A Game of Angels and Devils

Wow the resolution or whatever it's called is shit. Thanks, proboards.

Haha, thanks XD

Oh sorry, I meant to explain in the author's note.

They're characters from Archetypes. From left to right is Melina (Mel), Solan (Sol or Sunny) and Eirian. In "Deathless" I mentioned a political faction known as the Sun Cabal, and while it became popularized by Basil, who also became its figurehead, the group was founded by these three. The original purpose of the Cabal was to bring peace (the party and its ideology was mostly spawned from Eirian's vision and idealism). In the hands of Basil, however, it becomes a tool for prolonging the prejudices that these three sought to eliminate. The sun below the picture is the symbol of the Cabal.

In the lower section, Mel is 8 and Sol and Eirian are 10. In the upper section, they're all in their early twenties. By that time, Sol and Mel have become rather disillusioned (Solan more so than Mel), and rifts begin to form in their little group. Long story short, Eirian gets run through the chest with a glaive and dies (or does he? kukukuku), Solan accidentally tears his soul to shreds on his hunt for the power to make Eirian's vision of the ideal world a reality, and Melina becomes one of the biggest names in the Magical underground/black market, changing her name to Asherah.

And whoever the guy is on the top far right.

Hell yeah.

I don't know man it sounds like you got around 70% of that. You don't give yourself enough credit. XD

WELL YEAH THEY'RE IN THEIR TWENTIES BUT THEN THEY'RE ONLY RELEVANT TO THE PLOT ONCE THEY'VE EITHER BEEN REINCARNATED OR BECOME EVIL. AND BY THAT TIME THEY'RE EITHER 60 OR LIKE 10! CAPS LOCK RAAAAGEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Yeah, I'll be posting bios shortly. I got halfway through them and just kind of bleh. I'll try to finish this weekend.

And yes, that guy on the right would be Eirian. He is, unsurprisingly, a dick.

I think I got lost with the tearing the soul into shreds bit. And yes, I agree; long hair can be an option even in this century, guys. Ya don't have to be a rockstar or a hippie or anything.

I get it now. I was thinking that the upper section was different from the bottom section. In truth, the ones at the top are simply older versions. I was thinking, for some reason, that you forgot to provide names for those 20 year olds.

Long hair can be classy if they just take the time to use shampoo and a comb.

Oh ok the soul shredding thing. I haven't really explained ritual Magic yet, but it deals primarily with the soul. It's the type of Magic Daedarus is fond of, and it has close ties to paganism. It usually involves presenting offerings and contracts to deities (which are really just powerful spirits--"god" is perhaps too strong a term) in return for power or favors. The greatest and most powerful spirit that a Mage can contact through ritual Magic is, well, the Earth (referred to by Dae as the "Mother"). But if you don't make the proper offerings or if you abuse their power, these spirits/deities get really cranky. Dae and Basil both learn this the hard way--Dae is reckless and ends up with a "cracked" soul, and Basil is rude and ends up reincarnated as bird. Solan makes the mistake of trying to perform a ritual designed to connect with the Earth in Mag Mell (also known as Annwn, it's kind of its own world/universe/plane of existence). That turns out to be a really really dumb move. Sol basically gets his soul blown to bits as a result, and in the end loses his Magic.

The side effects of shredding one's soul are, uh, a bit...not good.

With Daedarus it's not quite as bad because after his little fuck up, the Earth takes it upon Herself to "heal" him--very shoddily, I might add. His soul basically ends up held together in a web of Earth Magic. While that may sound cool at first, it really only serves to shield/isolate him from others, resulting in a lack of empathy and the feeling of existing separately from everyone else, as if they are all just fishies in a fishbowl.

Solan isn't so lucky. A considerable chunk of his soul is legitimately /gone/. And Annwn (another name for Mag Mell and, like the "Mother", a powerful spirit) isn't so generous as to "heal" him. Instead, She replaces his Earth-born Magic with her own twisted, foreign Magic (which, while powerful in its own right, has its limitations and unfortunate side effects when paired with a human body). So what we're left with is a dude with a literal hole in his soul, Magic that really doesn't belong on Earth, and a set of crazy, half-baked ideals that he wishes to impose on the world.

Honestly, I think Solan is more deserving of redemption that Dae is (it's impossible to beat Dae's level of dickery), but redeeming someone who has fallen so far past the moral event horizon is a near inhuman feat.

TL;DR: Magic is dangerous, and in the hands of ambitious young idealists results in cosmic horror.

SORRY FOR THE RANT I'M JUST NOT COMFORTABLE WITH PEOPLE NOT UNDERSTANDING THINGS sorry.


Yeah, they are the same on the top and the bottom XD

LOL When I first made Basil I hated him so much XD I took pleasure in stripping him of all dignity. But after writing "Deathless" he really grew on me. He's the butt monkey of all my characters.

GOOD QUESTION!

The Earth couldn't give two shits about conventional morality or basic human decency. To use a poor analogy, if the Earth is the Mother, then Daedarus is the kid who "visits" her most often. He's the favorite child. Magic comes from the Earth, it's not just something that rightfully belongs to a Mage because they're a Mage. Daedarus, unlike most Magi, actually bothered to "thank" the Earth for Her gifts. He's so steeped in rituals that he's almost a part of the Earth himself (well, you know, his soul is).

Also, Solan betrayed the Earth by turning to Annwn. The Mother has no reason to save him.

It should be noted that the Earth Mother is only semi-sentient.