Eidolon

Eidolon
Official art of a cougar-like wind eidolon, by Ethan M Aldridge.
Biological Information
Type	Elemental and Undead
Subtype	Spirit of the land
Parent race	Primordial
Abilities	Influence nature around them
Sociocultural Information
Also known as	Elemental eidolon Demithore eidolon (in the homonymous valley) Spirits of the land Eidolon spirits Elemental spirits
Planes	Material Plane (Exandria)
Locations	Demithore Valley Thorain Tundra Other points of Exandria
Language	Druidic (possibly)

Eidolons (sometimes called elemental eidolons) are entities worshiped as spirits of the land in certain places of Exandria, such as the Demithore Valley where they are called Demithore eidolons. The term "eidolon" is Issylran in origin.

They are said to thrive in natural places untouched by the interventions of gods, supernatural forces, or mortal authorities as extensions of the primordial titans. Such places sometimes have stone or other natural elements marked with Druidic runes that mark them as the homes and dens of those spirits.

Description

Demithore eidolons appear as mists in which they reveal the forms of natural creatures, including bears and horned beings.

The ghostly eidolons found by the Re-Slayer's Take looked like jellyfish. The Apex Eidolon, the most powerful form of primal spirit in the Demithore Valley, looked like a 15-foot-tall, bear-like entity with glowing green eyes, able to shake the earth and cause gusts of wind as it moved. Such apex spirits are solitary but dangerous, and maintain the balance of the cycle of life and death.

When Joan Abaddina summoned an individual wind eidolon to guide Bells Hells, the spirit presented itself as a cougar made of air with glowing golden eyes, a semi-ethereal elemental or "wisp of opaque wind".

The spirits in the Serratus Wilderness took the form of sprite-like beings.

History

According to Joan Abaddina, the eidolons were the children of the Primordial titans, and they were present in Issylra before and during the Founding, allegedly protecting the few pockets where the four elements found balance, allowing mortal life to develop and be part of a cycle of rebirth. While other elementals ended up facing the gods, these entities hid from the divine judgement, surviving and hiding in different places across Exandria.

At some point the eidolons started being worshiped by the mortals in the Demithore Valley, due to their connection with the land. In Hearthdell, a village in the region, the people started following a form of "pagan" life called The Loam and the Leaf, trusting the elementals to take care of them and their land, and entrusting the elders of the settlement with the task of communicating with these spirits. The elemental eidolons favored the local population when they were respected, having a symbiotic relationship with them, but let their discontent be known when they went too far in taking advantage of nature's resources (cutting down too many trees for firewood, for example). Around 823 PD the Sunrise Sanctuary was built in Hearthdell using the land owned by the Silvercall family (wealthy lumberers with bonds with Othanzia), and little by little the cult of Pelor began to gain presence in the locality; although most villagers remained faithful to the local spirits, they were not pleased with the cult of the Dawnfather, according to Elder Abaddina.

In 839 PD, while the Re-Slayer's Take were crossing the Utesspire Mountains, they got alarmed when their magic weapons detected the presence of undead nearby, until they discovered that the undead in question were ghostly eidolons: a swarm of beautiful jellyfish that moved through the sky without bothering them. Shortly after Grimm Heldwell, who had been studying these spirits and plotting with the Timberblight, traveled to the Demithore Valley and started using his magical lantern to absorb the souls of multiple jellyfish spirits, until he caught the attention of the Apex Eidolon; the primal spirit tried to attack him, enrage by his disturbance of nature, but the wizard used marionette vines to stop it, and absorbed its soul too. This act left the region exposed to the Timberblight's influence, and nature there started rotting. In the meantime the Re-Slayers continued with their missions and started noticing that eidolons were more active and behaving in unusual ways because of the actions of mortals. While they were there they sided with the local Apex Eidolon, an elk-like spirit, destroying the buildings in its ancestral territory, and thus gaining its trust; when Heldwell attacked the eidolon the adventurers tried to stop him, but he ended up absorbing it. With some effort, the Re-Slayers broke Heldwell's lantern, defeating him and freeing the eidolon spirits inside, who returned to their territories.

In 843 PD, with the arrival of the apogee solstice, the presence of followers of the sun god and guards increased in Hearthdell, stressing its inhabitants and encouraging them to revolt against the temple and its defenders. Elder Abaddina encouraged this sentiment, stating that it was what the Demithore eidolons, empowered by the solstice, wished for. That night, either obeying the elder's wishes or by their own will, these spirits of the land began to influence the night mist and the vegetation near the Sunrise Sanctuary, causing it to grow on the walls to make easier to climb over them. During the attack the eidolons empowered the Earth Guardian summoned by Joan, and when she lost control of the elemental, the spirits kept influencing it so it would still help in the battle; they greeted the villagers and their allies once the temple was destroyed.

Fan art of Orym and the spirits, by Maddy Marshall.

The following day, as Bells Hells prepared to leave for the Irriam Canyon, Elder Abaddina offered to send an eidolon with them to guide them, and when the adventurers agreed, the goliath summoned a wind cougar who set off with the group, animalistically, but affable with them. While crossing the Serratus Wilderness, Ashton Greymoore sensed the presence of the local elementals while trying to meditate the first night in the forest, and the spirits kept watch with them; the second night, several sprite-looking eidolons approached Orym, playfully sharing the space with him, and the halfling danced with them, doing weaponless Zeph'aeratam poses on a Bigby's Hand summoned by Prism. When the adventurers reached the shrine they were looking for, the wind cougar bade them farewell with a head bow and vanished, having fulfilled its mission.

Abilities

These spirits are capable of influencing the nature around them, accelerating the growth of plants and imposing their will on other elemental beings, empowering them. In addition, they are capable of giving strength to those who collaborate with them, such as Elder Abaddina, although it can be taxing for the person. The apex spirits are able to alter their shape and size to become more terrifying.

Archdruids can form bonds with these spirits, connecting with the land they protect and slowing down their aging process.

Notable eidolons

• Apex Eidolon of the Demithore Valley (bear)
• Apex Eidolon of the Thorain Tundra (elk)

Appearances and mentions

• The Re-Slayer's Take
  • "The Restless Retreat" (RT2x09)
  • "The Decomposing Domicile" (RT2x13), mentioned only
  • "The Mummified Menace" (RT2x15)
  • "The Cursed Contract" (RT2x16), mentioned only
  • "The Fading Frosts" (RT2x17), mentioned only
  • "The Stalked Spirit" (RT2x18)
  • "The Broken Beacon" (RT2x19)
• Campaign Three
  • "Faith or Famine" (3x60) (first appearance)
  • "Crisis of Faith" (3x61)
  • "A Long Walk of Reflection" (3x62)
  • "A Haunted Past" (3x63), mentioned only
  • "Reunited" (3x64), mentioned only
  • "A Path of Vengeance" (3x65), mentioned only
  • "For The Tempest" (3x68), mentioned only
  • "Reconciliation" (3x102), mentioned only
  • "The Cradle's Convocation" (3x104), mentioned only
  • "A New Age Begins" (3x121), mentioned only

Trivia

• In Ancient Greece an eidolon (εἴδωλον, meaning "image", "apparition" or "ghost") is a spirit-like image that looks like a living or dead person. Sometimes they were interpreted as ghosts, but in certain Greek legends a powerful illusion or shade (such as the one that, according to some versions, took the place of Helen in Troy) could be considered an eidolon.
  • In Warhammer 40K, Eidolon is an ancient lord commander rumored to have served as a lieutenant to Abaddon the Despoiler, whose name is similar to Abaddina's.
• Although eidolons are elemental entities connected to nature, they are also considered spirits that are counted as undead by certain magical devices, seemingly because of their connection with death as part of a cycle.
  • The Matron of Ravens described the old process of souls being reborn in Exandria as the "eidolon cycle". The Kryn Dynasty's myths describe the first elemental activity of Exandria being caused by the arrival of the Luxon, and they have a cycle of reincarnation centered around Luxon beacons.
  • This bears some similarities with the canon of Dungeons & Dragons (outside of Critical Role canon), where an eidolon is a type of devoted undead spirit that protects a sacred area, possessing special statues whenever it needs to physically defend that place.
• The way Demithore eidolons are described as nature spirits is somewhat reminiscent of fey entities such as nymphs, and in fact, some of the spirits do take the form of fey creatures.
• Heldwell's notes say that the Apex Eidolons are native to Issylra.
• According to Joan Abaddina, the Demithore eidolons aren't scared of Predathos.
• Although Elder Abaddina only mentioned wind, fire, and earth eidolons, it is presumed that water eidolons exist too, but probably in areas close to the coast or to rivers and lakes, not in a town on the mainland.
• The wind gibbons might be connected to the local wind eidolons, given that they share a region and air-related powers.
• There is at least one book about these spirits, Compiled Knowledge of Eidolon, which consists of a dense tome written in Druidic. The tome includes some amount of theorization towards the end, wondering what would happen if the nature spirits of an entire continent disappeared. It would be proven that the most powerful Apex Eidolons serve as protectors that block harmful influences, so if they disappear, such external forces can harm the ecosystem.

References

Art: