Emet-Selch
Character Summary
Name: Hades
Aliases: Emet-Selch, Solus zos Galvus, The Architect
Age: Eternal
Race: Ascian
Place of Origin: Amaurot
Gender: Male
Class/Job: Sorcerer
“I have no need of deception—and even if I did, I assure you: you would find it quite indistinguishable from the truth.” - Emet-Selch
Personality
Depressed shitposter. Loves the sound of his own voice, and enjoys attention. Is very set in his ways, but very open to making others set in his ways too. He much prefers watching to actively participating in most situations, particularly combat. While he’s fully capable of helping, he’d rather not, and he is sure to tell you as much.
Emet-Selch is a lonely old man who has seen the rise and fall of empires, and the development of new technologies. Little surprises him any more. That said, he's intrigued by new experiences, and is happy to force his company upon an innocent bystander.
This Architect of Empires has a certain fondness for children, and those who have suffered extreme hardship. Though he is not wont to admit it, he strives to make life a better place for those he feels are worthy of his attention.
Though his true name is Hades, he doesn't readily reveal it, preferring to use his title 'Emet-Selch' (pronounced Ehmitt-Selk). In Amaurot, the city of his birth, individuality was frowned upon, and as such names were much more personal in nature.
Abilities
Creation Magic - The ability to take aether and shape it into a new form; including, but not limited to living organisms. This aether either comes from within, or from the surroundings. This includes life energies from other entities, however it does not necessarily have to kill the entity in question, and generally speaking it does not. This is in part because He has the ability to choose where he draws aether from, which can utilize multiple sources. This allows his magic to benefit from the collective strength, allowing them to be both stronger, and less personally taxing.
A strange quirk with Creation Magic is it requires absolute concentration, as the slightest distraction can alter the desired result. Even if you are attempting to recreate a familiar entity, it could change with a simple, stray thought.
Even compared to his peers, Emet-Selch is gifted in the field, which would explain his title of Architect. He is capable of creating an entire city with only a portion of his vast reserves of Aether.
Since Emet-Selch has a flair for the dramatic, he enjoys snapping his fingers in combination with creation. He thinks this makes him look cooler, or perhaps more worthy of adoration.
The Gift - The Gift (also referred to as the Echo) is a unique trait possessed by all those who made Amaurot their home once upon a time. The more complete an Amaurotine’s soul is, the more powerful their echo. According to Lahabrea, it is the power to break down the barriers of existence; which is true to an extent. As such, it allows them a great amount of influence over the world at large, and the forces that control it.
Aether Manipulation - The ability to harness and utilize raw magical energy. This generally takes on the form of spell casting, but he is also able to track the flow of the life stream, and create rifts into the Void.
Shapeshifting - Amaurotine's do not have a physical form per-se. They are able to "pour" their soul into any "container" they see fit; being existing or fabricated. It is often used to take on the form of false-deities and powerful monstrosities—say Shiva, or Quetzalcoatl. Emet-Selch has his own form, taken from his true namesake; Hades. These forms are empowered by faith.
Despite the fact that Emet-Selch is fully capable of utilizing these transformative magicks, he prefers to stay with one form as much as possible, as too much alteration drains ones Aether reserves.
Ascian Prime - An Ascian soul made aetheric. It has the ability to control vast amounts of aether in a form suited for combat.
Hades - Hades’ ascended form. It’s capable of impressive feats of sorcery, conjuring dark-aspected aether to do combat. It has two forms; one physical and one aetheric. In his aetheric form, he is able to call upon the souls of the deceased to combine with him to grant him power.
“Behold, a sorcerer of eld! Tremble before my glory!” - Hades
Resonance - The ability to resonate with others' souls. This can be used for communication, and allows them to empathize with a person or creature’s past experiences. They are capable of seeing the color and form of a person’s soul, which allows them to easily identify an individual. Due to their nature, a soul is incapable of deceit—or at least the ones from Hydaelyn are.
“T͢hi͞s̛ ҉i͡s wha̵t it͜ l͘o̴ơks̸ ͘l̷ik̛e͟ ̢w͏he̵n E͝me͘t͏-͢Sel̶c͞h ̕s͜pea̸k҉s͘ ̡with͝ his͝ sou͡l̛.́“
History
Born in Amaurot in eons past, he grew up in a utopian society, designed to allow all to flourish. Though treated equally, some were more skilled than others. As such Hades became a part of the Convocation of Fourteen—Amaurot’s governing body, and bestowed the title Emet-Selch, the Architect. He was tasked with the construction and maintaining of the city’s buildings and functions. It was no small feat, but he enjoyed his work.
This happiness would not last forever. Something about their star changed—the physical and aetherial realm began to warp their world beyond recognition, and this incited fear, and panic. Emotions they were unfamiliar with. The Amaurotines creation magicks became tainted, and they gave rise to terrifying abominations.
To this end, the Convocation of Fourteen gathered, desperate to find a solution to deliver them from destruction. They found the only way was to rewrite the laws of existence. However to do this, they would need to create a powerful entity; the will of the Star made manifest.
To create a God requires no small amount of power, and as such half of Amaurot’s population was sacrificed to bring forth their salvation. And a savior He was, indeed.
However, that wasn’t enough. All life was gone. As such, they sacrificed another half of their remaining population to seed the Star with life. Hades had lost so much, and was not going to stand for this. It was not fair what happened, and as such he hatched a plan to bring everyone back. By any means necessary.
His closest friend, Hythlodaeus, objected to his ambitious plan, which involved seeding life only to sacrifice their Aether. He believed it was their turn to exist, and that Amaurot’s chapter had concluded. Not conceding, Emet-Selch was well on his way to enact his plan when Hythlodaeus, along with his followers, summoned their own god to serve as His shackles. The clash of these powerful primals caused reality itself to split into fourteen pieces; the Source, and Thirteen Shards.
Only Three Amaurotines were spared from the sundering. Not even Hythlodaeus survived the cataclysmic event, his soul being torn across all Thirteen Shards, and the Source. Hades’ grief turned into madness, and he and the remaining two Paragons began to hatch a plan to rejoin the fragmented Star.
Longing for home, Hades would continue playing the role of Architect, creating grand, technologically advanced civilizations. He was proud of them, but he was constantly disappointed by man. They were selfish creatures who cared for no one but themselves. They weren’t even truly alive. Merely ghosts of what could have been. This disgusted him.
He tried to grow fond of them, even taking up countless lovers throughout his lifetime. Still he found them wanting. Through his experiences, he confirmed his initial opinion that the only way to truly fix the world, was to rejoin the shards, awaken his god, Zodiark, and sacrifice the followers of Hydaelyn so that Amaurot may be reborn.
