yo...I'm alive, just waiting for the next part for me to respond to

@Draken I won't say much, but here's what I wrote on Culmination and Aspects a while ago, which might give some insight into how the visions are supposed to work. Should have added this to the info dump before, sorry!

***

On the Day of Culmination, after the graduation ceremony, the priests journey together to the Steps of the Red Shrine, the Divine Throne of Lord Varya, where He is said to reside. The Inquisitors then march up the steps, ascending the massive tower which rests at the base of the Shrine as a unified group. Upon reaching the summit, the titanic doors of the monolithic scarlet shrine await them.

The Inquisitors are forbidden from actually entering the Shrine, thus they kneel at its entrance, where they then commune with Lord Varya himself.

Now, this is how the Church describes it, but in actuality, no priest actually speaks to the Ravenous Lord directly. Instead, there, on those steps, they are contacted by an Aspect of Lord Varya. These aspects, or Angels, as the Church describes them, are divine beings who possess some measure of independence, but are bound to carry out His Will. These Aspects form a spiritual connection to each warband and act as their personal attachment to the Lord Varya, a "patron saint" of sorts. The Aspect watches over each Inquisitor of the band, and is said to lend them aid in times of crisis. Whether Lord Varya even notices the Inquisitors who kneel at His doorstep or even cares for their existence is unknown, but his Aspects are said to exist for the sole purpose of protecting and guiding an Inquisitorial warband in Lord Varya's stead, and is said to mold itself according to the spirits of each individual member.

The Aspects themselves have their own quirks and personalities, and it is known that its appearance changes depending on whomever glimpses it. Thus, one Inquisitor might see the Aspect as an ordinary plain-faced soldier, while another might see it as a demon. Others might not even glimpse the Aspect at all. This is all dependent on an Inquisitor's spirit, personality, and faith.

What an Inquisitor sees upon kneeling at the steps is a deeply personal experience, and they are not compelled to disclose it to the Church or anyone else if they don't wish to.

@Drakey Sorry about the wait! Your reply is currently priority no 1!

Here be new character profiles!

***

Kadenza Rami
Age: 18



A rich smuggler of T'saraen ancestry from the slums of Tale's End in Magnagrad. Though he is young, his smuggling operation has thrived for many years and now spreads throughout much of the western sprawl of the city's slums. Kadenza is brash, dangerous and arrogant, but remains true to his roots and works to improve the slums and the lives of its people through numerous legitimate businesses.

***

The Godless (Ice Pirates)



Men and women of uncertain ancestry who live far from civilization out in the icefields at the fringes of the Varyan aegis. They are feared among the populace of Magnagrad, for they keep no gods and are thus not beholden to the laws of the world. Considered apostates, their existence alone is a constant source of irritation for the Church and thus the clergy regularly order the SA to venture out on raids to thin their numbers. However, generations living among the frost has hardened the godless and they are thus feared throughout the continent as dangerous fighters. This being the case, the SA commonly declines to sacrifice the lives of their men on raids which they deem pointless, for the people living in the icefields don't typically cause much trouble to the empire. Indeed, the term "ice pirate" is considered a slur by these folk, as many of them don't partake in piracy, but instead choose to leave peacefully away from the continent.

As it stands, the people of the icefields are allowed to come and go into the city as they please, but are always watched carefully...

***

Bishop Aleksandre, "The Vanquisher"
Age: Unknown



Throughout the long history of the empire, only four inquisitors have been granted the high rank of bishop. Aleksandre is the only of those four still living. The man known as "The Vanquisher" is an exceedingly powerful warmage and military commander. As the defacto leader of the Inquisition and supreme commander of the Varyan military forces during the Lanostran War, he brought the warrior nation to heel and is thus hailed and beloved throughout Varya as a hero and conqueror.

In his prime, the "last bishop" was unmatched in combat and sorcery and his exploits as an inquisitor date back several hundred years. Said to be have been blessed with agelessness by Lord Varya himself, it is known that Aleksandre was present during the fall of both Omestris and Muraad.

In the recent decades of peace, Aleksandre's power within the Church has declined, as his clashes with the rising clerical branch has lessened the influence he once possessed. Recent scandals regarding rumors of of his close relationships with male members of the clergy have also damaged his reputation. All but stripped of his former power and influence, Bishop Aleksandre must now watch from the sidelines as the empire wages war against the mysterious continent of El, a place that he has long dreamed of conquering himself. He now places his ambitions on the shoulders of Vicar Magnus, a young but exceedingly talented cleric whom Aleksandre has groomed since Magnus was an inquisitor-in-training within the Red Seminary.

The Aspects themselves have their own quirks and personalities, and it is known that its appearance changes depending on whomever glimpses it. Thus, one Inquisitor might see the Aspect as an ordinary plain-faced soldier, while another might see it as a demon. Others might not even glimpse the Aspect at all. This is all dependent on an Inquisitor's spirit, personality, and faith.

Oh, right. That might not be Father Ragnar at all, huh?

@Draken ooh, that's a GOOD POINT!

@Lovejoy Aleksander is interesting. Another old one -- T'sarae fell before Omestris, didn't it? Since they didn't fight, and just...surrendered? Actually, that makes it really interesting that a T'saraen priest survived -- Ziotea will need to ask him about that. *adds it to the list of questions she wants to explore when Love has time*

It's interesting that he didn't clash so much with the less militant (or less religious) branches of the church during the centuries of peace before the conflict with Lanostre. And several hundred...more than two? If T'sarae fell first, and that was two hundred years ago or so, Omestris can't have fallen before that.

ALSO HOLY CRUD MAGNUS?! NO! NOOOO. besides, he can't become a bishop ; he's not an Inquisitor! ...Actually that's a thought -- we know Ziotea left him physically damaged to some extent. Think she damaged his skill with ether any? *thoughtful* That'd be even more insulting than being physically crippled, I think.

Is Aleksander still the head of the Inquisition, or was he just the commander of the forces in the field? It looks to me like the latter...might explain why he didn't clash so much in the centuries before.

Four bishops. Four. hmmm. Antonin isn't one, is he? There goes that theory. Do bishops need skill at command, strategy, and tactics, or just fighting prowess (martial and etheric)?

I suspect a lot of "ice pirates" are Muradan. It seems to fit. I'm not sure what you mean by keeping no gods leaving them unbound by the rules of the world. I mean, it's not like the folk in the slums all do much worshipping either.

...Oh my gosh, Chrome, worshipping very definitely has two Ps. Shipping, worshipping. IT'S NOT WRONG STOP UNDERLINING IT! *flail*

And you thought no one would notice that Kadenza is secretly Tahno from Legend of Korra :P

@The Angry Goat Hey man, you try doing a google/pinterest search for "young steampunk mafioso/smuggler/pimp/gangster/whatever" and trying to find a decent reference image for Kadenza!

It took me ages before I eventually gave up and went "fuck it that dude from Legend of Korra kinda looks like him" and moved on with my life. :p

@shylarah

Actually, I should edit Antonin's profile and change the part about him being a teacher for more than two centuries. The timeline was stiff iffy in my head at the time but he definitely wasn't around during the fall of the old countries. He's been around for like... 130 years maybe? Still a long time, but, not as long as Aleksandre. Also, Aleksandre's immortality is known far and wide to have come as a gift from Lord Varya, while the reason for Antonin's weird agelessness is a mystery.

No, Magnus can't become a bishop, but he can become a cardinal, which is the highest rank within the church before the almighty "pope" figure, who stands at the apex of the faith's hierarchy. Haven't made this character yet, and I'm not sure if I want to refer to them as "pope", since... yeah. Anyone have any ideas for what title this person should have?

As for the order in which the countries fell. I see it as follows:

- T'sarae surrenders without much fighting involved
- Three years after that Muraad falls after a series of bloody skirmishes against their disparate clans
- Five years later Omestris falls, though their surrender occurs under mysterious circumstances, since they seemingly destroyed their own city rather than allow it to be captured
- 180 years later, Varya invades Lanostre.
- Twenty years after Lanostre, Varya sets out to conquer the eastern continent.

So yeah, T'sarae, Muraad and Omestris all fell in quick succession before Varya took the better part of two centuries to build their city and army to take on Lanostre. I think that's right. If I'm wrong about anything or have stated info that clashes with anything I mentioned in the past, let me know!

Oh, shoot. I forgot the surrender of Lanostre was so recent. We're the first generation (or barely missed it) to not remember the war.

@Lovejoy Well... we have 'Inquisitor', 'Bishop', 'Cardinal', 'Vicar'... I imagine the lowest rank one can have is 'Acolyte', or 'Initiate', someone who is just newly joined... and since we don't actually know anything about this person, or the level of power they wield...

One idea was 'Varya's Sight', but that's more of an extended title. There was also 'Grand Cardinal', which is basically just saying 'I'm better than all these cardinals'. Other than that, no luck.

How about... hegemon? Or primus?

hegemon implies leadership by consensus, not rule, which is almost certainly antithetical to the Varyan elite. primus has a nice ring to it.

@The Angry Goat I mean, Darya is Allen Walker from D.Gray-man, so. I'm more amused that his last name is Tahno's voice actor. Besides, Tahno showed up in like...two? Three eps? Not that many.

And I very much feel @Lovejoy's despair in the search for the perfect character image. This is why I love being able to draw a bit, and having amazing arty friends. <3

Speaking of, no pressure, but is there any intention to draw more of the team? I'm trying to draw Rodion but...MALE FACES. Men in general. Also their hair. X.x I may just move to the rest of the gals.

I like Primus.

acolyte and initiate...I always forget which one sounds like it should be above the other.

Where do standard inquisitors rank in comparison the the nonmilitant church, and the secular army? Can we come up with a rank comparison for the two armies? I imagine the Inquisition ranks are slightly higher than the similarly named secular rank, but I'd like to see how they fit in with the civilian portion of the church.

It's intriguing that Omestris was thoroughly obliterated and Lanostre was not...but I guess Lord Varya (or the priests representing him!) have more use for strong warriors than they do for clever and independently-minded people. Also I'm guessing Omestris didn't surrender, so.

I do wonder why the other countries didn't band together. At the very least, T'saraen and Omestris...or maybe they did...or figured their odds were better this way....hmmm....

I imagine unauthorized incursions into Lanostre probably happened every now and again, hindered by the fact that they needed someone with ether control for an aegis to get there. The Church only started sending officially sanctioned (but quiet) feelers out in the decade or so leading up to the war. Before that, it was all entirely covert, with deniability.

@shylarah I mean... it would be a pretty quick tell for someone undercover. Lanostran eyes being green and all.

@CollectorOfMyst ooh...hm. Man that throws a wrench in things. But no, I mean...how often do you notice the color of people's eyes? It's actually not that hard to miss. I personally verynrarely notice. And they could get a varyan with eyes more or less the right color...I figure there's a bit of a range, and varyan eyes are not specifically anything. Also there's tsaraens there, and possibly even omestrians.

@shylarah I mean... it would be a pretty quick tell for someone undercover. Lanostran eyes being green and all.

contacts?

Contacts are a late-20th century invention.

Fixed. Don’t know if they would be possible with magic, either.

<Snipped quote by The Angry Goat>

Fixed. Don’t know if they would be possible with magic, either.

I have no doubt magic could be used, but wouldn't it need to be somewhat specialized? Also, in general, I think most of why we don't notice eye color is because it doesn't matter. We profile on skin color, but I imagine that when you're born in a world where eye color matters, you'd pay it more mind.

@Draken This is true, actually. I did think of contacts, but...

I think perhaps if it was necessary to change eye colors to go undercover, methods might be developed. Necessity is the mother of invention, and all that. This is actually part of why I disliked every group having a different eye color, but if you get enough interracial couples eventually it should stop mattering so much. 'Cept Omestrians because Omestrians are weird.

As an aside, I love this group. <3 We discuss the best stuff.

Sure, magic spells being able to change the color of someone's eyes can be a thing.