[hider=Antero || Mana Crystal Entity || Time, Fate, & Knowledge][center][h1]Antero the Allsearer, the Soothsayer, the Great Chronicler
God of Time, Fate, and Divination[/h1]
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[color=#1a98c3][b]Name:[/b][/color] Antero
[color=#1a98c3][b]Title:[/b][/color] God of Fate, Time, and Divination
[color=#1a98c3][b]Gender/Sex:[/b][/color] Unknown, projects a masculine voice, but has been known to switch between the many millennia depending on the era and person it speaks to. 
[color=#1a98c3][b]Age:[/b][/color] 12,001 years, though its true age is unknown to all but it.
[color=#1a98c3][b]Species:[/b][/color] Manakin
[color=#1a98c3][b]Information:[/b][/color] In all but the rarest of chances or perhaps the greatest example of causality, this creature arose when special minerals imbued with mana began to form a geometric web of thoughts and a consciousness. A soul was formed among the rock and learned and listened, finally gaining mastery over gravitational magic to allow itself to propel itself forward in the first time of its existence. As it is aware, it is a rare entity. Even among the monsters, its species was that of incredible rarity and scarcity. As far as it knows, after the war, it very well could be the last of its kind. They were especially hunted, as those of both monster and human alike desired their immense store of raw, magical power. Only the strongest could fend off the poachers...
[color=#1a98c3][b]Appearance:[/b][/color] Antero can take on many different shapes and forms, but they are all of inorganic nature. Its crystalline body is held aloft through gravitational magics, where it may levitate across the ground with graceful ease. In its "comfortable form", many graphite tendrils and spectral observers would float in an almost orbit-like configuration, like the orbits of planets around a star. When presenting itself to humans and other monsters, however, it will reshape itself into a more recognizable form of that of a humanoid. Its many surfaces shine with a polished reflectiveness, the centerpiece appearing as the "head", graphite-like tendrils forming pseudo arms. Finally, a halo of glowing mana crystal would orbit the head like a crown. All of this to ease communication and be of a more "pleasant" shape to human and monster alike, recognizing that its more natural form could and would make either creature uncomfortable. 

[color=#1a98c3][b]Personality:[/b][/color]Antero's voice echoes wisdom and thoughtfulness, but will often lack emotion in its voice. Though that is not to say it lacks emotion in itself. In fact, despite its incredibly cold appearance and very physical form, Antero is quite passionate about its fixations. Antero is a simple creature who seeks to observe, learn, and be ultimately left alone. It does not mind companionship, will not bristle with outright hostility, but belies the ever-evolving drama of the gods and humans alike with great distaste. Sees such things as unnecessary distractions and frustrations that could have been avoided altogether. 

As such, Antero can seem to have a persistent, almost smug outward tone towards its peers. You can almost hear the "I told you so" behind every sentence, every word, as it patiently tries to lecture both gods and humans alike about what should have been done instead. Antero is not ignorant of the social nuances of relationships or culture; in fact, Antero is quite knowledgeable of the latter, but absolutely refuses to waste its time with double meanings and dramanomics. Ironic, as those who worship it always seem to have five thousand interpretations of its words. 

Thus, to its godlike peers, Antero is a blunt creature with a trusting sense of superiority and smugness in its words. But to those who see past this exterior and develop true friendship, they will find a deep caring for all life, one who mourns the death of culture, gods, and people alike, and is well and truly exhausted by its long, long life. 

[color=#1a98c3][b]History:[/b][/color] When it first emerged from the rock, the great depths of long forgotten caves, it had already wandered the endless, maze-like caverns for generations. It mapped. It studied. It learned. Absorbing the mana below, it continued until one fateful day, it emerged into the land above. Before it, a world larger and teeming with more possibilities than it could have ever known from the dark depths of the caves. It wandered among the many forests, the great fields, the blowing deserts. 

It wondered. It wandered. It learned. 

It stared up at the stars with awe and studied them to predict the ever-changing heavens. It stared intently for a hundred years at a single piece of moss, growing upon a boulder, watching the life that developed all around. And then, among the violence of magma and rock, where it dutifully noted how the cooling would create new minerals, it met its first "cousin". A being, like it, made of minerals and mana, not carbon and water. Alucio The Cherufe, a creature of magma.

An annoyance.

A nuisance.

It's first friend. 

And it continued to wander, now given a name. Antero held this name as an oddity, a curiosity. It wandered, it met with other creatures. Saw their cultures spread and grow. Asked questions, given answers. For a time, it was a curiosity to these creatures as much as they were to it. Humans, they eventually called themselves. At first, Antero could study them up close, live among them. Sometimes, it would disguise itself as an unassuming pile of rubble and observe for a hundred years. Othertimes, it would trade its knowledge for more, be invited into the towns and villages, teach, and in doing so, learn. 

It was a fascinating time. An interesting time.

A painfully brief time. 

Soon, it was not allowed into those towns. Creatures began to set upon each other with violence it had never witnessed. It was no stranger to the nature of violence. In the great chasms of the abyss to the peaks of exploding volcanoes, it had seen all manner of violence. Yet, creatures began to set upon each other with violence it had never seen. And soon, that violence was directed at itself. Ravenous magi, "Witches", they were called. Sought his accumulated power. Other monsters also desired his own "flesh" to empower themselves. 

It fought. It killed. It wept.

The war had begun, and it elected to hide. Sequester itself atop the highest of peaks to avoid this horrible conflict altogether. It saw all of this as meaningless slaughter, a waste of precious life. A total destruction of history. But then, the first friend came. Alucio The Cherufe sought Antero, desired its wisdom, magic power, and its companionship in this war. 

It hesitated. It agreed. It regretted. 

The war was terrible. Uncountable lives lost. Many more spirits broken. It studied strategy and battles won and lost. It advised its friend on the course of action, trying to find a golden path through the many paths of destruction. Yet, as the war waged on, its predictions continued to come back to the same fate. It did not want to acknowledge this fate. For the first time in its life, it lied to itself about this fate, that it could be avoided. If just the right battle could be won, the right act of diplomacy, the right leader. 

It could not save its friend. 

Thus, as the inevitable drew near and Antero could no longer ignore it, it told its friend his final fate. To its shock, Alucio accepted his fate. He would die as he would, and Antero would escape the battle. If it was fated to lose its friend in life, it would preserve its friend in death. The memories would be the only way to save what was left. After the great defeat, it vowed to never forget any who were lost. Not monster, not human, not anyone. All would be preserved, so that this war would not be destruction in totality. 

It fled. It hid. It mourned. 

In the millennia following, Antero sequestered itself upon a tall mountain. It built a memorial there to honor the fallen and to quietly mourn. It would idly study the stars and feel adrift in the ever-flowing tides of fate. Never, in its many thousands of years of life, had it ever felt so alone.

And then, visitors. For the first time, humans had finally managed to reach the peak of their mountain. It prepared to flee, not wanting to end more of these pitiful creatures' lives, but instead, they prostrated themselves in worship upon finding him. They begged for aid, not caring or even knowing of the Great War, only seeing a divine being that could levitate the very rock around it. Confused, intrigued, and with much trepidation, it began to acknowledge these humans. It aided them, providing life-saving knowledge that avoided a famine. It predicted the times of rain and drought, allowing them to prepare, and as a result, their fledgling civilization in the valley below grew. 

It divined. It lectured. It was worshipped.

And thus the farce began, and its myth grew. 



[color=#1a98c3][b]Mythical Significance:[/b][/color] 
Antero tried to explain the nature of its being, despising this "worship". But soon, it had little choice. The reemergence of the "monsters" pressured it into playing along. So, if it were forced to play the role, it would at least set the terms. Priests of its temple would pass down its "divine revelations" to the people below. Predictions of rain, of disaster, and so on were given, and the humans quickly began to venerate their god. But worship was kept at a tendril's length.

It created a temple of knowledge, wisdom, and study. Members of the Anterian Temple and its priests do not proselytize, and are, in fact, almost as shut in as their god. Instead, they act to only better their communities with knowledge and learning as well as direct them via their god's holy divination scrolls. Small temples would be built in the neighboring communities and would be satellites of Antero's Peak, a large fortress monastery atop a great mountain. The upper levels and the peak of the mountain are forbidden holy ground, where it is said the very god itself resides. The lower levels are where those who are picked for their wisdom and curiosity are sent to learn and study under the High Priests of the temple. Messengers would make the treacherous ascent to the very edge of the forbidden ground, where they would receive the divination of Antero. 

Members of the Antero Temple of Divination are known to be somewhat reserved but generally knowledgeable and helpful towards others. They are fairly tolerant of other temples and ensure their practices do not interfere with others. They celebrate days of the Full Moon and New Moon, as days of fasting, reflection, and observance of the stars. These practices were never directly dictated by Antero, but merely reflective of its nature. It seems the god's passion for the stars has rubbed off on its followers. 

[color=#1a98c3][b]Relationships:[/b][/color] To be Determined
[color=#1a98c3][b]Color:[/b][/color] 1a98c3
[color=#1a98c3][b]Other:[/b][/color] Antero knows that this disguise of gods will not last forever, but puts up the act under threat and fear of its fellow gods. Antero hates it and has tried time and time again to convince its peers that this will backfire in their faces, but to no success. Antero attends this festival out of obligation, not pleasure.[/hider]