Avatar of Yggdrasil

Power Ygg

Avatar of Yggdrasil (POWER)

(Created by Bob Flack and Ryan Patterson)

The great crossroads, Yggdrasil, is more than just a boundary between where the
powers of Order and Chaos hold sway, far more.
“Ygg” is older than the Pattern or Logrus, older than infinite Shadow, itself.
Yggdrasil is a primal, cosmic, generative force that acts as the lone opposition to
the endless tyranny of the Abyss in each Creation Cycle.

If the Abyss is death, then Ygg is the eternal promise of life.

In this cycle, Ygg began as a seed planted (presumably by Oberon or Dworken) and
appears as a massive, shadow-spanning tree. It is said that if one were to climb to
the top of Ygg, one could see all the way from Amber to the Courts of Chaos.

While Ygg is sentient, it rarely “speaks” and even more rarely acts, being, by
nature, passive. However, in recent years, the rise of servants of the Abyss has
led to several attempts by those dark pilgrims to destroy Ygg. The Abyss is itself
a semi-aware cosmic force, however, the appearance of these Abyssal Adepts has led
to the Void growing in strength, ambition, and awareness.

In earlier ages, the wizard, Cormac, had hung from the tree (as Oberon, himself,
did in his youth). The act of the long ordeal opens the individual to a greater
understanding of the various forces at work upon Creation and grants certain
enhanced powers. In Cormac’s case, it granted him a greater degree of communion
with Ygg, and the various creatures that are connected to, and serve the Great
Tree.

Prince Cormac of Amber, in defense of Ygg, died in the presence of the great tree
while repelling one of the Abyssal Adepts’ attacks. His sacrifice infused Ygg with
a greater degree of awareness and volition, to match the rise of the Abyss.
Cormac’s original body was buried, however years latter, he reappeared in a much
younger and rejuvenated body.
The shadow sorcerer, Amir, also died in a similar manner—defending the Great Tree.
He was re-born through the power of Ygg somehow embodied in his amulet—The Oasis of
the Desert—and with the assistance of Maeve—the Devouring Implacability. The death
and rebirth granted Amir greater awareness and understanding of the World Tree and
its connection to all life in Creation. His new body resembles his original one.

Along with a living, shape-shifting sailing ship that was somehow made from the
wood of the branches of Ygg, These three individuals have become the first Avatars
of Yggdrasil.

The power tends to make those who embrace it see the “Big Picture” and lose focus
on individual concerns, drives, and motivations over time. Even key idiosyncratic
concepts like body image and death become much less important to those who serve
the World Tree as their awareness expands to view all life as a unified force.

To become an initiate of Ygg, one must hang from the tree’s high branches for at
least 7 days with no food, water, or sleep. This is the gateway to the basic
powers.

To become a full avatar of Ygg, one must have undergone the basic initiation and
then die near the Great Tree or near an avatar, artifact, or token of Ygg. The
death must be in the service of the forces of life and creation. The avatar will be
reborn after an indeterminate period of time ( hours to years) in a new body and
will then have access to the advanced powers.

The Power of Yggdrasil

Basic Power (Initiate): 45 POINTS

Walk the Beast Paths: Initiates may always sense their direction relative to Ygg’s
location in Shadow or at the poles of reality. They may sense the life force of all
living things in their current shadow (see below) and navigate the Beast Paths, the
way between shadows (shadow paths) that are powered by the life within the shadow.
Shadows with no life have no Beast Paths, and shadows with little life are very
difficult to, and very slow, to navigate.
The Beast Paths may not be used to seek out Items, Artifacts, or Creatures, except
for the initiate’s token (see below). It may be used to seek in shadow for a living
individual. A handful of willing companions may follow the initiate and move along
the paths with them. These companions must stay very close to the initiate or risk
being lost in one of the shadows they are passing between.
Moving by the Beast Paths is very slow, especially compared to the Pattern or
Logrus. The initiate is using a “road” made of life-force energy to travel between
shadows. However, an advantage to this method of travel is that the initiate and
any companions they bring along leave no trail that can be followed between the
worlds.

Hear the Murmur of Creation: By concentrating, the initiate can sense lifeforms
nearby and by focusing on one may identify them specifically and get a diagnostic
impression of their current physical condition. The initiate can also sense nearby
lifeforms near death. They can also sense and communicate very basic empathic
feelings with nearby lifeforms.

Draw Strength from Yggdrasil: By meditating, which takes a few quiet minutes to
kick in, the initiate may tap into the energy of Yggdrasil. This may be used as a
defense which is especially effective against the power of the Abyss. This process
begins to rapidly heal the initiate as well.
Cuts, bruises, and broken bones, as well as gunshots, blunt trauma, and impaling
wounds can be healed in an hour or less. Toxins and poisons can be slowed and
dissipated in the initiate within an hour or less. Burns, limbs, and organs can be
regenerated within hours or days of concentration.
The Initiate’s age begins to slowly reverse towards the prime of their life and
their overall physical health improves just by becoming an initiate. Chronic
illnesses (like cancer, chaos cancer, The Black Death, or HIV, for example) can
also be diminished and eventually fully healed. This may take years of daily
meditation to accomplish, but the initiate’s illness will drop into remission as
soon as meditation is undertaken. Just a few hours of meditation can cure minor
ailments (like a hangover or a cold) and give the initiate the benefits of a full,
healthy night of restful sleep. While they are meditating, the initiate does not
need to eat or drink and their heart rate (and blood loss), as well as respiration,
drops to near nonexistent levels as Yggdrasil fulfills those needs while it flows
through them.

Ride the Beast: While the initiate is meditating (see above), they may project
their consciousness into a nearby lifeform with a contest of psyche, while their
own body remains inert. This uses the natural connection that comprises Yggdrasil’s
link to Creation’s life force so it is subtle as far as such things go. A
psychically sensitive person won’t immediately notice the possession unless they
have reason to check or make psychic contact with the host.

Token of Ygg: The initiate “receives” (finds) a token from Yggdrasil. This token is
made using the normal Artifact & Creature rules. It counts as a focus of
Yggdrasil’s power so the initiate may draw from it even when severed from the life
around them (like in a lifeless shadow) though at a much slower rate.
The Player receives 4 points to spend as they wish on the token and like other
items created the initiate may recover it if it’s lost or destroyed by seeking it
in shadow. The initiate may spend more of their own experience points or character
points as normal.

Advanced Power (Avatar): +45 POINTS ( 90 Points total)

Share the Strength of Ygg: The Avatar may use the Draw Strength from Yggdrasil
ability (see above) to heal another by laying hands on them. This requires
meditation and the ability to touch the intended recipient. The healing takes the
same amount of time as listed above. Self-healing times listed above are cut in
half now for the avatar at this level of power. Minor injuries heal virtually
instantly for the Avatar.

Shadow Inhabit: The Avatar may use the Ride the Beast ability (see above) to
possess a lifeform’s body after a successful contest of psyches, but they may now
inhabit lifeforms anywhere in the same shadow or in other shadows possessing life.
The further away from the avatar, the lifeform is, the longer it takes to
psychically seek them out and inhabit their body. If they have previously been
identified using the Sense the Murmur of Creation ability (see above) it will speed
up the effort.

Hear the Voice of Creation: The Avatar now has an intuitive, constant empathic
contact with Ygg and all other Adepts and Avatars of Ygg. It is a non-verbal form
of communication that instantaneously reaches across shadows regardless of time
variations, psychic, trump, or shadow barriers. It does not work in the Abyss, in
Amber, or the Courts of Chaos. It can only express feelings and general desires and
motivations, but not complex thoughts or concepts. Adepts can be sensed and
communicated with through the ability, but cannot sense the link or initiate
communication until they are Avatars themselves. Ygg “speaks” to its followers in
this manner and it is very often silent or cryptic.

Chrysalis: The Avatar’s connection to the Creation-wide life force is now so strong
they may meditate (see above) and send their consciousness to another shadow that
has life, or back to Ygg, itself. The Avatar’s meditating body eventually “dies”
once the consciousness departs it, as it is now a mindless husk, but the avatar is
able to “grow” a new body, (which is normally an exact duplicate of the Avatar’s
old body) in the shadow they travel to. This is a slow process and is not a quick
method of transportation. It is slower than walking the Beast Paths. However, it is
very safe as the avatar’s consciousness is distributed throughout Yggdrasil’s
“roots” throughout Creation during travel. In effect you “don’t exist” while
traveling and this mode of transport and leave no shadow or psychic trail to
follow.

Eternal Spring: As long as the Avatar isn’t killed in, or by, the Abyss, in Amber,
or in the Courts of Chaos, and is not slain by any form of Primal damage, Yggdrasil
will grow you a new body…eventually. The exact time it takes and how much you
remember is up to the storyteller and your Good or Bad Stuff. You also are now
perpetually in perfect health, and effectively you do not naturally age any longer.