#farlien

[pawnshopsouls]

This water lady is a delight. So are you more powerful the closer you are to a source of water? If so, what would happen if one of your kind is stuck in a desert? Also, how did you come to know Salem?

"Aww, thank you! I do my best," Cen replied with a burbling giggle. "And yes, I am. We Farliens shrink when we're dehydrated and the smaller we are, the less we can handle being in larger bodies of water. Desert Farilens though, are very clever. You see, they don't usually live in exposed bodies of water like the rest of us do. Usually they live in plants like cacti or underground springs. This actually changes their color - minerals from underground turning them blue and purple while vitamins from plants and such turn them yellow or green. Very rarely are oasis available, but when they are, many of all sorts and colors come to bask."

She sighed and gently folded her arms. "Unfortunately... many desert Farliens are captured that way, or are bred by caravans to be sold as living decorations. I know a few who have escaped that lifestyle... at very great cost..."

For a moment, the gentle farlien was lost in thought before she snapped back to reality.

"Oh, sorry! Lost in thought. What was your last question?"

[pawnshopsouls]

Created from the leylines? So you're a byproduct of ambient magic, or is there a consistent method of your creation? And since you mentioned taking many forms, I have to ask this of all shapeshifters, how stable is your form? Is it easy to disrupt your natural magics, or are you a solid build with natural defenses that allow you to hold your form even in the absence of magic?

Cendra let out a delighted trill before realizing her volume and turning to check on Salem. Still unconscious, but still breathing and not bleeding, thank goodness.

"Well, yes," she replied with a smile. "Layflow is powerful magic in Bel'Terum. Our Steward made it that way so that we would be born. As for our magics, we're very stable. It's hard, after all, to meddle with pure elemental magic, especially when it has a vessel. You see, unlike other beings, our magic doesn't disperse into the Ether. It continues with our current and grows within us until we pass on. Our surface tension is part of that. It's flexible enough to be punctured without harm but sturdy enough to keep the delicate magics within us safe.

"As for our shapes, we're not solid nor stable. We change at will, constantly, never in the exact same form as before, any more than the water in a lake or river is in the exact same form as it was before. Because of this, we can take whichever shape we chose! Though we are never fully solid."

To demonstrate, Cendra extended her feminine body and twirled it, lifting a newly-made translucent leg like a ballerina in a music box. She twirled and danced a bit before letting the form sink waist-deep back into the watery dome. "You see, we are water spirits, and rare is the farlien who's surface tension is strong enough to act as actual skin. One Charles Byron is the only one I know of who can tense his surface tension enough to make a membrane even close to human skin. But his type are... bred for that... But I'll say no more on that. Mr. Byron is his own story and I'll not meddle in his... sad affairs."