A.R.G.U.S. Threat Report
- Codename: None (uses real name of Criostal)
- Public Identity/Real Name: Crystal Green/Criostal
- Power Source: Magical being
- Power Level: 12
- Apparent Age: Early 20s
- Height: 9 inches (natural)/5'8" (human form)
- Place of Origin: Elysian Forest, USA
- Player/Type: NPC
Appearance
Criostal is a sprite of striking beauty—ethereal, ageless, and unmistakably fey. Though she often appears as an average-height young female woman, she stands just approximately six inches tall in her natural form, with every feature delicately sculpted by centuries of magic and life beneath the trees.
Her hair is typically shoulder-length and naturally dark brown, styled in a soft pixie-bixie hybrid that frames her youthful face with an artfully wild look. However, her hair shifts subtly with the seasons: a warm auburn in summer, chestnut with golden strands in spring, cool ash-brown in autumn, and deepening to near-black in winter. The change is not immediate, but gradual—like leaves turning or snow falling—marking the passage of time in a way few notice, but those who do never forget. For special events, she may change her hairstyle - during the Midsummer revelries or spring flights she often lets her hair hang loose. Among the fey she is more likely to let her hair hang loose, whilst amongst humans it is more likely to be tied up elegantly. Like her hair, her skin varies by season (even more than humans with exposure to sunlight) ranging from pale near-white in Winter, to rosy in Spring, olive and tanned in Summer, and faded-tan in Autumn.
Her eyes are a vibrant green, crystalline and luminous, like sunlight caught in forest dew. They seem to glow faintly in the dark, and sometimes reflect the colours of the forest around her—especially in spring and summer.
In her natural form, her wings are perhaps her most notable and beautiful feature: large and iridescent, resembling those of a dragonfly but tinted a soft, pearlescent blue that shimmers with hints of lavender and silver. Their movement produces a faint chime, like the sound of wind through glass and when she flies, they leave a soft trail of glowing motes of light. Her wings are magical in nature and can be made to disappear or appear as required, although by default they are out when she is amongst the fey and/or in her natural form, but concealed whilst in her human form.
Criostal typically prefers bright and warm colours, and her signature hue is red—a symbol of passion, vitality, and her enduring connection to both the heart and the flame of life. Her natural attire is a leafy bikini-like outfit, woven from magically treated enchanted leaves that give it a leather-like appearance. This outfit is attuned naturally to Criostal and, like her, it naturally adjusts to the seasons. It is not just clothing, but a living part of her magic—growing, adapting, and blooming in response to her environment and mood. Magical in nature, it changes with her forms and can be magically altered as desired (see equipment).
When she assumes a human form, often for interactions in Emerald City, her clothing shifts with her. She prefers to style her magical outfit into an elegant qipao-style dress—fitted, sleeveless in the warmer months and sleeved in the colder months, and high-collared—seemingly crafted of silk-like material formed from her own magic. The dress always retains some floral or nature-oriented motifs, often along the trim or embroidery, with variations depending on the season:
- Spring: Pale reds, rose pinks, and light greens, with floral patterns and petal-like accents.
- Summer: Bright reds, peach, and oranges, golden highlights, and a bolder, sun-kissed style.
- Autumn: Deep browns, copper, forest greens and wine tones, often with vine or leaf motifs.
- Winter: Dark reds, maroon, midnight blue, and blacks with icy white or blue embroidery, resembling frozen petals or frost-laced bark.
She wears no jewellery by default—her aesthetic is natural, unadorned beauty—but seasonal accessories sometimes manifest: blooming flower crowns in spring, gold-threaded sashes in summer, berry beads in autumn, and crystal hairpins in winter. She also dorns jewellery or similar accents for special events - for human events she is likely to wear human jewellery (often "new age" style) whilst for the Midsummer revelries and similar she will typically wear jewellery made from crystals and natural materials. Her makeup is magically applied and like her hair, skin, and dress, alters by season - though is mostly "natural makeup" in style albeit with more colour in her lips and eyeshadow.
Whether seen flitting through the trees in miniature, or walking through the city in disguise, Criostal embodies the wild, delicate beauty of the Grove she protects—and the changing world she still believes in.
Background
Origins: Child of the First Bloom
Criostal was born beneath a canopy older than history, in the days when forests stretched from sea to sea and magic hummed in every stream. She was a young sprite when the first humans began to rise from their wandering tribes into something more—settlers, builders, dreamers. They came with fire and curiosity, with open eyes and open hands.
And she adored them.
In those earliest ages—what mortals now call the dawn of civilisation—the fey and humanity lived as companions. Spirits of air and earth shared dances with druidic priests. River nymphs whispered to farmers. Dryads guarded groves while human children learned to speak to trees. There were bonds, friendships, romances. Fey blood mingled with mortal, seeding the lineages of those who would one day be called sorcerers.
Criostal remembers these days with aching clarity: the warmth of shared song, the trust in human eyes, the stories told around sacred fires. Her earliest years were filled not with fear, but with hope—a hope rooted in the belief that humans and fey were two hands of the same soul.
She grew into her teenage centuries during what humans now call the Hellenic era. From the Mycenaean coastlines to the gardens of Babylon, humanity and magic still walked together. Creatures like Criostal inspired myths of nymphs, dryads, and minor goddesses—not monstrous, but mystical.
But love, as she would come to learn, can be betrayed.
The Sundering
As the ages turned, so too did the hearts of men. With the rise of empires came hierarchy. With monotheism, came fear. To unify their rule, priests and kings declared only their gods were sacred—and all else, heresy.
Fey, once honoured, were recast as demons. Forests were felled not just for wood, but to drive out the spirits within. Magic became superstition, then blasphemy. Groves were razed. Ritual stones shattered. Kinfolk hunted.
Criostal, already centuries old, stood helpless as the bond she cherished was torn apart—not by all of humanity, but by enough to shatter the dream.
The pain of this loss defines her still. Her fury in Winter, her sorrow in Autumn, and even her joy in Spring are all echoes of that love betrayed. She does not hate humans because they are flawed—she loved them too deeply for that to ever be the whole story. But she remembers, and that memory is sharp as thorn.
The Magi’s Apprentice
Amidst the chaos of a changing world, Criostal withdrew deeper into the Elysian Forest. Not to vanish, but to learn. There, she studied under the Magi of the Grove, one of the great caretakers of the natural world—an ancient spirit tasked with preserving balance between the physical and spiritual realms.
Criostal was not the strongest of her kind. Nor the most cunning. But she was willing—to feel, to forgive, to hope. And so the Magi chose her.
For centuries, she apprenticed under moonlight and morning mist, learning the deep songs of memory, the cycles of decay and rebirth, the ways of trees and tides. She studied not only nature, but history—human history. She did not blind herself to the past, nor shun the future. When the Magi passed into the roots, Criostal took her place. Not as queen or warrior, but as voice of the Grove, undergoing a sacred ritual that tied her very being to nature more than that of normal fey. By the ritual's end, she was one with nature.
The Fading Forest and the Rise of Heroes
The Elysian Forest is not gone. But it is no longer whole. A shadow of its past magnificence.
Climate change, industrialisation, and centuries of “accidents”—fires, floods, poisoned earth—have stripped it of much of its power. Only a few sacred places remain intact: deep glades where magic still flows freely, protected by fey who brook no trespass. These are the groves of myth, where the Cryptid Clans—reclusive fey, beasts, and nature spirits—keep vigil, hidden from human eyes.
Criostal does not dwell in those deep groves anymore. She walks a different path.
Since the rise of the Sentinels—Emerald City’s first true heroes—she has taken up quiet residence in Overlook Park, one of the city’s last remaining green spaces. There, with a small circle of loyal sprites, she tends the land, restores what she can, and watches. Always watches.
Something is changing again. Not like before—this time, it's not fear that spreads, but wonder. Children speak to the wind. Activists chain themselves to trees. Aliens and supers walk openly without pitchforks in pursuit.
The age of heroes has rekindled a fragile light in the human spirit. And Criostal is watching to see if it will last.
Legacy and Purpose
At around 2,700+ years old, Criostal has seen eras rise and fall, gods come and go, trees grow from saplings to dust. And still she remains.
She is not a warrior. She does not command armies or raise stone walls. But she listens. She remembers. She heals. And in a world full of noise and scars, sometimes that’s the most powerful magic of all.
She stands now at a crossroads—not only between forest and city, fey and human, past and future—but between what was and what might still be.
The Grove endures. And so does she.
Personality
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Other Notes
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Combat Style
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Powers & Devices
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Gallery
Criostal's normal appearance
Criostal's typical appearance during Spring
Criostal's typical appearance during Summer
Criostal's typical appearance during Autumn
Criostal's typical appearance during Winter