10-30-2017, 08:29 AM
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Calligraffitti|Megrim" rel="stylesheet"><style type="text/css">.astraeus_container{position:relative;z-index:1;width:480px;background:#102434;border-radius:50px 50px 0 0;border: 2px solid #C2DEE9;box-shadow: 0px 0px 50px #ffffff;}.astraeus_gif{position:relative;z-index:2;margin-bottom:-40px;border-radius:50px 50px 0 0;}.astraeus_grad{position:absolute;z-index:3;top:185px;width:480px;height:50px;background: -ms-linear-gradient(top, rgba(16,36,52,0) 0%, rgba(16,36,52,0) 21%, rgba(16,36,52,0.7) 44%, rgba(16,36,52,1) 66%, rgba(16,36,52,1) 100%);background: -moz-linear-gradient(top, rgba(16,36,52,0) 0%, rgba(16,36,52,0) 21%, rgba(16,36,52,0.7) 44%, rgba(16,36,52,1) 66%, rgba(16,36,52,1) 100%);background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, rgba(16,36,52,0) 0%,rgba(16,36,52,0) 21%,rgba(16,36,52,0.7) 44%,rgba(16,36,52,1) 66%,rgba(16,36,52,1) 100%);background: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(16,36,52,0) 0%,rgba(16,36,52,0) 21%,rgba(16,36,52,0.7) 44%,rgba(16,36,52,1) 66%,rgba(16,36,52,1) 100%);}.astraeus_message{position:relative;z-index:4;width:460px;background:#C102434;text-align:justify;font:12px 'Times New Roman', serif;letter-spacing:1px;padding:10px;color:#C2DEE9;top:20px;}.astraeus_name{position:relative;z-index:5;text-align:center;color:#C2DEE9;text-shadow:0 0 20px #ffffff;letter-spacing:6px;font: 60px 'Megrim', cursive;top:0px;}</style><center><div class="astraeus_container"><img class="astraeus_gif" src="https://orig00.deviantart.net/dc50/f/2017/286/e/5/moonstarwater_by_tavietastic-dbqh05g.gif"><div class="astraeus_grad"></div><div class="astraeus_message"><p>At first Astraeus ignored the strange pull at his joints, mistaking it for merely symptoms of his age. And then it was too late, an abnormal power had seized him, and against his will he creaked ever closer to the mountain and its miasma, the first of the sun’s rays already tingling uncomfortably on his skin.
He was not alone. A clearing had become an eerie amphitheatre where the drama was played out upon the audience. Even as Astraeus’ body joined the ranks, his eyes were seared with the images of his devolved and mutated companions.
He would not be spared from this fate; he felt his skin stretch, his muscles and joints unhinge, his organs twist around each other as his body flickered through forms. He was a bear, a hare, a hydra, a serpent, with a scorpion’s tail, a swan’s head, a lion’s mane, a crab’s claws. A piercing scream was forced from him as if from a bellows, the air in his body all expelled.
After aeons of seconds, he inhaled. He tentatively tensed his muscles, felt through his limbs. He was….the same? He opened his eyes, blinked, blinked again, swung his head from side to side in this new strange darkness. At first he thought he was blind, but slowly he could distinguish that beyond the dank shadow that surrounded him, others stood in the natural light of the early dawn. He exhaled softly, then snorted in surprise as his breath emerged frosty, crystallising on his whiskers and the grass below his muzzle. He took one step forward, and the night followed him, icy hoofprints left in his wake.
This movement attracted the gaze of something-that-had-once-been-a-horse. Astraeus’ skin tingled ice-hot in response, and a darkness welled up in his mind, a writhing knotted mass of webs and threads that twisted and curled into horrific forms, into murder and hate and envy. Unbeknownst to him, these images bloomed across his night-sky-skin, nightmares of revenge and denied desires that had the other creature shrinking from him in terror and turmoil. Astraeus merely felt the pressure lift, the currents across his coat fade away as the stars emerged as if from behind passing clouds. He was left panting out short crystal breaths; tears of horror brimming over and falling to the earth with the soft plink of hailstones, his head full of another’s terrors.<br>
<p><div class="astraeus_name">ASTRÆUS</div></div></div></center>
Words: 395
So Astraeus has become a sort of combination of Hrímfaxi, the Norse goddess of Night, Nótt's mount, and a 'mara' or 'mare', 'alp' or 'drude' (read about them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_(folklore) )
Hrímfaxi translates as 'rime-mane' or 'frost-mane', and Nótt was said to ride him across the sky to bring the night, while Maras are folkloric creatures that are said to cause nightmares by sitting on the sleeper's chest.
Abilities: His breath is frosty in the winter, or dewy in the summer, as are his hoofprints. He moves about in permanent night (which helpfully means he'll no longer suffer from his photosensitivity), I was imagining it surrounding him from all sides about one metre/ 3 feet away.
He might possibly be able to fly or levitate in the night, spreading dew or frost behind him.
When in close proximity to another horse (though he doesn't have to sit on their chest
) He can see all their worst nightmares, their most suppressed and illicit desires, the parts of themselves they fear most, and past actions that haunt them, and these then play out across his coat for the 'victim' to see enacted. While this is horrific, it would provide Astraeus with some insight into the hopes and fears of friends and enemies, and could also be used to scare others off.
Weaknesses: During the day, while his bubble of night time protects him from the effects of his photosensitivity (damaged sight, skin etc), it makes him lethargic and slow moving. Being exposed to everyone's worst nightmares would also undoubtedly cause significant mental strain, and I imagine he would largely avoid the company of other horses, particularly large groups, unless he was able to control this ability and block it. Even if he could block it, this would require concentration and be tiring. I would think that he would suffer from something like shellshock or post traumatic stress after particularly bad experiences or too many experiences without recovery time.
He was not alone. A clearing had become an eerie amphitheatre where the drama was played out upon the audience. Even as Astraeus’ body joined the ranks, his eyes were seared with the images of his devolved and mutated companions.
He would not be spared from this fate; he felt his skin stretch, his muscles and joints unhinge, his organs twist around each other as his body flickered through forms. He was a bear, a hare, a hydra, a serpent, with a scorpion’s tail, a swan’s head, a lion’s mane, a crab’s claws. A piercing scream was forced from him as if from a bellows, the air in his body all expelled.
After aeons of seconds, he inhaled. He tentatively tensed his muscles, felt through his limbs. He was….the same? He opened his eyes, blinked, blinked again, swung his head from side to side in this new strange darkness. At first he thought he was blind, but slowly he could distinguish that beyond the dank shadow that surrounded him, others stood in the natural light of the early dawn. He exhaled softly, then snorted in surprise as his breath emerged frosty, crystallising on his whiskers and the grass below his muzzle. He took one step forward, and the night followed him, icy hoofprints left in his wake.
This movement attracted the gaze of something-that-had-once-been-a-horse. Astraeus’ skin tingled ice-hot in response, and a darkness welled up in his mind, a writhing knotted mass of webs and threads that twisted and curled into horrific forms, into murder and hate and envy. Unbeknownst to him, these images bloomed across his night-sky-skin, nightmares of revenge and denied desires that had the other creature shrinking from him in terror and turmoil. Astraeus merely felt the pressure lift, the currents across his coat fade away as the stars emerged as if from behind passing clouds. He was left panting out short crystal breaths; tears of horror brimming over and falling to the earth with the soft plink of hailstones, his head full of another’s terrors.<br>
<p><div class="astraeus_name">ASTRÆUS</div></div></div></center>
Words: 395
So Astraeus has become a sort of combination of Hrímfaxi, the Norse goddess of Night, Nótt's mount, and a 'mara' or 'mare', 'alp' or 'drude' (read about them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_(folklore) )
Hrímfaxi translates as 'rime-mane' or 'frost-mane', and Nótt was said to ride him across the sky to bring the night, while Maras are folkloric creatures that are said to cause nightmares by sitting on the sleeper's chest.
Abilities: His breath is frosty in the winter, or dewy in the summer, as are his hoofprints. He moves about in permanent night (which helpfully means he'll no longer suffer from his photosensitivity), I was imagining it surrounding him from all sides about one metre/ 3 feet away.
He might possibly be able to fly or levitate in the night, spreading dew or frost behind him.
When in close proximity to another horse (though he doesn't have to sit on their chest
) He can see all their worst nightmares, their most suppressed and illicit desires, the parts of themselves they fear most, and past actions that haunt them, and these then play out across his coat for the 'victim' to see enacted. While this is horrific, it would provide Astraeus with some insight into the hopes and fears of friends and enemies, and could also be used to scare others off.Weaknesses: During the day, while his bubble of night time protects him from the effects of his photosensitivity (damaged sight, skin etc), it makes him lethargic and slow moving. Being exposed to everyone's worst nightmares would also undoubtedly cause significant mental strain, and I imagine he would largely avoid the company of other horses, particularly large groups, unless he was able to control this ability and block it. Even if he could block it, this would require concentration and be tiring. I would think that he would suffer from something like shellshock or post traumatic stress after particularly bad experiences or too many experiences without recovery time.