The guild known as Eternal Embers is one of the more prestigious guilds on the face of Stronuth, the continent that holds Brens. It is one of the more accepting guilds, as the only thing that is needed to become a member is to complete a job, which is meant to be survivable for the person or persons applying, with an already established guild member present for the job so that they may vouch for the party.
The guild master is Amber Goldlight, a human paladin of Torm. Amber has devoted the near entirety of her adult life to ensuring that Eternal Embers’ legacy is maintained she gained the title of Guild Master at the age of 32. Under her leadership Eternal Embers has had it’s already sterling reputation flourish to even greater heights,
The city state of Brens, a small spot that was not terribly remarkable, was known for having temperate climate year round, which allowed a small community to be founded. A small town that could have blown away without anyone ever knowing it was there. This was true for a while until a group of mages happened upon the village finding out Brens was directly on a ley line crossing granting them a greater understanding of the magic they held and empowering their talents. These mages soon founded Brens’ first guild, the Keepers of the Arcane. These Keepers brought attention to Brens, adventurers flocked to it because of the power that could be gained there, merchants found the up incoming city to be profitable, and where there is coin thieves can’t be far. These groups thought that laws and rules would ensure a balance between guilds, which was necessary to creating a foundation for the Republic of Brens.
“I must put the events I saw in that damned tower down on paper. The Job was simple; find a magic staff in a wizard’s home and be out before you are spotted. I should have known something was amiss when the job was in the Blighted Wastes. There were five of us though, so we were confident. We should have just ran when we were offered the job, but the money was too good to give up. We barely survived the massive number of traps that seemed to cover every inch of that tower, and when we had just gotten what we were tasked with getting, that is when it all when to Hell. She appeared out of thin air and killed Jackson with a single word, she then took a light from his chest with a flick of her hand. In a matter of seconds everything changed for the worse. The light from Jackson was coming apart and the tower was ablaze, rocks came crashing down on all of us. I do not remember hitting the dead grass surrounding the tower but for some unknowable reason I survived, although just barely. I don’t know what that witch did, but I hope to never be in a position where that can happen again.”
- Excerpt from a former thief’s journal
A Spark is what a soul becomes after the mortal vessel containing it perishes. Without something limiting its power it grows to furious levels of power. A farmer’s Spark can be on the level of an accomplished living wizard although the mage will have a far greater control over his strength will the farmer does not fully understand the new power that they posses in their second life. Most Sparks reside outside the Prime Material weather that be by their God’s side, in the Nine Hells, or in the Infinite Layers of the Abyss.
The transition from Spark to soul is often times not the end for a life. Powerful individuals that aligned themselves,usually clerics and paladins, with a certain God or Goddess can find that in their afterlife they take on a new angelic form and they become a servant of their God. The wicked, sinful find that they take on a grotesque form as they start their new life as a devil in the Nine Hells. Those that sell their soon to be Spark in exchange for something during their mortal life find that they share an evil doer’s fate although if they made a deal with a demon they become an inhabitant of the Abyss.
A single Spark is an extremely powerful thing. If someone is able to harness a Spark they can enhance the power that they hold in themselves. Although the usage of Sparks a highly taboo as it involves manipulating the life of another creature. It is even worse too destroy a Spark the act stops that Spark from any possibilities of a continuation of life there is no afterlife, no angelic duties, no fiendish form, there is nothing for those poor shattered Sparks.This act of destruction is not without benefit however as when a Spark is shattered the release of energy is able to let the breaker, typically a magic user, is able to gain immense power. The power gained can be multiple things such as greater access to the ninth level of magic, abilities that surpass even a talented mortal, and sometimes just an explosion of energy as it is crude but effective.The consequences of breaking a Spark vary from case to case some find that they now have injuries that no longer heal, others die outright, and there are those who through training in manipulating Sparks find themselves, for the most part, unharmed.
