manikins and magic

[hengest]

(Begun here.)

The race of the manikins is an ever-present mystery.

They look almost perfectly human, apart from being about half a foot tall at most. Clothing seems to be optional to them, although they are usually seen wearing at least a loincloth. Manikins are known for appearing at human and elven ritual events strangely decked out in almost-appropriate garments in miniature. The source of these garments, and how the ornate ones are produced, is unknown to outsiders.

Solitary manikins are seen around as often as those in family units. It is noteworthy that very young children are rarely observed. 

Manikins do not seem to have a physical base of activities for their race: no city, village, or even wooded area of their own. Rather, they are spread out wherever other humanoids are present, and tuck themselves into odd corners. They are often seen emerging from places where it seems impossible for them to have a real dwelling: rain gutters, cupboards, fireplaces, and the mini-structures built and abandoned by human and elven children. 

They speak the languages of men and elves well enough, but in a characteristic singsong manner. Their tiny voices lead their larger neighbors to lean in close to hear them, and this is a characteristic pose for those known to have close dealings with them: crouching or stretching up to get one's ear close to the tiny creature. With each other they use only their own tuneful speech heavily supplemented by manual and facial signs.

Despite their visibility, nearly nothing is known about the manikins' mode of existence or their primary means of sustenance. They have no known agriculture and do not appear to hunt. Sometimes they leave out small bowls that contain savory dishes in such small quantities that they make barely a drop for a human-sized diner, but these foods are hoped to be lucky, or at least healthful. 

Their contributions to defensive efforts are reliable but are not known for particular creativity in this realm.  In planning, they are mostly confined to communicating detailed information about movements of the enemy.  Their sense for weather up to a week in the future is known to be unerring.  In combat, their small size and strange placement makes them all but invisible to the enemy, and so they have been known to affect the outcome of minor raids by coordinated and annoying activity.  

[hengest]

As noted elsewhere, adolescent manikins sometimes show their unusual magical powers, but such displays are considered uncouth by adults. It is understood, however, that manikins do engage in magical activity. Some claim that the magical feats of adults are conducted jointly in some manner by manikins spread out over a wide area, but nothing is really known of the details of their practice or the source of their power. It is uncertain whether it is even appropriate to speak of spells or charms in the ways humans and elves employ these words. 

The most that can be done is to describe the visible effects that have been attributed to the activity of manikins, with the caveat that none of these magical events can be ascribed to their race with perfect certainty. Further, it is unknown what invisible effects underlie the observed phenomena: what exactly the manikins are doing, if indeed they are doing anything, can only be guessed.

Listed below are some of the magical events observed more than once and attributed to manikin activity. Again, it is unknown what else is happening or just what purpose is truly served. The names listed are only for the sake of convenience.

[hengest]

Long Rain.  This has happened perhaps a dozen times in living memory. A night lasts two or even three times as long as it normally would, and is filled with rain ranging from moderate to very heavy. Dawn comes as the rain tapers off. Such events do not seem connected to times of drought. Few even suspect a purpose to the Long Rain and it is accepted as an unusual event that throws off plans and sleep but is otherwise not harmful, apart from flooding.

Slow Moon.  Associated with no other phenomena, and not known to overlap with Long Rain, the Slow Moon is a disturbing event. The lunar cycle takes about a week longer than usual, with the moon apparently frozen at full for several nights. Changes that account for the rest of the week must exist but are difficult for the naked eye to note and track. 

Colored Shadows.  This is known to have occurred only once and in conjunction with a military event.  Accounts are largely in agreement: a few minutes into a daytime raid by the invaders, the sun seemed to fire bolts of lightning across the sky in all directions for a count of ten (or fifteen), this phenomenon being accompanied by a sense of flickering twilight in place of bright daylight.  It is said that there was no obvious miraculous effect on the raid apart from understandable confusion on the part of raiders and defenders. The only lasting visible effect was that shadows for several days were not dark but filled with unmixing swirls of color responsive to touch.  Only one account says that these colors could be treated as liquid and bottled. 

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Mad creativity hengest, this is a really cool race you have devised.

[mao]

Love this HOWEVER I don't see them as PCs . I would ad a bit more adversarial to them but could be divided into "races" to do, maybe they look like a wooden Pinocchio, but PCs,no

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Jul 28, 2021 9:47:57 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

Mad creativity hengest , this is a really cool race you have devised.

That does have some merit to just make them NPCs, but you have to run them as PCs to find out if it works or not, playtests rule.

[hengest]

Jul 30, 2021 14:12:14 GMT -5 mao said:

Love this HOWEVER I don't see them as PCs . I would ad a bit more adversarial to them but could be divided into "races" to do, maybe they look like a wooden Pinocchio, but PCs,no

I don't think I have it in me to define them too much (you are welcome to of course).  But I do agree that they likely should not be PCs, I was thinking that as I wrote about their powers.  Maybe in this setting manikins and unicorns are NPC only and PCs can be Men or Elves.  However, I appreciate the idea from The Perilous Dreamer that everything should be playtested, that would be an interesting playtest.  I am very attracted to this setting and want to explore it without overdefining it.

I do like the idea that they can be more adversarial or are of somehow unclear loyalty, that seems promising.

[hengest]

I love this setting, now that I think back. Unlike some of my stuff, it has a potentially "implied setting" flavor at the core, with a degree of undefined wackiness. Of course, probably no one on this board needs me to review my own stuff.