Gauthic Creatures
Gauthics are Mortal Creatures that are not the products of divine creation, but of magical transformation. Gauthic lines have their origins in arcane experimentation, theurgic invocation or exposure to powerful planar energies. While they bear many hallmarks of life, and some even have many of the qualities of Sympatic life, gauthics never possess the divine spark of a soul, and so lack the qualities of divinity and communion. Regardless of their intelligence, however, many gauthics are despised as 'unnatural' by their sympatic neighbours.
Gauthic Transformations
The experiments which transform a gauthic creature use a variety of methods, although all call upon planar energies to fuel their work. Some are conducted from mere curiosity, others to fashion tools and weapons, or out of a desire to help a weaker species survive. The most successful gauthic creations find an ecological niche, although none are as successful and widespread as their natural (genic) counterparts.Method
- Investment is the simplest and most haphazard method, which involves simply exposing a cxreature to massive amounts of planar energy. This method is often fatal to the subject, and the results - while tending towards generating the ability to resist further exposure and manipulate the energy in question - are unpredictable.
- Amalgamation is the combination, usually by surgery or polymorphic breeding, of traits from different donors, accompanied by infusions of planar energy to cause the combination to take. While more complex than investment, it is generally considered crude by connoisseurs of arcanotaxonomy.
- Transmutation is a painstaking process of guided magical transformation, either to a specific end or just to see what might happen.
- Animation involves the finding or creation of a suitable body and using planar energies and magical formulae to grant it temporary or permanent animation. This process requires meticulous preparation.
- Thaumagenesis is the process of transmuting the desired form directly from energy. It is a rare and incredibly difficult process.
Energies
- Divine transformations are usually only affected by gods, and so the results are genic and even sympatic. In a few cases, a hubristic cult will attempt to manufacture a champion, with wildly unpredictable results. The largest act of divine transformation not conducted by a god was the creation of the Giantings.
- Arcane transformations are the domain of wizards and alchemists, affected through a combination of natural philosophy and advanced spellwork. Such transformations are meticulous and exacting, and even the slightest slip can produce erratic, even disastrous results.
- Primal transformations usually occur when a mortal or group of mortals spends too long in the heartwild of a Primeval Wilderness. They can also be enacted by powerful genies and archfae, but such works are usually single transformations performed against a mortal who transgresses some primal law, and are as unique as works of art.
- Exotic transformations are sparked by Otherfire or other energies from beyond Galath. They are typically extreme and monstrous, and rarely result in anything viable. More common are transformations which used Otherfire as a secondary energy. The dark flame is deceptively malleable, offering a shortcut to the unwary.
Gauthic Creatures
Origin/Ancestry
Magical Creations
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