Description
Rasifal is most commonly felt, not seen, as a burning heat on the cusp of pain. Calling upon them into the material plane is not unlike setting a fire - without forethought and purpose, they will indiscriminately sear their way through everything. Rasifal, in the Gylidder elven tongue, is more akin to a verb than a noun, in this case the term 'rasifil', which means to consume knowledge voraciously.
When depicted from before their Inaethrid, or in rare circumstances in which they choose to appear as more than just tendrils of flame, Rasifal's appearance is that of a blonde haired, blue eyed high elf wearing expensive, tailored wizard robes.
Personality
The Flame of Lore is a vortex that draws knowledge in without discretion or hesitation. Though they aren't fickle and tend to follow through with their intentions, the amount of energy they expend on any one thing can seem (from the outside) to be chaotic. A creature that offends him might be incinerated on the spot until not even dust remains, or they may be ignored entirely. Likewise, his allies may find it difficult to rely on him to conserve his power, versus expending much of it on what may seem (to others) to be less worthy targets.
Despite this, Rasifal is incredibly loyal and is dedicated to the protection of life, often standing opposed to fiends and undead that would scour the world. To his friends, he is steadfast and kind, but to his enemies (and occasionally to those who he barely knows at all), he is a frightening monster who has studied all of the surest ways to tear them apart.
Abilities
In life, Rasifal was a powerful elven archmage, to this day often used as a measuring stick against whom many elven arcanists have been measured. He combined a voracious appetite for magic with fearsome willpower and creativity, mastering metamagic and sculpting spells in ways that redefined evocation ever since.
Worshippers
“Stare into the page as though it were the sun, and burn the knowledge forever into your mind. Let it consume you as you devour it, the fuel for the flame becoming the flame for the fuel. In this dark void, traveling the stars, we have no choice but to burn to stave off the cold. Let us burn brightly, and well.”
— Arch-Luminary Quenbisyial, high priest of the Flame of Lore
Rasifal's devoted followers are known as the Luminaries, based from the High Elven city of Zhen Ishraihadasha. Originally servants of the Acharan Empress, Tahlisal, these priests quickly broke from the faithful to form their own following after the rise and accomplishments of the aethrin wizard Rasifal, who lived during the time of the Landing around 25000 years ago. When Rasifal did not return from defeating the unknown evil that plagued his age, his apprentices and the apostates that followed him quickly established his Inaethrid.
The Luminaries' primary purpose is to accumulate lore, tearing through libraries and delving into any and all of the secret places of the world to seek answers. Despite the fiery demeanor and themes of the Flame of Lore, neither he nor his followers endorse the
destruction of knowledge. Instead, the fire is a metaphor for the urge to consume knowledge at a voracious rate, like a flame burns through a library's shelves. The Luminaries are primarily Evocation Wizards, although Divine Soul Sorcerers, Light Clerics, and Wildfire Druids are also common.
The leader of the Luminaries of Rasifal is known as the Arch-Luminary, and their purpose is to serve as a contact for those who seek the accumulated knowledge of the Flame of Lore. It is said that the Arch-Luminary does not keep tomes, scrolls, books, or notes, and instead gains access to the summation of every page of knowledge ever memorized, written, or offered as tribute in Rasifal's name. The current Arch-Luminary is a wood elf evoker named Quenbisyial, who speaks first at the Sanctuary of the Burning Mind in Zhen Ishraihadasha.
As an inaethri, Rasifal is
respected by Gylidd, especially by those who cannot cast magic. Lay-followers of the Flame of Lore are encouraged to speak with the Luminaries of their time for encouragement and to rekindle the flame of their passions for lore and secrets. Rasifal himself, while a somewhat controversial deity of knowledge, is recognized for encouraging the timid and meek to find their own answers, and grow out of their hesitation to a more balanced world view (and, sometimes, encouraging the already-bold to undertake acts of lunacy in the name of high arcana). Rasifal's purpose - to embody the bold individuality that so many spellcasters express - is unlikely to become unnecessary in this or any future age. Therefore his Inaethrid is - despite the chaos and destruction that surrounds it - equally unlikely to end.
Activities
text
Divine Realm
text
Possessions
text
History
text
