[center][h3][color=FFE4E1]Arira - Goddess of Cycles[/color][/h3]

[h2]The Southern Pole...and its Consequences[/h2]

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It had only been a short time since she received the letter from I’Iro, and not long since she had taught the Ketto and Brynlic races some things to get them started as civilizations. 

Perhaps she’d eventually set up schools or such one day, but today wasn’t that time for them yet. Truth be told, she’d even gone round about the area and helped begin to organize some of the lingering humans and other races that had been survivors on the land when she terraformed it. There would be a long time before things got back to normal, or at least what normal this region now had as it moved forward, but all the same it was something on the mortals’ part to work on. 

She didn’t want to be over-involved, but more or less would give teachings and help them organize at least. Monster/Demon hunters that would be necessary from now on, villages and towns and such forming, and the introduction of a fitting technological level would be trickled in over the centuries to keep the layout and progress of civilization organic for the races of the region. Etc. 

But all the same she’d decided to head down to the place I’Iro had talked about, passing over the newer temperate-to-taiga land to the direct south of her region and taking check of it along the way. To this area I’Iro had ultimately created by consequence she gave the name “The Winter Lands”...hmm, no. How about “The Pale Lands'' instead? That sounded about right. Chilly enough, but not bad. There was also the new ‘Ghost Sea’, another something of note, which she further approved of the name of herself. Still, finding a segment of some odd vine-root-like tendril stuff along the way...she curiously picked a section of it to take with her. Maybe she could make use of it? Or she was just getting too curious.

Eventually she would, however, arrive at the small temple that the Dream Goddess had made, which-...hmm. The style was rather peculiar indeed, like it had all been carved out of a single large piece of stone. At least it [i]looked[/i] so in appearance. But that wasn’t going to be a terrible matter either. With her divine power, Arira began to carve her symbols and so forth into the temple, tweaking it into a blend of styles between her fortress-temple and how I’Iro had made it. A fitting blend, though her holy symbols and other things would fill it and decorate it all wholly and entirely now. Of course she tosses in some depictions so I’Iro was given due credit as well. She wasn’t going to leave out the intelligent yet cute dream goddess who had 

To cap it off, the goddess exerted herself to consecrate the area. Her very power was imbibed into every bit of the temple and icy grounds it was upon, even the Jewel of Silence and its containment measures within, transforming the area into an extension of herself. Perhaps it was a tad rude to the goddess who had made this place first, but doing this would allow Arira herself to keep better track and care of the place as a result. Especially when protecting it. Still, as she finished that work the goddess would throw on some grandiose and very heavy stone front doors to the temple, as well as tossed in a further-protecting and cold-balancing small divine-power forcefield around the alien-metal orb that contained the crystal, and let out a large sigh of relief.

Walking outside, she would take the strange oily-filled tendril piece she took with her power as she examined it more curiously...before tossing the segment onto the ground outside the small temple-shrine. It would glow for a second with her power, before its exterior gained a strange metal sheen and it began to dig into the ice and grow. It would bend and twine, forming a winding, twisted, intricate wall of metallic vines around the outside of the temple-shrine with a woven grand entranceway leading into the temple-shrine. Likewise they would form a large field of such around this grand wall. These strange vines had a very tough exterior, as tough as the toughest metals, covered in finely razor-sharp thorns as well...yet internally filled with a new, circulating, and strange dark blue oily substance within. They would even dig deep beneath the ice to root this ‘South Pole’ into the ocean floor and keep it very firmly attached to this Shard of Creation...this chunk of Galbar as it were. Likewise it all imposed a great defensive spread before anything that sought to get to the temple-shrine at all. 

This creation she would call “I’Irian Vines” in honor of herself and I’Iro, vines whose oily inner substance was circulated as a means of keeping the ‘plant’ alive as it derived what little to no nutrition it needed from the cold ocean water far underneath the dense ice of the South Pole. Its internal ‘juice’ was very flammable naturally, but the vines could very quickly use autotomy to ‘separate’ and remove such segments rapidly to avoid body-wide burning or a chain-reaction or so forth if it was set on fire internally somehow. Externally it wouldn’t exactly burn at all for the most part, but under an intense enough heat (rather intense enough for sure that is) the metal-like exterior could be melted down to make things. Durable, yet practical. She’d take a sample to test later back at the Ariran Paradise to boot. 

Yet...it all still felt somewhat incomplete. Like even with the I’Irian Vine field and specially-woven dense wall of them around the temple-shrine, something needed to care for the place really. It would be frozen cold up here, and despite the vines protecting from the elements well enough things weren’t perfect. Even if she could keep an eye on here, it was not like she wanted to leave the spot empty either...ah!

Something simple would have to do the trick. A race that needed minimal requirements, but had something to sustain them located in the temple to keep them loyal there. 

There was one biological mechanic she was tempted to make use of for it, since it would at least function for those needs she had of a race in this location, so perhaps it would work? Blood-sucking that was. It was macabre, but also a part of the cycle of life for some things regardless. It wouldn’t require too much work to make by using humans as a base for this race, but unlike when she made the Ketto she wanted to make sure to focus this time. They would need to be a distinctly more orderly bunch here, disciplined really, to not go too far with things. Yes! That would work nicely...well, after she did one more small task.  

Arira would create a pale white bird, a Dovling she would call it, on the spur of the moment. Into it she sent a message for I’Iro about what she had done, and would be doing, before it flew off like a streak of light from her hands in haste. Once it simply touched the other goddess, Arira’s message would transfer into I’Iro’s mind from the bird itself safely and fully. It was also perhaps an experimental means of communication, but...eh, it would work.

The goddess would then re-enter the temple, standing in the now larger entrance room just beyond the doors, and extending her hands with her palms out and having closed her eyes once more. 

The base form of the beings to be made would be taken from humans, but given the climate and very minimal sunlight here they wouldn’t need that much resistance to it. Incredibly pale and ash-pale skin would be perfect in this case for them, without much thought having to be given save for them getting sunburns more easily than any others. 

Make just the upper canine teeth more pronounced, enough to break the skin of prey on the ice or otherwise to drink their blood. Would be mostly meant as a supplementary measure, but would work still as a backup for them to use for eating. Plenty of life would grow and rise up upon the ice, she’d take care of that on her way out. Hardy enough to live there, populous enough on the barren icy sheet to rely on the ocean for food, etc. 

Then make them very orderly, enough to keep the temple in good shape and not be inclined to abandon it or frankly ‘take over’ among other grueling possibilities. Well, free will wasn’t going to be taken from them though. Hmm. Still, it all worked out as she hoped for the most part. Had to leave that wiggle room.

Could devour and subsist entirely on blood, that she already knew she was going to put in. Regular food they’d not really be able to digest at all, though, since they didn’t need it. Also made designing them more simple by adding enhanced senses into the mix. 

Superior night vision, heightened reflexes and durability and strength lesser than Ketto but more than other mortal races, and an instinct for organizing around hierarchies all were good things to toss in perhaps. Yes. 

Also clothes this time. That was rather important. Maybe that would be something they could make use of animals for as well, though at the same time she would give them the tools to weave and make finer clothes for themselves over time.

They had a division of the sexes as well, this time at least, and could reproduce normally or by...hmm. Well if anyone wandered in foolish enough to try to raid the temple, they’d be able to be bitten by these creatures and turned into one of them by force. That would ensure trespassers would not step foot inside! Hopefully. It was also another layer of defense for the temple-shrine really. Biting foes and using claws instead of normal fingernails would also be a deadly touch.

Not that this didn’t mean they couldn’t still be rather beautiful in their own right perhaps. Like a lovely face in the moonlight, though even if the sun was far from desirable and they hated it at least they wouldn’t instantly catch on fire underneath it. The death or destruction of their heart? Decapitation? Excessive Starvation? All would be enough to really kill them despite their inherently very hardy bodies and so forth. A part of them none of their kind would be able to ‘shake’ off.  

As the goddess opened her eyes this time, finishing up the process and lowering her arms, she caused a fountain to sprout up in the middle of the large entrance-way as well. Designs of balance, of the vines and so forth, and of the crystal at that, would cover it, and immediately the fountain began to spit out its infinite fountain of non-freezing and nutritious blood. Macabre, really, but fitting for the landscape all the same. 

Before her, the human-like beings in rather neat and high-class gothic attire began to stir, their gold and silver and precious-metal-colored eyes reflecting the dimmer magical lights that lit up the temple within. Their skin was so pale they almost looked like corpses in that vague sense, but as most awoke they walked or pulled or crawled over to the fountain to drink heartily of its contents. One male, in particular, would stand, dusting himself off and walking over to her before giving a very deep and fanciful bow as his handsome visage smiled at her. 

Well, at least this time things felt more ‘on-point’ than last time!

[color=b7410e]“Milady! It is but a humble abode thou hast given us, yet even so I am most pleased to meet you and witness your divine beauty that has blessed our presence most graciously!

Still, I believe we must ask thee for something, I pray. A name, and why we are here, would be most welcome to know indeed.”[/color]

Arira gave a small smile in return, noting this one’s strength in not immediately giving into the slaking of his natural thirst, even as those drinking from the fountain would drink up and begin to stand about her. 

[color=FFE4E1]“The pleasure is mine, my children. Where there is light, darkness also. Where there is a beginning, there is an end. I am Arira, the Goddess of Cycles, and thine kind hath been made to bear up this place and protect it from thieves and ill forces and so forth. For this is mine consecrated ground as well, a place wherein the might of cold is eternally enshrined in my name and due to the help of a friend. 

Thine thirst is for what thou drinkest, blood, that which flows through all living things and only else from this eternal fountain beside thee. The light of the sun is loathe to thee, and yet in the dark thou hast no equal among the civilized races of the world. Magic can be used by thee, as well as martial tools and fang and claws where fingernails would hath been on others. 

Thou are order, civilized, and yet bring this to the barren wasteland roundabout. I shall assist in making a great cavern below this temple, hidden beneath the ice, where thine kind can liveth and rest under mine blessing.

Thine race shall be the Erimav. Proud and unaging after maturity, yet not indestructible nor immutable. A loveliness and strength beyond many, but not all, mortal races, yet a nature that shall teach thee to know discipline and struggle and sacrifice and come to understand this world.”[/color]

Yet...hmm. She could see it in their eyes. She could tell their nature in ways that hadn’t been decided outright by her, but came as a result of them themselves. Intriguing. Very intriguing. 

The goddess then seemed to have a sudden twinkle in her eye of...something else. Something gratingly different than she had ever been like before. It was alien, and sent a shudder through the most weak-willed of the folk before her, but a message to the unflinching strong nonetheless. Still, the smile of the one who first spoke to her did not break before her gaze...though he seemed to get the point. 

[color=FFE4E1]“But bewarest thou, thine power and might is not the be of all and end of all. Thou shalt stop aging after some time of maturity, that thou might gainest wisdom, but know that thine lives hang as frail in the balance as that of any other mortal race. 

For themselves thou shalt be able to choose, as like any other, to follow thine purpose or not. Still, those who live here shall abide by mine rules, lest if they seek to turn on this place in evil or ill deeds then they shall be smitten into naught but dust in an instant. 

Ist’ this understood by thee, oh my Children of the Night?

And what about thee...oh Drakenvald, First among the Erimav?”[/color]

The lead one took another deep bow as he was spoken to directly, being given a name at that, and most of the others did so after him. 

[color=b7410e]“My Lady! Oh what joy your words bring to my ears! It is a joyous thing to exist in this world, with the first name of my kind no less having been given me, knowing that our purpose is most clear and our nature allows us to choose thereof! I am sure we shall follow our duty most clearly...but if not the price is most easy to understand of course.”[/color]

...She hoped so. 

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[i]Many, Many, Many Years And Generations Later[/i]...

[center][h3][b][History of the Ararian Church or "Cyclican Church", Book 4, Chapter 4][/b][/h3][/center]

[i]“…[and] the goddess would assist her newest children at this time in crafting that great underground habitation, but more and more she worried over the nature of these folk with exposure. Most seemed well, orderly enough even, and yet in the years after she left things would change most frighteningly. Whilst the most noble and just of the Erimav would remain at the temple and adhere to their duties and strength, including those few brought to her Paradise for study and to live in its bounty, in time there were those whose drive for order and strength did not hold true to some kind of balance. 

Indeed some fled the rumored and legendary temple-shrine, and managed to reach the mainland of the Shard of Creation. These in time would come to be derided and feared and killed by the mortal races, becoming warped into monsters who dwelled in caves and castles and dark places as they sought dominion over the land and used magic to their own ends. It brought sorrow to the goddess, and yet they would not escape entirely free from the evil they would make wrought in centuries and more so to come. 

‘Erimyr’, this derivative group of them would come to be called derisively by their original kin and mortals on the mainland alike, a corruption of the Erimav as this group warped themselves and became corrupted by their own hands and behaviors and the magic they came to use over time. The Erimyr had much the same raw strength, but now bore corrupted magics and weakness alongside. The Erimav’s original loathing of the sun would become lethal to these Erimyr, burning them like a curse and weakening them greatly in contact with it...even able to kill them and cause them to crumble to naught but lifeless dust with enough exposure. Fire too would become a weakness of them, even as they gained the power to shapeshift unlike the original Erimav.

Even so the Erimav would remain a purer race, an enmity between them and their ‘Erimyr’ cousins would become an eternal rivalry and hatred of each other down to their cores. Some Erimyr would perhaps find their way into the care or influence of other divinities, but no divine hand of others would be able to shake them of their weaknesses...such was the price they paid forevermore, the so-called ‘Curse of Arira’ upon their very flesh and souls by nature of them existing at all. 

Indeed...they who had chosen such vile things would find only torment before them, [b]even after death[/b].”[/i]

[hider=Summary]

Arira went to the new South Pole and basically consecrated the ground of the small temple I’Iro made, as well as adding her own touches and such too to make it the [b]Southern Temple-Shrine of Arira[/b] and giving the crystal another divine defensive bubble about it to help regulate and such even more finely. She also created the [b]I’Irian Vines[/b] at the location to protect it and root the South Pole to the bottom of the ocean for extra anchoring and safety, creating them anew from a small portion of the tendril stuff that got left behind (more than plenty left for the humans of the area to harvest later on) by I’Iro. 

She then went about trying to create a race to care for and protect the place, fearful of outside forces or such trying to ruin the place or take the crystal within one day potentially, and through this made the noble and fancifully-dressed, orderly, and otherwise more highly civilized and blood-drinking [b]Erimav[/b] race to care for the place and an infinite eternal nutritious-blood fountain for them at the location. But rather than make a big mistake in creating them, in this case Arira found that aspects of them she didn’t directly decide on had shaped into...equally bad and good potential in them indeed. 

Despite having made her first intimidation in her life so far, mainly to test her newest ‘children’, an excerpt from a Cyclican History book from rather far in the future notes what happened in the many years and so forth following...that some of the Erimav fled to the mainland and became corrupted by their actions and use of corrupt magics and became more akin to traditional vampires. These became known, by all others, derisively as the [b]Erimyr[/b], gaining more potent weaknesses but also the power to shapeshift (all unlike their ‘pure’ relatives), and their drawbacks passed irreparable onto the Erimyr race as a result of their creation being called the [b]Curse of Arira[/b] despite the goddess having no proper hand in it at all.

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[hider=MA Summary]

1 MA (0 from Apocalypse) - Arira consecrated and shaped stuff around the temple at the new South Pole, making it as much an extension of her and securely her domain as the Ariran Paradise is. 

1 MA (0 from Apocalypse) - Arira created the Erimav race (whom from some would branch into the derivative ‘Erimyr’ race who became twisted as a race by their own hands and terrible actions), basically civilized and orderly ‘vampires’ of a sort who she helped carve a large hidden home underneath the temple and ice so they can grow and prosper. 

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