Creature Seed: Junkyard Spirits.

Junkyard Spirits

These creatures are a cross between nature and urban spirits; like the former, they are territorial, able to possess their surroundings, and have magic associated with their ‘element.’ And like the latter, they are essentially comfortable around humanity (note: not necessarily ‘nice’), able to use technology, and growing more and more corporeal every decade. At current rates, Junkyard Spirits will make the jump to an actual physical species within one hundred years.

As you might imagine, the ‘default’ form of a Junkyard Spirit is a vaguely human-shaped pile of garbage, trash, gunk, gleanings, shavings, discards, and junk, mostly held together by something that looks oozy and smells worse. They are not particularly hostile to humanity, but their appearance is sufficiently disgusting that Junkyard Spirits who work with humans regularly prefer to only partially manifest themselves- usually as a voice flowing through rusty pipes, a reflection on a oil-slicked puddle, or something similarly ‘spooky.’ And before anyone asks: fighting one is awful. It’s a giant pile of garbage! It has no organs to target! You will undoubtedly get tetanus! So don’t fight a Junkyard Spirit.

They do not exactly age, but they need fresh infusions of trash to maintain a physical body: a Junkyard Spirit slowly breaks down the components of their existing bodies into more or less pure elements – and yes, there are elements of the esoteric corporate world who have noted that. They’ve also noted the Junkyard’s Spirit related ability to tell an item’s chemical makeup on sight, which can be very handy with the right kind of scientific training. Fortunately, that’s the sort of thing that can be taught via online courses…