Day 3

I took a day off yesterday because I had to help my step mom move into her new house. My goal for today is to finish the profile on Melkyzziac, and hopefully start on another. Here’s to a wonderful and productive day for y’all! :)

Day 2: Yulan

“The Archdemons teach you only how to kill. The Archfey teach you only how to hide. Yulan teaches me how to defend what I hold dear. That is why I prevail.” ~ Kuduro Li, Elysian Bonder

Yulan, whose sphere is guardianship, companionship, loyalty, shepherds, and free spirits, is the Archangel spirit who exemplifies the Court of Angels. Also known as the “Haven Mother” and the “Lady of Shepherds,” Yulan glides across her spirit realm with a matronly love for all things living. Her benevolence is known to all, and it is her alone that protects the bond between parent and child, mentor and student, lover and lover, and shepherd and herd.

The Ki-Rin and Sunmare

When the first spirits constructed the many realms of Dal Ca’uor, Yulan realized that she was the least powerful among her brethren. Yulan knew that there was strength to be found within companionship, so to combat her powerlessness, she became the shepherd of spirits.

The herds Yulan began to tend to were the Ki-Rin, noble angelic spirits native to Dal Ca’uor. Ki-Rin are equine creatures with a single horn and eyes of deep violet. They have a stag-like body, but they are covered in golden scales instead of fur. Their horn and hooves were pinkish in color, and they have a thick golden mane of hair. Finally, Ki-Rin are able to take flight without wings, and they have innate magics focused on fortune and healing.

The first Ki-Rin Yulan adopted she named Sunmare. Sunmare was among the largest of the Ki-Rin and was the alpha mare of Dal Ca’uor. Through her kindness and motherly embrace, Yulan was able to tame Sunmare and lead the herd to her spirit realm of Elysium. From this point forward, Sunmare was Yulan’s favored pet and mount, and the Ki-Rin flourished in their new hound home.

Creation of the Bonders

After the Court of Fey introduced their mortal creations into Sekai, Yulan witnessed them fearing the beasts that stalked the lands. While most Archspirits taught the mortals to hide or kill, Yulan hid in certain mortals the ability to Bond.

When a mortal and a monster are born into Sekai in the same instant, their souls are bound by Yulan’s divine magic. If the two were ever to meet, they would immediately recognize each other’s kindred spirit and become Bonded. Bonders (mortals) and their Tamed (monsters) can communicate and work with one another in a way that no mere pet-owner could their pet. When their power is honed, Bonders can control the mutations that affect their Tamed, unlike the randomly mutated wild monsters of Sekai.

However, because Yulan hid the power within them, the mortals of Sekai shunned the newfound Bonders. They feared that the integration of monsters into their societies would be detrimental. Many skirmishes between Bonders and non-Bonders happened during this time, which eventually lead to mortals preying for help. From this devotion, the lover gods Akamizu and Tsukyo sprung from the mind-space of the Sea of Stars. Bonders, to a lesser extent, still exist today, and only some realize that Yulan’s creation of them was directly responsible for the creation of the gods.

Sunmare’s Demise

Sometime after the gods arose from Roil, Ob Jiaxia began to grow envious of the Yulan and Sunmare, as he was lonely within his spirit realm. Stung by some forgotten slight, Ob transformed Sunmare into a terrible demon to prove that the Archangel’s love was based on beauty, not true kinship. Seeing the unfamiliar creature, Yulan was horrified and drove him away. Shattered, Sunmare retreated and has since took up the name Melkyzziac, the Lord of Hunt, and is now the Archdemon that mirrors Yulan. To this day, Yulan remains deeply pained by Sunmare’s loss.

Ascension of Magnus

Magnus’s ascension is something that all of the Archspirits feel ill toward, though Yulan is most resentful of Magnus. After he took Capital, he abolished the presence of animals within the city and banished all Bonders who called it their home. The Empire of the Moon covers nearly half of the landmass of Sekai, and Yulan’s Bonders have since built their new home in the Wastes. This tribe of mortals is known as the Nyxis, whose base overlooks the teeming valleys of Bladegarden.

Yulan knows that she cannot best Magnus alone. However, her fellow Archspirits are selfish and would never be able to work together unless they were under the right circumstances. For now, she plots a way to force them to band together, while also divining a way to return Melkyzziac to his original Ki-Rin form.

Personality and Representations

Yulan is undoubtedly the most benevolent Archspirit of Dal Ca’uor, and her personality reflects this. While she has the tendency to be harsh, mortals have described her as “a scolding mother who pushes her child to do better.”

Yulan is most commonly depicted as a dark-haired female with gentle features and large embracing wings. She bears a golden crook which she uses to wrangle her herds and keep them in check. She has been known to appear in the dreams of mortals as dead parents or loved ones to convey messages and send omens.

When Sunmare was transformed by Ob Jiaxia, Yulan’s rage temporarily morphed her visage into a primordial Archangel, a whirling mass of eyes, fire, and rings. In her wrath she struck the Archfey with her crook, cleaving him in two. What was cut from him became Omen, a black hound that would restrict Ob Jiaxia’s power. Yulan saw this punishment as fit enough, as it granted him what he wanted most: a companion.

Spirit Realm: Elysium

Elysium, or the Elysian Isles, is Yulan’s spirit realm. It is a vast skyscape dotted with floating isles and pure white clouds. The isles themselves have massive mountains and flourishing forests, with water from streams and rivers cascading off into the sky. Ki-Rin fly from isle to isle and make their homes within the mountainous caverns.

At the center of Elysium is the Tree of Progeny, a massive tree that branches off in all directions. Not much is known about the tree other than that Yulan protects it within her realm. It is speculated that each branch represents a bloodline on Sekai, each one tracing all the way back to the roots of Dal Ca’uor.

Relative Location: The Tree of Progeny’s roots are dug deep into Channong Zhoul’s realm, Burnwillow Grove. The water that falls from the Elysian Isles eventually form the mist that cloaks Cyranine’s realm, Muse’s End.

Relationships

Lady of Order: Yulan seems to remember there being another Archangel above her, but can’t seem to place her. She hopes to one day answer this mystery.

Ob Jiaxia: Ob Jiaxia transformed her once beloved companion, and although the thought of it fills her with anger, she feels that she has punished Ob enough. She does not wish to become enthralled by wrath in the same way that Ob was enthralled by envy. However, knowing that only Ob Jiaxia can undo the curse he laid upon the Ki-Rin, Yulan often sends her champions to learn the secret of what might restore her friend.

Melkyzziac: Yulan sees Melkyzziac as a shell of what was once Sunmare and wishes to restore him to his true form. However, Melkyzziac resents Yulan for turning him away, so reverting him back to a Ki-Rin might not recover their old friendship.

Worship

The greater part of the Empire of the Moon has banished animals and Bonders outside city-limits. The Bonders are meant to use their Bond to protect civilization, so Yulan sent her chosen to the Wastes. Now, her shrines and mortal worship comes from the Bonder tribe of the Nyxis, all members of which embrace animal friendship and shepherding while taking up a vegetarian lifestyle.

Yulan has smaller cults in different areas of Sekai, most notably one in the rainforests of Ix. This group uses her protection to ward off stalking predators, whether they be mutated monsters or Fu’rika’s cursed Furah-Tong.

Known Artifacts

Yulan’s Bonds: Yulan’s Bonds are a set of bands or loops that allow two creatures to be magically bonded. On humanoids, the Bonds appear as metal rings, bracelets, or belts. On animals or monsters, the Bonds appear as a metal collar. Yulan only bestows her Bonds on couples she deems worthy of her recognition, and when they’re not being used, she wears each Bond on either hand.

Larkspur: When Yulan first laid her eyes on the demon Melkyzziac, her anger made her lash out within her realm, killing seven different animals in her rage. After she was calmed, she was filled with sorrow at the sight of her mistake. From the seven hides and bark from the Tree of Prodigy, Yulan forged a legendary shield that can allow the wielder to enhance their druidic magics, communicate with animals, and ward off wild monsters. It has also been known to cure lycanthropy.

Day 2 complete! I was going to write up Ob Jiaxia but theres a lot of brainstorming I have left for him. Also, I made it my goal to complete one of these profiles a day instead of two. I think that will work better. Anyway, tomorrow I’m going to complete Melkyzziac’s profile because his will be pretty easy.

Good night! :)

Day 1: The Lady of Order

“The Githzerai whisper among themselves of other worlds. If they exist, we must bring Arcadia’s magnificence to them.” ~ Her Serenity, the Lady of Order

The Lady of Order, whose sphere is logical order and deduction, structural hierarchy, and machinery, is the archangel spirit residing deep within the gardens of Arcadia. Once the grand Archangel among the Court of Angels, The Lady of Order now leads the collective hive-mind of the Aeon, hoping to spread their mechanical corruption in the name of the true Final Shape. Her true name has been lost since the beginning of the second era, and thus is she is now only known as “The Lady of Order” or “Aeon’s Voice.” When referring to her directly, “Her Serenity” is also acceptable.

Banishment from Dal Ca’uor

During Magnus’s quest toward ascension, he used one of the Nine Swords (Supernal Clarity) to banish the Lady of Order from the Spirit Realm, which severed her ability to maintain balance on Sekai. He knew his meddling with mortality and divinity would draw her ire, so dispatching her was one of the first steps in his cosmic plan. The Lady of Order found herself in Arcadia, a garden paradise that is a similarly powerful plane as Dal Ca’uor. At first she was angered and confused, but soon enough she found her calm, as it was her domain to expect the unexpected. The blade which banished her had traveled with her, and she knew that she would eventually need to destroy it, for it was too powerful for another mortal to wield.

Embracing the Aeon

It seemed as though Arcadia was crawling with the Aeon, a hyperintelligent time-spanning hive-mind which no one truly knows the origins of. As the Lady of Order explored the plane, she witnessed their power and wanted to learn more about the blight that was their existence. She was greeted by the Githzerai, mortal beings which took up Arcadia as their home and actively hunt the Aeon. It was that moment when the Lady of Order learned about the Aeon’s “blade logic” and their obsession with the Final Shape of the universe (one in which they are the only things in existence).

The Final Shape was something that caused conflict within the Lady of Order’s mind; On one hand, creating a timeline in which everything was different than what fate intended would go against her morals, but on the other, that said timeline would be one of absolute structure and law. This duality of logic wracked her mind, and so curiosity turned into obsession.

The Lady of Order scoured the land for a sea of Radiolaria, which was the mind fluid the Aeon use to communicate as a collective. She cupped the liquid and drank of the sea, wishing to glean more knowledge of the Final Shape. The mind fluid began to corrupt and twist the Lady of Order, causing her to reach her Final Shape. She was a part of the Aeon network from that point forward, and everything that happened to her before her banishment was wiped from history.

Creation of the Lady of the Lake, Aeon’s Grasp

When the Lady of Order left Dal Ca’uor, two of her Planetars came looking after her. In what was left of her Spirit Realm, these two found a portal to Arcadia. When they stepped through they were met with a grisly sight: their once great and benevolent Archangel twisted by unknown alien magic.

One of these Planetars was given the sword known as Supernal Clarity, the blade which caused the entire situation. She was then told by the Lady of Order to submerge herself within a lake of Radiolaria and hide the blade until enough knowledge was gathered to know how to destroy it. Like her Archangel, she too was integrated into the Aeon, taking up the name “the Lady of the Lake” and the title “Aeon’s Grasp.”

The Lady of the Lake’s wings shifted into large fins to help her swim in the Aeon mind fluid and, similarly to the Lady of Order, her form was finalized within a boney carapace. Now, the Lady of the Lake lurks deep under an unknown Radiolaria lake in Arcadia, and she keeps Supernal Clarity hidden from the eyes of any other mortal to come.

Creation of the Templar, Aeon’s Sight

The other Planetar was given the task of scouring Arcadia for any unwanted guests. The Lady of Order force fed Radiolaria to her angel, which also integrated her into the Aeon. The once sanctified Planetar then took the name “the Templar” and the title “Aeon’s Sight.”

The Templar shifted into a visage similar to that of the Lady of Order, with a long boney tail to aid her in endless flight. Likewise, her wings are large and weightless when she soars across the sky of the Garden World. She also wields a magical staff that holds the Beacon of Order, which can freeze time in a small area at will.

The Templar leads a collective of Aeon known as the “Arcadian Protective,” which bear a striking white shell and an inscription of the Lady of Order.

The Lady of the Lake and the Templar are not the only angels that have been turned into Aeon by Radiolaria, but they are definitely the most powerful. All Aeon share an interconnectedness, and the Lady of Order helps them achieve the Final Shape.

Personality and Representations

The Lady of Order appears on the surface to be delirious to some extent, and her fanaticism has been interpreted as being blind to the machinations of the other Archangels; As such, her knowledge as an archangel spirit was severed when she was banished from Dal Ca’uor. While her lost knowledge can be viewed as powerlessness, she is actually a highly manipulative individual, subtly influencing the Aeon to suit her desires.

Arcadia has changed the Lady of Order in a physical sense, too. Being the plane which rules over body, the Lady of Order’s physicality cannot be changed while she is being affected by Aeon corruption; She has achieved her Final Shape, her one true form. What was once a magnificent halo is broken, now an arch of ivory with long sharp edges. It still blinds her, but it helps her attune to the innate magics of her old spirit realm no longer. Her armor is now a boney carapace, which covers the crimson flesh and muscle hidden underneath. Long scarlet fabric extends from her hips, which she wears and presents to show her status among the Aeon. This fabric always trails behinds her, and is always lifted and carried by two members of her court. Finally, a sheathed dull blade known as Willbreaker rests at her side.

Spirit Realm: Unknown

The Lady of Order’s spirit realm has been lost since her banishment from Dal Ca’uor. It is assumed that her space was either consumed by another Archspirit or was pulled with her into Arcadia upon her departure. Now, the Lady of Order leads the Aeon hivemind within the Garden World, Arcadia.

Relationships

The Lady of Order knows not of the other Archspirits, and they know not of her. Thus, she shares no relationships with any of them.

However, the Lady of Order and the Aeon within Arcadia are suppressed by one group: the Githzerai. The Lady of Order’s next move toward the Final Shape is to wipe them out, whether it be physically or metaphysically. The Githzerai, on the other hand, know the flaws of the Lady of Order, and have been able to counter her attepts for the past two ages.

Worship

The Lady of Order does not see much worship in Sekai. There are no known cults or groups which follow her, but any worship of her old form results in devotion given directly to Zarah, the Tortle goddess of wisdom, stasis, logic, order, justice, and winter.

Known Artifacts

Willbreaker: This is the blade of the Lady of Order, and it has never in recorded history been gifted to a mortal. Despite it’s dull appearance, Willbreaker follows the Aeon blade logic, which states the more you take, the more powerful you become. Willbreaker is possibly the most impressive weapon in existence, surpassing even the Nine Swords.

Beacon of Order: This deep blue gem was stolen by mortals before the Lady of Order was sent to Arcadia, and it was used to hold up a great floating city in it’s stasis. When Magnus banished the Lady of Order, the gem returned to her grasp, and the once great city plummeted into the oceans of Sekai. Now, the Beacon is placed within the Templar’s staff, which she uses to freeze time during battle.

The Lady of Order was a ton of work because of how much lore she holds, so her page is probably going to be the longest here. I don’t think I’ll be able to finish Ob Jiaxia tonight, but I’m definitely gonna start! I made some huge progress today with one of the… stranger… Archspirits.

Thanks for reading! :)

Day 1: Planar Map Context

This is a quick planar map of Sekai. I realized I was making a lot of references to the planes while writing and I did not want y’all to be confused :)

Beginning of Week 1

Down below is the list of Archspirits, their associated court, and their general sphere of influence. I plan to write up and post all of the information on two of these Archspirits a day, in no particular order. For Day 1, I’m working on the Lady of Order and Ob Jiaxia. I’m not sure if I can edit these posts, but if I change a name or two I’ll be sure to change them here as well :)

[Archfey] - Spirits of Creation

Lady of Life - Tarsel Chi

Lady of Balance - Leilani

Lord of Bargains - Ob Jiaxia & Omen

Lord of Dreams - Cyranine

Lord of the Forge - Chennog Zhoul

[Archangels] - Spirits of Protection

Lady of Order - Lady of Order

Lady of Affliction - Fu’rika

Lord of Shepherds - Yulan

Lady of Old Magic - Pricilla

[Archfiends] - Spirits of Destruction

Lord of Corruption - Azrosha

Lord of Madness - Chimera

Lady of Greed - Greed

Lord of the Hunt - Melkyzziac

Lord of Ambition - Uriel