Exades

**Exades** is an ancient being, an original creation of Aion and the dictator of the Atarian civilization during the time of the Third Trilogy and the Last War. He is a being from the beginnings of the universe, the first one to be corrupted by Ruin during the Lightning War and the instigator of many of the struggles of the war. Originally a native of the Remnant Planet, he was forcibly descended by the Aion'ari'yon before their evolution into the El'yon race.

He is known also by his self-proclaimed titles of *Charon* or Death.

At right is the motif of Exades, a symbol that he will use all of his days: the dragon-headed serpent twisted into an infinity symbol with a dark halo.

## History

### Early Life

Exades was one of the many races of humans co-created by the First Empire and the Shaeloah. During this time, life in the universe was sparse and grew geometrically rather than logarithmically. Each being was created by hand, as humans yet possessed no reproductive ability of their own. He was placed during the age of the First Empire on the Remnant Planet that would be found many eons later as a shadow of it's former self during the Third Trilogy by explorers from the Second Dominion.

It is unknown how long he, or any of the pre-Lightning War beings, lived. With the completion of the Ascension Gate on Rabah, Cosmogenesis began. The being that would become A'yon, under the guise of celebration and doing the will of the Shaeloah, traveled across the Universe and began a secret combination, whispering in the ears of other beings.

### Fall

**Exades** was the first to fall, the first to listen to the lies of A'yon. He grew to believe, like A'yon, that it was not fair for the Aion'ari'yon on Rabah to be the rulers of the Universe when every being was hand created by the Shaeloah just as they were. There on the Remnant Planet, A'yon spoke to him a twisted version of the great Plan of Aion: that humans might reproduce themselves and become gods, just as the Shaeloah, and the other beings of the Universe were to be these people's servants. He, like A'yon, refused to be "a slave of lesser beings" and at that moment swore fealty to A'yon, believing that A'yon had discovered a great secret that only he possessed which could grant immortality and godhood.

He went about as A'yon's agent, a true believer, spreading that all who would come to A'yon could achieve godhood and be even as the Shaeloah. He planted seeds of jealousy and desire in beings who previously had none, and corrupted their pure souls.

### Lightning War

Exades helped A'yon construct the Black Gate in the belief that it's power would grant immortality and godhood to all, freely. Exades was devastated when he discovered that the Black Gate on the world of Nar'ghul was designed only to increase A'yon's own power, and he realized he had been deceived and betrayed.

Exades begged forgiveness from the Council after the Lightning War, and seeing that he was truly deceived, they allowed him to go free. He was not bound to Outer Darkness as were the A'yon.

### First Trilogy Era

During the Twilight Age, he styles himself in Sol System as Xul, a Solarian Warlord of the warband Soldiers of Charon. This warband has a semireligious tone, his followers regarding him as the incarnation of Death itself.

### Second Trilogy Era

Sometime during the STE, he finds his way aboard one of the colonization craft leaving Earth and eventually reaches Hiteria. He used his many abilities to convince the people that he was a powerful being and thus formed a secret combination that overtook Hiteria once the planet was colonized.

### Third Trilogy Era

Beginning in Andromeda, Exades appears as the dictator of the Hiterian civilization.

## Personality and Abilities

Exades has no physical form. This is a result of his forced descension. Rather, he projects the illusion that he has a body. If he were to be touched, there would be no tangible substance to hold on to. His projected form may take a variety of appearances, varying in age, characteristics, and gender to suit his purposes. He has a variety of personas he displays throughout the ages. Under A'yai, Exades was subservient and fiercely loyal. As strong as was his loyalty became his malice after the A'yon were banished to Outer Darkness.

He exists more in the Empyrean than the Empirical Verse. It his is force of will that keeps the veil thin around his presence, continually allowing himself to project into the physical world.

He regards both mercy and compassion as fundamentally weak. He values force of will more than anything, and is a true believer in his own divinity.

The continual maintenance of his apparent presence in the Empirical Verse is taxing; similar to a human, he requires periods of undisturbed rest. The longer he goes without rest, the weaker his will becomes and the less control he has over his own apparent form.

He can project multiple apparitions of himself, with each additional one requiring additional concentration in an exponential manner. He does not reveal this ability to his Soldiers of Charon during the First Trilogy, however. He does, however, make use of the ability during the Third Trilogy.