World Info

Asrea is a world with the technology and basic social structure of Victorian England. Humans are able to draw upon a spirit's energy to cast spells, but they also have to be careful not to harm or offend the spirits around them or they could cause their towns to suffer misfortune.

Spirits are born when there is an overwhelming amount of something in an area, and their strength depends on how prevalent their element/concept is in the place of their birth. There are two main types of spirits: Pure Elementals and Spirits born from intangible concepts (Love, Creativity, Luck, ect). No matter the type, every spirit is still tied to an element, though specific concepts tend to link up to specific elements. As an example, Spirits of Joy tend to be linked to the element Air. It doesn't happen 100% of the time, but it's common enough that seeing a Joy spirit linked to any other element is pretty rare.

Pure Elementals are the most abundant type of spirit, as the elements are everywhere. They're also the ones that are most often used by humans in spells. These kinds of spirits are rigid and don't change much from the moment they're created to the moment they die. Pure Elementals view themselves as superior and are at the top of the hierarchy in the Spirit World.

Concept Spirits are less common, as they require specific circumstances in order to exist. They're also pretty divided as there are many, many different kinds of Concept Spirits. If an intangible idea or feeling exists, then it's possible for a spirit to be born from it. Unlike Elementals, Concept Spirits are unstable. If they're in a place where there is an abundance of their opposite concept, then it's possible for them to turn into it if they're not careful. For example, a love spirit in a place full of hatred could turn into a hate spirit and vice verse.

Concept Spirits lack the raw elemental power Pure Spirits have, but they can bring small change with them wherever they go. Love spirits can cause people to become infatuated with each other, Hate spirits can cause arguments, Luck spirits can bring fortune, ect. They can also utilize the element they're tied to in ways that Pure Spirits can't.

Spirits are pretty free and kind of do whatever they want, but the Spirit World does have a hierarchy and some social etiquette that all spirits are expected to follow. The Hierarchy goes: Pure Elementals -> Most common Concept Spirits -> Least common Concept Spirits -> New Concepts.

History

In a small village by the sea, a young boy who was beloved by the people nearly drowned. He was saved by a passing fisherman, and everyone in the village rejoiced. So much happiness was gathered in this town that a Joy spirit linked to the water was born.

The world had recently just gotten out of a great and terrible war, which resulted in a lot of Joy spirits either fading away or turning into spirits of Despair. As such, the spirit that was created from the happiness of this village was the first Joy spirit to be born in a long, long time, and she was one of the few Joy spirits still around after the war.

Despi, a spirit of Despair, stole the newly formed Joy and kept her locked away. For 300 years Despi raised her. She rarely took her outside their home under the sea, never gave Joy an actual name, and convinced her that she was a "mirror" who did not have feelings or thoughts of her own. This was all done because Despi planned to absorb Joy's energy once she matured, in the hopes of becoming a Spirit of Joy herself.

Joy was curious about the Human World, so one day, while Despi was away, Joy snuck out and swam to the shore. There, she happened to come across a dying man. She wanted to bring this man some happiness before he passed away, so she took human form and created a pleasant illusion for him. She asked if he had anything she could help him with.

The man just said, "Please, protect that boy," and then died.

Joy didn't know who the boy was or how to protect him, but she felt like she should carry out this man's last wish. She had promised, after all, and she wanted to make sure his soul could pass on without sadness or regret. So, she traveled to the nearby village and started to ask around about the man and 'That boy.'

She was pointed in the direction of a nearby inn. There, she found a young boy of maybe five, alone and waiting for the man to return. Joy explained that she had promised to protect him, and the boy wordlessly followed her. The boy was mute, but Joy just made the assumption that humans don't learn to talk until their grown.

The boy was human, so Joy couldn't bring him to the spirit world or back to Despi's home. Joy also knew that if she went back to explain the situation, Despi wouldn't allow her to leave and the boy would end up alone. So, she and the boy traveled far from the sea to the forest town of Avon, where they settled down and Joy tried her best to learn about humanity and taking care of a literal child. Along the way she confuses the town, nearly burns down her home, finds out the boy is half spirit and that people are after him for his power, and accidentally insults a bunch of spirits because she doesn't know how to properly address anyone.

She continues trucking along without a name, and never thinks to give the boy one either. It's all really just kind of a disaster.

Personality

As her title implies, Joy tends to lean towards the cheerful and carefree end of the emotional scale. Happiness is her emotional baseline, in a way, as it's the emotion that created her. She’s not incapable of feeling other emotions, she just finds it easier to find happiness than others do. She finds little things in the world that bring her happiness and focuses on those good things instead of on the bad. She spent most of her 300 years basically under house arrest, and while she was very lonely and sad during that time, she focused on the things that she enjoyed to keep her spirits up.

She’s also very compassionate and will do what she can to help people through difficult times. She wants to bring people Joy and works to spread that happiness where and however she can. If there is something she can do to help someone, she will do it even if it inconveniences her. While this is a noble pursuit, her gun-ho approach to bringing happiness can sometimes cause problems for the people she's trying to help. She doesn't understand that while people have cherished memories/things they desire, seeing them doesn't always bring happiness.

Joy was raised to believe that she doesn’t have feelings of her own. She was always told that she is a 'mirror,' and that what she feels is just a reflection of other people's emotions. Joy has been told this for so long, that she believes it even though it's not true. This belief has led her to put other people's happiness before herself. In addition, she very rarely considers what she wants, because she is so focused on the needs and desires of the people around her.

This has also led to her pushes down any negative thoughts or feelings she has. Despite being sad and lonely while staying under Despi's care, Joy didn't believe that that sadness was her own and so she didn't do anything to help herself. She simply thought those feelings were Despi's, as the other spirit was a spirit of despair. So instead of reflecting on her own feelings and helping herself, she focused on what Despi wanted, which isn't a healthy way of thinking. It's something that will change slowly over time, as she experiences new things and learns more about herself.

Joy can be kind of unreliable without meaning to be. This stems from her not spending much time among other people, humans especially. She's sort of out-of-touch with what people want and need as a result. She can be slow to take care of tasks, is easily distracted, and tends to neglect the basic needs of humans (ie Eating, Sleeping, ect). She doesn't do these things with negative intentions. She's just lived so long in relative isolation from the world that time loses some of it's meaning and 'urgent' doesn't hold the same weight it does for everyone else.

The above shortcoming is something that she has slowly been gaining awareness of, as she has been taking care of a human child. It's a task that she was in no way qualified for, but she had sworn to protect the child, so she stuck by that. She is actively trying to better herself and understand humanity and the way their world works. She wants to be a good caretaker, both for the boy she’s protecting and the one she made the original promise to. She has a strong sense of duty in this regard, and she values keeping her word wherever she can.

Joy is very curious and interested in learning everything she can about the people and world around her. She knows some things about humanity, which she learned from other spirits and books she managed to get her hands on. For the most part, however, she doesn't really know all that much about the people, places, and things of the human world.

It can lead to her coming off as a tad strange and eccentric to other people. For example, she has barged into people's houses without warning when she wants to talk to them, and has been honestly surprised when they're (understandably) unhappy with her. She tries to learn from these mistakes and will ask a lot of questions if she doesn't understand something, which only adds to how odd she tends to seem to others.

Basically, Joy is a bubbly, cheerful person who loves helping out where she can and learning about the world around her.

Abilities

Illusion Magic: This is Joy’s strong suit. She’s able to create powerful illusions that can last from a few seconds to a few minutes. When first created, they take the form of bubbles. Once the bubble pops, the people near it will be caught in the illusion. She can make all kinds of illusions, but due to her nature, she tends to only really use them in ways she thinks will bring people Joy.

Minor Healing: She can’t heal anything bigger than a scrape or small cut, but she can soothe wounds and heal illnesses and toxins that may afflict the body.

Water Manipulation: Joy can manipulate, shape, direct, and create small amounts of water. This ability isn’t super strong, so she wouldn’t be able to just create a pond out of nowhere or take large quantities of water to create a huge wave. She mostly uses it for small stuff like swimming faster or creating a concentrated stream of water that has the strength of a pressure washer.

Lastly, Spirits have two forms they are able to switch between: a human form and a form from nature. Aside from her human appearance, her second form is that of a goldfish. She’s able to switch between the two at will.