ES

#3882

ES. They're a canid nature spirit with a huge mane of white fur and a twiggy, crooked body. Their face is featureless with two piercing dot eyes, and is vaguely humanoid when viewed head-on. Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) adorns their rump, and their right hindleg is replaced with a prosthetic-like hunk of driftwood. They're perched atop a pile of old CRT televisions, abandoned in the snow-- each flickering with images of their past life.

Warning for flashing text below (e.g. computer glitches.)
You can view a static version of the tracker here.

Origin: Trespasser

Nature: Haunted

Boundary: Dilapidated ranger station

Size: Crooked

Nature Features: Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum),

Driftwood

The Developed Biome badge.

◆ Growth points ◆

14 GP

GP Log

Masterlist

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❝

Watch your step. I'm down here, friend.
◥

The handheld transceiver, laying in the snow.

ES is a ghost even among ghosts. They are a friendly and sociable spirit, but inaccessible-- manifesting only as a disembodied voice channeled through busted electronics.

In their previous life, they were a musician and internet-(in)famous vlogger based out of what is currently Alaska.

◆ P█st L██ ◆

tba

❝

Ice rolls around in the heel of your glass
My friend, have you had your fun?

Sure as the salmon must labor her last
And you live in want of a run.

◆ Personality ◆

A soft-spoken but friendly soul, ES is best known as the unlikely traveling companion to the laconic Rhodes. Unlike her, they're incredibly warm and inviting, and they delight in meeting others out on the North American tundra.

As often as they can, anyway. Their only window into the world around them is Rhodes' transceiver.

This is because ES is a true ghost. It takes impossible effort for them to manifest in the physical world, and no being has ever approached them in such a state, living or nonliving. Their frame always flickers and disappears before it can be reached. For this reason, their interactions with others are overwhelmingly vicarious. Most know ES as a disembodied voice crackling through the transceiver's speaker, although they may manifest through other electronics that they encounter in the world, as well.

ES is reluctant to answer, when asked why they live in a walkie-talkie. Rhodes avoids such conversations altogether. Whatever the terms of this strange arrangement, they don't seem to bother them. For now, ES is content to be the funny voice that follows her around.

Somebody has to look out for her, after all.

◆ Enchantment ◆

Aleatoric Eye

While ES is bound to Rhodes' transceiver, they're not wholly trapped in it. They seem to have retained all of their sensory faculties from their previous life-- particularly their sight.

ES has a keen eye and a photographic memory, which allows them to keep an unbroken mental record of everything they witness. They use this ability (in conjunction with their elemental) to project these memories onto just about anything that will hold image or sound.

◆ Elemental ◆

Electric Shadow

ES has a strong affinity for abandoned electronics that they encounter out on the tundra. To this end, they've learned how to give the ghost back to a machine-- if only for a little while.

Usually, they use this ability to help out Rhodes: Unlocking doors, turning on lights, broadcasting distress signals, and so on. But just as often, ES uses it for amusement. Most attribute the magic of Rhodes' stories to her inherent skill as a storyteller, but these sleights of hand actually belong to ES. They delight in using their powers as instruments to entertain other ghosts, and share a strong creative vision with Rhodes that helps her stories come to life. They are constantly challenging themself, honing their skills in pursuit of ever more creative, more artful, more bombastic applications.

ES doesn't train this talent just out of love for the craft, though.

The bundle of old CRT televisions, flickering with distorted images of ES's past life.

Sometimes, warped memories of a very different ghost flash over those old CRT televisions and shattered phone screens. Without a physical body, ES struggles to feel close to Rhodes. Puppeting around images of their past life is the only way they know how to bridge this gap.

This power proves destructive in the long run, however. ES has yet to find a way around this.

◆ Notes ◆

  • ES almost exclusively interacts with others through Rhodes' transceiver. When they do attempt to hold a steady shape, they're a darting shadow at the peripherals, a strange noise, or a flickering reflection on a television screen. They are ashamed of this form and are very afraid of others seeing them like this.

    The edge of the taiga, somewhere in the far North. A black shape darts on feeble legs at the peripheries.

  • Rhodes doesn't know that ES can manifest a physical form, however weakly. At least-- she doesn't know that the ghost she sees is ES...
  • ES has a gentle and musical voice, filtered through the radio static of the transceiver. Their energy is usually magnetic and tender, but in moments of duress it becomes keening, fissured, and chaotic.
  • In addition to they/them, ES also uses she/her and he/him pronouns.

◆ Use ◆

ES can be freely used as a character in your own stories. Do note that they almost never manifest in a physical form around others. Instead, they interact with the world as a disembodied voice channeled through various electronics. They are likely to be a warm and welcoming presence, particularly delighting in the company of other creative types.

Rarely, they're a true ghost-- distressing and inarticulate.

ES cannot be used as a creator esk at this time.

I WON'T SAVE YOU

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A black coniferous treeline peeks through thick, white fog.

Photo by Tim Martin