Aerodyne
Aerodyne are blessed spiritual beings and are what the Teraphim were to Aschea. Most often found serving as messengers across the Spirit Realm, some of these wayward songbirds find their way into the material world, or otherwise are individuals formerly of other races that find themselves blessed by Koretheia for one reason or another.
Origins[edit]
Once upon a time, there was Aschea, one of the Pantheon's Ten. She, the Overseer of the Spirit Realm, manifested in the material world to intervene against the act of a witches' coven in Moonfall, centuries ago, and the villagers living in the forest where the tragedies took place flocked to the Primordial's aid. The villagers who had been subjugated by the witches for so long ventured into the woods to meet the conflict, and it is said that it was there where they found the great spirit bloodied, but still fighting. Most of the Coven had been forced back, but the wounds upon Aschea were proving to be more than she could handle. The villagers rose up against the witches in order to defend the spirit who had come to save them, but their numbers began to dwindle with each wave of shadows they had to face. In a final moment of desperation, Aschea gave her last blessings to the Moonfallen who had come to her aid, many of whom were lying in their own death beds amidst the twisted woods. With her light now within them, the Moonfallen who would have otherwise perished rose again, and found that they had gained the power necessary to finish the job. These Moonfallen, druids and human villagers alike, were able to free their home of the witchcraft that had held it hostage for so long. Those who were born anew with Aschea’s breath discovered their physiology changed. With skin pale white, occasionally tinted with a natural hue of green or blue, these children of the Overseer called themselves Teraphim, and with the blessings of their Mother Aschea they vowed that their new kingdom, dubbed Myllenoris, would never again fall to darkness, marking themselves as its spiritual protectors and hunters of the night.
With the passing of the centures, the Teraphim are no longer found across Eternia so easily. With the light of Aschea having waned over the centuries that passed, these ethereal children of the dead Primordial are as much a tale as the one who forged them. These tales, however, do not remain forgotten. A brave, resonant soul found the last vestiges of Aschea's essence, and these vestiges found her to be a suited heir to take up the vacant domain. Azalea Aubreen, imbued with the power of the Primordial's remaining essence, gave shape to new beings, a counterpart to the Teraphim of eld; messenger birds that would help her maintain the health of the Spirit Realm in the days to come, now named Aerodyne.
When Azalea Aubreen was reborn as Koretheia with the help of the rebellious act of Athelios, many such songbirds found their way out of the Aery, located in the newly reformed Vale of Forgiving Light, to the material world. Some few individual Aerodyne had already existed by then, shaped by the hand of Azalea before she had ascended to her seat in the Pantheon.
Physiology[edit]
The Aerodyne are imbued with similar, though not quite the same, blessings as their nigh-extinct counterpart. Much like the Teraphim, they are said to have a heart not of blood and tissue, but of crystal. This core is both fueled by and generates the spiritual energy Koretheia's messengers are capable of tapping into, some of the more adept of their kind capable of using this power to commune with the flow of the world around them. The art of Wayfinding comes easier to the songbirds along with other capabilities that would relate to the world unseen by most mortal races.
The Aerodyne, much like their predecessors, possess a certain longevity as thanks to their spiritual origins. As they exceed their prime, they begin to 'grow out of their flesh' and view the world through the soul rather than the mortal senses, becoming more spirit than man despite their decelerated ageing upon reaching maturity. Physically, they appear as largely human, though they possess miniature feathery bird wings that protrude from both sides of their head, as well as a bird-like tail on their lower back. This does not give them an inherent ability to fly, interestingly enough, though some eventually do learn how to use the wings and tail in order to stay afloat.
There is no one particular way to characterize the typical Aerodyne. However, following in the wake of their Mother, most songbirds are prone to be caring, compassionate individuals, wandering across lands to heal and mend people - physically and spiritually. The Aerodyne have a natural affinity for spiritmancy. Through their headwings, they can hear into the Spirit Realm, making communication with spirits a natural talent of the whole people.
Having inherited those crystal hearts from the Teraphim, the Aerodyne are most prone to dedicating their heart to one special individual. Once they couple with another, their crystal heart spiritually attunes with them and forms a heightened bond. If they lose that person, a piece of their heart is also lost (quite literally), instilling physical and spiritual damage. The damage is permanent, and there are no recorded cases of an Aerodyne with a broken heart loving romantically ever again. The Aerodyne do not develop romantic relationships quickly, as a result of this risk.
Reproduction[edit]
The Aerodyne do not produce many children, as a rule. More often than not, these traits appear as a result of spiritual blessings rather than traits inherited through blood. However, Aerodyne do have Aerodyne children. Couplings of Aerodyne and non-Aerodyne can produce Aerodyne children, however those cases are quite rare and seen as a blessing. More often than not, children born from such pairs are more likely to have partial physical traits of a songbird, or simply entirely bear the heritage of the non-Aerodyne parent.
Religion[edit]
To most Aerodyne, it comes natural to worship Koretheia and the religion surrounding Her, typically simply referred to as Harmony. The religion is largely upheld in the vassal-state of Delphina, Arcadia, which is now the holy site for most of the newly-minted Primordial's works, as well as the home for most of Her creations. Such worship often focuses on embodying the Spring Maiden's domains of Balance, Spring and Renewal, promoting compassion and love in order to grant repentant people second chances, and to grant those corrupted and stained by the Fel a new beginning.
The idea of Harmony centers around offering new beginnings so as to promote Spring, and in so doing maintaining the spiritual health and balance of the world as a whole. Tending to the wounds of the Lifestream and disruptions of its flow as caretakers of the world's health, those faithful understand that to heal the world they must heal individuals who inhabit it, as well. It is because of that logic that a heavy emphasis on redemption is found, theologically and culturally, amongst those who follow the ideal of Harmony.
Community and companionship are incredibly important for the faithful of Koretheia, finding these bonds to strengthen them against the temptations of the dark and to prepare them for the arduous journeys that often follow the compassionate souls with a mission to heal the world. The Aerodyne themselves are seen as blessed by most faithful and they are quite commonly found wandering all corners of Eternia to spread their Mother's message of love and renewal.
The organized priesthood dedicated to Harmony and the worship of the Maiden of Spring is named the Choir of Joy, with the Atrium of the White serving as the main religious center as well as temple. The members of the Choir of Joy are often called songbirds, irrespective of the fact whether such a member is Aerodyne or not.
The Vale of Forgiving Light[edit]
Within the Exalted realm of Vanaheim, at its heights, there lies the vaunted domain of the new Goddess. Formed from the remaining shards of Aschea's seat, the reforged Vale of Forgiving Light serves as a home to Koretheia in the Spirit Realm. As majestic as one can imagine a vale within Vanaheim to be, it is a place of utmost beauty, where many former Teraphim spirits flock to the once more thriving domain, even if in new colours. Birdsongs and sounds of woodland nature are abound within the Maiden of Spring's home. It is a vast domain, with one of its locations notably known amongst mortal being as the Aery; the place where spirits that call the Vale flock together. Young and unshaped, it is Koretheia who tends to them and cares for them, and in the passing of time, as they grow more attached to their new home, they come to be more and more shaped by the Goddess' blessings. Beyond the Aery, there is the Golden Meadow, the place where the newly-awakened Primordial lay dormant upon rebirth. Now, the Meadow is a place for celebrations and festivities within the Vale.
Though most might view the Spirit Realm as a stagnant place of rest, the Vale certainly feels alive and colourful in many ways. It is not merely a place of rest for the spirits of the Goddess' most favoured individuals, but also to many wayward spirits, elementals and wisps that find themselves inclined to Her domains.
The Rite of Rebirth[edit]
More often than not, this rite that brings about rebirth as one of the Aerodyne is done to those who are on the death's bed. Koretheia offers a mercy and a new beginning to those misfortunate, dying individuals as one of her own flock. Such individuals carry a crystalline mark on their new heart that takes on the shape of some manner of flower. The specific type of flower is more often than not somehow symbolically tied to the subject's virtue. However, some people seek out the rite to be performed on them of their own volition, for various reasons. In such cases, these people are bid to put together their own crystalline heart that would, after the rite, serve as their cores. Such a task involves the delicate balance and understanding of the boundaries between physical and spiritual, requiring those who undergo it to go on a journey that explores the relationship between one's self and the world around them.
Whichever reason it happens for, all those who undergo the rite enter a sort of cocoon upon its completion for a certain period of time. This cocoon, wrapped in vines and kept safe within the Vale, is what attunes them and resonates them with the spiritual essence and direct blessings of the Maiden of Spring. Eventually, they hatch and return to the material world bearing their newfound form.
Backgrounds[edit]
One might consider there are precisely two manners of Aerodyne; those who are blessed directly and reborn anew as Aerodyne from their former shells, or wayward spirits who grow into the form of an Aerodyne and sometimes end up in the material world. The Aerodyne themselves scarcely believe these distinctions to be important, yet nevertheless one often finds them notable enough as important reasons for why certain Aerodyne carry themselves the way they do.
The Spirit-Blessed[edit]
The Spirit-Blessed are those Aerodyne that find themselves reborn as Aerodyne in life. There are many reasons for which Koretheia may have granted these souls Her blessings, but what unites all of them is that they are more in tune with the physical world and material needs that come with such a life, thanks to having already lived for a while before their new becoming. This often results in them teaching their Vale-originated counterparts, and these moments of teaching often serve as a source of bonding between the two groups. Physiologically and spiritually, they are no different.
The Aery-Forged[edit]
To have roamed the Vale as a spirit is to know the vast beauty and splendor that Koretheia's domains cover. Sometimes, such spirits stick around in the Vale and come to call it their home, as well. With a home come duties, however, and it is these wayward, whimsical spirits that come to serve as the Primordial's messengers across the vast Spirit Realm. Their home is the Aery, and the more time these spirits spend there, the more they take on the shape of an Aerodyne. However, in their travels between worlds of the Spirit Realm, they do take on the shapes of various birds that resonate with them most.
Culture[edit]
For the most part, the only center of Aerodyne population is Arcadia, and thus most cultural phenomena of the songbirds reflect Arcadia's own. More often than not, however, they do possess otherworldly qualities and certainly oddities, thanks to the fact that they are naturally lending an ear to the spirits across vast distances, being able to hear as far as into the Spirit Realm itself. Often, the Aery-forged in particular come into existence already as adults, yet strangely lacking in worldly experience and fundamental knowledge of the reality around them. Though sometimes mistaken for childishness, such an incongruity more often makes these Vale-originated songbirds to appear lost and rather air-headed. There are some particular ways in which all Aerodyne stand out from others.
The Dreaming[edit]
All Aerodyne are naturally attuned to the spiritual, and are capable of hearing into the Spirit Realm. This reflects on their dreams heavily. Sometimes, the tales the spirits whisper to them in their sleep are so vivid, that the mind conjures a dream that makes one relive those tales as though they are one's own memories. These experiences can range from downright horrifying and sad to joyous and uplifting, but they are all, as a rule, enlightening in some shape or form. The phenomenon is known amongst the Aerodyne as the Dreaming, and for anyone who finds themselves experiencing it is considered to be favoured by the spirits. Rare are the Aerodyne for whom such vivid dreams come on almost regular occasion.
The Wandering[edit]
Though the home of the Aerodyne is almost certainly Arcadia, that does not mean they are all found exclusively there. Birds are wont to fly from their nests as they grow, and the Aerodyne are no exception. It is for this reason that it is quite common to find wayward songbirds traveling the roads of Meranthe and beyond, learning about the world and finding new experiences to fall in love with. To the songbirds themselves, the period of the Wandering is very much akin to a pilgrimage, though it is not uncommon for such periods of time to bear a secular purpose rather than a religious mission.
Most Aerodyne eventually find their way back to the nest, though some instead begin to spread their roots and build nests in those new places they find for themselves. Those who find wanderlust calling are never shunned, and as a whole the songbirds maintain a positive outlook on those who decide to build their own nests, as well. In spreading throughout the lands, this young people continues to grow further into its place as messengers; after all, these distant, separated communities often stay in touch, through magical means and Chireus' couriers.
Relics[edit]
New to the world, the Aerodyne as a people do not have that many relics to claim as theirs. Nevertheless, as young as their history is, there are some particular examples that stand out, already.
The Promisekeeper's Vow[edit]
This titanic edifice of a vow made manifest only yields to those true of heart and true of mind - only one willing to sacrifice everything in the name of redemption, for oneself, for others, or for the world, may find any success in shifting its seemingly infinite weight. Wielded by the first Aerodyne, Dawn de La Croix, this sword representing the vows suited for the most faithful of the Maiden of Spring bears the pain and tales of those who suffered in the name of healing and redemption. It has future tales yet in store, for whosoever takes it out of its resting place within the Atrium of the White shall bear those vows anew.
Skill Tree (OOC)[edit]
- Essence Strike: Teleports 10 tiles in front, dealing heavy damage to the enemy if they're in the path.
- Crystal Heart: For 15s, the caster gains 5% AP and heals 3x power every 3s.
-10 RPP discount on Spirit Magic.