Genius Loci: Difference between revisions

** There's an actual creature called a Genius Loci. They form from places that are undisturbed for a long time. They're normally not intelligent, but can enslave a creature, which then gives them intelligence and the ability to speak. They're often, but not always malign.

** As of the 3rd Edition Dragonomicon, Dragons (usually good-aligned ones) can opt to become a genius loci as an alternative to death from old age, lichdom or any of the other ways a dragon can live past its already substantial years. The dragon's spirit enters the chosen terrain (which often takes on a draconic feature like a hill shaped like a resting dragon). These spots are popular places for dragons to lay eggs and raise young because of the protective influences of the area's spirit. Dragons can even commune with the location to seek advice from the dragon that inhabits it.

** Sometimes, entire planes of existence are alive. The demiplane known as Neth is an entire world of living tissue. It's curious and sends out Children of Neth to learn about the multiverse. The Chaotic Evil Abyss, home to Demons, is thought to be sentient to some degree. Each layer has a dim awareness which bonds with the Demon Lords that rule those layers.

** In the ''[[Ravenloft]]'' setting, a Phantasmagoria is a particularly powerful sinkhole of evil that has spontaneously become self-aware.

* In ''[[Kevin and Kell]]'', a minor recurring character is a sentient tree. Fenton turns the tree (who assumes a maternal relationship to him) into a house, and Harelink later uses some spare space to set up their modem pool.

* ''[[Gene Catlow]]'' has ethereal entities tied to many locations. The most familiar is the Friendship Island Entity, who opposes a group of others known collectively as The Host.

* Castle Heterodyne in ''[[Girl Genius]]'' was originally a single, artificially-intelligent Genius Loci; after taking severe damage, it [[Split Personality|fractured into separate minds]] in separate areas that can't communicate with each other. There are three genii locorum that we've seen directly:

** A kitchen built specifically for a cook that went up the pole and started poisoning everything he cooked (but amused the Heterodynes) that may or may not recognize Agatha;