Alkaios

Alkaios was an angel created by a deity of music. As a young angel, they were ever curious about anything they could get their hands on, whether that be instruments, like they were encouraged to take up, or other forms of artwork. They have a talent for magic, but were never terribly interested in learning to fight, only to create beautiful things like flowers. However, ever since a very young age, they've been intrigued by the humans made by the creator. Everyone in the heavens had an opinion on humans; a majority of divines and deities disliked them, some even going as far as to rally hatred against them. They claimed that the humans did nothing but ruin the world they had cherished and taken care of with their overuse of the crystals. The waning prayers from humans were deemed blasphemous and unforgiveable by most, but this never wavered Alkaios's curiosity.

It wasn't easy to slip out from the heavens undetected, but Alkaios found a way. They began to visit human villages in the far north, hiding away undetected with an enchantment to live amongst them. Everything was so different for humans, and they longed to experience it firsthand.

Alkaios devised a plan to come into the humans' good graces. A certain young man had caught their eye; a handsome alchemist. They floundered for a while on how to reveal themself to him, before eventually settling on something. When the young alchemist entered the forest to look for herbs one day, Alkaios made themself known to him, startling him so badly that he fell backwards into the snow. They helped him up, and presented him with a bundle of herbs they had sprouted with their magicks.

The human and the angel grew ever closer with each visit of Alkaios's, and eventually, the two fell in love. Love wasn't a foreign concept to the denizens of the heavens, but with the vastly different thought processes between the two realms, it might as well have been a foreign concept to Alkaios. Nonetheless, the two spent every moment they could together, with Alkaios sneaking back to the heavens whenever possible to avoid suspicion.

The day that Alkaios was caught sneaking back down to the earth below was an unfortunate day indeed. Their sire scolded them for hours on end, and Alkaios felt something was deeply, deeply wrong. When they tried to leave, they were met with resistance, and eventually, their sire begged them to stay with desperate pleas. It was then that Alkaios learned that the divines had chosen to punish mankind, and disaster after disaster was being rained down over Aetheria. Alkaios was forced to fight against their sire, ultimately claiming victory and slaying them before fleeing to the realm below.

By the time Alkaios arrived, it was too late. The once peaceful, snowy village had been razed to the ground, not a living soul to be found. The raw mana of the anger from the divines caused the crystal deposits in the area to become unstable, and ravaged the town. The townspeople attempted to flee, but were crushed by falling trees as the earth shook, or froze to death from the severe cold emanating from the crystals. They flew, desperate, to attempt to find their lover, but instead was met with his cold, dying body. They held him in his last moments, unable to prolong his life with magic no matter how they tried.

After losing their lover, Alkaios didn't know what to do. They tried, to no avail, to find any survivors in the village. Driven with grief, they fled the area, flying blindly south until they arrived upon another village on the verge of ruin. That was when they noticed another angel shielding the small town, the townspeople staring up at the angel in awe. They rushed to their side, bolstering the shield that protected the town, and the two of them protected the village side by side.

Having nowhere else to turn after helping the village survive the Apokalypsis, Alkaios chose to stay. The townspeople were grateful, offering up an old temple for the angels to live in. The angels were treated with reverence for saving the town, and were well taken care of in exchange for continuing to protect the town.

• Alkaios is a Greek name, which means 'strength'.