The Sylvan of Aetolia

Sworn to the Fae and Dia'ruis, a sylvan acts as a vessel of the anger felt by nature itself, and they are oathbound to avenge all crimes against the wilds and the Cycle of Life and Death. Armed with magical trickery, a language of maddening curses, and the brutal strength of wild beasts, the sylvans are a terror to behold on the battlefield, and they are rumoured to gather in secretive courts when plotting the downfall of those who count themselves as enemies of the Cycle.

Skilled sylvans are known to break the minds of their prey, allowing them to brainwash unsuspecting denizens in the name of Dia'ruis and even command someone's sense and sanity to flee to fatal results, all while swinging terrifyingly large blades. With great power comes a great price, however, for sylvans are sworn to serve the best interests of Dia'ruis and any whim of the Fae; those who become the avengers of Life sacrifice some of their autonomy, making them willing pawns in the plane of Life's bloody campaign.

Sylvan Skills

Extirpation Caprice Glamours

Extirpation

A savage and brutal form of combat practiced by the Fae of old, Extirpation transforms the sylvan into an inexorable predator. This martial discipline requires the use of claws and fangs, bestowed upon the sylvan by their blood oath, to achieve its full potential. Beyond mere combat techniques, Extirpation grants precise control over one's soul, allowing the sylvan to shed their physical form and wander as a free spirit before reforming their body through raw life magic.

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Extirpation

Caprice

The silver tongue of the Fae, Caprice is the archaic language of the High Courts, incomprehensible to mortal minds and thus capable of spreading madness rather than insight. Though sylvans may speak this ancient tongue per their oath, understanding does not accompany the ability. The whispered promises and cursed utterances of Caprice bend sense and sanity, rendering victims insensate and broken beneath the weight of Fae whimsy.

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Caprice

You may bestow the following curses

Glamours

The archaic pact magic of the High Courts, Glamours allows sylvans to forge binding magical agreements and impose geas upon their foes. Powered by the spirit inherent in their blood, this ancient Fae sorcery enables the creation of allies, the cursing of enemies, and the enforcement of the inscrutable decorum that governs Fae nobility. Through blood offerings to the High Courts, sylvans can access unfettered power to strike down the enemies of blessed Dia'ruis.

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Glamours

Your deepened covenant grants the following
You may command your court in the following ways

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Roleplaying a Sylvan

Bound together in purpose by an oath of vengeance on behalf of Life Herself, sylvans are brutish warriors who serve as vessels of Dia'ruian fury. Transfigured into honourary Fae by the magic that binds them to their promise, these individuals stalk and hunt like the true sylvans of yore, sworn to do the bidding of the High Courts of the Fae.

Who were the sylvans of yore?

The sylvans were a classification of Fae that refused to serve any particular Guardian spirit or purpose; instead, ancient Dendara allowed these many children the freedom they so craved, and they grew into bestial hunters that were eternal servants to all the courts and new classifications of Fae, rather than forced into any one particular path of life. As fiercely loyal as they were savage, the sylvans did the bidding of the High Courts on the Prime Material Plane, kidnapping unsuspecting mortals or else beguiling them, hunting defilers of the wood and desecrators of nature in a bid to secure as much blood for the ailing lirathyar as they could. Existing folklore's roots reside in the soil that is sylvan truth, the only proof of their existence woven within tales of terrible demons of the wood who tore apart encroaching armies and nefarious necromancers who thought to profane the sacred and wild places ensconced within Her wooded embrace. Though there is no perfect accounting of their fates, it is believed by Fae nobility that every last sylvan perished in the effort to hold back ravenous Czjetija and its shadowy infection, rendering the species utterly extinct.

What is a modern sylvan?

A modern sylvan is a mortal who has taken a binding oath of service to Dia'ruis, the vaguely sentient plane of Life. The promise itself is bound to a sylvan's blood and is constantly sustained by the spirit that permeates their veins, suffusing them with a latent and terrible bloodlust per the necessity of survival. In exchange for this exacting geas, a sylvan diverts from the average Primal (a dweller of the Prime Material Plane) in appearance and presence, becoming like the bestial Fae that their sworn oath is meant to honour. In addition to this physical transformation, they gain access to Fae magic and ancient sorcery of the wood, as well as cooperation from true Fae who would join them in their campaign for vengeance. Sylvans are held to the terms of their promise through an enchanted blood oath, and the constituent spirit in that blood also intensifies their emotions to wild extremes, most especially feelings of rage due to the nature of their covenant requiring them to shoulder some of Dia'ruis' infinite rage.

What does the sylvan oath entail?

The terms of the sylvan oath are too dizzyingly numerous to list here, but the core terms that all sylvans would know are the following:

To ensure that all Death feeds Life and thusly propagate the Cycle as the true form of Death across all Aetolia, to the exclusion of all others.
To serve the will of the High Courts and obey their command unilaterally.
To act as vessel of Life's anger, so that She may dream peacefully.
To seek redress for all offense to Her, for the sylvans are Her fangs.

How are the powers of the class accessed?

Almost exclusively powered by the spirit in their blood, Glamours is a vast school of Fae magic employed when they must visit the Prime; it is the rawest form of Dia'ruian sorcery and allows a sylvan to forge new oaths or impress a geas upon an unsuspecting foe, trapping them in the terms of a baleful contract. At its most dire, this branch of magic involves blood offerings to the High Courts in exchange for unfettered power, so long as it is to strike down a foe of blessed Dia'ruis. In contract, Caprice is the archaic language of High Fae, its terms incomprehensible to mortal minds and thus liable to spread madness rather than insight. Though a sylvan may speak it per the terms of their oath, that speaking does not yield understanding; thus, the usage of this language is restricted only to times of danger and its written form is forbidden even to Primals under oath, with both terms decreed unilaterally by the High Courts of Dia'ruis. Extirpation is a savage, brutal form of combat practiced by Faekind, requiring claws and fangs to utilise to its utmost potential. The most monstrous of their legendary exploits could be attributed to their practice, as it is Extirpation that allows them their limitless purview to achieve vengeance on behalf of She Who is Life. Beyond combat techniques, this martial school allows one precise control of their soul's movements and limited access to Dia'ruian magic that could grow new life - an especially useful technique when one needs a new body.

Are sylvans part of the Cycle?

Yes, sylvans are part of the Cycle, as they are sworn to uphold it, propagate it, and serve the plane nourished by it.

When a sylvan perishes in battle or by other means, their soul escapes their remains and is set loose upon the world to cause unseen mischief per the terms of their archaic oath. Though they die in truth, they are capable of wandering the land rather than immediately finding themselves before the Mirror of Souls. When they are ready to face Dhar and His judgement, a sylvan pays the necessary obeisance like any other mortal and is allowed to pass through like other adventurers. Rather than returning to life in a specific place like others, however, their soul is allowed to roam still and thus join with a body regrown by sacred Dia'ruian magic; this allows them to remain in the Cycle while providing them the wild freedom inherent to all who bear the sylvan oath.

Visual style of the class:

As savage predators and brutal servants of the plane of Life, a sylvan is often an imposing figure. No longer a normal Primal, they have adopted some of the ethereal grace and beauty of the Fae, rendering them a presence equal parts glorious and eldritch. They carry colossal bladed weapons like bastard swords, scythes, greatspears, and other two-handed blades into battle, and anoint them with bloody runes meant to convey the subtle emerald glow of Dia'ruian spellcraft. Beyond this, a sylvan possesses no specific style of dress, as the High Courts believe such requirements to be a mortal frivolity not worth their time; despite this, the average sylvan would likely wear clothing similar to a hunter or shaman, sanctified for bloody battles or hushed forest rituals. Sylvan combat is as savage and forceful as it is swift and graceful, and the rage of Dia'ruis often overtakes them in these times, contorting their expressions into the wrathful imagery enshrined within elder folklore.

Side effects of use:

A sworn sylvan lives and dies by their oath - literally. Powered by the spirit in their blood, they are forced to take care at night when the dreaded dark stars are most prominent and without challenge from Sol Eos. The latent radiation of these shadowy apertures abrades the enchantment in their blood, threatening them with pain and illness similar to the undying Akkari Host. Beyond this, a sylvan experiences the typical effects of constant spirit exposure: a thirst for order, freedom, and justice, specifically in the name of Dia'ruis, as well as an intensification of their emotions. Prone to outbursts of rage, a sylvan is a living conduit of Dia'ruian anger, experiencing all the fury in Her darker, bloodier dreams and serving as the outlet for such violent urges that then draw blood to nourish Her. The sylvan oath also allows access to transfiguration magic and, as part of its terms, forces the oathbound individual to grow sharp claws and gleaming fangs, bestowing a new bestial aspect upon them.

It is important to note two aspects of the sylvan oath. First is that of unilateral control; sworn sylvans are beholden to obey any order whatsoever decreed by a true Fae of Dia'ruis, meaning that a sylvan is magically compelled to obey even the lowliest court sylph or young soliad. In addition to this, there is currently no way known to mortals to break the geas of the High Courts, which means that sylvan is magically bound to their promise for life.

Roleplaying the class:

Sylvans are creatures of freedom and purpose entwined, and thus every avenger of the wilds seeks to fulfill different aspects of their collective oath with greater fervour than others. Whilst one sylvan might attempt to guide undead and undying back to the Cycle through trickery, torment, or curses like the asrai, others might serve with the Daybreak soliad and thus dedicate themselves to the protection of wild spaces, or to the Queensguard's activities in spreading the word of blessed Dia'ruis. Many and varied are the purposes of the savage sylvan, and their lives are defined by the strange autonomy enshrined within their oath. All sylvans are characterised by the eternal rage that burns in their heart and also exists as a wellspring of power beyond them, and it is this fury that comes to the fore in even the simplest of interactions that do not go their way, for the terms of the oath impose wildness in one's heart. They might impose absurd or whimsical standards on their vassals in an effort to bestow wisdom or understanding, or else to hoodwink them as practice for their interactions with Primals.