[color=f6989d][hider=Aethel (Reworked)]
[center][h1]Aethel[/h1]

[h2]The Friendly Stranger
King/Queen of the Fey
Keeper of the Tree
Swimmer of the Magical Winds[/h2]

[u][b]Aspect[/b][/u]
[b]Mana[/b]
[color=f49ac2]The primary duty of Aethel is to be the caretaker of Mana; It is their job to maintain it, propagate it and deal with anything that threatens its existence. But what is Mana?

Mana, in its purest form, is spiritual life energy. While it can take many forms (Ethereal, Spiritual and even Physical under the right circumstances) Mana develops, grows and is altered by the presence of life and death. The more life that develops in an area, the more Mana that area produces and, in a feedback loop, the Mana generated enhances and enforces the area in turn to make that area more inclined to flourish and grow, thus resulting in more Mana being produced.

Because Mana is primarily a spiritual energy that develops from living things, the nature of those living things can alter the nature of the Mana they produce and in turn, the Mana will enhance and alter the region in turn to better reflect its new nature. Lifeforms more sensitive to Mana (Or are willing to dedicate the time and effort to learn how to interact with it) can actively channel and shape it in order to achieve magical results; The type of Mana in the local area (and the nature of the entity doing the channeling) often serves to decide what form this magic takes and serve to strengthen or weaken the intended result depending on if one is working with or against the nature of the Mana in question.

Death, Rot and Decay produce their own brands of Mana that, while distinct from the standard Mana produced by life, are still perfectly natural and play a similar role in the world and to spellcasters who use Mana. However, while perfectly natural, the fact that the nature of Mana can mix, match and be altered can result in it becoming unstable and dangerous. If left the grow and spiral out of control in an area the results can be... [i]interesting[/i]. While Aethel intends to develop systems to properly manage this sort of thing so that it doesn't happen naturally, the fact remains that combining multiple Mana of different (often conflicting) natures can result in incredibly powerful... if unstable results.

As for what happens when a large number of differing types of Mana are mixed together, the result is simply called a Manastorm. You can't really predict the outcome of what a Manastorm will do because you could run the same scenario dozens of times and it will be different each time, depending on pure chance of which form of Mana manages to trigger the cascade and consume all the energy of the Manastorm to fuel its effect. One time it might be a chaotic surge of highly specialized plant growth never seen before (and possibly will never be seen again), another the region might heat up to the surface of the sun for a second and incinerate everything within range before it literally burns out and returns to normal. If there is enough Mana present, it's possible for [i]both[/i] these things can happen at once.[/color]


[hider=Mana for Dummies: A brief guide to how it works]
Mana exists independant of life... but at the same time it is deeply connected to and affected by life as well (There is also mana connected with death and decay, but for the sake of simplicity we'll just be lumping it in with life in general). In a state where it isn't affected by sapient life,  Mana will naturally change color to best suit the region it is in (For example: A place filled with decay and death will naturally turn the mana in the region black, a jungle filled with life will primarily be green and somewhere volcanic and prone to earthquakes will naturally go red). As the Mana condenses in a region, as it was affected by the region it will in turn enforce the traits that developed it (IE, An area filled with death and decay enhanced by black mana will likely gain a miasma like aura to it that sickens living creatures who aren't infused with black mana). 

Sapient life has a major impact on Mana due to their ideologies and emotions working to shape the Mana they are channeling to achieve their goals. There is no exact doctrine to channeling Mana and even seemingly conflicting rituals, methods and ideas can get similar results.  That being said, those more attuned to a certain shade of mana will have an easier time channeling and casting mana of that color and gaining results natural to it while conversely, channeling a mana color counter to both yourself and your intended result is a hell of a lot harder.

Mixing different colors of Mana together is a risk vs reward kind of operation. While it is perfectly natural for different colors of mana to mix together, the more colors connected results in an increase of both A) Raw power and B) Instability. In nature, three different colors of mana might be combined together at best and it is insanely rare that it happens. Any more then that and you risk a Manastorm. Effectively, if you mix enough different, conflicting mana types together it becomes highly unstable; All it takes is one fraction of the mana swirling within the storm to move in just the right way and suddenly there is a cascade in which all the unstable, built up power is channeled in an uncontrolled, random explosion of spellwork that will be shaped by one of the colors of mana within the storm that got lucky. 

In theory, a powerful enough spellcaster can channel the general shape of a Manastorm; tweak it so that all that raw power is channeled towards a kind of mana and maybe even give the resulting spellwork a general shape. A true master of the craft can do this and have a good expectation of surviving doing it.

Mana is not fixed to a single coloration; It can change colors depending on changes in circumstance and location. But it never forgets the color(s) it once was, retaining a small part of that as time passes. This means that over time, mana will turn into 'Heavy' Mana and grow increasingly more chaotic and unstable the more it changes color. In order to stop random Manastorms from just happening rather then them being the result of misplaced ambition and reckless stupidity, Aethel's 'Tree of Harmony' serves to draw 'Heavy Mana' to it before it reaches critical mass via its root system. Once 'Heavy' Mana reaches the Tree, the Tree filters the Mana, returning it to a pure, raw state and sending it back out into the world again via its root system. 

The chaotic build up of energy doesn't just go away through. It is vented out of the 'leaves' of the Tree and pours freely into the lands around it. The result of this is that there is a permanent manastorm raging around the Tree of Harmony at all times, even if the exact strength of it waxes and wanes at a given moment. It does no harm to the Tree itself, but there is a wide area of land around it that is unsuitable for life as it is violently reshaped and remolded by the chaotic energies released by the tree rapidly. 
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[u][b]Persona[/b][/u]
[color=f49ac2]Aethel is one of the nicest entities one could ever encounter, if strange. Always polite to a fault regardless of who they is talking to and what the circumstances are, energetic and dedicated towards making whoever they are talking to feel welcomed and included in whatever is happening. While they can come across as somewhat scatter brained and prone to shifting between different topics and focuses at a whim, they are just as prone to focusing on a singular topic or interest obsessively long past the point that others care. A patron of stories and music, Aethel is a great storyteller themself... but terrible when it comes to actually playing instruments; No matter how long they practice, the noise will always be horrible to listen to and the fact that they're just so energetic about it somehow makes it worse.

Despite how friendly they are, Aethel is at the core a selfish individual. Their desires and flights of fancy will almost always come first despite the fact that they personally consider themselves to think about others often. Some of the flights of fancy and obsessions they can develop are of a... darker nature and are as readily pursued and explored as any other without hesitation. These vices can include things as mundane as drinking alcohol, harmless (and sometimes unintentionally [i]harmful[/i]) pranks, lustful needs or even just a desire for romance... but at the same time can spill over into full on hedonism, stalker like obsession, ritualistic murder and acts that could haunt entire species for generations to come. The politeness and friendly nature will always remain, even in the depths of what appears to be utter insanity.    

Despite having a remarkable vocabulary, Aethel themself tends to be a very literal entity and will honor and obey to the letter any and all obligations and deals that are required or made by them. [b]TO THE LETTER[/b] is [i]vital[/i] to remember. While some might [i]claim[/i] that it is due to a trickster nature the truth is that while Aethel takes pride in their work and making sure it is completed in a timely and satisfactory manner, they rarely stop to consider the wider implications or logical outcomes of the requirements or rules of the task beyond asking themself if they are following them successfully. That being said, they are not afraid to ask for clarification if something is too vague or they simply don't understand/are confused by something.

Always remember, 'Nice' and 'Friendly' are different from 'Good'.[/color]

[u][b]True Form[/b][/u]
[color=f49ac2]While Aethel has many forms, their true form is that of an androgynous six legged hooved equine with a cloud like mane and tail that seem to constantly shift coloration, rarely being a singular color at all and, on the few occasions it happens, rarely remaining that way for long. White of coat that seems to blend perfectly with whatever coloration their tail and mane happen to be at the time, Aethel has two horns coming out of their forehead; A smaller crescent shaped one up front and a larger thorn like horn rising up behind it. 

Along their body are an indeterminate number of mollusc like tentacles, the tops covered in the white fur of his coat but the bottom of them are clearly filled with fleshy suction cups. Along their six legs shimmer a series of pleasantly glowing 'fins' that, much like the mane and tail, slowly change colors over time. Both tentacles and magical leg fins are used by Aethel to 'swim' through the shifting tempest of mana of his home like a fish in water.[/color]

[u][b]Musical theme[/b][/u]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsOv8OK2rE0[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCMLMMgDUDA[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqOqEU1xwxI[/youtube] 
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOb-Ha7UaEw[/youtube][/center]
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