Difference between revisions of "Alil"

Revision as of 19:29, 21 September 2020

History in Avendar (REWRITE IN PROGRESS)

With the collapse of alatharyan civilization and the mass extinction of the Sundering, the earliest to fill that vacuum were the forebears of the aelin. It is believed that these racial progenitors could not fly; those with vestigial feathers clung together for safety. According to legend, these settlers encountered a woman named Alil near a mountain summit. With a mixture of empathy and divine power, she is said to have granted those fortunate few their emblematic wings. Using this newfound ability, they claimed a great floating disc as their sanctuary. They named it Ilodaiya, and consecrated it to the radiant goddess of the skies. With a keen wit and a swift hand, they began to populate the Prime, staking their cities in the ruins of what came before.

She, however, as not the only deity to take note of the fledgling race. The other, Aeolis, came into their collective consciousness once they were firmly entrenched in their new home. Charismatic and articulate, he quickly moved to the forefront of aelin thought, surrounded by a well-intentioned but militant following. Yet, belief in Alil could not be easily undone; thus, early Aeolians synthesized her into their own religion. They imagined the two deities as a couple, representing a mythic ideal. Aeolis encouraged this, as it dovetailed with his aesthetic and philosophical flair. What commentary Alil may have offered has been omitted from classical histories, describing primarily her physical appearance; thus, the nature of their entanglement, if indeed there was one, is speculative at best.

The War of Fire destroyed vast swaths of aelin civilization, leaving it all but crippled despite its generations of dominance. Alil's following swelled when the goddess appeared, raining destruction upon the province of Illata and reducing the advancing srryn army to ashes. Her first devoted, the Petals of the White Lotus, seized the imperial court, which became her ad hoc shrine. As a result of this act, the servitor-god Serachel was sent to the high city, and the brief but glorious Dalae era began. The roles of women vastly expanded, and the traditional prohibitions of Aeolian culture were momentarily dismissed. However, her contributions were minimized by the new and growing following of Serachel, who cast her as a consort whose fickle approval validated their corruption. Attentive as she was to her own experience and those whom she encountered, she and hers paid them little heed.

With the imprisonment of Serachel in his Nightmare Realm at the close of the War of Night, Aeolis, long distant from the aelin, reasserted himself into their development. However, much had changed since the War of Fire; generations of loss, struggle, and transition cannot be easily undone. Framing it as kindness, he used his divine power to confine Alil to the heavens, stripping her ability to experience the mundane world. In her absence, much of what she had wrought was overshadowed or erased during the race's systematic white-washing of their role in the recently-ended horror. The Aeolian insistence that she, too, had been victimized by Serachel led his priesthood to cast her as a debased, maddened creature worthy of pity rather than worship. Predictably, her following waned.

For nearly a millennium, Alil ruminated on how to escape from divine bondage and claim a place for herself in the deific pantheon. Unlike Serachel, who used mortals to return to prominence, Alil found a way to liberate herself. Sacrificing one of her glorious wings, she cracked the fabric of reality, causing the clouds above Ilodaiya to rain bloody feathers upon it and the mountains below. She appeared anew, her lost appendage replaced by undying flames, and her voice shook the floating city as she proclaimed her freedom. She has become the third of the aelin deific triad, offering a new direction for the aelin soul-- one free of limitation and conformity, and founded on empathy and experience rather than ancient dogma.

Goals and Methods (OLD, IGNORE)

Given the mercurial nature of Alil, defining Her goals is simultaneously as simple as to seek endless new sensations and as complex as unraveling the deepest possible depths of the internal world. Alil craves new pleasures and pains, with each growing desire a maw in which to feed Her past selves. She seeks, through both Her own actions and those of Her following, to strike at the heart of the mortal experience. Having indulged so greatly, She has long lost personally feeling "newness", and thus delights most heavily in followers and their "first times" in experiencing delicious, forgotten thrills. Although ostensibly female, Alil lives vicariously through her following, both male and female, to voraciously claim all facets of both genders. As a result, it is not uncommon to hear Alil depicted or described as a male aggressor.

Although Alil indulges in and consumes the experiences of all races, Her strongest affinity remains for the aelin, in whom her own self-destructive pride is rooted. The further they are alienated from Her, the more desirous She grows of their affection and adoration. As a result, the rare aelin followers of Alil tend to feel the strongest thrust of Her influence, Her madness suffusing them as strongly as the pleasures they together seek. Ideally, Alil would seek to one day return to the flesh, somehow bypassing the Compact and other divine restraints on Her insatiable appetites. Until that time, She covets and subsists on the lusts of mortalkind, ever hungering for Her triumphant and debauched return.

Organizations and Followings (OLD, IGNORE)

Despite Alil's fickle whims, followings have risen and loosely organized in Her name. Those who seek the Lotus are as diverse as the experiences She so relishes, but the largest of her factions are as follows:

The Children of Indulgence

"One for her, three for me."

The most typical followers of Alil, Children of Indulgence tend to be self-interested, impulsive, and petty. Excess is not an ideal, but a way of life to these apparent degenerates; they seek out and consume new addictions as fervently as an evangelist recites prayers. They give little thought to property destruction, revelry or casual seduction, but these acts are not concerned with gains or losses from such encounters. Children of Indulgence are often discounted as hopelessly debauched and societal outcasts, but this in no way hampers their ability to cause trouble and wreak havoc. Humans are the most likely to be of this faction, although races who trend toward chaotic ethoi are not uncommon.

The Sensates of the Lotus

"Challenges come and go; my experiences are immortal."

Seeking the limits of both body and mind, the Sensates of the Lotus make up a curious portion of Alil's devoted. Like their brethren, they seek to experience all things, but reject senseless excess. They instead press their physical and mental strength to its limits, usually in performing suicidal tasks or seeking new depths of feeling or insight. Daredevils are frequently amongst the Sensates, but scholarly sorts find acceptance there as well (such as a barfly dispassionately writing the precise effects and potency of every sort of alcohol in the known world). Psionicists who seek perfection of their own bodies and to battle the internal ravages of excess are possibly the most stereotypical of the Sensates.

Alia's Steadfast

"Death to the impostor! Fair Alia lives!"

Possibly the most marginalized of Alil's ilk are Alia's Steadfast, who reject the shameless self-indulgence apparent throughout the faith. Largely predicated on the purity of Alia, the Steadfast claim that Alil is actually an usurper that has captured or imprisoned a defenseless Alia. As a result, they seek to restore the name of Alia and separate it from the horrifying excesses of Alil. The Steadfast are almost militant to a fault, largely reflecting the aelin desire to reclaim the essence of their ancient goddess and reset the hands of time. Those who take Alia's name in vain, or associate Her with Her transformation, are dealt with viciously and with remarkable prejudice. Many would argue this belief is predicated on a historical error, but some facet of Alia empowers them and their self-loathing purge of Alil's faithful.

Individual Followers (OLD, IGNORE)

Typical followers of Alil have complete eschewed anything that resembles a common morality, exulting in the basest of lusts without hesitation or compunction. This self-centered outlook does not necessarily require manipulation or greed, but they tend to come in handy to those seeking to live as if their lives end tomorrow. Her devoted tend to choose their own path in life and traditionally reject authority, but particularly the moralizing of evangelists. Their clashes with the law tend to center largely around outrageous behavior, but those trifles are as quickly passed as a morning hangover. Given Alil's capricious nature, this is not without exception, especially in the case of Alia's Steadfast, who embrace all of what Alil is almost certainly not.

Alil is commonly and casually worshipped as the goddess of revelry. This is most apparent on feast days, when some of Her following organize and oversee large, localized celebrations. Raising a glass to the Mad Angel is hardly frowned upon, even by non-followers, to lower inhibitions along with the copious alcohol that will no doubt be consumed. Even the proud aelin offer a toast to their fallen goddess, although perhaps more soberly than those of lower birth.

Those who find favor with the whims of Alil are marked with a red lotus.

Relationships (OLD, IGNORE)

The gods of the Light largely look upon Alil with pity or scorn, as Her spiral into madness is as much derived from Her own lack of self-control as the prompting of Serachel. Contrarily, the gods of darkness largely view Alil as both a pawn and liability, as her ephemeral whims often sabotage their designs as much as assist them. Lawful gods are largely indifferent to the disruptions of Alil; they rarely manifest in the dangerous ways of other chaotic deities, who gleefully watch the spectacle of Her actions.

Aeolis, in particular, has a strong interest in restoring Alil to Her former self. As the father of the aelin race, He longs for the return of His divine lover and muse and the cleansing of Her tarnished name. Conversely, Serachel seeks to complete the corruption of Alil and to claim Her as His prize. She, in turn, might become as He is, and usher a new era of the aelin race as at His side.

Shrines, Sigils, and Mobs

Rooms

An Empty Closet (vnum 6357)

Sigils

Tier 1 - a red lotus (vnum 1282)

• AC 0/4/4/0
• Saves -4
• Wisdom -3
• Charisma +3
• Verb prog p: invoke lotus - Activates trigger prog below
• Speech prog p: I seek a new experience - Toggles the sex of the sigil-bearer at any time. Fails if affected by the change sex spell.
• Fight prog 2: Frenzy (level 60)
• Trigger prog 100: Save check, Influence of the Lotus (Moonray)

Mobs

Vakara (vnum 13653) - Wanderers character

Luthelle (vnum 7096) - Priestess, fire templar, drunk

Ilaene (vnum xxxx) - Aeolian-hunter and whip lover

Eshrin Linphori (vnum 12249) - (Former) ancient Alil follower

God Mark

You notice a fiery crimson gleam in [his|her] eyes.

Wisdom score equals (Charisma - 1)

Notes, Logs, and Other Documents

Alil encourages all experiences, but many (if not most) players will equate this to sex or just ridiculously over the top behavior. This is at times a really fine line as to what is acceptable and what isn't; we don't want to suppress people from attempting to roleplay lust because it's such a big thing, but we need to be mindful of when it's getting out of hand. Because of this, if you're going to be overseeing Alil applicants, you need to expect that you are going to probably be watching sex or other uncomfortable scenarios. If you aren't okay with doing that, pass it off to another immortal who is.

If you think something is really getting out of hand though (namely, if it is a violation of rule 11), try to find a way to warn the player or players. Watching a trainwreck helplessly is not going to help anyone, and players often get very upset if they are punished later on when they were able to go on uninterrupted. When it does go too far, and continues to do so even after a warning, it's probably time for the character to be unceremoniously denied.

Helps

None

Lore

None

Logs

None