The Orphans
The Orphans are a semi-mythological family of four ascendant demigods from the First Age of Waking Materia. They are popular subjects of storytelling and minstrelsy in the Broken Empire, particularly on the western continent of the Lorent. Though little evidence remains of their lives save for stories and art, there is enough consilience to suppose they're based on real events, though it's nigh impossible to separate fact from fiction. They are often classified among the Departed Gods of Materia's First and Second Ages.
Related by blood in all versions, Margulis was elder brother to three sisters, who were identical triplets: Omnia, Altima and Alia. Omnia was said to be deaf, Altima was blind and Alia was mute. They are collectively called the Orphans as it's said the birth of the triplets brought about the death of their already-widowed mother. In nearly all versions, they would become estranged early in life, only to reacquaint much later in their twilight years, joining forces to battle the draconic armies of Elir-Otrinax in the First Dragon Wars. Most stories hold that all four died in this battle.Description
By the time of their reuniting, Margulis was a mighty warrior, having spent many years as a soldier and mercenary, while the three sisters had become powerful, reclusive oracles and occult mages. Several surviving temple frescoes and stelæ portray Margulis as stout and muscular, wielding a longsword in one hand and a sai in the other (though many show him bedecked in an armoury of various weapons and tools, as befits a career mercenary). In contrast they usually portray Omnia, Altima and Alia as exceedingly tall and willowy thin, usually in flowing, dancelike stances. As oracles, their wavy, shadowy silhouettes are often hidden among depictions of other events: scholars usually agree this represents them watching the occurrence from afar (be that distance spacial or temporal).Divinity
Though their status as demigods is not clear, stories of their feats, particularly in their climactic battles against Elir-Otrinax and its draconic minions during the First Dragon Wars, are are agreed to be outside the ability of mundane warriors, and there are strong signs the Orphans were worshipped in their time, particularly the Sisters. They are still a part of the official pantheon of the former holy empire of Jura, complete with maintained temples in the Holy City of Calm and Seren-Petra, and also have lingering cults in Nurin. That said, any divine quintessence generated is thought to be from consilient worship as opposed to handed down from a living divinity.The Orphans Range
The Voideastern extents of the Lorent end in a magnificent mountain range, named for their four primary peaks: the colossal Margulis Mons (location of the Holy City of Calm) followed be three smaller, equal-sized peaks known collectively as the Sisters: Omnia Mons, Altima Mons and Alia Mons.
Regardless of intervening circumstances, the four set aside their differences to battle the monstrous armies of Elir-Otrinax, aiding in the defeat of several great draconic generals before falling to the god-dragon's own balefire. It's said their souls were so crystalline-strong that they withstood the fire and sank, super-heated, into Materia's crust, becoming the magma chambers of the four great volcanic mountains. The lava flows were said to boil many of Otrinax's linnorm minions, and the mountains would later provide much-needed land after the apocalyptic Deluge covered much of Materia in demon-infested brine.
Profile: Statues of the Three Sisters in Nurin (illus. Artem Chebokha)
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