i finally designed this bastard yesssssss its been so long…… ive had this design in my head for a while but its definitely way better to have on paper
he’s supposed to be a dragon stuffed in a more human-looking body, but i really wanted him to have a pretty not-human look to him??? i have a vision for how the rest of his body looks too, going in line with that concept - like, an exposed spine and some weird looking claw arms - but im too sketchy right now to really show that in any readable way, haha
i should probably make that forehead design a little ~cooler~ tho tbh. it’s supposed to be his crown (since he’s the king of the dragons) and, well, those horns dont really make it easy to put on a traditional crown. i guess we’ll see…… in the Distant Future
Unfortunately, Lucius is also there, ruining everything
Scones: As Lucius does
Scones: what's that guys deal anyway did he just come into existence as a shitty person who loves garbage
Scones: i'm assuming he has like the least sympathetic backstory possible and it's safe for me to ask that question
Scones: I don't have to worry about finding myself listening to Lucius fanmixes at 2 in the morning and getting upset about sisters
Lucius was the God of Death in the first circle, before there were real rules and laws that kept the gods and universe in check and there was only open war between the forces of Order and Chaos
He and Isha'at were the ones who began the rebellion to kill Chaos and Order and end the war, ending the Circle in the process. But, the thing they did thinking it would kill the mother goddesses only ended up reviving the Magistrasa
The Magistrasa wiped everything away and started the universe anew with the Second Circle, and when she went dormant again, the Goddess of Balance was added to the mix to keep everything running smoothly. But Chaos and Order were so sentimental, they brought back many of their loyal soldiers from the First Circle to serve them again
Lucius and Asriel got the short end of the stick. With Balance, their domains of Death and Revenge were already fulfilled. To make them gods again would be redundant. Not only that, but they were so good, they HAD to be nerfed - so when they were recreated, they were mortal.
Lucius came long before Asriel in the Second Circle, and after spending so long trying to kill Chaos and Order in the First, he was terribly unsatisfied with the outcome. He wasn't REALLY in it to end the war. He's the God of Death! He loves wars! What he really wanted was to take their place on the throne.
His new limitations do not hamper his ambition, and he seeks out his old allies to begin their rebellion anew. This time, it doesn't go well for them. Most of the Old Gods are either banished or sealed away, the dragons are hunted down and trapped under the ice, and Lucius very nearly dies right there - but there isn't a demon alive that doesn't idolize him, so Chaos and Order know it's much wiser to make a statement. Make him beg for his life, and swear fealty to them. Of course, his will to live does not outweigh his pride. Before that day, his name was Thanatos. The name "Lucius" was meant to symbolize his rebirth as a warrior of light. Instead, it just became extremely ironic.
Chaos knew this wouldn't break his spirit, and subtly encouraged his traitorous ambition. She pointed him towards the Nirra, the most fearsome demons she'd yet created, saying that if he couldn't be a god, he could at least become a king. So he sought them out, stole their throne, and plotted his next move.
Order and Balance were much less trusting. Chaos insisted he be spared, as he was always her favorite, and suggested making an example of him to appease them. But now that the example was made, they wanted him out of the picture - and the Nirra, too, dangerous as they were. So Chaos and Order made a game of it - Asriel and Sariel would be sent down to slay every last one, and once that was over, the old rivals would fight each other. The survivor would serve their god, and all would be well. Order loved and missed Sariel just as much as Chaos loved and missed Asriel, so it was an easy agreement.
As the Angels of Justice and Revenge descended upon the demons, it was hardly a fight. Lucius knew that he didn't have the same strength they did, since Chaos and Order nerfed him so damn hard - so he ran, abandoning his wife, Dima, who had just given birth to his children, to occupy them while he made his escape. Yet again, he had to abandon everything he'd worked for so that he could survive to work towards it again.
He fled to the Void where no one could find him, and he wandered among the ruins of the First Circle that yet remained, here and there. It was not long before Chaos sought him out, and rekindled his ambition. She revealed that there were more people with the power to create and destroy entire universes, just like the Magistrasa he'd been so obsessed with after seeing, and gave more details about the cycle of life and death and rebirth that the new Magistrasa was ever caught in. Her sisters didn't want him killing the three of them and reviving the Magistrasa again - but no one ever said anything about using the power of a fledgling goddess to fulfill his goals.
Over the course of the story you find out Hyrr has been rigging the game in their favor the whole fucking time. She's the one who tells Isha'at to betray Karin and join Lucius. She had a chance to kill Nayuta, but instead let her bargain her sister's life to escape, and the "random" portal Hyrr opened to let her go ended up leading her straight to Laura. She lets Lucius's gang enter and escape the Demon World as they please.
Her argument is that games aren't fun if they aren't fair, but the life or death of an entire universe isn't exactly a game.
She's the most capricious and unpredictable of the gods, because she's always looking for a way to fuck with people and stir the pot so things can be interesting and fun for a while. Since she's rarely affected by it, she thinks of it as if it's a soap opera.
This all really comes back to bite her in the Third Circle, though. Once they find out how much she helped Lucius ruin their lives, no one wanted to side with her any more. With no friends and no allies, Hyrr didn't have the same power or influence she commanded before. Which led to a huge imbalance, which led to the self-destruction of the so-called "Perfect Circle."
Scones: what does tal think of the "games" her sisters are playing
Scones: I don't suppose she was involved with the asriel vs sariel business
Tal is usually in the dark about their games, actually. They may be sisters, and she may have pseudo-omniscience to a greater degree than Shi or Hyrr, but she doesn't usually know what they specifically are doing, or what their intentions are. Because she can't see their souls. When she looks at them, there is only brilliant light or blinding darkness. They're beyond her sight. She was never intended to control them - just make sure that their power does not shift the balance of the universe and start another eternal war like in the First Circle. But, in general, when she DOES hear about their games, her attitude towards them is one of disapproval.
The Asriel/Sariel thing was actually not one of these cases, though, because it was one of the rare cases in which the game seemed fair to her. Asriel and Sariel balanced each other out perfectly, and the fact that they weren't immortal gods meant that the survivor wouldn't necessarily lend TOO MUCH power to the god they served. Not only that, but it got the job done in wiping out the Nirra race. So she was fine with it. She had to be, if it was going to happen. Any creation of life has to go through Tal, as that is her domain.
She's less their sister and more like their scolding mother sometimes. Like, the reason why there are so many demons and no real equivalent under Shi's rule is because Hyrr was super interested in making new things and trying out different ways to test the universe. Every time Hyrr made a new race or demons, Tal would notify Shi and say that it's only fair if she got the chance to make something new to hopefully balance it out. But Shi would always laugh and say, "The races I command are ALREADY perfect, Tal! I don't NEED anything else!" Then, hundreds of different monsters and demons later, Shi takes a look at the universe and says, "WHAT THE HECK! THIS ISN'T FAIR! I'VE BEEN ROBBED! TRICKED! DECEIVED!" And she threw a huge tantrum until Tal, again, offered to make something new for her. And Shi, again, laughed and claimed she'd already created perfection, before going right back to throwing her tantrum. It wasn't about fairness, it was about the fact that Hyrr had all these toys and Shi had so few. So Tal just sighed and got to work evening things out in some way or another.
Most of Shi's soldiers are just humans that died in very specific ways, actually
Like, the White Order, where Claude serves, is staffed entirely by people that were stillborn and got another chance in the afterlife.
She's got an army of mages that were reborn after being martyred, saints can become angels after death, and of course there's the High Elves, and most water spirits too. Water is the holy element of the Goddess of Order, so she made most of the water spirits herself.
Scones: that "humans that died in very specific ways" is so fucking neat conceptually
Scones: I don't think I've seen any equivalents of that except The Drowned, which any narrative w/ sea-based lore has some variation of
It also lends to the hardcore cultist mentality Shi's followers have. You need to live and die a certain way to be able to enter the pearly gates.
Scones: that's so cool. like Valhalla but more hardcore
Scones: You died a martyr? Good good okay, but were you burned alive? No? Sorry buddy you're not on the list
It's actually more like having to be redirected to ten different departments
"You died a martyr? Sorry, but you died for the wrong cause, you actually need to go to room 403 and speak to the Chaste and Charity department"
"I see you died so that you wouldn't have to marry, but unfortunately the method of your death requires you to be screened by the Pyres and Immolations Committee."
Scones: ohh my god. I feel like the
Scones: white order would be kind of unique though i'm guessing?
Scones: Because they would spend their whole lives in shi's service
Scones: I don't know... whether that would be a good thing or a bad thing lmao
Yeah, it's actually kinda fucked up because they're literally child soldiers. Or at least they're trained from birth (more or less) to BE a soldier
Scones: oh FUCK yeah I didn't even think about that
Scones: you're basically recruiting people from infancy. they're not going to know anything else
Yeah, it's. Not great. I mean just look at what it did to Claude lmao
Claude was like 13 when he met Karin - though he was a special case, as most members of the White Order don't go out onto the field until they have way more experience during training. Claude was just a prodigy, so he got pushed out a lot earlier.
And even at that age, he talked and acted like an old man who had Seen Some Shit.
At that point he'd seen a lot of friends - family, really, as most members of the White Order see each other as closer than kin - get maimed or killed or eaten by demons, so already he had a lot of prejudice and PTSD bottled up inside him. It's no wonder he landed himself in the shitty position he did after Karin died too.
Karin was the first person outside the order he'd ever connected with, and through her he sort of got to experience normalcy. They partnered up a few times to fight demons and kick ass and just have fun together, and before long they got to share a mutual childhood crush. Then Nayuta showed up and killed Karin and he had never taken a loss worse than he did then
It was then that he made the deal with Shi, who he'd always been taught to revere and respect as the ultimate symbol of hope and mercy, to become the God of Ice and serve for a temporary time until a more suitable candidate was selected to take the position. He didn't want to be a god. He didn't want anything. But in exchange, Shi offered to bring Karin back to life, and they could live happily together to the end of their days.
Except Shi didn't find a replacement. Claude was the best God of Ice there ever was, so meticulous and dedicated was he. How could she replace him? So she delayed him, saying she'd revive Karin and dismiss him once he'd "done enough work" - and she made sure he wouldn't walk away from the deal by forcing the guilt of her death upon him, reminding him every day of his loss and his carelessness and his mistakes. He'd never been allowed to mourn her death, nor was he allowed to forget it. He clung to Karin's memory, even as Shi warped them and manipulated him to do her bidding unquestioningly.
When he met Karin again, almost 20 years later, they didn't recognize each other. It wasn't until Dion joined Karin that he learned from him that the goddess he'd always hated and mistrusted was, in fact, the girl he'd been yearning for all this time. And when Karin finally realized who he was, she was filled with disgust at what he'd become.
So THAT'S what happened to Claude. He became overzealous and couldn't really adjust to the stresses he'd been put under and eventually it ruined his life. BUT, he turned around and started to make up for it!
Then! He died! Before he could ever complete his atonement!
The reason why Shi's army of humans against Hyrr's army of demons works so well for Shi is because her army can strengthen her, as well as strengthen themselves. Faith and religious practice among humans is extremely important to the gods, because humans have the special quality of making things stronger just by believing in it
It's why gods might pander to their following, or why demons go through such lengths to terrorize humans and fill them with fear. The souls of humans have the special quality of being able to just give pieces away, without itself being any less than it once was. By having faith in something, humans are giving pieces of their soul away to it. So even if they don't have all the fantastic powers or survivability that demons do, Shi's forces can still overwhelm and overpower their enemy, as well as give strength to their gods and leaders.
Through the power of friendship and teamwork, the evil shall be defeated
「My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!」
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Just saw the quote, "Don't marry a man unless you'd be proud to have a son just like him," and I'm crying bc Karin and Isha'at basically already have a son and his name is Coal Sunwing Karin kind of adopted him without thinking and now he treats her like she's his mom (even though she made it very clear early on that she wasn't his REAL mom and that he'd probably never meet her because haha hey Karin kinda defeated her and sealed her away) And Coal is actually the biological son of Isha'at, though no one knows that but the father himself These three make for the worst family dynamic ever and I love every single one of them
This is either a really good Karin song or a really good Isha'at song. Or a really good song to portray their relationship as a single entity. No matter who it's for, this is just a really good song.
Isha'at, King of Dragons and Old God of Fire, is a dragon so great and powerful that he could easily swallow up entire planets. His wingspan alone stretches so far that it could cover the entire Demon World in its shadow. And it's these facts about his incredible size that pushed the gods to bestow upon the race of dragons the ability to take on a human form. Dragons would later go on to teach this talent to other races of creatures, but it's all because Isha'at is so damn big that they just couldn't handle him being that size.
Beneath the Dragon King, there stand four Dragon Lords who serve him: Mourwena Nightwing, Drak'an Starfang, Y'trin Sunward, and Ardor Sacredfire. Each of them filled a different role, for both their king and their society, and each of them lived during the First Circle, and were brought to the new Circle at Isha'at's behest. The alternative was oblivion, so they really owe him their lives; And they show it through their loyalty. Or, well... Most of them do.
Mourwena Nightwing, the Maven Lord, is lauded as the most beautiful of the dragons, with hair like starlight and skin as dark as dusk, and eyes that shine like the light of the moon. She breathes black fire, and falls upon her enemies in suffocating darkness, which all earned her the name she wears: Nightwing. Dragons are not born with a last name - in fact, like many demons, they pay little attention to familial ties, and dragonlings are usually handed off to a dragonmother to be raised - their names are earned through great feats, and bestowed upon them by their king during a great, fiery ritual. Despite her high standing in her society, Mourwena lives a life secluded from the rest of her kin, keeping to herself and devoting her days to serve the will of her king. She's something of a secretary, I suppose you could say - she handles his day-to-day duties and stands in for him to rule if he is ever needed elsewhere. She is his second in command, and he values her wisdom and advice more than anything else. Mourwena is also a powerful witch, who can cook up many potent potions and invoke all kinds of incredible spells. Though she is nowhere close to the level of any other mage the story focuses on, the fact that she is the most powerful mage among dragons is at least something worthy of note.
Though Mourwena lives for the most part separate from the rest of her race, she once yearned for the company of another, and for the warmth of love - not from any of her peers, but from a child. To love and care for a small, precious thing seemed like such a wonderful thing to her, and more than anything she wanted to know what it was like to be a mother. Though there was no romantic connection between them, it was Isha'at who helped her realize this wish - dragons are very good at separating sex from love - and together they produced one egg. But Mourwena would never see it hatched. Before the child could enter the world, the dragons went to war against the gods, and were all sealed away. The egg was hidden away in the mountains, safe and sleeping for several ages, until Karin found it and gave it the warmth it needed to hatch. The dragonling who was born that day was named Coal Sunwing - because Karin is terrible at naming things, and named the boy Coal because the egg looked like a giant lump of coal to her - and served Karin (and ironically, Isha'at) without ever meeting the mother who loved him before he even lived.
Next is Drak'an Starfang, the Warrior Lord. It is he who trained the dragons how to band together as an army, and is a formidable general who is well-versed in the arts of war. Though he has a terrible temper and his personality is abrasive and crude, he is an incredible fighter, and a fearsome foe. He earned his name because he played a part in putting the stars in the sky, contributing his flames to light the starfires. He did this because, despite his rough exterior and aggressive mannerisms, what he wants most in life is to see something beautiful. The sky, he thinks, is the most beautiful thing of all, and he was happy to help make it even prettier. When he helped create the stars, he said they reminded him of Mourwena, who he admires and openly adores for her stunning beauty. Isha'at comes in at a close second in this beauty contest.
Then there's Y'trin Sunward, the Warden Lord. She is directly in charge of overseeing the Hellfires that provide energy to the Demon World, and works closely with Isha'at to maintain its strength and manage its use. Due to her intuition and her obsessive attention to her duties, Isha'at was hardly ever needed to step in and correct them. Considering how finicky the fires can be, and how much of a problem it posed to later gods, this was an incredible achievement, and one Isha'at was very grateful for. Of all the Dragon Lords, she is most loyal to Isha'at, and worships him more fervently than anyone else.
Lastly, we have Ardor Sacredfire, the Aegis Lord. If Drak'an was the sword of the dragons, Ardor stood as the shield - both from the enemies who sought to bring down their race, and from themselves. Ardor saw to it that the laws of the king were carried out and followed by their people, and that there was peace among the violent race of the dragons. Which, considering how he ended up, is extremely ironic.
Ardor may have been in charge of keeping the peace, but when the day came in which the dragons went to war against the gods, Ardor betrayed his people, and went to serve under Shi, where he was canonized and given a new name. Before that day, he was known as Malik Oathkeeper, and is still sometimes referred to as such out of spite. Shi promised him refuge after the war, and said that the retribution against the actions of his race would not apply to him. But when the dragons were all sealed away and he stood alone as the last of his kind, the world revolted against all the immortal races, blaming them for the woes of mortals and the troubles of the world - and when Ardor was called on to face judgment and exile, Shi made no effort to save him. So he was cast away, into the endless nothingness of the Void, and there he drifted for countless years until he was driven to near madness and cursed the gods he betrayed his own people to protect. The traitor was, in the end, betrayed.
When the new Circles came around, he came along with them, and his people forgot the terrible thing he'd done - except for the King and his Lords, who all remembered his actions, from the First Circle to the end. Though Isha'at pardoned him, uninterested in pursuing a grudge from a Circle long past, the rest of the Lords never fully trusted him again. Nor does he deserve to be trusted, as he readily recognizes. But he still hopes to prove himself to his old friends, as well as his King, and is prepared to endure any trial to atone for his sins.
When ascending to godhood, one takes up a new name to symbolize their new life and devotion to their divine duties. Many answer only to this new name, taking pride in their position and wholeheartedly subscribing to the idea that they're a new person, living closer to perfection - but many of the New Age gods do not. It's a trend that came with a new outlook on godhood that pervaded the mindset of the younger gods, in which they could not see perfection in themselves, and freely embraced and felt empowered by their imperfections - their humanity. Arco and Leon rarely go by their divine names, allowing them to be used only by strangers, but Karin refuses, correcting everyone who calls her Shyala the moment she sees the name forming on their lips. The exception to this personal rule is Isha'at, the Old God of Fire, and that's only because his stubborn clinging to this new name outlasted her stubborn refusal to accept it. He sees it as a complement, a show of respect, and with time it even grew to become a term of endearment. But more than anything, it was a way in which he could easily annoy Karin, and that's what he enjoyed more than anything. The goddess always saw it as an insult, a way in which she was reminded that she wasn't good enough simply as herself, and needed to fit a different mold in order to be accepted. She wasn't allowed to be human, and if at all possible, she was to forget that she was ever human in the first place. Of course, she could see Isha'at had always meant it as a complement, but she didn't agree that it was always so.
