Ozmanthus Arelius

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**[INFORMATION RESTRICTED] Ozmanthus Tiberian Mereithan Arelius**

**Ozmanthus Arelius** was the historic Grand Patriarch of House Arelius. After he ascended he advanced even more, becoming Ozriel the Reaper, 008, Eighth Judge of the Abidan Court.

## Grand Patriarch

Ozmanthus is the ancient Founder of House Arelius. He lived about 4500 years ago — but this is a guesstimate. It is certain that he lived before the Dreadgod problem. See Date of Birth:

### Date of Birth

Unknown, but long before the rise of Dreadgods. The big problem in his time were the Dreadbeasts:

>  He never lost his admiration for those who kept the world clean, and one of the most hideous plagues in the world was the population of dreadbeasts that roamed the countryside, feeding and spewing out more of their kind. With his weapons, he would clean the countryside (-Reaper, ch 2).
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The development of hunger madra and Dreadgods came after **Ozmanthus Arelius** ascended (but hunger aura was around in his time):

> “Anything from the Arelius founder should predate the introduction of hunger madra to this labyrinth. Did he anticipate this, or was he protecting against other threats? A puzzle for you!” (Reaper, ch 11, Eithan)
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## His Lineage & Holdings

Ozmanthus founded House Arelius and advanced to become Monarch of the Rosegold continent. Today, his family line is well-respected, with — until recently — vast holdings on the Rosegold continent. His descendants have traveled to set up Arelius family branches all over the world, on every continent, including Ashwind, and the Blackflame Empire. They are known by their yellow-blond hair, blue eyes, and keen sense of awareness via their detection madra (Bloodline Abilities).

> “House Arelius used to rule over most of the Rosegold continent, before the tragic death of the Monarch Tiberian Arelius only eight years ago. But his descendants are still a force to be reckoned with, leaving branches on every continent!” (Uncrowned, ch 16)
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### His Descendants

Current members of the family are Eithan Arelius, Cassias Arelius, Gaian Arelius, Cladia Arelius / Sage of a Thousand Eyes, and the recently assassinated Monarch, Tiberian Arelius. Etc, etc. See House Arelius for more names and details.

## Genius

Young Ozmanthus was an absolute virtuoso child prodigy with keen insight into the sacred arts. He amplified his natural aptitude with research, study, exploration and experimentation. Arguably the best soulsmith in the history of Cradle (see Soulsmithing). His achievements are detailed below in his bio breakdown

## His Bloodline Legacy

Ozmanthus developed a bloodline inheritance for his descendants.

> He focused on another of his talents: his sight. When he advanced to Monarch, he developed the bloodline ability to see. Ozmanthus was so relieved that he wept. This was the ability that he wanted to define his legacy. And he would leave his descendants with the ability to see as he did, to one day catch up to him. (Reaper ch 2)
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> Eithan spoke through another yawn. “My father used to say the First Patriarch could watch over his descendants from another continent. Maybe even from. . .beyond the grave.” Eithan waggled his eyebrows up and down. (Blackflame ch 7)
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## Personality

* Born without life’s luxuries. Loved his mother. No mention of his father.
* Adopted the name Arelius after the wondrous mythical land he sought
* Felt protective towards his family, and eventually his own children
* Strove to leave his descendants with his legacy “senses” / the Arelius Sight. See Bloodline Abilities
* Curious, bold, daring
* Sad to leave his friends behind as he advanced quickly in childhood
* It seems he wasn’t the nicest person on Cradle, as an adult, and when he was Monarch of Rosegold continent. In book 10, when the team is in the Labyrinth meeting ghost-memories of Oz, Yerin says she likes Eithan more than his arrogant ancestor, Ozmanthus
* Apparently, Ozmanthus was a bulwark of determination, skill, and strength, but some tragedy left him feeling like a failure, and remorseful.

## Appearance

Little is known. Long yellow-blond hair. Blue eyes.

## Bio

We first glimpse a tantalizing hint of Oz in book 1, Unsouled, when Suriel comes to Cradle:

> The mountain under which he had been born in a dark chamber of stone. The ruins of the library where he had once developed his own Path. The pillars where he debated the ten greatest scholars of the day, leading three to commit suicide soon after. The City of Anvils, sealed now, where he’d forged his first weapon. The labyrinth where he died and returned to life. The country home, buried beneath a meadow now, where his fury had first touched the Way. (Unsouled, chapter 6)
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### His childhood

Ozmanthus was born on the Rosegold continent on Cradle. He was named after a flower. His father isn’t mentioned, but his mother didn’t have extra money to spend on elixirs for his advancement so it was fortunate that he didn’t need them. At a young age he found out about a secret wondrous land called **Arelius**, about which he dreamed and researched, even as he trained. He was an incredibly gifted child. At Copper he possessed a level of insight and understanding far beyond his peers. He designed his own Iron Body and Path. Presumably around seven years old, as a Jade, he discovered that most of his friends of the same age group were Coppers. This did not disturb him, however, because he figured they’d catch up, and he just wanted to find Arelius.

### Young Adulthood

As a young Underlord, Ozmanthus manifested the Broom Icon, to sweep away all the Dreadbeasts that plagued the world. Soon, in front of a group of elder scholars he manifested the Broom Icon. He was highly disturbed after three of the scholars killed themselves within the week.

During roughly the same time period, Ozmanthus discovered a Labyrinth:

> "He found an ancient labyrinth, built by the original Court of Seven before their ascension. He researched their understanding, growing in knowledge and power." (-Reaper, ch 2)
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 He designed his Path around weapon creation, and became a talented forger. His Soulsmithing laboratory was located in the Labyrinth. Some time after this, he thought, 'why be inefficient'? and modified his Path to one of absolute destruction. He went on to become one of the greatest soulsmiths of his day. In the labyrinth he forged some of the deadliest weapons ever seen on Cradle. He died and came back to life. As a consequence, he manifested the Death Icon.

At some point in time, he gave himself a last name, Arelius, after the wondrous land he wanted to find.

### Monarchy

Oz advanced to become Monarch of the Rosegold continent. Upon his advancement to Monarch, he developed the infamous Arelius bloodline legacy, the ability to see /sense everything within range of the spirit.

### Penance

Something tragic happened, at some unknown time in his adulthood. He felt remorse and created prototype weapons of pure and absolute destruction. Penance, an arrowhead. Eventually, the final construct is offered as top prize at the 18th Uncrowned King Tournament. Penance:

>  Eithan, on his knees, stared at the arrowhead with an intensity Lindon had never seen. His smile was long gone. The messenger smiled at their reaction. “Long ago, the founder of House Arelius created this weapon which he called Penance. It is a penance for its target and, unbeknownst to most, its creation was an act of penance by its creator. (-Uncrowned, chapter 20)
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### Ascension

Ozmanthus voluntarily ascended, feeling disappointed with sacred artists and wanting to see more than this little pond. However, he left behind a measure of his power in a beacon. His hope was that one of his descendants would find this beacon and follow in his footsteps.

## As Ozriel

Upon his successful induction into the Abidan, Ozmanthus passed his compatibility tests with flying colors and it became clear that he could inherit the Mantle of any Judge except one, Suriel the Phoenix. He joined the third division and was named the successor to Telariel in record time. He and his fellow spiders encountered a Vroshir ambush and Ozmanthus was the sole survivor. This bothered him, he could have saved them if he had a weapon powerful enough. So, he made one, he combined many Judge-Tier weapons along with one of his own creations and created the Scythe. He became the avatar of true Destruction. The Court of Seven were in awe. They decided to name him Ozriel The Reaper: Eighth Judge of the Abidan Court.

Ozriel’s job became the reaping of worlds. His Scythe could cull a world so efficiently that there were no Chaos fragments left to threaten other iterations. Once a world became corrupted and the adept population evacuated, Ozriel would destroy the iteration. This allowed the Abidan to expand to thousands of worlds. But with every iteration he destroyed, with every life he ended, the weight on Ozriel’s soul grew bigger and bigger until eventually, it became too much. He begged the court to allow him to raise up his own Division. Reapers that could intervene in Fate and remove corruption at the root before the world was lost. But the Court apposed this, especially Makiel, thus forcing Ozriel to continue reaping.

Eventually the weight on Ozriel was too much to bear and he deserted the Abidan. He knew he couldn’t hide forever, but he needed a break; He needed time on his own. He looked into fate and discovered the planets that would be corrupted next. On these planets he left people and items of cultural significance. Enough to restart the cultures of this planet on a pioneer world. It was in one of these worlds where he was confronted. The Mad King had just so happened to choose this world to test his new creation. The origin shroud; a veil so powerful that even Ozriel didn’t recognize him at first.

### Reaper Descriptions

Ozriel stood in his polished black armor, the Mantle of Ozriel streaming behind him like a boiling cape of shadow, and the white hair running down his back. His face cold and distant and grim.

In person, he had more of a sense of humor than any other Abidan, but he always wore an expression like a man bracing himself for terrible news.

### Powers and Techniques

Employed pure destruction. As Ozmanthus, he was hard to beat. As Ozriel, he is pretty much top of the trees, a nonpareil.

Ozriel was accomplished and skilled enough to fulfill the duties of any Judge but Suriel. He has no ability as a Phoenix. He has made it a point to befriend both the previous retired Phoenix of the Abidan and this current one, holding their talents in high esteem.

His coming brought about an era of explosive growth for the Abidan. His predictive abilities rivaled that of Makiel, The Judge of Fate. His skills far exceed that of the Spider such that when he went into hiding Telariel could not find him despite his best attempts and full exertion. He was irreplaceable and the cornerstone around which the Abidan inadvertently found themselves growing. Ozriel is well-known as the most powerful Judge since the first generation of the Abidan Court, and possibly of all time.