Kaasma Phar

Art of Atropal Scion (5e)

**Kaasma Phar** is one of the triplets born of the dead god Kaasma. During the Jupiter Incident, Kaasma created three offspring to uphold its divine retribution against its enemies, the Aurorans and the Astari. The Dead God's thirdborn, Kaasma Phar, was commanded to oversee the punishment of the Aurorans, whereby they would be rendered barren and their species condemned to extinction. To this end, Kaasma Phar was forcibly rend from its parent and casted into the depths of Dead Space, the inhospitable expanse beyond the Jovian System, for purposes yet unknown. A memory of Lagos, The Emissary of the End, promised Kaasma Phar would one day return to Io.

## Description

### Appearance

Kaasma Phar takes the form of a gargantuan malformed fetus with pale yellowed ulcerous skin and prominent veins. The right half of its elliptical head is missing, revealing the tangle entrails and organs within. Its right arm is small and withered compared to its better developed left arm, which is bent at odd angles with a set of claw-like fingers on its hand. Its legs appear to be highly underdeveloped to the point that one would be forgiven for not recognizing them as such. A grey organ resembling an umbilical cord travels from its stomach into its gaping mouth. A wide bloodshot red eye watches from its head, from which it observes and judges all around it.

### Personality

Kaasma Phar's personality is not entirely known at this time. It can be inferred, due to the nature of its siblings Kaasma Khara and Kaasma Thara, that it possesses atavistic traits not unlike those of a human infant. Its primary concerns for itself are likely sustenance and sleep and it will angrily cry if it is denied of either.

However, the child of a god is no ordinary one, and Kaamsa Phar demonstrates an unsettling degree of intelligence. It manifested the Eye of Creation to observe the battle between Count Corbett Aleister and his former guests out of seeming curiosity. It would also frequently judge each combatant in respect of a yet unknown trait, which would determine if it would help or hinder the target through the control of breathable air. Such behaviors implies a sinister sense of awareness, either in pitching the two enemies against each other for its own amusement or actively assessing them for some imperceptible quality it valued. It also shows a degree of patience that its siblings lacked, taking a somewhat neutral role in the conflict and not directly involving itself for whatever reason.

## History

### Birth

Kaasma Phar was born of the Dead God Kaasma in the wake of the Jupiter Incident, some 500 years before the Repopulation of Io. Long before the war between the Aurorans and the Astari, Kaasma was sealed away in the gas giant Jupiter by the ancestors of the Astari, earning their eternal enmity. Kaasma's imprisonment, however, was eventually ended when the Dead God reached out to an Astari clone by the name of Lagos, who served in the Auroran Navy. Kaasma informed Lagos of his true nature as a clone and how the Auroran Federation was using them as a weapon against the Astari. Outraged by this revelation, Lagos swore vengeance on both his creators and his original self's people. Travelling to Jupiter, Lagos followed Kaasma's instructions and unleashed the Dead God from their prison in a catastrophic event that caused Jupiter to ignite as a new star and lay waste to the Auroran Fleet and the planet of Io both.

Following their calamitous release, Kaasma wasted no time in enacting their judgement upon both parties and proclaimed three Divine Decrees to be upheld for eternity. The first Decree was that the Astari would have their bodies cast into the nascent Astral Veil to exist as husks of their former selves. The second Decree concerned the Astari's souls, which were to be trapped in a newly formed Veil known as the Shadow where they would be forever tormented. The third and final Decree was directed at the Auroran interlopers, dictating that they would be forever barren so that their kind would die out and never stain the universe with their presence again. To ensure these Decrees would be maintained, Kaasma thus gave birth to a set of divine triplets to carry out their will: Kaasma Khara, Kaasma Thara and Kaasma Phar. Kaasma Phar was the thirdborn of this trio, and theirs was the responsibility of upholding the third Decree. With the birth of their offspring and the completion of their revenge, Kaasma became dormant and their decapitated corpse languished in orbit around Io for centuries to come.

### In the Depths of Dead Space

Shortly after its birth, Kaasma Phar was separated from its parent and kin. While its siblings were sent to different Veils of existence, Phar remained in the Prime Plane where the remnants of the Aurorans tried to regroup and cut their losses. However, for reasons yet unknown, Kaasma Phar drifted away from Io and the Jovian system, finding itself in the depths of Dead Space. Fittingly named, this mysterious expanse was inhospitable, uncharted and home to unnatural horrors, making traversal impossible by conventional means. Now lost within this realm, Kaasma Phara seemingly wandered for centuries with no clear purpose. Whatever actions it took or encounters it endured during its journey are currently unknown.

## Phase 2 Story

### Memory of Vengeance

> *And then Kaasma's third son was cast away to a space beyond, simply known as the Dead Space. Even though Kaasma Phar is drifting away in a space unknown, Kaasma Phar will return to Io.*
>
>

> - Lagos, Emissary of the End
>
>

Approximately 1000 years after the Jupiter Incident, Lagos, the Emissary of the End, arrived at a prosperous but oppressive city in the Nova Hellscape known as the City of the Horn. He approached its Minotaur leaders to offer them the power of the Black Star, a cosmic phenomena he had discovered, with the intent of manipulating their power-hungry nature for his own ends. While the Grand Seer was successfully tempted, another Minotaur seer named Ewah was suspicious of the Azure Astari for undermining their traditions. A skilled manipulator of dreams, Ewah managed to steal a Memory from the Emissary to uncover his true purpose. The seer then stored the Memory deep within his Dreamscape, a mental labyrinth that could be only be reached by a specific ritual.

However, Ewah ran afoul of a tribe of wandering nomads who manipulated him in turn. Discovering a book containing the ritual, the tribe entered into the Dreamscape and found their way into the stolen Memory. A manifestation of the Emissary appeared before them, reenacting the events leading up to the Jupiter Incident and Kaasma Phar's birth. The Memory of Lagos engaged them in combat, during which it summoned the projections of Kaasma and its offspring to aid him. Kaasma Phar was summoned third, with the Memory of Lagos retelling the tale of its creation and divine purpose. By invoking Kaasma Phar in this manner, the Memory was able to manifest pockets of Dead Space, ripping open reality to destroy its foes. However, the tribe triumphed over the Memory of Lagos and the image of Kaasma Phar faded away with it.

## Etymology

"Kaasma" appears to be an original name created for the World of Io setting. It is possibly is a corruption of the word "cosmic". which describes anything relating to the universe or cosmos, especially as distinct from the earth.

"Phar" appears to be an original name created for the Ioverse. It possibly relates to the English word "far", which describes something that is a great distance away or remote. The word "far" can also be used in the comparative sense to describe something extreme in terms of quality or nature. Alternatively, "Phar" may have roots in the Latin word "*pharus*", which translates to "lighthouse" and is derived from the island of Pharos where the Lighthouse of Alexandria once stood.

## Trivia

* Kaasma Phar was first mentioned in the finale of *Nova Hellscape*, where it was invoked by a Memory of Lagos, the Emissary of the End. It has yet to make a physical appearance in the Ioverse.
* Kaasma Phar and its siblings bear resemblances to the Atropal monster in classic Dungeons and Dragons in both lore and appearance, going so far as to use the official artwork in Phase 2.
* While Kaasma and its children are genderless, Kaasma Phar has been described as Kaasma's "son" by Lagos, Emissary of the End, potentially implying Phar is considered male.

## Images

### Official art

An illusion of Kaasma Phar manifested by the memory of Lagos in the Dreamscape.The Eye of Creation, manifested by Kaasma Phar to observe the battle with Count Aleister and his successors.