Mists of Xan

The Mists of Xan is the magic used by Paladins.

Overview

History

The history of the Order and how the origins first start is a tale unlike others, which was eventually forgotten with time. Of truths foretold and blasphemous acts created within the divines themselves. Though to state that all Aengul/Daemons are perfect is a flawed concept in and of itself. For their very views and influence upon the realm of mortalkind is a prime example of such imperfections, as they tend to their own devices or ways of power. Yet here at the beginning of this story falls upon an Aengul that descended down for a time. A time of which, the fabled Isle of Sheerok fell into darkness in the aftermath of the Betrayer’s war. It was a place of desolation where the once beautiful scape of a vast forest and fields of crops that held such a divine light from the Sun itself, turned into a barren waste of death and disease. It was here where the Aengul decided to descend, for this place, for those that knew him, praised and served him. It was then the chance encounter of the siblings Zyanna and Hilan occurred. Whether it was faith that decided or a mere chance, the Aengul took notice in the siblings that day. Splitting two of the four wings from his back, he infused each into Zyanna and Hilan, becoming the first paladins in existence.

But Xan’s purpose was not fulfilled, far from it. His next act caused a brief strife with his war-brother Tahariae, the Aengul of Purity, who forbid him from influencing the mortal realm further. A warning that Xan did not follow and with his arms opened wide, broke the desolate clouds that hung over the cursed Isle of Sheerok. Rays of sunlight and warmth poured through and the land was cleansed of the blight that had befallen it. It was then that the Isle became the home of the paladins of old and for several generations to come.

Yet with such a tale of hope, tragedy was soon to follow. During that brief time of the Lord of Sunlight being on the mortal realm, he met with Zyanna privately and eventually she birthed a child that was then hidden away. It was after this that he ascended back to the divines, and Zyanna sought a way to find him again. Five or so years passed since that day and with her travels she came upon a mountain side where she erected a tower so that she could eventually communicate with the Aengul. It was there that Gudour, The Night Terror, found her. Upon the next morning, her followers found the paladin encased in an crystal-like ebony shield. A sword straight through her heart under the bewitched spell of the Drakaar.

Zyanna could never find peace and rest again, and such was that the heavens cried out in rage and anger. The wrath of the Sunlight Lord was unlike that which the realm would see, as Hilan took up arms and the paladins became the first Dragonslayers. Species upon species of Dragur’s broods were hunted down and destroyed. The hunting of such mighty beasts lasted for eons to come and as well, became a starting point for what was seen as ‘Order’. It was here that Sol Invicta, the first born of Zyanna Athna and the Aengul of Order and Guardianship, rose up and became an instrument for her father’s wrath. His words gave her life and with her raw power of Order, she set forth to wipe out the dragonkin to near extinction. Her mother’s legacy of the Isle of Sheerok she protected and called home. There her followers protected the sacred area and with the Guardian’s Grimoire, fabled Tome of the Power of Xan, Sol Invicta transported the island to hide it away from all those that seek its destruction.

Yet despite the achievements of Sol Invicta and the removal of such dangerous foes from the world, all was not well with her view of ‘Order’. The Aengul Xan would see his mistake, when Sol Invicta began her own crusade against all which besmirched her vision of perfect Order upon the realm. She became a Tyrant that raged war and destruction to warp the world into her vision for it. Thus as the sapphire mists had developed her very soul with the use of the Grimoire, the Demi-God was struck down. Her body was torn azure by the raw power of Xan and she was cast down, falling into the deepest parts of the Abyss. There she was thought dead, but unbeknownst to even the Aengul himself, she survived.

It was then the Aengul saw the errors of his daughter. The concept of pure Order had cast away what devotion and love he had for mortalkind. Thus Guardianship truly took form and both views became one. From that point on, many events occurred throughout the history of the paladins. Abilities and ways of using the magic were created, while older ones were lost to the pages of history. The battle of Setherian among such achievements and even the war and conquering of Asura’s realm with the fall of the Daemon was done and had come to pass, as well as the attempt on Aeriel’s realm for the position of Archaengul. Yet that in the end was met with a failing and eventual retreat of Xan and his forces.

History became a place of stories and rumors surfacing, and so the passing of time would eventually come to the recent centuries and decades, of what the Paladin Order had become. It was clear with the lacking of servants, that instead of distain or dismay, the realm was, as a whole, changing. Thus the Aengul of Order and Guardianship saw fit to shift the magic of his servants once more. Their roots were long forgotten and it was time to give the knowledge and wisdom back. To invoke purpose in what they once were and find the meaning for them in this changing world.

Specifications

Users of the Mists of Xan can be either Vindicators or Wyrmstalkers. Whilst the Vindicators will receive many-a-change, the Wyrmstalkers will remain predominantly the same. It is worth mentioning that the magic produced by both the Wyrmstalkers and Vindicators are extremely efficient against the likes of dragonkin both blemished and natural.

Both Vindicators or Wyrmstalkers have the following abilities, in addition to class-specific ones.

Abilities

Connection to Xan

When bound to Xan the initiate would discover a newfound warmth igniting their core, keeping them warm through their darkest, and harshest nights; a reminder of the Aengul they serve. In addition to this, they are imbued with newfound courage to perform their duty; Xan demands service, not faith.

Holy Alteration

Reminiscent to your average Alteration which is capable of producing a variety of pseudo-magic; warding and enchanting. Both of these are entirely dependent on the situation at hand. Enchanting, unlike its counterpart, warding, its rather simplistic and revolves around the inducting the Mists of Xan into a weapon or object of sorts to produce, again, a variety of effects-- from a warming aura to providing a deific affinity akin to weaponry. Warding, however, is capable of warding off the average person albeit is primarily focused against the likes of blemished and corrupted foes by producing a semi-transparent veil. (This sect is predominantly an event-esque sub-magic albeit is mostly used for its more renowned purpose, the creation of deific weaponry; holy swords, bows, deific - Orderly - fire, so on and so forth.)

Healing

Whilst healing is plausible for both Wyrmstalkers and Vindicators alike it is predominantly best used on themselves instead of another. That said, they are still capable of weaving the Mists into a wound to patch the flesh over into scabrous remains. They are, however, capable of mending bone albeit exhausts the user. They are unable to mend a wound of excessive size.

Vindicators

Vindicators, legends foretell of these conquering crusaders, empathetic toward their foe which they struck down mercilessly. Wielding weapon and shield these mythical crusaders were grouped in grandiose legions and trusted with the duty of slaying the felled dragonkin in their golden era. Many-a-foe they slaughtered in their valiant crusades against the primordial, beastial brood of Dragur and with each beast, they took a prize; tales have been foretold of castellas and castles alike housing the heads of a dozen dragons or so, horns mounted upon thrones and their ancient armoury produced by smiths able to weave draconic scales and bone alike. They were, after all, forces to be reckoned with beneath the pride and might of the Herald of Order, Xan, to which they self-proclaimed Him as their rightful Archaengul. They worked in conjunction with the Wyrmstalkers to fell their aerial-based foes and predominantly won against war with the unorthodox dragonkin, resulting in their almost extinction. However, their work never necessarily revolved primarily around the fabled dragonkin as they also aided against the usual blemished foes; Undead, Spectres, so on and so forth. The Vindicators of Xan were truly a force to be reckoned with.

Abilities

Holy Shield

Able to produce semi-transparent, spherical shields that stands as a testament to Xan’s Guardianship, manifesting either over their bodies to produce the more commonly known suit of armour or a short range from their body. Whilst producing these shields outwardly they are unable to leave whilst nobody may enter, however, that said the further these fields manifest from the spell-caster the weaker it becomes. Donning suits of armour, which is the strongest of their guardian-esque ability, and roughly five blocks from the caster is when the spherical shield is at its weakest, able to be shattered with considerable force, and of course, the closer it is to the caster the easier they are able to maintain their shield. Copious strikes will weaken the shield until breaking point, producing a minor repulsion capable of knocking back its attacker - although not with excessive force - providing the Vindicator with a means of appropriating themselves.

Holy Imbuing

Able to imbue normal weaponry with a semi-transparent veil of empyreal energy, coursing through the spine of the weapon to produce a deific affinity. This feat is rather easy to produce albeit takes a short time to produce the enchantments and is consistently fuelled by their mana - akin to the manifestation except they’re reliant on pre-built weaponry. - Represented either by the veil or a course of crackling - golden - electricity that provides nothing other than an aesthetic feature; albeit doesn’t detour from the blades’ capability, once enchanted by the Paladin in question, the piece of enchanted weaponry, whilst still capable against unholy folk is more able against the likes of dragonkin.

Wyrmstalkers

Wyrmstalkers, the renowned folk who pierced the everlasting scales of dragonkin, both superior and lesser alike with their light-weaved arrows. With the ability to produce leather-esque armour with an affinity against dragonfire, a tactical Wyrmstalker was able to fell a lesser dragon by himself, however, an archery of Wyrmstalkers were able to cast the greater from the heavens above. Spawning volleys of arrows wrapped in starlight which slipped through the ivory clouds and damned their aerial-based foes to the grounds, to which their brethren, the Vindicators would promptly slaughter these felled beasts. Akin to their counterparts they were, of course, a force to be reckoned with; able to cull the likes of aerial and land-based foes. That said, legends also foretell of these folk able to produce explosive spells when struck against their enemy - of course, shoot from their reliant bow - it would produce a shattering explosion capable of ripping into blight and cast asunder flesh, and less commonly renowned for their ability to teleport from one location to the other. Though, some spells wielded by these folk were lost in the never ending tales of time.

Abilities

Holy Bow

Akin to the Vindicators albeit unlike, the average Wyrmstalker is able to take a bow; long bow, short bow. To temporarily enchant it with a deific affinity which is up kept by their mana, when withdrawing the string of the bow and arrow cast from starlight manifests betwixt the string and bow. To the average person the empyreal weapon is akin to your average arrow, however, to a foe blighted or otherwise afflicted by corruption they are struck fierce. When struck, the arrow embeds itself into the victim and immediately disperses to reveal a gaping hole in its stead.

Holy Sparks

By compacting the mists they produce it eventually becomes volatile and eventually warps into an elongated bolt that thrums with ‘electricity’ albeit it isn’t, the volatile light which was actively seeking a means of dispersing is then thrown with considerable force-- backed by the power used to compact this bolt it is able to pierce through the dense scales of a dragon; be it lesser or greater neither could withstand this volatile power. Which, of course, worked especially well due to their affinity for combatting dragonkin-- their magic was effective against any creature deriving from this category.

Connection

The ritual of producing a connection betwixt soul and Aengul transpires via the teacher weaving the mists around their palm as if, in the lore of old, producing a gauntlet albeit doesn't solidify. Instead of the starlight mist usually produced via a Paladin they, instead, produce an azure mist which enacts as an ethereal gateway of sorts; enabling the teacher to delve their hand into the core of the initiate, clutching their delicate soul betwixt their digits whilst the azure mists engulfs the soul whole. Therefore producing the 'bridge' betwixt the soul and Xan.

Disconnection

Disconnection, however, is akin to the connection albeit revolves around severing the bridge instead of producing it. The teacher clutches hold of the azure flame bound to the soul of the Paladin, to which, they then retract to tear the flame from their soul and inherently, the recoil of such a brutal disconnection means that the disconnected ex-Paladin is henceforth 'imprinted'.

How to Apply

Find a user of this magic in game who is permitted to teach this magic, and have them approve a student application for you.

Redlines

• After wielding the Mists of Xan the user is subject to an array of sore limbs dependent on the magic wielded; imbuing a blade with the Mists, for example, would result in the muscles correlating to said sword arm be exhumed in soreness - over usage of the Mists will result in excessive pain; that said it doesn’t hinder your ability to wield the Mists as you’re capable of going overboard, however, the more excessive you are with the Mists the more pain you will be subject to afterward.
• Unable to permanently wield the Mists; the more it is used, the more mana that is expended.
• The Mists of Xan will forever be more effective against the likes of dragonkin and their broodlings over the normal blemished foe- albeit isn’t ineffective against them.
• Healing a broken bone leads to exhaustion for a Paladin, making them unable to weave the Mists otherwise and therefore should be a last resort.
• You are still required to emote weaving the mists into both the light-forged arrow and the enchanted blade; preparation emotes are key.
• It is necessary to emote the aesthetic nature of your deific-imbued blade be it via a golden, electrical current, silver, or emerald, or even the blade exhuming the Mists. You must ensure that you retain some form of viable means to indicate your blade has been enchanted.
• The enchantment upon the blade is lost shortly after the loss of direct contact over melee weaponry. Whilst this means you are capable of throwing spears and the like, there is a chance the deific enchantment will lose its power prior to hitting its target. Therefore ranged weaponry is best aimed at the Wyrmstalkers.
• All spells current must have a preparation stage.
• You cannot be both a Vindicator and a Wyrmstalker.

Random Tidbits

• The Paladins used to make up the Order of the Golden Lance, who defeated Setherien in the Fringe.
• Crumena Ilwindior is known to be one of the best uses of this magic, but a madman.
• The Paladins are known to be quite fond of wooden palisades.
• On a different note, did you know: Paladins were highly respected within Holy Orenian Empire as they were often human nobles.

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