Nadaelym

A nadaelym is a term used in aethery to describe an allegiance between a monar and an aetherist. Depending on the nature of the alliance, nadaelym can give an aetherist improved aethic capacity, deeper Omoshet, or even abilities that can only be accomplished by the monar. There are three categories of nadaelym; connections, bonds, and binds. Having nadaelym is not essential to successful aethery, but aetherists who align themselves with monar gain abilities and advantages they may not have been able to access on their own. To form a nadaelym, a monar will frequently require the aetherist to give them something in return; with the notable exception being connections with lesser and minor monar.

## Nadaelym Types

### Connections

Connections are short, instantaneous alliances made with a monar. They are the least intrusive for both the aetherist and the monar, and usually take very little effort for aetherists to perform. Connections with lesser and minor monar do not require a vow or an exchange, however connections with major and soul monar are more complex. While a vow may not be required, the monar will often assess the aetherist's intentions and abilities to ensure they will not act against their domain's best interests.

### Bonds

Bonds are longer-term alliances made with monar, where the chaotic monar and the physical aetherist maintain a long-term connection but remain two separate entities. These alliances are sometimes painted as 'friendships', but similar to two people, the bond may be made with ulterior motives, against the will of one of the alliance members, or because they are both pursuing the same goal. Unlike connection nadaelym, bonds require more cultivation and interaction with the monar in order to form, which takes time that is not always available to an aetherist.

With only a handful of exceptions, bonds always require the aetherist to give the monar something in return for access to their abilities. In addition, monar have restrictions for what they can agree to help the aetherist with.

* Niremonar cannot agree to a bond that will cause direct damage or harm to their domain or tether.
	+ *Ex. the monar of a certain tree could not bond with an aetherist if they were planning on cutting down that tree.*
* Solejin cannot agree to any bond where the aetherist is planning to act in conflict of their essence. There is a bit of grey area here, however; if the aetherist's intentions would ultimately create better balance in the long run. Solejin don't operate with certainties or on a linear timeline, so whether a solejin will bond with someone is very difficult to predict.
	+ *Ex. The monar of peace, Omo, could not bond with an aetherist who wanted to invade a village; they would likely bond with a defender of the village instead. The exception to this is if the village would be more peaceful long-term if it were invaded.*
* Hemmonar rarely bond due to the corruptive nature of their power. However, they hypothetically could not agree to terms that would threaten the balance of Nok and Aetha.

### Binds

Binds are the most intense form of nadaelym. This alliance is created by a monar embedding a part of itself into the aetherist's physical body to become one unified being. Once this alliance is forged, it cannot be undone without destroying the aetherist. The benefit of this extremely dangerous form of nadaelym is that it gives the aetherist a direct line to the Plane of Imethis and the ability to produce aethora directly. For the monar, it gives them access to a physical form, which opens doors for their own purposes. It is highly recommended that aetherists conduct a lot of research on the monar they wish to bind with and create a bond with the monar first. This does not always happen.

In this alliance, the monar creates a mortal aethic tether, which could leave themselves vulnerable if the tether is destroyed and there is not enough of their chaotic form left outside of the vessel. While this is *technically* possible, very few monar would put themselves in that position for a physical being. Therefore, the biggest risk is taken by the aetherist (see *Corrupted Binds* for details). If the bind takes properly, the resulting individual will have the power of the bound monar; a significantly longer lifespan than average Niradians; the ability to walk in both the physical plane and the aethic plane; and in some scenarios their physical appearance will be altered.

#### Corrupted Binds

Binds can go wrong for many reasons. Often it is a failing on the aetherist's part to be able to support a monar within their own form. On rare occasions, the monar intentionally target an aetherist to fail for their own purposes. Some binds corrupt immediately, however others begin stable and become corrupted over time. The risk of corrupted binds often dissuades most aetherists from attempting to attempt the action.

* Zshinor'kem/Jiinorek *(shjee-norra-keem / shjee-no-reck)* - If the aetherist's Omoshet is not strong enough, they risk having their soul destroyed and taken over by the monar they are aligning with. Some monar may intentionally trick aetherists into binds that destroy their soul so they get complete access to the physical form that remains.
* Oomulidaelym *(oo-mully-day-lim)* - If the aetherist's aethic capacity is not large enough, the monar entering their body will kill them entirely.

#### Compulsory vs Elected Binds

The binding process is unique to each monar. Some monar *must* bind if the proper process is followed (compulsory), others must be convinced by the aetherist (elected). Compulsory binds often grant more power to the aetherist, whereas elected binds almost always require a bargain to be struck by the aetherist.

* Niremonar binding is often compulsory for minor and lesser monar once the aetherist has performed the appropriate ritual or collected the required objects/artifacts/materials. The larger a monar's domain is, the more likely the bind will be elected.
	+ Elected bonds involve the aetherist to commit their life to aiding the monar's plans for their domain.
* Solejin binds are entirely elected. Solejin will only bind with individuals who are at aligned with the solejin's domain.
	+ Once an aetherist is bound they are committed to creating balance within the solejin's domain.
* Hemmonar do not bind with beings from the physical plane except in the instance of extreme imbalance.
	+ Their bind will always drive for balance to be reinstated.

#### Vessels

Rare circumstances involve monar electing to bind with an individual during infancy. This bind is not done at the request of any aetherist, and so no bargain must be struck. The monar simply gets to inhabit a physical form and influence its actions when convenient, like a puppet. This gives the physical being all the powers granted to aetherists in a bind, but also a sense of duality and confusion, as they are often unaware of their bind with a monar. These individuals are known as vessels, and may experience visions, nightmares, surges of aethic power, extremely volatile emotions and Omoshet, and act in contradiction to what they as individuals want to do. Vessels were extremely common in the Wild Days of The Niriad, however after the First Siege, the monar ceased to create them to allow for physical beings to exert their free will.

## Creating Nadaelym

In order to create an alliance with a monar, aetherists must understand the process of reaching out and engaging with a monar. Like most things in aethery, the process of creating an alliance with a monar is conducted internally; through thought and energy transfer instead of conversation. There are four steps to forging a nadaelym.

1. **Know about the monar's existence.** Monar are everywhere, but knowing the name or domain of the monar you wish to align with is important. An aetherist who opens themselves up to nadaelym with any monar may be unsuccessful performing their action, or at worst corrupted and/or dead. Knowing about which monar are around can be done through study and research, or by listening to the aethora to see who is around.
2. **Be near the monar's domain or tether.** Monar are bound to the part of the physical universe they embody; this is called their domain. In order to watch over their domain and maintain a passage to the physical world, they also create tethers in locations or objects called tethers. For an aetherist to forge a nadaelym, they must be nearby to the monar they wish to work with. Additionally, some monar go out of their way to be difficult to access or to bond with, and create rules and rituals surrounding the process. For example, some will only be available in specific weather or during a specific day of the year, which adds complexity to the alliance process.
3. **Reach out to the monar.** Once an aetherist knows which monar they are calling upon and are in the correct circumstances for the elemental to be reached, the aetherist must 'call' to them. This is a relatively rudimentary action to learn in aethery. It involves creating a small crack between the physical plane and the Plane of Imonar and 'calling' into it with either aethic energy and/or thoughts. Verbal speech can also be used. The monar is not always obligated to respond to the call, however most do.
4. **Ask & bargain.** Once contact is established, the aetherist has to ask for what they need the monar's help with and the monar must decide if they will. If the connection is compulsory, the monar will be forced to assist. Unlike the human concept of genies, the aetherist doesn't need to worry about being precise about their wishes and vocabulary, as this process is feeling and intention-based more than it is spoken.