Description
Elisarion typically takes two forms, although through magic he is capable of taking many more. The first is a swirling, seemingly perpetual explosion of raw arcane energy. Despite its chaotic appearance, the Arcane Incarna flows effortlessly through the air, swirling about allies to provide them with magical aid while mercilessly disintegrating everything the Inaethri deems unworthy.
His second form is a facsimile of his appearance in life - a handsome, tall human man with dusky skin and brown hair perfectly coiffed into a sturdy pompadour. Carrying himself with an air of nobility - extending from his accomplishments rather than his titles - Elisarion looks down his nose over an intricate series of collared archmage half-robes that appear to be a tailored suit from the waist up and a series of pleated foot-length skirts from the belt down.
Elisarion's colors in either form are rich earth brown and oceanic cerulean... and the white hot light of pure evocation magic.
Personality
The Arcane Incarna is a consummate professional in both apperance and attitude. He is prone to only making promises he can keep, but also makes outrageously difficult promises that astound his allies, such as promising swift development of highly specialized spells to suit their needs, and confound his enemies, such as pledging the time and place where their doom will be determined. He despises chaos as he feels it is lazy and costly to leave up to chance what could be planned instead. Elisarion also heavily endorses rigorous adherence to both schedules and rituals.
Despite his immortality, he acknowledges that mortal aethrin need time to learn and rest, and even factors such considerations in to all of his plans. Elisarion believes that anything worth doing is worth doing correctly and well the first time, and will stop at nothing to research and plot down to the last gold piece, blot of ink, or footstep. He prefers the company of people with like mind, who take pleasure in being as efficiently successful as he is and are happy to be part of his deliberate strategies and rituals.
When it comes time for the Arcane Incarna to act, he does so without hesitation, adapting his plans only as necessary to ensure that the goal is met and then recalculating afterward. He believes that magic is capable of anything if it is in the hands of someone creative enough, and specializes in attacking his enemies where they think they are the strongest to leave them no ground to fall back. In Ellis' mind, if someone is dangerous enough to warrant a response, then he will
ensure that they are no longer dangerous after he's through with them. And if they are dangerous enough to warrant destruction, he will use his keen intellect and peerless mastery of arcana to wipe them from existence entirely.
Abilities
In life, Elisarion was an archmage among archmagi, considered to this day to be the greatest aethrin mind to ever compose a spell. Although he focused in abjuration and evocation, his mastery of all schools of magic was second to none - which only meant that his protection and force spells were that much stronger. He redefined Epic Magic as a mortal, inventing and casting world-shaping arcana well before his Inaethrid.
Among his list of achievements include but are not limited to: mastering all forms of metamagic
as a wizard, increasing the efficiency with which metamagic could enhance magic, combining multiple forms of theoretically incompatible metamagic to single spells, inventing new spells in a single day, stretching out spell durations to last multiple days when they would normally only last minutes or hours, and so on.
Elisarion's strategy in battle involved a fierce doctrine of divination to be sure about his enemies, casting unique spells that he developed to ensure he would seize the initiative in a given combat, then unleashing devastating metamagic-enhanced spells in rapid succession to surgically eliminate his targets
and only his targets, sculpting white-hot energy around his allies and through his opponents.
Elisarion's most legendary accomplishment was the Epic Ritual "Dawn of the Midnight Sun", in which he led an enclave of spellcasters to cast a spell across the entire Realm that visibly revealed the allegiances of an evil cult of nihilists who were infiltrating Gylidd, sabotaging their entire carefully constructed plot and resulting in the immediate dissolution of the nihilistic cult and the death of their Inaethric patron after Gylidd purged itself of their influence in a single full moon phase of Selisruun.
Since his Inaethrid, the Arcane Incarna has largely transcended his mortal form and shifted his attention to delving
into magic itself, to uncover the answers to secrets most Aethrin have yet to ask.
Worshippers
“If you are hearing this message, you are guilty of furthering the goals of nihilism and destruction. You are permitted to recant and be given a chance to absolve your sins, if you so desire, and transportation will be provided to extract you no matter where you are. If you have any character remaining, you may cling to it and be given a second chance.
Or you may attempt to flee. If you do, the shadows that ‘protect’ you will be torn away. The people of Myzelis - whose lives are no longer yours to predate - will see you for exactly what you are. We will not be merciful, we will not hesitate, and we will not forgive you for furthering the depraved campaign of your doomed Inaethri.
Your long night is over. Here is the dawn.”
— Message of the Epic Arcane Ritual "Dawn of the Midnight Sun"
Elisarion's sect of true believers are known as the Incantars, based out of the Gylidder Curio campus in the Loch District of
Gylidd Syn Aethri. The Incantars are primarily wizards (especially Abjurers and Evokers), Sorcerers (especially Clockwork), and Clerics (almost exclusively Arcana and Knowledge). Their representation among other classes is based primarily upon their desire to master magic, invent new arcana, and leave those who would stand against them a smoking ruin.
The leaders of the Incantars are a triumvirate representing the three primary classes. The leader of the Wizards is Ultimate Archmage Puyetta ni Sophia, a half orc evoker; the leader of the Sorcerers is Ultimate Magus Albara Garick, a rock gnome clockwork sorcerer; and the leader of the Clerics is Ultimate Theurge Avainneseyadin the Younger, a high elf arcana cleric. Holy buildings dedicated to the worship of Elisarion and the preservation of their teachings are known as Houses of Incantation, and the greatest of these is located directly in the center of the Gylidder Curio - a multi-story, multi-towered university known as the House of Ultimate Incantation.
As an Inaethri, Elisarion is
respected by Gylidd, even by those who cannot cast magic. Lay-followers of Elisarion are welcomed to attend courses and services run at any House of Incantation, where magic is peer reviewed and magic items created and consecrated. The concepts he represents - perfection, dedication, magical artistry, dominion, and raw magical talent - may not be directly relevant to all Gylidders, but few can deny the importance that magic and its study have had upon the Realm. Elisarion may one day be usurped as the avatar of Gylidder Magic, but the Inaethrid of his successor would need to be an incredible one indeed.
Activities
Elisarion's focus is on the respectful and continuous progress of developing and taming new arcana, while mastering magic that has come before. He counsels new mages that true control comes from practice, creativity, and willpower, not inheritance or birthright. As such, the Incantars are charged to seek out and develop new magic, apprentices, and uncover arcane truths. The Arcane Incarna warns their followers not to be discouraged by their own limits, and to always seek a higher power especially when one reaches mastery. Elisarion asks that all accepted truths be periodically questioned, tested, and evaluated for greater potential. Arcane knowledge is to be shared among those who respect it.
Elisarion also specifically opposes magic use that focuses too heavily on one spell school over the others, and asks that even their most focused followers constantly strive to expand the width of their knowledge. The Arcane Incarna is more often aligned with the forces of good and law, and asks their followers to oppose chaos and evil - not out of a dedication to goodness for goodness' sake, but to preserve peace so that arcane education, invention, and enlightenment can continue undisturbed.
Divine Realm
Elisarion's divine realm is known as "the Binding", a gravity-free grand library where all magic is intelligent, animate, and flows freely from eight arcane phenomena called the Living Nodes. Their names (and the spell schools they exemplify) are Doansaghan (Divination), Weyokast (Abjuration), Shachar (Evocation), Locira (Enchantment), Zossakn (Illusion), Ylijohka (Necromancy), Sowrah (Transmutation), and Zuleiqa (Conjuration). At the heart of the Realm, Elisarion weaves their magic together in incredible ways, albeit less like a musical conductor or savvy businessperson, and more like a trusted confidant. Several of these Living Nodes (such as Shachar, Ylijohka, and Zossakn) exist in multiple Outer Realms simultaneously, as they have undergone Inaethrid of their own (or as part of other collectives).
Possessions
Elisarion's history with magical items is often short, as a substantial portion of his Inaethrid involves the creation
and destruction of devices that are purely meant to allow him to push his own limits. Wands, staves, and similar items with charges and uses would often be burned through very quickly as his powers drained them dry to fuel even more complex incantations. That being said, the Spellbooks of the Arcane Incarna are rumored to have persisted in one form or another throughout the ages, and likely contain some of the most complex, beautiful, and purely destructive spells ever conceived.
History
Elisarion was an elite arcanist who lived around 30,000 years before present day. They were known as a master of metamagic, an archmage without peer, and when they entered a room they laid absolute waste to every foe with layers upon layers of white-hot, explosive spells that could sear the essence from fire elementals, but had the precision necessary to carve out holes in those spells large enough to keep their allies safe. The spells Elisarion used to invent to do this are allegedly lost to time (although the clergy of Elisarion may simply have hidden them away), and seeking or developing even a single one could be the worthy focus of an entire epic quest.
