Node Sentinel

The Flow itself is already a dangerous nuisance when you go down there. But in the past, it was worse.
The Nodes were in control of the beasts and monsters. And it was nasty...

After our ancestors realized what was going on, they waged a war to hunt the nightmares which held the Nodes, then raced them after the Nodes reappeared.
All that, just to curse a few souls and make the Ground below a bit more hospitable for everyone.
If you know yourself what it feels like to be exposed to Flow. Imagine that experience being your whole life.

-Nurle Skoritzel

Description

Node Sentinels are highly respected people, who are in charge of limiting and controlling the dangerous effects of Nodes of the Flow.
Without a consciousness blocking the Node's ability to attract The Flow, there would be a risk of the upper streams losing their Flow and Atocites falling from the sky.
Whenever a Node needs to be find, Council of Planners commissions everyone able to use the Veil Flow to scout the Flow Dimension for unnatural concentrations of Flow and suspected Node reappeance.
After securing the Node, a young and healthy Raider is selected to absorb it and become its Sentinel until their demise. When the Sentinel dies, the Node they guarded reappears at a random place on Atocitera, initiating its search again.
Due to the effort needed to find the Node, Sentinels are often not permitted to join extremely dangerous raids. Even though as holders of the Node, the Sentinels are among the best ability users.

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Importance of Sentinels

Every natural element has Node. These Nodes, if left uncontrolled, will attract and accumulate Flow indefinitely or will be absorbed by some beast or monster, possibly creating dangerous mutations of the specie.
The Planners fear, that such a phenomenon would sooner or later start negatively affecting the upper streams. Not to mention the consequences the increased amount of Flow in one place would have on the ecosystem.
Having a dedicated person in charge of the Node allows for much easier tracking of the Node's presence. As the Node is tied to a Sentinel and the Sentinel is in turn tied to their Atocite.
After undergoing their training, the Sentinels can suppress all of the Node's influence.

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Selection of Sentinels and their training

The ideal Sentinel is a Raider, that survived a few years since their Rite of Maturity and is still yet to fully develop its combat style.
This combination of traits means that after the training, the Sentinel will be able to put the Node to good use.
The Sentinel's specific training fortifies their mentality, sense of self, and focus. All in order to suppress the Node and help them develop control over the Flow which they attract through the Node.
After assimilating the Node, the Sentinel will at first feel a need to get in close proximity to the Flow of their element and absorb it. This feeling is caused by the Node affecting the mentality of the Sentinel.
Throughout the training, they will learn to resist this urge, or even use it to detect and attract the specific element.
One of the first lessons the Sentinel goes through is the manipulation of Flow. This is important because after the Node is secured on one of the Atocites, it will start affecting the upper stream. Through the manipulation of Flow, the Sentinel is able to reverse this effect and maintain the strength of the upper stream.

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Dangers for Sentinels

Flow by itself has many negative effects. The amount of Flow that gets attracted to the Sentinel before they learn to suppress the Node would be more than enough to kill many Raiders.
Due to the massive exposure to the Flow, the Sentinel must periodically visit Void shrines and purge the Flow outside of their body. Without the suppression, the Node can be detected by some beasts or monsters of Atocitera. Using it makes the Sentinel a living lure for inhabitants of The Ground below.