"And now the two children ran about the forest, and sought the way home again, but could not find it, and only lost themselves more and more."
— "The Two Brothers" of Grimm's Fairy Tales
— "The Two Brothers" of Grimm's Fairy Tales
Boundaries and Biomes
Esk are bound to the site of their transformation.
The location where an esk was transformed is their boundary. During the transformation process they develop an energy link with this area and it becomes the source of their powers and within range of their boundary an esk is able to use magic and perform transformations. All esk can sense the power of their boundary but each esk has their own feeling about their home. Some feel comforted and take strength from their boundary while others feel like they are being held prisoner to the land. An esk can take on the role of caretaker or guardian if they feel called to do so, but some esk are very destructive and harmful to their boundaries out of rage or frustration.
Boundaries are fixed locations on Earth. Esk can only haunt places, not objects, and their boundaries are not mobile. Once an esk is tied to a location that is where their boundary remains unless they go through a second transformation elsewhere. Time may change many aspects of their boundary but it will not cause the esk to relocate; an esk may be transformed in a river that later dries up or in an open land that later becomes a neighborhood of houses, despite the effects of time they will remain bound to that location.
An esk's boundary can overlap with or contain others and there are no clearly defined lines between them. In nature, environments often fade into each other gradually and esk may also experience these gradations between boundaries in their form or emotions. The transformation site is a fixed location but the boundary extends out to a degree that varies from esk to esk. One esk's boundary might extend through an entire forest locality while another's might be restricted to a single tree stump. Esk can do transformations anywhere within the boundary radius and their manifestation will include all of their nature features, magic abilities, and summoned entities.
Resonance with their environment extends worldwide.
An esk develops an energetic resonance with their boundary that they hold with them any time they roam away from home. This resonance allows them to feel in harmony when they visit regions that are similar to the one they originated from. Esk that are from the rainforest will feel some of their power retained when in other types of forest and esk from the ocean will feel at ease in any body of salt water. The major categories of environments are called biomes and whenever an esk is traveling within their home biome they are able to maintain some of the power from their boundary. When an esk leaves their biome they become significantly weaker; they will appear without any plants or nature features and have no access to their magic abilities or summoned entities. Outside of the biome an esk is barren and sensitive esk will appear somewhat depressed or transparent if they wander for too long. Only Abnormals are unaffected by these rules.
Biomes, like boundaries, also overlap or have gradations between them and the edges are not clearly defined. An esk may experience changes in the transition zones between biomes or feel affected by an overlapping region. Nature features may gradually shrivel up or recede into the body, magic may slowly lose its potency, different esk feel these transitions in their own way. The only esk unaffected by leaving their boundary or biome are the Abnormals. There is more information about this in other sections of the guide.
For an overview of the biomes and their environments, please see this journal.
Transformation Rewards can be carried anywhere.
The only things a normal esk can bring with them to any region on Earth are their Transformation Rewards from performing transformations. These gifts are not linked to the transformation site; some believe they have a resonance with another realm not of this Earth, or perhaps with the Earth itself, regardless of biome.
Enchantments and Elements are affected by boundaries and biomes.
Enchantments and elemental powers increase and decrease based on their resonance with the environment they are in. If they are near the center of their boundary they are at full power, if they are in a biome that feels energetically similar to their home they will feel moderate power, and if they are in a location that is not harmonious with their boundary/biome then they will feel weakened power (or perhaps none at all). This part of the lore is open for player interpretation; how your esk's magic changes in different locations in both appearance and effect are up to you, but overall the esk should show the largest/strongest manifestation of their power close to the boundary and the smallest/weakest manifestation when outside the biome (unless they are Abnormal).
An example of how enchantments and elemental powers can be affected could be:
A healing aura enchantment within the esks boundary swirls with a glowing pink aura accompanied by a little halo. It can fully heal surrounding beings.
Within the biome, but outside of the boundary, the swirling enchantment shrinks to the halo, and the healing power can only partially heal.
Outside of the biome and boundary, the enchantment is reduced to the halo only, and the enchantment cannot heal.
Limitations to Geographical Locations
The places you can choose as your esks boundary are almost limitless. You are even allowed to choose specific geographic locations, like "Vietnamese Bay" or "French Vineyard".
Keep in mind however, that if you choose a geographic location for your esk, they are bound to that specific location on Earth permanently unless they undergo an Abnormal Transformation. This means that there will be less flexibility if you decide to make edits to their story or give the esk to another player.
However, there are a few geographical locations, that we ask players to avoid using as their boundaries, because they might be a sensitive topic to other players. This includes all places that:
- are attached to historical tragedies or disasters
- have political undertones
- or are explicitly associated with abuse or inflicting harm to oneself or others.
Please be mindful of this when choosing your esks boundary. Taking a more general or vague approach to naming boundaries that are close to such locations can help avoid any misunderstandings.
The location where an esk was transformed is their boundary. During the transformation process they develop an energy link with this area and it becomes the source of their powers and within range of their boundary an esk is able to use magic and perform transformations. All esk can sense the power of their boundary but each esk has their own feeling about their home. Some feel comforted and take strength from their boundary while others feel like they are being held prisoner to the land. An esk can take on the role of caretaker or guardian if they feel called to do so, but some esk are very destructive and harmful to their boundaries out of rage or frustration.
Boundaries are fixed locations on Earth. Esk can only haunt places, not objects, and their boundaries are not mobile. Once an esk is tied to a location that is where their boundary remains unless they go through a second transformation elsewhere. Time may change many aspects of their boundary but it will not cause the esk to relocate; an esk may be transformed in a river that later dries up or in an open land that later becomes a neighborhood of houses, despite the effects of time they will remain bound to that location.
An esk's boundary can overlap with or contain others and there are no clearly defined lines between them. In nature, environments often fade into each other gradually and esk may also experience these gradations between boundaries in their form or emotions. The transformation site is a fixed location but the boundary extends out to a degree that varies from esk to esk. One esk's boundary might extend through an entire forest locality while another's might be restricted to a single tree stump. Esk can do transformations anywhere within the boundary radius and their manifestation will include all of their nature features, magic abilities, and summoned entities.
Resonance with their environment extends worldwide.
An esk develops an energetic resonance with their boundary that they hold with them any time they roam away from home. This resonance allows them to feel in harmony when they visit regions that are similar to the one they originated from. Esk that are from the rainforest will feel some of their power retained when in other types of forest and esk from the ocean will feel at ease in any body of salt water. The major categories of environments are called biomes and whenever an esk is traveling within their home biome they are able to maintain some of the power from their boundary. When an esk leaves their biome they become significantly weaker; they will appear without any plants or nature features and have no access to their magic abilities or summoned entities. Outside of the biome an esk is barren and sensitive esk will appear somewhat depressed or transparent if they wander for too long. Only Abnormals are unaffected by these rules.
Biomes, like boundaries, also overlap or have gradations between them and the edges are not clearly defined. An esk may experience changes in the transition zones between biomes or feel affected by an overlapping region. Nature features may gradually shrivel up or recede into the body, magic may slowly lose its potency, different esk feel these transitions in their own way. The only esk unaffected by leaving their boundary or biome are the Abnormals. There is more information about this in other sections of the guide.
For an overview of the biomes and their environments, please see this journal.
Transformation Rewards can be carried anywhere.
The only things a normal esk can bring with them to any region on Earth are their Transformation Rewards from performing transformations. These gifts are not linked to the transformation site; some believe they have a resonance with another realm not of this Earth, or perhaps with the Earth itself, regardless of biome.
Enchantments and Elements are affected by boundaries and biomes.
Enchantments and elemental powers increase and decrease based on their resonance with the environment they are in. If they are near the center of their boundary they are at full power, if they are in a biome that feels energetically similar to their home they will feel moderate power, and if they are in a location that is not harmonious with their boundary/biome then they will feel weakened power (or perhaps none at all). This part of the lore is open for player interpretation; how your esk's magic changes in different locations in both appearance and effect are up to you, but overall the esk should show the largest/strongest manifestation of their power close to the boundary and the smallest/weakest manifestation when outside the biome (unless they are Abnormal).
An example of how enchantments and elemental powers can be affected could be:
A healing aura enchantment within the esks boundary swirls with a glowing pink aura accompanied by a little halo. It can fully heal surrounding beings.
Within the biome, but outside of the boundary, the swirling enchantment shrinks to the halo, and the healing power can only partially heal.
Outside of the biome and boundary, the enchantment is reduced to the halo only, and the enchantment cannot heal.
Limitations to Geographical Locations
The places you can choose as your esks boundary are almost limitless. You are even allowed to choose specific geographic locations, like "Vietnamese Bay" or "French Vineyard".
Keep in mind however, that if you choose a geographic location for your esk, they are bound to that specific location on Earth permanently unless they undergo an Abnormal Transformation. This means that there will be less flexibility if you decide to make edits to their story or give the esk to another player.
However, there are a few geographical locations, that we ask players to avoid using as their boundaries, because they might be a sensitive topic to other players. This includes all places that:
- are attached to historical tragedies or disasters
- have political undertones
- or are explicitly associated with abuse or inflicting harm to oneself or others.
Please be mindful of this when choosing your esks boundary. Taking a more general or vague approach to naming boundaries that are close to such locations can help avoid any misunderstandings.
