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The curse that plagues the Caldera bloodline is an ancient, maleficent force, one whose long and tragic influence over the tormented family stretches back over the generations. Back to a time before the Caldera name that now defines it, before the new world rose from the ashes of the old, before even the Valterian that had sparked the flame.
Its origins begin with the cult of Viratas in the empire once known as Suvan. A large and affluent clan of worshipers devoted solely to the lord of heritage himself, it was by his divine grace that this cult grew strong and prosperous. Though in their ascension, they also grew greedy. Arrogant and power hungry, they began to experiment with their god given talents in new and horrifying ways, pushing the boundaries of morality and nature itself to suite their monstrous desires. You see, to imbibe the blood of others and reap their memories -their power- is a gift granted by Viratas's gnosis. The cult took this to new, unprecedented levels, actively seeking out victims in order to drain them and attain the power locked within the blood for themselves. This unmitigated bloodlust eventually consumed the clan in its entirety, and before the end had turned the cult in on itself. Like rabid animals, brother slaughtered brother in the mad pursuit for ultimate power.
Disgusted by the twisted nightmare his followers had become, Viratas charged his remaining faithful to undo this stain upon his legacy and wipe clean the land of those who had forsaken him. Though numerous and ordained by their lord above, his chosen were easily overwhelmed by the strength of those who now eagerly turned their god's power against him. Such was their newly attained might that even the god whose strength they shared was unable to destroy them outright, and so the blood lord, in his rage and desperation, turned to other means to exact his wrath.
The curse fell upon the clan without warning, slowly slithering its way into the unsuspecting veins of the corrupted overnight, condemning them and their descendants to a fate not even Viratas could have expected.
The initial curse was a potent means to an end, a rapacious culling that would see the forsaken clansmen dead or dying within months of the magic taking root. Designed to torture and punish its victims before their untimely end, the magic made men suffer for their heretical crimes as long as humanly possible. Little did Viratas know that his choice to prolong the inevitable would be the one thing that spared the clan from total annihilation. For no one could have predicated that events within the heavens would soon shake the very world below to its foundations, and turn everything on its head.
The Valterian had come, and Mizahar would never be the same again.
The wild magic cast off by the calamity sundered the world to its core, but in its shattering came the Caldera's salvation. Weakened and mutated by the tempestuous seas of djed now drowning the destroyed continent, the curse was left hollowed and altered, transformed into a mere shadow of its former self. While it still dwelled within the blood of those who had been originally afflicted, its ability to undo the heretics who had twisted their god's vision was severely diminished, leaving the clan broken, but alive. In the years that followed, the scattered to the corners of the world and the bloodline spread with their migration, each surviving member passing on their wicked birthright to their children, and in turn, to their children's children. Lessened, but persistent to a fault, the curse continued to plague the descendants of the clan beyond the will of its creator, condemning them to a life misery and woe. It its most potent form, the curse turned kin against kin, slowly and subtly driving families to tear themselves apart from within. Few who bear the curse have not experienced tragedy within their family in one manner or another, for despite its many forms, that is the magic's favored method of torment.
Having long forgotten their history or even the curse's existence, many died not knowing that powers beyond their understanding had long ago doomed them to their fates. Being as sporadic as it was destructive however, there were also those who never felt the long forgotten wrath of the blood god upon their house, and went about their lives without ever knowing the terrible affliction. This phenomenon began to become more and more prominent with every new generation born, and for a time it seemed as if the curse would undo itself through natural means...
That was until the djed storm of 512 struck.
How or why the reverberations of Ivak's tumultuous release stirred the magic of the curse anew is unknown, but with the god's freedom came a cascade of arcane power that served to reinvigorate the malicious hex the world over. Since that faithful day, no one has been safe from its relentless grasp. The curse's power has been amplified to maddening heights, and once again the heirs of the old clan suffer for their ancestor's crimes. Seeing this new wave of hell unleashed upon the undeserving, Viratas has deigned it time to finally bring an end to the thing he unleashed more than 500 years ago. Now the god of heritage seeks out those who bear the corruption flowing through their veins to aid him in this daunting endeavor, for the curse has long since thrown off the shackles of its original master, growing and evolving into a force of nature as sovereign as it is powerful.
Elias is but the first of his god's chosen to take up the cause, but the warrior now faces a choice; Either venture into the world to find and save his long lost relatives from this ancient horror and prove to his god that his family has made up for their evils, or embrace the darkness that once consumed his ancestors and finish the wicked work they began.
If you're interested in establishing a family relation with Elias and being part of this ancient curse storyline, send me a PM and we can work out the details. The connection can either be direct or not so direct, but as long as the old clan's blood flows through your veins, you're in.
Isolde -Ancestor- Part of the earliest generations of Calderas that broke away from those in Ravok and moved to Syliras.
Alija -Cousin- Daughter of Torian's sister who fled to Zeltiva. Missing parents likely linked to curse.
Last edited by Elias Caldera on April 12th, 2019, 12:54 am, edited 53 times in total.
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First, let me try to define my idea of true evil. To me, evil is not mindless killing for the sake of killing. It isn't even killing for joy or doing so because of some mental defect. I can break it down into two aspects that are somewhat tied together. First, evil is doing something that may be perceived as horrible by the majority of others (the majority outside of the immediate area of influence) but doing so either because you genuinely feel you are doing the right thing. Evil is also doing something perceived to be horrible by the majority of others and doing so because, in your own mind, it is simply a means to a greater end. You may or may not take joy in those means, but it is the end that is most important.
This brings me to Rhysol. I wanted an evil god who was evil not because he wanted to do terrible things just for the sake of it but because he had greater goals that were more important than the little pieces that made up those goals. To mortals on Mizahar, they shouldn't be able to fathom or even come close to understanding the motivations of the greatest of evil gods. So, in my mind, I began creating this being who commanded the domains of Chaos, Betrayal, Corruption and ultimately, Evil.
Breaking that down, let's take Chaos. For me, chaos in itself, IS NOT evil. It IS unpredictability, instability, uncontrollable and everything that is not ORDER. When you take an ordered system and drop a little bit of uncertainty into it, it becomes unstable. Drop a few more elements of uncertainty into that system and it soon becomes uncontrollable.
Betrayal. Betrayal is the breaking of trust, the crushing of faith and the splitting of one's belief into shards of disbelief. In the end, this creates a great amount of uncertainty and breaks a routine thus the injection of chaos into an otherwise ordered (in some way) system.
Now, Rhysol. Rhysol enjoys chaos. He revels in uncertainty and unpredictability. Most mortals crave a routine, an order to things. They want to know what is going to happen next because such a mindset is comfortable and safe; it gives them a sense of control. Rhysol can't help but break that routine. He is like a kid with an extreme case of Attention Deficit Disorder mixed with a hit of acid. Appearing before someone who has momentarily drawn his attention, he may lay down horrific corruption upon their body, twisting them into terrible monsters just to see what is created out of it and what the thing will do next. Another time, he may appear before someone who has drawn his attention, someone who he might be expected to harm simply to do the opposite of what they may expect and give them a boon. His reasons for doing anything are up in the air and hard to pin down but often it is simply to see what happens next.
As for betrayal and corruption, Rhysol uses these to break cracks in the surface of order and peace. Corrupting mortals, twisting their perspectives from one thing to another, breaking their bodies from their normal order of shape and function, it comes back to chaos, uncertainty and instability. Betrayal accomplishes similar things but on a more subtle level. The best forms of betrayal come about by the breaking great amounts of trust developed over varying lengths of time; usually the longer the better. The shock to the order of things is thus much greater.
Through his influence; spreading corruption, inspiring betrayal, breaking the perception of reality, Rhysol touches the darkness within the mortal heart and draws out the evil inherent therein. In my mind at least, it is not Rhysol who is directly evil, it is those whom he touches who have their own evil awakened. Thus, through his deeds and influence, Rhysol inspires evil in others which makes him, as far as I am concerned at least, the ultimate evil. Thus my nickname for him, The Defiler.
Now, this next part is where I think it gets tricky for people. Rhysol doesn't actively want unpredictable followers. While sometimes such a thing can spark his fancy, it isn't the norm by far. He doesn't want the psycho-murderer type as they are too limited in potential. He doesn't want the criminally insane because they aren't functional enough. Rhysol wants followers who are more-or-less predictable (respond to "normal" stimuli with "normal" responses). He wants followers who are at least moderately intelligent and who can act on their own without him having to hold their hands. He prefers those who have been significantly betrayed in some way or have had something happen in their lives that has broken their faith, crushed their spirit or otherwise made them question their own perception of what is normal; what is real. These are the kind of followers who have a natural insight into what it is to betray and be betrayed. They are the ones who have been corrupted from what they were into what they are now. They are the ones who are uncertain about their own lives and their own existence. These are the people who are more apt to choose to follow Rhysol and in turn are the people more apt to be chosen by Rhysol.
Now, how does the city of Ravok, in general, view Rhysol. Well, to begin the answer to that, we need to first look at what Rhysol does for the city. Perhaps the most directly felt, well-known boon that Rhysol gives to each and every person living in Ravok, native citizen or outsider, is the weather. Ravok does not experience the extremes of weather as it is almost always moderate. There is the perfect amount of rain, cold, warmth and sun at all times. Thus, even the poor and homeless do not fear the wrath of the elements.
Via the Temple of the Black Sun, its priests and priestesses and The Voice, every citizen in Ravok hears about the greatness of Rhysol. Children are taught from the earliest age of comprehension that the outside work is dangerous and wild. The city of Ravok, in the center of a small inland sea, is protected from the terrible reality of danger that exists in the outside world. In large part, this is true as there are countless dangers in the surrounding wilds and few who venture off on their own, live to tell the tales of what they experienced. It is also emphasized in the lives of citizens that because they are citizens of Ravok, they are protected from the dangers outside the city as well as from the dangers that find their way into the city. This takes the form of citizens having more rights (even slaves) than visitors and non-citizens. Even slaves are often treated better than outsiders in many instances. Propaganda floods every aspect of life in Ravok; propaganda that elevates Rhysol, The Voice, The Black Sun and The Ebonstryfe to grand proportions. Those who try to openly voice dissent against any of these entities, are often dealt with by the citizens themselves. If the dissident becomes too troublesome, they simply vanish thanks to the Ebonstryfe.
On Rhysol and Ravok #2 :
The biggest thing I can't understand about Rhysol is how he operates in the long picture. I think I read somewhere that he wants to be elevated to the status of god of the gods, and that makes it seem like he wants to gather power in the long term. So him being the patron of Ravok sort of confuses me.
Rhysol indeed wishes to become a Rank 1 god which would put him on par with Lhex and basically spell the complete end of civilization on Mizahar. Chaos would reign across the land with no structure and no control. It would become Rhysol's playground. How does Ravok figure into this? The gods only have power because sentient beings grant them power through prayer and worship and through performing deeds that fall within a particular deity's realm of influence. Ravok is controlled completely by Rhysol without question. He gains a steady, unwavering, plentiful supply of prayer and worship from the citizens. Even if they pray to other gods, Rhysol hears those prayers and can gain power from them. This provides him with a steady base from which to be able to spread his influence elsewhere.
Ravok is orderly, for the most part, and all about talking Rhysol up. The citizens of Ravok love Rhysol. I read (I think it was in one of Gillar's scrapbook posts) that the city has order so that the people will be complacent and more easy to influence. But wouldn't Ravok gain more power by creating a place like Sunberth, where everything is in shambles and chaos reigns?
You make a good point however, due to the nature of evil, betrayal, chaos and all the things Rhysol seeks to spread, it will inevitably consume itself. For Rhysol, it has happened many times before. Whenever he thinks he has found a way to establish a steady source of divine power, the whole system collapses under its own chaotic tendencies. It wasn't until he named the last Voice that things changed. She was a megalomaniac who thirsted for power and control. It was her obsession with this that actually convinced Rhysol to allow the establishment of a society based on ordered chaos. The Ebonstryfe and Black Sun sew the seeds of dissent, rebellion and anarchy in very subtle ways among the citizens only to crush it before it gets out of control. They in turn attribute the victory over anarchy to Rhysol's loving embrace. Through this ironic balance of order and chaos, Rhysol is able to maintain an entire city of souls from which to draw worship from and maintain his status as one of the most powerful deities on Mizahar. Another way of looking at Ravok too is that by creating the illusion of a beautiful, ordered, safe and secure city, Rhysol is creating the ultimate lie which in turn also fuels his power. With a place like Sunberth, there is no deceit; everyone knows the place is a mess. There is no mystery or illusion that the city is anything other than what it presents itself to be.
The strange thing is that Rhysol has his agents (the Black Sun, the Ebonstryfe) who go around and infiltrate other cities and try to spread chaos there in the existing infrastructures (presumably to tear those infrastructures down and build Rhysol up and seed his influence, as in Ravok). But say he succeeds in this. Then he has a bunch of cities devoted to him, but all of them are neat and tidy, and being neat and tidy doesn't benefit him really at all, does it? Having a lot of followers would probably help him, but he's the god of evil and chaos. Having a bunch of adoring fans content to peacefully live their lives amongst each other won't get him anything.
Again, this is the big lie. By making everyone on the planet love you, by making them think you are the answer to ALL of their questions, the solution to ALL of their problems, by having a bunch of adoring fans content to peacefully live their lives amongst each other as you put it, Rhysol is presented the opportunity to drop the hammer as it were. When the world loves Rhysol, he unveils his true motives and brings about an eternity of chaos for all who once thought him to be a savior. In this, he would have committed the ultimate betrayal thus granting him the power needed to usurp even Lhex.
Or, say he completely destroys the other cities. Maybe the people there change their tunes and decide to migrate to Ravok itself, to get out of Rhysol's 'bad graces', as it were. You still have a bunch of people living together in peace and harmony. They don't dislike each other; from what I heard, they all get along for the most part. Even the slaves are generally well-treated. The only chaos they take part in is their dislike of outsiders; but eventually, if Rhysol got his way (assuming domination is what he wants), nobody would be an outsider.
Again, I point back to the idea of maintaining ordered chaos. There will always be the seeds of chaos, deceit and betrayal and the more people you have to sew these seeds among, the more potential there is for acquiring divine power.
The only thing I can think of to make this all make sense is that he's breeding these people to love him and worship him like a 'good' god in order to betray them later, and so badly that the ensuing chaos will give him a HUGE power bump. And then with that power he'll work towards his other goals, whatever those may be.
You hit the nail on the head here. By creating a society that is devoted in all ways to Rhysol, he is able to crush them little by little while creating the illusion that he is also saving them from the crushing that he himself is responsible for; an engine that creates power for him. The endgame is that one day he will betray not only the city but the entire world and thus gain the power he needs to ascend to the next level. Another thing I'm confused about: the function of the Rising Dawn. All they're doing (killing people, burning down buildings) is inadvertently helping Rhysol by creating a panic and chaos. I'm not quite certain how they think they're helping themselves. Anything they do of a rebellious nature is just going to hurt them in the end, or so it seems. Wouldn't it make the most sense for them to create a bastion of order, like Syliras? It seems Syliras and the Knights are the biggest threat to Rhysol, not because they attack him (I'm sure they do), but simply because of the way they live.
I am not as in on the Rising Dawn as it was conceived by someone else after I established Ravok. That said, the way you are perceiving them is much like how I always saw them. There very methods only serve to fuel Rhysol's power especially when he already knows everything they are doing in Ravok. As I've tried to convey many times in many different posts and articles, NOTHING happens in Ravok that Rhysol doesn't know about. Unfortunately for those in Ravok, none know this to be the case as Rhysol sometimes lets things happen that may seem contrary to his perceived wishes. That is the nature of unpredictability and the nature of Rhysol. He may support and reward those who blatantly challenge him one minute only to cause hardship and failure to those who support him the next.
In the end, it's not about being the God of Evil because what is that exactly? Is it performing or supporting mindless violence? Is it breaking down good just because? Is it because wearing black is cooler than wearing white? I tried to approach Rhysol as a completely different form of evil. His evil is only evil because it can't be described, identified or pinned down. He can do immense amounts of good, or at least things that may be perceived as being good yet there is always an ulterior motive. He may do things that could be seen as immeasurably evil but he doesn't do them because they are evil. What he does is done because it is what he feels is right. He truly feels that he is the best thing for Mizahar. He thinks that order, peace and all the things tied to a "structured" civilization is too limiting. He truly feels that through chaos, betrayal, lies and deception, the mortals of Mizahar can discover the real meaning to their lives and attain that which they are destined for. If all a person knows is safety, security and predictability, they can never reach their full potential. Of course this is Rhysol's greatest flaw. All the things he holds dear inevitably bring about disaster. That is why The Voice is needed to help temper and direct Rhysol's whim.
Followers of Rhysol do not seek to bring down society for the sake of spreading anarchy. They seek to sew the seeds of deceit and chaos as a means of bettering society by revealing the true nature of life to those around them. To them, life is not a structured, ordered, routine, normal concept. They seek to break that all down and reveal the true nature of life as being as unpredictable as the exact location of where exactly a drop of rain may fall. Even if their actions bring about the death of others, those who have died will carry on their experience through future lives, even if they don't consciously know it. Those who knew the people who have perished thanks to Rhysol's followers will also carry that on in some fashion. They will have been touched by it and forever changed. Rhysol's followers, while often doing things that are horrifically dark and evil, do so because they feel they are breaking the illusion of civilization for the betterment of the world. They aren't evil because they seriously want to hurt others. They are evil because they think they are doing what is right. Everyone else is living a lie in their eyes. The world is a dark, chaotic, horrible place and that only through Rhysol can a person see this and only through Rhysol can a person learn to navigate and even grow in such a place. A Chaon sees themselves as the ultimate good; one that cannot be understood by lessers. The Chaon is enlightened and is on a mission to spread that enlightenment to others. This is what it is to serve Rhysol.
Ravok and Rhysol Currently :
Ravok Revisited
First, the part where all things begin and end, Rhysol. At the center of everything in Ravok is the God of Evil, the Defiler, the Betrayer, Rhysol. I see Ravok as a mortal extension of Rhysol's own divine realm. He resides in both simultaneously and his influence is felt throughout the city. In the time between the Valterrian and the Djed Storm of 512, then known as The Voice, now Ssena, Goddess of Fear, was the one who acted as central leader of the city as well as Rhysol's religion. During this time, Rhysol treated the city as his own little playhouse. You see, Rhysol is something of a trickster; not to be confused with Ionu, God of Illusion. Rhysol's tricks are far from harmless and are truly aweful at times. In Ravok, he can be anyone, anywhere at any time. The bum asleep on the side of the street, the merchant peddling his wares from a cart, the beautiful woman in the bar who catches your eye, they all could be Rhysol individually or all at once.
No prayer in Ravok goes unheard. The catch is, only Rhysol hears them. Whatever divine strength that can be gained from prayer, is taken by Rhysol and used to bolster him and only him. Because of this, it basically impossible for any other divine entity to gain any real foothold in Ravok for to pray to another God is to pray to Rhysol thus revealing the existence of possible traitors. That last part is key. Rhysol is the God of Betrayal, thus by committing acts of betrayal, deceit and whatnot, who do you think is benefiting said acts? This is why the whole idea of uprisings and such seems like a doomed venture to me.
Now, even though Rhysol is the supreme ruler of all that is Ravok, he doesn't see himself as a leader. He does not tend to the day to day management of the city or of his formalized religion. This is where The Voice and Gru'tral were important. The Voice led The Black Sun and served as the earthly vessel spreading Ravok's influence. She was his High Priestess, daughter and lover all in one. It was Rhysol who raised her to Alvina status and named her the head of his religion. The Voice was the balance to Rhysol's chaos. She brought order and discipline in a megalomaniacal way. She was a charismatic, beautiful and wholly brutal dictator who found a way to make the people love her and by extension, Rhysol.
The Voice realized centuries ago that if you give people relative safety, security and at least the illusion of prosperity, they become docile, ignorant and easily manipulated. By making Ravok seem like a paradise compared to the outside world, The Voice and through her, Rhysol, had easy access into the hearts and minds of the people. The overwhelming majority of Ravok, LOVE Rhysol. If any person or group exists in Rhysol and does not accept him as the beginning and end of the city and the people in it, it's because Rhysol allows such an element to exist solely for the sake of driving a bit of confusion and strife.
With the absence of The Voice and now Gru'tral, the latter having set off in search of a new Voice, where does this leave Ravok?
The Druvin, children of Rhysol and The Voice, control the city. Their are alliances and there are enemies however, in the end, they are all still family. The Voice's influence still binds them together while Rhysol's blood pits them against each other. Like their father though, their actions are subtle as is their control over the various aspects of the city. To the people of Ravok, the Druvin are religious figures worthy of respect and/or fear with a small few actually loved. Those who are influenced by the Druvin are those who run the day to day operations of the city. Wealthy merchants answer to the Druvin while also providing wealth and power. The merchants control the city economy and the competition they create among one another drives supply and demand.
City politics are also influenced by the Druvin. Laws used to be handed down by The Voice and Gru'tral and were enforced by The Ebonstryfe and the City Guard. Now, the Druvin, 10 in all, keep the city from falling apart. Rebellion is destroyed as soon as it is discovered. There is no mercy, no pause, no quarter. The Druvin are united on this above all things and any discovery of rebellion or rebellious acts will bring about swift and decisive responses which may include the release of a Dravlak. Silvas, Master of the Well of Madness, serves now as the head of the Black Sun and to some extent, the Ebonstryfe in Gru'tral's absence. He is quite possibly the most powerful Druvin alive now and through the use of The Well of Madness, he can monitor the darker, more twisted side of things in the city. Working with Silvas is Lazerin, head interrogator of the Ebonstryfe. The two have brought The Black Sun and the Ebonstryfe closer together and through the arms of both groups, make and enforce laws while also spreading the renewed word of Rhysol throughout the city. Lord Maathias, the Ebonknight, still commands the routine operations of the Ebonstryfe.
Below the Druvin are those who carry out their wishes. Most of these are members of The Black Sun and Ebonstryfe who serve in positions of power and influence. Advisers to powerful merchants, teachers at the Institute of Higher Learning, officials at the Center for Employment and Business Licensing, high ranking city guards, they all work for the Druvin.
I guess in short, the breakdown of power and influence goes like this:
1. Rhysol
2. Silvas/Lazerin
3. Lord Maathias
4. The other 7 Druvin
5. Ebonstryfe/Black Sun Members
6. Merchants/Law Enforcement/Education/City Guard/City Services Members
7. Average Citizen
8. Slaves
9. Outsiders
Moving on to what the city really FEELS like. As I mentioned before, Ravok is not a den of crime, chaos, villainy and discourse although this is the view many outsiders may have. On the surface, it functions like any other city. People live, work, play, pray, die and so on. Citizens, those officially recognized as such by the Ebonstryfe, can, at the very least, expect some amount of respect regardless of socioeconomic class, from the ruling parties of the city. That is to say they will not be made slaves and will receive full, unfettered protection on the part of the Ebonstryfe against any outside threat; including outsiders. Even slaves hold this protection against outsiders.
One may think there is fear and paranoia rampant in a city controlled by the likes of Rhysol and his Black Sun/Ebonstryfe. This however is not the case. Those who are loyal to Rhysol and/or at the very least, do not oppose him, are left alone and allowed to live their lives. The city is not one of anarchy like Sunberth. Gangs do not rule the streets. The streets, at least the well known, out-in-the-open ones, are safe to walk. Avoid the back alleys though. The people celebrate life and enjoy all the things Ravok has to offer. You see, from the moment the city was founded, it has been infused into the hearts and minds of the people that the outside world is dangerous, deadly and waiting to destroy any who step foot outside of the Ravok. This is why outsiders are feared and hated so much. This is why the people love Rhysol. The God goes so far as to even defy the forces of nature and keep the city in a constant climatic state. The Ebonstryfe keep the outside, outside.
Silvas and Lazerin hold citywide celebrations in the city center. Usually once per season, Silvas will address the people and proclaim something to celebrate. This includes a celebration of Rhysol, The Voice and of Gru'tral. All citizens are invited and food, clothing and various items needed for daily life are handed out for free by The Black Sun. There is dancing into the night and the Ebonstryfe holds near total domination of safety and security. The celebrations maintain morale and keep people happy. A happy population is a docile one.
Of course, the absence of Gru'tral and The Voice have caused terrible damage to the internal workings of the city. Without the Voice, Rhysol has become more unstable. He has gone so far as to (unknown to the public, not even the Druvin) begin experimenting on those in the city in innumerable ways for his own amusement. These experiments often involve introducing a completely unexpected act of betrayal just to see how people react or allowing a slave to somehow gain power over their master just to name a couple of examples. While these may seem small in scope, such things haven't been done to the citizens of Ravok with such frequency. Rhysol usually torments those in lands beyond Ravok. Ravok is less of a threat to the outside world than it used to be. The Druvin are less concerned about expanding Rhysol's influence beyond Ravok and are more considered about solidifying their own.
Beyond the internal political struggles, the people of Ravok still enjoy their art, fashion, religion and life. Ravok was one of the first cities to rise from the ashes of the Valterrian and the people take pride in that. They are patriotic and zealous, relishing the gifts life and their city has to offer because the outside world, to them, is literally hell.
The Voice :
The Voice
I realized after creating Rhysol, that he wasn't designed to really rule over a city effectively. Honestly, someone like Rhysol would end up causing everyone in the city to eventually burn the place down in one giant act of betrayal. This got me to thinking about the need for a partner, a comrade to help balance Rhysol. Using my earlier Attention Deficit Disorder comparison, I needed someone to act as Rhysol's Ritalin. I couldn't have someone who was peaceful and civilized however as that is the antithesis of Rhysol. This is where The Voice came to mind. Rhysol is not a public speaker. He is better at one on one interactions with his followers. The Voice however, is the perfect public speaker thus her skills fit her name. She IS the voice of Rhysol; the one he needs as his true voice often influences too much betrayal and corruption. She is his High Priestess; the one who preaches his greatness to the people. She is his lover, the only one to tame the chaos in his own heart; the only one who even though she is his lesser in divinity, is equal in his respect.
I then started to think, what kind of person could this woman be if she was once a mortal, loved by god such as Rhysol, ascended with his blood and made immortal, then placed on a pedestal of a near equal in his eyes. She would be truly mad, egotistical beyond measure to the point of megalomania. This is a woman who has developed unfathomable delusions of greatness and power that supersede the small amount of divinity she actually possesses. While her actual power is minor compared to deities of greater rank, the fact that she is Rhysol's consort does lend to supporting her fantasies. There are no other deities who would dare directly threaten The Voice with Rhysol backing her up. I didn't however want the relationship between The Voice and Rhysol to not have its little quirks. I made it so they often engage in little attempts to thwart the plans of the other. It is more of game between them than any actual attempt at harm but often those mortals caught in such games can suffer terrible consequences.
I mentioned that I needed someone to help balance Rhysol to the point that a city could function with him at its helm. Well, look at it more like The Voice is the housewife and mother looking after the home while the husband goes out and does his thing, comes back and expects it all to be taken care of so that he can play and do what he wants. Not a healthy situation, but for these two it works. The Voice speaks for Rhysol but keeps the city in a state of ordered chaos. She has given a format to Rhysol's desire for corruption, betrayal and chaos. That format is the Ebonstryfe. I will get into the Black Sun and the Ebonstryfe in the next few posts where I will detail what I see is the differences between them.
A closer view of The Voice, she is cool, collected and completely and utterly full of herself. Her confidence or overconfidence, oozes off of her. She is charismatic, exotic and beautiful. She can be loving and caring or brutal and cruel; it's whichever makes her happy since in her mind, she is the only one that matters. The only deviation from this is when it comes to Rhysol. As she is in a way, his daughter as well as his wife (due to Rhysol's blood being used in her ascension), there is an inherent loyalty there that isn't so easily broken. Behind all of her megalomania, The Voice is devoted to Rhysol in mind, body and soul. Ultimately, what he wants, she will do her best to provide. Rhysol doesn't enforce this upon her however and usually gives her near infinite slack in that leash. While Rhysol may claim her as his lover and indeed his wife, he suffers none who may threaten his position.
On the Black Sun and the Ebonstryfe :
The Black Sun
In the process of developing Rhysol, Ravok and The Voice, I wanted to also detail the followers of this duo. I didn't want the traditional evil organization composed of a bunch of thugs nor did I want a strictly fanatical group of zealots who simply obeyed their deity simply out of fear or thirst for power and wealth. While those elements would certainly play some role to some extent in my then developmental idea, I wanted something more. Thus came the Black Sun. The Black Sun, as I see it, is not only a group of faithful worshipers but also something of a way of life. The Black Sun is led by The Voice, headquartered at The Temple of the Black Sun in Ravok and serves not only as the center of Rhysol's faith but also the center of government for all of Ravok. In Ravok, the Black Sun does not need to strong arm the populace in order to gain loyalty. They gain loyalty from constant indoctrination through propaganda and preaching. They play on the public's inherent fear and distrust without the need to inspire it. The majority of the city looks to the Black Sun for guidance and leadership; they do not look at the Black Sun as being corrupt, evil or dangerous.
The Black Sun isn't content however with isolating their influence only to Ravok. They seek to expand Rhysol's influence over the world and spread his will throughout the land. They don't do this by conquering or physically intimidating others to follow Rhysol; that would go against everything they strive to achieve. Instead, they send Acolytes and Agents far across the land to other cities. These Chaon (marked followers of Rhysol), infiltrate various aspects of society and become integral members of the local society. They become politicians, aides and merchants. They gain the trust of others and slowly sew the seeds of dissent. They whisper words of betrayal in the ears of others, slowly creating doubt and paranoia. They sabotage efforts toward peace and harmony, they nip away at ordered structure from within. All of this is done under the guise of an individual who genuinely cares about the system they are a part of. Hardly ever are they directly responsible for death, destruction or any other act of villainy within the place they have infiltrated. The Chaon only influence others, little by little, to do all of the damage on their own.
NEVER will you hear a Chaon preach the evil of Rhysol or threaten others into servitude. While they may preach for Rhysol, it is always with a positive spin that may make others doubt their existing belief structure. Even then, they only preach to those who already have faith in Rhysol or who may be open to the notion.
Rhysol could never be as powerful as he is without these methods employed by the Black Sun as he is but one of a very small pantheon of evil deities. Their insidious methods of influence, their ability to turn one person against another without ever directly causing it, that gives The Defiler his power and influence over the world.
So how does The Black Sun differ from The Ebonstryfe? Here are my thoughts on it:
The Ebonstryfe
The Ebonstryfe is a part of the Black Sun but also an entity of its own. Where the Black Sun is more hands-off in their approach, the Ebonstryfe is more hands-on, to an extent anyway. In a city such as Ravok, where an unstable god of chaos rules, there needs to be a counterweight. The Voice is a large part of that counterweight but even with the intense propaganda spread by the Black Sun, there still needs to be that underlying hand that can rise up and slap down those needing it when the time arises. The Ebonstryfe is the Black Sun's secret police force. They spread out in Ravok and listen. They keep tabs on potential dissidents and remove them when things become too unstable. Ironically, the Ebonstryfe also has a hand at injecting a little instability into the society of Ravok. They may even aid a dissident to an extent, offer hidden support against allies and rivals alike just to help enforce the Black Sun's preaching of the dangers inherent in this new, post-Valterrian world.
The Ebonstryfe has a hand in nearly every aspect of Ravok. I see them being somewhat similar to the old Chicago mafia complete with influential families, crime rings and the like. The catch is however that their work in Ravok is dual-purpose in that they knowingly work to create and support the very thing they also try to fight. They are the police force and the criminal masterminds in one.
That brings me to the Ebonstryfe's role outside of Ravok. Rhysol realizes that he is but one god against dozens of others. He is powerful yet that hold on power could slip at any moment. I asked myself, what would a god such as Rhysol do to maintain a grip on his status as one of the most feared gods in existence? The answer came to me when Tarot created, Monsters, Fragments, Relics, etc. Those all possessed pieces of divine beings now gone from the world. What if Rhysol were to gather those pieces together and find a way to use their inherent divinity, no matter how slight, to bolster his own. That is where the Ebonstryfe come into play. One of the Ebonstryfe's primary missions outside of Ravok is to gather fragments from across the land and return them to Rhysol. To do this, the need for a militant force is required as Mizahar is not an empty lot filled with a few rocks and trees; maybe a puddle or two. It is a vast landscape filled with all manner of strange encounters, untold dangers and certain death to the unprepared. The Ebonstryfe are trained not only in the nuances of secrecy, corruption and betrayal but are also trained in the arts of combat. They serve in similar roles to the Black Sun in that they infiltrate and spread dissent throughout ordered systems but they also serve a more combative role as well.
The Ebonstryfe maintains patrols around Ravok, keeping tabs on anyone or anything entering the nearby area while also actively searching for anything that could be of use to Rhysol. They send out units to explore pre-Valterrian ruins, hunt the various fragments and monsters that inhabit the land. They work to establish shrines to Rhysol; places that serve as a focus point for his influence outside of the view of the average humanoid. One may find a single Chaon of the Black Sun accompanied by a unit of Ebonstryfe as they hunt down a fragment or work to establish a shrine. Somewhere else, an Ebonstryfe soldier may be an upstanding merchant in the heart of Syliras; someone who nobody would suspect is gradually sewing the seeds of chaos through the cursed trinkets they sell.
As with the Black Sun, the Ebonstryfe, even those who are not engaged in infiltration and impersonation, will never acknowledge that they are an evil organization working for a mad god bent of spreading chaos throughout the world. To soldiers of the Ebonstryfe, they are simply doing what is needed to survive. They believe they are giving back to a god who provides protection, security and strength; all which Rhysol indeed blesses them with in his own way. They do not feel that they are destroying the lives of others for the sake of causing instability in the land. Instead, they see the world as a terrible place filled with danger and death at every turn; they are doing what is needed to survive in this world and earn the grace shown to them by Rhysol. If others must fall so that they can survive and flourish, then that is the way of things. (All a part of the indoctrination all who serve in the Ebonstryfe and the Black Sun are exposed to from the earliest moments).
On the Origins of Ravok and The Five Great Families :
A good question, I will write this out for you here but will also include this in my scrap as part of my creator insights. Ravok didn't exist before the Valterrian. Lake Ravok however was a center of life and prosperity as it provided a seemingly endless supply of food. There were small fishing fleets that trolled the waters while various fishing towns lay on its shores. When the Valterrian happened, the fleets were shattered and the towns laid to waste. The survivors of both the fleets and the towns found themselves fleeing the horrors that wandered the shores and taking refuge on the lake. They cobbled together crippled ships and debris to form a floating makeshift town; a place for people scattered and broken by the Valterrian to find some form of safety and security.
The influential families of Ravok came from those early survivors. The early organization of the survivors involved leadership comprised of the few remaining influential merchant families who operated the fishing fleets and controlled the towns. From these early merchant families came the Nitrozians, followed by the other present day families. On the mainland, the after effects of the Valterrian was still being felt and rumors of a safe haven in the center of Lake Ravok began to spread among various survivors throughout the surrounding region. Driven by fear of the horrors that hunted them, numerous people braved the journey across the great lake in search of safety.
As more and more people discovered the floating makeshift haven, there was a growing need for rules and laws as well as a need for a way to support security as well as tend to the basic needs of the growing population. The entire place was largely chaotic and unpredictable. There was plenty of fish and fresh water but other needed goods and services were not easily met. This caused no small amount of conflict among the survivors who then numbered a few hundred. It was soon after a strange, darkly beautiful and enticingly charismatic arrived at the haven.
The woman was rather quiet at first but brought with her the uncanny ability to inspire and lead people. It all started small. She would help people with chores, tend to the injured and aid the sick and all around act selflessly for the people. She was able to inspire others to do the same until they were able to begin establishing the foundation for a functional society. The surviving merchant families (who eventually evolved into the Nitrozians) were voted on by the people to provide a structure for goods and services as well as to set up an early bartering system. A security group was formed (this would evolve into the City Guard) to keep the peace. Basically the haven became an organized town. As more survivors trickled in, the city began to physically grow as teams were sent out on the few surviving ships to gather building materials from the mainland.
The young woman who had inspired all of this was chosen by the people to be their leader. She modestly accepted and continued her work toward establishing a strong, secure, flourishing town floating in the center of Lake Ravok. When the town had grown to several thousand people and had physically expanded both in size, building quality and overall social structure, roughly over a hundred years after the Valterrian, the woman, who remained young, beautiful and strong, revealed to the people that their growing prosperity was thanks to the God, Rhysol. She revealed herself to be His Voice and that it was His wish to provide a new beginning for those who had suffered and lost so much in the Valterrian. She pointed out the plentiful food, the relative health of the people, the lack of any real dangers from environmental factors or really anything else as being the blessings of Rhysol. Everything she claimed could be backed up by the facts of the people's relatively blessed existence at the time.
The Voice established the first organized faith in Rhysol in the form of The Black Sun and established a small temple (which would grow much larger). It was shortly after the creation of the temple that a mountain of a man appeared in the city and accompanied The Voice. He was introduced as Gru'tral, a friend of The Voice and a devout follower of Rhysol. Wherever The Voice went, Gru'tral was at her side. As the city continued to grow and prosper, The Voice attributed it all to the mercy of Rhysol. Generations of people grew up experiencing prosperity that they were told was thanks to the God. The town turned city was named Ravok after the lake that cradled it.
The families of Ravok that had helped establish the foundations for the city, eventually evolved into the great Nitrozian family which dominates most of the city's current business climate. Other smaller families were able to claim their own societal niche as well. They laid claim to various aspects of city function and would grow their influence by maintaining a stake in any smaller businesses and operations that may crop up through offering loans, buying out, intimidation and extortion. It was actually the various Families that established something of a dangerous, unpredictability to the city that required The Voice to take action.
Roughly a couple hundred or so years after the Valterrian, the influence of the Families was becoming something of a threat to what The Voice had helped build. Rhysol, who had yet to reveal his full presence to the city, enjoyed the conflict and corruption that the Families brought. However, The Voice reminded him that if the people didn't believe they were better off living in Ravok and giving thanks to Rhysol, the whole thing would collapse and Rhysol would lose thousands of people worth of faith. She proposed the establishment of an organization that could better control the Families and crush them if need be. It was then that the Ebonstryfe was born and Gru'tral was tasked to command it. To help him, The Voice also proposed the creation of superior beings who would infiltrate the families as well as all other areas of the city and aid The Ebonstryfe and The Black Sun in maintaining a form of ordered chaos within the city. They would work to create conflict as well as squash it if necessary. Through this controlled chaos, the city could continue to function and Rhysol would maintain his center of power.
Thus the Druvin were born. A few existed already outside of Ravok while others were created later. Eventually they were all introduced into the city and took their positions. The Families were more or less put in their place and their influence was monitored and directed behind the scenes by the Ebonstryfe.
As time went on, Rhysol eventually revealed his full presence to the city. The moment was filled with the God walking the streets, answering prayers, performing miracles and overall showing the people of Ravok that he was the one deity who truly cared for them.
The city, having evolved from a floating collection of debris that a few haggard survivors clung to for safety into a prosperous yet unpredictable contradiction, now operates with a centralized government formed of representatives from the Ravok Families, The Black Sun, The Ebonstryfe and heads of the different organizations that make up the foundation of the city. This ruling council had always been led by The Voice. In the absence of a current Voice, another Druvin typically leads the council. While all representatives have some say within the council, The Voice or whoever sits in for that position, has the final say in all matters. Rhysol has been known to occasionally attend meetings but he seldom speaks and revels when conflict erupts.
Last edited by Elias Caldera on November 16th, 2018, 4:14 am, edited 31 times in total.
For my sake, and for the sake of anyone who thinks their character and Elias will be in the same city and wants to do a flashback with him, here is a time line to help.
Summer 493 [21st Day] - Elias is born
Fall 497 [8th Day] - Torian is promoted to the rank of Paladin
Spring 506 [30th Day] - Training begins in earnest for the Ebonstryfe
Summer 506 [10th Day] - Elias is accepted into the rank of petitioner to begin his three years of training.
Summer 509 [5th Day] - Caiden, Elias's uncle, is found slain.
* Summer 509 [6th Day] - Elias flees Ravok, abandoning his life there to follow his mother. The two then leave for Nyka.
Summer 509 [41st Day] - Elias and Raina arrive in Nyka.
Summer 509 [48th Day] - Elias and Raina leave Nyka and sail for Mura.
Summer 509 [80th Day] - Arrival in Mura.
Summer 509 [85th Day] - Departure from Mura.
Fall 509 [7th Day] - Arrival In Zeltiva. Raina and Elias begin their new life in the city.
Spring 510 [19th Day] - Torian is promoted?
Spring 510 [50th Day] - After a great deal of moping and doing odd jobs, Elias applies for application to the Zeltivan University to train in the arts of magic. He is accepted.
Spring 512 [1st Day] - The Djed Storm hits, Raina is killed, Elias barely survives and receives the Silakrov gnosis mark from Viratas.
Fall 512 [7th Day] - His injuries healed for the most part, Elias attempts to pick up the pieces of his life.
Summer 513 [46th Day] - After preparing for the long trip to Ravok, Elias departs Zeltiva overland.
Fall 513 [29th Day] - Elias arrives in Nyka. He decides to spend the winter there.
Spring 514 [14th Day] - Elias arrives in Ravok. (Character is Created)
Last edited by Elias Caldera on August 5th, 2018, 5:40 am, edited 69 times in total.
A man whose suave and dashing demeanor is matched only by his dangerous intellect, Talion Thrace is a natural born leader of men, adored by his troops and well respected within the brotherhood as a whole. Though his demeanor can oftentimes come off as condescending and cavalier, the truth of the matter is Talion can be a considerate, even caring man, one who understands well the plight of those not as fortunate as he. This sense of generosity and comradely with those considered 'beneath his station' likely stems from his harrowing upbringing as slave.
Unit 7
Name: - Race: Place of Birth: Date of Birth: Skills:
Words Words Words
Unit 8
Name: - Race: Place of Birth: Date of Birth: Skills:
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Unit 9
Name: Morgana Redmayne Race: Place of Birth: Date of Birth: Skills:
Words Words Words
Unit 10
Name: Vaylin Valure Race: Place of Birth: Date of Birth: Occupation:
Skills:
Vaylin Valure is considered by many a connoisseur of her dark delights. Renowned for her brutal combat prowess and decadent lifestyle, the young Ravokian native enjoys the many pleasures of a celebrated officer, whether that be savoring exotic feasts held in her honor or hunting down her foes as they flee in a terror. Instead of joining the political infighting of her Ebonstryfe peers however, the paladin instead amuses herself by watching their rabid power games from the sidelines, blade in one hand, a glass of fine wine in the other.
Vaylin first earned infamy following her devastating triumphs against a notorious bandit gang that once plagued the northern reaches of Syliras, but it was the paladin's final campaign against the marauders that forever defined her. Tasked by high command with retrieving the head of the raider chieftain himself, a feared and formidable warrior whom many believed had no equal, Vaylin departed alone and undaunted by the mission's perilous nature. When she returned home nearly a month later, she not only proudly bore aloft the head of her once great foe, but held a grizzly procession through the streets of Ravok to display the more than one hundred other heads of his former gang alongside it.
Unit 11
Name: Corvus Hall Race: Place of Birth: Date of Birth: Occupation:
Skills:
Always the cheerful and disarmingly optimistic rogue, Corvus Hall would be the last person most people pegged to be a soldier, let alone a leader of men. Raised as a rancher’s son on the rough southern reaches of Lake Ravok, Corvus had to learn from a young age how to rely on himself first and foremost. In doing so he developed a mixture of equal parts naive innocence and primitive toughness, all of which was wrapped up in an old fashioned sense chivalry that more often than not only served to get the young roustabout into trouble. In addition to his callow enjoyment of a good, dirty fight and his knack for unconventional warfare, Commander Hall remains a ray of sunshine in even the worst circumstances. With no apparent sense of his own mortality, the young Ravokian is absolutely convinced he’s going to live forever and wields a macabre humor to match his charismatic madness.
Initially Corvus joined the order in hopes of better serving the fledgling frontier community his family belonged to, but when whispers of a separatist movement brewing amidst the ranchers began to spread, it marked the beginning of the end for Corvus's carefree life. Whether or not the rumors were true, the local commander in charge of keeping the frontier community safe at the time began to not only to terrorize the ranchers with cruel and underhanded tactics, but even went so far as to withhold his support in times of need. It wasn't long before the wilds did what the wilds always do, and Corvus lost his family to an attack that could have easily been prevented had the soldiers promised been there to stop it. When news reached him of his parent's deaths, Corvus vowed revenge and raced back to Ravok to see it done no matter the cost. Whether he realized it or not, by the time Hall was finished with his bloody retribution, he had earned himself a reputation of respect, admiration, and the rank of Commander, as the last man he had just killed in a duel no longer had any need of it. Despite a hard life that would have broken most weaker men, Corvus still looks at the world with a lighthearted and unshakeable optimism. Always willing to defend the innocent and fight for his men, Corvus is loyal to a fault and an invaluable ally to anyone who earns his friendship.
Unit 11
Name: Valon Dyr Race: Place of Birth: Date of Birth: Occupation:
Skills:
Valon Dyr has long been a paradox to his fellow Ebonstryfe: a staunch proponent of Ravok’s superiority who at the same time questions some of its oldest values. Born a native son of the Eternal City, Valon joined the order as a boy and distinguished himself in the years that followed as both warrior and general. He was eventually entrusted with securing Rhysol’s interests in distant lands, where he encountered the soldiers of many alien cultures and found them worthy of respect. As Valon grew in prominence, his travels and alliances with other races -including a romantic relationship with his Konti slave- marked him as an unorthodox figure. Caring nothing for the petty power plays common amongst his peers, the staunch Marshal has instead spent the last few years strengthening his ties to foreign groups and carefully cultivating the opinions of likeminded Ebonstryfe leaders. He has often claimed that Ravok's ancient prejudices against non-human races and constant infighting are weaknesses to be culled. To be victorious against their true enemies, Valon claims, Ravok must change, no matter the cost.
Crime Boss 1
Name: - Race: Place of Birth: Date of Birth: Occupation: Crime Lord
Skills:
Words Words Words
Crime Boss 2
Name: - Race: Place of Birth: Date of Birth: Occupation: Crime Lord
Skills:
Words Words Words
Last edited by Elias Caldera on March 3rd, 2019, 8:06 am, edited 134 times in total.
by Elias Caldera on April 25th, 2014, 11:50 pm 
