The Moon Aros
Salika's Knowlege #1260
While our telescopes still can't match the power of fidelity of the Silver Age, the Golden Observatory in the Empire of Irrelith is the next best thing! The mirrors and magnification is handled through special pieces of aethercite, allowing us to view any object within our own star system with crystal clarity!
With that said, don't use it to look at the World Aros. Your attention will be drawn to the hundred kilometer tall palace on the pole, but you also marked yourself for death by looking at it! Lithane, the First Vampire lives in those halls and the moment you become aware of her, she becomes aware of you, and she will feed off of your energy, even from worlds away, until you lose yourself in madness.
- Salika
Nora's Domain
The original name for Aros was lost to time, but the Golden Race called it Immaru or "Light". This is because it was once the domain of the Elder Goddess Nora, who with Tazil created the elemental gods (Ibora, Beirunes, Vikuon, Errali). In the distant past, when Tazil created the various worlds around Vreathe and passed them out to the other gods, he let Nora pick first. Any world she desired would be hers. Nora didn't pick one of the massive titan planets, she instead picked a a small white world. She then placed it in orbit around Tarsuros so she could be near her love.
The massive palace that is visible on the moon's north pole was built by Nora so long ago the Golden Race hadn't yet walked out of Meliheal. She made it her home. Like the other gods with their worlds, Nora created her own beings to inhabit hers. Most of her creations were a reflection of her dominion over time and order. Some were imitations of creatures on Vreathe like wolves, but many more were wholly unique. Nora had the goddesses Yanneth and Flora make various trees and flowers that resembled those found on Vreathe but could survive on Immaru.
The world was not Nora's for long. During the Golden Age, Tazil betrayed the other gods, and after the betrayal, he gradually grew darker and more evil. He was no longer a god of order, but one of chaos and domination. Nora couldn't stand to see Tazil fall like this, so she abandonded the world and never returned.
In her absence, most of the original life on the world went extinct, and this world of light grew darker. With Nora gone, Tazil started to use the world for his own purposes and the remaining life and the world itself started to twist with him.
A World of Shadow and Fog
In the Silver Age, the world was known as Gissu, or Shadow. The world grew foggy and dark and the life there adapted to survive in endless twilight. The fog itself makes the world dark. It may appear white from a distance, but as it gets closer and thicker it gets blacker, and the fog can be so thick you cand see your hands in front of you. Using a light source doesn't help as the fog actively destroys it. The creatures of this world grew adapted to live in the fog and there is no chance of escape if it becomes completely dark.
but still some of the Silver Race still explored the world. These were of the Kwin Tribe, the same ones that terraformed the moon Kalbeth and had their influence across a large number of worlds. Large darkened castles were built to protect from the many twisted creatures of the world. The Silver Race did not last long her and left within a few thouand years and their castle sat abandoned for some time.
The shadowy creatures of the world was the main reason they left. These beings did not seem to obey physical laws, able ot appear and disappear at a moments notice from within the shadows. Some of the creatures of this world are also quite terrifying in appearance.
Wolves of this world were made in the image of the wolves of Vreathe. They are about the size of a man, and they are cunning and vicious creatures. They hunt in large packs, jumping from shadow to shadow to get to their prey, which are imitations of Vreathe's deer and elk. The dark fog allows these wolves to move around anywhere and everywhere instantly, and nothing is safe from them. They can easily overtake a human and rip them apart.
The smokey wolves of Aros are easily the least terrifying monster of this world.
Lithane, the First Vampire
Lithane was originally a Silver Human from the Kwin Tribe. she was named Lapis VII in life. She was queen of the Olimians from the year 281 kSA to 285 kSA. She was a cruel, unjust Queen, and fervently worshipped the God tazil. At this time in Vreathe's history, Tazil was a prisoner of the other gods, held in a jail under Meliheal the World Tree. Lapis VII wanted to change that.
For several thousand years the queen raised one of the largest armies in history. Millions of men, all armed with various magic weapons, marched on the city of Semmitra and the World tree. She demanded that the gods let Tazil be free, but the king of the gods, Alom, refused. Queen Lapis VII ordered her army to burn the world tree down. It was her army and her order that causes the great All-Fire an event of such destruction that the entire universe and universes beyond were damaged. Meliheal is the Wellspring of Souls, but it is also a Nexus of realities, and when it was set on fire, the universe itself was set on fire. Tazil was able to escape his prison thanks to this fire.
With the sacrifice of the water goddess Ibora, the All-Fire was put out. The gods then defeated the massive Olimain army. For Lapis VII they had a special punishment. She was one of the very first people to be denied access to the afterlife. Her soul was cursed to wander Vreathe forever until it evaporated into nothing. Tazil had other plans.
Because of Lapis VII's actions, Tazil sought to reward her. He found her wandering soul and gave it a new body. He then poured his power over chaos and domination into her, elevating her to that of an undead goddess. It was then that she beame Lithane, The First Vampire. He then gave Lithane control of Gissu. The world was then called Aros and Lithane started to live in Nora's old palace.
Other Vampires
Lithane spent tens of thousands of years devising and giving life to various creatures to support Tazil in his plans to destroy everything. Tazil may have twisted the life of Aros, but Lithane perfected it. Throughout the middle of the Silver Age, Tazil opened portals to Vreathe, allowing these shadow creatures to escape and cause destruction and fear.
Lithane's greatest and most terrifying creation by far was a disease that would give humans and animals the same powers that she has, though many magnitudes less powerful. As she was crafting this disease, many humans of the Kwin Tribe came to Aros, hearing that their queen was still alive. They inhabited the castles that older humans left behind and they built up a civilization on this world, calling themselves the Arosians. They swore loyalty to Lithane as their queen.
Lithane wanted them to prove their loyalty. She invited all the nobles of the world to her palace. She then wanted them to drink a Black Liquid, containing the disease she created. The nobles that refused were all executed. The nobles that took the drink all started to feel themselves transform. Some turned into quite beastly creatures, terrifying and powerful, but lacking any intelligence. Most of them died as the power of the disease overtook them. Their souls left their bodies as Lithane cackled with delight seeing her invention working so well.
With the soul outside the body, the disease could do its work. It reshaped the Mana Lung and reshaped the magical pathways in the body. Their teeth changed shape. Their muscles were altered as was their skin. While the alterations were mostly small and not immediately noticeable, it affected their whole bodies.
When the souls finally reentered the expired bodies, they took breath again and came back to life. They were much more powerful than before, both magically and physically. The Nobles of Aros became the first Vampire Lords.
Vampires are beings of Chaos and Domination in a Human form. They are characterized by their pale skin and fangs, and brightly glowing red eyes. They have the strength of ten men and can run faster than a horse. they can fly and shapeshift into various forms, though most prefer the form of a blackened mist or fog.
They are able to sap the life energy of any being they are in contact with, though drinking a victim's blood directly is the easiest and quickest way to get this energy. Lithane and Vampire Lords don't have a craving for blood but lesser vampires generally do, even though they don't actually need to do this for survival. Powerful vampires can choose to pass on the vampire disease to their victims when drinking their victim's blood, while weaker vampires can't do this.
The strongest ability that vampires possess is the ability to cast Blood Magic. Blood magic simply put is domination in its purest form. Blood magic allows a vampire to see inside minds. They can take away memories or implant fake ones. They can leave suggestions without their victims ever being aware. Blood Magic allows a vampire to sap a victim of their energy even if they aren't in direct contact with them. Vampires can use blood magic to dominate their victims, making them slaves or mindless thralls.
The new Vampire Lords had plenty of practice with their new abilities. Lithane turned them loose on the rest of the Arosians. Many were converted, but most were slaughtered after prolonged periods of being tortured by their vampire masters.
They then set their sights on Vreathe. The Olimians were much too powerful to confront directly, so most vampires covertly integrated with Silver Age society. Even after the Silver Age Cataclysm killed most of the silver race or converted them into elves, the vampires were unaffected. While that cataclysm did destroy all the portals between Aros and Vreathe, The vampires continued their mission of weakening the people of Vreathe, so when the day eventually comes that Lithane and Tazil will make a move on the World once again, it will ready to take over with barely a fight.
Shadow Creatures of Aros
There are many varieties of Shadow Creatures. While the vampires are the most terrifying beings of Aros, some of these should be mentioned as many of them have managed to escape to Vreathe over the years. Aros is the prison for most of them since there are no portals between the two worlds anymore.
Soot Wraith
These creatures seem to be the embodiment of the dark fogs that roll around Aros. On Vreathe, they are normally incorporeal beings, unable to interact with the world around them. However, when a building catches fire, these creatures are immediately drawn to the smoke, as that will allow them to take physical form, at least for a short time.
In physical form, these creatures are vaguely humanoid with multiple arms and eyes. Various parts of their body will glow red to orange. Trying to swing a sword at them does nothing to most of their body. They can only be broken by destroying the large glowing gem on their foreheads. If their smoke touches you, immediately apply life magic to the affected area to counteract the creature's death magic causing the skin to decay away.
Mist Wraith
Unlike soot wraiths that need black smoke to take physical form, these creatures can take form from any type of fog or mist. They have translucent bluish-green skin, multiple eyes, and glowing parts all over their body. These creatures can interact with the physical world as long as there is any large amount of water vapor or fog, or even especialyl heavy rain or snow. They often appear in the early mornings or during heavy storms. the bodies of these creatures absorb all forms of energy and magic.
If one touches you, you will immediately feel very cold as the heat ofyour body leaves you. All of your mana and aether is drained leaving you unable to cast magic. In order to defeat it, you have to hit the gem on its body, but unlike a soot wraith that keeps the gem on its head, the location of a mist wraith's gem moves around
mist Dragons
The largest and most terrifying beings of Aros (aside from vampires), these monstrous creatures are actually an amalgamation of multiple mist creatures at once, forming a much larger and more dangerous being. On Vreathe, they sometimes appear during forest fires or if an entire city catches fire, but only if enough other shadow creatures gather in the same place.
These creatures are not temporary. They stick around long after the smoke and fire disappears. It generates its own smoke to move around in, causing destruction on a large scale. The Sun can eventually burn it away, but that can take days. Otherwise, the only way to defeat one is to break the large gem inside of it, which requires entering the smoky creature itself. This will instantly kill a person unless they are stacked up with magic enchantments and powerful potions to negate the negative effects.
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