Old-Rattlesnake

I believe that was referring to magic strength. Ascended aren't any stronger than they were prior to ascending.

Update: Changes are being made in a separate document and once complete they will replace the current ones of this thread, followed by a full conversion into forum format directly for record keeping. I am in contact with Caleb currently discussing amendments.

I'll be making amendments once my work week is finished and you can expect the finished piece by Wednesday at latest.

Added: (This was actually a mistake of mine that I forgot to add in) Soulfire does not spread throughout the entire body once it makes contact. Once an amount of it connects with a soul-altered physical structure it will persist in that same area until the affected area resists the fire or destroys it. Once connected, it will not grow in size, if anything it grows smaller. As an example, a ghoul receiving a small fireball to the arm will lose the directly affected section of their arm, it will not spread across their entire body and engulf them. Additionally, Soulfire is a very close-ranged spell. At maximum strength a torrent of Soulfire will only ever move a distance of five meters (blocks). A Soulfire fireball will, at maximum, move a distance of 10 meters (blocks) and cause little damage at the end of it’s arc. Added: When properly tended to, the Hallowed Ground is not truly accessible to soul-altered creatures. The radiance of Aeriel’s realm is, in fact, painful to them and should they not heed to common sense they will find themselves weakened within its vicinity, resulting in lethargy and a loss of magical efficiency (-2 tier levels). Ghosts and their varieties will not be affected in quite the same way, though they will feel compelled to remain within the area or even depart into the Soulstream directly. Hallowed ground may be destroyed by both ruining the active Soulfire Braziers and then killing an Ascended while inside it. The Soulstream will then recognize the loss of control and revert the area to its normal state. Added: The process of disconnection MUST BE TAUGHT before it can be used by any Ascended. If disconnecting one who possesses an Ember, the process will involve restraining an Ascended if they are not otherwise willing and forcefully removing it from their body. Physically this will appear as the attacking Ascended placing a hand upon their chest and the ember being drawn through the flesh and out of the body. Should they possess a flame, it will first condense into an ember and the process will take longer Added: Upon being withdrawn they will temporarily take on the appearance and form of a ghost, but upon fully exiting an Ascended they will take on a physical form. If killed, they will turn to white embers in a similar manner to Ascended and remanifest with their master. Added: Items typically chosen to be cast into the rift are cursed or possessed objects, but any physical creation may be cast inside provided it can fit and it can be forced through by the participating Ascended. Once inside, these offending objects are either contained or destroyed by the Ascended of the Soulstream, or Aeriel herself if she is currently in-house. I'll provide an example in the form of something like the Kal'varak or the Shadegem, both objects which have major RP significance but also offend the Ascended by their purpose; housing trapped souls, or corrupting souls. The clause of such objects eventually returning to the mortal realm is so we don't just up and kill off an entire playerbase or destroy a perfectly good roleplay object. This is explained as the Soultream Rift being imperfect, occasionally placing an object somewhere it shouldn't be. I have also added a short sentence in the last bullet explaining this. Added: The affected area around a sizable brazier takes on certain characteristics inherent with Soulfire, most noticeably the resistance to soul-altering magic. Those within the vicinity may notice an occasional drifting ember. We are not able to revert Frost Witches and Strigae? Every time I have brought up reverting something I have went directly to the loreholder. I have done this with both flesh-smithing and Shade loreholders. It was mentioned we could stop women still in the process of becoming a witch because at that stage they, themselves, can choose to stop it; it's literally just fluff. Regardless we've now removed that.

Magical shielding will also block it, I forgot to add that. Will do so now.

I added in a mention of Frost Witches being able to use their magic to counter Soulfire in an attempt to balance their interactions with Ascended and not make the ordeal one-sided. This was scrapped due to pressure by the LT in favor of Frost Witches being able to summon a thin sheet of ice that has no exploitable weakness aside from breaking it physically, and as was mentioned to me in Discord by one of their players the shattered ice wall can then be used offensively against the attacker who is now in close range. Given that frostie ice magic is not a dark magic, as was stated, I do not believe it would be capable of self-extinguishing a burning frost witch. Once it has latched unto the physical form it will persist until the frost witch perishes or they are strong enough to resist it, such as in the case of a frost mother. Frost Witches already have probably the best method of directly blocking Soulfire as I stated in the first paragraph. Giving further buffs to it is, in my opinion, toeing the line of being overpowered. Powerful void mages have three ultimate possible goals. They can become dark mages, like almost everyone does, Archons which are a sort of neutral route, and Demi-Ascended which is a holy arc. Demi-Ascended exist currently as Silver sect and they are not overpowered whatsoever, nor do they cause issues in balancing literally ever. Also do I really have to explain why I don't want want to kick a bunch of people out of the Ascended, especially when some of them have been with us for 5 irl years? They've been loyal to us, and I will not be removing them. As the lore explains it: These souls are gifted but the smallest of Embers, and those Embers are kept from growing by the constant poisoning of the Voidal magics they are allowed to wield.

I'm waiting for confirmation regarding the shade absorption before I add anything regarding that. Regarding the frost witch magic we'll go ahead and say that they can summon a wall of ice to block Soulfire, so long as they're not capable of nigh-instantaneously summoning a sheet of ice thick enough to deflect both Soulfire and physical weapons. Because that would be insane.

This may help people understand the intentions of the rewrite.

Let's take it a step back then and say Ascended can cure a Shade directly when the Shade is tier 1-2, and it requires a ritual to cure a tier 3. Tier 4 and 5 will be incurable. How does that sound?

Random holy fire tests are not a thing and nowhere in this lore does it state we'll be allowing it. Reasonable suspicion will always be required. Also, as is precedent with the current lore, Ascended can absorb up to a tier 3 Shade. Tier 4 Shades will require a ritual within Hallowed Ground, Tier 5 shades are corrupted beyond the point of return and cannot be cured. All of this requires OOC consent. (I'll add this to the lore when I'm home) We have worked with Shade players as well as their loreholder (at the time) to come to this conclusion.

Literally 90% of this is just clarifications for the current lore and things that are already implemented. The only 100% wholly new abilities are Hallowed Ground, Soulfire Brazier, and Psychopomps. Everything else has just been clarified or received minor tweaks. I have added a slide at the end giving a brief overview of red lines.

This is a sheet of ice. Notice how the sheet of ice has imperfections in the form of cracks, air bubbles, so on and so forth. If a crack was large enough it may create an opening where some amount of Soulfire may pass through. I am not arguing that your defenses will always fail, I am arguing that frost witches will not have perfect defenses 100% of the time. Armor is also not perfect. Iron armor has eye-holes or exposed joints, leather armor may be split from weapons, cloth is similar. Frost witches, especially young ones who are not exceptionally experienced with their craft will, surely, not be capable of creating an ice wall nigh-instantaneously without there being imperfections somewhere within it. Soulfire is our only directly offensive magic, and it has imperfections. All magic will (Rather, should) have imperfections somewhere, that something can utilize.

Yes, though it would have to be a pane of ice or, possibly, a thick torrent of snow to decently deflect Soulfire. Any major imperfections may allow Soulfire to seep through the defense.

Both have been removed. Keep in mind this change was added to give Frost Witches a way to counter Soulfire, without it they will need to rely on physical or magical shielding to defend themselves.

Fixed. It's twenty slides of text and graphics that have to be maintained along with the slideshow. Give me some time to find a better way to port it over. EDIT: Textwall has been updated and made less shitty.

If there are things that concern you about this lore, things you want clarified, or things you'd like fixed don't be afraid to post. This includes MAT and LT members Each person who has a vote in whether this lore is implemented is strongly encouraged to post their thoughts. We received very little information regarding our last lore's denial and while we have fixed what was asked, I know for a fact that there are multiple opinions we did not see.

The Displaced Emulated graphic is meant to show the victim of a soul puppeteer and the respective puppet made from them. Soul Puppeteers themselves will never be harmed by Soulfire.

I'm hoping to inspire more interesting lore posts over the dreaded text-walls which will drive any man to the point of insanity.

Red line has been edited: Finally, indirect beings may be harmed by Soulfire if they actively violate the three criteria with their creations or servants. Iblees, Setherien, and Azdromoth are all examples of this. This also applies to Necromancers who have recently risen a corpse, though the timeframe of them being vulnerable is quite small and will revert after time.

Azdrazi are not affected by Soulfire whatsoever. The images on Slide 3 are simply representations of various soul types and, as is stated under the title, not indicative of what Ascended magic targets.

The precedent of Necromancers being harmed after raising a corpse is not a new addition to the lore and is actually in effect as we speak. Circumstances for this being useful are exceptionally rare, however. Also, given that Soulfire is extremely weak against Necromantic drain, I feel this creates a balance between the two groups.

For ease of viewing it's strongly recommended that you click the link HERE. If the text is too small, click the PRESENT button. This slideshow may be outdated, so be sure to verify anything you find there with the text below if you believe it is inaccurate. If for some reason this link no longer works, open the spoiler below to view the badly formatted text-wall variant and may god have mercy on your soul. Corrections will be made throughout the pending process and will be applied within 24 hours of them being requested. If there are things that concern you about this lore, things you want clarified, or things you'd like fixed don't be afraid to post. Covenants of Aeriel: 1. An Ascended may not bring harm upon a descendant with an untainted, mortal soul; unless in doing so, they shield further souls from corruption. 2. An Ascended must swear themselves fully to the cause of our order and devote their lives to the enactment of Aeriel's will. The politics and allegiances of this mortal coil are fleeting; and must be abandoned. 3. An Ascended must give their whole to protect the mortal races; their very existence is to be a barrier against the darkness that seeks to devour the souls of the Sons. 4. The powers bestowed upon the Ascended are designed to combat those that would bring harm to the descendant races. Place your trust in the Flame; as it is Aeriel's will incarnate. 5. In all actions taken, thy must avoid endangering the integrity of the order. To bring ruin upon the Ascended is to taunt Aeriel herself. 6. Every soul is precious, from the tiniest of insects, to the creatures of myth. Even when sundered a sanctity remains. Aid those that come to us with goodness lingering in their hearts; destroy those that find solace in the darkness. A single broken soul saved is worth ten thousand destroyed.