Auralvic

Auralvic: The Iron Law

A religious god rapidly rising in status in the Alliance due to his unique domains, the god known as Auralvic began life as a student on the xenos world on the outer rim of Segmentum Pacifus.

A primitive, but advancing civilisation, that like so many looked to the stars and wondered about what they would find there, ignorant to the horrors that lurked in the black void amidst the gleaming pinpricks of light, until a small fragment of wreckage from a obese spaceship, destroyed millennia ago broke through the atmosphere of this pristine and untainted world, soiling it with the foul stench of chaos.

Though a tiny speck, its impurity spread among the people, growing exponentially from a minuscule seed, into an epidemic of impurity, the unknowing populace at complete mercy from this scourge, as their entire society and civilisation seemed to grind to a halt as anarchy reigned in the streets.

Into this Chaos stepped not a conquering hero, or a dashing debonair, but a simple law student, studying at a university of little regard, who with nothing but sheer force of will and determination started to force back the tide of chaos. He rallied those who remained pure and set about restoring law and order to his people, organising them into organised militias and then into an army, that brought with it justice to those who knew no inhibitions, who brought war, plague and death without thought or care.

With every victory his fame and legend grew, until at last he banished the Keeper of Secrets that the desperate cultists summoned as their final spiteful measure, cementing him as a myth more than a man.

The rest of his life was spent restoring his people to glory, creating both a civilisation that could withstand the ravages of time, and a code of law that was both just and would inhibit the forces of Chaos, wherever they chose to appear.

Long after his death Auralvic was praised, even worshipped, and with such attention came drastic changes.

An egg formed within the warp, hidden by its position on the edge of the galaxy, far from the greedy eyes of Chaos and other rival gods, hatching into a being moulded into the idealised version of Auralvic, a god of Law and Justice in a warp practically devoid of such things.

Such a god would have been torn apart quickly by the forces therein, but Auralvic was saved from this fate by the emerging Alliance. Located by Ugruer and Zahak as they were finding volunteers for their suicidal mission, they bluntly explained both his situation and their offer. The new born god knew that if he did not pursue this then he would likely fall, and so he should take the chance with his power riding high after his birth.

While Auralvic only assaulted a single plague world, he chose wisely in attacking a storage world, filled with “fertiliser” for the garden. This overwhelmingly strong soul essence was perfect for him to liberate from its tenders, and while almost slain both by the Great Unclean one who presided there and the plagues, he was saved by Nurgle’s frantic and overwhelming command for his servants to attend him and hunt down the Seer who had dared to touch his Isha and the sacrifice of the Doomed One.

Auralvic limped back to his world, suffering immensely, but overflowing with liberated power to the congratulations of Zahak and Ugruer, both surprised and glad to see that such a potentially useful asset had survived.

Accepting their offer Auralvic joined the Concordat as a full time member.

Since then Auralvic has spent all of the divine power he acquired from Nurgle and has even gone into significant debt to other members of the Concordat, to prepare his people and himself for the struggles of the wider galaxy.

From Sophont he bought teaching, asking him to teach his people the advanced technology they would need to spread into the stars, from Yharim and Zaeed he acquired mercenaries to defend them and teach them the art of war, from Valanar, arms and armour to enhance his own abilities. From Ugruer raw materials and traders came to ply the warp to and from his world, finding valuable worlds for them to build upon, while refugees were directed to come there and find protection. And Justice.

While in considerable debt, Auralvic has been steadily working it off and has been one of the most active god’s in the Alliance as his domains of Law and Justice make him an excellent arbiter between the paranoid gods of the Concordat, while his extreme youth has not hardened his idealism.

The majority of his time is spent negotiating between gods great and small, trying to reach agreements that are both fair and equitable for all parties, and thus working extensively with the Harmony bringing Qhaysh and the Friendship loving Faust for this purpose, the trio establishing themselves as an important neutral party within the Concordat.

His position in this is made more dominant by his ability to enforce the agreements he brokers, as both parties have to sign contracts he draws up. If these contracts are not obeyed in Spirit and Word there are penalties that are invoked, to say nothing of any God foolish enough to break them outright.

As Gods making use of his services pay him at a minimum a small fee, Auralvic is rapidly making a small fortune and using it to pay back his debts, combined with the rapid expansion of his people to other worlds resulting in a boom in population and worship.

While he has allowed the introduction of other Gods (primarily ones like Sophont, Faust and Quaish) he is still the prime recipient of worship from his people.

Auralvic, is not necessarily beloved by other members of the Concordat, many seeing him as a stuck up brat by the standards of more experienced Gods, but even Yharim, notorious for figuring out ways of getting around laws, respects his talents as necessary for the Concordat to continue functioning especially in these dark times when cooperation with minimal paranoia is more required than ever.

Auralvic also has a strange relationship with the Gun godddess Gatta. While technically her elder, Auralvic’s better introduction to the divine has left him the more positive of the two, with the two often acting as mentor to the rare young gods that the Concordat locates.

While lacking in the raw power, and being too important to be considered a front line God, Auralvic does have a martial origin and uses his powers to great effect to support his allies.

Primarily this comes from his ability to manipulate “Law and Justice” within a given area, the area increasing in size the longer he has to change it.

This primarily takes three forms.

First are discriminatory laws, where a group is excluded from performing a certain action. For example Auralvic can write into law that “Only members of the Concordat may fight within this place.”

Any being that breaks this law will suffer penalties in accordance with the severity of the breakage. This will not kill a demon on its own, but the constant damage will badly affect lesser demons, even if the penalties are often too weak to cause much harm to a Greater Demon, although the constant drain will wear them down.

Auralvic can amend the law and for example say “Only members of the Concordat may fight freely within this place, all others may fight if they pay a toll.”

This drastically increases the power of the penalty, but gives enemies a way out if they are able to obey or pay whatever the price is, which can also decrease the result. As payment goes straight to Auralvic’s power, it is entirely possible for enemies to accidentally enhance Auralvic immensely with this, as they lose power while he gains.

Second are biased laws, where the law is written to aid Auralic’s allies. For example “members of the Concordat will always be able to do things before any other in this area.” Functionally this would enhance the speed of any member of the Concordat within his area trying to ensure they get “first priority” as well as add a conceptual effect that tries to ensure they go before all others. This is a subtle effect, with the results diminishing drastically against stronger opponents, but a split second difference can be very considerable.

These can also be enhanced with a clause, for example “Members of the Concordat will always get first priority on actions, if they hold the proper talisman.” This would enhance the effects of the law, but if the talisman is removed then they will instantly lose the effects of the law and could even suffer a penalty.

Finally is the aura of Justice. When in effect it judges the righteousness of beings within the area of effect, and if deemed to be unrighteous in accordance with Auralvic’s personal code of law, then they will receive debilitating effects to all of their abilities. To demons who are the embodiment of all Auralvic despises they are affected to the maximum extent of this power. Once again to a Greater Demon this is minor, but still still enough to irritate, but to lesser demons this is a significant and horrific reduction in their abilities.

The problem with this ability is primarily set up time. Under normal circumstances Auralvic can only set up one maybe two laws quickly in a small area. If given time to prepare a specific area then he can create a large one with maybe 10, although with every new one added, diminishing returns will begin to set in extremely fast.