Naiad Racial Page

Basic Information
Introduction to Naiads
Naiads are timeless, Ethereal beings that simply exist because they are told to. They are not born, but created. Don’t age, but grow. They’re conceptual beings brought to life by the strong enough desire to save what is now dead. They are the last, burning wish of a group of people that met a tragic end brought life simply by enough of a will from those people. When a group of people are pushed to their limits and all met with a terrible fate, their final thought -- final emotion -- binds them together to create a dormant Naiad. From within the Dangai these dormant Naiads rest until awoken.

But what awakes them? That is the real question. It varies from Naiad to Naiad and it seems to be tied only directly to what fate wants of them. They could rest for centuries upon centuries before waking, or even only a few moments. Whenever they are stirred, however, their beings are thrusted into the world of conscious with no regard to filling in the blanks. They are lost souls who only recently realized what they are, but even at that they aren’t sure.

However, they know their legacy and for that reason they are walking relics. Beings from a time where their previous selves had struggled to survive and failed in the end. For this reason, Naiads are often colored by their past selves, meaning that one born from the Quincy Culling may find themselves drawn to their former race as well as find their powers and skill set vaguely familiar to what they had before. This could also extend to broad emotions, such as a Human dying from the Incursion having a particularly strong hate for Hollow Breeds.

But, like all things, these vary wildly from Naiad to Naiad with no rhyme or reason to the madness. Some remember the most intimate details of their dying race, such as the final thoughts of everyone that brought them to life, whereas others find themselves only recalling the general idea of what had happened. In due time, however, all Naiads learn of what created them and become monuments for what had happened. Often, they enjoy preaching of what had happened to their race and bring warnings to those who seem ignorant, though you can never be sure with a race so fluid.

Creation of a Naiad
Naiads, as mentioned above, are created from the massacre or large scale death of a specific group of people. This usually manifests from wars, sudden massacres, or natural disasters. When a group of people desire the same thing with their dying breath, it creates an ethereal being within the Dangai that manifests that core idea or emotion. This ethereal being cannot interact with the physical world, nor can it move or do anything except perceive the world around it. During this state, the being is typically unable to be detected, though recent Shinigami technology is beginning to sense it.

As an ethereal being, the Naiad has no real emotions or ideas. It simply is. For that reason, they often refer to their time like this as a dream, or something equally lucid feeling. However, if given enough time -- typically a few centuries at least -- the Naiad can begin to have its own thoughts, emotions, and even ideas. Of course, it still cannot interact with the world in any way, but it starts to show signs of developing.

All Naiads, however, need to have some sort of event that triggers them forming their physical body. This could be as simple as the Naiad deciding it’s time to wake up, or an outside force drives them to suddenly manifest and flee. Typically, events that triggered their initial creation will also trigger their physical manifestation. As such, a Naiad born from war, might be triggered when a similar war breaks out.

There is no time limit or cooldown period in which a Naiad can or cannot manifest their physical body. They can lie in the Dangai for centuries, or awake the very next day. It's all circumstantial and has absolutely no effect on the actual manifestation of the Naiad itself.

Birthrights
The singular idea that bands together to form a Naiad is described as their Birthright. When the combined will of enough souls merges together to create them, they find themselves bound by this idea. More often than not, this comes from a typical dying wish, emotion, or question, and is typically larger than life. Some examples would include: Hate, Denial, Confusion, or Vengeance, though can also extend to even larger ideas such as questioning one’s identity, or the meaning of life.

These Birthrights consume the forefront of the Naiad’s mind, driving them to fulfill the dying wish no matter what. Young Naiads find their minds completely lost in their Birthright -- it is who they are and that simply is all there is to it -- while wiser Naiads tend to have a more fleshed out personality with unique ideals and goals that typically branch off their Birthright.

Similar to the Aspect of Death of a Hollow Breed, these Birthrights can be used as very brief summaries of the beings, though in a lot of ways, they are a reverse Aspect. The Aspect often has a negative connotation and promises the death of the Hollow if they continue down their path. However, for Naiads, their Birthright is the means to their end. It is what will bring them to the closing of their story in whatever way possible. This could be death, or avenging what they had lost depending on the nature of the Naiad. Regardless, their Birthright is the path they must walk, not the path they must learn to control.

Cor
Cor are the source of Naiads powers. They are small creatures or objects, often just big enough to sit in one’s hand or rest on their shoulder. These conscious beings can be anything from a small animal to an inanimate object, though often have some sort of symbolic meaning to the Naiad or their former selves. These Cor are the source of each Naiad’s unique power and the general idea of how powerful the beings are.

After all, Naiads are just concepts wandering around -- they have no soul, no place in the Cycle of Rebirth. It is their Cor that bounds them to reality and gives them their physical forms. For this reason, the Cor is, essentially, the heart of the Naiad and the only way to successfully kill one. The destruction of a Naiad’s body would only result in them being reborn days later by their unharmed Cor.

For this reason, a Cor only comes into existence when the Naiad is awoken. Most Naiads come to be with knowledge of how to use their Cor, though the Cor itself might not be so receptive to who it is bound to. However, the Naiad is always familiar with the specific name of their Cor, as the Cor are named after their Birthright.

As varied as they are powerful, Cor can serve many different roles for Naiads. For some, they are wise mentors who help guide the Naiad down their path, but for others they are nothing more than a mindless pet. There seems to be no explanation as to why a Cor is intelligent or not, though it does seem to have some relevance to their former selves. Naiads born from a Shinigami Massacre may find their Cor to be related to that of a Zanpakutou Spirit, whereas former Hollow Breeds may find their Cor to be empty husks that only serve as their lifeblood.

A Cor’s power typically lays dormant for as long as the Naiad is not in danger, though when threatened the Cor will awaken and allow the usage of their powers. However, because Cor are often their own individual, they only awaken when they feel necessary, not just when the Naiad calls upon them. For this reason, it takes an extreme amount of skill and trust for a Naiad and Cor to be perfectly in sync.

Specific Information
Naiad Physiology
Characteristics of Naiads vary as wildly as languages, however they tend to be a race of extremes. Extremely tall, or extremely short. Extremely ostentatious, or extremely average. Some appear as monstrous creatures that would scare even a Hollow, while others look like a nameless person on the street. For the most part, however, they tend to retain at least vague qualities of the race they were born from. That is to say, a Naiad born from the Incursion would most likely have Japanese characteristics, or take on features of the Hollows that killed them.

However, at the end of the day, all Naiads are spiritual beings. The youngest of Naiads can only appear before other spiritual beings, though as they progress can let spiritually aware and even un-spiritually aware humans see them as they see fit. While a Naiad does have its standard form -- the state it identifies itself as -- the details of their body are just suggestions they use to help integrate their physical bodies into the real world. As such, particularly skilled Naiads can easily change core features of their body to those around them, proving that they are no more than concepts manifested within the real world.
(This effect does not apply to the Cor)

Naiads do not age, nor do they really appreciate the concept of time moving. As they were born in a place where time is laughed at, they don’t really refer to themselves as being a certain amount of years old, but rather state when their initial creation was sparked. An example would be a Naiad saying they were born from World War Two, as opposed to saying they are 76 years old. Similarly, they are created as mature beings and do not age in any manner. Their bodies are in a constant state that never changes unless they command it to.

For this reason, Naiads are regarded as timeless even when compared to other spiritual beings. Between their otherworldly appearance and the way they seem locked in time, even to the oldest of souls, they look ageless. However, that isn’t to say they do not appear to be a certain age. While most Naiads look mature, but don’t seem to have an age tied to them, there are more than a few that can easily be pegged as a teenager or even an elderly person.

Naiad Etymology

Combat with a Cor

Statistics

History
Introduction
Every cluster of Naiads has their own story based around the tragic event that created them. For this reason, there is no singular history of the entire race, but rather histories of the clusters that have shown up over time.

History of the Peregrinan [Javaids Variant]
Like all Naiads, the story of the particular group that go by the Peregrinan-- or the Wanderers -- begins with the ending of another race. Cornered and caged, the failed experiments were quietly ushered into their deathbeds without a single bat of the eye from the Shinigami. After all, the Javaids had been nothing but humiliating to everything around them. It would be a mercy killing, honestly.

One by one, the Javaids were slaughtered and never to be talked of again by anyone. Their memory fading with time and not a single document to prove they had ever been real. The only lingering hope of their revival sat tucked away in the furthest corner of the Dangai, unaware of its own existence for what felt like no time at all. Born from those final few moments of the failed experiments, the Naiads slept, festering in their own Birthrights for centuries.

Quietly, they slept, ever so slowly letting their consciousnesses reach out and allow them to make sense of the world around them. And so, when they were aware, they simply watched from their hidden place. Watched as time passed and the world change. Unaware of each other, but clustered in a small group, they could only stew in their thoughts and wonder the bigger questions in life.

It was only when their peace was disturbed that they found themselves thrust into physical bodies and forced to flee the home they had been curled up in for the past five centuries. Scattering about the three worlds, the dying wishes of that slaughtered race now have to truly face themselves and what it means to be real.

But more importantly, they must force upon the world their Birthrights.

History of the [Quincy Culling Variant]

History of the [Siege of LN Variant]

History of the [Massacre Variant]

History of the [Incursion Variant]