Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost is a Story Arc of the Exteria Multiverse. It takes place in Cruciar and follows the perspective of knight-errant Nathan Anagma.

## Main Arc

### Prologue

Dhanos, an omnipotent and Light-aligned Deity, once created a garden named Aedenia where blessed Humankind - the Holy Ones, akin to Angels - could live in peace. But as their faith and kindness dwindled, they were overpowered by pride and waged wars against eachother and against Dhanos.

To punish them for their deeds, Dhanos summoned a Malevolence, the Rose of Pain Alruna, and gave her dominion over Aedenia. Thus Aedenia became the Paradise Lost, forever trapping the immortal Holy Ones in a prison of pain and torment. Only the four purest among them were invited to help Dhanos watch over a new land, Cruciar, where a less prideful kind of man would prosper.

### A Young Inquisitor

Nathan Anagma is a member of the Dhanae Gladius, a military branch of the ruling church, the Dhanosian Orthodoxy. An orphan raised in order to wage wars on the "impure", he is an inquisitor, slaying heretics under the command of his master Ordalius and alongside his best friend Esmerius Silva.

However, repeated visions of a girl in white with red hair slowly plague his dreams, and he starts to doubt as he is ordered to raze a village where heretics hide. As he does so, he faces the rebellious Vania Audecta, the "heretic" he was sent to kill. Vania then reveals a terrifying truth : he is guilty, not of heresy, but of rebellion against the political power, and the systematic elimination of "unbelievers" is only a ploy to remove a rival faction to the Orthodoxy.

Nathan confronts his master after defeating and capturing Vania, and Ordalius coldly confirms. Refusing to perform such deeds any longer, Nathan betrays his order and runs away, freeing Vania. Esmerius, driven furious by Nathan's perceived betrayal, pursues him, but a mysterious man, introducing himself as Uriah Haneda, saves his life and allows Vania and Nathan to escape, with an objective in mind : the HQ of the Rebel Alliance, known as the Unbent.

### Rebellious Knight-Errant

Seeking to atone for his actions, Nathan meets the leader of the Unbent, Ariel Oderum, who swears to protect him in exchange for services. Uriah attempts to persuade Nathan not to accept, but the knight, driven by guilt, accepts anyway. He soon becomes a saboteur for the Unbent, helping free several prisoners and destroying Gladius-based fortifications.

However, a darker wind blows as the group faces Ordalius, as he intercepts them during a mission. He quickly defeats and imprisons them. In the prisons of Trykhia, they find an unexpected ally in the person of the dark and brooding Ordyn Folium, imprisoned for attempting to kill a certain "Omnihil". The four escape and after another confrontation with a furious Esmerius, go back to the Unbent Headquarters.

### Seeking the Key

Ordalius's presence in the city of Trykhia hints Ariel at the presence of a valuable item near that city. He sends the group on yet another mission to uncover it, and they soon learn of its nature ; a key, the Key to the Garden, that can lead whoever holds it to true paradise. However, it doesn't seem to be present here, as the city's innermost chamber only contains mysterious notes signed by Raveniel Omnihil. Ordyn admits to Omnihil being the one who murdered his sister, and convinces the group to seek him.

However, Raveniel's house contains only poetry, confessions and philosophical reflections on the nature of man. Raveniel's notes describe him as one of the four Holy Ones and directly criticizes another Holy One, the Orthodoxy's leader Amitiel Heto, for using the Key in order to pressure other Holy Ones in order to rule supreme. The notes abruptly end there.

However, Nathan and his companions cannot dwell on this for they are attacked again, by Esmerius. This time, the warrior's faith is shaken. He asks for a duel with Nathan - a divine ordeal to settle who is right. Nathan accepts, and wins the confrontation ; thus, Esmerius joins the party. However, the joy of reunion is short-lived as Ordalius declares an attack on the Headquarters, seemingly killing all remaining Unbents.

### Assault on the High Cathedral

After this loss, Nathan decides to confront Amitiel directly. Of course, Ordalius bars the way, but this time the party manages to overpower him. Refusing to kill him, Nathan spares him and continues to rush towards Amitiel.

The latter calmly and arrogantly berates the protagonists' actions, and quickly overpowers them with his magic. He reveals that Uriah is another Holy One, a rival he will be happy to put an end to. He admits to possessing the Key, and using it to banish Raveniel when the latter became 'too annoying' for his tastes. However, his gloating is quickly interrupted as a caped figure strikes him and retrieves the key.

The shadowy figures introduces itself as Lucianel Omnihil, Raveniel's son and a half-blood Holy One. A servant of Alruna and the self-proclaimed murderer of Namida, Lucianel banishes Amitiel to the Garden before attempting to open up a gate in the sky, seeking to swallow the entire realm into an eternity of pain. Nathan quickly runs to the top of the castle in order to prevent that catastrophe.

However, one last opponent stands in his way. Ariel Oderum reveals himself as the fourth Holy One and clashes against the heroes, seeking to take the Key for himself in order to reclaim his lost paradise and create an utopia for his own. Uriah protests and seeks to prevent him from worsening the situation. A battle rages, and is interrupted when Ariel's full power knocks down a part of the castle, absorbing both the protagonists and Ariel in the vortex.

### The Core of Pain

In the lost Paradise, the heroes are confronted by horrible visions of mutated, tormented Holy Ones raging in endless pain. They fight through monsters called Crucius, a twisted aspect of Ordalius fused with Alruna's magic, as well as the embodiment of Amitiel, Ariel and Raveniel's consuming despair.

Going further into the Garden reveals Lucianel's past : after Raveniel's disappearance, Namida was his only friend, and Alruna's influence forced them to try and kill eachother. Lucianel was then taken as a pawn and tortured into submission, becoming Alruna's herald, as Alruna borrowed Namida's body.

The final confrontation draws near. In an act of twisted martyrdom, Lucianel fuses with Alruna in order to fight the heroes, however he is finally defeated as the last will of the three last Holy Ones fuel Nathan's blade and deals the final hit. Alruna dissipates, finally dead, while Lucianel, wounded yet still immortal, swears to wait for his "lost love" forevermore.

### Epilogue

Uriah becomes head of the Orthodoxy with Esmerius to lead the Gladius. Ordyn finally buries his sister and moves on, while Vania pursues his master Ariel's legacy. Finally, Nathan departs in search of justice, purpose and redemption.

## Other Arcs

### Sigma's Tale

Sigma visits Cruciar in another Timeline and meets Nathan at the beginning of his journey, helping him make the right decisions and bonding with him through the use of a Memento. Together they fight back Esmerius as he is now helped by Chaon's Specters who feed on his pain.

Sigma comes back again to help Nathan confront Alruna and Lucianel. She helps Lucianel find a better end by allowing him to escape the garden and find a new life outside. She then makes a Memento with him as well before leaving and wishing for Nathan to find true love

### Nathan and Tinuviel

Nathan soon finds in a far away town a cathedral built to worship the goddess Tinuviel. However, Alruna has already twisted the guardian angel into a bloodthirsty heathen-slaying archangel. Nathan then chooses to willingly attract Tinuviel's attention.

The Miasma-tainted angel arrives and attemps to slay Nathan, but he resists using his supernatural abilities and through a mix of dialogue and purifying magic, saves Tinuviel from corruption. The archangel, both ashamed and seeking redemption, accepts Nathan as her companion and the two embark on the same journey to redemption.

However, Tinuviel's closest allies, the sisters Elysiel Tamriel and Zinniel, have been sealed by her in a period of fury. Nathan, when learning that, embarks on a journey to save them, helped by Michael Dawne. Together they free the sisters from their slumber.

## Characters

* Nathan Anagma
* Vania Audecta
* Uriah Haneda
* Ordyn Folium
* Esmerius Silva
* Ordalius
* Amitiel Heto
* Ariel Oderum
* Raveniel Omnihil
* Lucianel Omnihil
* Namida Folium
* Alruna
* Tinuviel
* Elysiel
* Zinniel
* Tamriel

## Trivia

* Chronologically speaking from a Meta standpoint, Paradise Lost is the first Story Arc in the Multiverse, being written in 2007.
* The four Holy Ones's names directly hint to their divine nature : Ariel Oderum's name is an anagram of Deorum ("of the Gods"), Amitiel Heto's is Theo ("Divine"), Omnihil hints to both Omnis ("Everything") and Nihil ("Nothing") and Uriah Haneda's name is both a pun on "Hane da" ("it is a wing") and an anagram of Dhanae, a reference to Dhanos.
* Paradise Lost shares its name with John Milton's opus and borrows heavily elements from Christian mythology and theology.
* The plot is also heavily inspired by the garden of pain of Gethsemani, which is also the name of Lucianel's fusion with Alruna.