No problemBaron Von Stanton wrote: ↑Fri Feb 18, 2022 1:03 am That's an interesting approach to the situation, but, I don't think the Bug Box would be able to contain a phenomenon as powerful as that.
Per your request, I am just throwing vague ideas out there as the muse strikes me.
And speaking of Muses, here is one based (very loosely) on the Leannán sídhe of Irish folklore.
Not quite up there on the power scale as the primordial, but still rather dangerous to catch the eye of.
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The passions of mortals are powerful things, able to accomplish or create things both fair and foul. Undead are green with jealously of mortal passions, and the Dark powers themselves appear to have an interest in intense sources of passion. But with any source of energy, there are those things which feed on them…
The Leannán sídhe usually appears as a beautiful woman with dark hair and has a preference for red hued clothing (red being the colour of passion). Though as the fae is a shapeshifter they can conceivably appear in any form, though a touch of red is always present. The Leannán sídhe roams the world seeking a host to 'inspire' passion in.
Once a suitable host is found, the Leannán sídhe will ‘attach’ themselves. They may offer a bit of ‘friendly advice’, a pointer or two, or just a smile to get the host to take interest. If the host accepts this help a ‘transaction’ of sorts is made. The host is inspired to focus fully on their object of desire, to throw everything they have into creating or achieving it. The objective can be anything, provided it is a source of passion to the creator – a wizard composing a new spell, a priest writing a hymn to their deity, an artist painting, or even a peasant seeking that once nod of approval from their lord.
The Leannán sídhe inspires the host to work on their project, acting as an inspiration and muse, while on a supernatural level links the hosts life force to their passion – this allows the host to work well beyond their means. Sleeping is an unnecessary distraction, food and drink go untouched, and time becomes meaningless, and people become an irritating annoyance. Of course, as this is fuelled by the hosts life force, they rapidly age and by the completion of their project, so little life remains they resemble little more than a burned out, grey haired, husk to whom nothing matters anymore, and they rapidly expire.
The whole reason for this is the Leannán sídhe appears to feed on the miasma of passion surrounding her host, the energy supporting her supernatural existence. The greater the passion the greater the feast, thus the Leannán sídhe will nudge the host to fully commit themselves to whatever their focus of desire is. This of course has the effect of the host burning out sooner - possibly even in weeks - as their life force is consumed to fuel their mania.
The Leannán sídhe is not foolish, and carefully measures the amount of life force burnt to when the object of desire is completed. The final burst when the host achieves their goal is the icing on a cake, the most delectable part. But after wards the creator usually expires or descends into a melancholy as they know they will never create it’s like again. The Leannán sídhe leaves at this point, moving on to find a new experience – though in some cases where the feast of passion was extremely pleasurable, the faint linger of a kiss of thanks will linger on the creator’s cheek.
Breaking the sídhe’s hold over a victim is no easy thing. It is not mind control but an excessive and unhealthy stocking of passion. The sídhe itself has no ill will to the host, seeing it more as a business transaction which is beneficial to both. She gets to experience delectable new passions, while the host achieves what they most desire. If the price of their goal is their life, then that is not her call, but the hosts. The host of course is in a maniac state at this time and will see any interference to their work in a most hostile manner. Even trying to physically remove them from their desire won’t work and they will simply obsess on it even more. Only by having the host leave their work and cool their passions over it will the sídhe leave.
In some cases, the Leannán sídhe may not find a suitable host to inspire, and thus must resort to feeding on lesser fare. Inducing passions in a group of people has a lesser effect, but the outburst can provide a filling -if bland -fare for the creature. An example may be inspiring a village harvest to rise from a normal carnival to one inflamed by passion with people dancing and revelling wildly until they collapse from exhaustion. The negative effects are more spread out over the group thus it is more likely to be put off to a little too much alcohol or things getting a little out of hand than supernatural influence.
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