House of Aetos
The Undercroft! We have spoken a little about this place before. The most savage area of the Obsidian Wail is the source of corruption that plagues The Obsidian Wail. Once, when the world was young, The Undercroft was where civilization started in the Obsidian Wail. We will talk about this more when these posts describe the world's landmarks. Important things to know moving forward are the following:
Lilith lived in the Undercroft in a fortified city known as Argentum before the curse befell The Obsidian Wail.
One of Lilith's most significant failures was her inability to stop the spread of corruption that started in Argentum.
An ancient spell cast in The Sacred Glade sealed off Argentum and the trees of blood from spreading further through the forest. It slowed the corruption from spreading, but (spoilers) led to multiple geysers breaking from the mountains.
The spell sealed off the original flow of corruption around Argentum, known as the Moirai Torrent. Three more streams of darkness now flow from Bloodcrest Peaks.
First was Nona's Vein, a waterfall to the west dammed off to form the Crimson Nexus around Erebus. Second, the River of Lachesis flows north into the ocean, giving the Violet Sea its purple hue. Finally, the Atropos Whirlpool is a violent pool of water from underneath the Undercroft. The water flooded the once majestic Argentum into a nightmarish swamp.
The Undercroft was considered holy ground by the Nyxaris family. Therefore, it was considered an uninhabitable space for a few reasons. One reason was the towering, jagged obsidian peaks of Bloodcrest were virtually impossible to traverse. The spell that created them shifts the landscape frequently and encloses all of the Undercroft. The only known entry into the Undercroft now was through the Caverns of Devotion.
Doloma Aetos
Doloma is the son of arguably the greatest swordsman to ever stand in the Obsidian Wail. The man's name was DJ, and he was born in Luna. His story is tied to Althea and Emeric, a tale for another day. We are here for Doloma; what matters is a fallout with the Twilight Orthodoxy caused DJ to rethink life. DJ, one of their greatest warriors, was forced to flee into a mountain range with his teenage daughter and newborn son. DJ fled into the Caverns of Devotion, seeking a place where his children could never be found. He succeeded and emerged in the Undercroft.
In this treacherous swamp, Doloma grew up with his father and elder sibling, Aeon. Survival in the Undercroft was a constant battle. Everything in the Undercroft had evolved and mutated from prolonged exposure to the sanguine waters. The Atropos Whirlpool gradually turned most of the land into an uninhabitable marsh. DJ's solution to the weak ground foundations was to build dozens of tree houses throughout the Undercroft. The Atropos Whirlpool corrupted every creature infested by its corruption differently.
Most things just went insane and consumed the water like a drug they craved endlessly. Others mutated into hulking behemoths like Doloma's favorite thing, Carbon, a giant mutated bull Doloma had befriended in youth. The Arborant were sentient trees that infested the forest floor and were rabid, tearing prey apart without thought. Giant spiders (Dolomas least favorite) had evolved to be half the size of Carbon and would infest a tree house if not maintained regularly.
By the time Doloma was a teenager, he had already spent over a decade fighting off the many dangers of the Undercroft with his family. While many would never survive a day in the Undercroft, it was the only world Doloma ever knew. To Doloma, fighting monstrosities was just part of life, and life was perfect. Sure, things were hard, and any day could be his last, but Doloma had his family, and things were great.
DJ taught Aeon and Doloma everything he knew to help them survive the harsh environment. Over two decades, DJ and his children built a sprawling tree house network through the southern section of trees. From this vantage point, the Aetos family lived like the world outside the Undercroft was a dream. Doloma admired his father for the strong presence he had been in his life.
When "She" appeared, the necromancer, everything changed for Doloma. DJ was a heroic figure, always charging into battle with a smile. Doloma inherited this stalwart trait from his father. Yet, even the first time the frail woman met with his father, he knew something wasn't right about her. The woman appeared to remind DJ that his presence in this forest was due to a deal they had made, and she was here to collect on the bargain. DJ refused to explain to his children the agreement that was struck.
Doloma fought against the decision that his father would surrender himself freely to the woman simply at her request. With good intentions and confidence in their abilities, Doloma convinced Aeon to attempt a rescue of their father. They forced their way into a modest tower made of the dark obsidian that encased the trees. Perhaps if the frail woman had been the only concern, the pair would have succeeded in locating their father.
What they found instead that night haunts Doloma. He had fought monsters in the Undercroft his entire life but was unprepared to fight against his idol and the feral beast in a human body that fought beside him. A foolish moment of sentimental hesitation by Doloma nearly condemned Aeon and himself to the same terrifying fate as his father. Doloma couldn't bring himself to kill the thing that might be his father.
Aeon had told Doloma they were allowed to leave the tower; they should have died that night. Neither of them had seen that woman before the night she appeared at their home, and Aeon wished never to see her again. The siblings returned to their tree home, and as the trees wept torrents of red around them, Aeon told Doloma they must leave the Undercroft. DJ had always known that something like this could happen at any time, but he never explained to them why. So Aeon and Doloma knew the only way to leave the Undercroft was the way Aeon and DJ had decades ago. They must enter the Caverns of Devotion.
It was a simple plan in theory, but in the twenty years they had spent in the Undercroft, Aeon had never seen the entrance again. Aeon instructed the destruction of the tree houses before they left the Undercroft, which Doloma thought was a rash decision. Leaving their home was hard enough. Doloma was crushed when he said goodbye to Carbon. He had formed a bond with the demon bull and shed a few tears the day he set the creature free.
Their journey began to the north, where Aeon remembered first entering the Undercroft. They started their journey across the mountain wall from the ruins of Argentum. Weeks were spent traversing across the mountain wall until, broken and bereft of hope, they finally stumbled across a cave entrance much less decorative than the one they arrived in. They entered the cave together, and Doloma would exit alone.
Doloma had lost all sense of how much time he spent in the cavernous halls or the exact moment he lost track of Aeon. Some form of sorcery suffocated every form of illumination in the caverns. More irritating was that when Doloma needed rest every so often, he would find a dimly lit wall covered in mushrooms and moss. Refusing to die in a cave, Doloma would eat the mushrooms while cuddling against the dim light, cramming himself in the moss-covered ledges that were surprisingly comfortable. Doloma would then wake up on the floor in the dark once more, and the cycle would continue the next day.
The cycle continued hundreds of times until Doloma had long forgotten anything besides his existence in the cave. Doloma lowered his head upon a mossy ledge one evening like he had many times before. Expecting to awake in the dark, Doloma's eyes widened in shock as he awoke under the canopies of the Umbra Arborum. This section of the Obsidian Wail was much like the Undercroft minus the whirlpool that flooded the ground. The terrain was easy to acclimate to for Doloma.
A few days after being expelled from the caverns, Doloma encountered a band of soldiers who were about ten swords strong. This was more people than Doloma had seen in his entire life, and when they began to demand things from him, they crossed a line. Doloma effortlessly unarmed the closest soldier to him and, with the sword, cleaved two more dead before they could react. Having zero understanding of society outside of his family, Doloma didn't know it was the person in the silk vest and slick hair he should have watched closely.
When Doloma awoke the next time, he was chained and pulled to an audience with the man in the silk vest. The request was simple: Doloma would serve Lucian Nyxaris as a member of his royal guard or die. During the scuffle in the forest, Lucian subdued Doloma with abilities he had witnessed in the frail woman's tower months prior. It was more out of interest than perseverance in his life that Doloma agreed to become Lucian's right hand.
Over time, Doloma witnessed an entirely different life than his tree house paradise inside the Undercroft. Lucian, it would turn out, was not very liked, even in his own home. The servants in the castle's lower floors would often snicker and mock Lucian in the shadows. Chefs would tell malicious and terrible jokes about a broken, chastised wolf. It took Doloma weeks to realize these jokes were made at Lucian's expense. Doloma learns Lucian is a kind soul, and kindness is seen as a weakness in Erebus. Lucian earned Doloma's respect slowly as they spent long nights working in Lucian's study.
Before Ava arrived in Erebus, Doloma might have been Lucian's only friend. Adriana pretended to care for Lucian, but both men had heard the whispers in the hall. As Lucian's right hand, Doloma has spent the last few years trying to discover what happened to his sister Aeon. Doloma never once thought his elder sister could have succumbed to the cave or the new world he was becoming accustomed to.
When Doloma learns of a dark assassin with a bow who has begun to gain notoriety in Erebus, he immediately knows this is Aeon. A lot has happened in the years since the cave. Deep in his heart, Doloma was overjoyed hearing Aeon's deeds as she carved a reputation as a monster hunter. However, Doloma and Lucian bonded over the years that Doloma last saw Aeon. If Aeon was a Guardian of Gaia, their reunion might be a bloody endeavor.
Aeon Aetos
Aeon admires the innocence of her sheltered little brother, who grew up with a demon cow as a pet. Life with her family in a demonic swamp was a pretty sweet deal for Aeon. She was left alone to shoot things as she quickly dashed through the trees of the Undercroft. Within a few years in the demonic swamp, Aeon had become a master archer. Her aim was perfect, and downing rampaging creatures became second nature to her. The life Aeon's father had built for them was far more enjoyable than the court balls of her youth. Aeon thought Doloma was fortunate not to have memories of Luna or their mother.
Ophelia Aetos was a member of the Lunar Court first, and the family image was everything. Whenever DJ was away fighting for the Twilight, all Ophelia's attention fell upon her young daughter. This was Aeon, who grew up to be a successor to her mother as an adviser to the Queen. Luna society puts great importance on the quality and lineage of a name, and one spoiled fruit could destroy the whole tree. Ophelia often reminded Aeon she was a rotten fruit to be cast aside.
To keep the family image perfect, Ophelia dressed Aeon in iridescent dresses like other daughter sheep of the court. Aeon hated being weighed down by frilly, puffy dresses that made her look like a marshmallow. Aeon couldn't move in those things. She preferred simple outfits that allowed her arms and legs to move freely.
When DJ told Aeon it was time to leave the capital, she didn't complain much as she wasn't invested in being an advisor in the Lunar Court. When Aeon realized her mother was not aboard the ship, she became furious with her father. Aeon didn't understand then why her father decided to leave that night by ship under an auspicious boat known as the Eclipse. Her father robbed her of the choice that night. Her parents often sinned, forcing a choice on Aeon.
The voyage to the Obsidian Wail was the first time Aeon had been on the Violet Sea, and the trip was splendid. Nearly ten minutes after arriving in Mors Luna Metus, Aeon killed her first living creature, a fish with fangs as big as her forearm. They didn't stay in the fortified city for long as DJ pulled the children into the forest. Arriving at their location, a decorative entrance into the Caverns of Devotion, Aeon was in awe. The runes carved in the wall seemed to glow silver against the rocky surface as they passed them. Next thing Aeon knew, she was standing in the Undercroft.
Aeon's life instantly changed from a young girl being groomed to be a "lady" to a trained soldier with a bow. Over the next two decades, she would help her father raise her younger sibling in the nightmare of the Undercroft. She helped her father build the tree houses. Aeon helped Doloma tame and feed his pet, Carbon. Life was perfect in their hellscape away from the world.
However, unlike her younger sibling, Aeon knows why they had fled from Luna; she was there when the deal was made. Therefore, Aeon wasn't surprised when a lady from the past came to have a discussion and make demands of her father. Aeon couldn't bring herself to crush the idol in her brother's eyes, so she agreed to the rescue plan. She knew the plan would be a disaster but loved her brother and followed along.
Doloma was determined to rescue their father and fought his way into the obsidian tower that screamed "fuck off." Aeon had spent the last twenty years tracking and slaying beasts in the Undercroft; the image of those creatures docile and organized scared her. Aeon knew right away that if something could control the beast, that was not a person they wanted to disturb. Yet, here she was, following her younger brother into a tower of death.
Doloma fought with an unbound determination to "rescue" their father. It started decent enough that the pair were able to find their father. They weren't expecting the rabid creature that wore their father's skin, and they were even less prepared for the crazed monster with eyes like sanguine orbs. Doloma would have to fight the two warriors alone.
Aeon had her hands full rapidly, releasing arrows at the creatures pouring in from the walls, and they appeared to bleed out of the stone. There was no time for Aeon to help Doloma against the crazed pair of fighters. When Aeon ran out of arrows, she bludgeoned monsters till her bow snapped. Then Aeon turned to face the fragile woman who had visited her father.
With her brother fighting on the platform below, Aeon thrust a pair of daggers into the heart of the mystery woman. The woman did not react, only a blank stare of indifference as Aeon pulled the daggers from the heart, instinctively stepping back for distance. Aeon's eyes were trained to focus on her prey, not on the blood coating her daggers.
The mystic woman's blood coating the blade shot forward like a spike puncturing Aeon's wrist, and now searing pain traveled up her arm. There was no time to scream before the pain exploded into her mind, sending vivid nightmares into Aeon's conscious mind. Horrifying visions of a massive scaled creature with wings devouring entire civilizations in a never-ending hunger. When the hallucinations ceased, Aeon was alone and ordered Doloma to retreat.
Passage out of the tower was effortless. If Aeon and Doloma had not survived what they had just done, they would swear the structure was abandoned to time. Each sibling left the tower with their perspective of the world shattered. Aeon ordered the destruction of their tree house home and for them to leave the Undercroft. Convincing Doloma that their father commanded her, they journeyed towards the Caverns of Devotion. Aeon traveled through decades before.
It took them a month to find an entrance into the mountain, and in that time, Aeon had gained a hunger. Since the night in the mystic's tower, Aeon had been slowly gaining an uncontrollable desire that she couldn't understand. Disgustingly, the only thing that stopped the pain was drinking the water from the Atropos Whirlpool. Doloma was used to Aeon keeping a distance, and Aeon hid the changes in her body well.
They entered the Cavern of Devotion together, but soon Aeon would leave her brother. It was a conscious choice she made to protect him. Her hunger was growing, and her flask had long run dry; she would die in a cave alone before harming her brother. Aeon had faith that her brother would survive in the world without her. It pained her to decide to leave Doloma, but she walked alone into the darkness.
Aeon was determined to let the hunger consume her in the caves of darkness and wither away in pain. Her body burned from the pain as hunger contorted her senses. Aeon pointed the very dagger she pierced the mystic with against her chest. Aeon accepted her fate, closed her eyes, and plunged the blade deep, aiming for her heart.
When the dagger broke into her flesh, the cavern floor below Aeon crumbled away, sending her into a free fall. Silver light blinded Aeon as she fell into a large circular chamber thousands of feet from the ground. Always observant, Aeon quickly noticed trees with silver canopies that shimmered under magical (Aeon hopes) moonlight. Carved in the rock, a grand temple rivaling any Luna palace. A mighty waterfall rushed from the temple's archway, feeding a river below. Plunging into the spiraling crimson river, Aeon surged uncontrollably through the rushing waters.
Aeon fights the current to the surface only to be pushed back down until her hand breaks the water line and is grasped firmly. The woman who pulled Aeon from the river radiated with a pale silver glow. Her dull blue eyes shimmered with silver vapor, and her hair was a shade of the moon shining above them. As beautiful as the woman was, Aeon froze at the sight of the scaled creature beside her savior. Any citizen of Luna would recognize the winged snake creature that now curled up the woman's body to rest on their shoulder.
"That's a fucking dragon!" Childhood lessons given to Aeon by her mother overrode Aeon's instinct to flee. She just gasped at the tiny thing the Twilight Orthodoxy worshiped as gods. Aeon chuckled at the absurdity of it all as the oversized winged gecko whispered in the woman's ear.
"We prefer Myrilandel." Myrilandel's voice was soft, bringing serenity to each syllable. The chorus of pain that exploded through Aeon's body was not gentle, and her screams echoed through the chamber. A corruption was growing within Aeon, and removing it was the worst pain Aeon had ever felt.
Yello Madlings, I meant this to be a simple introduction to Doloma and Aeon, but I decided to discuss the "bigger picture" here briefly. The world is coming together, and I am using the new character Legos to hint at what is coming.
Doloma and Aeon are not characters I ever role-played, so I have been excited to talk about them for a while. These characters are mildly inspired by people I know, and I built them specifically for this world. It took me five months to get the name "Doloma," and asking for a detailed backstory was impossible, even for a wish spell. They were enjoyable to build up and change as the world shifted in the past year.
Here is an update on what I am working on. Next, we will talk about Alcmene, Atius, and Aurora. Next week, we will introduce new lore about the particular resistance group that roams the Obsidian Wail. Then, in weeks to come, we will cross the Violet Sea and begin exploring the Skar Collective and its seven members.
Also, I am following the advice of some wonderful Madlings and will post once a week so I can focus on life and not burn out as I try to be a dad and world-building. I love working on my universe here, so content will keep coming till we can start writing stories in our world.
Thank you, as always, for reading my little corner of the internet. I apologize for the slower schedule. Please enjoy the bonus art as I beg your forgiveness. Blessed be Madlings.
