The Shaper

The Shaper

A vast world-building titan in the game Chuubo's:Creating Creation.

Cosmogony

Out of swirling chaos, an instant of harmony formed. It birthed a being that gave birth to itself, it shaped a being that shaped itself. Out of chaos and Wyld it molded a form and mind, and so became The Shaper. It forged a body in which to live and, for a time, was content to be. But it become dissatisfied with only shaping itself. It sort to mold the raw chaos into form, but succeeded only in molding its own body anew, in creating and recreating itself.

So, instead, it made of its body the world. It wrung from itself the foundation of Creation. It wrought mountains from its bones and oceans from its blood, and from its soul made a new body to inhabit. And She stepped out from the cave made from her chest, in which She had given birth to herself anew, and looked out onto the world and saw that it was good.

Good, but not perfect. And so she set out to Shape again this new world that she had made, for Creation is a task unending.

Description

Appearance

A tall woman dressed in simple but elegant clothes, is at least the form she made for herself.

Personality

She is warm and kind, mostly, in the way that only the source of life can be warm and kind; but her core is a dragon of earth and stone, and sometimes that shows.

Spheres

• The Physical World, and its providences
• Life and living things
• Creative endeavors, and the act of creating

Domains

• The Earth, dirt and stone and mountains
• The ocean and the rivers, the blood of the world
• The green and the forest; trees and grass

Motivation

The Shaper is always looking to improve her work. She will never be truly satisfied.

Skills

• Sculptor 3
• Superior Affinity for the World 2
• Guardian 2
• Superior Land Rule 1
• Perk: Shine 3

Arcs

The first thing The Shaper sculpted was herself, a living world that was yet to be that made itself from nothing. The echoes of her story of self creation linger as a series of Miraculous Arcs:

Otherwordly (Child of the Ash) 2

Blessing of the Creator The Shaper is a being that exists as testament to the value of creation - a being that says to the world that not merely the result but the act itself is good. That it is right to try to make the world, and to try and make it better. That making something, doing something, is a thing that must have worth. And around her, at least, it is true. Over some time, or instantly if she spends 4 MP, she can make the following into a Region Property:

• Work must be Fruitful

1/book for free, or for 4 MP at any other time, she can invoke this as a wish. She can say that this particular work not merely must but will be fruitful, that it will have meaning and come to good end. That this particular act of creation was looked upon by that which made the world, and she saw that it was good. The specifics of this, and the results it has, are up to the HG and the group.

Seed of Chaos The Shaper made herself out of chaos and the Wyld, and its nature still lies within her. It is a law of the world that to create a thing is to create the potential for its destruction, and as the embodiment of creation itself she is also the embodiment of that potential. Should she turn her robes inside out, they become instead pale and worn, full of holes and decay. When in such a state the Region Property she exerts is instead:

• Things break down and dissolve, returning to that of which they were made

And as a wish, this is a wish for destruction and unmaking, a wish that the hungry chaos should swallow this thing up and dissolve it, a wish that names a thing unworthy of existence and proclaims that it return to formlessness that it may be shaped anew. This is a Bleak effect.

Earth's Body Over the course of several minutes, or instantly for 4 MP, The Shaper can revert to a form resembling its original body. She is then a great dragon made of earth, with scales of steel and claws of stone. Her back ridges are a mountain range, her blood is rivers and her veins are made of gold. Her body is one that could have been made into a world, for so it was.

Created Body Changing back into her new form takes more effort, for she must remake her body anew each time. (0 MP between Chapters, 1 MP in a few hours, 2 MP in a few minutes, 4 MP instantly)

Shed Scales Her original form had no size, for there were no referents against which it could be measured. Her new form is as large as it needs to be and no more, and she can alter its scale as she wishes. (0 MP 1-2 times, 1 MP for more, 2 MP unlimited mid-scene, 4 MP unlimited scene)

Defensive Shield Instead of the normal rules for a Wound, she can spend 2 MP to make a wish:

• I wish I had something to deal with that threat

She can take the piece gouged from her, and make something new from it, as once she took her body and made the world.

She took her body and made it into the foundation of the World, and its properties are the nature of her soul expressed. They are as follows:

Properties of Creation

• Creation is the formless given form
• Creation is solid and real
• Creation encompasses and sustains
• Creation endures
• Creation is a soil in which new things may grow
• Creation is a task unending
• There is nothing infinite in this Creation (i.e. "Creation is finite")

The story of her making the world from herself is expressed as a series of Miraculous Arcs:

Mystic (Persona) 3

The Sight The Shaper can see the world in its essentials instead of its particulars. The mundane features of the world fade away (with an Obstacle of 1 for most sensory tasks and an Obstacle of 2 for finding precise details) but she can clearly see those with a special relationship to the whole of Creation. Those who would gaurd it, or those who mean it harm. Those who love it or hate it. She can quickly detect problems in the world's functioning or areas that need shoring up, and has a sense for the reality of things, and the potential for new growth. This miracle is free and has 3 free Strike.

Blessing/Curse of the Earth The Shaper can make things a little more real and solid, give the unformed a bit of form, and make something more likely to breed new things, or she can turn things way and make them a little more chaotic and unformed. The effect of this is limited, but present. (0 MP, 1 MP within a few hours)

Shine Bonus The Shaper gets a free Shine Perk with a rating equal to the Arc (in this case 3)

The Auctoritas Magister The Shaper can swathe her mundane actions (1-2 a scene, 1 MP per additional) or both her mundane actions and herself (2 MP mid-scene, 4 MP scene) in an Auctoritas of 3 against miracles and the Wyld.

Living in the Earth The Shaper made the world of her own flesh and blood, and it is a moments thought to live in it again, to flow in the rivers and feel the slow heartbeat of the mountains. To walk with a part of her former self requires no MP. Alternately, she can spend 2 MP, or 4 MP within hours to be in many places in Creation at once, or to once again have the whole of the world as her body.

The World Incarnate The Shaper can take on one of the Properties of Creation as a temporary level 3 Affliction that lasts as long as she sustains this miracle. (0 MP 1/Chapter, 1 MP the second or later per chapter, 2 MP the second or later within hours)

Shaping The Shaper can bless a thing or place with the Properties of the world, and shape thereby the formless directly. This is how she expands the borders of the world, making that which was not of Creation into that which is. She can also make a thing stronger, more enduring, more real... or more finite. (1 MP individual/house scale, 2 MP neighborhood scale)

Exile The Shaper can declare a thing of this Creation no longer a part of it, can remove it from the dharma of the world. Less extremely, she can make it less real or less enduring, make it stale and static, or last forever. (2 MP, 4 MP within hours. This is a Bleak effect)

Story of the World The Shaper can dictate how something relates to the whole of Creation. She can make it a guardian to the world, or fate it to enter or leave it. She can choose the key players in the history of the world. (4 MP. This is a major miracle)

Now the world is made, but Creation is a task unending. The story of improving upon the world and the never to be realized job of making it perfect shall be expressed as the following Miraculous Arc:

Shepherd (Keeper of Gardens) 0

The World, Like Clay After a few moments concentration, The Shaper can shape the world like it was made of malleable clay (well, most of it kind of is clay, at this point, but she can do this even with the parts that aren't)

Touch of Chaos There is a price for shaping the world. For malleability, for change. The price is that change comes from chaos, from the Wyld, and some of the essence of chaos is in everything she shapes, is in her own body, is in the world itself.

It is the price. The alternative is stasis, is silent order, is that things never change at all, never improve, never grow.

But it means that her creations are necessarily imperfect. That imperfection is the nature of the world, and always will be.

This is a level 2 Bond.

Perks

It's like a home to me

Her Garden is Creation, and all the physical world. In addition to the above Properties, it also has the following benefit

• A level 2 Auctoritas against the influence of the Wyld

Power Up: Living in the Earth

In addition to walking with Creation, she can move it as though it was an extension of herself. Though I describe this as a Power-up Perk, its most similar to Unnatural Action, or more precisely that ability after a lot of practice, since she can do more than emote with it.

Shine 3

Free from Persona

Quests

Emotion XP: Gratitude Hands

Basic Quest: The Unending Work (Pastoral)

• 1/Scene, earn an XP for this Quest by uttering the phrase "insert something here"

Shepherd 1 Quest: The Story of Your Life

3 XP conditions, once each

• you make peace with a recent setback where you lost a few days of work.
• you’re unexpectedly shy, vulnerable, or open with someone.
• you have a vision of magic in some thing, place, person, or work, which you might one day be able to bring out.

1 XP 1/Chapter

• admiring the construction and atmosphere of Creation, often while softly lit, obscured by fog, and/or with something weird or unnatural nearby
• enjoying the softness of fur, plush grass, carpet, fleece, etc.
• having trouble because your clothing’s a bit too big for you
• trying and failing to hide your identity
• working, involving slightly larger-than-life or magical incidents
• working, involving simple, honest effort
• talking about your progress on some project and its positive or negative effects on the local environment

Tracking

8 Will 5 MP