[Game Thread] Chapter Seven: Bloodlines

[dalarangreen]

Brood hesitates before answering.

"...More of a special request from Many Faces. So... As you can imagine, it was vague enough that not even I am sure why I'm seeking him out. The Sword in the Dark did suggest that I also seek out Mrith Jen'la, Didina Reid, or Misa Serokai. I am not very good at navigating these sorts of social gatherings so I asked him for advice."

Brood shrugged, before returning Toy's look of curiosity, "You said he picked a fight with the Sword in the Dark?"

Even if it was only a verbal fight, this required more than a little bravery. The Sword in the Dark was not worshiped by all of the Children for trivial reasons.

[Xian]

Adam & Sublime Originally Posted by Sublime "Well, one can't be blamed for taking pride in what one is good at, and I'm good at separating heads from shoulders. Or any body part from another really. With some opponents you really don't have much of a choice but to cut them into little pieces to ensure they're dead and stay dead." "Well, if you haven't yet detected the sarcasm in my voice... "taking pride" was not exactly what I was thinking... it think it was more along the lines of 'disturbed'... or needs 'help' now..." Adam nearly laughed at Sublime's petulant reply. "Just goes to show that they will make anyone a divine being nowadays..." Originally Posted by Sublime "Well, the Children are a rather practical sort when it comes to that, they prefer to use magic to sustain themselves, whether through rings or conjured food." She can't hold it long before grinning again. "Fortunately, they do like a good celebration, so now is the time they bring out the good stuff." She gestures over to a nearby fire where a group of Children appear to be roasting a variety of meats. "Fair warning: they save up their spices and the like for events such as this." "Please, if a prissy Halvan godling like you can handle it, it can't be that spicy. Well, I think that these 'Children' and you have one thing right that everyone enjoys a good celebration." Adam quips as he moves over o the Children as indicated by Sublime that were roasting something very savory... and if his smell sensors were of any indication, it was indeed spiced with something dangerous. Adam was intrigued and then noted that the Children were all looking quizzically at him, as if confused. "So what? A construct can't enjoy good food and drink... oh fine..." Using his shifting powers, Adam's features flowed and then reformed into that of the Emerald Dragon's humanborn form as he looked at the Children's reaction at the transformation. Then acting as if nothing in particular had happened, Adam went where the food and drink were. He was smiling inwardly knowing that the sudden transformations would no doubt startle the assembled Children. "...there is that better? Now, I say we get this little celebration started... Cheers!"

[Makenshi]

 

Arte turns to look at Mrith again, this time looking genuinely intrigued by the subject. "One of many theories, given the 'humanoid form' that most Precious Dragons possess. However, given that humanoid forms themselves appear to be the norm for many if not most sentient races, I personally subscribe to the theory that their resemblance is no more or less relevant than that of the Elves."

It was by far the most animated he had been in their interactions thus far (although even now he was still somewhat reserved), with him barely even leaving Mrith time to respond before he continued. "Unless, of course, you think there might be some sort of connection to the Elves as well? Some sort of...hmmm...'ultimate ancestor' for humanoids as a whole, perhaps? Personally, I think it more likely that they were created as they were - or near enough - by the Old Ones or beings of the Eighth's ilk but it would certainly be an intriguing thought. Hmm, I might have to ask L'arabiel about it when she arrives."

 

Originally Posted by Brood

"The Sword in the Dark did suggest that I also seek out Mrith Jen'la, Didina Reid, or Misa Serokai. I am not very good at navigating these sorts of social gatherings so I asked him for advice."

Min perks up as she lists Morgan's associations. "Well, Didina and Misa haven't arrived yet, but Mrith has been here for a while. She's over the drums around the central bonfireby the drums, talking with one of those Unknown Gods." She gestures to the Humanborn Dragon. "She's one of his newer associates I think, but her adoptive sister, Nevh Rudaa, was one of the original investigators alongside Morgan."

While Min frowns a little at the memory of Morgan arguing with Coiya, Toy chuckles. "Indeed. He's developed somewhat of a reputation for picking such fights with people who are fully capable of killing him, or worse. It might also interest you to know that he is the reason that Zilira is free. He confronted the Young King with the uncomfortable truth of her slavery to the throne, knowing that the very same magic that bound her would compel her to kill Morgan, her own lover, if she knew he was trying to free her." He smiles widely. "Oh, and to top that off, he also threatened me once someone, I assume Bane, told him of my Toy has also taken it upon himself to seek out those who use their powers to pick on those weaker then themselves, from simple bullies to rapists, and mete out poetic justice on them depending on what they did. The most infamous of these was when he threatened to 'rip out the memories' of a male Child, who he found out had been taking advantage of newly rescued slaves, and replace them with those of a whore before having someone change his shape to match and dumping him in a Freeborn brothel. The worst part was that he said he would take great pleasure in visiting him every now and then and returning his memories for a time before ripping them out again. Said Child never caused any trouble again, although Toy does make a point of 'dropping by' to check every now and then.proclivities, though I got the impression that he just wanted me to be careful, rather than that he didn't approve."

 

Originally Posted by Adam

"Just goes to show that they will make anyone a divine being nowadays..."

Sublime lets out a rather un-lady-like guffaw. "Oh, never change Adam, never change."

While the Children weren't familiar with Warforged, his display of shapeshifting, if anything, appeared to put them more at ease rather than confusing them. Perhaps they simply assumed this was the 'real' form and that the other was some sort of 'battle' form?

Whatever the reason, they were all too happy to offer him some of the spiced meats and a bottle of some sort of pale coloured liquid. "Careful Freeborn," the man who handed him the bottle broke into a grin, "you never know how much a palebrew will hit you until you take a sip." While several of the Children smiled or laughed as if it was some sort of joke, others rolled their eyes. Clearly, there was going to be a lot of cultural differences to wade through.

Sublime lets out another laugh at that. "Oh, you'd probably have to find something of the now dead Lord of Excess, who supposedly made the most potent of alcoholsGula's for it to have an affect on him."

 

Who and Where? Brood: Taking with Min, Toy and Geld. Mrith: Talking with Arte, by the central bonfire. King Vulcar of Halva, Vulcar's fiancéePrincess Celes of Shali, Cypher is the eldest of the Sword's three Children but also the least seen. This is because she is a Face in the Dark (see classes thread), meaning she has spent most of her time infiltrating Fiendish churches and cults. In her case, she infiltrated the Church of Deimos in Sharak and even spent a time as King Kaeyin's religious advisor. At some point during this she become pregnant with and bore a twin daughter and son of Kaeyin (although neither he nor anyone else was aware of them) who have been raised by the Children in the Dark when she is not around. As a Face in the Dark she is highly skilled at divine magic, stealth and subterfuge. Being a Godling she is also among the most powerful of mortals although not quite a full-fledged God.Cypher of the Firstborn In'ira and her twin toddlers, Ismael and Miya: Inside one of the tents, where the babies/toddlers/younger children mostly seem to be. Most often shortened simply to Bane, he is the middle-child of the three but also the tallest and bears a striking resemblance to his grandfather, Vulcar Halva I, the man who founded Halva and the First Halvan Empire. Bane's Gift is for understanding magic items, which are somewhat of a speciality of his and generally what he spends most of his time doing outside of freeing slaves, striking out against the Fiends or otherwise performing his duties. He is an Eye in the Dark (see the classes thread), meaning he is skilled at stealth and arcane magic. Being a Godling he is also among the most powerful of mortals although not quite a full-fledged God.Balor-Bane of the Firstborn In'ira, A tall grey-skinned Drow-touched man wearing goggles, a tattered wide-brimmed hat and a long overcoat filled with various bits and pieces. He has mostly only shown up in order to use some sort of device to strip Gula, Ira and Superbia of their divinity before they were killed, however he has fought a little as well. Tinker has displayed skill with a pistol, the use of various magical items (most notably the one that appears to drain divinity) and the occasional use of high level arcane magic.Tinker: Talking animatedly amongst themselves within one of the cluster of Children about magic items. Min is the youngest, most reckless and most immature of the three, having only passed her Swordright in the past few years. Unlike her siblings, she has embraced her psionic heritage and uses it in combination with the sublime way, having had a lot of training in both from various other Children. Min is a powerful Wilder and a highly skilled Swordsage, as well as having learnt how to further manipulate psionics by being an Elocator. Being a Godling she is also among the most powerful of mortals although not quite a full-fledged God.Min of the Firstborn In'ira and her sword-brothers, Toy and Geld: Mingling with other Children. One of the original investigators and without doubt the most high profile of them even before the investigations were revealed to the world at large during Chapter Five. He has made a name for himself for shouting at or otherwise picking fights with powerful and/or influential people, including a few Gods, most often by trying to call them out on their behaviour. As well as having fostered a close working relationship (if not friendship) with the King and his soon-to-be Queen, Morgan is also a childhood friend of Kala (one of the newest Gods in Aheka), a former pupil of Esiard Emlyn and, as has been revealed recently, not only currently in a relationship with Minloth Zilira but also responsible for freeing her from the binding that had been placed on her to serve the Halvan royal family for almost a thousand years. Despite this recent prestige he still maintains a network of friends and allies from all walks of life throughout Halva.Archmage Morgan Wainwraith, Kala was a deaf-mute Seer long thought to be the reincarnation of Airis, partly because she was innately talented at using divine magic with little to no training from a startlingly young age. It has recently emerged that she is in fact the daughter of Airis and Malvain, broken free by Malvain and entrusted into the care of her half-brother Malhas (see Other) who stunted her natural gift in order to better hide her. Her true power was unlocked by Fisali and she has since steadily grew in strength and power, with her political influence, especially to the worshippers of her parents, likewise growing and growing. Since becoming a Demi-Goddess, Kala has displayed powerful divine magic, with a particular knack for using glpyh and symbol spells as well as healing magic. She has even proven capable of resurrecting the dead, however it appears to tax her in some way.Kala, Malhas is a son of Malvain born around a century ago or more (exactly when is unknown), although he has never been very widely known, even among his father's own followers. His most notable act was masquerading as his father in order to provoke an alliance of Deities (good and evil) to fight and slay Malvain. Malhas has recently claimed he did so because Malvain was planning some sort of world-spanning war which, given the separate machinations of Zera to do likewise, could very well have been a catastrophe. Malhas has recently emerged as being the one responsible for hiding Kala's true power, as well as keeping an eye on her by masquerading as a worshipper of Airis by the name of Kahlas. He has been helping her out since, although the two do not always see eye to eye. Malhas is a highly skilled and varied user of both arcane and divine magic although he full abilities and limits have never really been tested.Malhas and a Drow Demi-Goddess who was thought dead. Most notably, she is both the ultimate female ancestor of the Halvan dynasty/had been bound to serve them into recently by powerful magic and the mother of Coiya Halva, the second ever King of Halva and better known now as the Sword in the DarkMinloth Zilira: Yet to arrive, but expected to arrive together. Didina Reid is a beautiful young Tiefling woman, most notable because of her large horns which she habitual decorates with jewellery. Although she was born to the former High Council member (but still influential Council member) Alleron Lyrason her father not only disinherited her due to her obvious Tiefling nature - claiming that she was not his daughter - but has repeatedly hired people to try and kill or otherwise deal with her. Didina has survived against these attacks in part due to having forged her own network of allies/friends and in part through her natural psionic talents. Eventually, this gained the King's attention and he not only named her a Lady but also took lands and wealth from her father in recompense, all in order to recruit the Mindbender and Thrallherd to aid in investigating the attempt on his life. Despite being a powerful Telepath, Didina dislikes fighting which has only intensified recently with the death (and revival) of her closest friend, Misa Serokai (see below). She has stressed that she was hired to investigate, not to fight, so it unclear how much she intends to continue to help with current events, especially with their original task having been completed once they confirmed it was Zera behind the assassination attempt. As a Telepath, Mindbender and Thrallherd Didina is highly skilled at using Telepathy powers and mind-effecting powers in general. Didina revealed that she had contacts/friends in the Church of Inanna much earlier in the story, however it has recently emerged that not only did she have some sort of contact with the Cult of Acedia but had some form of interaction with Acedia herself that she avoided talking about. It is because of this that she did not join the rest of the party in confronting Acedia and later getting involved in the battle between several Archgates and several of the Unknown Gods.Lady Didina Reid and Misa Serokai is a generally scruffy-looking young Arian woman, however as the daughter of the long-serving Arian ambassador to Halva she was born and raised in Halva. She was brought into the investigation in part because of her close friendship with Didina Reid but also because of her own minor seer abilities. Namely, that having been born blind she has greatly refined the Serokai's natural precognition to allow her to experience the world through what she describes as some form of 'touchsight', more feeling it than seeing it, as well as sometimes getting vague premonitions of danger. This form of 'sight' even allowed her to recognise the incredibly powerful mage known as Shade, who ordinarily can not be recognised unless he wants to be due to some sort of magical amnesia effect that he constantly emits. Misa was not only killed, but reduced to dust during the most recent Fiendish incursion upon Aheka however the newly ascended Demi-Goddess Kala was able to not only restore her but cure her blindness in the process - something that Misa has refused in the past as her people believe it is a distraction from the true sight she has mastered and fears her abilities will fade as a result. She stayed behind with Didina when the party left to confront Acedia and her forces.Lady Misa Serokai: Yet to arrive but expected to do so together. Archgates Mirik Orn, Selene Jual, Sei'Theofan Rudaa, Shara Segali, Sei'Raeth Segali, an Alainn: Mingling amongst the Children. Anorde and Celi: Yet to arrive (will arrive with Ashen Black). A (literally) ethereal looking woman with blonde hair, one green eye and one blue eye that appears to float/fly about, passing through most physical objects and attacks (which is likely where the name comes from). Has a very unusual appearance (pale skin, wings, clothing that appears to have melded into her skin). Like her siblings and unlike all the other Unknown Gods, she has outright admitted to/claimed to be a daughter of Airis and Zera, which has earned suspicion from many (most importantly Jester of the Demon's Moon). Other than her incorporeality she has mostly displayed powerful divine magic, potentially even reviving the recently slain (Revivify) and using various high-level healing/restoration spells to aid others.Airiel the Unbound: In one of the larger buildings, helping tend to injured Children rather than joining the festivities (so far anyway). The most striking of the 'Un' siblings because of his uncanny resemblance to his father, Zera, save for the blond hair and blue-green eyes of his mother (Airis). Fortunately for him, Zera's face isn't widely known outside of the Sei and high-ranking military types. Fought with and killed Gula by taking an immense beating and then somehow 'transferring' his injuries onto Gula once Gula tried to use a God-killing poison on him. As Gula was dying Tinker (see below) used an unknown artifact to steal and store his divinity. He has displayed powerful psionics, in particular having repeatedly absorbed injuries from those around him to heal them and transferring both these and his own injuries onto Fiends. Against both Gula and Jester (see the linked to Chapter) he has displayed not only an incredibly resilience (i.e. taking lots of damage) but an incredible ability to rapidly heal himself when he chooses not to transfer his injuries. He has also displayed another former of magic using an unknown tongue, mostly by simply calling out a single word/short phrase, however exactly what it is is unknown.Airin the Undying: Using his psionics (in particular telekinesis) to help the last of the rebuilding/fixing going on. Like her sister, Airza's appearance is highly unusual as she not only has stone-like and bronze-coloured (actually bronze, not just tanned) skin with patches of incandescent scales on it but also pitch-black cracks running all across her body forming strange symbols all over her body. Her having one blue eye and one green eye doesn't register nearly as much as it normally would as result. She was mostly active in the Fiendish Planes before helping to defend her brother from Jester (see the end of the current Chapter). Unlike her more magical siblings, Airza has shown simple but brutally effective overwhelming force when she has fought, mostly using her fists and/or an oversized bastard sword, as well as an ability to not only rapidly heal herself but simply shrug off most forms of damage in the first place. In the unlikely event that a Binder meets her, they may recognise that her appearance and certain other abilities are a result of Binding magic.Airza, the Unbroken: Mingling with the Children. At first glance, Arte doesn't look very remarkable, and unlike his sister, Sublime, has shown a tendency to hang back and strike from afar rather than get into the thick of fighting. He also tended to kill almost exclusively with practical, quick bouts of magic, rather than toying and humiliating his opponents as his sister did. Most notably, the two of them killed Superbia, with Arte countering any of her attempts at magic and even seemingly to re-direct her attempts to teleport away while Sublime killed her in (otherwise) single combat. Has displayed a large variety of both arcane and divine magic, even sometimes combining the two, but has mostly worked with his sister, Sublime to compliment her focus on fighting. Like her, he hasn't really shown much in the way of 'support', with even his divine magic being used for almost exclusively offensive purposes.Arte: Staring contemplatively at the large bonfire, while occasionally talking to Mirth. Boss' appearance is by far the most intimidating of the Unknown Gods. Not only does he bear an uncanny resemblance to Deimos (same hair colour/general build, but different eyes and a skull mask that covers the top of his face rather than the bottom of it) but his entire body is covered in writhing, living spiked chains that he not only fights with but uses to move around on. He has almost exclusively shown up in Phare in the recent fighting, specifically their capitol Feid, helping to fight the Fiends, albeit in an incredibly brutal fashion and usually while cheerily singing inappropriate songs in the process. For those who who have been/were recently victims of particularly nasty people (especially those using a position of power to avoid paying for their crimes) he may have revealed himself as much as a few years before the current events, coming out of no-where to either kill the person in question or confer some sort of compulsion-laden mark on them to force them to 'atone' (with the compulsion often being rather sadistic in nature). All such targets of his have been nasty pieces of work and he tends to arrive and leave in an abrupt fashion. Apart from using the spiked chains wrapped around his entire body like combat tentacles and brutally ripping things into pieces he has also shown a smattering of sorcerous magic (albeit, not very high level), some powerful invocations and a knack for striking at weak points.Boss: Using his chains to help with the building/repair work. Lady is the most visible (literally) of the Unknown Gods, mostly because her appearances tend to be heralded by her exuding waves of blinding light from her body. What makes her obvious affinity for light more unusual is that she is a dusky/grey skinned Drowtouched, wearing mostly white with some grey and black. She first emerged as Deimos and the Fiends attacked the Drow underground but subsequently moved across Aheka turning up in various places to help out. Each time usually using not only her light powers but mass telepathy to announce her presence, threaten the fiends or rally the people. Along with her (seemingly innate) light-based powers, she has also displayed powerful offensive psionics and sorcery, as well as occasionally fighting with a sword.Lady/Sulion: Using her psionics/magic (mostly telekinesis) to help the rebuilding/repair work. Faces, as he has generally introduced himself recently, is an incredibly skilled shapeshifter that has only recently been revealed as being 'Mask' (see People of Aheka). His 'default'/diplomatic form is a young man with dark hair wearing a mask with a simplistic stylised grinning face on it. Although he joins the other Unknown Gods in confronting Jester in the most recent Chapter his other antics are otherwise unknown. It seems likely he has masqueraded as others to either use the chaos to spy or sneak up people. Even his 'Mask' persona seems to be just another persona, as he acts much more reserved and unassuming in his 'grinning face' guise. Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods he is not only unknown to them but the Family he claims to belong to (the Harlequins) is similarly completely unknown. Other than his shapeshifting he hasn't really displayed any real skills as Many Faces except for being very good at pretending to be someone else, however as Mask his using a variety of skills/magic led people to believe he is a Chameleon (i.e. capable of using a wide variety of abilities/magic depending on the situation). Given the revelation of his true power this may have been an inaccurate assumption.Many Faces: ??? Rapture is an unusually tall elf-touched woman (6ft+) wearing the traditional mismatched armour of the Children in the Dark who carries a halberd with magical runes and markings carved into it like a staff would have. Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods she is not only unknown to them but the Family she claims to belong to (the Dervishes) is similarly completely unknown. She has displayed not only great skill with using her halberd in battle, but also appears to use it as a focus/aid to both high-level offensive arcane and divine magic.Rapture: Mingling with the Children. After the Lady in the Light, Shadow has been the most noticeable/seen of the Unknown Gods, mostly as a result of engaging in a very public fight with Invidia in Feid. That she has been fighting by using some sort of shapeshifting 'shadow' that surrounds her and tends to take on large monstrous forms with great fluidity certainly helped make her noticeable. She also revealed herself to the Children before the current events, specifically Teaches Humility (a former PC who you can find in the Lords and Ladies thread). Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods she is not only unknown to them but the Family she claims to belong to (the Avengers) is similarly completely unknown. She has mostly relied on immense physical prowess to fight, combined with the fluid shapeshifting, reach and natural attacks of her 'shadow beast armour/suit thing', but using the occasional bit of arcane magic (usually to banish Fiends from a distance).Shadow: Using her 'shadow form' to help the rebuilding/repair work, mostly with tentacles/brute strength. Except perhaps for Many Faces, Snark is the most unassuming of the Unknown Gods. He wears the typical mis-matched armour of the Children in the Dark and, unsurprisingly predominantly fights with a sword, but if anything he's a little shorter than average and definitely shorter than most of the other Unknown Gods. Most notably, he seems to only speak by quoting sayings, bits of scripture or even parroting what other people say around him (often mockingly). He has generally accompanied Lady, both among the Drow and on the surface, but occasionally split up from her to deal with threats by himself. Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods he is not only unknown to them but the Family he claims to belong to (the Silencers) is similarly completely unknown. He has shown himself to not only be a skilled swordsman but a practitioner of the Sublime Way, including some supernatural uses of it (mostly Devoted Spirit manoeuvrers/stances). He has also displayed minor magical abilities, great skill at stealth and a keen eye for weak spots.Snark: Mingling with the Children. Sublime is by far the most talkative of the Unknown Gods, although this mostly takes the form of boasting, mocking and generally being an annoyance in any way she can while fighting. True to her boasting, she is a strikingly beautful woman with long dark hair, pale skin and clothing that while cut to allow her freedom of movement is obviously ornate, high quality and designed to also show off her physique. Although she predominantly fights with a sword it has the ability to rapidly change shape to suit how/who she is fighting, mostly taking the form of various melee weapons but sometimes pairs of them or even a metallic bow that creates its own entirely metallic arrows to fire. She most notably killed Superbia in (mostly) single combat (her brother countered Superbia's magic and attempts to flee, otherwise not engaging her) but also swathes of other demons. Even against Superbia Sublime maintained her cocky arrogance, constantly belittling and mocking the Goddess as they fought and claiming that she was disappointed with how weak Superbia was before beheading her and using her decapitated head as a make-shift flail against her own forces. She appears to fight for the thrill of fighting and/or to prove herself superior as far as has been observed. She has almost exclusively fought physically, bar some supernatural uses of the Sublime Way, and mostly at melee, but of particular note is not only her use of archery but that she somehow appears to be able to use the Sublime Way with it. Her skill, particularly with the Sublime Way, is quite frankly equal parts terrifying, awe-inspiring and unequalled as far as most people will have ever seen, making her boast of being 'Perfection Personified' more understandable (but still very arrogant).Sublime: At the centre of a large group of singing/dancing/chatting Children along with the three heads of the slain Sins (which are on poles nearby) and joining in with all three. The oldest of the Hybrids, having been created when a Succubus stabbed the Paladin of Trinity, Nero Ardin, sixteen years ago without knowing the true nature of the dagger. He appears as a dark-haired, pale-skinned and plainly dressed Shalian man, making him much more unassuming in appearance compared to the two other Hybrids. Like with all of the Hybrids, those who meet his gaze feel like it almost pulls them in, with their pupils appearing like starry voids. Nehrahk has spent the past sixteen years secretly converting his own army of Fiends (and Fiend-blooded creatures) from the various Fiendish planes, using his influence over Fiends to try and turn them into a force for good. All of these Fiends have his mark (a series of smaller and smaller equilateral triangles within one another at different angles) somewhere obvious on their body (usually the forehead). He has been operating out of his own demi-plane attached to the Plane of Shadows and is known to a few in the Children of the Dark, but was otherwise unknown until now. Although obviously attempting to be a force for good Nehrahk has made it clear that his intention is to protect Aheka from Fiends - not to get involved in internal Ahekan affairs - so he is not to be counted on to fight Zera. He has displayed the ability to both make and 'unmake' matter on a variety of scales, from creating clothes to entire demi-planes and not just disintegrating objects/beings but, according to his own description, unravelling their very presence in reality (making it impossible to restore/revive them).Nehrahk: Unknown if he will appear. The newest of the Hybrids but has quickly become the most well known as he moved across Aheka during the recent troubles slaying swathes of Fiends with little effort while also holding off/repelling Fiendish Deities as well. He has auburn hair, tanned skin and golden eyes that resemble rolling, whirling liquid fire. Like with all of the Hybrids, those who meet his gaze feel like it almost pulls them in, with their pupils appearing like starry voids. He was created when Lekan Alyyryk of the Kashyyn, a Tyyrykan who had been helping the PCs to investigate the assassination and then Zera in general, elected to sacrifice himself in part because of a prior meeting with the Oracle having convinced him that doing so was for the benefit of Aheka as a whole, even if - by his own personal beliefs - it would not only destroy his soul but prevent the eventual reincarnation that his people believe in. Lekan came to the PCs attentions because his identical brother was used to try and assassinate the King - by Zera as it eventually turned out - however it emerged that it was due to Zera's mental manipulations. It was also discovered that the Blue Woman was in fact originally Lekan's sister - with the three of them being triplets - and is being controlled/manipulated by Zera. His brother and sister had both been trying to infiltrate Zera's operations before they were discovered and Zera twisted them to his own ends. Still being 'newborn', the full extent of Lekkar's powers are unknown, however he retains Lekan Alyyryk's psionic abilities (albeit, greatly amplified) as well as possessing an affinity for innate fire magic. In particular, he appears to use it to move around, either appearing in a blaze of fire from out of no-where or sometimes literally exploding from out of Fiends during the recent troubles. Just as Nehrahk has an affinity for manipulating Fiends and the Blue Woman has an affinity for Trolls, Lekkar's influence seems to revolve around Seers and, more broadly, humans to a degree as he has shown some sort of empathic sense towards humanoids as a whole - such as being able to tell that the Drow were being enslaved and slaughtered after looking at a single Drow.Lekkar Alyyryk: Unknown if he will appear. Coiya/the Sword in the Dark: Not arrived yet. Dancer, Keeper of the Blackbone: Not arrived yet. Breaker, Keeper of the Firstborn: Not arrived yet. Mercy, Keeper of the Last-Breath: Not arrived yet. Wit, Keeper of the Oldblood: Not arrived yet. Strider, Keeper of the True-Dawn: Not arrived yet. Ruin, Keeper of the Wildsoul: Not arrived yet. Future, Keeper of the Young-Blades: Not arrived yet. Name: Location. If there's anyone else from the People thread (or for the vets, that you've met before) that you're keeping an eye on/want to meet then let me know and I'll add them here if they're expected to attend and update when they arrive.

~MTWC

[Blue]

"Ultimate ancestor, yes. Or original design, at least, if Elder Demons created it all. Elves do not live as long as dragons, humans even less so. Though I have no doubt some races are versions created or modified out of another rather than the accumulation of breeding malformations and the thinning of the blood. Some fiends do look very human as well and I think an Old One made most of them. Either way, it can hardly be a coincidence. I'll have more understanding once we discover the first instance of humanborn dragons and, if possible, the origin of the first dragon, whom may well have been the Crone herself. Distant as those events may be, I do not think them entirely lost to history just yet."

She folded her arms together, pressing them against her chest as she leaned forward.
"And what good would such knowledge be? We need no justification for our superiority. But if there is indeed a descendance, we could perhaps make it easier to account ourselves... not responsible, rather, bound by some kind of parental duty, to actually care for the human fate and defend them as adults would children of their kind. As Crone chose to do."

Mrith breathed out flamelessly, but the heat distorted the air in front of her slightly.
"On a more personal level, I suppose I'd like to know if only to make it easier to reconcile my aspects. Human and dragon; aristocrat and wanderer, artist and killer, youth and soldier... But there isn't much space for inner turmoil in these hard times. I have to focus. I must learn to abandon myself until things settle down. This is not about me. Not until I turn it all into a great spectacle, at least."

[Makenshi]

Arte listens attentively this time, seemingly genuine in his interest of the subject, and even nodding or frowning at certain points to show his agreement or disagreement. "Well, it sounds as if you could do with speaking with L'arabiel as well then. She does hail from the Ni-from the other cosmos, the one where Humans, Elves, Dragons and even the Old Ones themselves all came from originally after all." It was difficult to be sure, but when he corrected himself Mrith didn't notice any of the 'choking' that tended to occur whenever one of these 'Unknown Gods' got too close to revealing information about themselves. So why the correction?

Arte looks back towards the flames. "I can relate to your turmoil I suppose, although I expect even with my sister's hint you haven't figured out why yet. Not that its unique to either of us of course. It's just as easy for a half Elernan, half Halvan child to find it difficult reconciling their own 'aspects'." He turns back, looking the dragon in the eye. "If you'd indulge me, I'd suggest you don't abandon such thoughts though. You might be surprised what such chaos as this can do to make other things suddenly clearer."

~MTWC

[dalarangreen]

Brood ponders what Toy adds about Morgan's character. Brood had heard very little about the man, but the fact that he freed Zilira from her forced servitude to the royal family... That certainly improved her opinion of the man.

"This Morgan... sounds like an interesting fellow I guess. A complex character, to say the least. Perhaps, you and Morgan have something in common?" Brood suggests, wryly. She didn't approve of some of Toy's behaviors, but she didn't exactly disapprove either. 'I guess everyone has their own set of mental problems,' she reflects darkly.

Brood looks towards the drums. Should she introduce herself? If Morgan and Toy had their own unfortunate quirks, Brood's might be the smidgen of social anxiety she felt when not amongst her peers.

Brood sighs. She had her lead, and she should follow it through, even if it made her uncomfortable. "I suppose, I'll go check out the drums then. Thanks for the information. I'll see you both later tonight at the concert." Brood assumed they knew that she would be playing her flute, so she assumed they knew that she meant see would see them in the audience.

[Blue]

The self-correction draws her attention, and the change in her features would make it plain for him to notice.

She grinned when he gave her his advice. "Chaos. A nice place to well inspiration from. Seeing things from multiple angles, yes."
Her teeth no longer showing, she seemed a bit more relaxed. "You can relate? A complicated heritage, then, and it begins in blood, does it not? Perhaps less complicated now, with Ashtarte gone."

The ghost of a tail flickers behind her. It's outline a faint glimmer in the air. Irony in her voice.
"I am indeed eager to meet the Defender again. There is so much to know of the worlds beyond Aheka. And those who hail from them. Say, have you met Nehrahk?"

[Makenshi]

 

Originally Posted by Brood

"Perhaps, you and Morgan have something in common?"

Toy smirks playfully and responds to her question with teasing, as he often did. "I hardly see how having slept with a Deity should mean we are at all alike."

The comment causes Min to literally spit out her drink in surprise. "What?!"

The elder Child gives Min a disapproving look. "Oh please, you honestly think that he and your great grandmother haven't-" He quickly cuts himself off at the equally annoyed look that Min is now directing at him. "Honestly, at time you remind me of a priestess I knew as a boy, before I was abducted. She was most annoying."

Once Brood makes to leave they would all bid farewell and wish her luck in her search, all while looking forward to the music to come.

 

Arte smiles a little wider in response to her comment on heritage, while otherwise maintaining his overall reserved appearance. "Hmmm, yes, I suppose that that would be the most obvious conflict, wouldn't it?" She got the impression from the way he worded it that her guess was off the mark. Assuming she was right, and that he was telling the truth, that eliminated both Fiends and Dragons from his own 'complicated heritage'.

Mrith's question of Nehrahk leads Arte to school his expression and look back to the fire, taking his time to deliberate and answer. "I know of him, but he doesn't know of me, if that's what you mean. Why do you ask?"

 

Who and Where? Brood: Taking with Min, Toy and Geld. Mrith: Talking with Arte, by the central bonfire. King Vulcar of Halva, Vulcar's fiancéePrincess Celes of Shali, Cypher is the eldest of the Sword's three Children but also the least seen. This is because she is a Face in the Dark (see classes thread), meaning she has spent most of her time infiltrating Fiendish churches and cults. In her case, she infiltrated the Church of Deimos in Sharak and even spent a time as King Kaeyin's religious advisor. At some point during this she become pregnant with and bore a twin daughter and son of Kaeyin (although neither he nor anyone else was aware of them) who have been raised by the Children in the Dark when she is not around. As a Face in the Dark she is highly skilled at divine magic, stealth and subterfuge. Being a Godling she is also among the most powerful of mortals although not quite a full-fledged God.Cypher of the Firstborn In'ira and her twin toddlers, Ismael and Miya: Inside one of the tents, where the babies/toddlers/younger children mostly seem to be. Most often shortened simply to Bane, he is the middle-child of the three but also the tallest and bears a striking resemblance to his grandfather, Vulcar Halva I, the man who founded Halva and the First Halvan Empire. Bane's Gift is for understanding magic items, which are somewhat of a speciality of his and generally what he spends most of his time doing outside of freeing slaves, striking out against the Fiends or otherwise performing his duties. He is an Eye in the Dark (see the classes thread), meaning he is skilled at stealth and arcane magic. Being a Godling he is also among the most powerful of mortals although not quite a full-fledged God.Balor-Bane of the Firstborn In'ira, A tall grey-skinned Drow-touched man wearing goggles, a tattered wide-brimmed hat and a long overcoat filled with various bits and pieces. He has mostly only shown up in order to use some sort of device to strip Gula, Ira and Superbia of their divinity before they were killed, however he has fought a little as well. Tinker has displayed skill with a pistol, the use of various magical items (most notably the one that appears to drain divinity) and the occasional use of high level arcane magic.Tinker: Talking animatedly amongst themselves within one of the cluster of Children about magic items. Min is the youngest, most reckless and most immature of the three, having only passed her Swordright in the past few years. Unlike her siblings, she has embraced her psionic heritage and uses it in combination with the sublime way, having had a lot of training in both from various other Children. Min is a powerful Wilder and a highly skilled Swordsage, as well as having learnt how to further manipulate psionics by being an Elocator. Being a Godling she is also among the most powerful of mortals although not quite a full-fledged God.Min of the Firstborn In'ira and her sword-brothers, Toy and Geld: Mingling with other Children. One of the original investigators and without doubt the most high profile of them even before the investigations were revealed to the world at large during Chapter Five. He has made a name for himself for shouting at or otherwise picking fights with powerful and/or influential people, including a few Gods, most often by trying to call them out on their behaviour. As well as having fostered a close working relationship (if not friendship) with the King and his soon-to-be Queen, Morgan is also a childhood friend of Kala (one of the newest Gods in Aheka), a former pupil of Esiard Emlyn and, as has been revealed recently, not only currently in a relationship with Minloth Zilira but also responsible for freeing her from the binding that had been placed on her to serve the Halvan royal family for almost a thousand years. Despite this recent prestige he still maintains a network of friends and allies from all walks of life throughout Halva.Archmage Morgan Wainwraith, Kala was a deaf-mute Seer long thought to be the reincarnation of Airis, partly because she was innately talented at using divine magic with little to no training from a startlingly young age. It has recently emerged that she is in fact the daughter of Airis and Malvain, broken free by Malvain and entrusted into the care of her half-brother Malhas (see Other) who stunted her natural gift in order to better hide her. Her true power was unlocked by Fisali and she has since steadily grew in strength and power, with her political influence, especially to the worshippers of her parents, likewise growing and growing. Since becoming a Demi-Goddess, Kala has displayed powerful divine magic, with a particular knack for using glpyh and symbol spells as well as healing magic. She has even proven capable of resurrecting the dead, however it appears to tax her in some way.Kala, Malhas is a son of Malvain born around a century ago or more (exactly when is unknown), although he has never been very widely known, even among his father's own followers. His most notable act was masquerading as his father in order to provoke an alliance of Deities (good and evil) to fight and slay Malvain. Malhas has recently claimed he did so because Malvain was planning some sort of world-spanning war which, given the separate machinations of Zera to do likewise, could very well have been a catastrophe. Malhas has recently emerged as being the one responsible for hiding Kala's true power, as well as keeping an eye on her by masquerading as a worshipper of Airis by the name of Kahlas. He has been helping her out since, although the two do not always see eye to eye. Malhas is a highly skilled and varied user of both arcane and divine magic although he full abilities and limits have never really been tested.Malhas and a Drow Demi-Goddess who was thought dead. Most notably, she is both the ultimate female ancestor of the Halvan dynasty/had been bound to serve them into recently by powerful magic and the mother of Coiya Halva, the second ever King of Halva and better known now as the Sword in the DarkMinloth Zilira: Yet to arrive, but expected to arrive together. Didina Reid is a beautiful young Tiefling woman, most notable because of her large horns which she habitual decorates with jewellery. Although she was born to the former High Council member (but still influential Council member) Alleron Lyrason her father not only disinherited her due to her obvious Tiefling nature - claiming that she was not his daughter - but has repeatedly hired people to try and kill or otherwise deal with her. Didina has survived against these attacks in part due to having forged her own network of allies/friends and in part through her natural psionic talents. Eventually, this gained the King's attention and he not only named her a Lady but also took lands and wealth from her father in recompense, all in order to recruit the Mindbender and Thrallherd to aid in investigating the attempt on his life. Despite being a powerful Telepath, Didina dislikes fighting which has only intensified recently with the death (and revival) of her closest friend, Misa Serokai (see below). She has stressed that she was hired to investigate, not to fight, so it unclear how much she intends to continue to help with current events, especially with their original task having been completed once they confirmed it was Zera behind the assassination attempt. As a Telepath, Mindbender and Thrallherd Didina is highly skilled at using Telepathy powers and mind-effecting powers in general. Didina revealed that she had contacts/friends in the Church of Inanna much earlier in the story, however it has recently emerged that not only did she have some sort of contact with the Cult of Acedia but had some form of interaction with Acedia herself that she avoided talking about. It is because of this that she did not join the rest of the party in confronting Acedia and later getting involved in the battle between several Archgates and several of the Unknown Gods.Lady Didina Reid and Misa Serokai is a generally scruffy-looking young Arian woman, however as the daughter of the long-serving Arian ambassador to Halva she was born and raised in Halva. She was brought into the investigation in part because of her close friendship with Didina Reid but also because of her own minor seer abilities. Namely, that having been born blind she has greatly refined the Serokai's natural precognition to allow her to experience the world through what she describes as some form of 'touchsight', more feeling it than seeing it, as well as sometimes getting vague premonitions of danger. This form of 'sight' even allowed her to recognise the incredibly powerful mage known as Shade, who ordinarily can not be recognised unless he wants to be due to some sort of magical amnesia effect that he constantly emits. Misa was not only killed, but reduced to dust during the most recent Fiendish incursion upon Aheka however the newly ascended Demi-Goddess Kala was able to not only restore her but cure her blindness in the process - something that Misa has refused in the past as her people believe it is a distraction from the true sight she has mastered and fears her abilities will fade as a result. She stayed behind with Didina when the party left to confront Acedia and her forces.Lady Misa Serokai: Yet to arrive but expected to do so together. Archgates Mirik Orn, Selene Jual, Sei'Theofan Rudaa, Shara Segali, Sei'Raeth Segali, an Alainn: Mingling amongst the Children. Anorde and Celi: Yet to arrive (will arrive with Ashen Black). A (literally) ethereal looking woman with blonde hair, one green eye and one blue eye that appears to float/fly about, passing through most physical objects and attacks (which is likely where the name comes from). Has a very unusual appearance (pale skin, wings, clothing that appears to have melded into her skin). Like her siblings and unlike all the other Unknown Gods, she has outright admitted to/claimed to be a daughter of Airis and Zera, which has earned suspicion from many (most importantly Jester of the Demon's Moon). Other than her incorporeality she has mostly displayed powerful divine magic, potentially even reviving the recently slain (Revivify) and using various high-level healing/restoration spells to aid others.Airiel the Unbound: In one of the larger buildings, helping tend to injured Children rather than joining the festivities (so far anyway). The most striking of the 'Un' siblings because of his uncanny resemblance to his father, Zera, save for the blond hair and blue-green eyes of his mother (Airis). Fortunately for him, Zera's face isn't widely known outside of the Sei and high-ranking military types. Fought with and killed Gula by taking an immense beating and then somehow 'transferring' his injuries onto Gula once Gula tried to use a God-killing poison on him. As Gula was dying Tinker (see below) used an unknown artifact to steal and store his divinity. He has displayed powerful psionics, in particular having repeatedly absorbed injuries from those around him to heal them and transferring both these and his own injuries onto Fiends. Against both Gula and Jester (see the linked to Chapter) he has displayed not only an incredibly resilience (i.e. taking lots of damage) but an incredible ability to rapidly heal himself when he chooses not to transfer his injuries. He has also displayed another former of magic using an unknown tongue, mostly by simply calling out a single word/short phrase, however exactly what it is is unknown.Airin the Undying: Using his psionics (in particular telekinesis) to help the last of the rebuilding/fixing going on. Like her sister, Airza's appearance is highly unusual as she not only has stone-like and bronze-coloured (actually bronze, not just tanned) skin with patches of incandescent scales on it but also pitch-black cracks running all across her body forming strange symbols all over her body. Her having one blue eye and one green eye doesn't register nearly as much as it normally would as result. She was mostly active in the Fiendish Planes before helping to defend her brother from Jester (see the end of the current Chapter). Unlike her more magical siblings, Airza has shown simple but brutally effective overwhelming force when she has fought, mostly using her fists and/or an oversized bastard sword, as well as an ability to not only rapidly heal herself but simply shrug off most forms of damage in the first place. In the unlikely event that a Binder meets her, they may recognise that her appearance and certain other abilities are a result of Binding magic.Airza, the Unbroken: Mingling with the Children. At first glance, Arte doesn't look very remarkable, and unlike his sister, Sublime, has shown a tendency to hang back and strike from afar rather than get into the thick of fighting. He also tended to kill almost exclusively with practical, quick bouts of magic, rather than toying and humiliating his opponents as his sister did. Most notably, the two of them killed Superbia, with Arte countering any of her attempts at magic and even seemingly to re-direct her attempts to teleport away while Sublime killed her in (otherwise) single combat. Has displayed a large variety of both arcane and divine magic, even sometimes combining the two, but has mostly worked with his sister, Sublime to compliment her focus on fighting. Like her, he hasn't really shown much in the way of 'support', with even his divine magic being used for almost exclusively offensive purposes.Arte: Staring contemplatively at the large bonfire, while occasionally talking to Mirth. Boss' appearance is by far the most intimidating of the Unknown Gods. Not only does he bear an uncanny resemblance to Deimos (same hair colour/general build, but different eyes and a skull mask that covers the top of his face rather than the bottom of it) but his entire body is covered in writhing, living spiked chains that he not only fights with but uses to move around on. He has almost exclusively shown up in Phare in the recent fighting, specifically their capitol Feid, helping to fight the Fiends, albeit in an incredibly brutal fashion and usually while cheerily singing inappropriate songs in the process. For those who who have been/were recently victims of particularly nasty people (especially those using a position of power to avoid paying for their crimes) he may have revealed himself as much as a few years before the current events, coming out of no-where to either kill the person in question or confer some sort of compulsion-laden mark on them to force them to 'atone' (with the compulsion often being rather sadistic in nature). All such targets of his have been nasty pieces of work and he tends to arrive and leave in an abrupt fashion. Apart from using the spiked chains wrapped around his entire body like combat tentacles and brutally ripping things into pieces he has also shown a smattering of sorcerous magic (albeit, not very high level), some powerful invocations and a knack for striking at weak points.Boss: Using his chains to help with the building/repair work. Lady is the most visible (literally) of the Unknown Gods, mostly because her appearances tend to be heralded by her exuding waves of blinding light from her body. What makes her obvious affinity for light more unusual is that she is a dusky/grey skinned Drowtouched, wearing mostly white with some grey and black. She first emerged as Deimos and the Fiends attacked the Drow underground but subsequently moved across Aheka turning up in various places to help out. Each time usually using not only her light powers but mass telepathy to announce her presence, threaten the fiends or rally the people. Along with her (seemingly innate) light-based powers, she has also displayed powerful offensive psionics and sorcery, as well as occasionally fighting with a sword.Lady/Sulion: Using her psionics/magic (mostly telekinesis) to help the rebuilding/repair work. Faces, as he has generally introduced himself recently, is an incredibly skilled shapeshifter that has only recently been revealed as being 'Mask' (see People of Aheka). His 'default'/diplomatic form is a young man with dark hair wearing a mask with a simplistic stylised grinning face on it. Although he joins the other Unknown Gods in confronting Jester in the most recent Chapter his other antics are otherwise unknown. It seems likely he has masqueraded as others to either use the chaos to spy or sneak up people. Even his 'Mask' persona seems to be just another persona, as he acts much more reserved and unassuming in his 'grinning face' guise. Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods he is not only unknown to them but the Family he claims to belong to (the Harlequins) is similarly completely unknown. Other than his shapeshifting he hasn't really displayed any real skills as Many Faces except for being very good at pretending to be someone else, however as Mask his using a variety of skills/magic led people to believe he is a Chameleon (i.e. capable of using a wide variety of abilities/magic depending on the situation). Given the revelation of his true power this may have been an inaccurate assumption.Many Faces: ??? Rapture is an unusually tall elf-touched woman (6ft+) wearing the traditional mismatched armour of the Children in the Dark who carries a halberd with magical runes and markings carved into it like a staff would have. Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods she is not only unknown to them but the Family she claims to belong to (the Dervishes) is similarly completely unknown. She has displayed not only great skill with using her halberd in battle, but also appears to use it as a focus/aid to both high-level offensive arcane and divine magic.Rapture: Mingling with the Children. After the Lady in the Light, Shadow has been the most noticeable/seen of the Unknown Gods, mostly as a result of engaging in a very public fight with Invidia in Feid. That she has been fighting by using some sort of shapeshifting 'shadow' that surrounds her and tends to take on large monstrous forms with great fluidity certainly helped make her noticeable. She also revealed herself to the Children before the current events, specifically Teaches Humility (a former PC who you can find in the Lords and Ladies thread). Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods she is not only unknown to them but the Family she claims to belong to (the Avengers) is similarly completely unknown. She has mostly relied on immense physical prowess to fight, combined with the fluid shapeshifting, reach and natural attacks of her 'shadow beast armour/suit thing', but using the occasional bit of arcane magic (usually to banish Fiends from a distance).Shadow: Using her 'shadow form' to help the rebuilding/repair work, mostly with tentacles/brute strength. Except perhaps for Many Faces, Snark is the most unassuming of the Unknown Gods. He wears the typical mis-matched armour of the Children in the Dark and, unsurprisingly predominantly fights with a sword, but if anything he's a little shorter than average and definitely shorter than most of the other Unknown Gods. Most notably, he seems to only speak by quoting sayings, bits of scripture or even parroting what other people say around him (often mockingly). He has generally accompanied Lady, both among the Drow and on the surface, but occasionally split up from her to deal with threats by himself. Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods he is not only unknown to them but the Family he claims to belong to (the Silencers) is similarly completely unknown. He has shown himself to not only be a skilled swordsman but a practitioner of the Sublime Way, including some supernatural uses of it (mostly Devoted Spirit manoeuvrers/stances). He has also displayed minor magical abilities, great skill at stealth and a keen eye for weak spots.Snark: Mingling with the Children. Sublime is by far the most talkative of the Unknown Gods, although this mostly takes the form of boasting, mocking and generally being an annoyance in any way she can while fighting. True to her boasting, she is a strikingly beautful woman with long dark hair, pale skin and clothing that while cut to allow her freedom of movement is obviously ornate, high quality and designed to also show off her physique. Although she predominantly fights with a sword it has the ability to rapidly change shape to suit how/who she is fighting, mostly taking the form of various melee weapons but sometimes pairs of them or even a metallic bow that creates its own entirely metallic arrows to fire. She most notably killed Superbia in (mostly) single combat (her brother countered Superbia's magic and attempts to flee, otherwise not engaging her) but also swathes of other demons. Even against Superbia Sublime maintained her cocky arrogance, constantly belittling and mocking the Goddess as they fought and claiming that she was disappointed with how weak Superbia was before beheading her and using her decapitated head as a make-shift flail against her own forces. She appears to fight for the thrill of fighting and/or to prove herself superior as far as has been observed. She has almost exclusively fought physically, bar some supernatural uses of the Sublime Way, and mostly at melee, but of particular note is not only her use of archery but that she somehow appears to be able to use the Sublime Way with it. Her skill, particularly with the Sublime Way, is quite frankly equal parts terrifying, awe-inspiring and unequalled as far as most people will have ever seen, making her boast of being 'Perfection Personified' more understandable (but still very arrogant).Sublime: At the centre of a large group of singing/dancing/chatting Children along with the three heads of the slain Sins (which are on poles nearby) and joining in with all three. The oldest of the Hybrids, having been created when a Succubus stabbed the Paladin of Trinity, Nero Ardin, sixteen years ago without knowing the true nature of the dagger. He appears as a dark-haired, pale-skinned and plainly dressed Shalian man, making him much more unassuming in appearance compared to the two other Hybrids. Like with all of the Hybrids, those who meet his gaze feel like it almost pulls them in, with their pupils appearing like starry voids. Nehrahk has spent the past sixteen years secretly converting his own army of Fiends (and Fiend-blooded creatures) from the various Fiendish planes, using his influence over Fiends to try and turn them into a force for good. All of these Fiends have his mark (a series of smaller and smaller equilateral triangles within one another at different angles) somewhere obvious on their body (usually the forehead). He has been operating out of his own demi-plane attached to the Plane of Shadows and is known to a few in the Children of the Dark, but was otherwise unknown until now. Although obviously attempting to be a force for good Nehrahk has made it clear that his intention is to protect Aheka from Fiends - not to get involved in internal Ahekan affairs - so he is not to be counted on to fight Zera. He has displayed the ability to both make and 'unmake' matter on a variety of scales, from creating clothes to entire demi-planes and not just disintegrating objects/beings but, according to his own description, unravelling their very presence in reality (making it impossible to restore/revive them).Nehrahk: Unknown if he will appear. The newest of the Hybrids but has quickly become the most well known as he moved across Aheka during the recent troubles slaying swathes of Fiends with little effort while also holding off/repelling Fiendish Deities as well. He has auburn hair, tanned skin and golden eyes that resemble rolling, whirling liquid fire. Like with all of the Hybrids, those who meet his gaze feel like it almost pulls them in, with their pupils appearing like starry voids. He was created when Lekan Alyyryk of the Kashyyn, a Tyyrykan who had been helping the PCs to investigate the assassination and then Zera in general, elected to sacrifice himself in part because of a prior meeting with the Oracle having convinced him that doing so was for the benefit of Aheka as a whole, even if - by his own personal beliefs - it would not only destroy his soul but prevent the eventual reincarnation that his people believe in. Lekan came to the PCs attentions because his identical brother was used to try and assassinate the King - by Zera as it eventually turned out - however it emerged that it was due to Zera's mental manipulations. It was also discovered that the Blue Woman was in fact originally Lekan's sister - with the three of them being triplets - and is being controlled/manipulated by Zera. His brother and sister had both been trying to infiltrate Zera's operations before they were discovered and Zera twisted them to his own ends. Still being 'newborn', the full extent of Lekkar's powers are unknown, however he retains Lekan Alyyryk's psionic abilities (albeit, greatly amplified) as well as possessing an affinity for innate fire magic. In particular, he appears to use it to move around, either appearing in a blaze of fire from out of no-where or sometimes literally exploding from out of Fiends during the recent troubles. Just as Nehrahk has an affinity for manipulating Fiends and the Blue Woman has an affinity for Trolls, Lekkar's influence seems to revolve around Seers and, more broadly, humans to a degree as he has shown some sort of empathic sense towards humanoids as a whole - such as being able to tell that the Drow were being enslaved and slaughtered after looking at a single Drow.Lekkar Alyyryk: Unknown if he will appear. Coiya/the Sword in the Dark: Not arrived yet. Dancer, Keeper of the Blackbone: Not arrived yet. Breaker, Keeper of the Firstborn: Not arrived yet. Mercy, Keeper of the Last-Breath: Not arrived yet. Wit, Keeper of the Oldblood: Not arrived yet. Strider, Keeper of the True-Dawn: Not arrived yet. Ruin, Keeper of the Wildsoul: Not arrived yet. Future, Keeper of the Young-Blades: Not arrived yet. Name: Location. If there's anyone else from the People thread (or for the vets, that you've met before) that you're keeping an eye on/want to meet then let me know and I'll add them here if they're expected to attend and update when they arrive.

~MTWC

[Blue]

The dragon girl pouts briefly. "Keep me guessing, will you? Don't keep me on my appetite, Arte!"

On the topic of Nehrahk, Mrith looks at the flames for a while. If she remembered well, Fire happened to be his keyed element, after all... oh, no, that was Lekkar's. How could she ever forget such an inferno? His was the Void. The hole left behind.
"Similar to L'arabiel,he has memories of the worlds beyond but he participated in the creation of races. He's been back the longest and so has grown better used to discerning those memories. He may also have some helpful insights on whatever you are all planning to accomplish."

[Makenshi]

OOC Fire is Lekkar's element (which she'd know, since she'd have seen his 'birth' which involved a lot of fire). Nehrahk's is 'Void', which is effectively creation/destruction, hence why he's known as the 'Shaper' of the Void.

Originally Posted by Mrith

"Keep me guessing, will you? Don't keep me on my appetite, Arte!"

Arte smiles a little. "Ah, but doesn't my inability or at least reluctance to do so tell you something? Don't disappoint me now, Mrith."

He seems genuinely caught off guard by Mrith's response, but quickly composes himself again before answering. "I doubt he'd have any new information for us, but I'll bear it in mind." There is a slight pause before he adds, almost as an after thought, "Thank you."

~MTWC

[Blue]

Now that was difficult to answer. She wasn't anywhere as smart as her sister and hadn't really expected to do anything like detective work.
The skin on her front and nasal bridge reddened with mental cogitation as she tried to picture a good impression on what the man was trying to hide... and point out. But perhaps she could steer things around the problem. She wasn't particularly clever but could
"That you phrase it so... means that you purposefully leave hints. Whether honest or fabricated, I don't think it is only for your entertainment nor only because you cannot be straightforward. I wouldn't assume that you are all bound to limit your speech. Perhaps a few of you were clever enough to work around it."

"Given."
*Short form of 'it is given'. Rudaa slang similar to 'you're welcome', meaning that what was received was, indeed, without strings attached. The short form being less formal as to imply that the gift isn't considered to be costing to the giver.

A moment's reflection, and she added, her expression bright: "Though that reminds me. While Nehrahk is mostly associated with the creation of fiends, Lekkar, the newly reawakened one, was mostly responsible for the more humanoid ones. Perhaps he would be the one best placed to confirm or dismiss the theory!"

[dalarangreen]

Brood gives Toy a stern look, not because she was uncomfortable with the topic, but because of his poor taste in humor...

"Maybe you could add, 'Makes lame jokes,' to the list of similarities," Brood conjectured. She hadn't met Morgan, but somehow she felt that this might fit into the profile her friends had given of the mage.

Brood, seeing the conversation ending, awkwardly said her good-byes, and accepted the luck. She had a feeling she would need it...

It wasn't difficult to find Mrith and the Unknown God by the fire, but once she had approached, she was not really certain how to join the conversation. So, for the moment, Brood stood a short distance away, looking into the fire herself. The firelight accentuated her two horns jutting prominently from the Tiefling's head. Brood did her best to appear attentive and open to conversation, but also to not impose or intrude on the pair's conversation.

At the moment, Brood was having difficulty following what they were discussing, having just begun to listen in.

[Xian]

Adam & Sublime Originally Posted by Sublime Sublime lets out a rather un-lady-like guffaw. "Oh, never change Adam, never change." "Look, I have been keeping real for centuries... don't think I going to change and why should I? Especially when you're this good..." Adam quipped mimicking Sublime's own boasting tone with a laugh back as he accepted a hearty portion of the food that the Children were handing out. Politics were refreshingly not a topic or issue in this group and they enjoyed the food and the company. "And you know a proper lady should not make... whatever sound it is you just made. You're a divine being now... have some decorum, please." Adam of course did not at all sound serious nor was he being serious. Sublime was keeping it real as well and he could admire that. "So what's plan after all of the revelry is done with...? More demon killing because I could down with that." Adam remarked as he relished each new taste from the Children, from their spicy dishes to their rather unique brand of alcohol. "Also it looks like your boyfriend over there is making time with my dragon... I'm not sure how I feel about that." Adam nudged Sublime and then with beaming smile waved to Mrith and Arte, though Adam only knew that he was an associate of Sublime's from their previous run in. There was also a woman with horns jutting from her head prominently that seemed to be dropping some eaves... Adam overtly made some gesture to indicate that someone was "behind" them and then waved to the horned woman as well. If they were here, it meant that they were on the same side, so no need to look for enemies behind our lines, when there were plenty in front of it.

[Makenshi]

 

Arte still seems a little amused by the situation, smiling as he looks into the flames. "I can see why you'd assume that, but no. We are all bound in the same way, with the same limitations. Some of us are just better at working around them than others, or simply more motivated to do so."

The smile remains as Mrith talks of Lekkar. "Again, I appreciate the thought, but I doubt he has any insights we need and to be honest, I'd rather not deal with either of the Old Ones at the moment." His eyes glance to the side, where one of the Children has approached but hung back a little. "But that talk can wait until later, it appears one of the Children wants to talk to you."

 

Toy smirks in spite of the withering gazes of both Brood and MIn. "What can I say? I live to please."

Brood doesn't end up having to wait for long before Arte glances towards her. "But that talk can wait until later, it appears one of the Children wants to talk to you."

 

Originally Posted by Adam

"And you know a proper lady should not make... whatever sound it is you just made. You're a divine being now... have some decorum, please."

In another display of un-lady-like behaviour, Sublime snorted in response, before responding in an over-the-top 'refined' manner. She even went so far as to hold the back of her hand to her forehead when doing so. "Oh, though I am loath to admit to my failings such sounds hardly scratch the service of the rather unfortunate habits that I have picked up in my travels. If my grandfather were to hear or see me acting in such a woeful fashion then he would surely give me another stern lecture on the proper decorum expected of a Halvan lady."

Originally Posted by Adam

"So what's plan after all of the revelry is done with...? More demon killing because I could down with that." Adam remarked as he relished each new taste from the Children, from their spicy dishes to their rather unique brand of alcohol. "Also it looks like your boyfriend over there is making time with my dragon... I'm not how I feel about that."

"Boyfriend?" Sublime frowns in confusion, glancing towards Arte and Mrith before snorting. "While we did spend nine months intimately wrapped around one another I can assure that even I'm not so depraved as to f*ck my own twin. Besides, she's not his type either. I'm not even sure my brother knows what sex is. His interests lie elsewhere."

There is a flash of light and a roar of thunder as a bolt of lightning strikes the ground a short distance outside of the village. With Theofan already mingling, it seemed most likely that the new arrival was L'arabiel.

 

Who and Where? Brood: Taking with Arte and Mrith, by the central bonfire. Mrith: Talking with Arte and Brood, by the central bonfire. King Vulcar of Halva, Vulcar's fiancéePrincess Celes of Shali, Cypher is the eldest of the Sword's three Children but also the least seen. This is because she is a Face in the Dark (see classes thread), meaning she has spent most of her time infiltrating Fiendish churches and cults. In her case, she infiltrated the Church of Deimos in Sharak and even spent a time as King Kaeyin's religious advisor. At some point during this she become pregnant with and bore a twin daughter and son of Kaeyin (although neither he nor anyone else was aware of them) who have been raised by the Children in the Dark when she is not around. As a Face in the Dark she is highly skilled at divine magic, stealth and subterfuge. Being a Godling she is also among the most powerful of mortals although not quite a full-fledged God.Cypher of the Firstborn In'ira and her twin toddlers, Ismael and Miya: Inside one of the tents, where the babies/toddlers/younger children mostly seem to be. Most often shortened simply to Bane, he is the middle-child of the three but also the tallest and bears a striking resemblance to his grandfather, Vulcar Halva I, the man who founded Halva and the First Halvan Empire. Bane's Gift is for understanding magic items, which are somewhat of a speciality of his and generally what he spends most of his time doing outside of freeing slaves, striking out against the Fiends or otherwise performing his duties. He is an Eye in the Dark (see the classes thread), meaning he is skilled at stealth and arcane magic. Being a Godling he is also among the most powerful of mortals although not quite a full-fledged God.Balor-Bane of the Firstborn In'ira, A tall grey-skinned Drow-touched man wearing goggles, a tattered wide-brimmed hat and a long overcoat filled with various bits and pieces. He has mostly only shown up in order to use some sort of device to strip Gula, Ira and Superbia of their divinity before they were killed, however he has fought a little as well. Tinker has displayed skill with a pistol, the use of various magical items (most notably the one that appears to drain divinity) and the occasional use of high level arcane magic.Tinker: Talking animatedly amongst themselves within one of the cluster of Children about magic items. Min is the youngest, most reckless and most immature of the three, having only passed her Swordright in the past few years. Unlike her siblings, she has embraced her psionic heritage and uses it in combination with the sublime way, having had a lot of training in both from various other Children. Min is a powerful Wilder and a highly skilled Swordsage, as well as having learnt how to further manipulate psionics by being an Elocator. Being a Godling she is also among the most powerful of mortals although not quite a full-fledged God.Min of the Firstborn In'ira and her sword-brothers, Toy and Geld: Mingling with other Children. One of the original investigators and without doubt the most high profile of them even before the investigations were revealed to the world at large during Chapter Five. He has made a name for himself for shouting at or otherwise picking fights with powerful and/or influential people, including a few Gods, most often by trying to call them out on their behaviour. As well as having fostered a close working relationship (if not friendship) with the King and his soon-to-be Queen, Morgan is also a childhood friend of Kala (one of the newest Gods in Aheka), a former pupil of Esiard Emlyn and, as has been revealed recently, not only currently in a relationship with Minloth Zilira but also responsible for freeing her from the binding that had been placed on her to serve the Halvan royal family for almost a thousand years. Despite this recent prestige he still maintains a network of friends and allies from all walks of life throughout Halva.Archmage Morgan Wainwraith, Kala was a deaf-mute Seer long thought to be the reincarnation of Airis, partly because she was innately talented at using divine magic with little to no training from a startlingly young age. It has recently emerged that she is in fact the daughter of Airis and Malvain, broken free by Malvain and entrusted into the care of her half-brother Malhas (see Other) who stunted her natural gift in order to better hide her. Her true power was unlocked by Fisali and she has since steadily grew in strength and power, with her political influence, especially to the worshippers of her parents, likewise growing and growing. Since becoming a Demi-Goddess, Kala has displayed powerful divine magic, with a particular knack for using glpyh and symbol spells as well as healing magic. She has even proven capable of resurrecting the dead, however it appears to tax her in some way.Kala, Malhas is a son of Malvain born around a century ago or more (exactly when is unknown), although he has never been very widely known, even among his father's own followers. His most notable act was masquerading as his father in order to provoke an alliance of Deities (good and evil) to fight and slay Malvain. Malhas has recently claimed he did so because Malvain was planning some sort of world-spanning war which, given the separate machinations of Zera to do likewise, could very well have been a catastrophe. Malhas has recently emerged as being the one responsible for hiding Kala's true power, as well as keeping an eye on her by masquerading as a worshipper of Airis by the name of Kahlas. He has been helping her out since, although the two do not always see eye to eye. Malhas is a highly skilled and varied user of both arcane and divine magic although he full abilities and limits have never really been tested.Malhas and a Drow Demi-Goddess who was thought dead. Most notably, she is both the ultimate female ancestor of the Halvan dynasty/had been bound to serve them into recently by powerful magic and the mother of Coiya Halva, the second ever King of Halva and better known now as the Sword in the DarkMinloth Zilira: Yet to arrive, but expected to arrive together. Didina Reid is a beautiful young Tiefling woman, most notable because of her large horns which she habitual decorates with jewellery. Although she was born to the former High Council member (but still influential Council member) Alleron Lyrason her father not only disinherited her due to her obvious Tiefling nature - claiming that she was not his daughter - but has repeatedly hired people to try and kill or otherwise deal with her. Didina has survived against these attacks in part due to having forged her own network of allies/friends and in part through her natural psionic talents. Eventually, this gained the King's attention and he not only named her a Lady but also took lands and wealth from her father in recompense, all in order to recruit the Mindbender and Thrallherd to aid in investigating the attempt on his life. Despite being a powerful Telepath, Didina dislikes fighting which has only intensified recently with the death (and revival) of her closest friend, Misa Serokai (see below). She has stressed that she was hired to investigate, not to fight, so it unclear how much she intends to continue to help with current events, especially with their original task having been completed once they confirmed it was Zera behind the assassination attempt. As a Telepath, Mindbender and Thrallherd Didina is highly skilled at using Telepathy powers and mind-effecting powers in general. Didina revealed that she had contacts/friends in the Church of Inanna much earlier in the story, however it has recently emerged that not only did she have some sort of contact with the Cult of Acedia but had some form of interaction with Acedia herself that she avoided talking about. It is because of this that she did not join the rest of the party in confronting Acedia and later getting involved in the battle between several Archgates and several of the Unknown Gods.Lady Didina Reid and Misa Serokai is a generally scruffy-looking young Arian woman, however as the daughter of the long-serving Arian ambassador to Halva she was born and raised in Halva. She was brought into the investigation in part because of her close friendship with Didina Reid but also because of her own minor seer abilities. Namely, that having been born blind she has greatly refined the Serokai's natural precognition to allow her to experience the world through what she describes as some form of 'touchsight', more feeling it than seeing it, as well as sometimes getting vague premonitions of danger. This form of 'sight' even allowed her to recognise the incredibly powerful mage known as Shade, who ordinarily can not be recognised unless he wants to be due to some sort of magical amnesia effect that he constantly emits. Misa was not only killed, but reduced to dust during the most recent Fiendish incursion upon Aheka however the newly ascended Demi-Goddess Kala was able to not only restore her but cure her blindness in the process - something that Misa has refused in the past as her people believe it is a distraction from the true sight she has mastered and fears her abilities will fade as a result. She stayed behind with Didina when the party left to confront Acedia and her forces.Lady Misa Serokai: Yet to arrive but expected to do so together. Archgates Mirik Orn, Selene Jual, Sei'Theofan Rudaa, Shara Segali, Sei'Raeth Segali, an Alainn: Mingling amongst the Children. Anorde and Celi: Yet to arrive (will arrive with Ashen Black). A (literally) ethereal looking woman with blonde hair, one green eye and one blue eye that appears to float/fly about, passing through most physical objects and attacks (which is likely where the name comes from). Has a very unusual appearance (pale skin, wings, clothing that appears to have melded into her skin). Like her siblings and unlike all the other Unknown Gods, she has outright admitted to/claimed to be a daughter of Airis and Zera, which has earned suspicion from many (most importantly Jester of the Demon's Moon). Other than her incorporeality she has mostly displayed powerful divine magic, potentially even reviving the recently slain (Revivify) and using various high-level healing/restoration spells to aid others.Airiel the Unbound: In one of the larger buildings, helping tend to injured Children rather than joining the festivities (so far anyway). The most striking of the 'Un' siblings because of his uncanny resemblance to his father, Zera, save for the blond hair and blue-green eyes of his mother (Airis). Fortunately for him, Zera's face isn't widely known outside of the Sei and high-ranking military types. Fought with and killed Gula by taking an immense beating and then somehow 'transferring' his injuries onto Gula once Gula tried to use a God-killing poison on him. As Gula was dying Tinker (see below) used an unknown artifact to steal and store his divinity. He has displayed powerful psionics, in particular having repeatedly absorbed injuries from those around him to heal them and transferring both these and his own injuries onto Fiends. Against both Gula and Jester (see the linked to Chapter) he has displayed not only an incredibly resilience (i.e. taking lots of damage) but an incredible ability to rapidly heal himself when he chooses not to transfer his injuries. He has also displayed another former of magic using an unknown tongue, mostly by simply calling out a single word/short phrase, however exactly what it is is unknown.Airin the Undying: Using his psionics (in particular telekinesis) to help the last of the rebuilding/fixing going on. Like her sister, Airza's appearance is highly unusual as she not only has stone-like and bronze-coloured (actually bronze, not just tanned) skin with patches of incandescent scales on it but also pitch-black cracks running all across her body forming strange symbols all over her body. Her having one blue eye and one green eye doesn't register nearly as much as it normally would as result. She was mostly active in the Fiendish Planes before helping to defend her brother from Jester (see the end of the current Chapter). Unlike her more magical siblings, Airza has shown simple but brutally effective overwhelming force when she has fought, mostly using her fists and/or an oversized bastard sword, as well as an ability to not only rapidly heal herself but simply shrug off most forms of damage in the first place. In the unlikely event that a Binder meets her, they may recognise that her appearance and certain other abilities are a result of Binding magic.Airza, the Unbroken: Mingling with the Children. At first glance, Arte doesn't look very remarkable, and unlike his sister, Sublime, has shown a tendency to hang back and strike from afar rather than get into the thick of fighting. He also tended to kill almost exclusively with practical, quick bouts of magic, rather than toying and humiliating his opponents as his sister did. Most notably, the two of them killed Superbia, with Arte countering any of her attempts at magic and even seemingly to re-direct her attempts to teleport away while Sublime killed her in (otherwise) single combat. Has displayed a large variety of both arcane and divine magic, even sometimes combining the two, but has mostly worked with his sister, Sublime to compliment her focus on fighting. Like her, he hasn't really shown much in the way of 'support', with even his divine magic being used for almost exclusively offensive purposes.Arte: Staring contemplatively at the large bonfire, while occasionally talking to Brood and Mirth. Boss' appearance is by far the most intimidating of the Unknown Gods. Not only does he bear an uncanny resemblance to Deimos (same hair colour/general build, but different eyes and a skull mask that covers the top of his face rather than the bottom of it) but his entire body is covered in writhing, living spiked chains that he not only fights with but uses to move around on. He has almost exclusively shown up in Phare in the recent fighting, specifically their capitol Feid, helping to fight the Fiends, albeit in an incredibly brutal fashion and usually while cheerily singing inappropriate songs in the process. For those who who have been/were recently victims of particularly nasty people (especially those using a position of power to avoid paying for their crimes) he may have revealed himself as much as a few years before the current events, coming out of no-where to either kill the person in question or confer some sort of compulsion-laden mark on them to force them to 'atone' (with the compulsion often being rather sadistic in nature). All such targets of his have been nasty pieces of work and he tends to arrive and leave in an abrupt fashion. Apart from using the spiked chains wrapped around his entire body like combat tentacles and brutally ripping things into pieces he has also shown a smattering of sorcerous magic (albeit, not very high level), some powerful invocations and a knack for striking at weak points.Boss: Using his chains to help with the building/repair work. Lady is the most visible (literally) of the Unknown Gods, mostly because her appearances tend to be heralded by her exuding waves of blinding light from her body. What makes her obvious affinity for light more unusual is that she is a dusky/grey skinned Drowtouched, wearing mostly white with some grey and black. She first emerged as Deimos and the Fiends attacked the Drow underground but subsequently moved across Aheka turning up in various places to help out. Each time usually using not only her light powers but mass telepathy to announce her presence, threaten the fiends or rally the people. Along with her (seemingly innate) light-based powers, she has also displayed powerful offensive psionics and sorcery, as well as occasionally fighting with a sword.Lady/Sulion: Using her psionics/magic (mostly telekinesis) to help the rebuilding/repair work. Faces, as he has generally introduced himself recently, is an incredibly skilled shapeshifter that has only recently been revealed as being 'Mask' (see People of Aheka). His 'default'/diplomatic form is a young man with dark hair wearing a mask with a simplistic stylised grinning face on it. Although he joins the other Unknown Gods in confronting Jester in the most recent Chapter his other antics are otherwise unknown. It seems likely he has masqueraded as others to either use the chaos to spy or sneak up people. Even his 'Mask' persona seems to be just another persona, as he acts much more reserved and unassuming in his 'grinning face' guise. Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods he is not only unknown to them but the Family he claims to belong to (the Harlequins) is similarly completely unknown. Other than his shapeshifting he hasn't really displayed any real skills as Many Faces except for being very good at pretending to be someone else, however as Mask his using a variety of skills/magic led people to believe he is a Chameleon (i.e. capable of using a wide variety of abilities/magic depending on the situation). Given the revelation of his true power this may have been an inaccurate assumption.Many Faces: ??? Rapture is an unusually tall elf-touched woman (6ft+) wearing the traditional mismatched armour of the Children in the Dark who carries a halberd with magical runes and markings carved into it like a staff would have. Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods she is not only unknown to them but the Family she claims to belong to (the Dervishes) is similarly completely unknown. She has displayed not only great skill with using her halberd in battle, but also appears to use it as a focus/aid to both high-level offensive arcane and divine magic.Rapture: Mingling with the Children. After the Lady in the Light, Shadow has been the most noticeable/seen of the Unknown Gods, mostly as a result of engaging in a very public fight with Invidia in Feid. That she has been fighting by using some sort of shapeshifting 'shadow' that surrounds her and tends to take on large monstrous forms with great fluidity certainly helped make her noticeable. She also revealed herself to the Children before the current events, specifically Teaches Humility (a former PC who you can find in the Lords and Ladies thread). Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods she is not only unknown to them but the Family she claims to belong to (the Avengers) is similarly completely unknown. She has mostly relied on immense physical prowess to fight, combined with the fluid shapeshifting, reach and natural attacks of her 'shadow beast armour/suit thing', but using the occasional bit of arcane magic (usually to banish Fiends from a distance).Shadow: Using her 'shadow form' to help the rebuilding/repair work, mostly with tentacles/brute strength. Except perhaps for Many Faces, Snark is the most unassuming of the Unknown Gods. He wears the typical mis-matched armour of the Children in the Dark and, unsurprisingly predominantly fights with a sword, but if anything he's a little shorter than average and definitely shorter than most of the other Unknown Gods. Most notably, he seems to only speak by quoting sayings, bits of scripture or even parroting what other people say around him (often mockingly). He has generally accompanied Lady, both among the Drow and on the surface, but occasionally split up from her to deal with threats by himself. Like the other self-confessed Children in the Dark among the Unknown Gods he is not only unknown to them but the Family he claims to belong to (the Silencers) is similarly completely unknown. He has shown himself to not only be a skilled swordsman but a practitioner of the Sublime Way, including some supernatural uses of it (mostly Devoted Spirit manoeuvrers/stances). He has also displayed minor magical abilities, great skill at stealth and a keen eye for weak spots.Snark: Mingling with the Children. Sublime is by far the most talkative of the Unknown Gods, although this mostly takes the form of boasting, mocking and generally being an annoyance in any way she can while fighting. True to her boasting, she is a strikingly beautful woman with long dark hair, pale skin and clothing that while cut to allow her freedom of movement is obviously ornate, high quality and designed to also show off her physique. Although she predominantly fights with a sword it has the ability to rapidly change shape to suit how/who she is fighting, mostly taking the form of various melee weapons but sometimes pairs of them or even a metallic bow that creates its own entirely metallic arrows to fire. She most notably killed Superbia in (mostly) single combat (her brother countered Superbia's magic and attempts to flee, otherwise not engaging her) but also swathes of other demons. Even against Superbia Sublime maintained her cocky arrogance, constantly belittling and mocking the Goddess as they fought and claiming that she was disappointed with how weak Superbia was before beheading her and using her decapitated head as a make-shift flail against her own forces. She appears to fight for the thrill of fighting and/or to prove herself superior as far as has been observed. She has almost exclusively fought physically, bar some supernatural uses of the Sublime Way, and mostly at melee, but of particular note is not only her use of archery but that she somehow appears to be able to use the Sublime Way with it. Her skill, particularly with the Sublime Way, is quite frankly equal parts terrifying, awe-inspiring and unequalled as far as most people will have ever seen, making her boast of being 'Perfection Personified' more understandable (but still very arrogant).Sublime: At the centre of a large group of singing/dancing/chatting Children along with the three heads of the slain Sins (which are on poles nearby) and joining in with all three. The oldest of the Hybrids, having been created when a Succubus stabbed the Paladin of Trinity, Nero Ardin, sixteen years ago without knowing the true nature of the dagger. He appears as a dark-haired, pale-skinned and plainly dressed Shalian man, making him much more unassuming in appearance compared to the two other Hybrids. Like with all of the Hybrids, those who meet his gaze feel like it almost pulls them in, with their pupils appearing like starry voids. Nehrahk has spent the past sixteen years secretly converting his own army of Fiends (and Fiend-blooded creatures) from the various Fiendish planes, using his influence over Fiends to try and turn them into a force for good. All of these Fiends have his mark (a series of smaller and smaller equilateral triangles within one another at different angles) somewhere obvious on their body (usually the forehead). He has been operating out of his own demi-plane attached to the Plane of Shadows and is known to a few in the Children of the Dark, but was otherwise unknown until now. Although obviously attempting to be a force for good Nehrahk has made it clear that his intention is to protect Aheka from Fiends - not to get involved in internal Ahekan affairs - so he is not to be counted on to fight Zera. He has displayed the ability to both make and 'unmake' matter on a variety of scales, from creating clothes to entire demi-planes and not just disintegrating objects/beings but, according to his own description, unravelling their very presence in reality (making it impossible to restore/revive them).Nehrahk: Unknown if he will appear. The newest of the Hybrids but has quickly become the most well known as he moved across Aheka during the recent troubles slaying swathes of Fiends with little effort while also holding off/repelling Fiendish Deities as well. He has auburn hair, tanned skin and golden eyes that resemble rolling, whirling liquid fire. Like with all of the Hybrids, those who meet his gaze feel like it almost pulls them in, with their pupils appearing like starry voids. He was created when Lekan Alyyryk of the Kashyyn, a Tyyrykan who had been helping the PCs to investigate the assassination and then Zera in general, elected to sacrifice himself in part because of a prior meeting with the Oracle having convinced him that doing so was for the benefit of Aheka as a whole, even if - by his own personal beliefs - it would not only destroy his soul but prevent the eventual reincarnation that his people believe in. Lekan came to the PCs attentions because his identical brother was used to try and assassinate the King - by Zera as it eventually turned out - however it emerged that it was due to Zera's mental manipulations. It was also discovered that the Blue Woman was in fact originally Lekan's sister - with the three of them being triplets - and is being controlled/manipulated by Zera. His brother and sister had both been trying to infiltrate Zera's operations before they were discovered and Zera twisted them to his own ends. Still being 'newborn', the full extent of Lekkar's powers are unknown, however he retains Lekan Alyyryk's psionic abilities (albeit, greatly amplified) as well as possessing an affinity for innate fire magic. In particular, he appears to use it to move around, either appearing in a blaze of fire from out of no-where or sometimes literally exploding from out of Fiends during the recent troubles. Just as Nehrahk has an affinity for manipulating Fiends and the Blue Woman has an affinity for Trolls, Lekkar's influence seems to revolve around Seers and, more broadly, humans to a degree as he has shown some sort of empathic sense towards humanoids as a whole - such as being able to tell that the Drow were being enslaved and slaughtered after looking at a single Drow.Lekkar Alyyryk: Unknown if he will appear. Coiya/the Sword in the Dark: Not arrived yet. Dancer, Keeper of the Blackbone: Not arrived yet. Breaker, Keeper of the Firstborn: Not arrived yet. Mercy, Keeper of the Last-Breath: Not arrived yet. Wit, Keeper of the Oldblood: Not arrived yet. Strider, Keeper of the True-Dawn: Not arrived yet. Ruin, Keeper of the Wildsoul: Not arrived yet. Future, Keeper of the Young-Blades: Not arrived yet. L'arabiel: Just arrived? Name: Location. If there's anyone else from the People thread (or for the vets, that you've met before) that you're keeping an eye on/want to meet then let me know and I'll add them here if they're expected to attend and update when they arrive.

~MTWC

[Blue]

"Agreed. What are the elements you cannot talk about, generally? So far it seems to mostly encompass where you all come from."

When Arte announced the newcomer, she'd turn to the woman with a quizzical expression. "Me? Perhaps. Come."
She'd beckon her closer. "We're not excitable but carry a fondness for the dramatic. Love the hair, by the way. I am Mrith Jenn'la Rudaa of Yesterwind. Meaning I am from Quall, a country East of here surrounding by the seas, and from a family honored to patriotic duty and burdened with responsibilities. Him you may call Arte, shrouded in mystery and most charming so. Ain't he?"

So close to the bonfire it was hard to smell their emotions. Or anything more than smoke.