Many usually cannot tell where the omnipresent faction and the state itself end, and as often end with misinterpreting the role itself of the Hétrya. They are the military, the functionaries, the army leaders that rule over the Kargath, that defend and shield its population from the inexplicable mysteries of the Grove.
Their hierarchy is pretty basilar, composed of a piramidal scale of components, on top of which there's the king, who rules by absolute power with the kind and selfless disposition of the inhabitants of the Kargath [though that doesn't determines the recoverability of that very concession]. Generally, the members of the faction are considered sworn brothers and sisters of an unic great family, thus making family laws apply even to the clan.

What an Hétrya does, sooner or later is going to become a common fashion, from clothes to designs, to speech and formulas, with the king as major 'celebrity', towards whom people naturally tends to uniform. A clear example of this mindless conjunction with their ideologies is the adoption of the 'condos families' custom, which started spreading around one century before the current times and has conquered most of population by now: basically, imitating the periodical meetings of the Hétrya heads, each family that inhabits a determined building will host at turn an assembly (more resembling a cheerful party), restricted to the sole members of the condos.

Hétrya ideology may be considered an utopian one; it has however not to be considered entirely negatively, as it's naturally consequent that such way of thinking has developed in this faction. Since its very beginnings, the clan has passed horrible and dready hardships, living in conditions of costant sorrow and discomfort; unlike their brothers, who got blown away by savagery and chaos, surrendering to the superior forces that succeeded in breaking them, the Hétrya sought a possible betterness, a future brighter than the one present at that time; in the end, things once considered impossible to reach had been conquered, an entire dream realized. The main source of freedom is imagination for Hétrya, and though limited to the experiences of life, it's still considered the best way through society can develop, as it grants the individual the possibility to positively organize a future programmation, sometimes strayed from the bounds of reality to favour more ways of realization of the same goal.
In the end, however, utopian societies are quite unmovable and totalitarian, and do not permit the dialoge of ideas different from the chosen one; in long term this organization may lead to a catastroph, but is given only to the king the autority to do what is best for the faction - no, the whole Kargath.

The Eternal Garden before the Grove

Accordingly to the Nexusian archives, historically speaking the Hétrya were a preeminent figure in Eradni theology, as their mission was substantially that of keepers of the fire, symbol of life stream. After the crumble of Eradni institutions and society at the end of the Verdance Crysis, the name and the functions these sorcerers held lost through time, narrated only in tales and epic narrative of ancient times.
After the successive chaotic spread of jungles and the definite death of the eternal garden, during the exponent ensavagement Velusians had to undergo to survive the increasingly wild environment, traditions brought to the birth of several wandering tribes, and one of them was called Hétrya. Already from the beginning this community was widely despised for their excessive attachment to the Eradni culture, bringing in some cases real wars between clans, of those who aided these progressivists as an hope for a better future, and those who believed of them as abominations of the already corrupted and unhappy Velusian intellect.
About how the Hétrya tribe reached the decision of settling down is unknown, though many suppose it as a necessary condition after the founding of the only working portal to the Nexus; seeking a place to colonize under the emblem of a once again blooming civilization, they eventually reached the Kargath, where established eight outposts in very different zones of the valley, to analyze and survey the capabilities of the land and of its potential dangers. Written testimonials affirm that the outlook of the Kargath at that age differed greatly from the modern one, as it was still covered by drenched jungles. In the end, with the joining of other two tribes, today major aristocracy families, Vethuviá’s first urban centre took shape, and from then on Hétria history intertwined constantly with the formation of the state itself.
The city expanded, culture bloomed, and civilized life sprung out again in this perfumed garden, shielded by the odds and calamities of the jungle.

After several decades of often bloody relations with the other major factions in the Kargath, the Hétrya eventually were victorious, and established a monarchy to centre the power in their hands, still, though in a minimal part, assenting to the presence of a weak aristocracy element.

However, lately the horizon has been full of signs of grimace and desolations. The druids are convinced, the world is changing; Válásí has changed much since the beginning, and the dangers of the exterior world are as insurmountable as never before; a wind of war has started blowing not so long ago between the tribes, and madness and savagery are again spreading like a venomous miasma. Fools, they look at tomorrow like there’s no future, like changing is impossible. They are not willing to take conscience that this limbo is ending, that the last moment of reckoning is inevitably drawing near, and unless unite, it will mercilessly blow away everything.
They cannot see it: the Grove has wakened, conjuring a storm to befall its enemies, those who oppose the utter chaos and instincts. But what matters more, what will the Grove do, once the last stand has fallen? who knows how many worlds will conquer, consume, destroy.
However, the Hétrya, no, all the Velusian race, is determined not to let pass this idiocy that seems to have wrapped Válásí, which sought outside of the world that gave birth to it incommensurable power; they will fight against it, they are going to impose a last mark on these ever growing chronicles, or perish gloriously in their civilization end dusk.

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The Sentinels

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The nerve of the army. Very versatile, a sentinel is specialized in swift and unheard attacks, often granted by their experience in marksmanship.
Though their best battle environment are the walls of the Kargath, their eclectic nature gives them complete freedom of movement into any territory, though damaging in some cases their resistance to specific enemies.
Sentinels are raised to their job since their very childhood, indoctrinated on the major virtues of any good Velusian, and brought to their final state through a difficult training that lasts for great part of their young ages. Once fully developed, every sentinel must take a magic owe, to protec and serve the kingdom with heart and faith. It's still possible to become a Sentinel, though much more difficult, as the subject has to catch up with people born to fulfill their task.


A Reptilian mount

Running back and forth through the jungle would be a strenuous task without those friendly reptilians: dragon like creatures, are furnished with strong claws and swift bodies, that make them perfect to move across the Grove and the unsteady branches that cross the endless ravines.

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The City guard

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More specialized than common sentinels, the city guards are commonly the ones who patrol the roads of the Kargath, and fight the greater odds. Their fighting abilities are incredible, and whereas some of them specialize in heavy and devastating blows, some other would prefer to keep track with the ancestral traditions, and wear light armors for faster and clearer movements.

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Druids & Magicians

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Druids are the second most important part of the army, as they compose an essential role in covering large fields of units with healing buffs, or in enlarging the forces with summoned creatures like animal spirits or forest spawns. Many of them are also proficient in poisonous magic, making these few individuals extremely important for large military movements across the plane.



The elementalist is basically an expert of the basic and advanced concepts of thaumaturgy, after having studied both theoretically and empirically the wonders and mad mechanical laws that rule the universe. Understanding how the cosmos flows, they are able to bound elements to their will, conjuring large fireballs as spawning storms to favourite the harvest. However, the incredible quantity of wisdom required for such a profession leaves the row of magicians pretty skinny, making this kind of individuals rare and of incredible strategic value.

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Wardens

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Probably the less understood and trusted part of the army. These experienced soldiers are few, loyal only to the king, and absolutely deadly: they are the result of the mix between traditional and modern education, both military and physical ones. They make the nerve of the scouting and intelligence force, and wheter you have commited a crime or not, if you are their target, you are surely going to need a epitaph, sooner or later.

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The Dragons

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There are two major dragon races who live amist the fields of the Kargath: one of them are the Gilghrll, a considerably apathetic race of earth dragons, who sided with the Velusians only for sympathy and pity. Whereas their role may appear marginal, their resistance is incomparable to that of any mortal or deamonic being, and the crystals which make up great part of their bodies also function as magic transmitters, making these some kind of tactical war golems. They are unfortunately land dragons, and even willingly, they could never be able to fly.
On the other side there are the Holìvia dragons, essentially a race of friendly and playful beings, who sought in the Velusians an occasion for the peace and prosperity the Grove could never donate them. Compared to their moral value, which is quite high, the tactical one reduces to the sole unit transportation, given the high frangibility of their foliage mimicking bodies.

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The OwlBeasts

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Gùulvdar, personal guard of the Dragon King

Powerful, prideful, selfish, the Owlkind is one of the few sentient races of Verdance, alike Velusians. Though many of their ideologies never concretely supported a possible return to the Eternal garden state, they sided with the Hétrya as they saw their natural habitat slowly fade away with the unseen jungle mutations that reached the farthest cliffs and mountains.
They are used mostly as a heavy attack force, usually in the third line, often helping forest spawns to carry war artifacts and such. Many consider them useless, and even dangerous, but it cannot be forgotten the great influence the Owlkind had on the settlement of the Kargath, that granted them an 'honorable' privilege over the Velusians.

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The Forest Spawns

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Peaceful and semi-sentient beings wandering aimlessly in the jungle, these creatures were once gardeners and keepers of the forests. Now essentially jobless, they go from place to place, moving their small villages and seeking new places to purify and convert again in lush perfumed gardens. Important is how creatures of every size and mass avoid them as much as possible, probably for the distinctive goodness of these elementals. Fact is that some of them are integral part of Velusian society, and give a substantial help both in war and in peace.
Forest spawn summonings seem to be limited to the sole druids, and moreover these spirits are not keen on being called or distracted by anything that isn't Velusian, or their ally.

Alévehiá Eél Fél Válásí!

Many times criticized for his girly and wimpy face, one must not forget that this forged young man has proved his value and strength more times than some old bearded generals that let themselves die off in dusty strongholds. Under the mask that are his royal clothes, bright int heir green and sophisticated designs, Elea has a well trained body, with muscles act to sudden and swift movements and hits. Scars testimony the fatigue of traditional education and training, or the countless battles he has gone through.
There's no peculiar part of his appearance that necessarily needs to be stressed out, as the overall equilibrate complex make him seem fair to members of both genders, though not necessarily attractive. He has the common constitution of Velusian race, with slightly pointy ears, and a slender build; he is somewhat taller than average (1.87), though not reaching like most males (around 1.82 metres) the same average height of females (roughly 1.95 metres tall).
His hairs are of a light brown, slick but often revolting against specific formations; in broad sunlight they usually have a light-green appearance, typical of an Velusian. Usually, beneath them, Elea uses to wear a copper circlet, with small silk bandages, adorned with cream colored glyphs, hanging over his face; probably a traditional custom of his tribe, or just an odd habit consequent his return.
His eyes, on the contrary, have not a color common in Velusian society for the iris, but gleam of a light blue consistency, almost unearthly. The reasons behind it are not known, but surely not important nor interesting. Or perhaps not...?

Many are not able to perceive Elea’s true nature, where lies his unconceivable strength and magical ability. Whereas common conception portrays the Dragon King as a noble and just entity, Elea is simply more than that, and bears with him a secret buried deep inside his heart – or soul, as some would say.
He is not limited to the oneness of spirit that usually binds mortals and demons, but is participant of multiple natures granted them by the intertwining of his lost soul, and those of the forest spirits. In fact, the one who operates, that acts in public and civil life, is nor truly Elea, nor the spirits of the forests; perhaps is something superior composed of both. Or it’s likely that Elea has really died that day in the temple, and what now remains is an entirely different individual. Sure is that his behavior has much changed from how people remembered him once, and seems to be more eclectic and wit then before.
The king drives are obviously the betterness of his people, the growth of the state and the progress of civilization. To achieve that, the grove must be befall, and Verdance return to its original shimmering beauty. But what does this hollow façade bears in his heart? What are his real plans, hidden to anyone beside his other selves?
Only with time these secrets will be unveiled.

Verdance had never been a place for the weak, and the natural rule imposed severe changes to all fauna, sentient or not. However, of the Velusians, some refused to lick the knees of instincts, and forbid the sprawling chaos to manipulate them. These people, which sought a possibly better future, strayed off the habits and customs that spread amongst their kindred, and started to organize the environment to their own accord, no more mere temporary inhabitants of an untameable wilderness, but colonists of an ancient world. One of these clans was indeed the Hétrya, which eventually would find refuge in the Kargath, and develop a civilization on their own; however, they were not the only ones who proclaimed themselves independent from the will of the Grove, but many other tribes followed the same path, and tried to settle down in little paradises alike, spots of the world still uncontaminated by chaos to a certain extent. Elea born in one of these tribes, whose name went for Vaàl Ilvia, or ‘shimmering stream’, which was one of these stationary ethnic groups; most of his young life went off flawlessly – if becoming family heir though being fifth son may be considered normal -, educated to the common concepts of knowledge and ethics druids kept for generations. However, when he was around ten, war suddenly spread through the jungle sector they inhabited, and the tribe became soon conscious that they could not survive against the feral hatred of their brothers; it was settled to reach out for the western ravines, in hope to cross the run down bridge that connected the two extremities, and eventually enter in allied territory.


The Vaàl Ilvia village

But death was faster.
The muddy streams that unrolled under the stilts of Ilvia were inevitably filled with the blood of innocents, and everything was left in ashes, or in rotting decay. As soon as the savages came, left, without even bothering pillaging the village, just seeking blood to fed the madness which had grasped them. However, few individuals were blessed with survival; one of them was indeed Elea. But things didn’t go as any kind soul would have hoped. Knocked down in the first minutes of battle, his body slipped off the wood walkways, feeling into the small rivers. His body eventually survived drowning, unlikely his war mates, and was found by a wandering sentinel group, alerted by the sudden apparition of black smoke out of the dense foliage of the jungle. He never met the crumbling embers that were left of his spiling village, nor the mowed arts and body left everywhere to rot; Elea just woke up several days later, in the Kargath, lost, and estranged from his birthplace.

He eventually found again the will to fight, started to believe in the ideals that were the basis of the Hétrya, and in the end, decided to enter officially the military, to get good uses of his unique capabilities of factual marksman, and of his adept skills of druidism and elementalism. Hardships filled his path, and human and feral odds he had to overcome, raising his grade across the army, and awarding badges of honour, glory, and justice.
Sooner he was able to obtain for himself even a proper nickname, renowned in all the region, and sometimes even beyond it. He became the Water fury, a symbol of how man can raise himself from savagery to the most elevate concepts of chivalry.

Time passes, and mercilessly makes everything wither and die under his passage. Apparently, death’s shadow appeared more often, and already at the date of his twenty-fifth birthday, the first fatal omen appeared, preannouncing an inevitable and proxime end.
That day at least come, and Elea, completely unaware of his fate being shred under the eyes of unknown deities, abandoned the city, for the common recognition that routine asked to be fulfilled by everyone. Sent as head of a nutritious fellowship, composed of five or six man of noble attitude, left he Kargath and ventured into the unknown mist of the jungle, with the simple mission of surveying a zone inhabited by a group of friendly forest spawns: a routine work. Afterall forest spawns are seldom to be attacked by wandering beasts, and their mass and potentially un-ending life shielded them from most of dangers; one thing that seemed they lacked was company, and queerly enough nobody asked himself why they had never asked to join the resistance.
Following the same tracks used by even by the most inexpert novices, they reached the small valley inhabited by the forest spawns, finding it deserted. Initially perplexed, they sensed the atmosphere didn’t give any good omen on what was going to happen shortly later. And indeed, instincts are not always as bad as Velusians may think.
One of the most vicious and monstrous creature in the Grove is probably the Phlegmy worm, a rare species of invertebrates that has fun at smashing in pieces incidental sentinels or savages, gulping with ferine impetuosity the gory flesh mowed in little parts, enjoying particularly the languid and viscid feel that intestine gave when sliding through their simple digestive apparatus. Now, for one of the most unfortunate cases, or even more likely for the mischievous plot of some superior entity, the fellowship encountered the beasts, and was inevitably annihilated. The monstrous power of the worms, combined with the hostility of the environment brought death to those men. And with them fell also Elea. Or so it seemed.


Phlegmy worms attack Elea and his legacy

Time passed, and the expedition was long forgotten, long thought dead; calamity struck the kingdom, after that a particularly strong giant insects swarm attacked the Kargath whereas the lighthouse ceremony was completed, and the king died, the crown left without an heir, and darkness soon to befall into the kingdom.
But suddenly, like a ghost arisen from the legend of the past, exactly like fairy tails said, the rightful hero returned to take his proper place: Elea came back, escorted by the glorious magnificence of a dragon army, subjected to the new king; and Dragon king was thus nominated.
Elea, already considered hero of the people, ascended to the crown, and was posed as absolute ruler of the Kargath, of its lands, of its inhabitants. However many noted that Elea's behaviour had much changed, and his aims are not clear even now. Sure is, the latest successful expansionist campaigns prove that the king is determined to proceed further on the sanctified quest his predecessors overlooked.

Elea usually tends not to wear too much weight on his back, thus he often uses light but sharp materials to forge his weapons. Most noticeably, he is mostly keen of highly proficient in strikes and lunges, done with his attentively prepared and sharpened sword. Moreover, hidden to malicious eyes, he carries a series of powerful potions and unguents, with a even more daggers for the most varying uses.

Dusk Edge-

This staff was believed nothing but a legend until few weeks before the conoration of Elea; everyone believed it was lost with the great clash that destroyed both king Jianvi's army and an insane Owlbear tribe. Incredibly enough, Elea during the wandering previous his return to the Kargath was able to find it again, consolidating even more his royal power.
Nobody actually knows the material of which this staff is composed, but rumors affirm is composed of refined stardust, bound through magical forces in the elegant and equilibrate form it has today.
Though its origins are unsure, it's given for sure that is an Eradni artifact, and thus incredibly powerful. Legends say that it is used to control animals, spirits and nature itself. In summary, the perfect druid and elementalist staff.

Arch of forests-

A seemingly weak and common longbow; you have seen many of this, and apparently bears now particular power. And indeed it does, for anyone who isn't conscious of its capabilities. Substantially, it acts as a magic conductor thanks to the soft cobalt strings that unroll beneath the steel surface, exponentially multiplying the magical power of some magical hits. Moreover, in case enchantment is not desired, can always be used as a booster for physical damage; obviously, if the casting does not break it.

Edge of Vengeance-

A slender sword, crafted by the best artisans of the once flourishing home tribe of Elea. The beauty of the blade, and the detailed designs, make suppose this is a weapon passed from generation to the immidiately succesive, symbol of the lasting of one family. However, no family now breathes anymore in the world, and its mission has changed to avenge the same souls it should have protected against all odds.
The lame is apparently inert and useless in the arms of any wielder who isn't his master, and whereas his normal outlook remains that of an elegant but pretty useless weapon, in the grip of his owner transforms in a vengeful art of destruction, surrounded a sharp, blue shimmering gleam.

Passive Abilities-
Elea has the ability of perceiving the natural life that bursts around him, granting him the possibility of hearing and communicating with the forests, the plants, the animals, and the spirits who inhabit the most remote places.
Moreover, thanks to his natural propension for jungle and forests, he is immune to practically all diseases and poisons, making potentially invulnerable against the swamps and hazardous flora that lie beneath the jungle shrubbery.
He radiates a very powerful aura, usually visible with intese sunlight in the form of a pure light-blue aura, that sometimes scares lesser deamons or beings. Reason on such thing remains a mystery.


Spell-like abilities

Vengeful Spirits- Elea, being a proficient elementalist, can summon at his command most forms of elementals, with the sole exclusion of fire and decay ones. Moreover, heritage of the long tradition of druidism, he can bind to his will also forest spawns, and eventually summon them in fight.

Razor Claws- In any kind of ground, Elea can bend the earth and minerals to his will, eventually forming incredibly sharp shurikens to launch at any time. Depending on the type of soil used, each ammo will have different secondary effect.

Nature Boost- A sudden green halo surrounds the creature, eliminating all negative boosts, and eliminating most of potentially fatal poisons. As a side effects, if applied some unguent as aider, also wounds will start to regenerate.

Earth cliffs- In case of desperate retreat, Elea can summon resistant and high earth wall, by basically moving the ground itself. In some situations, this may even become an offensive spell, given the great damage such a massive impact would causate.

Everlasting Aurora- The spell calls forth to aid the caster in the formation of a watery bubble, of multiple functions. Whilst offensive through the creation of ice spears, bolted at great velocity through the air, it can also become defensive, creating an impenetrable barrier of solid water, whereas its support capabilities are limited to healing and stat boosts.
It's named after the perfume of the water much resembling that of morning dew drops.

Shimmering flower- Springing from the ground, through specific druidic castings is possible a fairly big and colorful flower from the ground. The main ability of these floreal servants is the eclectic nature, which grants them the possibility to activate specific shieldings on summon: thanks to this, the caster is completely shielded through the retractile leaves, against one to a maximum of two elements. To change elements it's necessary however to start from the beginning the spell casting.

Deep Roots- A bunch of metal like roots envelops the warded creature, causing it to stop immediately. If the roots wound the prey, they will start to release a liquid poisonous substance, that will either immobilize or put asleep the victim. Very few people have escaped the chocking grip of these seemingly alive roots.

Original Genes- Through a complex and long ritual, Elea is able to identify recessive genes in the genetic pool of the subject, releasing potentially dangerous or beneficial mutated cells into the organic system. Some of them may be able to reproduce, though only few cases attested this happening, and infect the whole body totally mutating the host. Cancer sometimes is not to be taken lightly.

Touch of the Verdance- The mystical touch of Verdance, gift of the spirits that rule the world, permits to subjugate any wild animal of good/neutral alignment, and eventually, even ferine beasts, if previously weakened. May also work for lesser demons, though Elea has never met a demonic creature for a... research testing.

The Kargath valley

Somewhere, off in the jungle, blooming out of the savage foliage that covers the seemingly endless green horizon of Fél Válásí, lays the civilized valley of Kargath (which literally means ‘Fertile Land’). The territory follows a minded and well-ordered shape and distribution, aimed to a perfect and elegant equilibrium between nature, deamon, and society.
Protected by a complex and enormous wall which blends with the mountains that surround the valley, unrolls a fertile farmland, tightly exploited to produce a consistent food outcome to nourish the whole territory; scarcely populated, most of edifices present in this sector are nothing more than rustic villas or silos, with the exception of few urban centers, inhabited by owners of the farthest fields or sentinels. Following the whitely paved roads running though the bright green of young fields or ochards, is possible to reach the inner cicle, a second,bigger wall that covers a circular area almost exactly in the middle of the Kargath: there rests Vethuviá, or simply ‘The city’, nerve of the whole civilization. Leading all to the justice palace, and the lighthouse, situated in the middle of the circle, paved streets are intercoursed by green plazas and palaces, thanks to both the aid of botanical gardens and a green stucco mixture, used often in conjunction with a white one; intertwined, the two of them cheerfully play on numerous light games created with particularly minded forms and shapes, carved in the tuff walls. Whilst on the outer side of the city, shouldering the inner wall circle, merchandising and trading take place, and inhabited mostly by farmers, artisans, or filled with manufacturers, leaning closer to the center palaces and small four stories multi-family buildings start to appear, bearing more elegant and stunning designs. The lighthouse strays from the whole territory concept, due to his cold and dull massive walls which spire far into the sky, reaching out to the domain once only inhabited by dragons; composed of large bluish basalt bricks ( not differently from walls), interconnected with a resistent and unknown cobalt based metal legacy, the lighthouse is what remains of tangible of the Eradni passage on the world. Today its main purposes are mainly two: to create a safe refuge for the newly joined dragons nests, and to serve the same purpose its name bears with it, as, once a month, a suspicious amount of wood and timber (sometimes with small additions of coal and refined alcohol) is fired to attract possible allies… or potential preys.
Little mention deserves also the territory immediately outside of the Kargath: after an heavy exploiting of the wood resources that surround and continuously choke the inner land, and due to particularly complex druidic rites, the earth has started to produce again spontaneously the ancient flower mat that originally covered indiscriminately all the surfage of the Eternal Verdance.

The Kargath is based on an autarchic self-management and self-protection policy, and whilst movements in the inner zones of it are freely and gladly permitted, opening the walls to exit into the exterior world is considered, without explicit permission by the king himself, as a severe crime, and punishable with even death.

From the sky, the valley aspect resembles much that of a the benzene, whose six edges represent the cobalt walls, and six points five mountains, plus one dead Vulcan; exactly at the center of it there’s a blurred circular structure with a massive construction raising from the ground in the middle of it. Symbolically it represents the ideal perfection of deamonic intellect, and the incessant and eternal success of ordered nature, over chaotic nature.


A Crypt Dragon

During the first times, the original settlement could exchange letters and potentially useful jungle state information through a portal not too distant from the Kargath, that connected the Nexus; however, given the sudden appearance of a particularly ferocious Crypt dragons nest, and the spectacular but nonsensical position of the warp (situated on the edge of a cliff overlooking a vast vegetative zone, whose only excess points are the road that connects directly to the Kargath, and a crumbling and ruined marble staircase that connects the ruined warp facility with the underlying forest), contacts have become so dangerous to force the cutting of all contacts with the other planes. However, something has changed recently, and seems that the latest change of the wind has taken away the stench of those vile creatures. Maybe exchanges with the nexus are possible again? And, more importantly, what could have forced the Crypt Dragons to move?

-The Planekeeper

Some beings exist between the Planes in order to preserve some kind of balance. At least they hope to.
All things are tied to the Nexus, and extreme fluctuations that simply should not exist are often answered by the most arcane of creatures who seem to reside in the grand Central Plane. The arguably sacrilegious actions of the Haunter, Magnus Xea, have attracted the attention of a creature that is neither Demon Lord, nor Dhalvori, but something different entirely: a sentient guardian that seeks those who abuse the non-consensual summoning of souls from one world to the next, a warden against the consumption of natural souls and the devouring of the essence of any of the Dhalvori.
They call these beings Planekeepers, and they were said to once have been for a much greater purpose than to hunt particularly dangerous creatures who do not seem to be at home in any Plane of existence. But as of recent years, they apparently have lost that purpose, and have devoted themselves to the much more menial task that occupies them to this day.
These creatures are legendary - almost mythical. With the power to match a Demon Lord and the cunning the outwit a Human Champion, the Planekeepers are a terrifying foe to behold. But this nameless individual has made it his personal goal to bring an end to this particular Haunter, watching the fluctuations from within the nexus, biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to possess a summoning spell of Xea and put an end to the killer for good.

Name: Orviõs Ik’ethari, the master of iron.
Type: Corrupted spiritual entity
Appearance:


The master of iron is simply put, a swithering mass of chains, shackles and wrought iron. The soul of the forsaken one locked forever in these chains of torture. The sprawling mesh of chain that is almost serpentine in design can split into a multitude of smaller meshes of chain, all puppets of the Orviõs. Besides the endless mesh of chain, the Orviõs holds upon itself a disturbingly diverse array of tools devised for the sole purpose of torture, each tool different in its own way. And these tools tend to reek of the stench of flayed flesh and rusted with dried blood. There is a dark aura about the Orviõs, oozing of vileness within, the black oil-like blood of the Oriõvs frequently lubricating the being’s vast whip-like tendrils that wind out from holes in the chains, grabbing at and corrupting anything that comes near and acting as in some arbitrary way the innards of the Orviõs .

Within the black bile of the master it is not uncommon to see red dots looking out from the chains, as if something within the bile of the master is caged within, trapped perpetually in the chains of the master. As well, there is constantly some creature from the pit eating away at the chains it got tangled in, seemingly there solely for the master’s pleasure. The overall body structure of the master is not properly represented, as the master is serpentine being. One nearly two hundred feet in length that flies akin to a eastern dragon, however much less elegant or majestic.

Personality and Drive: The master’s drive is simply to maintain the realm and make sure the influx of prisoners to experiment with stays high. Despite the demonic flair of the master and its exposure to the eldritch forces of the pit, the master is a demon lord of order, not chaos and has relatively little interest in the conquest of other realms. However, the master desires to forge bonds with other demon lords that it views as working in its interests- either a chaotic universe where frequent raiding for prisoners to add to the realm is easy, or a orderly universe where its realm acts as the universe’s only prison for whatever supreme demon has killed its way to the top of existence.

The master for all it is worth is both a sadist and masochist; it revels in the pain it inflicts on itself and the pain it inflicts on to others. Yet, despite this facet of the master being clear as the Mirror of the Wind, the master has despite its past over the millennia has managed to delude itself into seeing its existence as a necessity to the universe. It is said the master is a frequent liar and manipulator, constantly manipulating its many slaves into bouts of false hope to get them to overwork themselves on pointless tasks in the delusion that there is any way to be free from the pit of sorrows.

Orviõs has no idea of who it once was, and has managed to repress its own knowledge of the reason it was banished to the pit in the first place despite his legend being well known in various parts of the universe. However, Orviõs does at times see himself as a god in his own right, and treats the realm he runs as if he is the creator of it and all its denizens, even those he never actually made expecting ritual worship and devotion to anything he demands of his “creations”.

History:

Orviõs [was not his name until later] at the beginning of time:



At the beginning of time, there was said to be an ancient being around during the time of the old gods. It was a particularly unique metal bending dragon from the Mirror of Winds during the great migration that visited the mortal plane and was highly prestigious. This being was said to be the being that seeded the mortal realm with iron deposits, although accounts on this are dubious at best. Iron as a material it obsessed over, to the point where it desired to bind flesh with steel to impress the creators while they were around. It went about the realms connected by the nexus, kidnapping various beings and mutilating them into abhorrent creations in the naive, delusion belief that the… things it created would impress the gods. However, the beings it created were of unspeakable horror, so horrifying it is said, that the old gods were mortified of their existence that they made a realm solely to lock away the master; The Pit of Sorrows. With the divine arbitrator’s judgement, Orviõs would be cast away into the pit and forgotten. The creator of these abominations of flesh, steel and blood along with its many vile creations would be the first of many to be thrown away by the gods or divine judgement.

And to ensure that the being would never get out, the old gods chained the being up in its entirety and made the being into an abomination of itself, twisted by the corrupting energies of the pit. Locked up in its essence and tossed carelessly into the realm that would be known the Pit of Sorrow. The creators would not soon after forget they even made the realm. However, little would the creators if they were still around knew that this being would despite lacking identity come known as Orviõs, or the Master. For the master would lord over the realm meant to imprison it by using its own demented creations to make this realm meant to be its eternal prison its own.

Without the gods, Orviõs would reign over the pit with his children, using the forgotten souls and beings from the other realms lost forever in the void who became subject to experimentation by Orviõs, fused together into beasts of flesh and metal as had been created when Orviõs was free to be among the mortals. However, over the millennia there would be access to the nexus restored through rituals ordained by the Gr’kosif and Orviõs itself and from the pits came the abominations to roam the nexus in search of slaves to drag down into the void for the pleasure of Orviõs and continue the evil experiments in the absence of the creators. By this time, Orviõs had no interest in emancipating itself from the pit, the wallowing in the pit and the corrupting pain having become a nirvana of its own to Orviõs.

Armaments: The master makes use of a diverse arsenal of tools including cleavers, maces, many sharp, needle-like limbs made of its own bile innards, large hooks, long tiny hooks, axes, and a variety of tools known in the human world as pears of anguish. The common theme among the multitude of tools used by the master with disturbing precision to inflict pain on, amputate and

Abilities: The master has the ability to split into multiple sets of chains and being a being of metal can take quite the beating of pain. While the master is a being of eldritch powers and binding, the master’s magical abilities are best seen in its metalkinesis

Bile tendrils; The master has the ability to make use of many tendrils that ooze out of the chain mesh of his serpentine body. As well, these whip-like flogs can become like hands and wield weapons, grab and ensnare victims and be used to manipulate the environment around itself. These tendrils often pulse with dark energies, corrupting those who can’t protect themselves from mere touch into becoming mockeries of themselves before withering away into soulless husks.

Soul locking; The inverse of your typical soul ripping abilities- the master is capable of locking a soul to its body, regardless of what happens to the body entrapping the soul forever unnaturally to whatever object the soul inhabits. This ability goes hand in hand with creative mutilation.

metalkinesis; The master can manipulate and twist metal with complete and utter ease, as well it can cause metal to heat up to scorching temperatures or twist metal apart and scrunch it along anyone inside whatever metal shell they hide in. For instance, it could implode a knight’s helmet inwards onto itself or twist metal to lock down whatever person was foolish enough to fight the master head on and reduce even the most valiant knights into complete and utter helplessness.

Creative Mutilation; The master is highly proficient at taking prisoners and mutilating them into abominations of flesh, metal and bone along with the sprinkle of eldritch magic to keep it all held together. For whatever reason these creatures despite their impossibility manage to function, and through creative mutilation the master has created its dungeon masters and various abominations.

[Couldn’t find a better pic]

Name: The Box
Type: Personal Abode
Description: Found hanging from the deepest pit from the longest chain hidden from the rest of the realm, Orviõs resides in a vast palace where it personally takes prisoners from the rest of the realm it selected itself to personally experiment on in its creation of abominations and to test an endless variety of ever more creative ways to inflict pain. From the outside the box just looks like a geometrically patterned box of metal connected by only a large chain that stretches up miles to the that is constantly dripping blood with only a entrance through a tunnel of flesh at the bottom. However on the inside is a complex of chambers that can be described as follows;

The bottom floor is a storage area full of flesh kept preserved by the chilling darkness of the pit, many live prisoners are often kept in this area and forgotten, usually being reduced to deliriousness from having to constantly eat raw flesh. These catacombs are considered the catacombs of flesh, and is one of the few points of entry into the box. The second floor, the halls of slaughter is where the flesh comes from.

The halls of slaughter are where people are grinded up in large, crude machines or chopped to pieces by large butchers with rusty cleavers, the flesh being used in future eldritch monster making. As well, the flesh is sometimes given to “good slaves” to consume on a regular basis, that is often infested with worms and raw. The purpose being to twist the minds of those prisoners, and make them lose their sense of self.

The third floor is the dark library where many servants of the master’s design experiment on with precision that psychology of torture and have a vast library where the books use human skin as paper. The text is indecipherable to most, being filled with a eldritch dialect that is often used to bring the abominations to life and archive the millennia of experimentation. The vastest library of the realm lies in the box as a result.

Size: 1776

Dungeon Lords- 18
Abominations- 1033
Chain Crawlers- 345
Pit Demons- 30
Gr’kosif- 305
The Fallen- 45

Hierarchy and Culture: The Harvesters work in a very corrupt culture based around favoritism, and the rest often being neglected by the higher ups of whom do not command in any fair or just matter; rather it is expected that those under the boot are obedient due to their binding to the master on the whole due to the master being their creator. Disobedience, for those not in favor of the master or a dungeon lord often is punished by humiliation and being executed, the corpse never buried. The higher ups in the warband in general tend to be those the master desired to be there, usually due to being a favored creation of the master. As a result, those not a creation of the master never end up in any higher position in the crude hierachal system that the harvesters make up of.

However, winning favor of the master for those in the lower positions of the warband is often a matter of being a effective slave catcher and having the luck to not have anyone of the elite steal credit for their hard work- of which is depressingly uncommon. Those lesser to the elite often will be "bound" so to speak to their elite, and only are to take orders from their assigned higher up. This system has led to feuding within the harvesters, often between dungeon lords desperate for the master's favor and fatherly love; of which the master gives but a few.

Combat-wise the harvesters are hit and run raiders, often attacking with the intent of kidnapping individuals to drag back to the pit to make more beings of flesh and metal.

History: The harvesters are the prestigious warband that is the master’s personal minions used to go about finding new flesh for the experiments and bring them back to the pit of sorrow so the master can continue his torturous experiments. They were made from various personally selected denizens of the pit by the master itself to go about finding new slaves for the pit. Since than, the harvesters have been used mostly to rush through the nexus to any open realm after nexus access was inexplicably restored and obtain new subjects for the pit. Over time the structure of the warband would degrade into destitute feuding and favoritism, with the master having little care of this degradation, more interested in making new creations instead of maintaining the ones that only are kept loyal to the master by the master being their effective creator [as far as those of the warband can remember] and being repulsive to most sane beings of the planes.

Military Capabilities:



Dungeon lords

Certain denizens of the pit, for good behavior it is said, are allowed to become lords of their own chain and become transformed into powerful beasts of flesh, chain and power. They are given a cavalcade of slaves to do their every bidding with the only price being their complete and total submission to their one and only creator. Bent and twisted into hideous beasts by the master, often made into giants and twisted in their proportions. Their flesh is flayed, sometimes to the bone and they act as the elite officers in any slave raids on other realms carried out.



Chain Crawlers

These monsters are spiders that have mutated heavily from their exposure to the dark energies of the pit, their sprawling and unnatural webs they spin ensnaring helpless victims that are often let helpless for hours on end before a chain crawler finally desires its meal; of which consists of brains that are sucked out of the skull using a proboscis-like “tongue”. They are a very common native of the realm, and frequently infest whole regions of the pit’s chains and platforms. They come in many sizes including tons of tiny ones, a massive mother one and various ones that specialize in trapping, leaping or other such traits. Universal to them all however, is their amazingly strong webs that are stronger than steel that hold up entire platforms in some parts of the plane.

The large ones are frequently ridden, and chain crawlers have been domesticated as beasts of burden and for their strong, binding webs.





Abominations

Abominations make up the meat of the harvesters, being the children of the experiments and are often seen as the lesser of the dungeon lords. As a result they tend to be subject to constant torture themselves to test their threshold of pain and often suffer neglect of their creator. They constantly are in pain, and often will lash out at other locked up prisoners. The abominations often wail in agony, for the souls of those fused together are trapped forever in these manufactured monstrosities. They are a highly diverse array of beings, often made of flesh and metal fused by force in ways that should never be.



Pit Demons

Rare as they are deadly, the pit demons are demons locked away into the pit who have been exposed to eldritch energies that have put in chains and often locked away into the deepest recesses of the pit’s numerous platform dungeons. Unlike most demons they lack any cunning or intellect, being single minded in their hunger to cause harm to everything they can get ahold of. They are rarely fed prisoners by the local dungeon lord, and frequently neglected on the whole being kept in perpetual isolation from everyone else. Pit demons wherever they are taken and kept locked in chains, and even when having them outside their dark chamber where they are often forgotten they are constrained; for if they were to be let loose they would be able to inflict pain on everyone, even their masters.



The Gr’kosif

Sometimes also known as Orviõ’s children.

The Gr’kosif are a curious race of beings that were made by Orivous, their near-single minded purpose being to pick apart and dissect other living beings for the purpose of figuring out how to cause the most suffering whomever they can get their spindly nails on next. They are proficient in finding the weakness of their victims and extracting their pain to fuel eldritch magical energies that enable them to act as the mages of the pit. For they are able to conjure mental assaults on their foes and temporarily take control of their body, as well some of Orviõ’s children can force amnesia upon an opponent, and make them forget who they were. However blind they seem, they have the ability to sense the pain of others.



The Fallen

No one knows where the fallen came from. It is speculated perhaps they came from starlings, others from angels or some other long lost race of powerful beings. Whatever their origin, now lost to time and existence, being but husks of their former selves the fallen have lost their identity in the pits and forever banished to wander it, have had their husks filled with the energies of the depths and made into subjects of the master. They are powerful beings capable of flight that can warp and distort themselves and others, being able to make those within their presence descend into their most sick, twisted thoughts and act them out.

Warcry: The harvest will be ours!

-The Grand Sagestalker



They say the spirit of a great individual lurks somewhere deep within the forest of the Verdance. He may have once been known as the wisest of sages, the most spiritual of leaders, the most attuned of elders. The story goes that he would have done anything to protect his beautiful land from the ravages of the corrupting poison that inexplicably seemed to creep across his world, and called upon the purest powers left in the natural world to take on a new shape: that of a grand beast, with immaculate fur of white, lined with dashes of umbral black; he is said to have claws the length of men, and fangs even more fearsome. Such a creature would be capable of being utterly ferocious of it's own volition, but the Grand Sagestalker is something else entirely. They say that he retains his mind from days past, and often speaks to those lost in the forest, offering guidance and counsel for any who desire his aid. He wishes to protect the beauty of his land at any cost.

Those who find themselves at the receiving end of his fearsome territoriality will often find themselves subject to a test of character, often in the form of riddles or a game of wit. Those who fail his trials are more often than not torn apart by the unnaturally powerful Beast, who is empowered not only by his nature, but by a pure magic that is found almost nowhere in Creation