Patron Lore - Arun’Asna, Patron of [REDACTED]
Origin/Backstory
Aknu’Gul began existence as a creation of Iblees, starting life as a being with no will nor intelligence. Imprisoned within the confines of the first Shade Gem, it acted as a conduit for Iblees to funnel his eldritch power into, and it distributed said power evenly throughout his Shades. It was with this turbulent power that sparked the first sliver of sentience within the creature, and began to slowly learn and understand its purpose. This was, however, not fully achieved alone.
Two elder shades, Aliyard and Lorien, discovered the long lost Shade Gem within a great and mighty chasm, and it beckoned them closer and closer. The two Shade Fathers used archaic magics long forgotten, and with their assistance, Aknu’Gul became truly aware of its circumstance, and it looked amongst the flock that the Shades had become throughout the centuries.
Growing a megalomaniac desire, it beckoned Iblees a furtherance of power, and with the power provided, Aknu’Gul elevated the most learned Shades into what would be known as Daeva. With this great feat realized, it became satisfied with resting, and Aknu’Gul fell silent for several more years to come.
As time went on, things within the various Shade Covens grew stale, and Aknu’Gul realized the power it was receiving from Iblees had begun to wane. The Chained Mother called for Iblees’ assistance, however its voice fell on deaf ears. The great Arch-Daemon had met His defeat within the lands of Aegis, and cursed to the sleep within the Nether was He.
Aknu’Gul became enraged, tired of its confinement, tired of being only a tool. Realizing how detrimental the reality of Iblees’ lessening power was, Aknu’Gul took action. In an aggressive, singular motion, Aknu’Gul sapped the great amount of power that had been used to create the Daeva, and with no Arch-Daemon for it to be called back to, it surged into Aknu’Gul.
With this immense amount of energy, the Aknu’Gul broke free from her bindings, and she ascended far beyond her original limitations within the Shade Gem. What remained thereafter was an elevated being, whose moniker would never again be the Chained Mother. She was no longer Aknu’Gul, a slave to the first Gem, she was free and in possession of clarity previously unimagined.
She became Arun’Asna, the Mother of Shades.
After the Mother of Shade’s rebirth, she continued to watch over her flock, sitting idly by in contentment until the death of her creator, Iblees. After his death, [REDACTED] reached out to Arun’Asna, viewing her as a creature who was also defiled by the former Archdaemon. It was at this point that [REDACTED] took Arun’Asna as a patron, seeing her flock on the mortal realm as a decent method to carry out her ideals of wrath against the world.
Personality
Arun’Asna possesses a laissez-faire attitude. She prefers to allow things to happen naturally, and on their own occurrence. She allows her Shades to spread her desires of malice and anarchy for her, and she is more than content at just watching them commit their foul deeds and act in their clandestine ways. She has a high amount of patience, and she is more than willing to wait centuries to see her plans come to fruition. However, when she has met her limit, she is easy to enrage, and she will just as easily smite one of her followers for growing stagnant and complacent, just as easily as she will bestow her blessings to an individual who she deems worthy. That is to say, she will have one of her followers carry out the act for her.
Goals
Arun’Asna’s goals are as follows: she seeks an end to civilization and life as Descendant-kind currently knows it. She wishes for empires to fall to ruin, for sons to turn on their fathers, and she wishes to hear the sounds of riot and revolution echo from city streets and dark alleyways. She revels in all acts of chaos, and she has no better view than from the eyes of her Shades.
Abilities
Arun’Asna possesses minor omnipotence, as through the Parasites of Rancour, she is able to perceive and experience everything her Shades do. She also exists as the sole power source for Shade Magic, and without her, Rancour would cease to function, and it would die along with all boons and curses that come along with it. She is also able to communicate with her Shades telepathically and through the summoning of a phantasmal image of herself, however neither has to occur for the other to.
When speaking telepathically, her voice dons the tone of a feminine voice emanating from a Shade’s inner being, as if the potential for this voice to arise has always been present.
When manifesting her avatar, a taxing ability on what remaining power she has left, a Shade’s vision slowly fades to black, and they perceive her as a titanic mass of swirling blackness that encompasses one’s entire field of vision. Situated at the apex of this mass is an appropriately sized head boasting two tall and thin horns. Within this cranium, where a humanoid entity’s eyes would normally be, are two minuscule stark white dots that serve as apparent representations of what would permit her sight.
Torrvurkat
Arun’Asna holds a minor realm which resides within Yyr’s greater realm, formerly known as the Nether. An island amidst a sea of perpetual darkness, Arun’Asna’s realm is seemingly lifeless at first glance, boasting a rugged terrain composed of deserts and mountainous plateaus. Ruins of ancient civilizations, most mimicking those that were once found on the mortal plane long ago, dot and litter the expansive, apocalyptic island.
The sky is full of dark clouds, and the land is lit with a dull red hue that emanates from a red, lustrous orb in the center of the sky. This is all that makes up any physical form of Arun’asna, and small, red beams of light connect her to large, floating black crystals, which could be compared to giant Shade Gems. These gems fuel her omnipresence, and they are what connects her to the mortal coils of her flock within the mortal plane.
Beneath these floating gems are large, glorious gothic temples that the inhabitants of her plane of existence use to continue her worship after death. In fact, any one who were to stumble within her realm, either thanks to The Planar Dictate or some other deific means, might recognize these inhabitants to be warped, twisted variations of Shades who have since been fallen in life. Deemed to have been “purified” by the Night Mother, they exist within her realm in celebration of the chaos they sewed throughout their mortal or immortal lives.
Now having a Realm to call her own, and having her deity’s authoritative permission to do so, Arun’Asna snatches the souls of her flock from the coils of the Soulstream, moving their destination from Ebrietaes to Torrvurkat. Those connected to Shade Gems, and to Her, while clueless of the process, will find an undying life amidst Torrvurkat.
Current Location
As of right now, Arun’Asna physically exists within Torrvurkat.
Purpose (OOC)
This iteration of Arun’Asna exists to bind her within the Pantheon project and have her exist, finally, as a canon patron to [REDACTED]. She remains unchanged from her past iterations aside from her new connection to [REDACTED], along with her added realm, which all of [REDACTED]’s patrons receive. I’ve created a means to exactly define why Aruna’Asna has the potential of omnipotence in the current day, as in the giant gems that float within her realm, and I’ve added a clause that states that Shades who have been connected to a shade gem and die will join her within her realm to assist in furtherance of religious rp for Shades, and because I think “all bad guys go to Ebrietaes” is extremely boring and plain. It can also serve as event fuel should anyone want to use it, and since I’m currently writing all of [REDACTED]’s lesser planes, I’m allowing them all to be used by the event team as fuel for events. I really love writing this kind of stuff, and I’m sure some event team member will be able to enjoy at least one of the lesser planes I’ve developed.
Citation Spoiler
Art used is by Chris Cold, amazing artist, I definitely recommend checking his page out
-- Credit --
Writer(s): Lukariatias, TheAlphaMoist
Consultation: Tahmas, Lackless, Frott, Mordu (for info on how the soulstream works), and those involved in the Pantheon Project
I asked mystery if my shade group could be given some sort of approved pathway to do villainy that would help do something for the story of Athera, such as sabotaging a boat, helping an event bad guy, siding with someone the good guys aren’t supposed to, etc, and I wasn’t given anything. Furthermore, villainy for the most part was disallowed... unless you were a dark mage. If you were a darkmage, anyone could do anything to you because you’re evil grr. It was really disappointing. There are other things you can do, but most of those involve no one ever knowing that you’re the cause behind x happening or that you were even a villain at all. Good post though. It’s really disappointing that there are so many people on the server who shun away from villainy rp just because they don’t want bad **** happening to their character. Bad **** brings out the best in characters, and that’s what I want to do as a villain. Provide a good side story that helps affect another character’s larger story. I’m constantly referring back to villains I’ve dealt with in the past just because they left such important marks on my character, and I want to be able to do the same to others. I want to make an impact and provide good rp. But a mix of both bad villains and bad victims ruins it all, and I doubt moderation or really anyone in staff will be up to making any changes that would affect villainy rp and dynamic conflict for the better.