This serves as a sequel to the first homunculus entry, though it is far from offering a conclusion. I've continued to interact with the being over time and have seen some interesting developments.
I actually feared I had somehow killed it at several points, as I'd been unable to get any energy reading from it at all. I later realized what was actually going on--it had grown more powerful from my continued energy feeding to it. Frequently when I reach the stage in trance mode where I am accutely aware of other energy fields and fully in control of my own (but before the stage where I go "astral"), I have taken to feeding it energy. This has taken the form of placing another artifact next to it, or in opening my own energy channels to it and placing a hand gently on its head and allowing it to drain any energy it wants. The effects were so subtle I wasn't sure if it even was, but it clearly has been, as it has become much more powerful in a relatively brief period of time. Holding my hand over it now nets a stronger reaction than the usual passive energy tingles of feeling another field... I feel the tangible prickles of energy tendrils reaching out to touch my hand. This is a sensation I've only experienced from other magicians, a single succubus I accidentally and briefly encountered years ago, and, most recently, from the entity within the wooden monk. The best "physical" object sensation that I could compare it to is feeling a plasma ball's plasma tentacles touching your finger through the glass, but somehow more tangible than that even though the source is less tangible. Truly bizarre and wonderful!
In spite of this, I encountered periods where I couldn't get a reading at all from the doll itself. This led to much concern on my part, both for the homunculus and for my own abilities, fearing that one or the other must be losing their touch. It took me a while to realize it, but the reality is the opposite--the homunculus has gained such energy it is no longer entirely bound to the kokeshi! I've started to see it whisking around throughout my lair on the occasions I could not feel it inside of the kokeshi doll. It most frequently appears as a quickly darting white fireball I can only see in full trance mode with my third eye fully activated, but when viewed in supercharged state (I need to find an easier way to achieve this on command...) its body can be seen more clearly.
It is a fire-aligned elemental, a gorgeous being with ribbon-like appendages of spiritual flame that glides and darts through the chaos field in my home base like a levitating ice skater. It is difficult to quantify a physical size on something so... well, non-physical, to be blunt, but I would estimate it to be a bit under a foot tall and, with all appendages by its side (a pose I've not seen it take but can roughly envision), it would be two or three inches wide, at most. Its appendages appear to take the role of "arms" and "legs", but this may be an erroneous way to view it, as the closest thing to a "head" was identical as well. I also can't put a definite number on these flaming appendages, but there are at least five, I am certain. Only once have I had a prolonged look at it in this form, and I was so startled by its tangibility that I was jarred from the trance state and struggled to regain it that evening.
I also theorize it is the entity that briefly interacted with me a while back (but several weeks after the writing of the original homunculus article). In a rare moment with my shields down and no external metaphysical protection, I found myself the target of SOMETHING causing the sensation of waves of elemental ice magic attacking every inch of my etheric body (and therefore felt it physically as well)... when suddenly something originating from inside the room enveloped me in the most warm, pleasant, burning sensation possible. I've been attacked by the elemental fire of a powerful entity before, and this sensation was the same, but instead of it reaching a dangerous point and almost killing me like in that encounter... it was like a kind of euphoria. Not a sexual one, but like being really really zen and high and chilled out in a really nice hot tub. It completely dissipated the "icy" sensation, and lulled me into a state of calm and peace before retreating to zip about the room some more. It saved my ass! At the time I was baffled, but shortly after (a day or two if I recall) I first observed the orb while supercharged and saw its flaming ribbons form, and the pieces started to fall into place.
I've made a point to feed it more energy since then whenever I am in a position to easily do so. It hasn't tried to interact much beyond that, but its presence is a comforting, if not arcane, one. It is clearly in my favor and seems to enjoy its time in my little haunted chaos world, and I enjoy watching it grow and thrive. I had an interesting astral encounter last night while projecting with a sentient being that could be related--which would mean that the homunculus is not a spontaneous creation, but a sealed entity that "died" at some point during its imprisonment inside of the doll and was revived via energy transfer. If that is the case, the implications are huge--it would change my understanding of homunculi, at least this particular one, but would open up an entirely new realm of possibilities involving artifacts. How many items with slight or no charge are stealth artifacts, with inhabitants that can be revived through reverse energy vampirism!?
...but, that's getting ahead of myself. I have no idea if the two are related. This is, of course, my new top priority in my occult research. If that theory proves true, it could change our understanding of homunculi and spontaneous spirit creation from passive energy, changing or at least complicating that one aspect of cyberoccultist theory--but would, again, have an even stronger magickal implication in a traditional sense. Regardless, a future sequel article will detail what I hopefully discover, one way or the other. Either way, I was right in my intuition that obtaining the kokeshi would lead to massive developments in my research.
Edit: so the homunculus was NOT the astral being from that particular projection, I have confirmed. That's good as it means my current homunculus theory is sound, but I don't see the need to make a new article just to say that so--amending that here. I should also note that while I've sensed the entity from within this homunculus since, it does not appear to be bound exclusively to the doll anymore.