Talk:Oleksandra Tometchko

Court: Spirits of the Myrne Countryside

Description: The Village of Myrne rests roughly ten miles west of Odessya just off the E87. The Vul. Tsentral'na forms the main thoroughfare through town, while the E87 bypasses the town to the south entirely. The Baraboi river and its shallow river valley provide the only real topography local to the area, though of course the mountains are visible to the west, and the Black sea is on the nostrils from the southeast. The village proper is home to little more than 1,500 villagers, most of whom are employed in some fashion in agriculture or business supporting the same. The population is aging, agrobusiness is beginning to swallow up the smaller farm operations, and the young of Myrne tend to find themselves drawn to Odessa to the east, or Kyiv to the north.

The larger, static spirits tend to be of local fixtures. The roads, the rivers, the reservoir, the town itself. She's a stubborn little village that earned her distinctly Ukrainian name shortly after its liberation in WWII. But she is also a village in decline. Her local roads being eaten up by the larger bypasses, her river being strangled by the adjacent reservoir, and the village itself struggling to generate enough essence to sustain its rank, nevermind keep the court in order.

At present, the disturbances are more choir-internal-- one road feeding on another, a reservoir choking off a river --than inter-choir. But that could well change if Myrne gets desperate and begins to feel cornered by the corporate agriculture clipping away at her spiritual resources. As more and more of what made old Myrne what it is dwindles away, there will need to be some discussion as to whether or not the present spirit of the village is worth saving, or whether or not another should be nurtured into being that better represents the present realities, not the prior "glories" such as could ever be given to a wheat producing speck on a map.

The village was originally settled as Freudental by German settlers of the 17th century. The ethnic German population was largely evacuated during the second world war prior to the attack that lead to the fall of Odessa. And while 33,000 ethnic Germans now call Ukraine home, most of those emigrated from inside of Russia to the east, not from Germany to the west. Freudental, and the spirit that shared its name, perished in February of 1945, and the village of Myrne and the associated spirit(s) can claim to be no older than that date.

Associated Local Choirs: The Crops, The Fallows, The Land, The Beasts of Sky and Field, The Maldovan Winds, The Sea Breeze, The Roadways, The Waters, Myrne's Infrastructure

Prominent Individuals local to and nearby Myrne: The Baraboi River (Local. Rank 3 & waning), The Baraboi Reservoir (Nearby. Rank 4 & stable), Myrne (Local. Rank 4), Vul. Tsentral'na (Local. Rank 3 & waning), being superceded by the E87 (Nearby. Rank 4 and growing)

Choirs

The Crops:

This choir encompasses the spirits of Ukraine's abundant feed crops. As one can immagine, among its chief rivals are the Fallows. Wheats are the primary specimens found in Myrne.

Power: While the crops are everywhere, they are individually of little power. Most crops in situ are rank 1, with rank two individuals serving as local rulers for the larger jagglings of the fields.

Common Numen: Regenerate, Entrap, Drain

Common Influences: Plants

The Fallows:

When the meadows and fields of southern Ukraine were finally tamed almost entirely for human agriculture, a melding of the dwindling forces of the wild fields and meadows united with an unlikely ally -- the periodic fallowed fields necessary for proper agriculture. This alliance and the guerilla tactics of spiritual leeching it generated ensured that the wilds of old Ukraine still persist to this day, albeit in a much altered state, and at much diminished overall power. With that said, it would be an unwise entity that crossed the whole of the fallows choir of Ukraine during the winter.

Power: The Fallows have largely devoured the old meadow and field spirits that were the countryside prior to settlement and industrial agriculture, and are thus somewhat their legacy. While not as ubiquitous as The Crops, the Fallows are essential to that cycle. So while they're very much second fiddle, they are confident of keeping that position for a good while longer. Fallows tend to be beefier, though less numerous than Crops. Expect to find rank 3 jagglings holding sway over several rank 2s and numerous rank 1s. They're highly migratory, given the nature of how they operate, and that tends to thin their numbers and keep the court tough.

Common Numen: Entropic Decay, Innocuous, Pathfinder

Common Influences: Plants, Slumber

The Land:

Ubiquitous, but also largely harmless until you meet who's in charge. Motes of dust sometimes blow in on the Maldovan Winds. And the land beneath one's feet is dependably asleep, dormant and lazy and indifferent. But in a nation whose flag is one half the land and one half the sky, the Land is by far the most powerful choir in the whole of Ukraine. In most nations, the nationhood supercedes the land itself. But here, where the nation itself is so young, but the land and the people are united going back centuries? No, the land holds sway. For how long that will remain the case remains to be seen.

Power: If it wanted to be, The Land would be the most powerful choir in Ukraine. It is, in point of fact, what Ukraine is. There is a national spirit of Ukraine, but it is young and nowhere NEAR as powerful as the Land itself. Whether or not that remains the case depends very much one what the little Nation State of Ukraine does with itself. Given the bloody warfare on its eastern borders, it's not off to a very promising start. Most Land is actually motes of dirt and dust, but when they collude, their swarm potential is incalculable. Typically dormant, the rank 0 spirits represent a potential army beneath the feet. Which is a good thing for an army to be. Dormant. Most larger spirits of the Land are situated around prominent land features. This hill or that stone. The Myrne area has only the bluffs around the River Valley to speak off, and a single Jaggling represents that feature.

Common Numen: Stalwart, Transmute, Awe

Common Influences: Earth, Minerals

The Beasts of Sky and Field:

This Choir has evolved over the centuries, becoming something of a gestalt for all that is wild and walks on four legs or flies with two. It has proven a way for the beasts of the wilds to persist in alliance not only with the sky spirits, but with the spirits of human occupation and domestic farm life. It might be odd to see a fox work in concert with a chicken-- and at most times, they do not --but when it comes to things like pushing back the fallows or fighting back the Roadways, all that walks on four legs must stick together. This has had the consequence of pushing out the larger predators like wolves and wild cats who now keep their own choirs further out from human habitation, and frequently raiding inwards as is their wont. But skunks, foxes, and martens are abundant within the choir, as are alley cats, rats, and field mice.

Power: They hold their own. And while the wild choirs fight a losing battle against encroaching civilization, the Beasts of Sky and Field adapt and thrive. Their teeth and claws may have gotten smaller over the years, but their numbers and knowledge continues to amass. A choir to watch, certainly. Most members are a cunning and prolific rank 1 or 2. Rank 3s are infrequent to rare, and tend to reflect a herd of something. The spirit of Vasya's sheep, for example. Or the Rats of Myrne.

Numen: Beast Eyes, Left Hand Spanner, Mortal Mask

Common Influences: Appropriate Animals, Knowledge

The Maldovan Winds:

As noted, they come down off the mountains of Maldova. They are cold, they bring the weather, and farming wouldn't work without them. Their main rivals are the Sea Breeze. It's a pointless, petty rivalry, but it often leaves their wounded as easy pickings for the crops, which is how this supposed to work on the overall. Two fronts meet, you get a storm. That's how that works. Keeping the two in balance, however, is the real tricky part.

Power: This choir waxes and wanes in power with the Sea Breeze. The court is powerful and active, with local spirits primarily in the 1 to 2 rank range, with prominent gusts and storms ranging in at rank 3 and 4. Most are transitory, and the zephyric nature of the choir often means dealing with the choir as a whole through their messengers, rather than this individual or that. They don't tend to stick around often by their very nature.

Common Numen: Speed, Blast, Strike Blind

Common Influences: Winds, Storms, Lightning

The Sea Breeze:

Tinged with salt, warmer to a point. Its chief opposition is the Maldovan Winds. In winter, the Maldovan side tends to dominate. In summer, the scales favor the Sea Breeze. The trick is maintaining that equilibrium, which is growing increasingly difficult with climate change. Local crops, however, depend on it.

Power: This choir waxes and wanes in power with the Maldovan Winds. The court is powerful and active, with local spirits primarily in the 1 to 2 rank range, with prominent gusts and storms ranging in at rank 3 and 4. Most are transitory, and the zephyric nature of the choir often means dealing with the choir as a whole through their messengers, rather than this individual or that. They don't tend to stick around often by their very nature.

Conmon Numen: Speed, Fire Starter, Blast

Common Influences: Winds, Storms, Lightning

The Road Ways:

Once human habitation exists in two places, individuals will travel between them. Over time, that travel will alter the physical landscape. And that physical alteration will become mirrored in the Shadow. The first Roadways in Ukraine are ancient, dating to the Bronze Age and earlier. All of this to say, while cities may be a more modern concept, roadways have existed since mankind first walked the earth. That sort of continuous activity over the same paths over the centuries has lead to some exotic and peculiar spirits of travel in Ukraine, and a great deal of magath as a result. It's no surprise, then, that the nation's roadways rank among the worst in Europe.

Power: The Roadways divide the land with ribbons of mankind's presence, and tether their habitations together like umbilical cords. They are at once essential and liminal, being of all places and none. They are at once powerful and powerless, holding no ground and yet tying all grounds together. Since they can manifest anywhere they exist, they are in essence all places where they are at the same time, and none of them. Forcing them to manifest off the roadway is about the only way to dependably destroy a Roadway Spirit, as they will otherwise simply subsume back into the system and reform elsewhere. So one has to be VERY careful when dealing with the roadways, as they can easily decide to be Rank 5 or be happy to deal with you as a Rank 1, and there's almost no telling which it's going to be until it's happening. This is less true the smaller the roadways tend to be, and especially for individual streets. But I wouldn't want to badmouth the E87.

Common Numen: Hallucination, Dement, Emotional Aura

Common Influences: Travel, Paths, Anxiety

The Waters:

Ubiquitous on the planet, The Waters is among the largest and most powerful choirs on the planet. It's ruled by a greater Incarna far, far out in the Indian Ocean. At the point furthest from land on the planet. Needless to say, it doesn't make it to Ukraine much. (Ever.) The local Waters come in the form of the river Baraboi, its adjoining (and strangling) reservoir, and the many lakes and fish ponds that dot the landscape besides, many of those now given over to the farming of fish. The waters struggle primarily with one another. Just as the clashing of the winds feeds the fields of Ukraine, so too the clashing of the waters, the cycle of feeding and draining and filling and emptying. Maintaining the proper balance within the choir of the waters within a large region is a mammoth and difficult task made more difficult with mounting climate change.

Power: The most powerful choir on the planet period, but not actually the most powerful one locally by a far sight. Mostly Rank 1 and 2 ponds and small lakes, the river, and the reservoir.

Common Numen: Telekinesis, Blast, Drain

Common Influences: Water, Fish

Myrne's Infrastructure:

To call it infrastructure would be generous, but the village has existed in some form for centuries. And the bones of the buildings exist as much in shadow now as they do in the fallen world. As the city dwindles and dwindles, city streets are nibbled back by the Fallows. Blocks that were once bright with commerce are now bleak with disuse and disrepair. Everything is crumbling into entropy, and the truth of the matter is that this choir is being slowly pecked apart by more or less everything surrounding it. This is a problem, because that consumption is giving rise to increased magath. This is definitely a cause for immediate concern.

Power: Myrne isn't that big of a deal, really, but old cities-- even small ones --get a chance to build up power over time, and so it is with Myrne. Rank 2s and 3s are not uncommon in the form of buildings and street corners, markets, and churches. When desperate times call for desperate measures, the city sometimes walks among its own, directing locals on odd errands to suit its evermore erratic purposes.

Common Numen: Stalwart, Mortal Mask, Implant Mission

Common Influences: Buildings, Purpose