Tornado Spirit

Tornado Spirit

When the world was bad and everything died or nearly died, many spirits walked the land. One of these was Gagarth the Wild Hunter. This Storm God swept in from Pent, where he sometimes lived, and roared through the Wilds and started destroying things. He tore up trees in the Forest and shattered all who opposed him. First Votank wrestled with him and was thrown to the ground. Then Yelmalio cam forth and was thrown into the tops of the trees where he belonged. Finally a spirit known only as the Whirler came and danced with Gagarth. They span out of the Forest and across the Plains until Gagarth was spun away into Pent. But where he had been was formed a new Spirit, born of the Wild Storm and the Spinning Dance, this was the Tornado Spirit, the first Tornado, and he shared his father's love of violence and destruction.

The Tornado Spirit roared across the Plains, but generally stayed away from the Forests. His father's opponents did not trust him and often opposed him. Now, the Tornado Spirit and his children roar across the Elder Wilds and the Plains of Balazar, The Redlands and Pent.

Tornado Sylphs

These are variants of the standard Sylph, but are more destructive. Each Tornado Sylph has 2xSTR of a normal Sylph but takes the form of a column of wind, normally with a 1 metre footprint. They attack by sucking victims into the air (STR vs STR) and throwing them to the ground with a fall = SIZ in Cubic Metres, so a 10 cubic metre Sylph would produce a 10m fall. Tornado Sylphs attack buildings in a slightly different manner. The Sylph matches STR/10 against the Stricture Points (SP) of the building. Success means full damage is taken, failure means half damage is taken, fumbles mean no damage is taken. So, a 10 cubic metre Sylph of STR 120 matches 10 against the structure points of a shack (6 SP), so has a 70% chance of doing 10 damage and destroying the building, with failure doing 5 points of damage.

Tornado Sylphs are erratic in nature. They are difficult to control and are not as useful as normal Sylphs. They cannot be used for carrying people, for instance, as they automatically try to throw their passengers into the air. Normal Command Sylph spells work on Tornado Sylphs but with limited effect. They cannot be commanded to stay in the same place or to carry people. They move in a random direction normally, but can be commanded to follow a particular path. Tornado Sylphs normally only stay around for 10 rounds before blowing themselves out.

Tornadoes

These are immense Tornado Sylphs which come into existence, blow a trail of destruction and disappear. Such Sylphs are typically between 50 and 200 cubic metres in size and have a footprint of several metres. They travel as quickly as normal Sylphs and damage any structure in their path. Normally a Tornado only stays for a short period of time, typically 5 minutes or so.

Shamans

The Tornado Spirit grants Shamans who contact him the spells of Summon/Command/Bind Tornado Sylph and the Whirling Dervish spell.

Whirling Dervish (3 point, Non-Stackable, reusable, temporal)

This spell allows the shaman to spin uncontrollably for the duration of the spell. This whirling dance is considered a holy act for the shaman and can win him the favour of the Tornado Spirit. Whilst in the Whirling Dance, the shaman cannot be affected by mind-affecting spells and cannot be attacked by Spirits.

Shamans of the Tornado Spirit can summon immense Tornadoes by summoning immense Tornado Sylphs. There are only a few of these sylphs around and a few Shamans know their names. Such Spirits are children of the Tornado Spirit and are often contacted through HeroQuesting.

Notes

The Tornado Spirit has no cult and is only worshiped shamanically. His shamans are friendly to those of Gagarth and friendly to other Storm cultists, although the friendship is not always reciprocated. Orlanthi in particular have no love for their violent cousins.