Games, all sorts

It is perhaps the nature of tragedy that drives humans and demihumans to better themselves. With only a finite amount of time, rashness and foolhardiness can sometimes be forgiven. Patience, delay, and complacency may perhaps be our biggest demons after all, for they steal the very thing we hold most dear, mortality. Mortals, with a rash act, can destroy at most a lifetime or two. For immortals, however, a rash act can destroy an eternity.

The Great Devil, Azranael has not always existed. In a universe time has long since forgotten, the war between Azranael and Barshemoth began, not as a war of demons and devils, law and chaos, but a war of Celestial versus Demon, Good versus Evil. The great Solar, Adruine, served as the Scion of a great god of good, whose name is forgotten to time. For uncountable years, Arduine faithfully served her master, and was rewarded with untold power. As a paragon of righteousness, she served as an example to those who lived in the light. Unfortunately, just as a moth is drawn to flame, evil is often drawn to the greatest good to destroy or corrupt it.

During a truce in the blood wars, the abyssal and infernal powers occasionally take time to tempt the souls of mortals. No longer content to fight over mere mortals, two damned powers set their sites on brightest and most powerful bastion of light in the heavens, Arduine. It was through a bet to bring about the downfall of Arduine, between the Demon Prince Barshemoth, and the Arch-Devil Anael, that brought about the Damnation, and the destruction of a universe.

Anael walked the lands as man does; forsaking his awesome power for a plot of utter simplicity. Barshemoth watched with much amusement, but initially did nothing. Arduine had a weakness for mortal men who walked in the light, and her god showed much wisdom in forbidding her from interacting with them. Anael, however, seduced Arduine, and attempted to turn her against her master for denying her those she loved the most. Arduine saw through Anael's disguise immediately, and immediately fled.

For the time being, Arduine hid her indiscretion from her lord. It was then that Barshemoth saw his opportunity. Over the centuries, it became evident that Arduine would bear the child of Anael. Barshemoth whispered into her ear at night horrible things. Barshemoth slowly convinced her that her child would be one of infinite darkness, corrupting the power her beloved lord had given her into a tool of infinite evil. As the seeds of doubt and worry grew in her mind, and the time of her child's birth grew near, Arduine fled from her lord.

As the child was borne, it became clear that her worries were for naught. The child borne was a powerful servant of the light. Anael, seeking again to corrupt Arduine after his initial failure, appeared before her. Instead of a simple man, Anael took upon the guise of Arduine's lord. Anael approached the pained Arduine, who had prostrated herself on the ground before her apparent lord, begging forgiveness. Anael spoke horrible things to Arduine, things mortal minds cannot fathom.

Arduine, exhausted from childbirth, and worn down by centuries of worry, fear and doubt lashed out at Anael, utterly destroying the Arch-Devil instantly. Arduine, in her state of panic and shock, believed she had killed her lord, which of course was not possible at that time. Again Barshemoth went to work, playing on her doubts and fears. Before long, she was convinced that the being she had killed was truly her lord, and that a pretender to his throne had claimed it. Knowing of Anael's previous failure, Barshemoth hinted that her lord was actually Anael is disguise, and that he sought to pull her into the hells.

Arduine gave her newborn daughter, Vandriel, to her trusted friend, Shuurai, the Lightning Dragon, for safe-keeping. She then approached her fellow Celestials with what she had done. She asked for their aid in pulling down the false lord. Though most did not believe she had killed her lord, Barshemoth again worked behind the scenes, and when all was said and done, twelve Planetars agreed to follow her in deposing the false god.

When Arduine and her twelve allies confronted their lord, she called him Anael by name. Her lord, informed by those who remained loyal of what was going on, forgave Arduine her sins, and that both she and her child would be forever welcome in his Kingdom of Light. Believing this to be part of the plot to cast her into the hells, Arduine and her twelve planetars assaulted their lord.

Arduine and her allies succeeded in destroying their true lord, immediately unbalancing the nature of the universe. Instantly, the powers of darkness, led by Barshemoth himself, assaulted the remaining powers of good in that universe. As the forces of light hung on at the precipice of oblivion, Barshemoth sent forth an emissary with part of the truth. Not fully trusting the emissaries words, they utilized great magicks to ensure the validity of the truth. The emissary spoke of Arduine and her twelve planetars, how they brought this darkness upon the world, and his words rang true. A partial truth is oft more deadly than an absolute falsehood. Believing the actions to stem from malice instead of poor judgement, the powers of light cast down Arduine, Shuurai, and the six planetars to the fiery pits of hell (Vandriel, an innocent, was spared the Damnation.); Barshemoth's victory was then complete.

Arduine was forced to forsake her name, and was then called Azranael, Daughter of Anael, to remind her of her failures. Though she could appear in any guise she wished, she forever carried the name Satsujinki to mark her among mortals and warn them. She lived in self-imposed exile on the edge of the Plane of Dreams for time un-rememberable, haunting the dreams of the truly wicked and evil. No longer the paragon of virtue and righteousness she once was, she existed to defeat Barshemoth permanently, willing to sacrifice anybody or anything to do so.

Almost fifty-five thousand years ago, Azranael, Shuurai, and the six finally claimed vengeance as they defeated and imprisoned Barshemoth within the newly formed world of Farne and with a contract that would ensure Barshemoth's captivity. However, Barshemoth had subtely worked loopholes into the contract, and after nearly fifty thousand years of slumber and imprisonment, began again to stretch forth his cold hand to corrupt the very world that held him. In that time, Barshemoth absorbed much from his prison, as the magic of the world infused his disparate parts. His servants arranged for key elements of his prison to be unlocked by the power hungry mortals that now walked the lands, and again his strength grew.

In the Year of the Comet, 2724 Farne Calendar, Azranael returned to the prison to discover that the enemy was stirring, and that both the prison and the contract were in jeapordy. She wasted no time in gathering her previous allies, the six and Shuurai, and a plan was hatched to forever defeat the great Demon Prince.

Barshemoth greedily absorbed much of the elemental magic that flows through the currents of Farne. However, like a child's hand with too many cookies, he is unable to escape the cookie jar. Though his strength and power increased greatly, he had become dependant on the land, and as such, became vulnerable to those from Farne. The six would be reborn as mortals, human or near human in appearance, of the world of Farne. Though now mortal and vulnerable themselves, they would be in a position to forever kill Barshemoth, but at the price of their immortality. They agreed without hesitation.

Another was also convinced to aid Azranael in her quest of destroying Barshemoth: her estranged daughter, Vandriel. She too was born as a human to provide for an ace in the hole. Vandriel hated Azranael with irrational intensity, however, as with all family, love and hate are closely linked. If the destruction of Barshemoth would fully redeem her mother, all could once again be well with their “family.” Vandriel would give everything she had to aid her mother.

However, things did not go according to plan. Part of Azranael's curse is to have unintended negative consequences effect those she cares about. Vandriel was born into a life of a simple farm girl, knew only toil, pain, and starvation for nearly twenty years. Fushidara¹⁾ fell victim to her own heart, and forsook all she was to be completely human, and was forced to bury not only a husband, but a son as well. She eventually died a mortal, but not before passing her mantle to her daughter. Keeosu Kami's mortal form was unable contain her chaotic spirit, and she became an undead creature of great power. Barshemoth soon turned her against her companions and they were forced to slay her. Chikara Fuji was forced into destroying an entire city and killing thousands in an attempt to weaken Barshemoth. Filled with great and terrible guilt over what he had done, he killed himself. Akisu Ansatsusha ²⁾ has been forced to live a life of solitude and persecution, having had the unfortunate luck to born into the body of a half dark-elf, mistrusted and scorned by all.

Even worse than losing two of the six, the remaining four disagreed on what their eventual end game was. Arduine's most loyal supporter, Kyoubou Shireikan wanted to finally slay Barshemoth and end Azranael's obsession. Once this business with the demon prince was over, Kyoubou could regain the power he had lost. However, Jasutisu Teisatsu wanted to resurrect their former lord, while Fushidara's daughter felt the six of them, along with Angelyn (the name she knew Azraneal/Arduine by) and Shuurai, were as much a plague to Farne as Barshemoth and his followers. It was her belief that once the demon was slain, they should sacrifice themselves as well. Kyoubou definitely had no desire to kill himself, nor did he want their former lord to return. Kyoubou was only loyal to their master by proxy, first and foremost being loyal to Arduine. After they had slain him all those eons ago, it was his belief that she earned his throne, and it was her divine right to now rule.

And so the group self destructed. In the aftermath of the resulting infighting, Kyoubou's ³⁾ soul was trapped in a powerful gem, and Jasutisu ⁴⁾, Shuurai ⁵⁾, and Fushidara's daughter ⁶⁾ were dead. Barshemoth took advantage of the ensuing chaos, and Angelyn, angered and distraught at her plan falling apart, threw herself at her most hated enemy with reckless abandon. Though Barshemoth managed to slay the fallen angel, she had severely weakened him. Her daughter Vandriel quickly assaulted him in his weakened state and managed to finally destroy him and avenge her mother. With nothing left for her on Farne, she left the world never to return.

To this day, the majority of the murdered god Vrask's divine powers remain untouched in the Citadel in Dreams, the place where Angelyn waited during her banishment from Farne leading up to her final battle with Barshemoth and her subsequent death.