Monday, May 16, 2011

Revenge of the Tiki Spirit

In the islands of the Tranquil Ocean (particularly in the Pyronesian chain), the natives create carvings of roughly human shape. Their shamans coax powerful spirits to inhabit these statues, and they become objects of veneration for the tribesmen.

The spirits of these idols are typically elemental in nature. Given the number of volcanic isles, its not surprising that fire elementals are the most common, though wind and water are also found. Many of these elementals are quite powerful, though their bonding to the statues gives them certain weakness. Some require sacrifices to maintain their powers. Bound to a physical object, they can be removed from their island homes by moving the statues. They may be compelled to serve the possessor of their statue, though they will look for ways to free themselves and avenge their enslavement. They may be placated by minor acts of veneration, but the exact nature of these rituals varies from spirit to spirit.

The spirits are always at least large elementals, but they differ from others of their size in being bound to the statues. Though wooden, the statues can’t be destroyed by nonmagical means, unless the elementals are slain beforehand.

art by Keith Tucker
 I’m at a conference in Hawaii this week, so my presence on the blogosphere and my posting may be lighter than usual, but this post seemed particularly apropros.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Well, I can think of worse places to go for a conference. :)

Enjoy!

Gothridge Manor said...

Don't take this the wrong way Trey, but you suck.

Enjoy the conference. But really, Hawaii and a conference nobody is going to believe that. :P

Trey said...

@Risus - That's true. I tend to stick to the good ones though--Boca Raton and New Orleans last year. Scottsdale later this year. :)

@Tim - I understand what you mean, but really if your were gonna pay for a trip to Hawaii wouldn't you rather just go on vacation and not have to be earning continuing education credits? Really, you should be feeling sorry for me. ;)

BigMike said...

You are fine as long as you are not Greg Brady ;)

christian said...

Hawaii and idols...reminds me of that time Greg Brady got hold of a cursed idol, then promptly face planted on the reef while surfing. Have a good time and watch out for evil relics!

Trey said...

Two Greg Brady related comments on the same post!

@Christian - Rest assured I'll seek the aid of a local kahuna if I run across any evil relics.

Malkavian said...

well Hawaii, have fun bro, and im digging the Fire elementals, you should bring back some volcanic stones or something

Trey said...

Thanks, Malkavian. I'll see what I can do. :)

Eli Arndt said...

Cool art and once again a cool addition to your world.

I borrowed the Tiki face, though, it's exactly what I needed for the teaser for my upcoming D6 Pulp Adventure game this week.

-Eli

Trey said...

Cool. I hope the game goes well. :)