Marbles

*This is the Bottled Up Wiki page on Marble spirits. Click here to be taken to the official race sheet.*

*Marbles* are a race of spirits that live in Maalja. Best known for their psychic powers, marbles are a wise and intelligent race well respected for their dedication/work ethic and proficiency at multitasking. Marble's special artifacts are different from the other races, coming in a set of ten separate artifacts rather than just one.

## Background

Long ago, after the calamity that befell The Great Glass Maker's first world, the Goddess brought forth Maalja and gave it life. The marble's were the first of four created. The Goddess granted them wisdom and great psychic abilities to aid them in their everyday lives.

The reason marbles were gifted ten special artifacts instead of just one (as is customary for the other races) is not stated in the myth. However, it may have something to do with the nature of special artifacts. As a special artifact is the source of a spirit's power, it may be that marbles needed more than one to achieve the level of magic they can produce.

Marbles are naturally intelligent and excellent at multitasking, often found in high paying careers such as librarians, professors, and artisans. Today, many marbles work as personal assistant or advisors for high ranking individuals, and have somewhat symbiotic relationship with the glass.

## Appearance

While all spirits share many physical attributes, each race has specific traits that tell them apart. Aside from special artifacts, each race has a unique set of eyes that differ greatly from one another. This applies specifically to pupil shape and color. Irises rarely differ.

Marbles have a dark wavy slit that sits horizontally in the eye.

## Description

Marbles are born with a set of ten marbles which grant them their magical powers. These special artifacts vary in color and pattern that ranges from individual to individual (but a "cats-eye" design is most common), and are about the the size of your palm. Having more than one artifact, marbles often struggle keeping tabs on them all. While they are slightly magnetic, most marbles rely heavily on their powers to keep them safe, as losing them can lead to disastrous results.

Similar to the other races, losing their soul artifact(s) leaves marbles unable to use their supernatural powers, causes distress, and kills the spirit when destroyed. However, marbles will also slowly go mad over time if so much as one of their marbles have been destroyed or misplaced. The condition worsens as more and more are lost, eventually leaving them in a vegetative state.

This makes marbles the largest group of nectar consumers in the entire world. Fear of losing their sanity is "*considered a fate worse than death*" and drives many marbles to consume as much nectar as possible. A spirit can protect their special artifacts without magic if they are very careful, but using nectar provides security and peace of mind.

## Abilities

A marbles magic primarily comes in the form of heightened natural abilities involving intelligence and cognitive skills. Some of these skills are inherent to certain marbles and do no require nectar to apply, but it can certainly enhance these abilities. Additionally, as marbles are not able to store nectar within their special artifacts, they must consume nectar through their mouths to activate their powers — though they can drink whichever type they prefer.

* **High intelligence**: In addition to the traditional high cognitive capacity and mental processing, marbles are able to absorb information and learn new skills at an astounding pace. They can master many skills at once very quickly, making them excellent at multitasking.
* **Telekinesis**: Marbles have the power to act upon and move objects with their mind. While this is primarily used for maintaining/protecting their special artifacts, a marble can move and lift just about anything (there is no official limit, but it's implied that a spirits skill factors into the amount of strength they can exude). An especially talented marble can even physically manipulate others.

## Trivia

* The design of the marbles' eyes are inspired by catseye marbles, as can be seen by their similar appearance.