I love Rusu-Ae. They have the teaching personality of Gojo, look like a weak, old man with a walking stick, but the power to summon hundreds of spectral animals. I don't think they can summon dinosaurs, but it would be really cool if they could. They fight pretty much by sitting around and watching people fail to beat their animals or by just beating someone up with their walking stick and just dodging everything. So cool.
Love how Raymond, who already has a god contract but can't get magic, just watching his party have god contracts with the most fuckery of fuck gods ever that he didn't even know existed and doesn't even understand WHY they exist (the Aenerian gods were made to serve the Aenerians, but other gods aren't like this. Because he's never really cared for gods outside his pantheon, he's learning many things that he thinks is all very stupid. Plus he feels many of the gods can be stacked - like why is there a separate goddess of rot when that's just a part of nature? [For him, E.])
do you have more raymond lore please give me more raymond lore
You you wanna hear about my theories? I've waited YEARS for someone to ask me about my theories. 🥹🫳🗂
Hmmm, let's see. What is something I haven't gone into a lot in one of these asks. I've mentioned the the Aenerians, Blackbeard, Nathaniel, and Eyre, but all very briefly. So buckle up moot for a VERY long post.
Tw for death, genocide, gore, angst up the ass, trafficking, implied abuse, etc. His lore is dark okay.
The Aenerians
The Aenerians as I've mentioned before are a subspecies of human that live in the desert of the Aener. However, that is but a very general description of them.
Their story starts very early on in the world (around the year 100) when these beings A and E were separated. It's unclear why they were separated in the first place: maybe imbalance in the world, maybe one "got lost", but the fact was they needed to find each other.
A and E are swirling cosmic entities that are like gods but also not gods. They don't hold the same human morality or emotion for they are forces of nature and magic. A is the being of magic, change, flow, entropy (in an essence chaos but not as it's classically viewed as. In this case, chaos in the way rot strips flesh from bone, chaos in the randomness of death, and a cell breaking down after losing energy. None of these things are necessarily bad and all have their place.) E is nature, firmness, reflection, and order (as in the way cells are organized, how bodies evolved, and ecosystems). E is also literally the desert Aener, which we'll get into more.
Their torment while separated caused A to cry tears into the Aener, forming this place now known as the Last Oasis (osen-seba) and creating the first Sandgold (olmse-anera). This place will become really important later. E responded by making the savannah Olmser.
They were pulled apart until Aen and Olmana. Aen was a spirit from the skies, filled with powerful magic. Olmana grew from the ground, making her own body after she disliked her form. Aen and Olmana represented A and E, but they were not them, just strong within them.
For a long time they searched for one another, being chased by gods, monsters, and people alike for their unique power and connection to A and E. Luckily, they found each other before any other could. They fled into the desert, raising the mountains Olmaren to block their pursuers.
It was then they realized with the warm and familiar sands under their feet, and the endless blue sky overhead, they were in fact home. They fell in love. In this love, A and E were reunited. A connection like this was strong enough to create the first humans - not of evolution, but of magic and will. 64 humans to be exact, these being the first Aenerians.
As they started to create culture and society, A and E mixed in ways to create the Aenerian pantheon, gods created for the sole purpose of handling things A and E couldn't directly or handle without emotion, helping the Aenerians. These gods are the twin gods Os and Osen (birth and death), Seba (water and sand, also once weather), Olm (plant and animal life), Aera (home, pleasure, art, feast), Rushuo (emotion, combat, education, health), sister and brother Siiti and Surota (night and day, weather), and Poli (negotiation, agriculture, trade, illusion).
In this campaign, god contracts are really important, binding mortal soul to god to grant magic. They are always in a language the people can read and you can't really add fine print. The Aenerians decided to all unionize, worried that this many gods and eventually people would get messy. The created this "super" god contract between A, E, the pantheon, and every Aenerian including Aen and Olmana. It would pass to every Aenerian after. Basically, it goes over a couple key things:
Souls: A creates Aenerian souls, mini universes of herself. They stay in a closed system, to avoid outer influence. This is very important to Aenerian, who basically kept all their influence to the Aener and their people. Aenerians get 2 lives, the first without magic but with strong body, the second with strong magic. Os and Osen handles the transition between these lives. After, they return to A.
Magic: all unique to each person. One must meditate to learn to control their magic from silver and gold blasts to whatever their magic truly forms as, which can be pretty much anything that matches their soul and emotions.
It also outlines this thing called Aen's Will, which we'll get to, the Okaem (protector), an instinctual compass (also get to), and how the gods can't tamper in human business unless consent is given on both sides. Consent will be very important as well.
Aen and Olmana have 8 children, who I'm not all gonna list because good lord this post is long enough. I'll mention some important ones though. These children will eventually form "bloodlines", people with connections to Aen and Olmana and therefore have Sandgold in their veins, plus a "patron" almost from one of the gods. Yiuy-Ae is their oldest. She was the first Poliaen (basically an assistant to members of their council) and the second Queen once her parents died. She kept detailed history of the early Aenerians, the original copy being found in the protected academy city of Rosh. Raymond is a descendant of her, and therefore also connected closely to Poli. Trivius-Ae was the first Okaem, an immortal being with only one life as first and second are combined. Superhumanly strong and fast with powerful magic to boot, the Okaems serve as protectors of the Aenerian people, holding both culture and power close to heart. Trivius eventually has Rahhal and dies, passing on the Okaem to his daughter. Tuit has a connection to Os and Osen, causing him to have prophetic visions. One prophecy he left half-finished, going mad and never being seen again midway through. No one is still for sure what it meant.
People in these bloodlines can access Aen's Will, a buff that will activate all the stored magic in the Sandgold in their veins and give them quickened healing, improved strength and speed, and even call upon a god, for a short period of time, with a terrible recovery time to boot. This is the only exception to the no magic rule for people on their first life. Raymond can use this even though he has no magic!
This is the Aener! The dots and lines you see are text from the Aenerian language Aerean. Basically the Aere (where Raymond was born and raised) is the capital city, built upon an underground lake and surrounded by protective sanddunes. Raymond's mother was a poliaen of the queen, and his father is from the farming town Polio as a sandbeekeeper.
I won't go into everything on this map, spare you the yap, but I'll talk about the Oasis, Rosh, and the two fields Olea-Eren (Field Yonder) and Olea-Iolm (Field None).
The Oasis is where A's tears fell and created Sandgold. So what is Sandgold? It's this sappy almost amber substance of pure magic. It absorbs mana around it, cooling in heat and warming in the cold. It glows gold in direct sunlight, silver in direct moonlight. It is balance made physical. Aenerians use it for medicines, Rean, and more. It can hardened into jewelry, and even used as sidings on buildings for natural A/C and heating. The Oasis is completed surrounded by the Field Yonder, even into the Olmaren. The Field Yonder is a massive magic sandstorm created by E to confuse and protect the Oasis. Winds whip wildly in no predictable direction. Visiblity is shot. Only during Rean, or an Aenerian’s 16th birthday, do they get the ability to navigate the field to reach the Oasis. There they lay and are met with the gods and visions, to welcome them to adulthood or teach them lessons of their past life. They take two bits of Sandgold and return home safely. They lose their compass after this and can no longer trek the field.
Rosh is a huge self-sustaining academy city for magic users, doctors, and soldiers. It is in a small patch of safe land between the Field Yonder and the Field None (a massive field of living sand, carnivorous plants, big beasts, etc). Only a small road leads to the city. It is because of these natural defenses that Rosh did not fall during the genocide caused by the Gretavans.
So what of the genocide? The second hunt? After the Gretavans swept through in the middle of the night, slaughtering a third of their people, propoganda was at it's all time highest. Calling Aenerians violent nomads and the like. With many ambassadors and citizens from other countries dead as well, the blame turned to fleeing Aenerians. Those who did not get help from the Revolutionaries were imprisoned or killed. But there was more to this.
The Sandgold. Recently, the other gods have gone quiet. People are afraid. Sandgold has been said to allow people to meet with gods. Cure disease. Make you strong.
Now only a few Aenerians really have Sandgold in their veins, and pretty much no one willing to go through the length to get it cares enough about the culture and traditions the goes with it. Without the consent from the Aenerian gods and A, Sandgold works subpar. They get barely anything out of it. But in their hate and placebo effects, they hunt down any and all Aenerians, taking their blood to find Sandgold, if they have any or not. A major misunderstanding is the fact that not every Aenerian has Sandgold in their blood.
Allison broke off from the Revolutionaries, creating her own Aenerian resistance Sun's Birth and Sand’s Wake. As one of the lieutenants, she works to destroy Gretavan and the systems that failed her and her people. She's based as hell but because of her violent measures, she's labeled as a fanatic terrorist by the world. Which I guess leads us into...
Blackbeard
A pirate. A commander working with the bbegs to spread Twilight across the world. A piece of shit.
Sadly I don't know too much about him, otherwise that would be major spoilers, but I know enough.
When the genocide occured, Blackbeard used the chaos to swipe Aenerians to then later get their blood to sell, as it is a profitable business in hate and blood. In this, he tried to get ahold of Raymond's father, Gregory, right in front of Raymond and his sister Allison. However, Blackbeard is a giant who is not always sure of his own strength. He crushed Gregory, killing him instantly. Disappointed in his loss, he goes for Allison next, who is able to scramble away using her magic and her own blood as lubricant (her facial and arm scars are from this incident). He tried to get Raymond as well, again even more disappointed, giving him his chin scar, but his mother Diana was able to save them before worse damage was caused. Leaving Gregory's mangled body, they fled, using the Revolutionaries to get new identities in Hawthorn as the Hawkends. Diana grew only cruel in grief, blaming Allison and Raymond for not saving her husband. Plus with Raymond looking a lot like his father, it only added to the abuse and guilt.
Eventually, way later, Allison learns of Blackbeard again. Using resources from Nathaniel, a benefactor of her cause, she fights him. She is able to injure him but doesn't kill him, retreating when he takes out her eye. After this, she earns her braids, a sign of respect from the Aenerian gods.
She then visits Raymond in Seapass with Nathaniel, tasking him to create her a weapon. Raymond of course agrees, not only is this his sister, but also the woman responsible for a lot of Gretavan pain and now Blackbeard pain. He finishes and gifts her the weapon.
Nathaniel doesn't leave though.
Nathaniel
The ambassador between the Elsmirian Isles and the fishfolk of the sea. He's extremely well liked by the public and the government, even getting a seat on their council. He has incredible political power.
He decides to use it to torment Raymond.
After Allison's deal is done, he returns, offering Raymond another deal: to make him advanced prosthetics, enough for one person. Paid and everything. Raymond wouldn't have a problem with this normally, he makes prosthetics all the time, but Nathaniel is... strange. Implying he may want replacement organs next. After implying he'll reveal Raymond as Aenerian, basically a death sentence, Raymond agrees. He keeps getting a bad feeling, but nothing Nathaniel is doing is necessarily evil or wrong. He's just definitely hiding something terrible behind his wide, wide grin. That was a year or so ago.
He sends Qaaran, another partymate, to investigate.
Speaking of partymates....
Eyre
Eyre is completely normal with absolutely nothing interesting about him. I swear.
Well, actually, there's a lot about him. He's a dnd character made by another player, but we decided to combine some backstory elements!
Eyre's real name is Alexander Gretavan, a prince of Gretavan. He was sent over as an ambassador to the Aener a few years before the genocide. He worked closely with Diana, Raymond's mom. When conflicts arose between border skirmishes between Gretavan and the Aenerians, he worked to try and stop them. All this tension led up to the kidnapping of the Okaem’s daughter (Unna), and then later, Rahhal.
Diana held Eyre as a prisoner for some time, thinking he may of had something to do with it. However, she didn't want to hold him as a political prisoner and be like that of the Gretavans. They made a promise bond together, a tattoo upheld by the gods to ensure a deal is kept (their version of god contracts since you can only have one per soul, and they already have one set). It was a promise to bring the Okaem and her daughter back home safely. She then released him.
He returned home, pled to the king, failed, all the while the Gretavans slaughtered the Aenerians he had come to love without his knowledge.
Trying to save them still, he brokered a deal with an outer god, and tried to kill the king.
It failed. He got arrested.
He was able to escape before his execution and fled back to the Aener, only to find it in ruins. He found Gregory's body, now unidentifiable, and buried it, unsure who had been killed.
He then tried to find Aenerians. Many thinking him a traitor who went back to send the Gretavans after them. He then moved to Seapass, running into Raymond. He recognized Raymond, but Raymond did not recognize him. Trying to make up for his sins, he decides to watch over and help Raymond, and they become good friends (doomed qpr in progress).
If you're wondering about a timeline, Eyre's a half-elf so time is an illusion to him. It gets confusing.
But wow. That was a lot of yapping. If you made it to then end, thank you!!! Thank you for the ask!!! I love you moot. 🥹🫶
Making this made me realize the poachers would have to have researched some Aenerian things (the gods) but yet still don't realize most Aenerians do not have Sandgold in their blood. Or worse, maybe they do and no longer care. It's all a mockery.
Okay, got my lore player info doc yesterday, and I'm just thinking about the fact that Raymond has been helping so many people in this town. So many names. Faces. People who rely on him, was the wording. First off, I have a bad feeling something terrible is happening to them from how many names I was given with blips about them (it could also be my DM's attention to detail which I do appreciate and it's super cool to have actual names to reference, but I'm a writer and I know Stanley the Fruit Stand Guy and his wife Alex who knits could not have been important enough to give a full name for. Something is happening to them). But also, he stays in Seapass because of its community. He stays because he probably reminds him of the Aener, of what his father described of his birth town Polio. He provides free medical care for these people, fostering a community he thought he had long lost. He gives them checkups, dental, medications, maybe even helped some give birth. He gives some of the kids bits and bolts he sands down because he cares about them. He cares. He plays off as rude and sassy sometimes, but he cares. I'm normal by the way.
