Do Entity

Do entities - named after the term 'do' for way - are insubstantial motes of living arcane energy that infest the spirit of an infected individual and, when cultivated properly by individuals with the right knowledge, serve as the basis of all 'magic' within the Ten Sword Isles.

Basic Information

Anatomy

In the rare circumstances where they can be observed, a do entity resembles a brightly-colored comet around the size of a mayfly. The actual body of a do entity is slightly teardrop-shaped and is followed by streaming tendrils of energy wherever it goes. Do entites have also been compared to tiny jellyfish, though they are convex at their caudal extents. Because they are incorporeal even when briefly rendered manifest during the activation of a 'spell' or other supernatural effect, the internal anatomy of do entities is completely unknown.

Genetics and Reproduction

Do entities burrow into the spirits of hosts, creating cysts that are by-and-large harmless to the host but which provide empty spaces for small clusters of do entities to inhabit. The creatures multiply asexually there, the rate of division and level of horizontal gene transfer being determined in part by the behaviors of the host. These cysts - really new organs - become entangled with the host's will and senses and can sometimes be sensed in the host's physical body as a vague sense of 'potential.' When the host uses a supernatural or 'magical' effect, the do entities react to the host's actions based on the specific way in which they have been trained. For example, when a caster of some description speaks of having a limited number of uses of an ability per day, this is because the do entities associated with that ability flood out of the cyst upon use and can only reaccumulate there over time.

Growth Rate & Stages

Do entities only have a single life stage, being more or less adult in physiology the moment they cleave from their parent, but can grow in dimension over time as a result of being fed, trained, and cultivated by the host.
Young, undifferentiated do entities are small, faint, and have a desaturated blue-green color to them. Over time do entities tied to a specific kind of host, cultivated in a certain way, or found in places with strong associations with particular kinds of magic brighten and take on a hue related to their milieu. For example, do entities found in the environment near the academy at Fox Mat have a watery blue color because of that location's connections to water- and darkness-oriented 'natural magic'; within the halls of the academy itself, however, where a large number of martial adepts and arcanists interested in the development of foxfire congregate, the do entities have grown large and fiery orange due to the specific way in which they have been 'domesticated' by decades of scholars.

Ecology and Habitats

Do entities reside in the layer of reality that some refer to as the 'spiritual plane.' The spirit realm is not so much a distinct place as part of the structure of reality where spirits, including the souls of sentient beings both alive and deceased, reside. In this realm, do entities can by-and-large ignore the presence of baryonic matter, though many forces (such as gravity and strong magnetism) do still apply to them. Do entities have the ability to swim through the spirit realm like fish through the ocean, forming currents, streams, and schools. Some living creatures - though by no means all - who encounter such a school may become 'infected' with do entities, gaining the potential to wield supernatural powers through the manipulation and cultivation of the do entities via the resulting cysts.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Do entities usually take on mutualistic relationship with their hosts, feeding on excess spiritual energy in exchange for providing the host their suite of senses and, potentially, defensive benefits. Certain dark branches of magic are capable of kicking the energy needs of an opponent's do entities into overdrive, however, causing this relationship to become more parasitic in nature. This sort of ghastly magic typically has the result of weakening or killing the target as the do entities suddenly start trying to eat their way out of their host. Becoming infected with do entities and failing to cultivate them in some way can also lead to form of parasitosis, but this is a more gradual process and can be reversed by heeding the call of one's own potential; for the supernaturalists of the Ten Sword Islands, finding out that one carries do entities, feeling compelled towards a higher purpose, and heeding the call of adventure are, for all practical purposes, considered synonymous with one another.

Behaviour

Do entities are barely of animal intelligence individually, but become more intelligent in larger numbers. For example, the creation of a 'familiar' or similar entity by the host is the result of a large concentration of the do entities attuned to the host gathering tightly together within another creature, binding that creature to the host's own subconscious.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Do entities are believed to share sensoriates amongst themselves and, to a certain extent, with their hosts. A swarm of do entities have a collective sense of physical objects in their vicinity, analagous to touch, but are actually only capable of making contact with effects that cross into the spiritual layer of reality unless specifically conditioned to do otherwise by their hosts. Do entities are similarly deaf and lack a sense of taste or scent with regards to material objects unless otherwise conditioned. Light does cross the boundaries between the physical and spiritual dimensions of reality, and do entities have a much wider visible spectrum than any flesh-and-blood creature.