Isekai, Go Home! An Anti-Isekai, Isekai Fantasy Inquisition Quest

Character Sheet and Team Building Selection
  • Hrsy

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    Character Sheets of Note

    Inquisitorial Agents


    The White Priestess - Lijsbet Visser
    The White Priestess

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    Name: Lijsbet Visser
    Title: The White Priestess (confirmed by The Church's 'Lesser Appraisal')
    Sex: Female
    Age: 18 Years Old
    Level: 40
    Classes: Lvl 40 Priestess (First ascension)
    Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
    Elemental Affinity: Mana, Light, ??? (Second affinity undiscovered)

    Race & Origin: Human. You were born to unknown human parents, and left in a basket before a church's steps in the town you grew up in, Furholj, a small trading town in the Kingdom of Astem. The priests of the church took you in and raised you amongst their monastic order. Your surname, Visser, was invented for you by a nun after watching you attempt to 'fish' in a nearby stream as a young child. Your time in the priests care was pleasant, and somewhat luckily, being raised by priests gave you access to a level of education that most peasant/yeomen humans would not have access to, and so these priests educating you in letters and basic numbers discovered a precocious genius and magical gift hidden in your young mind and empty background. With that, you were sent off to the Academy of Light, an elite magical academy sponsored partially by The Church, which permits them to send magically gifted commoners to learn amongst scions of the aristocracy in exchange for service to The Church after graduation. Initially isolated in the Academy, you eventually found a friend in the companionship of one Mechtelt Vrooman, another young priestess training to become an Inquisitor. While you always found Mechtelt to be somewhat intimidating, scary even, she protected you from bullying by the other nobles, leading to your gratitude. Now, some years later, you intend to join her to repay her guidance and protection and help save people from evil. The Church, initially reluctant to see such a young and bright soul leave for such a grim and hope-destroying career first protested and wished to see you become a more benign figure to pay your service, but higher-up officials eventually approved the move upon noticing your particular talents. At the cusp of adulthood, you joined The Inquisition.

    Archenemy: You don't yet have a particular Isekai you would call your personal nemesis. As a recent graduate from the Academy of Light, the worst of your foes have been aristocratic mean girls stealing your shoes, and even then, you did not actually hate them, as your intense empathy reading and telepathic powers revealed to you many of their own insecurities and worries. That said, your at times intense discussions (mostly one-way) on ideals and politics by your friend Mechtelt has led you to have a particular dislike of Isekais who possess the bodies of others against their will, which has partly led to your proficiency in exorcism, and the refining of your telepathy and other mental magics, subjects you took outside the normal curriculum of healing, anti-demonic, anti-plague and other priestly spells. These powers are what has made you the Isekai-hunting prodigy you are today… and it is likely with them, you will eventually find an Isekai to be your nemesis, or otherwise they shall find you.

    Alignment:
    Lawful Good (Assessment provided by Eyes of Divine Alignment and made known to you via The Church. You don't talk about it much, as you don't really like to brag about your 'official alignment' as if it was some sort of trophy)

    Core Attributes:
    Level:
    40 (First ascension achieved)
    HP: 1000
    MP: 3500

    Strength: 8 (Below Average)
    Perception: 21 (High Proficiency)
    Dexterity: 16 (Above Average)
    Constitution: 10 (Average)
    Intelligence: 24 (High Proficiency)
    Willpower: 14 (Above Average)
    Charisma: 17 (Proficient)
    Destiny: 14 (Above Average)

    Skills
    Light Priest-Holy Light / Smite (Above Average)
    Priest-Purge Undead (Average)
    Priest-Purge Demon (Average)
    Priest-Minor Heal (Proficient)
    Priest-Greater Heal (Above Average)
    Priest-Sense Disease (Above Average)
    Priest-Cure Disease (Average)
    Priest-Sense Poison (High Proficiency)
    Priest-Cure Poison (Proficient)
    Priest-Dispel Curse (Above Average)
    -Empath Skill: Passive Empathy (High Proficiency)
    -Empath Skill: Auras (Proficient)
    -Telepathy: Minor Telepathy (Proficient)
    -Telepathy: Mental Dive (Average)
    -Exorcism: Isekai (Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Theory of Exorcism (Highly Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Magical Theory & Holy Statistics (Above Average)
    -Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Above Average)
    -Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Above Average)

    Investigative Ability: While highly inexperienced in actual investigation works - theoretically, you are highly talented, having shown extremely high academic ability, creativity and critical thinking skills in education. If your prodigal intellect were given proper training, you may very well become a master of detective work, and as a highly empathetic individual who can magically feel the emotions of others, you are likely to be capable of persuasive elements of this work as well. The greatest flaw to your investigative abilities is your personality - you are meek and well-meaning, preferring to let things slide and appeal to others' better natures, even if it puts you at great odds or is a search for something that isn't there.

    Faith: High (Faction: Heterodox. You hold peculiar views about The Church's dictates, however you are not considered a threat due to officials chalking this up to youth and naivety that shall fade in time)

    Inquisitorial Statements (Provided by Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman): I must immediately provide a full disclosure of my conflict of interest. Lijsbet Visser is a close friend of mine who I met in our mutual studies at the Academy of Light. While of course I support and confirm all the recommendation statements of The Council, I am clearly not an unbiased observer of these things and therefore any decision on her being made Adjutant-Inquisitor must rest on the collective wisdom of the Clerical Council or one of my Inquisitorial peers.

    Clerical Council (Oversight by His Holiness, the Cardinal Rosche) Recommendations: We have discovered that the recent graduate Lijsbet Visser of the Academy of Light has shown interest in working with the Inquisition as part of her mandatory church service. Our inspections of her character and abilities have shown exceptional - even extraordinary ability. Her understanding is above most of her peers, as is her aptitude for magic, exorcism rituals and mental interrogation work, as well as a firm commitment to the virtues and laws that the divine in heaven would certainly find commendable. We are confident that with this theoretical base, a firm hand guiding her path to experience should lead to a fine future Inquisitor. We confirm Lijsbet Visser's position as Adjutant-Inquisitor.

    Special Trait (non-racial): Magical Prodigy: You are a significant outlier in terms of intellect and magical capacity and speed of experiential gain. Not only is your mana capacity significantly higher than normal, but your ability to learn magical skills is far faster than normal, and includes competency even in highly difficult magical fields that few others can master, such as exorcism and telepathy. (Halves the learning time of new spells and magic-related skills within the ranges of common to advanced. Those above advanced have learning time reduced by a quarter)

    Special Trait (Non-racial): Empathic Sensory: You were born with a high awareness of emotions, and with the development of your magic in the Academy of Light alongside telepathy, you can now physically see emotions. Auras and miasmas of colours emanating not only from people but powerful emotions lingering over objects and places. A powerful tool of investigation and persuasion - this power comes at a cost: your career will likely be leading you into places and confrontations with people from the worst that the world has to offer. Drowning in the emotions of misery, despair, hatred, sadism and perverse lusts is likely to take its toll on your health eventually. (Special options and interactions, particularly in the Investigation Stage)

    Special Trait/Flaw (Non-racial): Otome Attractor: For some reason completely beyond your understanding, young men - particularly wealthy and handsome young men, inexplicably become smitten with you, more often than not. This becomes almost unavoidable when within institutions such as academies. While normally this would be endearing to many a teenage to young adult girl pursuing such things, you are attempting to become an Inquisitor and are not interested in marriage or necessarily romance, let alone partaking in some strange polyandrous harem with men you barely know. That said, while very annoying - perhaps there may come a time when this strange phenomena may become useful for you.
    The Reclaimed

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    Name: Enguerrand Baudelaire
    Title: The Reclaimed (was listed as such on his dossier)
    Sex: Male
    Age: 25 Years Old
    Level: 68
    Classes: Lvl 50 Rogue (first asc) Level 18 Assassin (second asc)
    Nationality: Kingdom of Astem (Originally Kingdom of Tourine)
    Elemental Affinity: Mana, Darkness, Time

    Race & Origin: Reclaimed Human - What you know of Baudelaire without in-depth talking with him is what Vrooman informed you about him when she handed you your first dossier of agents. Baudelaire was once a street urchin, born in the dark alleyways of the Baudelaire district, from where his name derives, of Tour, the capital city of the Kingdom of Tourinia - a neighbouring kingdom of the your own homeland, the Kingdom of Astem.

    You know that he was once possessed by an Isekai, prior to his service to The Church. He has not discussed his past with you, but Vrooman informed you that he was possessed as a child, and only through sheer force of will was he able to retake control of his body during his Isekai possessor's moment of greatest weakness, and from there was able to alert The Church of his Isekai possessed status, and so had himself exorcised. Vrooman did not give you specifics about his employment after his exorcism, however strongly hinted that he was employed as an assassin of some sorts working for a certain agency of The Church closely linked to The Inquisition, and from there he was sent from that agency to The Inquisition and eventually service to you.

    Baudelaire I: You discovered that Baudelaire likes cats. You caught him feeding a stray cat once, and while he did not reveal much, he mentioned in passing that he once had a pet cat when he was a street urchin, before he was possessed. It is possibly the only time you have ever seen him smile.
    Baudelaire II: LOCKED
    Baudelaire III: LOCKED
    Baudelaire IV: LOCKED
    Baudelaire V: LOCKED
    Baudelaire VI: LOCKED
    Baudelaire VII: LOCKED
    Baudelaire VIII: LOCKED
    Baudelaire IX: LOCKED
    Baudelaire X: LOCKED

    Archenemy: ???

    Alignment: ???

    Strength: 15 (Above Average) - Toned, capable of throwing knives at significant distances with ease.
    Perception: 21 (High Proficiency) - Experienced investigator and tracker.
    Dexterity: 22 (High Proficiency) - Highly talented and trained assassin.
    Constitution: 11 (Average) - Would be higher, but damaged due to UNKNOWN REASONS
    Intelligence: 17 (Proficient) - Fairly intelligent, learns new things quickly, adaptive.
    Willpower: 25 (Master) - Able to overthrow control of an Isekai possessing him without external aid. Mastery of his own soul, highly courageous.
    Charisma: 8 (Below Average) - Once plucky street-rat, his formative years destroyed by possession and later trauma, religious fanaticism and murderous work - he is polite but unnerving and awkward.
    Destiny: 8 (Below Average) - Cast aside by destiny and ignored by the Myth Arc, his destiny is only his by clawing its remnants back.

    Agent Speciality: Assassination, Lone-wolf operations, espionage, ranged single attacks.

    Skills
    -Knives and Daggers (High Proficiency)
    -Crossbows (Proficient)
    -Throwing Knives (High Proficiency)
    -Firearms (Proficient)
    -Threat Conceal (Proficient)
    -
    Stealth (High Proficiency)
    -Sleight of Hand (High Proficiency)
    -
    Precision - Daggers (High Proficiency)
    -
    Technique - Assassination (High Proficiency)
    -
    Temporal (Magic): Time Dilation (Below Average)
    -Temporal (Magic): Flash (Above Average)
    -Illusion (Magic): Elusive Self (Above Average)
    -Sense Poison (High Proficiency)
    -Knowledge: Poison Creation (Above Average)
    -Knowledge: Potions (Average)
    -Knowledge: Theory of Exorcism (Average)
    -Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Survival (High Proficiency)
    -Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture - Tourish (Average)
    -Knowledge: Isekai - Japan and Earth Lore (Incapable)
    -Skill: Acrobatics (Proficient)
    -Skill: Lockpicking (Proficient)
    -Skill: Trap Setting (Above Average)
    -Skill: Trap Disarming (Above Average)
    -Skill: Forgery (Proficient)
    -Skill: Pickpocket (Master)
    -Skill: Cryptography (High Proficiency)
    -
    Skill: Foreign Language - Tourish (Proficient)
    -Skill: Foreign Language - Japanese (Incompetent)
    -Resistance: Possession - Isekai (Master)
    -Resistance: Possession - Demonic (Above Average)

    Investigative Ability: A very skilled detective, his work as an assassin employed by The Church and now The Inquisition has honed his skills in finding, tracking down, and killing targets. Highly observant, he can ascertain clues and connect disparate information creatively and rationally, and have a decent understanding of the human mind to detect lies and manipulation - though he is quite blunt and not the best persuader, and often has his perceptions of others shaded by his own cynicism and biases. Of less said note, He is also skilled at tracking down targets alone, as he did in the past, and so does not necessarily need the taskforce, and can work independently of your commands if needed.

    Faith: ??? (Faction: Ultra-Orthodox)
    Loyalty (To Lijsbet Visser): ??? (Unknown)


    Special Trait/Flaw: Ghost of Isekai (Akio Takahashi): While the Isekai was purged from Baudelaire's mind by The Church's exorcism rite, tendrils of his influence still remain, as they do for all Reclaimed. At times you have caught him whispering to himself, having strange conversations with himself. You once asked what this was, alarmed that he was still possessed, however he explained to you that it is a symptom of some Reclaimed, they have strong sensations and memories connected to their possession, and sometimes repeat old inner monologues. He once invited you to telepathically observe what he calls "The Council Room", a strange mental space, closed off from the world where empty chairs sit around a table, a room he claimed he was forced to watch for many years as different versions of the Isekai talked to himself. Baudelaire has at times also shown bizarre knowledge and experiences, including speaking certain phrases in the strange language of the Isekais.
    The Elf Sorceress
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    Name: Lyeneru Asara Okaavailnases
    Title (actual): The Elf Sorceress (was listed as such on her dossier)
    Sex: Female
    Age: 798 Years Old
    Level: 97
    Classes: Lvl 50 Mage (first asc) Level 47 Sorceress (second asc) Level 0 Seer (Grand asc)
    Nationality: Realm of the Okaaliecceadan
    Elemental Affinity: Mana, Water, Air

    Race & Origin: Elf - While forgetful and distracted, Lyeneru has been a pleasant and forthright person enough for you, and has confirmed and even elaborated upon information provided to you about herself in the dossier Mechtelt gave you. She confirmed that she is nearly eight centuries old, although numerous times she has accidentally gotten her own age wrong and needed to be corrected.

    She is from the prominent Okaavailnases family, a lineage of very powerful elven sorcerers and scholars from the Realm of the Okalieccea, a distant elven kingdom to the north-east in the Middle Kingdoms. Her family descend from a cadet branch of the royal Okaavannvaris Dynasty some millennia ago, however are not landed nobility due to their dynasty founder, Prince Okaavailnases, renouncing his titles and succession to retreat into research as a hermit. This information is a matter of public record, and you confirmed it when you checked to make sure.

    Lyneru herself has explained that in her centuries of lifetime she has taken on a number of professions, ranging from a herbalist, potion-mistress, adventurer, court tutor and a seeress. She also briefly worked as a librarian and even as a chef, the last of which became a matter of interest when you revealed to her your own interest in baking. She did not go into much detail about her time as an adventurer as it seemed to be a sore topic, however Mechtelt’s dossier claims that she has taken part in numerous wars throughout the Millennia, including the Myth Wars against the Fallen God Sarut and the Demon Empire, the Okalieccean-Warren Spider War, and even the War in Heaven against the infamous Katsuro the Destroyer. Not reported in the dossier but briefly mentioned by Lyeneru was also her supposed involvement in the Yankeevine Civil War… the implications being that she once fought alongside an Isekai-aligned faction against another.

    When asked why she joined the Inquisition, she explained that she had no one else to turn to, as her Tiara of Laaeshan, which protected her mind from the effects of the Fade of Epoch, had been stolen by an Isekai known as the “Heist Isekai”.

    The Inquisition were initially hesitant to permit her to join, as she is not actually a member of the Union Church of the East, which the Inquisition serves, however her skills, past history as an adventurer and her faith’s relative similarity (the Laaeshan Cult worships the Creator Pantheon like our own church, but focuses on Laaeshan at its core).

    Okaa I: Lyneru suffers from periodic bouts of forgetfulness, clumsiness and severe loss of direction, and needs to be supervised so that she does not become lost. These episodes are particularly pronounced because when not under the effect of the Fade of the Epoch, Lyneru is highly erudite, well-mannered and even graceful.
    Okaa II: LOCKED
    Okaa III: LOCKED
    Okaa IV: LOCKED
    Okaa V: LOCKED
    Okaa VI: LOCKED
    Okaa VII: LOCKED
    Okaa VIII: LOCKED
    Okaa IX: LOCKED
    Okaa X: LOCKED

    Archenemy: The Heist Isekai, who stole her Tiara of Laaeshan. The Heist Isekai is infamous across the continent for his enormous list of theft-related crimes, ranging from serial and widespread petty theft, grand larceny and organised heists of some of the most valuable objects in the world. He is also known to be an infamous adulterer and womaniser, and is particularly infamous for his theft of women’s lingerie, which he is known to steal while they are still wearing them. Unsurprisingly, The Heist Isekai is one of the listed top ten most wanted in the world, with an enormous bounty on his head, so is hunted by more than just inquisitors.

    Alignment: ???

    Strength: 11 (Average) - Her strength is normal for an Elven lady, it make have been greater when she was an adventurer, but that was centuries ago.
    Perception: 16 (Above Average) - Beware, for this perception attribute was taken when she was her normal self... her perception while under the affliction of the Fade of the Epoch is... much lower.
    Dexterity: 7 (Below Average) - hindered by The Fade, causing her significant misery in the form of disorientation and clumsiness.
    Constitution: 12 (Average) - Her constitution and stamina are average, if a bit better than normal due to her profession.
    Intelligence: 22 (High Proficiency) - Highly intelligent and with extensive wisdom, knowledge and experience. She has lived for centuries and has much to share.
    Willpower: 18 (Proficient) - To rage against one's slow and cruel end by the whims of the Fade of the Epoch is a remarkable thing.
    Charisma: 17 (Proficient) - Lyneru is a wise counsel and teacher, who has taught nobles and royalty the ways of magic, and has a certain grace and compassion in her words... when she isn't forgetting what she said.
    Destiny: 18 (Proficient) - Lyneru's place in the annuals of history while not centre stage are extensive. She has witnessed and participated in some of the most important events of the last millennia.

    Agent Speciality: Crowd Control, Large-scale warfare, potion making, massive damage


    Skills
    -Mage-Channel Mana (Highly Proficient)
    -Mage-Mana Bolt (Proficient)
    -Mage-Mana Barrier [Self] (Above Average)
    -Mage-Mana Barrier [Endow] (Above Average)
    -Mage-Lesser Enchantment (Above Average)
    -Mage-Rapid Evocation (Highly Proficient)
    -Mage-Inventory [False] (Average)
    -Mage-Mana Burst (Above Average)
    -Mage-Lesser Levitate [Endow] (Proficient)
    -Air Mage-Air Bubble (Highly Proficient)
    -Air Mage-Wind Gash (Highly Proficient)
    -Water Mage-Water Ball (Highly Proficient)
    -Water Mage-Frost Bolt (Proficient)
    -Sorcerer-Mana Prism [Self] (Above Average)
    -Sorcerer-Mana Bomb (Above Average)
    -Sorcerer-Multicast (Proficient)
    -Sorcerer-Dispel Simple Geas (Above Average)
    -Sorcerer-Dispel Lesser Enchantment (Above Average)
    -Air/Water Mage-Spark Lightning (Highly Proficient)
    -Water Sorcerer - Blizzard (Proficient)
    -Air/Water Sorcerer-Thunder strike (Proficient)
    -Air/Water Sorcerer-Chain Lightning (Proficient)
    -Air/Water Sorcerer-Chains of Flowing Thunder (Proficient)
    -Air/Water Sorcerer-Great Storm (Proficient)
    -Water Sorcerer-Maelstrom (Above Average)
    -Skill: Wordless Casting (Highly Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Potions (Highly Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Prophecy and Clairvoyance (Highly Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Geas, Bindings & Slave Crests (Average)
    -Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Above Average)
    -Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Average)
    -Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture – Okalieceadean Elvish (High Proficiency)
    -
    Skill: Foreign Language – Okalieceadean Elvish (High Proficiency)

    Investigative Ability: While Lyneru is highly intelligent and possesses wisdom from across the centuries, she is crippled by her bouts and episodes caused by the Fade of the Epoch, and in general has severe issues with observation, concentration and dexterity. She can easily become lost in a simple village without supervision, so cannot be expected to track an opponent. For all intents and purposes, while she is an awe-inspiring sorceress at her best, she is no more competent an Inquisitor than old Mother Gran from your church where you were raised.

    Faith: Average (Faction: Heathen. While Lyeneru technically is a member of Pantheon’s faithful due to her worship of the Goddess of Nature, Laaeshan as well as the God of Magic, Knowledge and Secrets, Wisp alongside other Creator Pantheon deities popular amongst the elves, the Elvish temples tend to follow their own unique interpretations of these deities and prioritise their worship over the accepted canon of the Creator Churches as recognised in the Kingdom of Astem. Lyeneru as such is technically speaking beyond the factional confines of The Church and can be considered a disinterested bystander)

    Loyalty (To Lijsbet Visser): ??? (Unknown)


    Special Flaw: Fade of the Epoch (Mental Degeneration): Lyneru suffers from an illness common amongst the very long-living races who are at the twilight years of their life; the Fade of the Epoch, or simply The Fade. Lyneru’s skills and XP degrade overtime, at a rate that without significant levelling, results in her levels going down rather than up. She has already completely lost access to her Grand Ascension abilities, such as her powers of prophecy. She has lapses in memory, hand-eye coordination and sense of direction - even clumsiness. This Fade that takes her slowly is what drives her to desperation in hunting down the Heist Isekai, who stole her Tiara of Laaeshan that once protected her from the Fade.
    The Guard

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    (The Guard, here taking off its helm, revealing its true face - another helmet. Not seen is its "Holy Shield that shall Endure All Injustices")

    Name: The Guard
    Title (actual): The Guard (?)
    Sex: Male?
    Age: 97 Years Old
    Level: Unknown
    Classes: Unknown (Ascensions: Unknown)
    Nationality: Stateless (Technically Kingdom of Astem)
    Elemental Affinity: Unknown


    Race & Origin: Guard - You know him as one of the Guards, which are less a race and more an artificial construct, an automaton. Guards have long been legendary figures across the world as solemn and stern figures spawned miraculously within populated cities bereft by crime, often in proximity to Churches and Shrines dedicated to Sentinel, the god of Law and Justice. The Guards you have seen in your life often just stand stationary or patrol in simple, linear patterns awaiting crime to come upon them. All who have seen a Guard come upon a criminal knows this: If they witness a crime within a city, they will become temporarily invulnerable, a destroyer of evil smiting all criminals in their wake.

    The Guard however… This Guard is different. He, or it, it was still confusing, When the Inquisitor Mechtelt gave you responsibility over The Guard, she told you that The Guard did not spawn in a city of mortal men, but high in The Heavens, born to confront and battle Katsuro The Destroyer himself during his criminal deicide in the War In Heaven, ending 97 years ago. You do not know what happened there or after, but The Guard is said to have first appeared around Asterdondum in the Kingdom of Astem shortly after Katsuro’s defeat. Strangely, The Guard is not restricted to a single place and walks wherever he pleases. So long as where he walks is to confront evil and injustice, he seems to be content to follow wherever you go.

    Guard I: LOCKED
    Guard II: LOCKED
    Guard III: LOCKED
    Guard IV: LOCKED
    Guard V: LOCKED
    Guard VI: LOCKED
    Guard VII: LOCKED
    Guard VIII: LOCKED
    Guard IX: LOCKED
    Guard X: LOCKED

    Archenemy: ???

    Alignment: Lawful Guard (Alignment cannot be confirmed by Appraisal or Sight of Divine Alignment, so The Inquisition has labelled The Guard as “Lawful Guard”, based on studies performed on the comparable Botmen, who have been appraised as “Lawful Guard”)

    Strength: 20 (Proficient?)
    Perception: 15 (Above Average?)
    Dexterity: 14 (Above Average?)
    Constitution: 30 (Near Divine?)
    Intelligence: 14 (Above Average?)
    Willpower: 25 (Heroic?)
    Charisma: 6 (Below Average?)
    Destiny: 15 (Above Average?)
    (all approximate due to Appraisal not working on The Guard)


    Agent Speciality: Urban combat, criminals, inhospitable environments, counter-mental powers, attrition

    Skills (Appraisal does not work on The Guard, as such this list of skills is based on a theoretical list provided by Mechtelt combined with your own observations. Notably, The Guard's skills break the Class system)
    -Greatswords (Proficient?)
    -Shields (Proficient?)
    -Knight - Cripple (Proficient?)
    -Knight - Rebuke (Proficient?)
    -Knight - Trample (Proficient?)
    -Knight - Mordhau (Proficient?)
    -Knight - Throw Shield (Proficient?)
    -Knight - Riposte (Proficient?)
    -Hunter - Farsight (Proficient?)
    -Warrior - Challenge (Proficient?)
    -Warrior - Rush (Proficient?)
    -Warrior - Encumbered Might (Proficient?)
    -Warrior - Overpower (Proficient?)
    -Priest - Purge Undead (Proficient?)
    -Priest - Purge Demon (Proficient?)
    -Guard Skill: Civil Invulnerability (Master)
    -Guard Skill: NPC Teleportation (Master)
    -Guard Skill: Dialogue Stun (Master)
    -Guard Skill: Guard Synergy (Master)
    -Knowledge: Agriculture & Botany (Below Average?)
    -Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Proficient?)
    -Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Below Average?)
    -Resistance: Possession - Isekai (Omnipotent)
    -Resistance: Possession - Demonic (Omnipotent)
    -Resistance: Elemental - Fire (Proficient)
    -Resistance: Elemental - Water (Proficient)
    -Resistance: Elemental - Air (Proficient)
    -Resistance: Elemental - Earth (Proficient)
    -Resistance: Elemental - Mind (Divine)
    -Skill: Foreign Language - Binary (Proficient?)

    Investigative Ability: On one hand, the Guard possesses mighty tracking abilities, honed over a near-century of hunting down and vanquishing Isekais and other criminals and enemies of the world. The Guard may have an almost instinctive understanding of the movements of criminals and where they may try to hide or run, and in close proximity to him their movements are almost pre-cognitively understood. Small clues and things out of place are recognised and remembered by this automaton in significant detail, and its mind, while not the most creative, is also highly logical, so while more esoteric answers may not necessarily come with ease, sound and rational ones will. On the other hand however, The Guard has very little understanding of emotions and the complexities of the mortal mind and language. For this reason, while he is great at intimidating those into the truth, the complexities of persuasion, manipulation and social intelligence are certainly not within his areas of strength.

    Faith: ??? (Faction: ???)

    Special Trait: Invincible Guard: The Guard may become temporarily invulnerable, like any Guard, so long as it witnesses a criminal act while within a ‘populated settlement’, being a place of civilization with at least two or more souls calling it home. This invulnerability is total - it is questionable if even a god could strike The Guard down in this state. There are, however, conditions and exceptions or this otherwise awe-striking power. Firstly, as the requirements suggest, it will not activate in “wilderness”, even if a criminal act is witnessed. Secondly, a criminal who is witnessed must be continuously observed, and if unobserved for long enough, the power will dissipate and must be reactivated by witnessing another criminal act. Thirdly, this power requires all Guards to proclaim “The Holy Sentences'', that demands that a criminal pay a fine and serve his sentence, or ‘pay with his blood’ - in essence, a criminal can wilfully surrender to arrest, in which case a Guard cannot kill the criminal, even in invulnerability. The demand to pay a fine is compulsive, even in criminals acts that do not warrant the payment of a fine, which sometimes leads to confusion from criminal.

    Special Flaw: Non-Player Character. Detached from the rest of mortality. The Guard’s emotions as with all Guards are deeply stunted, and in fact were born without any at all - only slowly developing something akin to them in the proximity of mortals. The Guard has poor understanding of the mortal soul and its trials, and often reverts back to speaking in scripted, oft-repeated sentences to compensate for its confusion and isolation. Have you heard of the High Elves?
    The Squire Hero

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    Name: Griffin Braam
    Title (actual): Squire Hero
    Position: Inquisitorial Agent
    Sex: Male
    Age: 15 Years Old
    Level: 5
    Classes: Lvl 3 Knight (first asc) Level 1 Paladin (second asc), Lvl 1 Hero (grand asc)
    Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
    Elemental Affinity: Mana, Light, ??? (Undiscovered affinity)

    Race & Origin: Human - Of those listed in the dossier that Mechtelt gave you, most were people you had not heard of before your becoming an Inquisitor. There was however an exception. Griffin Braam. You did not know him by name, actually, but you had heard that a new Child of Destiny had been discovered in south-western Astem and sent to speak with His Holiness The Pope himself. You had never expected that you would eventually become his new boss, not in all the ages known to man. From what was listed, Braam witnessed the death and kidnapping of his family a decade ago, and this haunting experience revealed to him and the world his dormant Child of Destiny trait… and moreso, his magnificent destiny as a Legendary Hero-to-be.

    Compared to him, you should merely be but a transient presence within the Myth Arc, a mere girl gifted with magic. Despite your lacking destiny, you have been given this great chance to mould and aid the future Protagonist of this World in achieving his quest.

    On the other hand though… Braam is just a kid, even less experienced than you are. His levels are atrocious, even if he has already unlocked his Grand Ascension (or perhaps because of it). It would not surprise you that once Braam levelled up enough, he would move on to far more important purposes. Until then though, supervising someone so intrinsically bound to the fate of the world is now partly your responsibility.

    Braam I: Your observations of Braam so far have shown you insight into why people hope for Children of Destiny. Braam, despite his tragic past, seems to maintain a compassionate view of the world and uphold balancing ideals of justice and mercy that few others with his background would hold. You are not even sure that you would be like he is, if you were in his place.
    Braam II: LOCKED
    Braam III: LOCKED
    Braam IV: LOCKED
    Braam V: LOCKED
    Braam VI: LOCKED
    Braam VII: LOCKED
    Braam VIII: LOCKED
    Braam IX: LOCKED
    Braam X: LOCKED


    Archenemy: Griffin Braam is determined to one day hunt down an entity known on the Inquisitorial Bulletin as the “Succubi Isekai”. Braam has not told you all too much about his encounter with her, but your research into the creature reveals her to be a kind of highly aggressive female Incubi, a Succubus Isekai. From the records you investigated, the Succubi Isekai attacked numerous villages in the Kingdom of Astem over a decade ago, and have since disappeared, those kidnapped by her vanishing with her and presumed dead. The case has long gone cold.

    Alignment: Neutral Good (openly disclosed, confirmed by Mechtelt as part of his meeting with His Holiness The Pope)

    Strength: 16 (Above Average)
    Perception: 14 (Above Average)
    Dexterity: 13 (Above Average)
    Constitution: 13 (Above Average)
    Intelligence: 13 (Above Average)
    Willpower: 17 (Proficient)
    Charisma: 14 (Above Average)
    Destiny: 29 (Near-Divine) - Although he still has a long way to go to fulfil his calling, he is the literal Protagonist of the Myth Arc, aided by forces even above the Gods Themselves.


    Agent Speciality: Evil Alignment Enemies, Impossible/Suicide Missions, Counter-Ambush, Attrition

    Skills
    -Swords (Above Average)
    -Shields (Average)
    -Knight - Fortify (Average)
    -Knight - Cripple (Average)
    -Paladin - Consecration (Below Average)
    -Paladin - Sense Undead (Below Average)
    -Paladin - Sense Demon (Incompetent)
    -Hero - Divine Favour (Average)
    -Hero - Fall, Goliath (Below Average)
    -Hero - Summon: Heroic Weapon (Incompetent)
    -Hero - Excalibur (Incompetent)
    -Knowledge: Agriculture & Botany (Average)
    -Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Average)
    -Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Below Average)
    -
    Skill: Foreign Language - Okalieceadean Elvish (Below Average)

    Investigative Ability: Griffin Braam is to be honest not the best investigator. Eager to learn with the flexibility of youth, and has a well-enough mind to do the job, but in the end he is a young and hormonal teenager driven more by a combination of romantic idealism and desire to avenge his family than any professional desire to become an Inquisitor. That said, his status as a Child of Destiny provides him one particular advantage: he has a knack of chancing upon clues and information, and often has found himself at the right (or wrong) place and the right (or wrong) time. In more mundane areas, he has undergone some training and has learned basic skills such as how to question someone professionally, how to recognise human tracks, and very basic forensics - however he will likely need to rely on his companions and his Inquisitor superior to teach him the trade.

    Faith: UNKNOWN (Faction: Moderate)

    Inquisitorial Statements (Provided by Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman): While I understand and respect the recommendations of The Council, I cannot in good conscience support this action. The boy, Griffin Braam, is highly inexperienced in the ways of the Inquisition. Perhaps one day he will have the aptitude to become an Inquisitorial Agent, but as of now he is too tied up with the very same heroic destiny that has placed him on this recommendation, and has not achieved the correct skills in observation and investigation to perform his tasks - hunting Isekais is more than to merely best them in battle. In further remarks - My own youth should not be used against me in this regard, I proved my right to leadership in the Academy of Light, which the boy has never attended.

    Clerical Council (Oversight by His Holiness, the Cardinal Rosche) Recommendations: Griffin Braam is a Child of Destiny, born with the prophesied Grand Ascension of The Hero. His Holiness the Pope himself has witnessed this, so his destiny cannot be ignored. This boy shall be the prophesied saviour of our world, The Protagonist. The limitations of his youth and levels should not be placed against him - you yourself, Inquisitor Vrooman, were appointed at an exceptionally young age, and started working with us at an age even younger than the young Braam is now. It is, in our collective opinion, that this young child MUST become an agent of the Inquisition. You will not deny us this request.

    Special Trait (non-racial): Child of Destiny: Braam you are fully aware was born as a prophesied child, a child with abnormally high Destiny, a characteristic defined by the winds of fate and destiny bending around oneself, or one’s relation to the Myth Arc, the great story that connects all peoples of this world. Children of Destiny often appear either in times preceding great strife, or in times following the accumulation of great tyranny and oppression, and are focal points of either The Gods or the Myth Arc’s attempt to correct a great wrong. Braam, so long as he is within your employment, will attract all sorts of events of great significance and troubles, but will also shield you or at least himself from the mundane risks and uncertainties of normal life. Braam shall never fall down a flight of stairs and break his neck, but he may very well accidentally become the central figure of an international conspiracy. Strange occurrences will also likely come forth from Braam himself. Visions, episodes, as the strings of fate bend and weave around him. As a signifying mark of the Child of Destiny, Braam has already unlocked his final Grand Ascension, the Hero Grand Class.
    The Exiled Villainess
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    Name: Alizea du Arceneaux
    Title (Actual): The Exiled Villainess
    Position: Inquisitorial Agent / Bandit-Captain of the Red Dragons Gang
    Sex: Female
    Age: 23
    Level: 62
    Classes: Lvl 25 Warrior, Lvl 25 Rogue (first asc), lvl 12 Brigand (second mix asc)
    Nationality: Kingdom of Astem, formerly Kingdom of Tourine
    Elemental Affinity: Mana, Darkness, Water


    Race & Origin: Reclaimed Human - What you understand of Alizea du Arceneaux is that she is a former Tourish noble lady. From what you know of the House of Arceneaux and Alizea's downfall, she was once betrothed to a Tourish noble who was much older and given to alcoholism and adultery. Perhaps.. perhaps because of the stress caused by this, Alizea was made vulnerable, and so was taken by a past Isekai storm, a Storm if you remember, was widespread and caused much of the waters of the region to turn black and strange objects to rain from the sky. The Isekai spirit possessing her, made aware of her betrothal, fled during the same storm that brought them to this world.

    You do not know precisely what Alizea did while under the control of her possessor, but it was criminal enough in nature that when she came into Inquisitor Vrooman's service, Vrooman was told that Alizea was to be considered a 'penal' of sorts, who's service to the Holy Church was a waiver on her criminal acts. The implication of this waiver suggests that, while you do not fully understand the circumstances, Alizea was exorcised and continued the criminal career that her possessor had established.

    While you are uncertain what exactly Alizea did and continued to do while both possessed and freed, she is still considered a leading figure in an organisation known as the "Red Dragons", which you have heard vaguely as a large scale criminal enterprise that functions through South Perdegem's "City of Chains". For all intents and purposes, Alizea du Arceneaux is a rogue in the truest sense of the word. To learn more of the history of Alizea, you will most likely have to search yourself - or perhaps inquire with your own superior, Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman.


    Alizea I: Despite her title, Alizea is unlike any “Villainess” you have ever encountered. Her face – especially her eyes – speaks of the hard and eventful life she has led.
    Alizea II: LOCKED
    Alizea III: LOCKED
    Alizea IV: LOCKED
    Alizea V: LOCKED
    Alizea VI: LOCKED
    Alizea VII: LOCKED
    Alizea VIII: LOCKED
    Alizea IX: LOCKED
    Alizea X: LOCKED

    Archenemy: UNKNOWN
    Alignment: UNKNOWN

    Strength: 13
    Perception: 17
    Dexterity: 16
    Constitution: 15
    Intelligence: 15
    Willpower: 18
    Charisma: 13 - Although she grew up as a proper noblewoman and educated in the social graces of high society, a life of crime hardly provides many opportunities to practice these, and her hard life has made her snarky and rather bitter.
    Destiny: 12

    Skills
    -Swordsmanship (Proficient)
    -Firearms (Above Average)
    -Unarmed Combat (Above Average)
    -Rogue: Backstab (Proficient)
    -Rogue: Stealth (Above Average)
    -Rogue: Sleight of Hand (Above Average)
    -Rogue: Precision (Average)
    -Rogue (Darkness): Shifting Strike (Above Average)
    -Rogue (Darkness): Mark with Bad Omen (Average)
    -Rogue (Water): Ice Shiv (Above Average)
    -Rogue (Water): Frost Surface (Average)
    -Warrior: Taunt (Proficient)
    -Warrior: Desperado (High Proficiency)
    -Warrior: Flurry (Proficient)
    -Warrior: Bleed (Above Average)
    -Warrior: Rush (Proficient)
    -Warrior (Water): Blood-Draining Bleed (Average)
    -Warrior (Darkness): Shroud Blade (Above Average)
    -Warrior (Darkness): Corrupted Blade (Above Average)
    -Brigand: Sabotage Gear (Above Average)
    -Brigand: Disarming Strike (Average)
    -Brigand: Combat Loot (Average)
    -Brigand: Combat Equip (Average)
    -Knowledge: Survival (High Proficiency)
    -Knowledge: Sailing (Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Criminal Operations and Connections (High Proficiency)
    -Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture - Tourish (Above Average)
    -Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture - Sarutish (Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture - Tripartine (Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Isekai - Earth Lore, Japan (Incapable)
    -Skill: Forgery (Proficient)
    -Skill: Seduction (Average)
    -Foreign Language: Tourish (Proficient)
    -Foreign Language: Sarutish (Proficient)
    -Foreign Language: Tripartine (Above Average)
    -Foreign Language: Demihuman - Gehinnese, Pygmalian, and Tripartite dialects (Average)

    Agent Specialty: Criminal Connections, Stealth, Infiltration and Recovery, Kidnapping, Escape
    Weapons: Rapier, pistols, dagger

    Investigative Ability: Alizea du Arceneaux is experienced in investigation in an interesting manner - she is experienced in avoiding and countering those trying to track or capture her, and through this, has a general understanding of how investigation and pursuits go. She knows quite well the instincts and decision making of criminals and fugitives, herself having been and technically still being one. She has contacts in the criminal underworld, knows common hiding places for those not wishing to be found and ways to make oneself disappear... and reappear.

    Faith: UNKNOWN (Faction: Unknown)

    Special Trait/Flaw: Ghost of Isekai (Sakai Honaka): No Reclaimed are ever fully free of their possessor. Not truly. The echoed whispers of an Isekai's ghost is with Alizea still.
    The Con-Artist
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    Name: Theodore Roosevelt Lincoln
    Title (Actual): The Con Artist
    Position: Inquisitorial Agent, Spy
    Sex: Male
    Age: 18 years old
    Level: 40
    Classes: Level 40 Bard
    Nationality: Yankeevine Empire
    Elemental Affinity: Mana, Air, ??? (Undiscovered Affinity)


    Race & Origin: Human (Needless) - You understand that Theodore, or Theo, is a defector from the Yankeevine Empire, who now provides information to the Inquisition and Astemmian Intelligence. His reasons for defection are not known to you, however if you had to guess - you would assume it had to do with the fact that he is a Needless, a social underclass consisting of failed Symbiotes, or those who were supposed to become Isekai Hosts.

    Theodore possesses knowledge and uncommon insight into the foreign and at times alien culture and norms of the Yankeevine Empire, a nation that very often is at odds with the Inquisition due to its nature of being a pro-Isekai nation founded by and often led by Isekais itself. You are aware that he is a skilled actor, performer and has significant control of glamour magic... however while you have yet to see it, you have been informed by Vrooman that his most extraordinary contribution to the Inquisition is his possession of an "Isekai Black Box", the strange rectangular box that Isekais sometimes bring with them to our world. How he came into possession of this rare and oft sort-after thing, you have no clue.

    Theodore I: Theodore’s emotional aura is oddly muted for such a happy-go-lucky young man; you suspect much of his expression and emotions are merely another performance.
    Theodore II: LOCKED
    Theodore III: LOCKED
    Theodore IV: LOCKED
    Theodore V: LOCKED
    Theodore VI: LOCKED
    Theodore VII: LOCKED
    Theodore VIII: LOCKED
    Theodore IX: LOCKED
    Theodore X: LOCKED

    Archenemy: Unknown
    Alignment: Unknown

    Strength: 13 - Theodore is the first to admit that the Inquisition hires him for his acting skills, not his combat skills.
    Perception: 20 - A master of body language who can read others extraordinarily well.
    Dexterity: 14 - Quick of mind and nearly as quick of body, especially when in danger.
    Constitution: 14 - No stranger to hard labour if it’s required of him. After all, most artists must have a “day job” in order to get by.
    Intelligence: 16 - Uneducated but clever, is able to come up with plans and adjust them on the fly most of the time.
    Willpower: 8 - Much of Theodore’s original personality and will were broken in order to make him a suitable vessel for possession.
    Charisma: 19 - Considers himself the life of the party, and he’s mostly correct. Very witty, and skilled at getting others to trust him.
    Destiny: 11 - Always the comic relief sidekick, never the protagonist.

    Skills
    -Bard: Glamour (Highly Proficient)
    -Bard: Buff of Strength (Average)
    -Bard: Buff of Rest (Average)
    -Bard: Cutting Words (Proficient)
    -Bard: Lesser Mimicry (Above Average)
    -Bard: Form Alter-Ego (Highly Proficient)
    -Bard: Convenient Distraction (Proficient)
    -Bard: Channel Persona (Highly Proficient)
    -Bard (Air): Dramatic Wind (Above Average)
    -Bard (Air): Buff of Favourable Wind (Average)
    -Bard (Air): Amplified Air (Average)
    -Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture - Yankeevine (Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Outer Pantheon Theology (Average)
    -Knowledge: Body Language (Proficient)
    -Skill: Isekai - Smartphone/Black Box Usage (Below Average)
    -Skill: Musical Instruments (Proficient)
    -Skill: Performance, Drama and Theatrics (High Proficiency)
    -Foreign Language: Yankee (High Proficiency)
    -Foreign Language: Yankee - Arben dialect (High Proficiency)
    -Foreign Language: Japanese (Below Average)

    Investigative Ability: Theodore is no detective, but like any Bard worth his salt, is clever and extraordinarily skilled at improvisation when the occasion calls for it. Combined with his ability to use glamour, it's no surprise that he is often involved in sting operations.
    Agent Specialty: Spycraft, Impersonation

    Faith: UNKNOWN (Faction: Heterodox)

    Special Trait: Isekai Black-Box Possession: Theodore has in his possession an Isekai Black Box, a strange object made of white and black material with a strange black (or, in his case, pink) leather-like wrapping around it and a carved symbol of an apple in it. He has figured out the boxes strange numbered code to gain access to its magical interior, however has little understanding of its actual functions. One of the few magical powers of the Black Box he has discovered, is by tapping his finger on one of the magical squares, he can gain access to a magical relay that informs him when other Black Boxes are nearby.
    The Vagrant Waif
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    Name: Unknown (Able to shift her name to whatever she wants in Appraisal; the name she gives is almost certainly an alias)
    Title (Actual): N/A (Able to shift her title to whatever she wants. “Wholesome Tanuki”, “Waifish Vagrant”, etc)
    Position: “Friendly Demihuman”/Inquisition Informant
    Sex: Female
    Age: 14 years old
    Level: 70
    Classes: Lvl 50 Hunter, Level 20 Ranger
    Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
    Elemental Affinity: Light, Air?

    Race & Origin: Demihuman - All investigative agencies require spies, honeypots, and informants. For this work, the Inquisition has Yasmijn. The ultimate liar, deceiver and obfuscator, at least according to Mechtelt, she can alter her stats, attributes, titles, affinity, and skills in Appraisals, create false memories against Mental Dives, alter her emotional aura to whatever she wants, defeat the Baseline Test, and can even think false thoughts against telepathy at will. She claims that she joined the Inquisition after her sister was kidnapped by an Isekai for his "nekomimi loli harem," but this statement is, of course, nearly impossible to verify.

    Yasmijn I: You tested both telepathy and empathy on her, and are almost completely certain that what you observed was entirely fabricated. You are quite willing, on that alone, to give credence to Mechtelt’s claims to her being the ultimate deceiver.
    Yasmijn II:
    Yasmijn III:
    Yasmijn IV:
    Yasmijn V:
    Yasmijn VI:
    Yasmijn VII:
    Yasmijn VIII:
    Yasmijn IX:
    Yasmijn X:

    Archenemy:
    Unknown
    Alignment: Lawful Good?

    Strength: 10
    Perception: 16
    Dexterity: 18
    Constitution: 13
    Intelligence: 15
    Willpower: 13
    Charisma: 20
    Destiny: 10

    Skills:
    Weapon: Crossbows (Above Average)
    Hunter: Lesser Sense Danger (Proficient)
    Hunter: Sense Threat (Proficient)
    Hunter: Hunter’s Hatred - Isekais (High Proficiency)
    Hunter: Stealth (Proficient)
    Hunter: Lesser Fleet of Foot (Proficient)
    Hunter: Animal Whisperer (Average)
    Hunter: Pinning Shot (Average)
    Hunter: Set Trap (Proficient)
    Hunter (Light): Invisible Light (Above Average)
    Hunter (Darkness): Curse of Unlucky Shot (Proficient)
    Hunter (Darkness): Horrifying Instincts (Proficient)
    Hunter (Darkness): Sense Vulnerable Innocent (Proficient)
    Ranger: Greater Fleet of Foot (Above Average)
    Ranger: Resilience to the Elements (Average)
    Ranger: Lesser Exploit Vulnerability: Pattern and Habit (High Proficiency)
    Ranger: Uncanny Precision (Above Average)
    Ranger: Set Multi-Layered Trap (Above Average)
    Ranger: Endure Hunger (Proficient)
    Ranger: Endure Sleep (Proficient)
    Ranger (Darkness): Savage Trap (Above Average)
    Ranger (Darkness): Flay Skin (Above Average)
    Ranger (Darkness): Eyes of the Predatorial Monster (High Proficiency)
    -Knowledge: Survival (Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Body Language (Proficient)
    -Knowledge: Demihuman Customs (Proficient)
    -Language: Demihuman - Astemmian and Tripartine dialects (Proficient)
    -Skill: Trap Setting (Proficient)
    -Skill: Trap Disarming (Proficient)
    -Skill: Forgery (Proficient)
    -Skill: Pickpocket (Average)
    -Skill: Cryptography (Above Average)
    -Skill: Performance, Drama and Theatrics (High Proficiency)
    -Resistance: Telepathy (Unknown)
    -Resistance: Empathy (Unknown)
    -???: Statistics Aberration (Master)

    Investigative Ability: Although she is no detective, she is perceptive, observant, a good tracker, and most importantly – is extraordinarily skilled in using her wholesome appearance to convince others to trust her, even confess their crimes to her.
    Weapons: crossbow
    Agent Specialty: Stealth, Spycraft, Honeypot, Counter-Espionage

    Faith: UNKNOWN (Faction: Unknown)
     
    Case Files
  • Hrsy

    Well-known member
    CASE FILES

    A record of Adjutant-Visser's past & ongoing cases as a member of this Holy Order of the Church.


    ~~~

    CASE ONE: THE PIED PIPER ISEKAI - HUNTING A PREDATOR

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    Revealed Isekai Information:
    -True Name:
    Iwasaki Kota
    -True Title: The Pied Piper (Inquisitorial Bulletin was correct)
    -Affinities: Unknown
    -Alignment: Unknown
    -Levels: Unknown (Classes believed to be Bard and Mage for First Ascension, and Siren for Second Ascension)
    -Isekai Sub-category: Incubi (Confirmed)

    Starting Requisition Balance: 10,000
    Upfront Requisition Given: 450 (Expected costs, wages, travel, boarding, risk premiums, bribe/incentives, etc for 9 days)
    Reward for Completion: 2000 + 200 (Bonus for Full Completion)
    Fringe Rewards: Official promotion to rank of Adjutant-Inquisitor, Any loot from the Isekai (conditional), personal gifts from villagers (conditional)
    Expected Isekai Threat Level (Inquisitorial Bulletin): Level Toshizo (Intermediate)
    Jurisdiction: Kingdom of Astem, Permission granted by The Queen's Spymaster, Roelof Meulenbelt, to operate freely within Her Majesty's borders.
    Progress: Completed

    Summary: Child kidnapper that used magical, possibly attractor-trait based mental manipulation / brainwashing. Hid in cave with caged children. Was discovered to use rat familiars as spies and minions, also blackmailed parents of the children in villages to mislead and obstruct the Inquisition. Possessed a Charisma Hat artefact, a possible but unconfirmed Isekai Cheat Skill.

    Result: Subject purged with exorcism, leaving purged Isekai to be sent to a Iyutan monastery. Children were recovered without any deaths. Village collaborators were charged with the crime of High Weebery, however Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser applied a less severe punishment equivalent to Low Weebery due to exonerating circumstances. No agent casualties.

    Ending Requisition Balance: 12,200

    CASE TWO: NO OTOME GAME - APPRAISAL AT THE ACADEMY OF LIGHT

    Starting Requisition Balance:
    12,200
    Upfront Requisition Given: 100 2 days)
    Reward for Completion: 1500
    Expected Isekai Threat Level (Inquisitorial Bulletin): Low (Inu - Kazuma)
    Jurisdiction: Kingdom of Astem, Permission granted by The Queen's Spymaster, Roelof Meulenbelt, to operate freely within Her Majesty's borders. Permission granted by the Headmaster Gerardus Barlaeus of the Academy of Light for routine inspection..
    Progress: Ongoing

    Summary: The Inquisition's head of Isekai Studies, Pietar van Averink, has requested an Inquisitor to help him in researching a new category of Novel Isekai known as the "Fujo", a kind of Isekai he claims possesses young and beautiful aristocratic women to steal their lives. This research was approved to coincide with a routine appraisal of the Academy of Light's student body, as the Inquisition is preparing for the arrival of an Isekai Storm, and wish to have updated profiles, so they may more easily spot Isekai possessors after the storm. The study did not consider the possibility that there are already Isekai among us.

    Process and Complications:
    -Averink has a rival scholar, Mr Viponde of Tour, who purports that the Fujo Isekai is not interested in stealing an Isekai's life and enthralling handsome men as a reverse-harem around herself, but instead of twisting the minds of men so they will sleep with each other. He claims a "Rotten Girl Attractor" exists.
    -You had one of your agents, Theodore, take on the false, glamour-induced form of a Demon Lord, so to better help in the investigation.
    -The intended Appraiser Teunissijn was ill, so sent his apprentice, Appraiser Lotte instead.
    -The Yankeevine Ambassador was loitering around the Academy front gate, officially stating that he had a planned guided tour, however you suspect he had ulterior motives.
    -A student approached you and seemed to have given you something akin to an impromptu prophecy. You remember it as spoken "The third door you seek. It is hidden to you, and guarded, guarded by terrible shadows. If you move too hastily without the keys to the third door… the two doors lead only to the deepest abyss. Your hands will be stained in blood." and "You will only find the peace you seek if you find the key.". The meaning of this you cannot be certain.

    Result: Ongoing
    -You discovered that the Yankeevine Ambassador was an Isekai and most likely possessed some kind of Harem Attractor which he used to harass your agents. You left him to his own devices, content to report him later so to avoid causing an incident.
    -The Countess-in-waiting Justitia possesses a form of Mental Training to resist telepathy as well as unlady-like hobbies at odds with an Astemmian aristocrat.
    -You discovered that Marchioness-in-waiting Rosemarijn de Lievens held repressed hatred towards the Second Princess.
    -The Minister of Education, Count Hendrik van Zottezen, appeared to interfere with the Second Princess' appraisal, claiming state secrets.
    -Second Princess of Astem, Circe de Meer under suspicion due to her appraisal and behaviour, and so put in the centre of the investigation.
    -The Second Princess felt intense fear upon seeing agent Theodore, who at the time was in a glamour-induced Demon disguise.
    -You decide to carry out the investigation of the Second Princess regardless of the risk due to moral, pragmatic, duty and risk reasons.
    -Your agent, Theodore, used his stolen "Isekai Black Box" and its "Friendar" feature to search for other Isekai Black Boxes in the school. None were found.

    -You had Averink investigate the Academy's headmaster for being possibly compromised.
    -Templar Nacissa van Luttefmont-Furholjan was successfully bribed with 500 gold shields and promises of glory to aide in the investigation of the Second Princess.
    -You noticed a demon student and daughter of the Demon Empire's Ambassador to Astem, Azaze och Behelial, was undergoing soul-starvation during appraisal. You were able to convince the demon to eat healthily but in a way that is legal.
    -You gained the divine favour of Nephemem, the Archdemoness of Pride, for your aide in helping Azaze.
    -Your agent, Alizea, approved of her handling of the Azaze issue.
    -Rosemarijn claims that the Second Princess was behind numerous acts and scandals that would make her the enemy of numerous people, other than herself, and has opened up plots against her.

    -Rosemarijn claims that the Second Princess was betrothed to the Demon Prince following the "Indecent Trio" incident, and that she was raised specifically to have a temperament attractive to the Demons.
    -The Second Princess is claimed by others to now associate with the same group of four boys who all used to be under the influence of Visser's own Otome Attractor when she was a student at the Academy. These claims suggest they are her 'harem'. If this is true, she is undergoing adulterous relations with foreign princes, one of which is already betrothed.
    -Averink reports that the Headmaster claims that the Education Minister forced his way in, and was not his doing.
    -Nacissa agrees that the Second Princess is not herself, and agrees to work with you.

    -Interviews suggest that the Second Princess started changing shortly after "The Incident" that you and Mechtelt caused with the Princess last year.
    -The Second Princess has seemingly abandoned all of her previous friends, following "The Incident".
    -The Second Princess was claimed to once have been eager to be married off and have children with the Demon Prince, even being 'infatuated' with him, but is no longer.
    -The Second Princess has seemingly taken on many new activities, such as gardening and sword-practice, and has abandoned others, such as bullying.
    -The Second Princess has been claimed to have once had views of demons bordering on the 'fetishistic', but no longer.
    -The Second Princess has been claimed to have once had negative views of demihumans and monstrines, using ethnic slurs to describe them, but no longer.

    -The Second Princess removed her maids from the academy shortly before the appraisal, except one. Supposedly for Privacy reasons.
    -The Second Princess' previous guard of honour, Sir Lindert de Wijlen, may be exiled to a Templar border fort in the north, and who's disappearance was shortly after "The Incident".
    -Nacissa informs you that the Second Princess has been taking Silphium from Lisanne van Woolfen to maintain her activities discretion and avoid bastards... despite the fact that the Princess' new appraisal showed she was no longer taking any.
    -You discover an individual, Marquise-in-waiting Quintijn van Schooten and former paramour of the Princess, is strangely immune to your Otome Attractor, despite meeting the criteria for it. He showed signs of interest in both men and women, however bisexual men should be affected by the Attractor... but he is not.
    -the Second Princess is claimed to have a poor relationship with her elder sister, the First Princess Cicilia de Meer.
    -The Four paramours not only have the Second Princess' sudden interest, but are now interested in her, despite previous claims they disliked her significantly.
    -the Second Princess previously had relationship values in line with Ishtar and the Demon Empire, including their views on couplings of the same sex.
    -the Second Princess is described by those who more recently know her as 'kind, compassionate' and 'free-spirited'.
    -The Maid's leaving the academy was ordered by the Head Maid, Miss Verity.
    -Prince Ludomir of Neu-Alaynia admits to being in a relationship with the Second Princess.



    Ending Requisition Balance: n/a
     
    Extracts of the Malleus Isekaificarum I
  • Hrsy

    Well-known member
    Malleus Isekaificarum
    ---

    On the Passing of Judgment, and Exorcism I
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    An isekai in its typical attire, as seen in a dream-vision by an Inquisitor

    Although the Inquisition needs and values scholars and investigators, the Rite of Exorcism is the holiest and most important technique available to an Inquisitor. The Exorcist must be pure of heart and strong of will, for the Isekai is notoriously stubborn in clinging to its existence. The decision to Exorcise is not taken lightly; there is a considerable danger of it killing non-Isekais and even the Mage. It is a decision reached after careful and cautious investigation, a Rite undertaken only when evidence and reason make it certain that the captured suspect is indeed a Possessing Isekai. For the Isekai is an exceedingly subtle enemy; there are few definitive proofs of possession, most notably the Holy Appraisal, a Skill available to only one Class.

    The Rite begins with the Circle; the Isekai must be bound, for safety reasons, and placed in the middle of a magical circle drawn on the ground or floor. Circles within circles, the Spiral of Akasha, the Fate of the World, channels the Mana forces properly. Other holy symbols and runes are then carved into the Spiral to signal intent. The Isekai must then be stripped, if necessary, and the holy symbols applied with a basic potion brush and ink to the forehead, heart, and solar plexus.

    The Exorcist then offers the Invocation. Unlike most Invocation Spells, the living Gods of the Pantheon are not invoked in the Invocation of Exorcism. Instead, the Exorcist invokes the memory of the Gods who were slain by Katsuro the Destroyer during the War in the Heavens: Amoroa, the Joiner of Souls; Reavanna, the Bringer of Victory; Nomos, the Lord of the Storms; Fiscan, the Builder of Wealth; and fair Bettamis, the Maiden of the Wild Hunt. One more God had been struck down that day, but his name is not mentioned or invoked, save by Demonic Inquisitors of the Sarutish Rites.

    If the Circle and Invocation have been done properly, the spell will produce a great amount of exceedingly bright and Holy light. Do not be fearful; many have paved the way before you, and to be an Inquisitor is to join a battle that many have fought. Their spirits will be at your side.

    Some Inquisition Mages, especially gifted in Telepathy and Empathy, have at this time seen brief visions of the Isekai's mental world. Illustrations of these visions can be found throughout this book. This, too, is nothing to fear; it is a form of Mental Dive and these visions, though they may be frightening, they should only be mirages, and if witnessed should be documented for research. Some mages report seeing a "council room," with a great table and chairs in the fashion of the council room of a noble lord, where the spirit of the Isekai debates and makes decisions; others report seeing even stranger visions and glimpses of Ja'Paan, the Eldritch Realm from which the Isekais originate.

    However, most of the time, you will see nothing but white light and perhaps the shadow of the Isekai's spirit as it is purged within the holy flames.

    After this, the victim's original soul and personality will return; but they are marked as Reclaimed in their Holy Statistics thereafter, and they will forever be haunted by fragments of the Isekai's mind and memories. The Reclaimed often join the ranks of the Inquisition themselves, for the war against the Isekai is now a deeply personal one.

    However, it must be noted that there are Isekai who are Summoned rather than Possessing; the exorcism of a Summoned Isekai merely removes the soul of the Isekai from its proper body, leaving the body an empty shell. Such bodies are best swiftly and mercifully killed, however as the Gods loath Destruction and love Mercy, some Inquisitors choose to take these to cloistered monasteries, where they are cared for by nuns who revere Iyuta, She Who is Friend to All -- even the Isekai.
     
    Extract of The History of Villainesses, Half of the Dual Evil
  • Hrsy

    Well-known member
    (Possibly useful fluff post while waiting for more votes to give a tiebreaker * this was from SB)



    Inquisitors of the Holy Church are at times required to read translated extracts of the enemy’s literature, particularly those sourced from the Yankeevine’s or the Northern Heroes Guild.

    Extract of The History of Villainesses, Half of the Dual Evil
    By Thomas Edison Adams and Professor Minako Audolfsdottir of the University of Aafensenn. Provided as evidence to the Upper Thinghall of the World Empire on behalf of the Gamer Faction’s call for military intervention in the Central Kingdoms, year 402 of Our Saviour The Yankee.


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    An Astemmian aristocrat, performing the “Laugh of Oppression.”

    With the explanation of the evils of The Church and their subservience to the Demiurges that falsely claim rulership of this world addressed, we must now turn to the other great evil that pollutes this world.

    We speak of the aristocracy of the Central, Southern and Eastern Realms, and to a lesser extent even the Aristocrats of our own great Yankeevine Lands. Beginning with our Enlightened Saviour, Emperor Joseph the Yankee, who introduced Democracy and the Constitution to the primitive Continent, Outsiders have long taught us the backwardness and un-Reason of aristocracy as a form of governance; however, while the Yankeevine aristocrats have accepted their proper place in the Social Order and subservience to the Thinghall and State, this is not the case in The Savage South.

    The rampant excesses and decadence of the backwards realms can be seen with no better clarity than The Villainess, the very embodiment of the Dual Evils, made manifest in the feminine form.

    The mere existence of the Villainess is a relic of what should be a bygone age. In the Kingdoms of Astem, Tourine, Getaiannia, and even in our ally Wachstaat, you may still see the Villainess prancing about in her castle or in the city streets, her well-fed figure barely stuffed into silks and laces that cost enough money to feed a village. You would see her with her hair in long ringlet curls, the efforts of hours of unpaid labour by various Catgirl maids. You would see her with her jewelled shoes, daintily stepping upon floors cleaned by Demihuman servants which she considers beneath her notice. And long before you see her, you hear her signature, grating laugh – a laugh that signifies her indifference to the sufferings of the serfs and peasants who work her land and make her wealth possible. A Villainess takes her superiority over others for granted, as natural as the water that surrounds a fish, and for what Reason? Not for any individual merit of hers – simply that she was squeezed out of the right twat.

    ~~~​

    The incestuous relationship between the Aristocrats and the Church is made clear when one considers the number of Villainesses within the ranks of the Holy Templars and the Inquisition, those organizations tasked with the persecution and murder of Outsiders; the fact that the chief source of funding for said Church and organizations is the Tulip Throne of Astem, which turns a blind eye to all manner of clerical evils in the name of their idolatry. It is well said that religion is the opiate of the people; and the Central Kingdoms are blind drunk on it. And so in the southern lands, Outsiders unfortunate enough to enter the world in the wrong city, Outsiders who would otherwise use their gifts and knowledge for the betterment and the Enlightenment of the Continent are ruthlessly pursued by Villainesses in siege armour or mounted atop great warbeasts, impaled by a Villainess’ lance or sword, burned by mana bolts, or even rendered empty shells by their so-called Exorcism. Are we to stand idly by as our brothers and sisters are persecuted by a repressive cult of murderous violence ruled by anti-intellectuals who fear Modernity?

    And we have yet to even speak of the insatiable wantonness of The Villainess, a promiscuous creature that will lie, steal, and cheat as if it were second nature. From the slave pens of the tyrannical Demon Empire, armies of Demihumans are raised and trained exclusively for the purpose of being sold to aristocrats, so as to serve their twisted needs – all of them imaginable. The nature of the violation and degradation involved we leave unspoken in this hallowed hall.

    ~~~​

    Honoured Lawspeakers of the Thing, we hope we have proved to your satisfaction that these Villainesses are the very embodiment of the Dual Evils of the Aristocracy and the Church, and every possible evil quality personified in the feminine form, and why the Tyrants of the savage south must never be trusted.

    All true Yankeevines should then know that our war against the Central Kingdoms is a righteous one. It is only justice and mercy to punish the oppressors of humanity; and cruelty to coddle them. A society that worships and breeds such evil cannot be permitted to continue. As the Outsiders wisely advise: Evil prevails when good men do nothing.

    It is our moral obligation, nay, our Manifest Destiny given to us by The Yankee and The Outsiders to uplift and reunite this world, to shake off the shackles of false gods and decadent nobles for those who cannot RISE otherwise.

    Push onward, brave Yankeevine! An Empire of Reason. An Empire of Progress. An Empire of Liberty.

    For All! Oorah!
     
    The Kingdom of Astem I - History
  • Hrsy

    Well-known member
    Atlas of the World, The Kingdom of Astem I
    Excerpts from The World in Brief, Volume II, by Jules Ariksen, University of Aafensenn in New Hartford

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    History

    Astem is known by many names: the Home of the Church, for its proximity to the Holy City at the shores of the Silver Lake and the close relationship its royal family has cultivated with the Church hierarchy; the Land of Tulips, for the flowers with blade-like leaves that grow upon its highlands; the Land of Many Waters, for its location on low-lying river deltas and marshes; and the Country of Villainesses, for its noblewomen's fashion of wearing their flaxen hair in great ringlet curls – and for their support of the notorious Holy Order of the Inquisition, which persecutes Outsiders across the Continent.

    The Kingdom of Astem, as we know it today, is a self-declared nation and rebellious former Yankeevine province that has come into and out of existence numerous times in the last two thousand years of recorded history. Unfortunately, the Astemmians' record of history is, predictably of the barbarian south, highly loose with both dates and facts, so we can only caution that their founding myths may very well be entirely fictitious.

    Supposedly, the kingdom was founded when the legendary hero Braam Astem and a party of four adventurers slew the horrific monster-tyrant king, Thypah. Thypah, if a real individual, was claimed to be a grandson of the devil-figure of the Creator Pantheon, Sarut. This event, if even somewhat true, likely occurred at some point between 1400 and 1500 Before the Summoning of the Yankee. The current royal line, the de Meers of Astoria, claim descent from Braam Astem through a marriage between one of their ancestors and a maid who claimed to be the last descendant of the Astem line. Again, this story is likely apocryphal, a fiction used to justify their hold on the Tulip Throne.

    The Kingdom’s murky early history moves on to a period of sustained war against Demonic states to its east. These wars moved back and forth in the manner of a pendulum, with the Kingdom of Astem and other proto-Central Kingdoms either advancing or receding against their enemies of the east. The earlier of these wars were in general aggressive invasions by an expansionist Astem, while the later wars turned defensive as this proto-Astem’s power receded.

    Fascinatingly, these later conflicts would lead to significant Demonic influence over the Astemmians relative to even other Central Kingdoms, something that is mirrored by today’s modern politics and the unholy alliance between Astem and the Demons. For as war is often the engine and driver of Progress, these conflicts also brought trade, cultural exchange, and even interbreeding to the early Astemmians. It is strongly believed by academics of the University of Aafensenn that the Astemmian people’s peculiar genetics and high rate of magical ability is a direct result of this, and as such it could be strongly argued that Astemmian “Humans” are in fact not human at all, but are another hybrid race of Demonic Humans similar to the Emites of Cockaigne or Maytabbea. This goes doubly so for the Aristocracy of Astem, which even in their own lands are noted to be of significant Ishtari descent, Ishtar being the supposed Archdemonness of Lust of the Demonic Pantheon, if such an entity exists. Yankeevine archaeologists who study the family trees of Demonic and Astemmian aristocracy suggest that “Ishtar” was merely shorthand for a temple prostitute, who would impersonate this goddess for the purposes of coupling with kings and chieftains in a symbolic fertility rite, a “sacred marriage” between man and nature, as it were.

    By the approximate year of 500BS, Astem was involved in another major war with Demonic adversaries, the Realm of Lethe, in what is now known as modern-day South Perdegehm. While narrowly beating back the Demonic forces, this large scale-war made the kingdom vulnerable to further invasions, such as the then-ongoing migrations of centaurs and other monstrines who had previously cut a swath through the Middle Kingdoms. The centaur horde did not conquer Astem but ravaged its north, passing through it to eventually carve out the lands of modern day Neu-Alaynia and Angoulogne. Astem, after decades of war with Lethe and the centaurs, finally accepted vassalage to the Megasthenes Empire beyond the Sea of Autumn to its south, in exchange for protection from attacks from its multiple enemies.

    During this period of time, before the presence of The Yankee brought Enlightenment and Justice to this world, the preeminent powers of the world were the Megasthenes Raj to the south and the Yowee culture of the elven continent of Mu to the far west. While both of these tyrannical empires would be smashed by The Yankee during his second wave of conquests, during this period they reigned supreme. With vassalage to the Megasthenes, the Astemmian people would go on to adopt parts of the Moral Caste System prevalent in the realms beyond the Autumn Sea.

    The Kingdom of Astem maintained its existence precariously, only resisting total annexation by the Megasthenes via periodic urban taxation revolts, a recurring annoyance that would frustrate our own army some centuries later. The Kingdom of Astem would remain a junior partner of Megasthenes until around 100BS, only a century before The Yankee’s arrival into our world. In the Battle of Arishaka, the Megasthenes Empire suffered a significant military defeat to the rising Sarutishkin Empire in the far off deserts of the southeast, eventually allowing Astem to re-establish itself.

    This period of cultural reawakening in Astem saw the unfortunate rise of The Church. While the Union Church that now rules from Astem would not form until after The Thaw between their Creator and Demon religions, independence from Megasthenes while still following their laws and Moral Alignment System caused Astem to become a hotbed for religious fundamentalism and theocracy. Rather than a brutal battle between the ascendant Church and the hedonistic Ishtari-blooded aristocrats of Astem as any rational individual should expect, the two forces allied together, creating an early version of the Dual Evils that we Yankeevines fight against even today, known as the “Three Estates” in Astem and Tourine. At that time, the aristocrats of Astem were restrained by the Moral Caste System, so between the two, The Church was more powerful, eventually leading to the establishment of laws and traditions that saw priests, priestesses, and later Inquisitors possessing enormous power over the secular rulers of their own nation, even after the Moral Caste System’s abolishment.

    This abolishment would come by 7AS, seven years after the arrival of The Yankee. The Kingdom of Astem, like many other Central Kingdoms, was systematically liberated by the armed forces of the newly born Yankeevine Empire under the leadership of Emperor Joseph the Yankee himself. The Astemmians' reliance on heavily armoured knights and mana-wielding priests may have made them formidable opponents to their neighbours, but they were no match for the newly invented Firearms that The Yankee taught his adopted people to build and use, and they were certainly unprepared for aerial assault by the first “Choppers.” Until then, airships were restricted to great lumbering warships in the sky mostly used as pleasure yachts, rather than the small propeller-levitated longboats The Yankee used. The Yankee’s personal theme and our national anthem, “Fortunate Son,” was burned into the collective memories of the Astemmian rulers following their defeat, and for centuries they did not dare challenge Yankeevine might.

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    Above: an early Astemmian depiction of the Yankee’s Conquests.

    Astem was considered a troublesome frontier territory even then, settled by particularly adventurous farmers and lumbermen who journeyed southward to make their fortune. Far from the watchful eyes of the Emperor in New Hartford, the colonists developed a unique culture and a streak of contrariness, combining it with resentment from the libertine aristocrats and fundamentalist clerics, now deprived of their slaves and ill-gotten wealth. Notoriously, it was a hotbed of pro-independence sentiment from the Empire's earliest days; Johnny's Rebellion started there, and the de Meers sheltered the rebel Outsider captain and even wedded a daughter to him. It should be said, at this time, some treasonous Outsiders fought alongside Astem, which may seem inconceivable today.

    Just as Johnny's Rebellion started in Astem, so it ended there as well; at the Battle of Asterion Field at the Gulf of Questin, Yankeevine forces led by General Ulysses Grant Yankee, the third of The Yankee's sons, forced Johnny the Rebel into surrendering his forces and accepting exile. Taking his Astemmian wife with him, he fled to the Demon Empire, where his beliefs that some beings were simply ordained by the natural order to be slaves to others found much more fertile ground than the stony tundra of Yankeevine.

    Agitation and rebellion from the wealthy elites of Astem did not stop there; during the Civil Wars and the Times of Troubles in the mid 200’s AS, it was a leading member of the “Central Alliance” of kingdoms in the southwest – along with Tourine, Wachstaat, Catatonia, and Neu-Alaynia – to rise in mass revolt against Yankeevine, driving deep into the Empire's territory in what is now called there the Reconquista. The Empire, already in a weakened state due to the political chaos caused by various Outsider cults, was forced to withdraw and grant them self-determination. The Empire's holdings in the southeast, however, collapsed into anarchy, taken by various petty warlords and demihuman separatists for as long as they could hold them.

    Following its new-found independence, the Kingdom of Astem without the guiding hand of Outsiders – other than a few corrupt Outsiders who aided them in exchange for marrying into noble families, the likes of Johnny before them – would fall into old habits of tyranny, decadence and extremism. While the Astemmians would not entirely abandon all the lessons The Yankee taught, such as the equality of the sexes – King Cirano IV being the first ruler of the Central Kingdoms to institute absolute cognatic succession in the Royal Succession Decree of 386AS, or Year 81 of the Age of Watchful Peace, or, colloquially, the Age of the Thaw, in the Astemmian Calendar – or the value of expressing emotions and beliefs freely in discourse, they would reestablish an absolute monarchy under the leadership of a former insurrectionist, Cinrad de Meer, an aristocrat and progenitor of the current royal line, down to the current Queen-Regnant Cicada de Meer. The Church regained its seat of power in the Holy City, their Pope re-crowned there after years of exile in southern Tourine. While slavery and the Moral Caste System were not reinstated, the aristocracy restablished its dominance in society and the ascendant bourgeoise were suppressed. The Astemmian aristocrats, now without the Moral Caste System to restrain them, became the infamously decadent court we know of today. The birthplace of the “Villainesses,” as the Outsiders dub them, started here.

    The Kingdom of Astem fought prominently during the Gnostic War against the former Grandmaster of the Guild of Heroes, Katsuro Nakamura, known there as “Katsuro the Destroyer.” Emperor John Adams Yankee took no official position on the Gnostic War offensives outside Yankeevine territory, only acting against supporters of Katsuro when they fired upon, and attempted to forcibly occupy, the Thinghall while Lawspeakers were in session, starting the Yankeevine Civil War. While our own brave Yankeevine loyalist soldiers fought against the Nakamura-aligned Gnostics in these battles, the broader war against the renegade Grandmaster stretched the scope of the world, where many Astemmians fought against Katsuro himself and even claim to have fought him in “the heavens,” interpreted to be on a mountain believed to be the home of their gods. This phase of the Gnostic War, known as the War in Heaven by Astemmian historians, fought around the year 305AS, is of immense religious significance to the people of the Central Kingdoms, and is the most likely cause of the following Outsider Genocide committed by the Central Kingdoms, as they justify their genocidal campaign by Katsuro’s alleged attempted murder of the entities they refer to as gods. The actual existence of these entities is debated even amongst Outsiders and our own faculty. If they are highly advanced and powerful mortals disguised as “gods,” magical projections of powerful sorcerers, or rogue Outsiders is still a matter of debate for these academics, however this book will continue to use the False God hypothesis, as we have seen no proof that these gods are indeed what they claim to be.

    For further reading on this controversial and tragic figure, the biography by Akihiro Lindström, Katsuro: A Hero's Rise and Fall, is recommended.

    Following the Gnostic War and the natural disasters that followed, the Kingdom of Astem and other Central Kingdoms used this opportunity to exploit the recovering Yankeevine Empire, and satisfy the fanatical fervour for war from their aristocracy and the Church, to engage in numerous aggressive wars and crusades against the Yankeevine Empire and its allies throughout the 320s to 370s. While the siege of the heavily Outsider-populated city-state of Generic City was liberated by Yankeevine forces, the realms of the lower Middle Kingdoms were lost to the crusaders, who formed three Astem-aligned kingdoms known as the Tripartite Kingdoms. The Crown Principality of Aarnau also originated as a successful conquest of these crusades. Its rule was given to a cadet branch of the de Meers, and with the marriage of its Ruling Prince to First Princess Cicilia de Meer of Astem, their infant child will most likely inherit both crowns.

    Also of note in recent history, especially for Astem for reasons we shall soon discover, is “The Thaw,” the name referring to the end of hostilities between the Central Kingdoms and the Demon Empire. Considered by academics as perhaps one of the most absurd leaps of theological thought disguising realpolitik in recent history, the Central Kingdoms and Demon Empire claim their gods have made a truce with each other because of Katsuro Nakamura's actions, and have even integrated each other’s religions into one another’s pantheons. This syncretist fusion is seen with the “deaths” of Amoroa, their goddess of Love and Loyalty, and Fiscan, their god of Prosperity and Exploration, and their replacement with the Archdemons of Lust and Greed, Ishtar and Lot respectively. The Theology department of the University of Aafensenn strongly believe based on their research that there is a direct correlation between the rising power of the aristocrats of Astem relative to the Church, likely instigated by the abolishment of the Moral Caste System, and the adoption of Ishtar and Lot, the reasoning being that the Astemmian aristocrats needed a new divine system to justify their widespread libertine behaviour, adultery, out-of-wedlock births, and accumulation of luxuries; so “killed” their previous gods associated with fidelity and rational market efficiency, replacing them with the decadence associated with other backwards societies such as the tyrannical Demon Empire.

    Others merely state that these religious changes were motivated by pure geopolitics, to justify the growing relations between the Kingdom of Astem and the Demon Empire, which by all accounts seem to be strengthening relations in an effort to maintain slavery and tyranny in the Central Kingdoms region against possible Yankeevine intervention, now that in recent years the Yankeevine Empire has revived much of its military and economic prominence. The Kingdom of Astem has done something previously thought unthinkable, even amongst their own kind: in the year 400AS, only two years from the publishing of this book, they have betrothed their Second Princess, Circe de Meer, to the “Black Prince” Soleiman Urzlong och Sarut, a decision met with controversy and disapproval in all but the most liberal circles of the aristocracy and government. Soleiman's military campaigns in recent years have been regarded as quite impressive, even by Yankeevine generals and experts, and he is considered the most likely heir to the Sarutishkin throne despite its infamously labyrinthine succession process; so it comes with some concern that should war come again against the southern barbarians, we will almost certainly face this fearsome opponent.

    See The World in Brief, Volume III, for a more detailed account of the Demonic Empire, its history, and its culture and political system.

    Regardless of reasons – for historical events rarely have but one cause – the religious upheaval that followed both the Gnostic War and The Thaw was vast and history-altering. Outsiders were exterminated en masse in the Central Kingdoms, and The Inquisition was formed from various veterans of the Gnostic War to hunt them down to this day. The Central Kingdoms, including Astem, themselves fought a series of religious civil wars known as the Brüderkrieg over disagreement on the inclusion of the gods Ishtar and Lot – a disagreement we believe originated with the Wachstaatian clerical class' attempts to block the libertine tendencies of the aristocrats from replacing their previously astute values. For more on Wachstaat, the “Brother Wars” of the Central Kingdoms, and their aftermath, see page 223.

    Those who continued to follow the beliefs of Isekai Cults or worship of the Outer Pantheon were persecuted or forced into exodus into the Yankeevine Empire and Generic City – in particular the Kiristians, whose successful proselytization during the period of Yankeevine control saw resentful Creatorist priests launch a campaign of terror against them. During this period, the Kingdom of Astem also saw a large influx of migrants from the Yankeevine Empire, mostly followers of the various Creator cults of the north, who were legally labelled as dangerous cults following their attempts to attack Outsiders. This emigration has created significant ethnic changes along the southern border of the Yankeevine Empire and the northern border of the Kingdom of Astem, where its populations in essence switched places with one another.

    In the current year of 402AS or 97 Thaw, it seems that war is inevitable between the Yankeevine Empire and the Kingdom of Astem. The Thing remains divided between pro-war and pro-peace factions, with the foremost advocate of peace, Chief Lawspeaker Junko Lovesong-Ikeda, predicted to soon lose control of the Upper House, the Gamer Faction in particular increasingly turning against her with claims of her being a “Thot” (see Outsider Glossary, page 420) and calling for a vote of No Confidence. At the time of writing, it appears that either Kazuo Bethune of the Intellectuals Faction or xX_H170K1R1_Xx of the Gamer Faction will succeed her, both of whom are advocates for war against the Kingdom of Astem.

    With this in mind, it is only a matter of who shall gain the courage to fire the first shot – and when.
     
    The Kingdom of Astem II - Map of Astem
  • Hrsy

    Well-known member
    Atlas of the World, The Kingdom of Astem II
    Map of the Kingdom of Astem and surrounding lands, Circa 402 AS / 97 Thaw

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    Note #1: The Holy City possesses a form of semi-autonomy within the Kingdom of Astem, with its head of state being Pope Lourens de Nijveldt.

    Note #2: The 'City of Chains' within the Kingdom of South Perdegehm exists in a highly complicated state. The city itself is occupied and controlled by the Kingdom of South Perdegehm, while the Citadel at the heart of the city remains under the control of the final redoubt of the Kingdom of Lethe, which has been held for decades under a state of semi-siege. The city has widespread slavery despite slavery being illegal in the wider kingdom because the NPC Guards of the city continue to recognise the laws of the Kingdom of Lethe where slavery is legal, and so will attack or arrest police attempting to arrest illegal slave traders. The Police of the City of Chains thus act as a extra-legal guild akin to a Thieves Guild due to the invulnerable NPC Guards protecting the criminals from them in the open. Past attempts to end this by simply conquering the Lethe Citadel typically has resulted in horrific casualties. Due to the above, the City of Chains is a major hub of the slave trade moving between the Demon and Yankeevine Empires.

    ~~~
    (As promised, a map, while waiting for more votes (this was for SB) for the next threadmark. This is just the regional map for now. Keep in mind that the Demon and Yankeevine Empires stretch far off this map, dwarfing Astem considerably).
     
    Articles on Faith - The Creator Pantheon I
  • Hrsy

    Well-known member
    Articles on Faith - The Creator Pantheon I (Expanded)


    The Beginning of All Things

    Before the Gods, there was only Chaos. There was no life, only anarchy; a formless, primordial mass of elements, wild and destructive, which spewed forth from the World Stream where all things begin and eventually end. The First Born and King of the Heavens, Eon, came forth from the World Stream already fully formed, and was immediately assailed by all of the elements of the cosmos.

    The elements took forms, vicious avatars intent on only destruction. These are the True Affinities, and they struck Eon ceaselessly. The Affinities knew neither good nor evil, and they attacked Eon, who swung forth at them with mighty blows. They knew not of death, for they knew not of life, and no matter how many times Eon smote them, they rose again to attack, attempting to drive him back into the World Stream. And so the battle was arduous.

    Seeking balance, the World Stream then brought forth Enin to be the Queen of the Heavens and Eon’s wife. They fought valiantly, yet still the battle was arduous. Thus the World Stream brought forth Sentinel, Protector of Innocents, and Styx, the Giver of Release. The four of them fought united for many days, and the first of the True Affinities were struck down – and yet not destroyed, for they are everlasting.

    The True Affinity of Time was then imprisoned and tamed, tied to the eternity of Eon, its Warden, with unbreakable chains. The True Affinity of Light was warded by Enin, and the True Affinity of Darkness was warded by Styx. And thus each True Affinity was tamed, and a divine Warden chosen. The World Stream summoned forth further Gods, Laeshaan and Wisp, Fiscan and Iyuta, Nomos and Sarut, each created as a mighty Warden, and together they wrestled with the Elemental Avatars until no True Affinity remained untamed.

    And so, with the Primordial Chaos defeated, Order was introduced to the universe. Eon divided Time into days, weeks, and years. Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Wood, Metal, Light, and Darkness would run their proper courses, all in their seasons, not too much, and not too little.

    After resting from his labours, Eon called forth the making of the World. He said, “Behold, I shall create a great Work; for of what use is a song without listeners, a book without readers, or a game without players? Of what use is a creator without a creation? Then of what use are Gods without those to love and to worship us?”

    He struck a thunderous blow with his hammer onto his anvil, and from the brightest sparks were formed Vyka and Hephcan, the Forge Twins. Following Eon’s dictates, they shaped a great circle of Earth and Metal. Enin set a bright Light to shine upon it by day, while Styx cloaked it in Darkness by night, so that all of creation could have sleep and rest. Iyuta covered it in soil, and Laeshaan seeded it with plants and blessed it with living creatures. Nomos divided the Waters into oceans, rivers, and lakes, while Sentinel moved the Airs high above and Sarut sparked Fire to give creation warmth and light.

    Thus the World was created; but there were as yet no creatures with Mind and Spirit who walked upon it, none who could love and worship the Gods.

    Enin bore two daughters to Eon, Amoroa and Reavanna; with their births the Affinities of Mind and Spirit came into the World. It was then the Gods knew it was time to create the inhabitants of the World, but they quarrelled over what form these inhabitants should take.

    “We shall each create an inhabitant of the world, according to our own ideas, and let Eon judge which is best,” the Gods said. And so they each took clay from the earth and set about to create.

    Laeshaan and Wisp created a creature tall and graceful, exceedingly beautiful, powerful in magic, and filled with love for the World and for the Gods. “I present to you, O Eon, our creation,” they said, “for an inhabitant of the World must live in harmony with Nature and with the Gods.”

    Nomos and Fiscan created a creature sturdy in form, gifted in smithcraft and wise in all lore. “I present to you, O Eon, our creation,” they said, “for an inhabitant of the World must be cunning of hand, capable of mastering Creation and making great Works to please the Gods.”

    But Enin and Iyuta came to the contest late, and the other Gods had taken the best clay. “No matter,” Iyuta said, “we shall take what was left over, and do our best work.” They moulded and shaped the clay as best they could, and presented it to Eon.

    “I present to you, O Eon, our creation,” they said. “For an inhabitant of the World will be beset with many dangers, but they will have strength of will, and the ability to band together to face that which they cannot face alone. And while their lives will be short, they will still shine all the brighter, as a flower all the more precious and poignant in its brief bloom.”

    Eon looked upon the efforts of the Gods, and could not decide which of their creations was the best. Finally he said: “All of your creations have pleased me well! I shall give the Spark of Life to each of them, so that they may each multiply and enrich Creation with their gifts!” Amoroa and Reavanna blessed each of the clay figures with Spirit and Mind, and the first of the Elves, Dwarves, and Humans opened their eyes and sang praises to the Gods.

    Thus Creation was completed, and the Gods were happy.

    All except Sarut, who could form no life with his clay. No matter how much he worked and shaped his clay, he could not produce a figure which pleased him. Bitterness followed, and resentment of Eon for birthing life through Enin rather than clay, and lust for Laaeshan, who after Enin was the most beautiful of all the Goddesses. All would lead to his future treachery. But that is another story…


    ~~~

    A Hymn to Enin

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    Hail the Goddess Enin, our Queen in Heaven!

    Hail Enin, perfect in beauty and in grace, who rewards the faithful wife and punishes the unfaithful and treacherous husband.

    Hail Enin, the Warden of Light, who set the brighter light above to shine upon us by day, and the lesser lights above to shine upon us by night.

    Hail Enin, the Ever-Loyal, who saved her husband Eon from oblivion and took vengeance upon his murderers.

    Hail Enin, the Conciliator, who made peace with the Children of Sarut and ended the War Between Brothers.

    Hail Enin, victoriously crowned with stars, by whose decree we fight the Isekai, unto the ends of the earth!

    ~~~

    Excerpts from Intermediate Comparative Theology, a textbook assigned to students of most magical schools in the Central Kingdoms, including the Academy of Light

    Enin

    Enin is the Queen in the Heavens and the highest ruler of the Creator Pantheon, with Eon’s maiming. She is the patron deity of the Kingdom of Astem as well as the warden of the True Affinity of Light. Of the races made by the Creator Gods that walk upon the earth, her creation was the race known as Humanity, and they are often considered her favoured people and surrogate children alongside the many other civilized races she now calls her own, ever since her own children by Eon, the Goddesses Reavanna and Amoroa, were murdered by The Destroyer.

    Enin is said to be a proud, refined, and graceful goddess, soft and motherly to the righteous and loyal, while vengeful and unforgiving to the treacherous and unfaithful. Her implacable wrath against those who have wronged her or her faithful is great – perhaps even the Archdemon of Wrath would pale before it, for she never forgets a grudge. A patron of civilization, the family and community, she is known for providing her boons to communities and society at large.

    Before the coming of Ishtar, what Amoroa abstained from love, Enin embodied. Fertility within motherhood, sensuality within monogamy, beauty within grace. Enin is well known for her scantily clad and voluptuous form but without the excess or prolivicities of Ishtar, for Enin has only ever given the pleasures of her body to her husband Eon, and expects others who are her faithful to conform to this example. With Amoroa’s passing and Ishtar’s ascension, Enin has transformed, inheriting the domain of chaste love and romance from her fallen daughter, even if some vestigial sensuality remains.

    Enin is neither particularly in favour or against war – however she has famously engaged in both warmaking and diplomacy. Her personal intervention at the Miracle of Mädchennen led to the end of the bloody Bruderkrieg conflicts that raged in the southern half of the post-Thaw continent, and the subsequent deposition of the King of Wachstaat. In contrast, shortly after the War in Heaven’s end, not only did she decree the destruction of all Isekais, she personally led the assault on the Northern Heroes Guild Headquarters in the Yankeevine capital of New Hartford. Using the churches and cathedrals dedicated to her worship in the city prior to their banning, she summoned her own holy vessel of reckoning, the Sky Citadel of the Upper Firmament, and the great marble and crystal battlestation rained death upon the Isekai-infested Heroes Guild with both rays of the Eye of God and smaller Mirror Towers, such as seen in the Empire of Mu. After this bombardment, it is said that Enin personally appeared within the Heroes Guild, and individually slew every Isekai still remaining, before leaving just as suddenly.

    The Yankeevine Empire officially rejects this as fact, and instead claims that the attack of the Upper Firmament was in fact a surprise assault by the Empire of Mu, and used this as justification for further attacks against said nation. This rejection is mostly due to the Yankeevine Empire’s official stance that the Creator Gods do not actually exist, and are instead mortals possessed of extremely advanced technology, although other factions of the Yankeevine Empire, in particular the Isekais of the Heroes Guild, acknowledge their existence as “Demiurges” or, in the case of Enin in particular, the “Bitch Goddess.”


    BELIEFS


    Enin is a strong supporter, and in fact the origin of, the notion of monogamous union and faithfulness within relationships. Societies that devote themselves to Enin are predominately monogamous in nature, and those that are not are instead orientated around strict harems with clear boundaries and rules of relationship. The notion of divorce as seen in the Yankeevine Empire is forbidden in such societies, and the Demon Empire’s permissiveness of simply ending harem obligations as quickly as they form is just as immoral. To Enin, a relationship is not merely one of love, but of obligation and responsibility – to one another and to one’s offspring, community and wider society… Those who would betray this bond and cast aside their responsibility shall be punished, and none other is punished more than those who commit infidelity, be they male or female.

    Patriarchs and Matriarchs of strong, large families are provided great boon by Enin, and royal dynasties of the world often work hard to build families that impress her. In turn they are granted Divine Right to rule, strong monarchs and aristocrats given legitimacy by her hand, for just as Enin is the Queen in Heaven, her favoured are kings and queens on earth. Thus, republics such as Neu-Alaynia and Autumn tend to seek favour from other deities. Children are protected by Enin, and hospitals across the world are blessed by her intervention to rid the world of the child mortality that would otherwise afflict them. So long as Enin watches over the world, no mother shall ever see her child die from birth, nor will she suffer the same fate. For this reason, alongside Iyuta’s endless blessing of the world’s crops, the world is plentiful and abundant with peoples of all nations and races.

    Alongside Wisp, the God of Knowledge, Enin is a patron of education. Whereas the winged and foresighted Wisp bestows boons and favour on those who seek knowledge for its own sake, Enin seeks to empower and protect children from future woes. While public education is not common outside of the Yankeevine Empire, many private schools and church-schools are devoted to Enin, from as prestigious as the Academy of Light to the lowliest orphanage mission. It is by her dictate that The Church sends talented students of the commoner classes to prestigious schools. Teachers, priests, and parents who teach their children are often blessed by Enin.

    Enin is considered the special patroness of the Kingdom of Astem. Her great chryselephantine statue in the Cathedral of Saint Jacomina in Astoria depicts the goddess wearing not a crown of stars, but the mural crown of walls and turrets, symbolising her special protection against the Isekai invader. The Isekais are Enin's most hated enemy, for it was one of their number, Katsuro the Destroyer, who beheaded her husband, wounded her brothers, and murdered her daughters. After the War in Heaven she infamously demanded the deaths of all Isekai as a blood price for her slain family, leading to the founding of the Holy Inquisition and the purge of the Guild of Heroes. It is by Enin’s direct intervention that great manifested light protects cities in the midst of Isekai Storms. In the Central Kingdoms, she is regarded as the great shield and sword against the Isekai Spirits, and the most ardent avenger of the heavens and earth against their crimes.

    Despite being the Goddess of Marriage and Children, Enin has never specified her position on the matters of couplings of the same sex and matters of gender, neither siding with Amoroa, who embraced these things, nor Ishtar who rejects them. That said, her priesthood does tend to have a negative view upon the use of Silphium, as its use is associated with hedonism and the worship of Ishtar, rather than the creation of children. Eninite nuns are encouraged to marry, although some Eninite priestesses paradoxically remain celibate, particularly elder Matrons who become surrogate mothers for orphanages.

    Enin, outside the family and children, is also seen as a patron of wider civilization. Those who perform great or persistent virtuous service for their community may be granted boons from the Queen in Heaven.


    RELATIONS


    Enin was well known for her faithful and passionate love of her husband, Eon, as well as her motherly affection for her daughters, Amoroa and Reavanna, and whose deaths led to her vowing revenge against all Isekais. Enin remains now as Eon’s primary caretaker, the beheaded King of the Gods alive only by Enin’s direct intervention, and is also now the head of the Creator Pantheon. It was by her doing that Ishtar and Lot were brought into the pantheon to replace the fallen Amoroa and Fiscan. Enin is believed to hold Ishtar, the Archdemoness of Lust and now second Goddess of Love, in low regard, and only tolerates and works with her because the alternative would have meant the end of all things. Otherwise, Enin is known for her cooperative nature with the other gods, and it is she who binds them all together in common purpose.

    Enin is associated often with swans, which mate for life, as well as wolves, who likewise mate for life and are known for their close family bonds. The pomegranate fruit and the rose are also associated with Enin, as is the great pole star which never strays from its course but always points north. Enin’s priesthood mostly are nuns, however include male priests as well. Those devoted to Enin or wish to have their marriages blessed by her often wear “marriage rings” or “marriage necklaces” bearing the Star of Enin to signify their monogamous union.
     
    The Kingdom of Neu-Alaynia - History
  • Hrsy

    Well-known member

    Atlas of the World, The Commonwealth Kingdom of Neu-Alaynia I
    Excerpts from The World in Brief, Volume II, by Jules Ariksen, University of Aafensenn in New Hartford


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    The regnal coat of arms of the Most Serene Commonwealth Kingdom of Neu-Alaynia


    History

    The Commonwealth Kingdom of Neu-Alaynia is one of the several members of the “Central Kingdoms Alliance” to the south of our own empire. Its population is chiefly composed of centaurs, which form the ruling classes of their society and whose culture and ethnic history have formed the basis of the nation, with significant minorities of humans and demihumans.

    Centaurs were not originally native to the Central Kingdoms. Their arrival was instead approximately five hundred years before the arrival of Joseph the Yankee, as part of several waves of large migrations and nomadic invasions from the north-eastern steppes and scrublands of Alaynia, the original homeland of the centaurs.

    These centaur migrations cut a swath through what is now the demihuman Middle Kingdoms, then rampaged through the human lands of Aarnau and Astem before roughly a third of the migrating horde finally settled in the fertile grasslands that now make up Neu-Alaynia under the leadership of King Lech Jagaellon “the Lawmaker.”

    The centaurs of this era, according to the histories of its neighbours, were described as violent and savage Monstrines with a love of drinking, brawling, and the kidnapping and rapine of human maidens. While the historical validity of claims from Central Kingdom historians should always be taken with great scepticism, it should be said that the other two-thirds of the centaur migrations would continue further south-west, eventually “settling” as a fragmented region of constant warfare and raiding between petty kingdoms, clans, and warherds for the following centuries, not unifying until very recently under Alfred Aethelstan “the Great,” and his foundation of the centaur-led Angoulogne Empire. This Empire still practises widespread raiding and the capture of war-brides, so while this does give some credence to the historical claims against the Neu-Alaynians of the past, such practices are certainly not the norm in Neu-Alaynia as of these more enlightened times, Wachstaatian propaganda aside. A more extensive history of the Angoulogne Empire and the conquests of Aethelstan will be discussed in Volume IV of The World in Brief, but for now we shall turn back to the story of Neu-Alaynia.

    Unlike their Angoulogne cousins, the Neu-Alaynian centaurs quickly assimilated into the native cultures of the peoples they conquered, either replacing or fusing their old traditions with those of the proto-Tourish humans they had conquered. They also embraced the Creator Pantheon, leaving the worship of their original patron demi-god of monsters and supposed child of Sarut, “Tash,” as a remnant minority faith. As such, the first glimpses of romantic and chivalric centaur culture we know of today was born not long after the formation of Neu-Alaynia, as well as their system of government, unique among the Central Kingdoms.

    The Commonwealth has a most unusual government – the country is ruled by a monarch, who is elected for a term of five years, can be re-elected for another five, and effectively rules in partnership with their parliament, the Senat. Each szlachta, or stallion of noble status, is entitled to a vote and the right to serve in the Senat as the representative of his centuria, an administrative district of about one thousand herds. The Book of Golden Liberty, the Neu-Alaynian code of laws claimed to have been written by King Lech the Lawmaker himself, contains a bill of rights and ensures all szlachta have equal rights and privileges, and all citizens have a rather unique degree of freedom, at least in principle. A former Chancellor of the Senat once described the Commonwealth’s political system thus: “Our King reigns, but he does not rule.” More daring voices in the Continent go so far as to claim, even in admiring tones, that Neu-Alaynia is more democratic than the Yankeevine Empire in some ways; however, such claims must be tempered with the understanding that Neu-Alaynia is still a regressive society that rejects Modernity – its democracy may provide more of its populace voting rights in its Senat than in our Thinghall, and the political powers of its kings more limited than those of our Emperor, but in truth its political representation is only for its male aristocratic class, with no say from commoners, humans, or mares.

    Neu-Alaynia would establish and maintain itself as a major military power by virtue of its centaur population providing a highly experienced – but far more easily trained and cheaply maintained – force of cavalry than their human rivals, enabling Neu-Alaynia to achieve significant military expansion and even victories over the regional powers of the time – the Tzardom of Catatonia and the Empire of the Megasthenes Raj, the latter of which at the time stretched across both coasts of the Autumn Sea, well into the Central Kingdoms, and was considered the superpower of its day.

    Neu-Alaynia would of course, like many of its neighbours, be welcomed into the Yankeevine Empire after its successful liberation by Emperor Joseph the Yankee. The lance-wielding winged hussars and armoured cavalry-archers of Neu-Alaynia were wholly unprepared for the onslaught of The Yankee’s firearms and Chopper gunships. Neu-Alaynia, unlike its neighbours, did not practise the Alignment Caste System and resisted Megasthenes through military force, but its liberation was nevertheless deemed necessary due to its repeated attempts to aid its former enemies against the rising Empire following The Yankee’s successful conquest of Astem, particularly through hit-and-run attacks. After the Battle of Drozia resulted in a rout of the Neu-Alaynian forces and the surrender of King Gościsław “the Kneeler,” the area became a Yankeevine protectorate under the benevolent yet watchful eye of The Yankee.

    Although The Yankee was inclined to show mercy and even favour to the centaurs due to seeing their flawed yet commendable attempts at democracy as something to build upon, and even allowed them to continue voting for their Kings – so long as any regnal candidates swore allegiance to the Empire – the centaurs themselves were ever intractable, ungrateful, and almost as prone to rebellion as the Astemmians and Catatonians. Attempts by The Yankee, his successors, and Outsider advisors to broaden and deepen the inclusivity of the Neu-Alaynian democratic process proved to be disastrous; aristocratic mares who attempted to vote in regnal elections were oft physically restrained from casting a ballot, while ethnic and religious riots and rebellions followed attempts to increase the political representation of human Kiristian, Shinto-Buddhist, and Outsider Cult communities and their centaur converts, which had grown in some popularity since the arrival of missionaries from the larger heartlands of the Empire. Eventually, the limited autonomy Neu-Alaynians enjoyed under the client kings ended, and as in Astem, regional viceroy-governors were appointed in an attempt to demonstrate to the centaurs proper and Enlightened civil governance, both by example and education.

    Following further democratic failures in Northern Tourine, and the catastrophic failure of the democratisation of Celestial Eidolon and the former Yowee territories in the Far West of the Continent, attempts at broadening democratic processes were halted, and instead efforts were made towards public education in conjunction with limiting the power of the Church and other religious institutions of the various colonies. Despite these efforts, revolts and resistance continued in Neu-Alaynia; the situation swiftly deteriorated in the chaos of the wider Yankeevine Civil Wars when a young centaur publicly assassinated the Yankeevine governor of the province as well as two centaur members of his administration – according to the popular telling, with throwing knives; according to contemporary witnesses, a crossbow – whilst they were in the town square of Danzeria to give a speech for the Day of the Yankee’s Landing. This audacious murder inspired a massive wave of riots that were swiftly put down by the next imperial governor.

    However, general strikes and popular unrest continued, and leaders of the pro-independence movement gained assistance from the remnants of the Tzardom of Catatonia, always a thorn in the Empire’s side (for more on Catatonia and its strange history, see page 331). The assassin was swiftly apprehended and executed after order was restored, her very name lost to history, but she is celebrated by the centaurs today as the “Saint of Knives,” and her foolish martyrdom credited with starting the wave of wars for Southern independence now referred to by them as “The Reconquest.” The rebel forces of the self-declared reformed kingdoms of Astem, Wachstaat, and North Tourine, alongside the invading armies of South Tourine and Catatonia, allied with Neu-Alaynia, forming the first Central Alliance.

    The Alliance forces took advantage of the internal political chaos and religious conflicts at the time, driving the Empire's overextended forces out of Neu-Alaynia. Despite the chaotic fighting, Neu-Alaynia managed to nevertheless hold a regnal election in 260AS, and General Eliasz Sobieski, a hero of the wars, was crowned as King by Election of the Most Serene Commonwealth Kingdom of Neu-Alaynia. After six years of war, Emperor Thomas Jefferson Yankee II agreed to peace terms, signing the Treaty of Achthoven along with King Eliasz of Neu-Alaynia, Cinrad de Meer of Astem, Merovin du Valois of South Tourine, Karl von Leomarck of Wachstaat, and Tzarina Annastazia Vasilievna of Catatonia.

    Despite the victory, this was to be an inauspicious beginning for Neu-Alaynia – King Eliasz was considered a great warrior and general but poor administrator, leading him to be titled “the Disappointment” in the historical records, particularly as the ascendant Imperial Union of Wachstaat quickly surpassed Neu-Alaynia’s meagre post-independence economic gains. Neu-Alaynia’s stagnation would not be reversed until the reign of King Pitast “the Plentiful,” whose reign saw the building of Neu-Alaynia’s first Iyutan Plenty, attempts at expanding the textile industry to compete with Astem, and the development of the harbour district of Danzeria as an important hub along the Thinegeld River. Despite these economic gains, Neu-Alaynia would continue to struggle, particularly as the Thinegeld River was territorially disputed and its length ran through Wachstaat, who taxed Neu-Alaynian trade heavily in peace time.

    Eventually, war would break out between the two nations, each claiming the Danzeria and its surrounding territory as their own. The Thinegeld River Delta had changed hands between them several times over the past centuries as the fortunes of each country waxed and waned, and ownership of Danzeria's port, which controlled trade to the Colonna coasts in the west, and Catatonia and Tourine to the south by way of the Vindicia River, was seen as the only long-term solution to add revenue to the lagging economy. For their part, the Neu-Alaynians claimed the Grand Duchy of Danzeria as perhaps second only in cultural importance to its ancient capital, Valašlová; heralded as the city where its revolutionary movements were founded, with an elaborate shrine to the so-called “Saint of Knives'' built near the town square shortly after the Central Alliance victory.

    In more modern times, Neu-Alaynia participated in the Gnostic Wars against Katsuro Nakamura on behalf of the Creator Pantheon religion. During the natural disasters following the Gnostic Wars, Neu-Alaynia was temporarily overrun with numerous monsters and elementals, with the Creatorists claiming this was the result of Bettamis, the so-called Goddess of the Wild Hunt, “dying” to the swords of Katsuro Nakamura. It then played a minor role in the series of Bruderkrieg Wars fought between Creatorists over the doctrinal changes imposed by the syncretic fusion of the Creatorist and Demonic religions – most notably the adoption of the Archdemons Ishtar and Lot into the Creator Pantheon – following the Gnostic Wars. While the civil and national wars mostly took place in Wachstaat, Astem and Tourine, Neu-Alaynia took advantage of Wachstaat’s religious conflicts to regain Danzeria.

    The consensus of historians holds that Neu-Alaynia itself avoided civil war during the Bruderkrieg due to differences in cultural values. While Amoroa, the Goddess of Love and Fidelity, who was “slain” in the Ghostic War and replaced by Ishtar, was popular amongst those who revolted, the worship of Amoroa never saw much popularity in Neu-Alaynia. This was due to the prevalence of polygamous marriages and strict gender roles, the centaurs being highly patriarchal. (King Jarosław “the Faithful” legally imposed a limit of five mares per stallion, with each stallion mandated to provide for his mares equally, to avoid civil unrest; this measure was considered unpopular, with his contemporaries speculating this was actually the idea of his mare, Szarlotta.) As such, Ishtar and her fertility rites were welcomed into the Creator Pantheon with relative ease in Neu-Alaynia.

    Neu-Alaynia successfully held Danzeria until the post-Bruderkrieg government of Wachstaat retook Danzeria with Yankeevine support in response to the alleged persecution of the city’s human minority by the centaurs, ushering in Wachstaat’s realignment from the Central Alliance to the Yankeevine international community. However, ongoing partisan activity from the centaurs made it nearly impossible for Wachstaat to fully control the city; in 396AS, Neu-Alaynia began another campaign to retake Danzeria, with Astem and Tourine sending volunteer levies in assistance. The Wachstaatian governor of the city fled, and the city itself quickly and peacefully surrendered; but soon after the victorious centaurs marched through the White Gates, they discovered they had been drawn into a trap. Wachstaatian forces quickly closed their flanks and surrounded, besieging the city for eight weeks until a division of winged-hussars led by Major-General Stannisław Dąbrowski arrived and turned the tide, breaking the lines of the exhausted Wachstaatians.

    Although the victory was brief – Yankeevine reinforcements drove out the Neu-Alaynian forces the next year, with Wachstaatian forces settling into entrenched positions only a few miles away – Dąbrowski won the next regnal election on a write-in vote and was duly crowned King Stannisław “the Shieldbreaker.” (No doubt thinking of King Eliasz’ example, Dąbrowski declared before the election: “If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.” Of course, after winning the election, he accepted the crown with indecent alacrity.) As of this year, 402AS, the combat is still ongoing; some leaders have advocated for the Grand Duchy of Danzeria to separate from both countries altogether, and Kaiser-Marshal Frederick of Wachstaat has made plans to redevelop the city into a new, modernised capital, with centaur resistance becoming more fanatical and defiant in response.


    SEb14GzJPjTw1wtVwwGi_RWUd58mGnym7po2lnwQkVS82wA8nb14MUS6YNhm1mKn53hq5rE0KtrN1TLvT3b3Kaz84nsKOHG9DerI5ki20lS4PJ1iY9RgHAotRlzkQy5O1INFf1MaShU

    King Stannisław Dąbrowski the Shieldbreaker


    Even as this book goes to press, Neu-Alaynia continues its territorial struggles with Wachstaat, now accepted as part of the wider war between the Central Kingdoms and our own International Community. It cooperates often with the Kingdom of Tourine and the Tzardom of Catatonia, which continue to send volunteer levies to the Danzeria offensives; however the Commonwealth Kingdom has perennial difficulty with maintaining long-term alliances due to its inability to arrange marriages. King Stannisław attempted to have his firstborn son, Prince Jan Dąbrowski, betrothed to the Second Princess of Astem or First Princess of Cockaigne, however was turned down in favour of the Demon Empire and Kingdom of Tourine respectively, eventually forced to betroth him instead to the centaur princess of the significantly smaller southern Kingdom of Pryda. It seems that the human members of the Central Alliance consider their centaur allies stalwart friends on the battlefield, but poor prospects for the nuptial bed, as there is of course no guarantee that the children of the current king will inherit the kingdom. (There is also the issue of the significant anatomical differences between centaurs and the human nobles of its neighbours – while centaurs, like other monstrines, can interbreed with humans, these couplings are often fraught with great difficulty, result in the death of a human mother more often than not, and the children of these partnerships will either end up as centaurs or equine demihumans – but this is likely a far distant second consideration for the aristocrats of the Central Kingdoms.) Despite these setbacks, the Shieldbreaker enjoys a popularity amongst his people greater than that of most of his predecessors, and is expected to win another term as King by Election.
     
    Articles on Faith - The Creator Pantheon II, Amoroa and Ishtar
  • Hrsy

    Well-known member


    SB Content Warning: This post contains material that may be seen as offensive. It includes reference to such topics as rape, homophobia, transphobia and general sexuality. This post has been approved in Content Review prior to posting, however even with this approval, it must be understood that this is a strong topic, and as such if it creates discussion, posters must take due care in their posting, or otherwise I will have to do so for them. This exists as an in-universe description, and should not be taken as endorsement outside of the story.


    Articles on Faith - The Creator Pantheon II
    Excerpts from Intermediate Comparative Theology, a textbook used in several magical schools of the Continent, including the Academy of Light

    The Creator Pantheon’s first and second Goddesses of Love, Amoroa and Ishtar, despite both being deities of the same aspect, are as similar as day and night. This is unsurprising, for before the War in Heaven, Ishtar was exclusively the Archdemoness of Lust of the Demonic Pantheon. Since the War in Heaven and Amoroa’s death by the swords of Katsuro the Destroyer, the Queen in Heaven, Enin, desperate to hand the True Affinity of Spirit to a divine entity, else risk the end of the universe, handed the Wardenship of Spirit to Ishtar, and she joined the Creator Pantheon as the new Goddess of Love.

    Amoroa

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    The former Goddess of Love, Amoroa. Born from the divine union of Eon and Enin, she was entrusted with wardenship of the True Affinity of Spirit, and through the births of her and Reavanna, it was possible for the forms of sapient life made by the other gods to be bestowed with true intelligence.

    Amoroa was said to be a kind and gentle deity, with deep empathy for people, and often felt strong empathy and attachment to her faithful. She is known to have intervened personally in personal tragedies of even peasants and outcasts, and took great care in aiding those seeking or having obtained true love. A pacifist, she avoided all forms of violence and combat, though as her sister Reavanna was the Goddess of War, she avoided outright condemning warfare as part of her faith.

    It is said that thousands of years ago she fell in love with a mortal man. This man died, as all mortals must, and her sorrow over his passing led to her swearing to be eternally faithful to his memory, as well as her creation of the Soul Bond, a magical binding which binds the fates of two souls together along with providing numerous great boons such as immortality so long as both live and feel true love for one another – created so others could avoid her own fate. Thus was Amoroa titled The Joiner of Souls. While Amoroa herself is gone, some immortals with this sacred bond still remain, however their immortality is fading as the residual powers of Amoroa vanish across the world.


    BELIEFS


    Amoroa greatly favoured monogamy and faithfulness between lovers, and so saw harems as immoral and hedonistic. Societies that greatly venerated Amoroa, particularly those in the Far-West and South-West, as such are considered highly monogamous societies. Amoroa shared her mother Enin’s dislike of infidelity, and it was one of the few ways to incur the wrath of Amoroa, though usually never to the extent of Enin.

    As well as faithfulness, Amoroa placed great value in chastity and abstinence, believing intimacy should only be to those partnered with one another and not before or outside of such. She generally had great distaste for overt or excessive sexualisation and promiscuity, seeing such as immoral. Amoroan Priestesses wore crowns of lilies and other flowers with white veils, and were expected to be virgins and celibate for life.

    Amoroa greatly valued aesthetics and beauty, a belief shared with her replacement, Ishtar, however she favoured graceful and subdued beauty compared to Isthar’s embrace of exaggerated and offensively sexual beauty. The concepts of “Inner Beauty” and “Inner Ugliness” are of Amoroan creation, and are often used in religious conflicts between Amoroan and Ishtari faithful. Far-Western Civilizations, particularly the former colonies of the Celestial Empire of Mu, are renowned for following Amoroa’s standards of beauty, with it being desired for men and women to both be highly androgynous and graceful in appearance, and with very small sexual organs on both men and women. The virtue of these standards are spread by extreme Amoroan factions known as “Flat Cults,” which are particularly popular in nations such as Celestial Eidolon and as its namesake suggests, Celestial Amoroanine. In these same societies, large sexual organs in men or women are considered sinful and hedonistic, as they are signs of Ishtar’s blood corruption, to the point that some Flat Cults will resort to violence upon seeing them. Despite the claims of some Ishtari propagandists and wishful Isekai, Flat Cults are devoted to slim women with slight features, not children, which even in those lands is considered obscene.

    The Yowees of the Celestial Empire of Mu were considered to be closely aligned with Amoroa, and some believe they still are even after her death, although there is no way to know following Mu’s retreat into total isolation following the final loss of its colonies in the Far-West. The remnant of Amoroanite worship in the Central Kingdoms is found in the Schismatics of Wachstaat, Catatonia, and the Southwest of the Continent, who deny that Amoroa died in the War in the Heavens.

    Amoroan-influenced cultures tend to be adverse to contraception, such as through the “demon herb” Silphium. Amoroa herself never made known her thoughts on the matter, however Amoroan believers developed this belief due to the connection between Silphium and Ishtar’s hedonism. Some scholars suspect Amoroa was actually in favour of it, due to seeing relationships as being orientated around love, not the need for procreation. This would indeed be made further ironic by the fact that while Ishtari followers often make use of Silphium, Ishtar herself is known to be against it as an aberration against her command for fruitfulness in relationships.

    Amoroa, in stark contrast to Ishtar, was not only tolerant of, but an advocate for, couplings between the same sex, as well as the embrace of androgyny between the sexes, suggesting it may have even been considered a purer and more exalted form of love. While Amoroa’s faith in the Central Kingdoms does not take to the extremes of Mu in this matter, it is the Amoroan faithful’s belief that so long as love is chaste, faithful, and monogamous, it does not matter who those two lovers are. With Amoroa’s death and her replacement, Amoroan cults and churches generally rejected Ishtar’s new dictates, including on this matter, to the point that a major contribution to the Bruderkrieg conflicts was this changing of the guard. Numerous churches, such as the Schismatics, the Southern Church of Origin, the Far-Western Flat Cults, and the Celestial Amoroanine Cult, all reject Ishtar and continue to worship the deceased Amoroa, believing that she was not killed, only rendered comatose, and will someday rise from her sleep to bless her devoted followers.

    While this fact is often left out of modern day preaching, Amoroa herself was said to be comparably tolerant of Isekais in the days before the War in the Heavens, and even aided Isekais in their own quests at times. There is even a tale in the Yankeevine Empire that Amoroa herself appeared before The Yankee to bless his marriage to Aamu “Amy” Fjardísdóttir, the Northern Shieldmaiden. Amoroa’s faith was popular in the Yankeevine Empire for some time but slowly died out as Amoroa became more estranged from Isekais as they increasingly embraced harems. It is unknown what Amoroa thought of Isekais when Katsuro the Destroyer beheaded her during the War in Heaven, however it is known that she did not defend herself, only pleaded with her murderer to turn back from his course before it was too late. Amoroa died childless.

    SUNDERING

    Following Amoroa’s death at the hands of Katsuro the Destroyer, the True Affinity of Spirit was briefly unshackled and partially unleashed upon the world, alongside the other affinities of the dead gods slain by The Destroyer. These unleashed True Affinities, being inherently chaotic entities whose mere freedom ensures the unmaking of the entire universe by returning them to the primordial chaos at the beginning of all things, unleashed great destruction before The Gods could reshackle them with new wardens.

    While not nearly as destructive as the True Affinity of Water, whose release is said to have resulted in the deaths of at least twenty million souls and the catastrophic sinking of the Realm of the Sea-dwarves, the effects of the rampage of the True Spirit can still be felt today. Across the whole of the world, madness, murderous rage, delusion, selfishness, suicide, melancholy, and a host of other diseases of the mind wracked the peoples of all nations… and even nearly a century later, even as the True Spirit is shackled again, its pernicious influence can be felt as aftershocks.

    Following the defeat of Katsuro the Destroyer, in an effort to prevent the inevitable apocalypse from the unleashed True Affinities, Enin made a deal with the Demon Pantheon. As only a divine entity could hold a true affinity captive, and only one per divinity, Enin was forced to give the Archdemons the fallen gods’ affinities, finally empowering them to their equals. As such, Ishtar would be given the Wardenship of True Spirit.

    RELATIONS

    Amoroa is known to have been close to her mother, Enin. With her sister Reavanna she had a more complex relationship, as while they loved one another as sisters do, they were also quite dissimilar. Amoroa was known to have been deeply in love with a mortal man who died thousands of years ago, whose name is believed to have been Endymion, though it is uncertain if this was truly his name or an apocryphal creation long after. Amoroa was known to be an adviser for the first Empress of Mu, is believed to have met The Yankee, and was a renowned and persistent archenemy of Ishtar, as they saw each other as morally repugnant. The current Saint-Empress of Celestial Amoroanine, Amaris de Isobel, claims to be the mortal reincarnation of Amoroa, however this is rejected by all outside of the Amoroanine Cult.

    Amoroa is affiliated with numerous things. Unicorns are considered sacred to Amoroa, being a creature that only permits virgins to ride it, and the “Eyes of the Unicorn,” a power that enables those with it to see the purity and innocence of the observed, is said to be linked to her. Virgins were said to be specially blessed by her, and while she lived she often gave them special boons. The fragrant lily is Amoroa’s sacred flower. Rainbows are often associated with Amoroa. The tropical Pineapple fruit is also associated with Amoroa, particularly in the Far-West and Mu.

    The act of hand-holding is sacred amongst Amoroans. Amoroans often weave flowers into their hair and wear chaste clothing that avoids bringing attention to sexuality.


    ISHTAR


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    Ishtar, as in her human form. The obscenity of her true Demon Form is not for the faint of heart.

    The current Goddess of Love, Ishtar. Born from the rape of the Goddess of Nature, Laaeshan, by the Traitor God, Sarut. The current Warden of the True Affinity of Spirit following Amoroa’s death. Prior to her ascension to the Creator Pantheon, she was – and still is – the Archdemoness of Lust in the Demon Pantheon, where she is worshipped as The Carnal. As the Creatorist Goddess of Love, she is called The Spark of Passion, or She Who Sparks Passion. While Sarut is the progenitor of the Demon, Monstrine, and thus indirectly the Demihuman races, Ishtar’s multi-millennia-long escapades have led to a significant minority of the world’s population descending from her in some manner, with most of the demon and monstrine races claiming descent from her, and many of the Central Kingdom humans, especially in the Southeast regions of the Continent such as Astem and Tourine.

    Ishtar is said to be strong-willed, vain, fickle, and fun-loving, with a love of festivities and frolics. She is known to be one of the most interventionist of the gods, having appeared in the physical realm more than any other deity, though often for very petty reasons revolving around her own amusement or pleasure, or simply to observe mortals personally – again for her own amusement. She has had many, many, many relationships with mortal men over millennia, usually rulers and aristocrats who have proven to be highly masculine and attractive or achieved great feats of might. Of the brave few who had rejected her advances, immense woe and suffering befell them, as a warning to all others.

    While not a proper War Goddess, she is a connoisseur of conflict and struggle, and enjoys spectating great battles, massacres and duels for entertainment. The Gladiator Coliseums of the Demon Empire are partially devoted to her, alongside Vaughst the Archdemon of Wrath, and champion gladiators that impressed her have been known to be rewarded most intimately. Ishtar, rarely, if at all, engages in combat herself. She has, however, at times instigated rivalries and even wars out of boredom. She is a patron of many great warriors and leaders of war, and favourites are at times given boons for good performance on the battlefield as well as in the bedroom.

    Ishtar has had countless lovers and consorts over millennia, including hundreds simultaneously, and birthed more demi-god children than all of the other gods and archdemons combined. She leaves them on the steps of their fathers’ houses, or the steps of her temples, before moving on to the next mortal that pleases her. The sheer number of demi-gods birthed by her has become so renowned that the concept of a Demi-god itself is tied to Ishtar. Demi-gods are known to be highly powerful Nephilim and Eliouds, with enough power that some have been known to fight against an Isekai by themselves and come out triumphant.

    BELIEFS

    Ishtar greatly favours polygamy and polyandry, and sees harems as an ideal whose failure to pursue – or rejection of – is immoral. Societies where Ishtar has great influence are non-monogamous, with most being both polygamous and polyandrous – though some only pursuing polygamy or polyandry depending on the established gender politics of the region. The Demon Empire permits vast harems for both genders, however polyamorous relations from the lesser-status harem members are forbidden – harem owners themselves are permitted to pursue outside of the harem. Promiscuity is generally considered desirable, as Ishtar herself is.

    Ishtar generally speaking has faithfulness oriented around power, although the tenets of her faith have no moral investment in relationship fidelity. Lesser members of a harem are expected to be faithful while the owner is not. If a lesser member is unfaithful, this is not considered immoral as they are only expected to seek out opportunities if given the chance, but rather a challenge of authority and dishonour to the harem head who cannot control his or her mate. This challenge can result in deadly ceremonial conflict, or simply punitive punishments. In the Demon Empire, adultery tends to be punished in the opposite way to the Central Kingdoms; a child of cuckoldry is punished – often by death, but sometimes by being sent to Ishtari temples – rather than the perpetrator of the act. This is actually condemned by Ishtar, since she is a Goddess of Fertility, however the law is implemented and enforced by the cults of Ishtar’s siblings, particularly the Archdemons of Wrath, Envy and Pride.

    Ishtar puts enormous importance on aesthetics and beauty, in particular sexual appeal. Ugliness is considered one of the two primary evils of Ishtari belief, along with prudery, and all of her faithful should aspire towards beauty both of themselves and their surroundings. What defines beauty in Ishtari faith is hotly debated, with numerous schools of thought endlessly arguing over the finer points, however Ishtar herself tends to favour the highly sexualized and physical, with an emphasis on hyper-masculine males and hyper-feminine females, and detests androgyny and small sexual organs as ugly. Ishtar does accept that beauty can be gained, so while it is sinful to be ugly, it is possible to be rewarded with boons granting greater beauty in exchange for sufficient pursuit of beauty, beautification, success in other values of Ishtar, or even intense enough desire. Even the hideous can be saved.

    Intense desire for, passion in, and practice of carnal pleasure is desirable in Ishtar’s faith. While an overwhelming pursuit of hedonism and happiness in life is more closely associated with Gaumat of Gluttony, Ishtar is quite close to her unwieldy brother and also promotes more general hedonism outside of carnality. That said, Ishtar will forsake those who pursue hedonism to the point of forsaking beauty or desire altogether. Ishtar does not believe in the concept of “marriage” except within the understanding of the Harem. Ishtar accepts intimate acts before marriage and does not recognize betrothal exclusivity. She does recognise Harem exclusivity to an extent, but only out of pragmatism, not morality. Intimate relations outside of marriage or the Harem is acceptable for the Harem owner. Prudishness is considered the second great evil of Ishtari faith. Excessive clothing is deemed offensive, and celibacy is seen as a great moral failing. Chastity is accepted only as a matter of power and pragmatism rather than morals. Ishtar herself often commits many adulterous affairs and births bastards, however anyone who cheats on her is doomed to a most painful fate.

    Despite the circumstances of her birth and the views of the now deceased Demon God Sarut, Ishtar rejects rape. The act of rape is in essence considered an act of dishonour and an aberration born of the failure of lust to manifest properly, as only an ugly and weak creature could resort to it for being unable to seduce another into willingly accepting an advance. Aggressive attempts at seduction, catcalling, and manipulativeness in the service of said seduction, are accepted to various degrees. While slavery is legal in the Demon Empire, sexual slavery is illegal as it is considered inherently rape, so while chattel slaves may be sent to the mines, them being found in the bedroom can lead to severe consequences. All lesser Harem members as such must be free members of society, and are permitted to leave the harem at any time, though in practice this may result in honour duels or loss of reputation.

    Ishtari-influenced cultures tend to be great users of contraception, such as through the “demon herb” Silphium. This herb is greatly prized in the Empire, with the heart shape of its seed pod stamped upon their coinage. Fascinatingly, Ishtar herself is actually opposed to the use of contraception, as preventing the conception and birth of children is an aberration against her command to be fruitful and refuses to use it herself. Despite this, she has not outright forbidden it due to the overwhelmingly pragmatic uses it provides for her worshippers, including the Sacred Courtesans of Ishtar, who while are required to have at least one child to achieve senior rank, often make use of Silphium in the process of their career, as the process of bearing and raising children is quite inconvenient in such a position.

    Ishtar is highly intolerant of couples of the same sex, regardless of gender. These relationships are considered an aberration and failure of the manifestation of lust, and is considered a dishonour comparable to rape. In the Demon Empire, being caught in an intimate relationship with a member of the same sex can result in genital mutilation, with male Demons forced to become Eunuchs as punishment, although generally only those who willingly turn themselves in are provided positions as powerful palace Imperial Eunuchs, due to trust and security concerns. These Imperial Eunuchs are often tasked with guarding female harems, but also fill administrative and scholarly roles in the Palace. In the Creator Pantheon kingdoms where Ishtar has been introduced, the remnants of Amoroa’s worship has left an odd divide between religion and tradition, as Ishtar condemns such unions that were heretofore traditionally accepted. As such, in Kingdoms like Astem and Tourine, such couplings are not illegal and are tolerated, however usually are considered impolite to speak of in open society. The further away from Ishtar’s influence one is, the less taboo it becomes.

    Ishtar tends to find race no obstacle and has personally interbred with many other races from Demons and Humans to Monstrines and Demihumans, and as such her following and descendants tend to be highly racially diverse. That said, her rules on beauty and physicality are maintained across races, so she is biased against those who do not conform to them, in particular Humans and Elves of the Far-Western civilizations, where Amoroa was strongest.

    Ishtar’s views on Isekais have changed over time. Long ago she used to be neutral towards them, and while it is heretical to mention now, is believed to have slept with the more masculine of them. As times went on however and the nature of the Isekai changed, Ishtar started to view Isekais as pathetic and ugly creatures, while most Isekais believed her to be evil. The Yankeevine Empire in particular views Ishtar to be an abomination. Following the War In Heaven, Ishtar is officially opposed to all Isekais, as are all the gods and archdemons. In the Yankeevine Empire, there are few to almost no Ishtar worshippers, or Demon Pantheon worshippers in general, due to the labelling of those religions as Dangerous Cults, and the absence of any demons in the Yankeevine Empire due to soul consumption being illegal across the board. Any worshippers in Isekai-ruled lands as such are hidden, illegal cults practising in secret.

    RELATIONS

    Ishtar is quite close to her brother Gaumat, the Archdemon of Gluttony. Despite his morbid obesity, they bond over their shared rabid hedonism and similar views and interests. As such, they often form alliances against their other siblings. Ishtar has a rivalry of sorts with Nephemem the Archdemon of Pride, due to Nephemem’s supposed position as leader of the Demonic Pantheon simply because she was their father’s favourite. Nephemem in turn sees Ishtar as a useless wanton who only derives any power from her appearance, and only uses it for baseless pleasure rather than any actual lofty goals. Esephy the Archdemon of Envy has a rivalry with Ishtar, which is generally one-sided on her part. Vaughst the Archdemon of Wrath may quietly resent Ishtar for joining the Creator Pantheon, as he is known for his bitter hatred of the Creator Gods and his long holding of grudges. In the Cult of Tash, a Monstrine Demigod worshipped by demon-aligned Monstrines, Demihumans and Centaurs, it is said that Ishtar, his Half-Sister, laid with him numerous times, and so some powerful Monstrine clans claim descent from both as divine bloodline.

    Ishtar tends to have little motherly connection to her many children after birthing them, with only occasional appearances and interactions with those who impress her, and sometimes divine intervention to protect those in mortal peril. Her partners simultaneously are given little thought, although she will provide them boons and support.

    Ishtar saw Amoroa as her archnemesis and the root to all ugliness and prudishness. Enin and Ishtar tend to cooperate officially, however it is believed by some that Enin holds a great deal of resentment against Ishtar for replacing her own daughter. Despite this personal animosity, they are now close allies in the war against the Isekais, and are both seen as the two “Bitch Goddesses” by them. Laaeshan, Ishtar’s mother, loves all her children, and has accepted Ishtar into the Creator Pantheon with great enthusiasm.

    Ishtar is affiliated with numerous things. The monstrous Bull of Heaven or Lamassu is considered sacred to Ishtar, and often she or her champion of the moment rides him into war. The Bicorne is also sacred to Ishtar, being once Unicorns that were corrupted, and only permit harlots to ride them. Ishtar is said to never move on her own legs, instead being transported by either a golden chariot pulled by thirty four Lamassu and Bicornes, or by a litter carried by numerous muscular men. The Silphium is her sacred flora, which despite her opposition is still heavily associated with her Sacred Courtesans and is contraception, an abortifacient, and a powerful aphrodisiac. The exotic Man-eating Watermelon of the Demonic East is her sacred fruit.

    The closer to Ishtar’s descent one is, the more exaggerated one’s physical features are on both women and men. Due to this, one can make broad guesses on the influence of Ishtar in a region simply with a glance on the average man and woman, and will find the further east they go, the more extreme this becomes.

    Sacred Courtesans are an essential component of Ishtar’s temple. In Creatorist nations where monogamy is still dominant, "Counsellors of Union" of Ishtar are actually more akin to relationship counsellors and sex therapists, typically tasked with aiding in the psychological well-being of couples, in particular aristocrats with troubled relationships, with the traditional Ishtari roles downplayed. In the Demon Empire, they are more oriented around hedonism and beautification, and are essentially holy cosmeticists, although still fulfilling the basic role of Temple Prostitution.​
     
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