Eadei

"All shall pay a price."

## *Beginnings*

### Early Life

Born to a competent and successful merchant family, **De'Vyr**, the man had a leisure childhood with similar benefits. His father, Artemis, was a merchant lord on the council of Vashar while his mother, Dedra, tended to local mercantilism and trade relations. Most days of his youth, he was taught fundamental practices of the arcane and put through similiar training as those in Cetra's nobility.

The De'Vyr family had a network of powerful contacts through Hadvik and the outlying territory, doing business primarily with reputable metalsmiths and carpenters, and remained well known through the deserts as perhaps the most prominent trade company for its time; rich, well-connected, and strategically positioned in the heart of heavily traveled commerce routes.

When old enough to proceed into higher education, the young man was put through exclusive tutelage from educated planetologists and skilled wizards. The courses carried on until young adulthood, learning the histories of Gaia, utilization of the arcane arts in the modern age, and became well-versed in analytics of mercantilism hoping to one day assist with his family's prosperity.

### The Fall of Vashar

Many battles in the western continent had erupted, leading to the First Arcane war where Azra, Ifrit's Aspect and his followers waged war against Cetra. During this, the territory surrounding the capital City-State were war-torn and the Vashari maintained a business-only and neutral standing for its duration.

During the Second Arcane War, when Empyrean sought to instill dominion over the western continent after Azra's destruction; representatives of the Congregation went to Hadvik, meeting with local leaders, and were sent back to their superiors with a refusal insisting that Vashari territory had always been neutral, self-governed and a peaceful commerce hub.

The retaliation was thorough and instantaneous; *the Mageguard*, elite battle-mages loyal to the Congregation sacked Hadvik, ripping through infrastructure and killing most people residing in the city-state. At this time, Eadei had been traveling with friends and advisors to learn the network of mercantilism through Vashar, having returned home to find ruin...

### The Grand Betrayal

In response to the destruction of Hadvik, remnants of the Vashari infiltrated the Congregation by serving for several years in Val Castrum, the arcane academy, and studied various concepts of magic while slowly building upon their endgame. Several of them excelled in their courses and became trusted 'professor's aides'.

After several years, they created an anti-arcane barrier around the fortress and slaughtered many magically adept who could not defend themselves. Trained in combative forms, the small group led by Eadei and Oros almost succeeded in seizing control of the Congregation's most powerful asset.

Before they could reach the final chambers containing the Echelon, the highest-ranking wizards within the Congregation and known to be the 'political branch' of the Academy, the Cetran king Askavald intervened and with the assistance of Lachesis of Moirai and Haskar, Aspect of Alexander and Cetran guardian, subdued the Vashari combatants.

### Banishment

For punishment of his crimes against Empyrean, Eadei and those who followed him were banished into the Beyond; an extra-dimensional spectrum between biomes, planes of existence, where astral fiends sap life from ether and deadly cosmic wyrms can rip through time and space to devour their prey. Treacherous gaps in reality could send an unprepared being into the abyss, outside of reality's reach.

The agonizing sounds from the displaced humans echoed louder through the unnatural silence, each indicative of another falling to the otherworldly elements that existed outside mortal comprehension. Even as arcane studied individuals, they were ill-prepared for the unnatural terrain and supernatural horrors that awaited every passing corner. What seemed like years could have been days, the concepts of time lost when fissures of histories and futures entwine like multi-threaded webs across the cosmos of life and multi-dimensions.

Within the first day of existing within the Beyond, several of the Vashari were eaten by the fiends or fell through into alternate timelines -- they ceased then, and in another time within the chaotic cosmos, began. Lucky enough to stabilize on floating debris between the dimensions and avoid the gaze of predatory beings that roamed the continuum, Eadei and three of banished found shelter in strange crystalline caverns that hummed with vibrant energies unlike any force they'd seen before.

## The Astralweave

### A Clash Beyond

Soon after their arrival, the small group encountered denizens of the astral verse and were forced to fight within the field of extra-dimensional debris, using floating rock and crystalline fragments within the scape.

After a gruesome struggle, they managed to overcome the powerful astral predators and began studying the remnants, finding that the fallen essence of fiends naturally absorbs into the nearest conduit when interrupted. In the process, their energies absorbed the remnants of void from the dwellers which empowered their connections with the arcane. Their attunement to the domain improved, but otherworldly ether would inevitably drive them insane if unprotected.

A strange cloaked figured appeared to them as an ethereal visage, insisting there was a way to endure the chaotic ether... but, wanted something in return for the information. This entity, named *Dekaevel*, was unlike the rest and offered to aid them if they helped him to escape the verse. Reluctantly, on the demand of Ophelia, the exiled Vashari agreed to help him. Eadei, separate from his three comrades, decided not to accept and chose to figure a way on his own.

### Essence of the Walker

During a skirmish another against astral fiends, Eadei was seconds away from death with no aid from Dekaevel when he tapped into his internal essence and flung himself through to the nexus sphere, a focal point between the planes. As he tapped into the confluence, the Vashari spun through cosmic terrain and stood upon grounds that no mortal ventured before. Amused and impressed by this, Uriel intervened and crafted a unique bargain with the wayfarer:

> For one thousand years as a Navigator, I will dismiss you now.
>
> Uriel, to Eadei

The ability to tap into existing points of transportation was rare and even more rare, still, were the ***Magus*** - a type of planetary shepherd, spoken about in histories as **"They Who Guide the Cosmos."** in association to drifting among the various planes and leading stray entities through perilous in-between. Told to understand true mysteries of Gaia, tales of cosmic wanderers dwindled from the modern age as information was moderated.

Along with this rare gift, it is expected that the bearer 'serve their time' as a navigational beacon for all forms of life in existence. Having come to understand the base foundations of the cosmos, Eadei agreed to cater the design and accepted Uriel's offer. Upon accepting, the Magus was born anew with essence aligned to command the aether between time and dimension.

### Leylines

Unlocking the nexus within Gaia was an experience unlike anything he experienced before, sifting through endless memories of the planet and the universe, seeing timelines of probability both past and present, and a clear scope of precise measurement within the cosmos. In some sects, what he experienced would be considered 'enlightenment', yet it was far more refining than simple understanding. The true potential of a being was unlocked only after they were unraveled, and the being that once was Eadei ceased humanity.

Once he stood within the transdimensional hub, the Magus spun new threads and opened gateways for his allies to step through. They departed the astral verse and returned to prime, although not alone. Dekaevel, having struck bargains with the other Vashari, was allowed through and revealed his true intentions; he was an archaeon, seeking to acquire an ancient relic displaced in time by Askavald of Cetra. Reluctant to trust the entity, Eadei agreed to assist with locating it but not its activation.

The arch daemon insisted incredible reserves were needed to remove the displacement magic, so he urged an assault on the location which none among them would hold disfavor toward attacking; Viseau.