Altered Lore

Teija

9 min read

Teija

Overview

Teija, born 364 AC, is a Muna Exalt and Alterer who works to combat the corrupting effects of The Fagn in the Kiragata Marshes. Through The Musubi ceremony at the Bark Refuge within The Spindle, they bonded with Nauraa, a giant fox who serves as their Alter Ego. Teija departed with the other Exalts for the Terra Incognita as part of the Rediscovery Endeavor.

Background

Teija trained as a Muna Alterer, learning to perceive The Skein, the great tapestry that binds all things together. They developed skills in detecting intangible ideas that plague creatures and objects—concepts like “pain,” “destruction,” “impulse,” “acid,” and “gigantism.” Using an ivory blade, Teija learned to excise these parasitic ideas from corrupted beings and graft them onto others or release them into the environment. Their skills caught the attention of Bokang Nkoe, a mentor and druid who guided them toward The Musubi ceremony.

Teija underwent the ceremony at the Bark Refuge sanctuary within The Spindle, wearing ceremonial attire with hakama, obi, and headdress with bells. Inside The Spindle’s trunk, thousands of natural niches buzzed with life—birds, rodents, bears, wolves, sentient plants, and insects. Teija knelt in the center of a circle of moss-covered standing stones as priestesses extinguished braziers and lanterns, beginning the ceremony that bound their spirit to Nauraa, a giant fox Chimera. Through The Musubi, their senses synchronized, allowing telepathic communication.

The Kiragata Marshes have been struck by the dark effluvia of The Fagn. What was once a bucolic landscape has transformed into a dark, misty environment with gigantic corals illuminating the area with a reddish glow. Teija works methodically through the marshes, healing corrupted fauna and flora bit by bit, plot by plot. While working in the marshes, Teija and Nauraa encountered a black Chimera corrupted by The Fagn, with a snake tail, panther torso, and badger head with jet-black scales. Teija excised “impulse” from the Chimera and grafted it onto Nauraa, then removed “acid” and “gigantism” from the creature. The “gigantism” accidentally landed on Nauraa, causing the fox to grow as tall as a village steeple. After removing “pain” and “destruction,” Teija absorbed the pain and stored the destruction in a flask.

Over the years, many sentient species have come to rely on Teija to defend and rescue them from The Fagn’s spread. Despite ongoing efforts, the plague is gaining ground.

Timeline

373 AC - Offering to Kitsune

Teija and Nauraa brought sticky rice sweets to Fox Spirit altar, where Kitsune appeared and gave gift wrapped in oak leaf.

375 AC - First Service Summoning Inari

Teija performed first service with taiko drums and bell instrument, summoning Inari to bless crops while dancing together at pagoda.

378 AC - Leaving Earth Refuge

Teija left Earth Refuge with Muna Druid Bokang Nkoe as instructor, leaving parents behind to begin apprenticeship.

381 AC - Arriving at The Spindle

Teija and Bokang Nkoe reached The Spindle, marking end of pilgrimage before fasting, collecting roots, creating Namkha knot, and preparing for The Musubi.

382 AC - Treating with Sneezer Shroom

Teija treated young girl affected by Tumult singularity, summoning Sneezer Shroom to purify destabilized Mana through mycelial network.

384 AC - Addressing Human Encroachment

Dracaena led Teija to trampled marsh where community took land without permission, requiring Teija to relieve tensions with inhabitants.

385 AC - Negotiating with Coniferal Coneman

Teija prostrated before angry Coniferal Coneman to show respect, offering Mana-charged water to discuss village’s displacement by The Fagn.

387 AC - Witnessing Hellequin Hunt

Teija found a deer herd massacred by a Fagn-corrupted beast and joined Hellequin Hunters—recognizable by their antler headdresses—who drove the prey with requiem melodies blown through horns before a Huntress bearing Harvester initials delivered the coup de grâce, shedding ritual tears of duty for the life taken.

388 AC - Verdantback Delegation to Arkaster

Teija escorted centuries-old verdantback turtle through Arkaster streets to request government aid against The Fagn’s spread.

392 AC - Swamp Stabilization and Recovery

Teija and Nauraa rested after escaping a swamp they had stabilized, fishing in a temporary paradise of dragonflies and water spiders that would be destroyed if The Tumult passed through before the Expeditionary Corps arrived.

393 AC, January-March - Fleeing Belisenki at Storvhit

Teija manifested Eidolons and Simbi to aid Nauraa’s escape through Storhvit forest while pursued by hordes of Belisenki, attempting unsuccessfully to reach the creatures through The Skein to soothe their hostility.

393 AC, January-April - Leshy Bridge Crossing

When expedition halted at wide crevasse spanning miles that was too broad for ropes and grappling hooks, Leshy emerged from the gorge and stretched enormous tree-trunk arms across the gap, creating a makeshift bridge for Teija and the expedition to cross.

393 AC, January-April - Demeter Climate Conference

Teija attended meeting where Demeter conferred with Admiral Temera Singh about permanently changing Storhvit’s climate, and after hearing arguments from those demanding terraforming and those seeking compromise, Demeter concluded that humanity must adapt to nature rather than the reverse.

393 AC, January-April - Hostile Forest Encounter

When frozen taiga gave way to wooded expanses free of snow, Teija found the reawakened forest hostile and bitter through The Skein, discovering Three Little Pigs Eidolons struggling with voracious roots in a dark clearing before driving back the lashing plant limbs while the pig engineers fled.

393 AC, January-April - Magic Beans Experimentation

Before departing on expedition, Teija received packet of magic beans from Arjun that could sprout ideas into reality, testing them to create plant-based containers and tents while saving remaining seeds for critical moments.

393 AC, June-September - Ryukkōsai Festival Attendance

Teija attended Libellumines season at Vasanti Park in Arkaster, watching the insects’ ephemeral mating dance during the Ryukkōsai festival with its accompanying Midori Matsuri ceremony.

393 AC, June-September - Summoning Arawn for Missing Expedition

Teija summoned Arawn and his Cŵn Annwn hounds to track a missing expedition that had not reported for two days and was supposed to rendezvous with the Mesektet at the entrance to the Scholars’ Vault.

393 AC, June-September - Minotaur and Mythology Discussion

Teija observed their Minotaur Eidolon meditating beneath tree foliage and discussed mythological parallels between Asterion legends and Asgarthan civilization with historian Abiram Okech.

393 AC, June-September - Waiting at The Mess

Teija waited at The Mess for Sigismar, who was held up by administrative formalities at city hall. Teija observed the nearly empty canteen and the few families with school-age children who had been granted exemptions for key personnel, noting that tutors complained children had been skipping school since arriving at The Screed after months confined to The Ouroboros.

393 AC, June-September - Psychic Interference with Lernaean Hydra

During shadow attack in City of Scholars caverns, Teija psychically intervened through The Skein when Atsadi attempted to summon a bloodthirsty Lernaean Hydra, implanting alternative ideas into his imagination and altering the manifestation.

393 AC, June-September - Descent into The Crow’s Eye

Teija recommended to Admiral Temera Singh that exploration of the City be postponed because The Skein reacted strangely near The Crow’s Eye, as if its network avoided going too deep. Teija descended into the Crow’s Eye with Nauraa and a team of Hellequin hunters, some bearing marks of The Reapers, accompanied by Noosh Burrowers for tunnel excavation. During descent via Axiom freight elevator, Teija observed The Undergrowth—a partially buried jungle of tangled roots, gigantic stems, pink mosses, and dark blue geometric blocks veined with gold embedded in vegetation. Teija sensed ripples disturbing perception of The Skein, like interference, and temporarily severed connection to focus.

393 AC, September - Psychic Contact with The Hunger

Teija participated in the Exalt confrontation with The Hunger in The Maze. While Axiom machines flooded an arena with Sap to lure the creature, Teija meditated atop one of the floating memory blocks with Fen at their side and Nauraa providing protection. Through The Skein, Teija extended consciousness toward the entity, attempting to reach whatever remained within. The dendrites of The Skein spread around Teija like sea anemone tentacles. Together with Fen, Teija helped establish contact with Sofia, the child consciousness trapped within the monster.

393 AC, post-September - Witnessing Tāne Restore Explosion Site

Teija encountered a biome in the Cloud Realm flattened by an Axiom-Bravos experiment that overloaded an Aerolith fragment with vibrations to measure its explosive properties, destroying branches, shelters, and nests for miles around ground zero. The Oneiros Tāne walked among the bare trunks, and where his fingers brushed the bark his color rubbed off onto it, rising to branches that flowered as if experiencing new spring, while grass shot up in concentric waves around his feet and flocks of birds alighted on his arms. Teija bowed to the Eidolon.

393 AC, post-September - Communicating with Zaratan

Teija stood before the Leviathan Zaratan in ceremonial robes, declining bodyguards from the Tagmata offered by Sig. Through The Skein, Teija felt the creature’s curiosity and joy, and their dendrites tangled as Teija shared key concepts of human nature. The Zaratan asked if they came from below the clouds, and when told they came from much further away, revealed that visitors had come before the archipelago broke up and dispersed—before “the red wing” made them abandon these shores.

Abilities

Teija practices Alteration through The Skein, perceiving and manipulating the intangible ideas that compose reality. They can detect concepts plaguing creatures or objects—such as “pain,” “destruction,” “impulse,” “acid,” and “gigantism”—and excise these ideas using an ivory blade, grafting them onto another entity or releasing them into the environment. Teija collects Mana droplets that float in areas recently affected by The Fagn and can transform terrain to make it easier to traverse. Through The Musubi, Teija and Nauraa communicate telepathically and share synchronized senses. Teija can also psychically intervene through The Skein to alter other Alterers’ manifestations.

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