Just as creatures may be born phrenic, naturally come to psionic power, so too can some sites become imbued with psionic might. More commonly found underground near veins of deep crystal, phrenic locations can also be found aboveground, when psionic energies are released in massive amounts. Unlike places of contemplation or imbued sites, phrenic locations are wild and varied things, not holding to a single belief or concept and neither are they typically intelligent. Instead, a latent consciousness works toward preserving the location, but it is not in an active manner.
Some phrenic locations can develop protectors to ensure they are not harmed by others. These phrenic guardians act as defenders of the sites and perform functions that the area itself cannot execute, granting intelligence to the site that would not normally be present, although it is typically not an advanced intellect. Phrenic locations typically have an overwhelmingly strong aura due to the vast nature of them. Their effects can be determined when using detect psionics with a successful Psicraft check (DC 25).
Grove of Cynfire:
Nestled away in a remote portion of the oak forest lies a grove of trees that seem to grow and move of their own volition, instead of being shaped by their environment. Some who visit the small grove claim to see the trees themselves shift position depending on the weather, although no proof has ever been found to support these claims.
Sleeping within the Grove of Cynfire is a phrenic protector, Lur’tho’dyric. Composed primarily of soil and rock, this protector is one of the earthen phrenic guardians, ensuring creatures cause either no or minimal harm to its charge, the grove itself. Should anything enter the grove maliciously or unwittingly cause damage to it, the guardian awakens and exacts appropriate retribution. Sometimes, this retribution could be in the form of the creature repairing the damage done; other times, Lur’tho’dyric only stops when the offender is dead, although the guardian will not travel far from the grove.
The Grove of Cynfire was not imbued by an individual or group of individuals, nor was it created by intelligent beings. The area was the sight of a massive battle between a godmind and a group of powerful psions. The reason for the battle has been lost in the passage of time, but the amount of psionic energy unleashed between the two groups infused those trees that were not destroyed in the flames as well as the soil and the remains of what was destroyed. Over a matter of decades, new plant life grew, plant life imbued with the psionic power that had been let loose.
The creation of the Grove of Cynfire, named after the godmind whose actions inadvertently created the site, caused the very plants in the area to be immune to fire. Indeed, such was the affinity for fire that the plants developed that if fire is wielded within the grove, it is rebounded upon its user two-fold. When psionic creatures approach the Grove of Cynfire, the leaves of the trees appear to be shimmering as if the air around them was very hot. Non-psionic creatures see no difference in the appearance of the grove. Upon entering the grove, psionic creatures who have access to powers that utilize fire feel the urge to not use such powers, although it is not an overwhelming sensation. In fact, the urge seems to not be an alien thought to the creature, merely common sense to not use fire in a forest.
