Neries

Neries are mana nullifying, human derivatives touched by the demigod known as the Dreamer. They can be recognized by their skin, usually grey though it ranges from pure white to pitch black, and the occasional presence of horns.

Whereas the Oscuri are the counterparts of war and bloodlust, Neries are the stalwart paladins and philosophical aesthetes charged with keeping the bureaucracy of Valmasia running, and to try to retain it's moral turpitude. upholding the values of their goddess through guardianship, craft, thought, and comfort.

Whatever may exist. It is to this lofty standard a Neries shoulders the reponsibility of, simply by being born into the Grey Church.

## Physical Attributes

The majority of Neries are silver-skinned, ranging from dark, to light grey. All possess blood looking akin to quicksilver. Horns are natural to them, and those who find them inconvenient might file them down to a more managable size, or away altogether. Their individual shapes tend to vary highly between individuals, their natural curls and twists unique as fingerprints.

All Neries possess a small, nacreous pearl somewhere near to their liver, deep within their bodies. This is the physical recepticle of their mana draining powers, and removing it severs their tie with their goddess until restored. It cannot be safely removed without killing the Neries, outside of surgical proceedures. A rare few, however, are born with the pearl embedded in their forehead, like those of yore: Throwbacks to past generations.

While Neries have long interbred with humanity after 300 years, there are common traits to be found amidst the purer strains of Neries.

Without outside heritage, their colors are almost oppressively desaturated; Almost always possessing black hair, and grey, yellow, or brown eyes. Their height ranges, though those most close to their origins of Nerebian ancestry tend to be taller on average than the average citizen of New Alteros or Nostvale by an inch or three.

## Magical Attributes

Neries are able to dampen the mana around them almost innately, and many of them have the power to break hostile enchantments off themselves and wear down the essence of nearby magi- Or to stun them with a forcible, explosive purge. Their leylines are thin and shallow, incapable of holding onto as much mana as a normal human as a result of this. As they gain in power, this nullification turns into a synesthetic absorption.

Neries are capable of siphoning the mana from living organisms, ranging from plants, animals, humans, and of course the stars. Every Neries tastes mana differently, and every person has a different taste. While they are no scent hounds that could track someone down based on the smallest foes, they are likely to remember any magi they meet in combat when they clash once more. Using this power passes along a fraction to their patron, though those upon Agartha are unable to commune as those on the mainland do; The distance too great.

Their goddess holds this connection, and rather than by a star for most Neries, their cosmic power is drawn from the Dreamer, and the mass of devoted souls that sleeps with her, enjoying respite before reincarnation.

They possess, still, a link to their goddess that flows through them. At home, they are able to commune with her in their prayers and dreams. As of yet, Agarthan Neries have not yet managed to re-established contact beyond the woeful inadequacy of the written word.

## History

Neries history before the Sundering is spotty, though historians pieced together the records from what remained, and stories passed down by mouth by families whose ancestors were intact enough in the aftermath to remember the oldest of stories. Compounded by writings from Valmasia's own investigations and forays into the rubble of the Dead Isle, some semblance of cohesion remains.

A corrupted nature spirit from the ancient aftermath of the plague in early 400 AC, spanning the size of an island, once trapped adventurers and inhabitants within herself when her realm was once known as Talvador prior to it's corruption. Known as Nerebia thereafter, she took her captives, and breaking them down and rendering them into little more than husks and puppets, used them as an occultist would use demonic thralls. Sending her creations to plunder and seize mass to absorb into herself.

As her creations procreated and expanded, her control over them lessened, but her usage of them was unchanged. Feeding them a story different from the truth of creation, the spirit shrouded her people in lies, control, and smog. Calling herself the Dreamer, she took from them their worship.

Eventually, Nerebia grew glutted off of it's conquests, swelling to become almost the size of Rancet old sources say from charts. Other modern scholars scoff at the idea that the Dead Isle off in the central gulf of Valmasia could have ever been the size of a continent.

Entering into historical conflicts with Vanirheim, their people were by nature forced to rely on artifice and innovation due to the properties of so much mana dampening, and the natural, lifeless corruption of the spirit they resided on. Raiders clad in destructive metals such as tyrium and nyeshk, turned more foul, pulsating and twisted from the depths of Nerebia, were infamous with their wardens and seekers. They were known for making forays into other continents to claim swaths of land, purging it of it's natives... Then, proactively summoning their spirit to crack off and absorb a part of their coastline.

Neries were often 'guided' to brave the barriers in search of weak but rich continents to plunder. The first Neries recorded on Valmasia was Zosha, a youthful Pursuer who would later become the Champion of Valmasia, in the year 936. She traveled the land, seeking out the answers for her faith and to spread it. She found something... A bit different than she expected.

Approaching the malformed, ancient, and rotting witch of Alteros in her most monstrous form, she mistook the creature for a scion of her goddess. Pledging her soul unto the abomination, Zosha gave over her time and memories, both in words and visions, of what she believed, and of her home. It sparked in the entity a plan to fulfill the Neries' desires- And with a century of time to take, it could see it through to fruition.

The abomination's puppet, with the aid of Nostvale's forces and the blessing of the Lich King, set bait through the spirit realm, attempting to attack the Dreamer- Only to awed by it's strength and power. They sorely underestimated it's breadth, and Nerebia had found it's next target.

Baited to Valmasia, the living land was struck by forces she was unprepared for. A land of magical upheaval, people were prepared for her assaults, and the land of powerful warriors and wizards alike struck her down in a brutal, bloody, and long assault. Unwilling to die alone, she ordered her people to take their lives alongside her, a psionic order to leave them as little as possible. Her heart was ripped from the center of her mass, and her soul passed on at last- Released from the agony and madness that had plagued her for years.

The Neries survived, in small handfuls.

They found themselves welcomed. Their souls would be given a realm of dreams to rest within before passing on, to settle themselves in the now before moving onto the stars. A new Dreamer rose to take the place of the old, and with it, everything changed. They asked her what she wanted, in exchange for this new life. She responded with four simple tenets.

1. Pursue progress. Do not permit others to chain advancements, and pursue new avenues for man to succeed.
2. Pursue truth. Understand others, and learn their views; act with humility.
3. Pursue stability. Work to establish unity amongst man, and offer aid to those in need.
4. Temper progress with mercy, truth with wisdom, and stability with justice. Do not compromise your morals for short term gain.

So founded was the Grey Church. Under the leadership of Aamon, one of the strongest Neries to survive Nerebia's fall, he originally founded it as the humble church of insight. When Regent Bast of Nostvale stepped down following his inimical injury, Aamon took over as a direct ruler on behalf of the leviathan of the Alliance, and so forth did the church hold sway over the direction of Nostvale as a whole.

Industrious and zealous, welcomed by a new goddess in a baptismal of betray and revival, the most egregious damage to the Neries was healed as best it could be, and they were given a new role in the world. Now native to Nostvale than anywhere else, the Dead Isle remains afloat off the coast of the Sarab's Isthmus, a cracked, barren, nigh manaless wasteland that saps at the will to live of any who enter it- Though the buried remnants of what was once the Neries' remain there, excavated with careful forays.

Their goddess has been an active, if indolent for years on end, force amongst them. She communes with the most powerful of the Neries within their dreams, and the most attuned were guarenteed in the homeland to speak with her within their lives at least once. Rarely does she rule directly, rather than to provide the guiding touch and direction.

But she has been there, as the triumvirate is.

## Modern Valmasia

Neries in the modern day form a crucial part in the everyday bureaucracy of Central Valmasia. They act as the counterbalance to the headstrong, battlethirsty warriors of Azrael. The majority enter the service of the Nostvale's governance, as it is run by the Grey Church itself, the theocratic heart of the city that keeps it's work flowing as assuredly as the many canals keep water flowing beneath all the bridges.

This is often either in the form of taking the role of police; As the Wardens, the Grey Guard, or the Inquisition. Some pursue judicial roles- Becoming barristers, magistrates to keep Nostvale guarded against corruption within in a different fashion. Those who join the administratum writ large are half priest, half beaurocrat, with an extra half of diplomat they must fit in there as they ensure paperwork goes to it's proper place, and that Nostvale's people are fed and uncheated.

Some of them choose to pursue the arts, designing new contraptions or simply painting lovely vistas from their own interpretations of the creed and personal desires. Some become gunsmiths with ancient molds passed down from Nerebian times and work on steam contraptions and devices for the magicall inept, and others even tend to more base drudgery to avoid the responsibility and weight that is the Church. Neries are encouraged to the pursuit of happiness.

But there remains an unspoken weight on their shoulders: Whatever you do, do it well. There is a particular streak of perfectionism amongst Neries, with their natural zeal.

Once kept to themselves, Nerebian culture encouraged a lack of last names and a communal belonging with those favored by caste rather than direct lineage. They had singular names that tended towards the strange, and odd, akin to demons to differentiate one another where last names were lacked for.

However, in the modern day, Neries often pull their names from amidst the many Brittianian lineages; Most have ordinary Nostvalian surnames by this point, though some have more exotic last names having married while lacking a family name to a Vanirheim, Sarradian, or even rarely Rancettian or Felaran individual. Their names tend to vary widely, as a result. At the end of the day, they share it with their human siblings.

## On Agartha

Neries upon Agartha were sent under the discretion of the newly appointed Cardinal of the Administratum, Tarquin Brubeck, and ranks and roles thereof are organized under his discretion. With the main Bulwark acting as both police and army within the colonies.Neries have so far managed the internal issues of the colony and assisted in seeking out the conversion of those gone stray from the lands of their forebearers.

What will come of their actions will come.