she is.

No matter which path an Aetheris chooses, she can change it later. With enough meditation, inversely related to the amount of training she has put into her current elemental path, an Aetheris can unlearn one element and embrace another. This process is so draining that only a very few Aetheris have ever undertaken it, as their very nature is destroyed and rebuilt in the process.

In battle, each Aetheris prefers a different fighting style that makes use of their individual abilities. Wind Aetheris employ hit and run tactics, preferring to whittle away at their opponents rather than committing to an all-out fight. Water Aetheris prefer drawn out fights as well, though their tactics are more aimed at forcing their opponent into range, at which point the Water Aetheris can loose an attack that has a better chance of connecting. Conversely, Fire Aetheris prefer to keep their enemies at range. Taking potshots they use their abilities more defensively, biding their time, knowing that it really only takes one hit for them to gain the upper hand. Earth Aetheris take the fight to their opponents, trusting in their innate resilience to take a few hits before dishing out an equally powerful counter attack.

Outside of battle, each path of this breed behaves very differently. Wind Aetheris are flighty, enjoying multiple conversations while they show off their speed to those around them. Water Aetheris are quiet, speaking only when spoken to, unless it is someone they inherently trust. Fire Aetheris are very outspoken and rambunctious, though never enough to get them in trouble. Earth Aetheris are clingy. Almost always found with her hand somewhere on her Tamer, you might get the idea that this well-built girl is shy, or insecure. Far from it. Once she has found someone she likes, she will make sure she is always prepared to defend them.

All Aetheris are usually found with other magical Pokegirls. They are often found with researchers, their innate knowledge of their element proving invaluable. In a combat team, most Aetheris are content in taking a support role, standing back and analyzing the situation before using her magic to give her teammates an upper hand.

In bed, all Aetheris return to their roots. Whatever they liked before choosing a path is still their favorite. Sometimes this can cause an interesting mix – a stoic Earth Aetheris might enjoy being dominated, or the normally reclusive Water Aetheris might drag a few others with her. Regardless, it is best to find out what an Aetheris likes by directly asking her. Once in the bedroom, they are not shy with expressing their tastes.

The vast majority of children born from an Aetheris are human. The few Pokegirls that are born are always Aetheris, and without proper caution are liable to begin experimenting as soon as the notion hits them. These usually cause minor hilarities, like a missing eyebrow or extra-powerful farts. But sometimes these elemental bursts can lead to the death of the newborn Aetheris, so having another magic Pokegirl on hand to dampen the baby’s power is highly recommended. Human children born from this union sometimes exhibit heightened abilities, or a calling that drives them to nature. Sometimes this calling can manifest itself destructively, like pyromania, but usually it is merely a strong feeling of belonging whenever they are away from civilization. Threshold children always become an Aetheris, and usually take the path their mother follows. The change is marked by an increased interest in the elements, and is finalized when the new Aetheris is successfully able to summon one.

Feral Aetheris, while uncommon, are highly dangerous to approach. Feral Aetheris will seek out other Pokegirls of their element, forming symbiotic relationships of power. If there are signs of an Aetheris in the area, preparing for a large fight is recommended. In the rare case that a base Aetheris goes feral, her experiments grow more and more powerful as she wanders from elemental focus to elemental focus. If these aren’t captured and tamed quickly, their experiments can easily start localized natural disasters or kill the Aetheris.