Hylesta, God of the Study

Hylesta

"Humanoidkind is nothing but a subject, waiting to be experimented on. I will conduct said experiments, because no one else is brave enough."

Hylesta is the god of the study. Hylesta appears with two large bat wings with blue lining and primarily white coloring. Three sets of white and blue horns hold up a cobalt blue halo and support a crown with a sapphire gem inside it. She has sleek white skin and wears metallic silver glasses, a large blue robe, and white gloves. Hylesta is always seen carrying at least one book, and inspires her followers to study the unknown.

Inspiration Incarnate

Hylesta considers her biggest accomplishment founding the city of Hyria. A city dedicated to creating the most intelligent beings possible, and growing up to change the way information is accessed and taught as we know it. Hyria was built with learning in mind, and often disregarded creativity as a waste of brain power. Libraries of information dedicated to different subsections of knowledge would be placed on every street, magic schools for every child to learn how to fight with their mind instead of their fists, and dedicated places to study became as common as bathrooms.

Hyria had very specific traditions, such as a general knowledge test to pass at the end of schooling in order to determine whether you would be allowed to stay in town, or be sent on your way. The tests in Hyrian schools were infamous for having some of the hardest questions ever conceived. However, most of the time, students would be more than willing to take these tests, and due to the dedicated knowledge of Hyria, a majority of tests would be passed with flying colors.

Hyria housed a large battalion of many guards who disregarded armor. Their beliefs fell in line with the idea that if you were dumb enough to get hit in the first place, you deserved it. Hyrian officials outlawed spells such as mage armor due to this belief, and often found that wits would outmatch any opponent. Hyria would only occasionally get into conflict with other cities, and would typically make quick work of other armies.

Hylesta also planted the tradition of the Inspiration Incarnate Sacrifice, in which, every decade, she would choose a group sacrificial lambs among the citizens of Hyria to ascend into the godly plain and harvest to grant boons for the city. She claimed this was a necessary process to grant her the knowledge she would bestow upon them so they could continue to prosper. The headmaster of each individual school would be told which student Hylesta would select for this process, and then they had to deliver the news. This process is one of the few times that Hylesta would appear in person for her people.

The Exception to the Rule

Hylesta and Hyria prospered for nearly a century after being founded, and showed no real signs of stopping. The city had thousands of citizens, traditions they were proud of, constant income and output, fountains of flowing knowledge, and the highest average intelligence in the entirety of Verita.

In the later years, a kid by the name of Azarin was born in Hyria, and he was a unique exception to the capabilities of Hyrian citizens. Hylesta took an interest in this child, as he had a vibrant imagination, something she hadn't seen for many years. Her people were entirely driven by facts and data, but this kid had shown a different type of drive. The imagination wasn't the only thing she noticed, this child had an interesting energy to him, what felt like a splash of red in a sea of blue.

Hylesta didn't tell anyone about this outlier, and she would only observe his progress from a distance. Azarin proved to be exactly what she expected, a unique outlier. There had been people who lacked the knowledge Hyria craved so passionately, but this one felt like he had a path that she was to lay out before him. Azarin would continue to underperform in his classes, failing to cast even the simplest of spells, or pass a knowledge test that was considered an entry level exam. She recognized that he wasn't stupid, but rather saw life a different way, and liked this in him.

After watching Azarin struggle through school his whole life, he failed his exit exam, and was kicked out of his home. She would continue to study him as he wandered the streets of Hyria penniless and outcast. She lost track of time with her fascination, and realized that she had the perfect excuse to meet Azarin face to face, the Inspiration Incarnate Sacrifice.

Hylesta relayed her will to Azarin's headmaster, he would be selected for the sacrifice. The headmaster questioned this choice, and she simply glared at him, which made him quickly take back his hesitation and say it would be done.

Hylesta remained in the room, out of sight, and disguised as a half elf, for the meeting with Azarin. He walked in hesitantly, clearly worried, as the headmaster welcomed him in. He told Azarin about the ritual, and that he had been selected for a process most Hyrians can only dream of. The knowledge bestowed upon the city being granted by his most gracious sacrifice! Azarin took a minute to himself, stood up from his chair, and said no. The headmaster jumped out of his seat in shock, and asked him what he even meant, that this couldn't be denied, it was the will of the gods.

Azarin spoke about how ungrateful this city has been to him, how much he has been disregarded, thrown to the side, and completely ignored when he constantly tried to do everything he could to be the person they wanted him to be, but he would never be that person. His voiced raised into a yell by the time he was finished, and he let out heavy breaths as his fists were balled by his side, staring daggers into the headmaster's eyes.

The headmaster replied to his speech with a laugh, and said that Azarin would have no choice. With a wave of his hand, the door behind him was covered in magical locks and barred with a massive barricade. Azarin looked at him in panic, and in a moment, charged down the headmaster and tackled him out of the window. They landed onto a rooftop below in a rain of shattered glass and splinters. Hylesta looked out of the window with a smile on her face; this wasn't what she expected, but surprise is exactly what she had hoped for with Azarin. Azarin rolled off the rooftop into the courtyard below, recovered quickly, and took off out of the school grounds.

The headmaster was still on the rooftop, and stood up slowly as Hylesta floated down next to him. The headmaster began to shout towards his guards to capture Azarin, and Hylesta raised a hand above him, and snapped his neck with just a slight hand movement. His body fell lifelessly onto the ground below, and rolled into the courtyard where confused guards stood. As the guards saw the body fall at their feet, Hylesta pointed towards Azarin, and the guards recognized their orders.

Hylesta figured this would be the nail in the coffin for Azarin, having the whole city on his back for killing his headmaster, but she followed him from a distance as he managed to dodge into alleyways, stick to the shadows, use loose clothes as disguises, and continued to evade every guard that passed him.

Azarin made it out of the town with a small backpack and one pair of clothes, and Hylesta continued to follow. He would spend the nights in caves or under trees that wouldn't provide him with any sense of warmth. She continued to write notes about his behavior, and found that he had no survival instinct. He would die at this rate.

It was on the twelfth night that Hylesta had observed something strange; Azarin dropped to his knees in the middle of his walk and began to mumble prayers to himself. He asked for any god that would listen, or even the essence of the Earth itself. She found herself feeling pity for him, but still kept her distance. She was amidst writing her notes as a bright light emanated from Azarin's body. His body began to crack in the shape of glass letting sunlight through, and with a flash that almost seems as if it swallowed itself, Azarin disappeared.

Hylesta had never witnessed an ascension so close to her own eyes, but she knew there would be a promising future to this story. She left a bookmark in her notes, and returned home.

Skeletons in the Closet

Hylesta would return home with a new found light, she had witnessed an ascension with her very eyes, and now she knew of Azarin's past, and his state of being. Every citizen that knew Azarin would assume he died outside the city walls, and that the headmaster's death was his fault.

Hylesta stayed in her own study for many days after witnessing Azarin's ascension, she noted every detail she could, such as the cracks in his skin, the melting of his body into the light, down to the approximate luminosity of the flash before her eyes. She even took time to draw a visualization and diagram of the event.

Hylesta returned to her usual duties, keeping Azarin's newfound state in mind. She knew she would see him again, she simply wondered how long it would take.

After finishing the Inspiration Incarnate Sacrifice ritual that she had delayed for a few tendays, she would walk the streets, exploring the aspects of life within Hyria. She had questions on her mind, attempting to see the different perspectives that everyone could have, but the majority of her citizens had the same outlook on life; learning is the only way forward. She tended to agree, and found joy in exploring concepts, or finding new perspectives on old ones. Her notes led her back to the nature of godhood; questions that couldn't be answered because they seemed almost as natural as the movement of the Earth below, the flow of water, and the wind in the trees. She questioned who decided to ascend the chosen, what defined their appearance, their purpose, and their worthiness.

Hylesta had spent so much time in her studies that tendays became months, months into years. She dedicated herself too deeply to remain in touch with her citizens. One day, she felt the hair on her neck stand up, and felt uneasy about something. Realizing she had left her people alone for a multitude of years, Hylesta emerged from her studies to find that those she entrusted with leadership in Hyria had been burned at the stake. Her city was engulfed in flames, plumes of fire raising from every corner of the streets. Her favorite library had collapsed in on itself, the barracks for mages she helped construct blasted to bits, and streets were filled with bodies of those she considered the smartest among her people. Hylesta ventured to the town square to find a group of people adorned in black and purple body paint on their knees looking up at gallows, shouting at the bodies hanging from them. Hylesta avoided these people, and continued to wander around town, looking for more signs as to what had happened.

On other streets, acts of heresy had been displayed for all to see, bodies pinned to walls of buildings, destroyed stores, smashed supply carts, and a mixture on the ground that was hard to tell if it was mud or blood. Hylesta made her way onto a street to find a torn banner with purple paint that stated "He is here! The Savior!" She examined this banner, trying to connect dots. This could be anyone, Hyria had a lot of enemies, but she couldn't think of any with the power to defeat her entire army of spellcasters, and she couldn't thinking of any with a repeated purple motif.

One of the few buildings to remain in tact was a school, the one she had chased Azarin out of, and she put the clues together. She knew who's work this was.

She calmly walked through the school, seeing desks shattered into splinters, rocks slammed into walls, and bodies gored across the floors, walls, and ceilings. The smell of charred wood, thick smoke, and revoltingly pungent half-elf insides burned throughout the halls. She made her way towards the headmaster's office.

She was greeted by a pair of large wings connected to a figure looking out of the window that he once tackled the headmaster out of.

Hylesta said that she knew he would be here.

Azarin laughed, saying that she always thought she had everything figured out.

Hylesta stood still, with an unamused reply, stating that she usually does.

Azarin turned to face her, he was significantly taller than before, with a large mane of white hair, horns that branched outwards from his head, and a crown to support. His skin was pale white and he seemed almost starved, with visible ribs and torn arms. The animal pelt on his shoulders had accents of purple on black, and the waistcoat he supported boasted the same dark colors.

Hylesta scoffed that he looked worse than ever.

Azarin looked down at his balled fist, and through his gritted teeth told her that she always disregarded those who had mroe value than she could ever bring. Her city tossed out the only person who could give them new perspectives on life, they valued facts over feeling. He was the only person in the entire city limits with true compassion and care, and she proved that by trying to claim him for the Inspiration Incarnate Ritual.

Hylesta continued to disregard his words, pointing out that this was not worth it, and that if they worked together, they could become the most powerful gods in the entirety of Verita. The facts were in place, she could do the math easily, and she offered a new era of power to him. The act of killing Hylesta would benefit nobody, and he would only cause more pain to himself this way.

Azarin looked her in the eyes, and told her that he isn't the god of facts and data, he's the god of vengeance, and sometimes, vengeance is illogical.

Hylesta tried to toss a bolt of flame at Azarin, but he tore a piece of rubble out of the floor beneath him, and nullified the blast. He quickly spun and launched into at her full speed, charging through the large double doors she had walked through, shattering it into millions of pieces. They crashed through multiple walls before ending up in the closed ceiling courtyard and greenhouse. Surrounded by plants, Hylesta attempted to use them in her favor, growing them towards Azarin, impaling him with thorned vines that wrapped around his arms and pulled him to the ground. Azarin kicked his legs up and spun himself onto his feet as he brought the ground beneath him up in narrow spikes to cut the vines from his arms.

In his moment of recovery, Hylesta dropped her weight into the back of his skull, slamming her heel into him and pushing him to the ground. He let out a scream of pain as Hylesta backed away and asked if he was ready to give up.

Azarin brought himself up from the ground, onto a knee as he wiped blood off of his face. Instead of heavy breathing, or pain, Azarin's face was that of pure joy as he let out a laugh. He told her that he would give up when one of them was dead and buried. Hylesta prepared to launch another plant barrage towards him, but he spun out of the way as a spiked chain summoned from the ground beneath Hylesta, impaling her foot and dragging her down to the floor.

She let out a scream of pain as she ripped the chain out of her foot and fell to a knee. Azarin laughed and widened his eyes as he shouted at her about that being what he wanted to hear. He flew to the other side of the courtyard and grabbed a pillar from a nearby balcony, tearing it out of the floor. Hylesta had just turned around by the time he managed to slam the pillar into her, knocking her right back to the ground.

She let out another scream, but recovered herself quickly by allowing the plantbed beneath her to raise her back to her feet. Azarin turned back with an amused look and told her he wasn't done. She summoned a plume of fire before her as she backed away and found a spot with the plants she had studied for her early years. Azarin shouted through the flames that this wouldn't stop him as he flew through the fire, charring the entire front side of his body, tackling Hylesta to the ground as he wailed fist after fist into her jaw. She reached outward and grabbed a nearby gold and white flower.

As Hylesta touched the flower, she felt a rush of relief wash over her and let a fist loose into Azarin's face. He recovered from the hit and looked at her with a look of pure adrenaline. Hylesta took the nearby plants from around her and surrounded herself with vines, thorns, roots, and bark of all kinds. Azarin asked if that was the game they were playing now, and summoned chains from the floor with rocks to surround him in a plate of protection. They disregarded offensive powers and took to landing blow after blow of kick and punch into chest, face, leg, arm, throat, and stomach. They traded hits until both protective cases had become purely cosmetic, until Azarin shouted that this was enough.

Azarin launched a chain from his hand around Hylesta's neck, and pulled with all his strength. She grabbed for it, attempting to pull it off of her neck, but Azarin took to the air and tossed her through the glass ceiling above them, and then charged into her again, bringing them into the sky above Hyria. Azarin held her above her city, shouting about how a city with so much promise held so much disappointment, how she had brought nothing but failure to her people, and that she would suffer for the pain that she caused him. He pulled on the chain in his hands until she had almost stopped moving entirely.

Azarin dismissed the chain around Hylesta's neck and let her fall back into the courtyard below. The loud crash beneath him filled him with joy. He rushed back down with fist cocked, and with as much strength and speed as he could, slammed his fist into Hylesta's face. She sat on the ground as blood seeped from her skin and eyes. He stood above her, and told her that he would remember this moment fondly. He looked around him, taking in the sights, the smells, the sounds. He walked around her so that he was at her feet and grabbed her by the throat, pulling her to a kneel.

Azarin stared at her desperate eyes, and took in a large breath.

Azarin told her that this was everything he had ever wanted. This moment was what he had looked to do since his first failed test, since he was kicked out of his house, since he was chosed for the sacrificial ritual, and since he ascended. He would make everyone in Verita quiver in fear at the sight of him, afraid to breath the same air as him, afraid of sleeping at night just in case he was watching. No one would be safe from his wrath, and he planned to make this world one that would learn to respect him.

Hylesta let out one last breath of anguish, and Azarin refused to let her have the last laugh, so he clenched his fist so hard that her neck disconnected from her torso. He held the bloodied head of a god in his hands, and he would make sure that this was not the last time. Azarin attached the head to his waistcloth, and gave Hylesta's body one last scoff.

As Azarin flew off to return to his own plane, the crackling flames tearing Hyria to the ground were the only sound that could be heard.

Now, both Hyria and Hylesta are names lost to memory.