Caretakers

OVERVIEW

Caretakers are fire spirits that rarely come into being when ever a campfire is left alone and lit in arctic regions. They take the general form of the person who left the fire going, although they leave a trail of embers along their path and their hair looks like it's made of fire. The exceptions to this are campfires left by centaurs, lamia, and arachne, as the resulting Caretaker takes the appearance of the human half. Another exception to this are gnomes, goblins, and both types of drakes, for which a Caretaker will not appear. Since Caretakers form in arctic areas, they tend to clash with ice spirits who do not want the fire there. Despite being a fire spirit, Caretakers have very little magic ability, only able to imbue their weapons with fire. Since ice spirits are only able to attack by creating golems out of the nearby ice and snow, it is not unheard of for a Caretaker to last for very long times. A Caretakers fire burns longer and hotter than a normal fire, so paths tend to form as travelers seek them out. A Caretaker is killed in the same ways a fire would be extinguished, and is connected to their fire.

It is common practice to leave a small bit of fire wood near a campfire when leaving, to assist any possible caretakers that appear. Despite the warmth of a caretakers fire, there is only one town that has grown up around one of them. The reason for this is most townsfolk can't handle the constant onslaught from the ice elementals.