Aelesh

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. ☽︎ 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. Roster Vynkukesh Kertahel, Aelesh

Vynkukesh, daughter of Ulln Thyone, as yet clanless, signs the settlement's charter. ((IGN: Aelesh))

Just off for work so if I missed anything, I'll get back to you! Typing at speed. Thank you for the feedback. :) Main question: what problems are you seeing with 'weightless' that you don't see with 'very much lighter'? I feel as if people would roleplay one as functionally the other. If there are specific use-cases that you can see being irksome (ie. a character picks up a very heavy item, and then an Elysari tries to abuse Rescue to carry said heavy item), let me know and I can work in some redlines to prevent. The really important thing that we're trying to say is that once you've picked someone up with Rescue, your character can move unimpeded. We might be able to achieve this with some other wording like, picking up a character fills your whole body with bruni, allowing you to move unimpeded by the weight of the character your holding? But then I'd worry about people trying to abuse it in other ways, like using their enhanced strength to do x, y and z things that we didn't think of. Same goes for their skjoldr too, can you suggest some cases in which it being weightless would be a real headache? I'm all ears for things that we've missed! I don't see that letting a character move easily with their skjoldr is too much of an issue, especially if it's their only line of defense. It won't let them break any established combat rules. Again, thanks for the feedback. I did think about putting spoilers in, but the prevailing sentiment was that spoilers make it harder to CRTL + F through the piece for redlines when needing to perform enforcement. You are the second person to ask for some spoilers though, so I may well put all of the spells into some in order to tidy the post up.

Other than the runes, through which the connection ritual functions, everything else is easily fudge-able. There's no reason you couldn't use an elvish word for power rather than bruni IC, or that you couldn't have a Fare Forth totem look like an orcish spirit talisman. Additionally, I think every culture can find a home for ravens in their imagery without becoming too Norse. Point being, what you see here is really an attempt to honour the Elysari's cultural origin as derivative of Saphiel's human heritage, rather than an attempt to make everyone RP Norse stuff. Your skjoldr could be a straw hat...

ᛝ E L Y S A R I ᛝ THE SHIELDMAIDENS OF SAPHIEL’S EVERSPRING ᛝ「O R I G I N S」 Yeu Rthulu's fall marked the end of an age. Her celestial body splintered with a sound like a thousand chiming bells as she fell into that whitest snow she found so comforting. Her loyal augurs came rushing to her aid, their many hands reaching out for her spiralling, diamond shards, and claimed but a few pieces of her glistening viscera. One claimed an eye without sight, another claimed a hand without feeling and yet another claimed a strand of her hair, glossy but hollow, light as the wind itself. They searched for the loving friend they had found in her and discovered nothing but an open chasm, an emptiness where the illusion of Compassion had once dwelt. Svandara, one augur amongst many, was filled with a conviction that burnt like the Sun’s all-warming flames. She held the aengul’s heart in her hands and willed it to beat, clutching it as she had often clutched the bloody prizes of the hunt. This was her purpose, she knew, to be the cloak that shields souls innumerable from this alien coldness, this immortal falsity. She would be the Merciful heart that bled for all. Through her interactions with the Last Sojourners, travellers from a distant land who took refuge in the far north of Azuras, the newly mantled Saphiel’s teachings have begun to spread among the descendants. The daemon of Mercy now seeks out the last shards of her predecessor, and companions worthy to wield them in a world desperate for her intervention. More information on Saphiel can be found [here]. ᛝ「E X P L A N A T I O N」 The Elysari are loyal allies of Saphiel on her quest to help mortal souls endure the wars, physical, mental and spiritual, that have assailed them since the dawn of Creation. Being once mortal herself, she views them more as companions than she does as servants, receiving each soul as an equal. The Elysari way began when Saphiel interceded on the behalf of displaced travellers who came to Azuras in search of sanctuary. She came to them as the so-called ‘Crowhealer’, who granted them succor in the first and hardest months they spent taming the snowy lands of Skjolvindr. With the continued breakdown of Yeu Rthulu’s splintered body, shards of divine power have now begun to rain down across Aeos. Rather than gathering these shards of power greedily back to herself, Saphiel has chosen to make an offer of them to certain adherents of her merciful ways, granting them miraculous powers to wield in the defence of others. Elysari magic can be split into [2] broad disciplines; their out of combat Augury, which deals in commanding the help of Saphiel’s raven-augurs, and their in combat Shield-sorcery, a group of protective techniques that focus on drawing forth power from an Elysari’s blessed shield, called a skjöldr. ᛝ TENETS Elysari keep to a set of tenets collectively called the Gjallr (resounding), a poetic name for a shield given in some of the pre-Canonist sagas of northern Aeldin. Its echoing sound is not other than Saphiel’s intense battlecry that wards away evil, not other than the sage wisdom she dispenses to all her shield siblings as they stand beside her on the eternal battlefield. These tenets are purely cultural. Breaking them does not allow for a divinely mandated disconnection. They are primarily a guide for Elysari to interpret the will of their patron and judge their peers by it, allowing them to point the way for each other in properly dispensing Saphiel’s mercy. i. Mercy for the Wicked | If even a whisper of repentance, a sliver of remorse, a mote of regret remains in those against whom you raise your shield, grant them a reprieve. ii. Compassion for the Meek | The least, the last and the lost are your calling. Raise your shield in their defence, strain your bodies for their edification and search the depths of your soul for every ember of hope to shine on their sufferings. iii. Sanctuary for All Souls | Not one soul deserves eternal damnation. The world conspires against each of us, through Ibleesian curses, through the temptations of mad souls; we bleed with all the fallen, and endure with them. ᛝ CONNECTION & PROGRESSION A [T5] Elysari may mark a prospective student with three runes, one on the forehead, one on the back of each hand and the last on the nape of the neck. Each rune is the initial of a line of the Elysari creed: ᛜ ᛖ for eirð (help, protection, mercy) ᛜ ᛒ for bliðlæti (kindness, gentleness, compassion) ᛜ ᚺ for hǫfn (haven, sanctuary) These runes attune the marked character's soul to the divine energies of Saphiel, setting them on a quest to find a lost shard of the once-aengul of Compassion. The marked character is drawn to helping others, giving their body and soul in service of all who they find. For each merciful task that the character completes, one of the runes on their body comes to life with light, and they begin to notice phantom ravens following them wherever they go. When the marked character has completed [3] tasks, they will be ready to wander into the wilderness in search of their shard. The augurs who have been following them will catch their attention and take them on a journey, which ends in finding their hidden shard. Upon claiming their shard, the marked character will experience a vision in which they meet a phantom image of Saphiel, who shakes their hand as a new shield sibling and whispers the Elysari creed into their ear. When an Elysari is taught a new spell, this must be marked on their [MA]. Elysari become eligible to apply for a [TA] once they have learnt all available spells and have reached [T5]. The ritual to mark a prospective Elysari with the runes of the Elysari creed is revealed to a master Elysari by Saphiel herself. [T1]: Ravenkind, Rescue || [T2]: Shelter, Repel, Mitigate [T3]: Dew, Endure, Intervene || [T4]: Fare Forth, Guilt [T5]: Everspring, Rebuke 🗙 Elysari occupies [3] magic slots. 🗙 Elysari is only compatible with Seer, Kani, Housemagery, Bardmancy, Vivification, Shunting and any knowledge-based feats. 🗙 The illusion that comes to meet the newly connected Elysari cannot be roleplayed beyond the description given above. She cannot answer questions, and will ignore all attempts to interact with her. BENEATH HER GJALLR DO ALL THINGS DWELL. ᛝ AUGURS Due to Saphiel’s deep connection to the mortal world, having been a descendant before her ascension to daemonhood, she is able to send projections of her augurs into Aeos with particular ease. These augurs are the souls of descendants who have taken refuge in her realm of Forever Spring, and who have then chosen to go on serving her as eternal companions. Whilst in Saphiel’s realm, they appear as they would have done in life, but whilst projected into the physical realm, they don the guise of ravens in order to make themselves less conspicuous when aiding the Elysari. An augurs soul remains in the land of Forever Spring when they project themselves into the mortal realm, protecting them from attempts to steal their anima. An augur is therefore only partially physical, winking into and out of existence at will. Elysari draw these projections to themselves in great numbers, granting them a flock of watchful eyes that they can call up and dismiss at will. 🗙 All capabilities that augurs have are covered in the passive ability Ravenkind. They are not able to perform tasks outside of those specifically listed in that passive. 🗙 The great concentration needed to project themselves into Aeos prevents augurs from speaking under normal circumstances. ᛝ SKJӦLDR & BRUNI A skjӧldr is a shield made by setting a mundane shield with an Elysari’s claimed shard. If a skjӧldr is made of a material that is less durable than steel, it is fortified to the durability of steel by the divine power of the inset shard. Materials that are as strong as or are stronger than steel are not affected by this fortifying power; this extends to any additional properties they might have. Preparing an Elysari’s skjöldr for battle takes [3] emotes during which they perform a brief, freeform ritual to rouse the skjöldr’s sleeping shard. If this ritual is interrupted, the Elysari must begin again from the [1st] emote of the ritual. Once their skjöldr is activated, the Elysari is considered connected until they willingly relax their focus or until their skjöldr is removed from their grip. Passively, a skjӧldr has no other unique properties. When connected, however, a skjӧldr is imbued with the following properties, becoming: ᛜ Weightless to the Elysari, allowing them to move unhindered. ᛜ Translucent to the Elysari, allowing them to see through it. ᛜ Interactive with magical spells and creatures, able to strike or obstruct the otherwise intangible. Every skjӧldr is infused with Saphiel’s deific mana, called bruni (power). It is a deep blue energy that evaporates into a thin mist; on occasion, this evaporation takes the form of raven feathers. Elysari become more efficient at drawing out their skjӧldr’s power as they increase in tier, equating to additional units of available bruni. ᛜ [T1]: [2] bruni ᛜ [T2]: [4] bruni ᛜ [T3]: [6] bruni ᛜ [T4]: [8] bruni ᛜ [T5]: [10] bruni Whilst Elysari can enter battle wielding a weapon, this causes friction between their soul and the motives of their patron, which lessens their ability to access the powers of their skjöldr. An Elysari wielding a weapon is only able to perform the spells Repel and Mitigate. The first time an Elysari draws a weapon during combat, they lose [2] bruni. Sheathing their weapon does not restore any lost bruni. 🗙 Bruni recharges once every [24] hours. 🗙 A skjӧldr cannot be a tower shield, or any other kind of shield that protects the whole body, since (for reasons beyond mortal fathoming) shields of this size dissipate the shards energy in ways unhelpful to harnessing it. 🗙 A skjӧldr cannot be spiked or in any way weaponised, since a skjӧldr constructed in this way causes the same supernatural friction as a weapon. 🗙 A skjӧldr cannot be made from the following materials: morion, dracanium, rokodra, argentum. 🗙 A skjӧldr, even if made from wood, interferes with an oscillits Resonance, preventing them from performing Kani whilst holding a skjӧldr. This is due to the powerfully condensed mana present in the inlaid divine shard. An Elysari must drop their skjӧldr in order to perform Kani, just as they would any normally incompatible item. 🗙 Potions which can harm a character, e.g. Blasting Potions or Frostbreath, count as weapons when wielded by an Elysari, and will cause them to lose bruni and access to all spells bar Repel and Mitigate if wielded. Potions that do not cause direct harm, e.g. Tanglefoot or Smoke Whispers, do not count as weapons. ᛝ「A B I L I T I E S」 「A U G U R Y」 THEY TAKE WING! ᛞ [T1] [PASSIVE, N/C] RAVENKIND Whilst outside of combat, Elysari are able to call up and dismiss a flock of augurs. These augurs will dutifully obey the Elysari’s commands, happily carrying small objects for them in their beaks. The raven is mythically associated with wisdom and memory for the people of Fjordem, from whom Saphiel hailed. Thanks to the raven flock’s many eyes, this wisdom makes an Elysari perpetually aware of the direction they are facing (north, south, east or west), and even allows them to, with a few moments of concentration as they send some of their attending augurs to investigate, estimate how far away points of interest are. ᛞ [T2] [N/C] SHELTER [1]: The Elysari calls out to an augur who lands near or on the Elysari carrying a sparkling twig, infused with bruni. [2]: The Elysari thanks the augur for their help, bowing their head respectfully, to which the augur responds by dropping their twig into a waiting source of fire. [3]: As the augur leaves, the source of flame bursts to life with deep, midnight blue flames that emit a dense magical aura. Shelter’s aura extends [8] blocks from the fire. Within the aura, regardless of the current time of day, the sky darkens, the world quiets, and the moon rises high into the sky. In the distance, illusory flowers in perpetual bloom sway in the breeze and the distant caw of ravens occasionally sounds as the lands of Forever Spring draw near. Inclement weather breaks against the auras edge, which acts like a wall against stormy winds and pouring rain. This protection also resists boiling heat and chilling cold, causing the space within the aura to warm or cool to a comfortable level. Whilst battlewounds are not healed whilst in the area, they pain those afflicted by them less, as the divine energies emitting from the fire act as a strong painkiller. Any character who attempts to sleep in the area can do so without interference from mental afflictions, whether mundane or magical. Unless disturbed by other characters or events, a character can always easily obtain [8] hours of refreshing sleep. ᛞ [T3] [N/C] DEW [1]: The Elysari commands one of their augurs to bring them a drop of dew from the lands of Forever Spring, who quickly flies out of sight. [2]: The augur reappears in a flash of blue, seemingly liquid light that sprinkles the area in a glowing mist. [3]: The augur lets a drop of their collected dew fall into the bottle of a recently used medicinal potion, which quickly swells and refills the bottle with sapphire waters. Once cast, the bottle of a medicinal potion used within the last [10] emotes is refilled with a divine liquid that perfectly mirrors the original potion, allowing for [1] additional use of that potion. This liquid dissipates if it is not used within [10] emotes of its final creation emote. ᛞ [T3] [N/C] ENDURE [1]: The Elysari commands one of their augurs to protect them and their allies, who promptly flies in nearby. [2]: The augur begins to effervesce with bruni, issuing forth a glowing mist from between their feathers. [3]: The mist becomes dense enough to begin protecting from the natural forces in its radius. An Elysari can command their augur to move anywhere within [20] blocks; the augur moves at descendant speeds. Their mist extends to the [5*5] block radius surrounding them, moving with them as they fly. The mist provides some of the same protections provided by Shelter, namely against inclement weather and uncomfortable temperatures. In addition to these protections, it can also protect those within from more ferocious natural forces such as wildfires, crashing waves or noxious fumes. ᛞ [T4] [N/C] FARE FORTH [1]: The Elysari commands their augurs to draw near; many of them flock close by, watching expectantly. [2]: The augurs begin to fly in a tight swirl around the Elysari and their target, forming a dense barrier of feathers and talons. [3]: Dense bruni begins to blur the line between reality, dream and the lands of Forever Spring as deep blue mist builds and swells within the cawing cyclone. [4+]: The noise crescendos and collapses into a sudden peace, ensnaring the Elysari and their target in a dream world constructed from their target’s memories. Characters in the waking world see the Elysari and their target surrounded by many coloured flowers, sprouting from the ground and even from the folds of their clothes. They remain in whatever posture they were when they entered the trance, with eyes closed. Travelling through the created trance allows the Elysari’s target to confront mental trauma. This trance is freeform roleplay that can be explored as is necessary. A target can only overcome their trauma through this experience by accepting Saphiel’s mercy. The character must choose to form a religious bond of siblinghood with the Elysari and other worshippers of Saphiel in order to be filled with a supernatural grace that sets their heart at ease. If the target fails to overcome their trauma by accepting Saphiel, they finish the trance only a few steps down the spiritual path to peace. They may have revelations about why this trauma harms them in the way it does, and they may have some insights into how to overcome it on their own, but they will not be filled with the complete victory over their trauma that comes with accepting Saphiel. If the target accepts Saphiel’s mercy and companionship, they forge a bond with her that manifests as a totem grown from the roots of the plants surrounding them during their trance. Their soul is marked by Saphiel, claimed by the lands of Forever Spring for so long as they remain unclaimed by any other deific forces. This totem has one of the following [3] magical effects. ᛜ Fragrant: When thrown into a fire, the totem causes the flames to turn a deep blue as they become suffused with bruni. The shapes of flowers curl through the tongues of flame and a beautiful scent quickly replaces any other smell that was present before. The totem survives the flames thanks to its magic, glowing blue in the ashes. ᛜ Luminous: When held aloft and Saphiel’s holy name is spoken aloud, the totem begins to burn with a deep blue light. This light causes darkness to clump up and flow like ink, pouring out of any crevices that it might be hiding in. This has the effect of making the [5*5] area surrounding the totem completely devoid of darkness. ᛜ Watchful: When held aloft and a direction is spoken aloud (North, South, East or West), the totem falls on its side and points in the specified direction. Additionally, a small number of augurs follow the holder at a distance, although they interact only sparingly and never at the holder's command. ᛞ [T5] [N/C] EVERSPRING [1, 2, 3]: Each emote, an augur comes to rest on or nearby the casting Elysari. [4]: The Elysari kneels before their target, and offers them mercy; if the target accepts, the three augurs surround their body. [5]: The augurs whisper to the target, who begins to feel faint; their eyes blacken with a magical aura. [6]: Concluding the spell, the target's soul is dislodged from their body by the three augurs, who carry them beyond the world of the living and into the peaceful afterlife of the lands of Forever Spring. Any pain that a target character is currently experiencing eases with each augur they lay eyes on, until they are completely painless at the point of receiving their blessing on the [4th] emote. Blood does not leak from wounds, any coughing abates, the eyes that might have been shaking violently moments before become still; in every way, the target is made ready to meet their end. With OOC consent, a character who dies whilst under the effect of this spell is permakilled, travelling to the lands of Forever Spring as a newly born augur. This occurs irrespective of where the character’s soul might have been sent normally, allowing souls to escape damnation in the Ebrietaes, Moz Strimoza or other hellish planes. Once a character has passed away, their body will be consumed by natural flames, reducing them to a starkly white, but totally mundane, ash. ᛝ「A B I L I T I E S, cont.」 「S H I E L D - S O R C E R Y」 ONWARDS, TO BATTLE! ᛞ [T1] [C] RESCUE [2 emotes, 1 bruni] || [1]: The Elysari focuses on the bruni in their skjöldr, causing that bruni to begin flowing up their arm, glowing blue beneath their skin. [2]: The Elysari physically lifts a character, who immediately becomes weightless to them. Rescue lasts for so long as the casting Elysari continues to carry their charge. An Elysari can sprint whilst carrying a weightless character. Whilst walking, an Elysari can defend themselves by blocking or dodging attacks. The flow of bruni will be disrupted if the Elysari dodges an attack, or blocks an attack with their skjöldr; if an Elysari dodges or blocks a combined total of [2] attacks, Rescue ends immediately. ᛞ [T2] [C] REPEL [2 emotes, 0 bruni] || [1]: The Elysari excites the bruni in their skjöldr, infusing its width with veins of coursing, blue bruni. [2]: The Elysari strikes a target with their shield, unleashing a blast of bruni that knocks them away with great force. Targets struck by this ability are knocked [6] blocks away from the Elysari. ᛞ [T2] [C] MITIGATE [2 emotes, 2 bruni] || [1]: The Elysari lifts their skjöldr as it begins to exude an expanding field of vaporous bruni. [2]: The expanding aura begins to solidify into a translucent barrier attached to the Elysari’s skjöldr. [3]: The barrier finishes taking shape and completely solidifies. Mitigate creates a translucent, ghostly shield attached to the Elysari’s skjöldr, which increases in size with the Elysari’s current tier: ᛜ [T2]: [1] block tall by [3] blocks wide ᛜ [T3]: [3] blocks tall by [3] blocks wide ᛜ [T5]: [3] blocks tall by [5] blocks wide The generated shield can be easily passed through by characters and melee weapons, making it useless in defending against close range attacks. A character can easily approach on foot and strike the casting Elysari as normal. The shield is most useful in protecting against projectiles, mundane or magical. Projectiles are slowed when they strike the shield, losing [½] of their effective range upon contact. A projectile can still strike a target if its reduced range still reaches the desired space, but otherwise, the projectile will fall short of the target. Arrows, crossbow bolts or thrown weapons will fall to the ground, whilst magical projectiles will dissipate in midair as if they had reached max range. This protection against projectiles is one way, allowing characters behind the Elysari to fire projectiles through their barrier without incurring its effects. Explosive projectiles, such as spells and alchemy potions, still explode, although the size of their explosion is reduced by [½] when they do explode. Explosions are, however, no less powerful; an exploding fireball will deal its regular damage to characters caught within its reduced radius. ᛞ [T3] [C] INTERVENE [2 emotes, 1 bruni] || [1]: The Elysari raises their shield, from behind which black raven feathers begin to emanate. [2]: The Elysari reacts to an attack made against a viable target by vanishing in an explosion of blue bruni and teleporting, either appearing beside their chosen target or swapping places with them. After the first emote of Intervene has been performed, an Elysari can channel this spell for so long as they refrain from taking any actions beside moving and blocking with their raised shield. Whilst channeling, an Elysari cannot move more than [2] blocks in an emote. Intervene can be used to react to attacks made on targets within [10] blocks of the channeling Elysari. The Elysari can choose either to appear at their target's location, ready to intercept the attack originally meant for the target, or to spend [1] additional bruni to teleport their target to their original location. ᛞ [T4] [C] GUILT [3 emotes, 2 bruni] || [1]: The Elysari aims their shield at their target, generating a beam of light from their skjöldr. [2]: The generated beam of light continues to increase in intensity, until the skjöldr becomes covered in a mirror-like sheen. [3]: The Elysari unleashes a burst of bruni from their skjöldr at their target. Should they look at the skjöldr, they see a reflection of themselves as they were when mortal. Guilt subjects a once mortal being to a harrowing regret for [4] emotes that latches onto their soul, making them temporarily vulnerable to pain caused by mundane weaponry. Viable targets include: ᛜ Phantoms: Ghosts, Wights, Eidola ᛜ Undead: Draugar, Darkstalkers, Moroi ᛜ Constructs: Soul-bound Golems, Machine Spirits Mundane weapons do not become able to cause bodily harm to these targets; for example, a steel sword will still bounce off of an eidola’s stone body without causing it to crack or break. Rather, weapons will cause the target to feel pain as they would do if struck by a weapon whilst alive, temporarily disabling limbs or stunning the target. Using the previous example, slashing an eidola’s arm with a sword might cause it to hang limply by their side as if the tendon had been cut, returning to normal functionality after the [4] emotes of Guilt’s effect has dissipated. ᛞ [T5] [C] REBUKE [1 emote, 4 bruni] || [1]: The Elysari reacts to an attack by swinging their skjöldr at it, swiftly generating a sheen of fortifying bruni that ruptures with a thunderous clap. Rebuke can be used to parry melee attacks, ranged attacks, and spell attacks. The protecting sheen of condensed bruni that surrounds the skjöldr prevents it from being damaged in any way when parrying an attack using this spell. Additionally, the protective sheen also reduces the blunt force of whatever attack is parried to zero. Weapons with anti-magical properties or melee strikes improved by Kani using Penetrative Inertia render Rebuke ineffective. These attacks break the sheen of bruni covering the skjöldr and end the spell immediately without the attacker incurring any of the effects that would normally entail. Performing Rebuke temporarily destabilizes an Elysari’s skjöldr, causing the bruni within to pulse chaotically across its breadth. This might appear as spectral fire, many ravens' wings breaking through the shield's surface and beating wildly or even the roots of flowers from the lands of Forever Spring ensnaring the shield. This state lasts for [2] emotes, during which time the Elysari cannot sprint or cast further spells. MELEE When a melee attack is parried by Rebuke, the parrying Elysari’s shield issues a blast of force that is always equal to the strength of the attack being parried. For instance, if Rebuke is used to parry an orc-strength attack, the explosion generated by Rebuke will be powerful enough to match that orc-strength attack. Equally, if an attack’s force is augmented by other factors (ex. weapon types, materials, spells or [CA] abilities) these factors are also matched by Rebuke. Targets whose melee attacks are parried by Rebuke stumble back [4] blocks and are encumbered by the dense bruni that clings to their body. For the next [2] emotes, their strength is capped to that of a Void mage and they are unable to sprint. RANGED An Elysari can direct the trajectory of a parried ranged attack, so long as the desired trajectory is in the 180 degree arc in front of the Elysari. This could allow an Elysari to redirect a fired crossbow bolt, with all of its original force, back at the launcher of the crossbow bolt or another desired target. SPELLS Parrying a spell increases the cost of Rebuke by [1] bruni to [5] bruni. Parried spells can be redirected in much the same way as projectile attacks, allowing the parrying Elysari to redirect the trajectory of the spell at any target in the 180 degree arc in front of them. ᛝ「D I S C O N N E C T I O N」 GIFTS FREELY GIVEN, GIFTS FREELY RETURNED. [1]: Two of the gathered Elysari begin to beat their skjӧldr. [2]: The third Elysari raises their hands to the heavens and begs for Saphiel’s mercy. [3]: Augurs begin to flock in great numbers to the third Elysari. [4]: The third Elysari, emboldened by the continued drumming of their companions, blurs into a shadowy figure beneath the many augurs covering their body. [5]: The Elysari covered in augurs unleashes a blast of energy, channeled from the numerous augurs surrounding them, blowing away their target's connection in an overwhelming blast of shadowy, many-feathered energy. In order to disconnect an Elysari, breaking their skjӧldr and their link to Saphiel, [3] Elysari who have accepted [TA]’s must gather to perform a ritual. This ritual takes [5] uninterrupted emotes to complete. The target of this ritual must remain within [4] blocks of the casting Elysari during these emotes. Once performed, all performing Elysari are exhausted of all available bruni. 🗙 The disconnection ritual is open knowledge available to all Elysari with accepted [TA]s. 🗙 If combat begins at any time during the ritual, it is interrupted and must start be started from the beginning again. 🗙 Elysari can perform this ritual regardless of how much bruni they have available to them. 🗙 Elysari should take the tenets of Saphiel’s way into account when disconnecting another character. ᛝ「C R E D I T S & P U R P O S E」 I’d like to thank F1F4 for their piece on Yeu Rthulu from a while back that inspired me to write this, and their patience with me whilst I worked on this, christ2man for their insight and help writing out the abilities, and Vhorazu for their invaluable idea to focus on shields. Thank you all very much for your help with this. Elysari are designed to tread the line between hedgewitch healer and stalwart shieldmaiden. They stand proudly in the shadow of the real-life valkyries as psychopomps ready to guide the slain to peaceful lands. Where other deific orders stand together beneath single (or very similar) ideological banners, Elysari are able to roam the lands in search of those in need, inserting themselves into all manner of settings. One might take up a role as guard in a frontier town rife with villainy, whilst another might decide to oversee a group of Void mages as they delve into the treacherous depths of horrific lore. The ways in which Mercy can be dispensed across Aeos are numerous. In this sense, Elysari are not lone crusaders nor a singular, reclusive order, but rather a grassroots movement of many souls touched by Saphiel as she goes about her work. Every soul responds to that work in a way that is personal to them and made manifest in the support and guidance they give to all manner of guilds, nations and faiths. Whatever society an Elysari integrates into, they will always seek to counsel empathy and understanding over the harsh ways of the sword, for Saphiel’s cause is a merciful one. Elysari uniquely fulfils the ‘tank’ archetype, which until this point has been absent from the combat ecosystem and particularly from holy magic, where one would think it would be most at home. Whilst Elysari are exceptionally good at protecting themselves and others, they are purposefully designed without a finishing move in mind. Their most powerful aggressive spells, Guilt and Rebuke, do not cause physical harm, but rather redirect it and create opportunities for other characters to capitalise on. For this reason, Elysari are most vulnerable when alone, and shine their brightest when playing supportive roles in a party of allies. Saphiel herself is an interesting deity that I have become quickly endeared to. She is, so far as I can tell, the only aengudaemon in current canon who was originally a descendant, and I appreciate that this was drawn out in her write up. Seeing how hollow Yeu Rthulu really was led her to assuming the mantle of daemon, becoming what she felt was lacking in her predecessor and in the aengudaemonic pantheon at large. Thank you for reading! P.S. Let me know if you spot any errors…

You've definitely been successful in trimming it down, it does read well. I've supported a resource system for Void magic for years, so good on you for writing this up. I can't speak to the balancing of it but everyone else seems to be pitching in on that, so hopefully you get your numbers where they should be.

I try to avoid linking to other lore pages, but I can add a remark that auras should follow all mechanics/redlines of base aura lore alongside voidal specific redlines. My key concern here was to do with the IC physics of mana, since I felt what you had written wasn't granular enough on the distinction between mana and aura. There've been magic systems in the past that have capitalised on the difference, and I feel it's useful to say that aura isn't just runoff mana, but a special state that mana gets "burnt" into. There's a transformation/transmutation that occurs. I know it might seem pedantic, so apologies for the nitpick.

You might make mention of how aura is itself a state of mana, as per the States of Mana post.

I'd be more than happy to chat to you about your goals with this and help you edit it. Do sling a DM my way if you'd like to discuss.

(𝄞𝄞𝄞) A letter is hidden in the back of one tome or another on the philosophies of those obscure Latter-Prophets. Greetings and ukhai from this tusked-one. Here are written down some few burdensome sparks of inspiration, of a fire heavier than the coal which produced it. These wilds which I call home are thick with the wounds that you exalt. Though your whole meaning evades me, my heart beats comfortably to the rhythm of your work. A portent, perhaps, of a beneficial friendship. What follows is a myth in the way of my ancestors' paths, inflamed with my dwindling sparks. Sage prophets, may all the spirits remember their true ancestor. ❉ Little Brother was walking in the cool of the evening, through the fruit groves where the sunshine lingers longest. There, the riverwaters babbled and twinkled as they danced between the roots, alive with brightening starlight. When Little Brother sat on the precipice where the garden fell away, he began to hear two songs like lovers departing from one another. The sunlight against his skin slowly quietened her voice as the stars began to serenade his eyes. How great are the seas, ‘pon which my first rays fell! How great are the mountains, which conquered the seas! How great are the trees, which churned up the stone! How great are the Men, who made forts of the forests! And the stars responded with one phrase, repeated for every little light surviving the darkness of the heavens. Seas swam, mountains wandered, forests foraged, Men crowned! The sunsong he had often heard, but the stars’ tiny phrase was spring-newness to his soul. Little Brother loved their hope and desired their wisdom, but knew not how to lift his voice to their ears. Night heard his dream, felt his reaching hands, and so from circling overhead a twisting spiral of nightfeathers came fluttering down in Crow’s shape. Little Brother could not tell the glimmer of her eyes from the promise of the stars, and sat entranced, his sister nestled on his shoulder. She spoke with a whispering croak. “What separates you is not distance, but time. The starlight is stretched between this place and the eternal hour, which was before all hours. If you spoke the sound would never reach them. If you danced only the first movement they would see, suspended forever like a painting.” Little Brother was distraught for their loneliness. “So how do they hear each other, singing together as they have for me? Is it merely one cry repeated? One tear from all their glowing eyes?” His worry was so pure, innocent, that Crow unfurled a wing like a sail around him. “Are they all merely a sorrow in refrain?” Crow shook her head and made a sign with her talons, each claw pressed together into one point. So cleanly she sliced between the winds! Little Brother stared into the world-wound, saw how it bent the grove's branches like water refracting, and touched something from long ago in a treasured silence. When the chill made him gasp, Crow clasped his lips together with her beak and drank the sound before the silence could be named ‘Pain’. So Little Brother struggled with his teacher all through midnight and beyond. Between the seconds they cut voiceless songs into the grove’s pattern, digging the roots of the trees deeper and deeper still, until they found the soil of a stranger time. Every cut was the flowering of new lungs that sung with the voice of a quiet world. Little Brother’s smile was moon-twinned, a gleeful slice, a joy that made even sister Crow dance like a chick again. The world melted in their play, the fruits into their bark, the stars into their darkness, the horizon into its firmament. Heaven touched the last outstretched branches, drawn down from high above, loud with voices repeating that precious phrase. But time could not be halted. It marched on, its footing sure like Krug’s mightiest warbrothers, even in that place that had fallen so far down into yesterday’s root-shadow. The stars were lifted on growing sunbeams, the pillars of an invisible temple, and set in the loftiest heights where none could reach them. They had become again the faces of farseers and heroes, saints and kings, the bodies of all the dead and the dreams of all those yet living and yet still to live. When Little Brother began to weep for the departure of his friends, who had told him so many wonderful things whilst unmasked, sister Crow did not steal out from him the sound, for the time of silence had ended. The wheel of the day was thundering loudly with her winged siblings, larksong lusciously thick like lard. She slipped between the raucous threads of shattered music and leapt over the edge of the world, into that sunless place where darkness and moonlight are stored up like wine in a cellar. Little Brother’s looted wisdom was lighter on his shoulders in the daylight. Lighter, perhaps, because sister Crow no longer rested upon his shoulder. Perhaps, because those stars whom he had befriended had left him all alone, saving him from the weight of their eternal weeping. Yet through the loneliness that had grown in again, tended by the sun’s warmth and radiant love, a thread red like fresh blood still remained, woven in his plaited hair with divine promise. It was like the root of some secret plant he had uncovered in that furthest place beneath the grove, a plant with ruby petals seeded when Krug first raised his blade against kin. Toying with it between his fingers made him strangely giddy. There were voices in the garden that said remember and forget, that said dream and define, voices that he could hear in the thread’s twisting. He sat again by the garden’s precipice and believed with all his heart that he could still see the stars, hidden in the folds of the valleys and behind the branches of the tallest trees. That reddest thread was like a map between his heart and his desires, tugging at him to follow the road walked by all but whose end none had ever found. He would swim the seas and wander the mountains, forage the forests' most excellent herbs and maybe, one day, he would both be crowned and would crown others with crimson and gold.

I've knocked about 10k words out of the original write now, reducing the size of it by almost half. I've gone through and rewritten many effects, removing many more aggressive effects in favour of a more in-depth healing kit whilst in combat. I've also removed certain fluff effects and interactions from many miracles. Anyone who has already given this a read, I encourage a second thorough re-read. There are almost certainly some errors I have missed so let me know if you see anything wacky.

Hey no problem. Have removed the effect you were talking about from the spell anyways, makes it simpler. Have also nerfed Arbiter of the Silver Cloak by removing the armour buff it gave.

I'll just take it out of Calm for now, it doesn't really need to be in there. Prophet's Protection is meant to be the proper anti-magic combat bubble that has a wind up and limits to how long it can be channeled and how many times it can be cast. If people see this as being abused on the cusp of combat, I'll just remove the problem.

Calm is a non-combat miracle, so you wouldn't be able to cast it in the circumstances you've brought up. Unless I'm not understanding the ways in which the non-combat vs. combat spell rules work. That being said, I'm happy to remove it if you think it's uninteresting / not needed. The basic was idea was simply that the Law's presence interferes with impure magic casting. Since it's an out of combat spell, we figured it was harmless because it wouldn't have any bearing in the kinds of scenes you've brought up. Also not sure if your second sentence has been cut off.

Have nerfed Prophet's Protection in response to this, making it always centered on the cleric. This should prevent them from deploying it in the enemy backlines before sending in the troops, as in your example.