Ascended
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| Please note: The following information is scarcely known. As such, you cannot assume to be aware of this information unless taught about it in-character. |
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Background
Sacrifice
In the day to day, you see men and women of merit and prestige rise and assume a higher role upon the mantle of life, and the Ascended were no different. Our duty was absolute. Our methods sometimes measured, sometimes cruel, but always necessary. Another soul twisted by corrupting magics, another fallen deity to be sealed in slumber once more. But much like how a cat patrols the home of its master the feline is ill-prepared for what may be looming beyond its borders. We never saw it coming, and even had we all the years of our forefathers combined there was nothing we could have done to stop it.
It came from the Void. A writhing, fleshy creature of endless eyes and fangs like a serpent’s littered its gaping maw. Chaos had been given form, and a voracious appetite that could not be satiated by all the aengulic realms it doubtlessly passed on its way to ours. It was the scholars of men that laid eyes upon it first and likened it to a cosmic comet. But then it grew larger and larger as the days and hours passed by until its size rivaled the holy moon. Its deathly form casts the moon red, warning all of what was to come.
Time was not a luxury we had, even though we were timeless. From first sight to assured panic, less than a week had gone by. The Writhing Chaos would surely destroy this realm and all its denizens. All our histories, and our futures, doomed to the silence between its marbled teeth.
And then we saw her.
Like the sun rising from the horizon, the Archaengul arose from the lightened side of the moon in her full and unblemished glory; a shimmering silhouette of pallid moonlight that burned away the darkness of the deep sky. Her hands arose to greet the Writhing Chaos as it loomed near, her pale visage unwavering as a divine white light spurred to life betwixt our goddess’ fingers. Yet she knew she could not face such a threat alone. She turned her gaze down to our realm and released her call - a call to arms and aid.
Thus we heard her call and raised our hands to her, soulfire ablaze between our fingers. One by one, the flames shot away from our fingers and to the moon above. The flames left us, returning to where they once came. Growing in size, and in strength, we each felt the cold sting of absence as our fires left us to aid her and were called to a greater purpose. The Living Flame was the last.
In one final, blinding flash of moon fire, the Writhing Chaos that threatened our realm was stricken down by a convergence of our flames and our matron’s divinity. What little remained of the terrible beast smoldered as white flame singed its surface away. Yet once the fiend had vanished, our soulfire did not return - mortal we became once more but the Archaengul ensured we all live. We sacrificed our very power for the realm we swore to aid.
And thus, an era ended.
Lamentation
The Archaengul’s tears rained like waterfalls from her vantage upon the moon and our goddess wept at the sacrifice we had made. Like dewdrops in the early morn, her tears blanketed the Soulstream and flooded the pallid valleys and craters that dotted the moonscape. But even more fell beyond the lunar surface and rained upon the mortal realm, each droplet seeking out one who had sacrificed flame. To the gazing mortal eye, they were naught but shooting skies as they soared through the skies.
Wherever they may be our goddess’ tears found them. Their descent from the heavens left them frozen in shards of crystallized ice as they impacted the ground near the feet of the Ascended that made the sacrifice. We each picked them from their resting place.
They were warm to the touch and yet their surfaces frosted like ice as we held them in our hands. They emitted light in the darkness yet it was soft and pale. As we beheld them closer we saw reflections of a gentle and cold world where waters flowed freely across a land blanketed by dust. The crystals could sense the absence in our souls, I think. For each bound with a former host of flame and took residence where once an ember had been. This fulfilled us. It destroyed us. It made us something new.
Aeriel spoke to us as the connection formed anew - she saw no longer the need for us to focus solely on the conflict with the darkness, as the fight was eternal and futile. She saw now that threats laid not just within the shadows, but also within the depth of the void and in the hearts of those few of her own kind. The Archaengul knew what to do and bestowed a new purpose to us.
Cease the threats of immense power that seek to affect the mortal realm and ensure the Descendants live a normal life until Sokar comes to bring them to the Archaengul’s realm. Be not the heroes who strive for glory or power, but be the keepers of the balance of life and death.
Mission
With newfound powers, the Ascended changed. We focused less on the darkness that kept on returning, for the Archaengul knew our efforts before held no merit.
We sought to support and aid, to give the souls we protect a sworn chance to protect themselves. To ensure they lived on the longest they can, to feel joy, sadness, excitement and suffering, to grow and nurture, and witness their lives flourish. Yet death is a nature that we knew we should not disturb, for all must perish and move on to the Soulstream when their time comes forth, including our own.
Yet, there were those of grand power that sought to harm the mortals, saw them as nothing more than fleeting specks of dirt and would have their way with them. The ones who abuse their power for ideals that hold no truth, the ones who sought the elimination or slavery of mortals, the ones who cherish chaos and destruction.
No matter if they be of Aengudaemonic, of void, of darkness, or of something more – They shall realise that the mortals are not the specks they thought they were, but living beings that should not be underestimated.
No more would we be the ones to strike first and remain away from the mortals, but now the ones who stand side by side with the mortals and protect the very mortal realm that is rightfully theirs.
We seek to do what we can to assist, even if we must take on their burdens and fall so they can live on.
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