Aetherie
| Aetherie Daan'sawil | |
|---|---|
| Status | |
| Race | Elothean |
| Gender | Male |
| Guild | Cleric |
| Instance | Prime |
Description
You see High Priest Aetherie Daan'sawil, Reborn in Flames, an Elothean.
A holy aura of malevolence emanates from Aetherie, the darkness exuding a disturbing black radiance.
Aetherie has an angular face with frown lines around his mouth and tilted almond-shaped red eyes. His grey hair is short and wavy, and is worn tangled. He has fair skin and a lean build.
He is tall for an Elothean.
A shimmering black sapphire rests on his forehead, just above his eyes.
He is fairly young for an Elothean.
He has a narrow goatee twisted into a long braid.
A luminous orb of coruscating rainbowed light hovers like a will-o-wisp, following him diligently.
He is in good shape.
He is wearing a golden firesilk turban, a crimson cashmere cassock with deep cuffs trimmed in black brocade, an azure-scaled poloh'izh hide cloak, a severely curved steel scythe with a twisted ironwood haft, a dark shaman's weapon harness spangled with a myriad of glittering ruby shrews, an exquisite nightsilk duffel, a pale spidersilk backpack, an onyx spider ring, a vermilion and alabaster raw silk sash tied with an intricate knot, some simple monk's sandals and a vibrantly painted Kerenhappuch emblem hung from a braided cord of many colors.
History
Aetherie was born into a family of Elothean missionaries in a small village nestled within the Vela'tohr Valley, near the Clerical monastery there. His family was sent to Forfedhdar to help mend the rift between Temple of the North Wind and Temple of Kertigen.
Family
Dwarves of Hibarnhvidar had long been perturbed by the influence High Priestess Denizelva of Asketi was enjoying over the Cleric Guild and the surrounding regions. Not surprisingly, the Asketians didn't try to allay their concerns in the least and further aggravated the situation with their usual poisonous remarks. This friction was observed with worry by the Ilithi clergy. Fearing dissent among the Thirteen's followers -- especially at a time when whispers of the Dragon Priests had started to re-emerge --, the House of the Rowan Branch formed a group of mediators. After traversing vast steppes and mountains, the party arrived at the Vela'tohr Valley and formed their village with the local abbot's blessing.
Childhood
Spending his childhood in the malevolent gardens shadowed by the looming Asketi's Mount, Aetherie learned to fear and revere the Hag. He would often travel alone to the edge of the woods hoping to encounter any pilgrims or Asketian priests on their way to the majestic temple atop the mountain. The Asketians would take his measly offerings of food and gems with smirks, but nonetheless give him the blessings that would spare him from Asketi's midnight hunt.
When Aetherie was first brought before the abbot at a spring celebration, he was intimidated by the old, icy-eyed dwarf. Springs were important in the valley, for it signified the end of Asketi's winter. No more shrieking banshees that ruined the crops, no more maddened mothers wailing over bloodied cribs. As Aetherie knelt before the Cleric to receive a blessing, eyes on the floor, a wizened hand stretched out and touched his forehead, filling him with a spiritual joy he couldn't explain. That day was a turning point in his life and he started visiting the monastery every day, spending more and more time with the local monks. Although Clerics themselves, Aetherie's parents worried as the abbot indoctrinated him in ways they believed to be excessive for a child his age -- which was probably true. Nonetheless, the Eloths bowed their heads in compliance when one day the abbot proclaimed his decision to send the boy to the Crossing for disciplined training.
Clergy
During his travel to the east, Asketi's influence started waning from Aetherie's soul and her cold grip on his heart easing. After a year spent under Guildleader Esuin's tutoring he emerged as a young acolyte of Meraud, dedicated to the study of holy magics.
It wasn't until he became a more experienced monk of the High Temple that his spirit heard the siren call of Kerenhappuch. The hectic life of Crossing had begun to wear on him and he was sick of the countless corpses passing through the guildhall each day; their nameless, unwashed, heathen souls demanding and vying for Clerical attention. Aetherie found his faith faltering, and his soul slowly turned to a darker path for solace. Though he was wary of the divine seductress' fickle nature, he was unable to stray far from Meraud's teachings, thus he submitted to Kerenhappuch's open arms with a bitter temparement. And soothed him did those arms, nurtured him.
He spent most of his young adult life buried in the studies of his discipline, honing his talents as a magician and holy scholar while wandering across the four provinces as an undead hunter. His ambitions fueled by Kerenhappuch's guidance, he grew to be a meticulous pursuer of knowledge.
Many years later, the rise of the new Dragon Priest Empire provided Aetherie --now a guild hierarch-- the incentive and the means to travel to Forfedhdar along the provincial reinforcement armies. Soon arriving at the Vela'tohr Valley once again, he visited the monastery almost as a total stranger; time had erased many memories. The village of missionaries had long been abandoned, its residents presumably returned to the Elothean capital. He didn't seek his family; there was simply no love left in his now calloused heart for anything but the divine, ensured by the ever-present whispering of Kerenhappuch. Instead, he spent weeks in the Temple of the North Wind and its catacombs far beneath, taking zealous glee in exploring the sacred mountain which he used to watch from afar as a child.
Following the declaration of a holy war upon the Dragon Priest Empire, Aetherie acted as the jihad advisor of the Cleric Council under High Priestess Tallis.
Aetherie is currently a high priest of the Crossing Temple, though always yearning to return to his homeland Forfedhdar. Despite not considering himself a battle cleric as his Swamp Shaman peers, he is a masterful channeler of destructive magic and an ardent inquisitor of the clergy, eradicating the Undead whenever and wherever they are found.
Faith
As his guild elders taught him throughout his vocation, Aetherie venerates the entire Kermorian Pantheon; realizing that it is not composed of opposing forces, but those of consummate unity. That said, he has chosen to focus his devotion to a singular, aligned aspect; letting his experience slowly build a tiered conception of faith for him over the years.
Aetherie is an absolute Kerenhappuch worshipper, Her influence woven into his spirit inextricably, but he is also fascinated by the extremely rich Asketian lore. Beyond the two goddesses, he has strong spiritual ties to each of the dark deities, dedicating the crux of his theological and arcane research unto them.