Clan Nightheart

[Aelesh 540]

Taluhny Kertahel

Clan Nightheart

Helun-Velulaeya, uhv’lye hyleyr naab orud!

Mother-Velulaeya, our savior from anger!

 

[This is not currently public knowledge.]

 

Revived by a distant descendant of Echo Nightheart, the Nightheart clan traces its roots to their revered ancestors Xexus and Ravyn, brothers who escaped an invading force of Orenian inquisitors intent on the destruction of their practices in Aegisian times.  Only through Helun-Velulaeya’s direct intervention were they able to survive, her good will enshrouding them in concealing shadow thanks to the single-minded worship of their temple’s acolytes, who remained deep in meditation even as they were slaughtered.  Through the teachings of these two scions, the seeds of the modern Velulaey cult were planted.

 

A focus on philosophy and prayerful living characterizes the clan's young but zealous matriarch, a vulera in training, who was also miraculously saved from certain death by the intervention of travelling Maehr.  Once known for a priestly caste identified by gold eyes and fair hair, all traces of the Nightheart visage have died out since the days of the clan's inception.  The sole surviving blood relative of the clan's original brood has inherited black hair, dull blue eyes and ashen skin.  Whoever she chooses as her spirit-kin will have traits of their own, none of them like hers, further burying the memory of blood unity.

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☽︎ Velulaey, Eternally Divine

The Nightheart clan teach and believe that even prior to Velulaey’s incarnation as a daughter of Malin, she existed as the radiance of the Moon, the aengul of Night.  It was due to her incarnation that the red star hiding behind the Moon could be seen at all, since at any other time the Moon’s silver light would have hidden it from view.  This unique teaching has survived since the earliest days of the Velulaey cult, setting them apart from other maehr who have adopted varying theological stances on Helun-Velulaey’s nature.

 

☾ Moonstones

An ancient tradition expanded upon with modern spirituality, moonstones are small, carefully worked shards of lapis lazuli carried as aids for prayer and meditation.  Though there are no strict rules about how they should be used or kept, some keep them in a pouch attached to a cord draped around their neck beneath their clothing, with the pouch worn as close to the heart as possible.  The eyes of the Mother are ever watchful after the hearts of Her most devout.

 

☽︎ Clothing

Owing to their past as keepers of the priesthood, Nighthearts are encouraged to wear robes of pale, moonlight honouring colours that remind them of their Mother’s eternal protection.  This demonstrates particular religious zeal for a people who, more often than not, wear garments suited for battle in a world that regularly means them harm.  To eschew mundane protection in favour of Her unbreakable aegis reveals a deep devotion indeed.

 

⁂ The Dark Trinity

The clan has since time immemorial defined the soul of both the individual malyker and the broader malyker state.  In Aegisian times, a triad of great clans led the malyker people, empowered by their particularly deep bonds of friendship and mutual respect.  This Dark Trinity was formed of clans Klaren and Shadeleaf alongside the pious Nighthearts.  In modern times, this heritage manifests as a deep reverence for ancestors of all three clans as the root family to which the modern malyker diaspora owes much of its wisdom.

 

Szyr'mo-heumyl (EN. Trinity Ancestors) of note include, but are not limited to:   ☾ Xexus Nightheart, Bathed in Light The most well known patriarch of the Nightheart clan, one of the two brothers who escaped execution at the hands of ancient Orenian inquisitors.  He was pious to a fault, eventually falling to a depraved madness as he sought for power beyond the scope of Helun-Velulaeya’s protecting light.  Even still, it is believed that this search was for holy reasons, and so Xexus is praised as a pillar of the priestly institute and, in death, a ward against the Derangement that has claimed so many malyker souls.   ☽︎ Ravyn Nightheart, Hidden in Shadow Said to be the originator of the Aengul-Velulaeya dogma, Ravyn Nightheart was the more enigmatic of the two brothers, hiding in the background of history as a disciple of the moonlit path.  He is heralded as a keeper of secrets and binder of oaths, possessed of hawk-like eyes in his spiritual body that pierce through all deception.  In life, he is said to have interceded in the defense of many malyker from a distance, an anonymous monk whose prayers passed on the same protection that had once seen him survive the extermination of his fellows.   ☾ Goroth Klaren, Fist of Black Steel Warrior, strategist, alchemist and eventually, pariah, Goroth Klaren adored both his clan and his people.  During his life, he became one of the most powerful and infamous warlords of the malyker, known for his strict command that turned many hapless novices into battle hardened veterans.  Falling to Derangement after the death of his wife, Rina Kameki, he attempted to resurrect her using his knowledge of the darkest forms of occult alchemy.  The other malyker who witnessed this cast him out for such sacrilegious acts against the righteous dead.  However, legend has it that even if this act was unholy, Goroth managed to pry a soul back from Mother Moon herself in a selfish act to rival even modern mysticism.  To invoke him is to invoke raw ambition, determination and the will to power.   ☽︎ Sathoro Shadeleaf, of Many Branches The Gloom’s burden is best shared, and none knew this more than the ever-generous Sathoro.  His wisdom covered so many of life’s facets that those who spent too long in his company often reported seeing his face in the water as they fished, or hearing his voice in the crackle of a forge’s flames.  At times a priest, at other times a playwright and at still other times a master of the medicinal arts, Sathoro had a helping hand ready for any and every malyker who came to him for succor or learning.  In death, those who have met him report how his shoulders sprout forth the branches of an oak tree, each one dangling the tools and tomes of every trade imaginable.

 

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Roster

Vynkukesh Kertahel, Aelesh

 

 

Spoiler

The Ancient Texts!

Issinardo Nightheart

The original clan post!  Or at least, one of them.

 

[3.0] Dark Elf Race Lore

There’s a little bit in here about the Dark Trinity and the culture of the time, mentioning the Nighthearts.

 

I will likely add more here as I unearth things from the forums.  Credits for the clan crest go to Goldd!