Teraphim

"Some see them as saviours and direct manifestations of The Light. Others see their pride, their hubris, and think them haughty and arrogant. After all, being born into a bloodline of people that believe themselves to be the true protectors of the world can blur the lines along the way. It wouldn't be unusual for someone in their position to wish to rule the world with an iron fist in the name of order and peace. In the end, despite their beauty and grace, they must make the hard choices just like everyone else."

Teraphim are descendants of those that survived the dreaded tyranny of the Elysium Coven and lived to tell the tale, blessed by the mystical forces within the spirit plane, Vanaheim. Colorful yet pale of visage with tapering, pointed ears, their grace was legendary, as was their eventual reclusion from the material plane after the rise of their great kingdom, Myllenoris.

The Fall of Elysium occurred at the height of the war between Osrona and the demon host of the Dark Tower and Moonfall. While no Osronans participated or were present, this turned out to be a decisive battle that pulled the forces of Moonfall out of the conflict entirely. In the following restructure under the rule of the Valeborne, Osrona was declared to no longer be an immediate threat to the people of the forest and the village soon grew into a kingdom in its own right.

Origins

At the height of Moonfall's war against Osrona, the Coven of the forest village made an attempt to call upon their Dark Lord for guidance and power in the calamity around them. The already thin barrier that existed between Eternia and the Spirit Realm within Moonfall’s Vale was torn open, but instead of being greeted by the powers of Helheim, a benevolent entity that had been observing the corruption of Moonfall from afar decided to intervene. Aschea, an Overseer of the Spirit Realm and a Primordial, set foot onto the Vale’s ground to counter the horrid witchcraft at play there.

For each flower that wilted in the presence of the Coven’s occultism, a dozen more bloomed with each step forward Aschea took. True to their nature, however, the witches did not flee in fear or caution, but fought back immediately against what they deemed an intruder and an enemy. The battle was long, and those outside of the Vale that night say the entirety of Moonfall shook where the darkness of Elaide’s daughters clashed with the light of the Overseer.

The villagers who had been subjugated by the witches for so long ventured into the woods to meet the conflict, and it is said that it was there where they found the great spirit bloodied, but still fighting. Most of the Coven had been forced back, but the wounds upon Aschea were proving to be more than she could handle. The villagers rose up against the witches in order to defend the spirit who had come to save them, but their numbers began to dwindle with each wave of shadows they had to face. In a final moment of desperation, Aschea gave her last blessings to the Moonfallen who had come to her aid, many of whom were lying in their own death beds amidst the twisted woods. With her light now within them, the Moonfallen who would have otherwise perished rose again, and found that they had gained the power necessary to finish the job. These Moonfallen, druids and human villagers alike, were able to free their home of the witchcraft that had held it hostage for so long. Those who were born anew with Aschea’s breath discovered their physiology changed. With skin pale white, occasionally tinted with a natural hue of green or blue, these children of the Overseer called themselves Teraphim, and with the blessings of their Mother Aschea they vowed that their new kingdom, dubbed Myllenoris, would never again fall to darkness, marking themselves as its spiritual protectors and hunters of the night.

During the mid-to-late 1700s, the Teraphim were viewed with a mixture of awe and fear, especially after the Kingdom of Myllenoris under High Lady Asta Hargrave successfully defeated the ailing Essharan Empire in 1741, a war culminating with the death of the High Lady and the sack of Osrona. Holding to the ideals of balance, however, following the Pandemonium Chase and reclamation of Osrona from Barsburg, the Teraphim restored the Osronan monarchy in an act of ‘restoring the balance’, before leaving the physical world on a great pilgrimage to reconnect with the fragments of their goddess, Aschea, sealing the Vale behind them. Some communities, however, remained behind.

Physiology

These newly formed people were recognized immediately for the unique gifts granted to them by the Overseer. With pale skin that bore an underlying hue of one of the four primary elements, the Teraphim are said to have a heart not of blood and tissue, but of crystal. This core is both fueled by and generates the spiritual energy Aschea's people are capable of tapping into, some of the more adept of their kind capable of using this power to commune with the flow of the world around them. The art of Wayfinding comes easier to the Teraphim along with other capabilities that would relate to the world unseen by most mortal races.

Their longevity comes at a price, though the Teraphim consider it a blessing. As they exceed their prime, they begin to 'grow out of their flesh' and view the world through the soul rather than the mortal senses, becoming more spirit than man despite their decelerated ageing upon reaching maturity.

To an outsider, a Teraphim can be described in many different ways; subtle, graceful, cunning, and perhaps at times arrogant. Their strong ties with the otherworldly magic and their natural longevity can instil a sense of superiority, especially when surrounded by humans and how they might be considered the less polished species. This is not to say that there aren't many noble and kind Teraphim, as they vary in character just like any other race despite their defining traits. The Teraphim have a natural affinity for Crystal Magic. It was with the gemstones of Aschea that they were formed, after all, the light of the Overseer still fuelling each of their crystal hearts.

Teraphim are widely known for the biological necessity that they stay strictly monogamous, and mate for life. Once they couple with another, their crystal heart spiritually attunes with them and forms a heightened bond. If they lose that person, a piece of their heart is also lost (quite literally), instilling physical and spiritual damage. The damage is permanent, and there are no recorded cases of a Teraphim with a broken heart loving romantically ever again. Teraphim typically prefer to restrict romantic relations to their own species, as many distrust those of other races and their capacity for utmost loyalty.

Reproduction

Only exclusively-Teraphim couples will produce Teraphim children. This has historically made the Teraphim of ancient Myllenoris unwilling to bond with and marry humans, as this will end their bloodline.

Couplings of Teraphim and non-Teraphim often do not produce children, but when they do, the child will always be the race of the non-Teraphim partner. The recorded few of these unions generally produced only one child after decades of marriage. The absolute maximum offspring produced ever recorded was just three. These children, though completely the race of the other partner, may often exhibit restricted physical Teraphim phenotypes such as very slightly-pointed ears.

Religion

The Overseer Aschea as depicted by an artist. Unfortunately the warden's essence was spent and dispersed in what was considered to be her final moments of life in order to bless the Teraphim with her gifts.

After unifying, the Teraphim of Myllenoris established writ large the faith around their fallen primordial, known as Ascheaism. This was a belief system centered around the residual whispers these children hear from their Mother Aschea, and revolved around the concept of balance. A realm without balance is one that is certain to fall apart, no matter what the two sides are. This concept was a unique one that Aschea held to within the Spirit Realm, and it was for this reason that her involvement in Moonfall was required, for the village had sunk far too deep into the depths of darkness, blotting out any source of light or goodness. The idea of balance extends to all aspects of the collective community, but many Teraphim held firm to one side of the ‘scales’ they choose to represent. In this regard, an aquatically adept Teraphim may find a strange bond with a flame aligned one, or a Teraphim exhibiting a talent for scholarly activities may have a strong relationship with one of a more athletic stature. While this means Teraphim of old believed in a world of both shadow and light, good and evil, many of them remembered the tyranny of the Elysium Coven and thus shared a continued and staunch opposition to the practices of dark magic and demon worship. Even so, Aschea’s teachings are clear, and the morality of walking a life attuned with equal steps holds incredible importance.

The Vale

A dense and misty woodland that marks the true heart of Myllenoris, this place is held with severe reverence by not only the Teraphim, but any who take upon themselves the Faith of Aschea and her Valeborne. While the Vale itself suffered at the hands of the Elysium Coven, it has since healed over some of its scars and bloomed into a noteworthy and calming locale. Given its unique nature, the Vale is considered one of the most sought after locations upon Esshar to visit, not only for its rare materials, but to feel the power that lies within it.

Within the Vale, the divide between the spirits and the mortal realm is thin and malleable, so much so that cross interactions between these two worlds are blurry and strange. Magic is most notably amplified within the Vale, so much so that even a fledgling druid may give rise to an entire, blooming bed of flowers within its confines. Teraphim that lived a life truly loyal to the Vale are said to manifest there on nights of a new moon, their spirits capable of lending their wisdom and care to those they’ve left behind. Due to its purpose and role as a sacred and magically potent place, the Teraphim have been tasked generation after generation to protect it to ensure it never falls into the wrong hands. It is said that even if Myllenoris itself began to fall, the Valeborne would fight to the last man in order to protect the gates where the Mother Aschea gave her blessings to the world. Teraphim believe if the Vale was ever to be ruled by witchcraft or an abundance of dark magic again, it would mean another cataclysmic event and the end of life upon Esshar.

When the Teraphim left the material realm in the late 1700s, they sealed the Vale behind them, though pathways in and out remain for those who know of them.

The Rite of the Chrysalis

In some rare instances it is rumored that a non-Teraphim mortal can become a chosen of Aschea. It is one of the Teraphim’s most sacred rituals and one that is spoken of with great reverence. Those who are welcomed to undergo such a transformation are those who the Teraphim entrust wholly, loyal friends and neighbors who have earned not only their utmost trust, but their love as well.

The ritual is said to require the heart of a fallen Teraphim, and takes place within the depths of the Vale where the barrier between the physical realm and the netherworld are especially thin. The details beyond that are unknown outside of the Mistseers, and while initially considered a myth, recorded accounts of indisputable non-Teraphim individuals such as Regulus Grimmore and Ella Gracia becoming Teraphim has proven the account truthful.

It is spoken of writ large that Ethric Athelier’s method of creating the Shardforged uses some alteration of this ritual; Many of those few Teraphim left in and out of the Vale considering it a grave perversion of one of their most sacred rituals.

Backgrounds

Teraphim may come from a variety of places since the departure of the majority of them for the Spirit Realm, though most such places exist within the Vale.

The Circle of Blackcloaks

An order of Teraphim fanatics founded in the mid-18th century by then Greycloak, future High Lord Finn Ghede to protect the Vale above all else, the Circle of Blackcloaks are now led by a small council of between three to five elder Teraphim following the schism of the Archdruid Myrin, and Kiastara and Lumin Hargrave in the aftermath of the Pandemonium Chase, in which the Blackcloaks refused to leave the Vale for the spirit world. Their numbers are largely unknown but speculated to number in, at most, the low hundreds.

These Teraphim are hyper-aggressive to intruders in the Vale, known to attack the rare travellers who gain entrance to the spiritual forest if at any point they are determined to be in some way defiling the place. Wearing -unsurprisingly- black cloaks, some made of a rare variant of spectral thread, almost all are bound to spirits of some sort, and thus tend to be exceptionally well informed of events within the forest. Blackcloaks take a vow to protect the Vale until death, and it is believed that this is why they did not follow the rest of their kind into the Spirit Realm fully, as to do so would be a violation of those oaths. The Circle of Blackcloaks follow a highly individualistic interpretation of Ascheaism that highly encourages an adherent to follow their own personal beliefs in terms of balance, something often shaped by the spirit they bind to. Any person, Teraphim or otherwise, who binds with a spirit is welcome in the Blackcloak's village.

The Enclave of Olinaith

A splinter group of Teraphim numbering about two hundred members who rejected the exodus of their fellows due to a belief the Teraphim still had an important role to play in the Material Realm, the Enclave of Olinaith are led by a group of thirteen Teraphim Elders, several of whom have left behind their physical forms. Unlike the Circle of Blackcloak, who mostly hold to Myllenoran tradition, albeit somewhat modified, the people of Olinaith have an almost entirely different culture.

Olinaithean Teraphim practice Olinaithean Ascheaism, a variant of the Aschean faith that holds that the world is weighed more towards evil on the proverbial scales, and it is thus the role of the Teraphim to act as the counterbalance of good, until such a time as the world falls entirely into evil and is thus destroyed. To this end, the Enclave of Olinaith sends out its youths on a spiritual journey known as Sehana. On Sehana, a Teraphim wanders the world, doing good where they can. It is a very individualistic journey - some settle in places while others are constantly on the move, may be on Sehana for months or decades, and may interpret what a good act is very differently, from planting trees to murdering criminals.

The Olinatheans have also put a focus on the arts; Artificery is often practised through 'Craftsinging', a form of artificery in which an item is made through a temporary pact between an Artificer and Spirit expressed through song, whilst magi may cast through a mixture of song and dance movements. Unlike the Circle of Blackcloaks, the Enclave of Olinaith is open to any capable of entering the Vale, so long as they do so through honest means and hold good intentions. Interestingly, the Olinatheans also have a tendency to refer to members of the Circle of Blackcloaks by the aspects of their spirits rather than their actual names; Rebirth, Destruction, Compassion and the like.

The Weaver's Enclave

Of the communities in the Vale, the Weaver's Enclave is perhaps the youngest and most divergent, established in 1814 following a schism with the Enclave of Olinaith. The Teraphim of this place have abandoned Aschea entirely, labelling her a dead goddess, and instead worship the Weaver, a Primordial of Hedonism, Cunning and Discord. Following the establishment of the Weaver in the faith of the Moxtli Tribes in 1857, there exists an open offer for any adventurous Teraphim to venture to the tribes and help strengthen the Weaver's faith. Teraphim from this place tend to be more chaotic, revelling in trickery and mischief, and are altogether unconcerned about breaching social taboos.

Valeborn

A general catch all, the Valeborn are the small orthodox Teraphim communities that still exist within the Vale, less populous or organised than communities like the Circle of Blackcloaks or Olinaith Enclave. These Teraphim adhere to standard Teraphim culture and religion, and consist mostly of Teraphim who simply disagreed with pursuing the remnants of Aschea in favour of remaining with what was familiar and comfortable.

The Shardforged

The most recent and controversial group, the Shardforged are unlike almost any other of their kin- And some would be loathe to call them 'kin' at all. Born humans, the Shardforged have been forged of some of the most unfortunate of Esshar writ large; Shaped into Teraphim by the hand of the mysterious Headmaster of Starfall Academy beginning in 1858.

Made from the terminally ill and crippled children collected into a program from across Esshar to be restored through rebirth with a crystalline heart, the cultural origins of these individuals range from across the continent. A majority of them come from the contested lands from the past several years most harshly afflicted by the war, however, given the high body count from the past few decades in the Osronan-Achyonite wars.

What will come of them is yet to be seen.

Culture

The Spirits’ Witness

A special kind of duel that Teraphim may invoke with others. It is primarily used to settle disagreements within the kingdom, but nothing is to say it can’t be used for more. This type of challenge occurs between two opponents who wish to involve only themselves. When possible, the duel takes place within the Vale and both are given a ribbon of spectral thread that attracts spirits to come and view the scene. Teraphim believe the victor is chosen by the spirits, and that their success translates into whatever they stand for to be within the approval of those entities watching. Challenging another Teraphim, or even a foreigner, to a Spirits’ Witness carries with it a heavy meaning, as these duels often end in death or particularly gruesome maiming in order to please the phantoms that came to see it.

Kanta

The concept of the kanta came about with the earliest Teraphim when the High Lord Randor invoked the first Spirits’ Witness. In an attempt to challenge his rule, the Mistseer Catrina Ghell declared that the spirits would select her to wear the crown over Randor. The two met within the Vale, and though Randor won with a decisive swing into Catrina’s side, he chose not to kill her. Randor declared this decision came to him before the fight when the crown’s whispers told him his victory was imminent, but that Catrina’s continued advice and counsel would be needed in the wars to come. They told him that Catrina was to be known as his kanta, or a ‘counter’ to his own presence within Myllenoris, for one man cannot stand upon both sides of the scales. She went on to save his life while consistently offering up ideas that went against Randor’s, and is remembered as one of the most loyal Mistseers the Valeborne has ever known.

This idea has become more solidified within Teraphim culture; the concept of seeking out one’s rival in the world not to cut them down like an obstacle, but to better oneself and bring their soul closer to a truly balanced purpose.

Relics

These are objects of particular note/importance within Teraphim history, culture and religion.

Crown of Aschea

After breathing the first of the Teraphim to life, Aschea's essence vanished from the world. It's said the Overseer's body petrified and transformed into a small, glimmering, reddish-purple gem. A crystal corpse. The Teraphim guarded this relic and studied its magical properties. Upon the founding of Aschea's Faith, the first High Lord Randor Dinendir forged a crown of solid Arcanium to seat the jewel. The Crown of Aschea was the symbol of Myllenoris' power and the High Lord's connection with the Overseer. It grants the wearer absolute spiritual attunement, capable of hearing the whispers, seeing the movements of every spirit in the domain of Myllenoris.

It is said only the recognized High Lord of Myllenoris and Head of Aschea's Faith can wear the crown without angering the spirits of the land. Anyone else would be eventually destroyed by otherworldly supernatural forces they could not comprehend.

Twig of the World Tree

A small branch from the World Tree, Yggdrasil, offered to only those who are deemed worthy from the spirits themselves. Made not by human hands, but instead by the very being of the Tree of Convergence—Yggdrasil. The otherworldly texture and make up of the wood itself glimmers when graced by a wielder's hand; acting as if it were an extension to their very being. Within the crevices and bumps of the staff, various plant-life and insects make the item their home, providing the wielder to call upon their presence on command. Furthermore, spirits often clamor to the wielder’s aid and through the twig would they surmise whatever strength they can provide to enact the duties of the wielder, as if the forces of nature itself were acting as guides to its attuned protector. While holding this staff, flowers bloom around the wielder, and life erupts about them while warding off negativity and evil. As if the very twig itself provides one the proper attunement to give growth to all things living.

This stave was first held by Amalia Ghede, daughter of High Lady Asta Hargrave and wife of High Lord Finn Ghede.

Skill Tree (OOC)

• Essence Strike: Teleports 10 tiles in front, dealing heavy damage to the enemy if they're in the path.
• Crystal Heart: For 15s, the caster gains 5% AP and heals 3x power every 3s.

-10 RPP discount on Crystal Magic.