deia876lat

Jewel of the Skies

“I do not defy you. I am just trying to protect her, Eilis. You, whomever you are, command a power that is too much for such a fragile vessel. I do not mean you any harm because I want no harm to fall on Eilis. Look…” he slowly lifted up a hand that had some of her blood that had collected in his palm. His other hand was still wrapped around Eilis’s waist. “I am not sure what would happen to you if Eilis dies or her body is damaged. I care not what happens to me, just please let me help her and by extension, help you.”
It was the Master Mage’s turn to look at this bright persona.

The bright glowing eyes narrowed further at his denial.
“I seem to recall you choking me out, you pressumptuous little matchstick.” The voice cut back sharply before he noticed her form grow a little more still at his words.
“But you speak true when you mention the frailty of this body…” The voice spoke as Eilis held up a hand and regarded it for a moment. The calculating cold eyes watched the tattoo’s and the cracks in the skin and more specifically the blood running down it.
“She is rather weak…” The unnatural voice remarked as he dropped it again looking away. “As to what happens to her well... All bodies are but living dust. We burn up, for that is what Life is. An ever consuming flame…The form dies and the soul returns to the All Mother.”
A silence fell as the battle raged on around them.

“You wish to help her?” The glowing eyes focussed on his, contemplating the offer. Suddenly Eilis’s hand grabbed his the wrist with strength of a vice, unable to be torn from, whilst the magical bindings activated again. Clearly whatever had taken hold of Eilis was trying to connect with him, the Thread within the Aether hummed, almost singing and pulsating, as if it was a chord that had been struck correctly.
A sharp pain was felt in his heart, as she continued to hold his wrist.
“She trust you a great deal I can sense it in her.” The voice rang through his head as they somehow now had some sort of connection, a way of communicating without Eilis needing to speak.
As the war rages on around them, the voice spoke again demanding Arn’s full attention a his open eyes now saw within the Aether.
“Her body will wither and die, such is the effect of the ritual, my presence… and ultimately the outcome.”
A figure formed in his mind’s eye walking towards him, a tall humanoid shape, cloaked in shadow and flame alike. It was almost as tall as him and whilst his form was in constant motion due to the nature of how he chose to show himself, the shape was clearly depicting a male individual.
“My presence and reawakening should not have happened within her.” It lamented almost sounding disappointed.
“When they placed me inside of her they must have miscalculated, she after all is clearly not strong enough to deal with the bindings. Yet, for all intents and purposes they chose to do so and here I find myself.” The figure held out a hand to Arn’s form within the Aether as he stepped aside showing him the sleeping form within of Eilis, clearly unable to fight back or notice anything of their conversation.
“Her Aetherial form is a rarity, a delicacy in any case.” He form spoke and despite having no face, Arn could see the invisible grin form.
“I send her to sleep, it is the most merciful thing I could do for her, after all the soul can only endure so much… ultimately when I’ve consumed her being entirely her body will be broken, there will be nothing left. So I suggest you do not get attached to her. It will only end in misery.”
The skin on his wrist started to burn within the Aether, a mark formed a glowing symbol.
"If you wish to save her I suggest you start looking in the right place. Your path lies within the ruins of Sensaridh. This mark will help you find answers.” The voice promised. “It also allows you to contact me, without our little fae paying for it.” The figure regarded him for a moment.
“It should have been you… You would have been a far better choice for the bindings.” It remarked clinically.

Jewel of the Skies

The Tahjai.

Once they belonged to the Order of Magic users of Vaim, before they split themselves off seeking more power and control as well as more freedom.
The leaders of the Tahjai, several powerful archmagii decided that if they were to win this war for dominance from their rivals the The Faithful they needed to kill off any allegiance to its teachings.
So they declared them traitors and claimed the children gifted with magic as quickly as they could.
The younger the better…That way they could stamp out any opposition.
There were those that the Tahjai formed, but that did not necessarily mean they became part of the Tahjai themselves. The order was rather particular in accepting new blood.
They could be divided into several groups.
The Enforcers, these were those on the ground doing the menial tasks of maintaining order and checking new potential magic users.
Then there were the Educators, they could be leaders of covens or schools, instructors within the wealthier families.
There were the Imperii, the judges and magical priests, they performed rituals or judged criminal cases involving magic.
The Battlemages were different set, though often found crude by their fellow Tahjai, they were the ones who were given command over others and free reign, allowing them to pass judgement as they saw fit, regardless whether the Imperii agreed upon it.
And then there were the Scolare, the eternal students, scholars and scientists who were not afraid to get their hands dirty in order to satiate their own hunger for knowledge.
Their stronghold is known as Waelwold, a place of terrible rumours, a place where even death itself would have trouble finding you. By the time it had, you had already longed for its embrace over and over again.
All those that were born with magic would serve the Empire, if not as a Tahjai then as a simple servant or even slave to a master.

Jewel of the Skies

As a little side joke, now you know what I imagine they sound like:

Actors/Voices:

Eilis: Sophia Myles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JrCVJsgTMQ

Tyrhallan: Craig Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88sgwR5k564&list=PLBly1OiKr9WALBTXjIthqoQdKz5BJV_kq

Arn: ?

Uilles: Ciaran Hinds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ire8ZsR03Oo

Ravros: Bill Nighy's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRPMdy7Qdg0

Scylla: Catherine Zeta Jones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJWKWwfURtI

The Sorcerer King: Robin Atkin Downes (Nergal)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOHzzUGs2w0

Tourmaline: Ralph Fiennes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWxf8Hb-Xis

Teryn Varros Avitus: Dan Feuerriegel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7EVcQSssW4

Jewel of the Skies

Broken Skies Lore.

A 100 years ago the world was transformed, because of a last great War between the powers that be.

A 100 years ago the Sorcerer King, the Emperor of the Viemese Empire was defeated.
In a final attempt of spite he pulled down the moons from the Heavens and caused the great destruction of Ith.
Continents were torn and blown apart and for a moment it seemed as if all life would be lost.
But the core of the planet held and the magnetic field shifted to find its stability again. Whether by luck or sheer tenacity the planet held on. Though most of it was blown into space and the planet was but a shadow of its former self.

Water became a scarcity, Air dominated and filled its place to be known as the Layers of Sky. The Layers of the world.
New continents and islands floated and the world and the remnants of those that survived tried to rebuild or maintain their power.

Kingdoms and Countries reshaped and reformed and the world would never be the same again.

So it is recorded by the Chronicler Kantenay of Illitiah.

The Different Countries of Ith:

Belisio.
Capital: Olysium
A fairly large, stable and wealthy kingdom, its wealth lies mostly in their resource of sweet water and sustaining water wells.
Forged around intertwined bonds of allegiances and known for its battle prowess.
It was one of the few places Vaim hadn’t attempted to sack yet, due to its reputation and strength.
Ruled by a King and Queen and a cast of noble families that kept the peace and order through the ability to rise in station within the Kingdom, through the Mage and Knighthood’s, it maintained strong defensive abilities.
But when Vaim’s great conquering began, refugees fled to them, assimilating into Belisian society by taking on the lowest jobs they still had to prove themselves and were quite shunned by society.
Its main power are the Knights and Dragon riders, accomplished fighters swearing themselves and pledging their lives to defend the kingdom. Still very feudalistic in nature it has maintained a crude balance amongst the tides of war and change.
Though accepting of Mages, they have always had a good deal of prejudice against them, finding their strength deceiving and unnatural. Those that show signs of the gift often have a difficult road ahead for them, since they don’t actually have a recognized station at court, unlike their counterparts the Knights. Mere individuals of great capability and strength are allowed to spend time at Court and loyalty must be proven first.

Vaim.
Capital: New/Old Victus
A rather turbulent Empire, once it was a relative large but weak nation, its rule was placed into the hands of a child Emperor who would be advised by the most powerful orders within the Empire.
The Nobles, The Magical order and The Common Man.
Each would supply representatives and advisors to speak for their faction.
The Nobles did most of the ruling, strategizing and maintaining order. The Magical Order was focused on representing magic and ways for it to be used to the advantage of the Empire. They were also those that helped with the recording of history and laws. They helped the Nobles govern and brought a more spiritual side into the argument, trying to maintain a balance to counter the clinical and cutthroat thinking.
And last were the representatives of the Common Man, often well-spoken business men of low birth or farmers. They would report on the troubles brewing within the Empire or stop the Nobles from grasping too much power.
But all of that changed as their lands became less and less resourceful.
Scarcity arose and the balance in power shifted.
People spoke of a curse that plagued the land, one that would alter Vaim’s history forever…
The Child Emperor the symbol of innocence and unity, grew sickly and perished.
For the people this was a great loss, their symbol of hope and life, their spiritual leader was gone.

A power vacuum suddenly appeared and the factions were eager to take their chance for change.
Within the Magical Order voices whispered more ambitious tones and spoke of radical thoughts, whilst others clung to the traditions and truths of the past.
A split happened creating those that called themselves the Faithful (Ahj-an-dhali) and the Reborn (Tahjai) and they became bitter rivals of one another.
This grew to such extremes that they actively sought to oppose the other side regardless of their intent.
In those turbulent years the Faithful managed to ally themselves with some of the more prestigious Nobles.
Their intention was that they would create a Republic, they would return some freedoms to the people, offer them a ray of hope in those dark days.
Vaim would become a place of freethinkers and intellectuals, a place for those with the ambition and will to rise, a place where there would be justice and education, a place where poverty would become a thing of the past.
They would drag the crumbling Empire out of its misery and promise it a future it would have seized all on its own…
Unbeknownst to them the Tahjai had noticed their plans and realized that if they wished to maintain their level of power they would have to undo themselves of their greatest opponents.
They warned the lower Nobles and the more gullible of the Common people of a coup that they (the Faithful and some of the more prominent Nobles) would perform, they lied and manipulated the truth to fixate their hold on the ‘truth’ of the matter.
A purge followed.
The Lower Nobles went to challenge the more powerful houses, they tore them down and destroyed them. Whilst the other Noble Houses resisted, they were used as scapegoats their names dragged through the mud and family members sold off into slavery.
The Commoners were send against the Faithful, the individuals dragged from their home and brought to the Tahjai to receive punishment for their treachery, if they were lucky. Most of them were beaten to death, hung or murdered terrible ways.
Through all the chaos the Tahjai and the New Noble houses started making laws and reconstructing society, eventually becoming known as the Vindicated. (The Xulnorpate)
5 of the most power houses would rule, the lesser houses would attempt to gain strength and try to unseat one of the 5, whilst the Tahjai had more or less earned their immunity.
They told the Teryns they could rule the Empire, all the Tahjai wanted was to focus on their studies and on those that possessed the gift of the All Mother. They promised they were always willing to offer assistance or advise on matters and that they would be preferred to be seen as one entity instead of different individuals.
Sated on their newly promised power the Teryns took it without thought or question.
They didn’t bother The Tahjai and soon enough started their expansion of their territory.
The Common Man, thoroughly mislead and betrayed, attempted to rise up, but were beaten down harshly and told to serve the great Empire.
Voices of dissent disappeared, public examples were made and compliance was rewarded occasionally to keep the people silent and obedient.
People were forced to promise loyalty and service to the Empire. Becoming essentially slaves to the system…
After a while unwavering loyalty was all that remained, no one being around to remember the crimes of the past or to be able to find and read the true history of the Empire instead of the ‘history that was taught’.
And so it went for decades even a couple of centuries…until a new figure rose to power…

When the Sorcerer King rose up and appeared he at first was a Hero of the Common Man earning their loyalty first, with his honour and courage and offering the Viemese someone to root for.
Alarmed the Nobles at first weren’t sure what to make of him, but as he started to grow his own followers and promising them a more prosperous Future, some of the Nobles started switching sides. The Tahjai not being fools had already allied themselves with him as well and so the relatively corrupt Empire formed and altered into a motivated superpower hell bent on ‘Claiming their Right’. And so his need for conquest and subjugation began
The man had a vision and a goal in mind for his Empire and soon enough they officially crowned him as their Supreme Ruler, their Emperor, though he never accepted that title and preferred to be known for his first title The Sorcerer King.
He started with a few small nation states first to test their battle readiness, before taking on the bigger fish in the pond and those quickly fell, swallowed and assimilated by their hungry war-machine.
Revendahl was next and its destruction would unify the rest of the Nations of Ith to band together and try to defeat this terrible evil.
Ultimately they succeeded, though no one knows what really happened the day of the cataclysm, when the Heavens fell and created the world anew.

Revendahl.
Capital: Sensaridh (Mound of the All Mother)
A smaller neighbor of Vaim, once independent and spiritual hub of the World. It was ruled by the Scholarly, Wanderers of Ith. The Druids of Revendahl ruled with relative ease, being the spiritual leaders for the common folk and gifting them opportunities to learn and study when the individuals sought them out and showed promise.
Village elders and Guild leaders would come to them for advice, counsel and blessing. They healed the injured and sick when they could or would tend to them, bringing them into their sacred Palace known as Ezoiya (The Hearth).
All that is gone now, with merely ruins remaining.
Vaim sought to make an example of them, crushing them beneath their boot.
Whilst the Druids and their followers held them off for a while in the end they were no match for the might that was thrown at them.
Whilst the Rhevendahli were enslaved and forced into Vaim’s Empire, the indoctrination began, the Tahjai made sure to find every single magic user that would be born from this conquered people knowing that through these means they could maintain control and dominance.

Illitiah.
Capital: Hyfell
A small group of islands that form the nation Illitiah, that helped by being part of the allegiance in the war against the Sorcerer King.
Ruled over by Zeraphina Stormgard, the appointed leader of the ‘Floating City’ and the Lightning Garde. A stubborn old lady that helped her people find a place within the Broken world of Ith.
Harnessing the power of Lightning they are able to move their nation, turning them into Sky-farers, wanderers and traders of the Skies.
They are rather skilled techno-mages, combining both to their own advantages, such being the first to have electricity and were the ones capable of capturing lightning and harvesting water. They are also one of the more free spirited people of Ith.

Leonasse.
Capital: Sternecrans
A nation of relative size, mysterious and not much known about them.
It is ruled by someone called the Anchor.
It is said they value the rule of Law, Faith and Order and that it is maintained by the Senechai.
Others that know them either sing their praises or curse them all.

Jewel of the Skies

Maybe.....

As for your other questions:

The Tahjai currently are an order of magic users (though not every magic user is automatically part of the Tahjai)
They have several divisions but I'll explain that a bit better with the lore expo.

Whilst they have great power and dominance, they do not rule the Empire, but manipulate quite a great deal behind the scenes.

The Teryn is basically another word for Lord/Nobleman & it is also a title for the leader of representative of a house/family.
So currently Scylla's master is the young Teryn Varros Avitus, since Eilis killed his father Teryn Balbus Avitus.
As for the girls, the 'covenstudents' they are essentially sold into slavery, their parents often are promised wonderful lives, whilst in fact most 'common magic users' go to these covens, depending on their skill or talents. They are observed at these places and there they determine what happens to the students. Whether they will serve a patron or family or whether they follow a more rigorous path with the Tahjai order itself becoming enforcers and such.
Most get sold into slavery though.
As for getting pregnant by the Teryn's well naturally it happens, but it is frowned upon by the right society, depending on the situation they decide what to do. Sometimes they kill the baby in the womb, other times they wait for it to be born and dispose of it then. But there are also more 'gentle-hearted' Teryn's that merely send the child away or sell it off into slavery as well. Technically they are his property so he can do with it what he likes.

One extra thing though: Scylla and Eilis did not go to the same coven. Scylla is also quite a bit older her path in life has been rather turbulent.

Also if you should need me to play Alexa to have some more romance time for Toby you'll just need to let me know.

Jewel of the Skies

Well, take your time for your posts, I'm quite busy and occupied with work too, but I am going to hopefully help you somewhat by adding some more lore and extra stuff in this tab this weekend.
I have been mulling over a taste of music, a soundtrack for the character involved, so you may expect that too.
Still working on my map, since the first didn't sit right with me with how it looked, but yeah I'll try and post a good deal of that stuff this weekend.

As I have stated before I draw a lot of inspiration from the Dark Crystal and showed you the clip of the emperor before. So don't be surprised to see some influences in here.

As you've also added Alexa and Toby to the mix, I quite enjoyed their post and am curious whether you'll keep them as side characters or whether they will have a whole storyline for themselves. It would be fun to be able to properly split the party up and allow them to discover more of this world as we continue.

So for now posts that are coming up: Tyrhallan, Eilis and Uilles/Ravros as well as 'one other person' aswell.
What I need from you is give your thoughts and ideas on the Lore I'll submit this weekend, your speculations up until this point as to what is going to happen with everyone and...

Also I need you to roll a die for me. Just an ordinary die will do and tell me the number.

Reality Reforged, Magical Postapocalyptic RPG.

Sounds interesting, I'm keeping an eye on this aswell, provided you're still accepting?

Jewel of the Skies

Eilis was a terrifying sight to behold, not responding to Arn’s words or giving any indication of having heard Arn mentally, but her actions did show that some of it connected.
As she made a slow squeezing motion with her arm, the ship stopped moving, before alarms started going off continuously as the deck started to creak and groan, almost as if it somehow was bend into one another. The cannons attempted to fire again in desperation, but its charge couldn’t even leave the cannon itself as the nuzzle was folded shut and bent off to the point of breaking.
All the while Eilis had not reacted anymore or spoken, she let her magic do the talking and despite the terrible damage she did to herself, she continued, bring in her other arm.
Light cracked around and through the skin as blood started dripping down the other arm too, the electricity sizzling around them.

“Your arrogance and impudence will be your demise even if it means I will have to break you all. There will be no comfort for you, only I can grant you a rest everlasting.” She spoke, her voice still distorted and it was clear whatever was controlling Eilis, her threat was a promise she would most certainly keep.
“For I am eternal and you…you are but flies to be swat.” And with that she motioned the grabbing of the ship. It shook and alarms and cries of panic could be heard, before she threw her arms in a downwards motion, slamming it down into a larger bigger vessel, causing its engine to blow up and engulf the other ship’s deck.
The screams of horror and pain cried out, but were only met with the cold condemning stare that Eilis gave them.
“Your battle ends here…” She uttered before a magic spell was flung at her, it hit its mark engulfing her head and slowly drawing the oxygen out, making her rapidly turn towards the mage in question.
“Foolish was your act of defiance, it will be your last.” Was her soft reply, before sending force magic down upon the poor mage. It flung him off the ground, bouncing with such force that his neck broke upon impact with one of the obstacles he bounced against, slumping into a small heap of man.
Eilis however didn’t even bother to worry about it, as the spell disappeared her head turned around to look at Arn with empty white eyes, taking measure of him.
“You’re the one she wants…” She didn’t finish the rest as she narrowed her eyes. “Firemage…you’re the one that defied me before…” The tone sounded threatening.

Jewel of the Skies

Oh I am so sorry you feel that you feel you're not doing enough.
I don't feel your posts are reactionary, I always look forward to them eager and curious at the innerworkings of Arn's mind.
Maybe your reactions are more responsive in a sense as of late, but that is because I have to set you up with bits and pieces of plot and information, not tidal-waving you with all sorts of history or lore, so that is doesn't become a 'lore fest' and also because I don't want to spoil too much (which I know I am going to do if I start blabbing; about what happened at the end of the Sorcerer King's final battle or why and how the Sorcerer King came to be in the first place.)

I am still trying to set the pieces on the board so you'll know the players involved.
But you're more then welcome to add more pieces to our little story or add in your own motivations and plotlines (it was why I suggested you'd bring Toby back in) since it will give you another character to shape his goals/future for like I said you can build plots of your own. I mean Arn and Toby must have had plans aside their Shooting Stars occupation?
Naturally Eilis changed all that in Arn's case, but maybe Arn himself has some skeleton's from his past coming to mess things up as well.

Also I hope my explanations of the sides; Vaim's Empire, the Tahjai and the involved individuals are clear enough?
Maybe I should post a bit more background info here in the OC so you can play around with it as well or add your own enemies to our list.
All the puppets I am currently stringing along will have their purpose. Ravros or Scylla aren't easy villains, they're meant to be rather grey, just like Uilles is shown to be fallible.

As for Arn and Eilis. Arn is connected to her, regardless of the other side. The problem is is that 'that other side' currently doesn't care about You, Eilis or Belisio for that matter.

But it can be influenced, talked to, even persuaded, provided you wish to try that out.

You could also go the opposite route strengthen Eilis, this other side is so dominant because Eilis herself isn't. If you strengthen her mentally either by word or magic you can achieve the same thing as well, however keep in mind that this would be a constant struggle for Eilis since it doesn't really accept 'its state of being'. (I know I am being vague but I want to at least surprise you somewhat).

Then there is the let it ride out she'll tire eventually approach.

And last but not least you can go into the Thread and try to battle it there. 'However' I must state that it is pretty much like 'warging' from GOT, you will be entering Eilis's body/mind in order to combat it. Result of it is your magic will also activate the bindings, thus causing pain for her just like 'the other' does when it uses magic.
Also you'll be very vunerable if your body dies in battle you'll be stuck in Eilis as well and you won't be able to help Tyrhallan and Uilles.

Hopefully you don't feel like I am hogging all the storywriting, cause I wouldn't be able to do this without you. Again don't be afraid to go crazy, you might even decide to kill Eilis, but it will be over rather quickly then...
I just hope you don't see our writing as a chore, like something you have to do, but enjoy it as much as I do.
Anyway I rambled on long enough again...
Just let me know what you need of me I will give you as much information as I can without spoiling the plot, unless of course you don't care for surprises I will roll out the entire plot then should you wish to know it before hand.

Jewel of the Skies

More troubles brewing on the horizon...