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[✗] [Aengudaemon Lore] - Ogradhad, Lord of Ruhn


Josh3738
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Ogradhad

Lord of Ruhn

 

Origin/Background

Spoiler

The Story of Ogradhad

At the dawn of recorded time, when the Creator first spread his thought and inspiration across the cosmos, the blips of light and being that would become the aengudaemons spread out across the stars. Assuming their roles as keepers of important places, in the case of the soulstream, or building vast realms from which to plot their own devices, the aengudaemons seemed to quickly forget their creator as they took to their own desires with fervor. One among them, however, could not forget the mighty gift that their father had bestowed upon them and would spend eternity trying to repay such a debt. Ogradhad, Lord of Ruhn, looked on the ideals of his father with admiration and wonder and, while his brothers and sisters would spend their time learning such powers as creation for their own minor designs, he would study the depth of such a thing intensely. With such a goal as creating life and substance to expand across the cosmos as his father had done, the Lord of Ruhn found himself largely successful in his study and found great joy as he thought his father must have.

 

Though the study of such arts was dangerous and even deadly, he pushed onward in lust for knowledge and power to fulfill what he perceived to be his father’s mission for him: to create as he had. This, however, could only lead to terrible consequences. Millenia prior to the years of recorded history, he found himself trapped in a prison of his own making. A large black crystal covered in the spiraling and shifting language of perceived creation, he found himself unfortunately successful in perfecting the object for he could not escape alone. It would not be for several hundreds of years that he would again be free in the vessel of a small, dwarven descendant.

 

Ogradhad’s Gift

Long ago in the ancient Kingdom of Urguan, when the first Dwed himself still ruled, the dwarves of Urguan delved deep into the earth to seek the vast expanses of wealth that their creator had sown beneath the ground for them to find. Whether by chance or fate, the Dwed would discover many a wonder and prize that the stone would ultimately yield up to them. As their lust for the valuables of the earth grew, so too did the number of deep earth expeditions until a single, fateful day some several centuries ago when a group of miners uncovered a large cavern of magma and gems. As the entryway they had made slowly widened and opened up into the cavern, the primary feature of the cave made itself plain. In the middle of the massive pool of magma, a single stone spire rose from the boiling liquid rock and at the peak of its mass a single black gem was embedded. Despite the immense wealth of the cave and the flowing features of the magma below, the gem itself seemed to draw the eyes of every Dwed until they, one by one, crossed the thin, natural bridge to gather around it in awe. 

 

The gem itself was like no other, its form crystalline in structure but without fault or flaw as if Yemekar himself had cut this gem. Along its surface, runes of impossible complexity and twisting nature seemed to dance before the eyes of the dwarves. Had the foreman not spoken up finally, perhaps the eyes of a young dwarf would have remained on it until dehydration or starvation, whatever might come first. Such was the terrifying beauty of this unearthly stone.

 

By the order of Urguan himself, the gem was cordoned off and placed on permanent guard while the learned Dwed began a series of studies. Fearful of disturbing the gem and damaging it in some way, they avoided touching it entirely and chose instead to attempt to decipher the symbols and runes along its surface. This would go on for many days which would stretch on for weeks, and, all the while, the single dwarf fought against his own temptation. As the first month passed by with agonizing slowness he devised his plan, one which he was certain would gain him access. Under the guise of one of the Remembrancers, he slipped past the guards just past midnight. Trudging slowly through the stone tunnels of the expedition’s making, his mind turned from that of theft to wonder, and as he rounded the final bend into the massive cavern he all but forgot his plans entirely and moved with dragged feet towards the spire with his eyes fixed on the gemstone. With a trembling hand he reached upwards and paused just before his fingers could brush against the gem as if he might have had second thoughts about touching it much less stealing it as he had intended. As this thought ran through his mind his fingers moved forward of their own accord as if pulled by the gem and they grazed the runed surface. The popping of magma and shifting of the earth seemed to grow completely silent as if all sound had been blocked out and a single speck of light shone from the center of the gem before bursting outwards with incomparable brightness and intensity. His sight grew dark as he sensed his weakening and he fell backwards and lay unconscious on the stone.

 

As he drifted into the realm of unconsciousness, he became aware of returning sound alone yet was surprised to hear a voice rather than the sounds of the earth as he had expected. A deep, booming voice bearing a tone of command and power filled his mind as it began to speak. Ogradhad, Lord of Ruhn, was finally free and spoke words of thanks to the small dwarf even as he lay blind and immobile on the cold stone. As a reward for freeing the aengudaemon, Ogradhad made several offers of thanks to the dwarf which he accepted gladly. In return for freeing him, the small dwarf would find residence in the realm of Ogradhad to study and learn as he did forevermore. Further still, Ogradhad would attempt to teach the dwarves such powers so that they too might create as the one true Creator had done. With such promises made, the dwarf would awake fully beneathing a blinding sunrise in a valley of flowers and Ogradhad opened his own, now occupying a vessel in exact likeness to the small dwarf and found himself in a cave beside a cracked, clear crystal. Shutting his eyes once more, he decided to feign unconsciousness so that he might eventually speak to the King himself and fulfill his promise directly.

 

It was hours before the guards thought to check on him and found him in the described state. Lying on the stone where he had fallen, the dwarf was covered from head to toe in the same black runes that had previously covered the gem, yet now the gem was blank entirely. Even stranger still, the gem was now a completely clear crystal that had cracked clean down the center and lay in two halves where it had been embedded. In an attempt to figure out what had happened they shook him and threw water on his face in an effort to resuscitate him. When they couldn’t wake him, they summoned the Remembrancers to the cavern. Before long, even Urguan himself had come to see the fallen Dwed. Upon the First Dwed’s arrival, the fallen form of the dwarf shifted and moved as he slowly opened his eyes. The look behind the dwarf’s eyes was somehow different, older even as he explained in partial truths that “he” had come into the cavern and touched the stone and had fallen unconscious when the light shone. Throughout his explanation he continued to feign his identity, never introducing himself as the aengudaemon he was. As Urguan searched for some deeper explanation as to what had happened and what should happen next, he would come to explain that the gem had given him knowledge. He explained it was ancient and powerful, something that would allow the dwarves to advance themselves drastically and give them mighty tools of creation and construction so that they might bring about a golden age of the Dwedmar. As Urguan listened to the runed dwarf speak his angered expression seemed to soften and he grew keen to learn what this dwarf had spoken so highly of and, as a result, pardoned him of his crimes and took him into his confidence.

 

And so it was that the first of the runesmiths and golemancers were made. As the runed dwarf dispensed the newfound knowledge to Urguan and the other dwarves, everything he had promised came to pass. With the power of the runes, a new age of industry and construction dawned and the dwarves excelled in their learning and desire to create. For a time, all was well and the runed dwarf looked with pride on his teachings and the teachings of those who had mastered the arts sufficiently to teach others. Yet it was not to last…

 

Whether he had been killed or simply gone into hiding to shelter himself from the shame of his students turning on one another the descendents could never know. The runed dwarf simply vanished from the descendent realms following The Great Collapse, the beginning of The Blood Age, and the consequential rise of the Empire of Khorvad. With this, the golden age of the dwarven arts ended and those who had mastered its abilities were either killed or driven away with their knowledge going with them. The remaining runesmiths and golemancers who travel with the descendents from realm to realm are descendents of these great teachings but they learn and teach knowing that they can never again know the greatest of the runed dwarf’s teachings unless he appears once more to guide them.

 

Unbeknownst to the descendents, Ogradhad slipped back into his own realm, secluding himself following the betrayal and consequential slaughter of his students. Where once he had grown hopeful and joyous at the prospect of bestowing his father’s gifts on the mortals below, he now perceived failure and sorrow. So he decided finally to allow them to slaughter one another as he vowed never again to teach the mortal races an art which he knew they would only slaughter one another with. Despite his sentiments, however, he still held hope in his father’s creations and allowed them to continue to teach and learn without descending to bring the full knowledge he had once given. It was with this hope that the Lord of Ruhn would be rewarded with an age of dedicated servants who would seek to teach and work beside one another once more.

 

Seeing this shift in the descendents of his first students, Ogradhad would impart a series of Tenets by which he hoped to further influence and direct the descendent runesmiths and golemancers onto a path more like that which he originally intended. Through his Thelurmar, his advisors and patrons, he would issue this set of Tenets and the idea that the descendents should create an Order with which to organize themselves and the work he hoped they would continue to carry out before again withdrawing to his realm to wait and watch.

 

The Valley of Ruhn

The Realm of Creation

Spoiler

Somewhere between the mortal realms and the soulstream, there exists a plane built entirely by the ideas and work of the aengudaemon Ogradhad, Lord of Ruhn. On what appears to be a massive chunk of earth suspended in the aether itself, vast ranges of mountains tall enough to cut the clouds surround a massive valley that sits in peaceful seclusion. Tall pines and swirling streams paint the landscape with vibrant colors and lush, alien wildlife. Massive towers and sprawling farmlands dot the landscape here and there but there would always seem to be something off about everything. Where one might expect to find townsfolk or lords, there were only abandoned dwellings. Though perhaps they were not abandoned as much as never having been occupied in the first place as everything appeared at the very least to be in working order and brand new by all accounts. Yet still there seemed to be no evidence of tools, materials, or even workers for that matter. The valley was, as a whole, devoid of all non-animalistic life. As one would draw their sight across such a landscape, they would finally set eyes on a massive pillar that seemed to travel upward forever. Arcs of light and spiraling arches of metals, stones, and all manner of other materials circled its mass. This was the Spire of Ogradhad.

 

As Ogradhad dispensed knowledge unto the ancient dwarves, he perceived their inability to create as he could. As a result, he designed a means by which they might materialistically replicate creation by utilizing his own power to do so. Often disappearing to his own realm to design such things, a massive tower which would come to be known by the one other occupant of his realm as The Spire of Ogradhad took shape and would serve as both abode and conduit for his power. 

 

To the first dwarven runesmiths he would give a large runic statue and the designs to make more so that they might complete a ritual that would allow them to bind their souls not only to their tools but to the Spire so that they might tap into the power of the mighty aengudaemon. By way of the ritual, an intricate and specific set of links is forged between the tools used in the ritual, the soul of the person participating in it, and the Spire of Ogradhad. When an attempt is made to activate a rune, it is the links that are examined by the Spire before the actual powers of creation are allowed to flow through it. 

 

To the first dwarven golemancers, the Lord of Ruhn imparted the Golem Anvil, a large amalgamation of stone and steel united by Ogradhad’s will. A place and conduit for his power that the descendants could utilize to create golems and other machinations. This Golem Anvil also served as the binding point where golemancers would be bound to their Patron and do his work. By completing this binding, the golemancer in question would become bound to their tools and to the Spire of Ogradhad. The anvil itself is laden with carvings of all shapes and kinds, but those most important of them are found on either side where two sets of handprints lie and a groove carved between them.

 

Following

Spoiler

Da Thelurmar oz Ogradhad

“The Advisors of Ogradhad”

Often great members of the Order and artisans of renown, the Advisors of Ogradhad are the primary servants and patrons of the Lord of Ruhn. Typically few in number, the Advisors of Ogradhad are those who have elected to serve the aengudaemon beyond death, binding their souls to him in order to aid his great works for the indefinite future. These advisors are often granted deep, ancient knowledge of runesmithing, golemancy, and forging that have long since been misplaced or lost by the common descendent followers of Ogradhad, and it is these powers that the advisors use to carry out the will of Ogradhad himself.

 

  • Due to his semi-withdrawn nature, Ogradhad does not commune directly with any of his followers outside the Thelurmar and instead chooses to have the Thelurmar carry out his wishes.

  • In death, a player may choose to have their character become an Advisor of Ogradhad whereupon their soul will occupy a dwelling in The Valley of Ruhn in perpetuity.

  • A player may no longer play an advisor character or otherwise rp their character once they have PK’d. Furthermore, a player choosing to have their character become an advisor agrees to allow the ET/LT to utilize their newly made advisor as deemed appropriate for lore or event needs.

 

The Order of Ogradhad

The Order of Ogradhad is a collection of all artisans who have successfully passed their respective rituals and actively practice an art in service of Ogradhad. The Order itself comprises two sects, runesmiths and golemancers. While they practice different arts and a different dialect of runes, they both nevertheless serve Ogradhad. These members of the Order are bound to follow a strict set of tenets known as the Tenets of Ogradhad which allow them to continue practicing the art while following a set of guidelines laid out by Ogradhad and his Thelurmar.

 

Runesmiths of the Descendents

The first sect of the Order is a collection of all runesmiths who have successfully passed the connection ritual and actively practice the art of runesmithing.

 

  • All runesmiths are automatically considered a member of The Order of Ogradhad upon the successful conclusion of their ritual and are bound to follow the Tenets of Ogradhad in exchange for the ability to perform the art of runesmithing and all it entails.

 

Golemancers of the Descendents

The second sect of the Order is a collection of all golemancers who have been bound to Ogradhad at an Anvil and actively practice the art of golemancy.

 

  • All golemancers are automatically considered a member of The Order of Ogradhad upon the successful conclusion of their ritual and are bound to follow the Tenets of Ogradhad in exchange for the ability to perform the art of golemancy and all it entails.

 

Followers of Ogradhad

As Ogradhad’s alignments and beliefs are those of neutrality and natural creation, there exist those without knowledge of the art of runesmithing or golemancy who offer him prayers and allegiance. These followers may come from every walk of life and, as long as they follow the Tenets and beliefs of Ogradhad and his Thelurmar, may receive his favor.

 

Present Day

Spoiler

 During present times the Lord of Ruhn has once again secluded himself within his realm, choosing to have his Thelurmar carry out his will by way of communing with the descendents as deemed necessary. In this way he has once more returned to his normal air of neutrality while still looking to influence his followers to align with his beliefs of neutrality, creation, and construction rather than drift towards a repeat of the failure that had become known as the Great Collapse.

 

Ogradhad will continue to remain neutral, not actively participating in either the aengudaemonic struggles or those of a descendent nature. He will instead continue his work withdrawn from all those aside from his Thelurmar through which he may continue to impart Tenets to direct the efforts of his following.

 

Purpose (OOC)

Spoiler

While not originally mentioned, Ogradhad serves a number of minor purposes across lore such as creating a truly neutral entity to follow and the creation of an aengudaemon with traits similar to that of the Creator. His primary purpose, however, shall be that of the entity responsible for the origins of both runesmithing and golemancy as well as the power source for its continued practice. As the deity responsible for runesmithing has never been mentioned, the neutral and withdrawn nature of Ogradhad fits well into the fact that he had never been mentioned up until this point which allows him to fit rather nicely into the canon lore. In the past, golemancy itself was kept rather vague when one took a look at where the actual power came from that powered the cores, but the ability of golemancers to actually work the feat was based on the idea that it was only something mechanical within a golem that was necessary. By tying it directly to Ogradhad, it is possible to open doors that allow a golemancer to work magic and be something more, while giving more to golems themselves.

 

Citation Spoiler

Spoiler

[LINK TO GOLEMANCY POST]

 

Edited by Josh3738
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(-) Making Brathmordakin real in IG lore takes away from the uniqueness and flexibility of the dwarven religion. 

(-) Following seems to be limited to runesmiths and golemancers.

(+) The story is good and would be great to see it in RP even if Ogradhad is not made part of the lore

(-) This would not add anything to people’s rp as those that belive in him (even though he is not real) will do this rp any way. Making him real just seems like a way to limit other ways Ongradhad could be interpreted.

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Ogradhad always needed his own lore piece, and some of it is pretty good. I personally love the idea of neutrality.

My main problem with the piece however is the focus around runesmithing and golemancy and how Ogradhad and the Thelumar communicate to an exclusive few. Another problem is how set in stone the piece is, the Brathmordakin should be up for interpretation, but that’s just a personal preference.

 

For the time being, -1

Edited by Astrophysical
Forgot a point
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This lore has been denied. You will be sent a forum PM regarding the reasons for denial within the next 24 hours.

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