Anthos Orion

Created in the 2021 MYO Kalon event! (Approval)

Edit List:

(nr) Sclera Color, Heterochromia
(s) Hair, Shine, Teeth, Claws
(c) Custom Tail, Longer Fur
(uc) Custom Ears, Pupils, Tongue
(r) Goop, Halos, Extra Eye, Horns

Chosen Prompt: Are there any famous ruins or landmarks? What are they?

Prompt Response:

The Incident occurred on a fair day, at the heart of the once budding city Morsurbem. A city, truly beautiful in it’s prime, which historians believe had been called Terrædem prior to the Incident marring its rich history with despair. It was constantly expanding, yet unlike other modernizing urban centers, it maintained the environment through ecofriendly buildings and transportation. With natural walkways ensuring safe passage for creatures and residents alike, and parks woven through all levels of the city, there was not a single terrace from which you could see no greenery. And by doing so, it thrummed with life and magic, which drew more people in and continued the cycle.

As with all growing cities, there were concerns that expansion would lead them astray and turn their haven into another busy metropolis; nevertheless, the cries were far outweighed by the call for innovation. For better and for worse people were drawn towards the city, and it was founded on the principles of cherishing growth and sharing prosperity, not seclusion and discriminate action. Some modern scholars wonder whether the Incident would’ve still led to the global spread of the Corruption had the city been further along on the industrial scale, and subsequently less connected to the earth. Most take this argument with a grain of salt, as there is no conclusive evidence in favor of or against the argument. While the Incident could have led to global corruption due to the city’s connection to nature spreading the catastrophe, it was more or less equally possible that the Incident’s magical shockwaves were large enough due to the number of mages at the site that it would’ve caused global corruption regardless of its geographic origin.

The truth may never be known, and it wouldn’t change the fact that the Old Council of the Great Cities decided that Terrædem alone would host the awards ceremony for accomplished mages that year. All of the best magic users, from alchemists to rune masters to elemental mages to the newfound students of sorcery, were brought together in one place to celebrate new discoveries and other accomplishments. However, it was much more than just a ceremony. Every year it was hosted by a new city and was supplemented with a massive festival which turned the surrounding area into a magical hotspot unlike any other. Mages of all skill levels were invited to visit the city and attend the festivities, from witnessing the ceremony and subsequent seminars and discussion panels, to hosting booths and building connections between different guilds.

The festival at Terrædem that year had been the largest in recorded history and could’ve been a crowning achievement for the city and modern development alike, had sorcery not also been at its peak and condensed into the same area. Not much is known about what happened that day, because as far as everyone had been aware the morning of, everything was normal. Historians eventually discovered that the final letter from the occupants had been sent out by raven three hours prior to the Incident, detailing a young mage’s excitement at meeting other apprentices studying the craft of wand making.

All the same, that afternoon, a magical incident of mass proportions would desolate the surrounding area, turning it from a haven into a wasteland that marked ground zero for the Corruption. The Earth was instantaneously mutilated and darkened to an inky black, with the land itself turning voracious and promising tragedy for anything that dared enter. Once said to shine like gold underneath the green shrubbery, it now resembled a void bathed in blood red ink. From the void black tendrils emerged and reached out to surrounding lands, often draining them of their magic and life, if not feeding dark magic through the roots to spread its influence.

Eventually forces were scrambled together to block the spread, and the ruins of Terrædem were reclaimed as Morsurbem, the city of death.

Subsequently, monuments in honor of the lives lost were constructed in each of the cities with citizens who perished. A tree made of gold and silver veined white marble, with a leaf inscribed with the names of those lost. Included in this were the names of the First Corrupted, as initially it was believed that these individuals were cursed so as to be dead. Over time all of the names faded as the statues were chipped and weather worn, but Anthos will always remember how his name was carved: fine cursive, with a rich golden inlay on one of the select black marble leaves. He, like many others, had taken the leaf off.

His form was corrupted, that much was true, but that didn’t make him any less himself. The statues were a balm for those not in attendance that day, and a scathing slap to the face for those who had and survived. And survivors they were, left devastated in the wake of the Incident, with their close friends and family either massacred or unable to look them in the eyes anymore. It drove some to true madness, unable to cope with their own transformation let alone the controversy surrounding it. The rest bound together over time, unconsciously drifting towards those who knew what they were going through, until they formed their own society in secret.

They build their own monument eventually, in the outskirts of Morsurbem; just close enough that no one from the outside world will bother them, but far enough away from the city that they can easily combat the surges from the corruption. It was bitter at first, living so close to the place where their old lives ended. But they decided to reclaim it, as a place where they survived, against all odds. And so, they built their own tree, of nature and magic, as a living reminder of what they fight for.
Centuries saw the rest of the world adapting to the corruption, and eventually they didn’t seem so strange anymore. Rather, they seemed powerful. Knowledgeable. Useful. They had a place in society, and gradually they left. One by one, scattering across the world, though keeping in touch with one another. And what they left behind was a colossal tree, filled to the brim with magic strong enough to combat the corruption without the aid of anyone else. A testament to time, to sacrifice, and to success against all odds.

Chosen Prompt: Does magic exist? Describe it and it’s limits.

Prompt Response:

Before the global corruption, magic was essentially pure energy. It could be manipulated for use in all areas of life with little cost save for tiredness, though most magical people were naturally inclined towards a particular type and thus had limitations regarding what they could do. Elemental mages had talent in the natural arts, from the four basic elements to variants including storm, sand, metal, and so forth. Some were precision based, working as masons or architects, while others prioritized strength and the ability to showcase their skills, usually becoming entertainers or artists. Alchemists were the best in the land at drawing out the natural magics found in plants and animals alike; as a result they were often the best potioneers one could find. From tonics to poisons to boons, every step from start to finish involved finely mixing magics together into the final product; even the slightest miscalculation could spell disaster or otherwise weaken the intended effects.

Though there are a wide variety of specialized mages, there are broader categories too. Conjurers for example only had the requirement of being able to create with magic, while summoners simply needed to form a bond to any creature(s), of this plane or another. Whether this came with the ability to utilize their skills in conjecture with their own was up to the individual. And although similar to conjurers, a wizard’s magic was founded on spells. Also known for using tools such as wands more frequently, they have the additional ability to cast long lasting or delayed start spells including curses. Rune masters were technically a subsect of wizards, though they prefer to be identified by their mastery more so than their general branch of magic much like the masters of other branches.

At the end of the day, before the corruption, the only real limitations to developing your magic were time and health; it once took years to build up reserves and required one to be of sound mind and body to maintain any magical act. Now, it is only required for one to do a magical act safely. The corruption swept through the land, infecting every plant and creature in some way. Even areas appearing untouched by dark magic have it festering underneath the surface; in modern times, it’s described in levels, from the highest being alpha contamination to the lowest being zeta contamination. It made the art of potions all the more difficult in the initial decades post-Corruption, not to mention casting spells when every individual was corrupted to an unknown degree near impossible. It gave strength to everything you did but came at the price of changing the outcome, and the more corrupted you were the worse the alternate outcome was.

Sorcery, the cause of all the complications within magic as it once was, was originally discovered by a magicless individual attempting to become a wizard through sheer willpower. However, wizards had an inherent magical ability; they didn’t suddenly decide to learn magic, it was already a part of them. Instead, the original sorcerer stumbled upon an untapped, external source of magic. No descriptions of the original source survived, but it is presumed to have been an inky cloud, staying low on the surface. It would’ve killed everything within range as it absorbed all of the magic. In exchange for its power, it turned the first sorcerer into its host, allowing it to expand its influence from host to host, region to region, continent by continent. Its only limitation is the quantity and quality of the magic it consumes, which dictate the strength and outcome of magical acts.

Chosen Prompt: What power would they want, and why?
Prompt Response:

If you had asked when he was young, he’d have had a million different answers. “Everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. Right now, I believe that the ability to [manipulate chance…fill anything…alter personal stats…] would be the best choice based upon the idea that…”

However now, there is only one answer he would give, because it is the only power that could save him. The ability to turn back time. Not to observe, not to learn, but to change the series of decisions that will forever haunt him. Although he has accepted that it wasn’t entirely his fault, and that even without his contributions the Corruption would’ve still occurred, he longed for the chance to do it all over with his memories intact.

If he could only return to the very beginning, before he even allowed himself to witness sorcery in action, then he could approach the magical authorities with all the evidence against sorcery stored within his mind. It would be hard to believe, but memories spanning centuries are near impossible to fake, let alone the mental and emotional repercussions he has experienced as a result. He couldn’t remember what it felt like to be whole, uncorrupted. Nothing was the same, yet time cannot prevent him from missing the way things were, even as it stole the memories from him bit by bit.

Though truth be told, he’d be grateful to be able to go back to any moment before the Incident which led to the global Corruption, at least a few days if not months. Neither would be long enough to prevent the corruption from occurring, but both opportunities would offer plenty of time to save those he once held dear, and perhaps prevent the Incident at Morsurbem from happening. If it hadn't occurred, the corruption wouldn't have had the ability to spread across the world in a handful days.

A few months—if only he could go back to those few months prior—and he could save the world and himself from so much pain. The world would’ve had time to adjust to the corruption without the catastrophe at Morsurbem spreading it unprecedently fast. They could’ve adapted to be stronger than it, to resist it, or, in his wildest dreams, to destroy it at its source.

A few days, and well, the world would’ve still been taken to front of the line at deaths door, but he could’ve at least saved his heart the loss of everyone he cared about the most. Perhaps it was a selfish thought, but he reasoned that since he prioritized travelling back further, the desire to travel back just far enough to protect them was a fair one. He’s given so much to the world after all, surely more than he’s taken by now. And it was him who led them to all be there, in that place, at that time. His great accomplishments in magical study, that don’t seem important at all anymore.

So, although his choice of power may not be solely altruistic, he doesn’t have it in him to care. What’s wrong with desiring something just for himself after all, particularly that which he can never have.