Full Item Description
The totems are small in nature and will can vary from simple rings, to necklaces and amulets. All will have an icon to a particular totem, or animal spirit.

History
The shamans of the Keirn tribe Ge'stam, would perform rituals of bonding on young warriors who had passed for their right to become warriors. They would spend a night in rituals under the night sky chanting to the spirit totems to open up to bond with the young warrior so that they might pass on the line of ancestors and spirits who worked together to protect all they held dear. The warrior would chant and dance, holding burning spices and a token of their spirit animal. This spirit animal would usually be a family totem but on rare occasions a spirit totem would come to the warrior before this ritual and claim them as their own. This is usually a sign from a particular animal, a warrior shown the way home by an eagle, or protected by a wolf or bear when injured.

Once this ritual of bonding is complete, the warrior sets out on a journey that takes them weeks from their homes. They spend this time in the wilds to find a spirit to bond with. They then will build a bond with their particular spirit so when the time comes their spirit totem can offer them aid. This bonding is of the greatest respect and honor and to view it as anything else usually results in failure to bond. The warrior and spirit totem will come out of this bond with a spiritual oneness. The few rare occasions of angered spirits bonding with warriors because of a like minded sense of superiority has been told by shamans to young warriors, but it is so rare it is near myth status.

Once bonded the warriors can call on their spirit totem to aid them with special talents in time of need such as, increased speed, increased strength, among other basic abilities. Under great duress however, the spirit totem will grant the warrior the ability to shape change into their totem. This change is never done on a whim but under the most important of need. Because of this, the warriors treat their spirit totem with utmost respect and aid them when in need as well.

A conocha (mage) of profound knowledge and of ill repute in the arcane world known as Rhalves witnessed this first hand and was intrigued. He was traveling He saw this transformation and thought them to be the purest form of magic. He asked the tribal shamans for this knowledge and was ignored. He begged them for their skill and he was refused. He threatened them for this secret and they told him that the spirits would not allow such knowledge to be given to someone so unworthy. He set out to prove them wrong.

He toiled with the process for years. He tortured many animals to gain their spirits and trap them in the totems he worked on. Seen as a necklace or a ring, sometimes a broach, the item was always jewelry that could be worn or fastened. He sacrificed many animals to this venture, and the spirits became angry with him selfish and murderous behavior.

He finally succeeded in his quest to trap the spirit totems and use them as the warriors of the Ge'stam do. He brought them to the shamans who had mocked denied him for so long to prove his worth and ability.

'I have done what you said was impossible. I have done what you said could not be. I have mastered the spirits you said could not be tamed. I am the Spirit Tamer!!!' he cried this a loud as he used the spirit totem of the wolf. He began transforming into a half man have beast quickly, to the astonishment of all viewing. The shamans however sat back in mute silence, a smirk escaping their lips every so often but lost as quickly as it came.

'You see? I am superior!' and in fact he looked so. He was larger by far than any other warrior had achieved in their transformations. He was huge and massive. He uprooted a tree from the ground two feet around with ease. He approached the shamans to speak yet stopped. Grabbing his hand he noticed the ring he had worn as the wolf totem had fallen off. He saw it on the ground and despaired as he couldn't pick it up, and when he finally succeeded it wouldn't fit any longer. He was trapped. He screamed in utter rage and out came a howl that pierced the souls of those watching.

'You see the error you have caused yourself fool? Only those worthy can harness the spirit totems. Your folly is great, and the price for your greed is your life for you will never return to your former self and be trapped in this state forever. So the spirits will it.' He began advancing on the shaman who spoke but was assaulted by the warriors of the tribe who had recently transformed into smaller, yet more skill totem spirits. They wrestled him to the ground and drug him far away from their tribe never to see from him again.

It is rumored however, that he was the first sighted of his kind and others have found his totems and fallen to similar states. But it is though that he was the first to be titled a werewolf. Perhaps myth and legends are wrong, but some have declared that he still stalks the wilderness to this day, a century later.

Magic/Cursed Properties
The magic of the totem is unique and dangerous. It does in fact grant the wearer to transform into a half man of the spirit totem within the item. If it is that of a wold, they look similar to what is commonly known as a werewolf. If it is a bear, the have the upper body of a bear, but the lower body of a man, if not bear like in appearance.

The problem with wearing the totem is simple. The spirits within the totems want vengeance and they work their rage subtly. When the totem is first used, a great elation is sent through the body of the one using it. They feel joy so profound they feel they might burst if they loose it. They feel compelled to continue to use it.

That is where the downside comes in. The more the totem is used the more like the totem spirit they become, until they can not transform back to their normal self again and are forced to live in a mishappen body of half animal and half man. This happens when the spirits feel the user of the totem is ready for their punishment they transform them once again into their half form, and then break free. The totem drops to the ground and the transformed half beats can no longer transform back as they no longer possess the totem to do so. They have no speech to tell someone to get it, nor does their mental sense remain for long. They soon become a feral animal trapped in a misformed shape angered at anything that moves.

One found again, it is free to work its vengeance on another.

Login or Register to Award Mourngrymn XP if you enjoyed the submission!
XP
105
HoH
0
Hits
5,054
? Mourngrymn's Awards and Badges
Organizations Guild Apprentice Hall of Heros 10 Golden Creator Systems Guild Apprentice Society Guild Apprentice Locations Guild Apprentice Lifeforms Guild Journeyman Item Guild Apprentice Article Guild Apprentice Systems of the Year 2011