The Cosmius

**The Cosmius**, early known as the **Power of the Cosmius**, was a metaphysical, spiritual, binding, and ubiquitous power that held enormous importance for the Suezians and other beings known as Anjo'nians. The true powers of the Cosmius could be used by individuals who were sensitive to it, a power that was tapped through the molecosmians. The Cosmius was viewed in many different aspects, including, but not limited to, the Azure and the Shadows. The first two aspects were concerned with the moral compass of the Cosmius, as manifested by the conduct and emotions of living creatures who were themselves part of the fabric of the Cosmius. The Azure was the facet aligned with compassion, selflessness, self-knowledge and enlightenment, healing, mercy and benevolence, while the Shadows was the element aligned with hatred, fear, covetousness, anger, aggression, jealousy and malevolence.

Some beings, particularly the No'med, believed that the Shadows was more powerful than the Azure, though it was possible that the Shadows was just more tempting to those who used it (or desired to use it). Others thought of the Cosmius as an entity capable of intelligent thought, almost as a sort of deity. Vincent Grey, who was believed to have been conceived by the Cosmius itself, may have shared this belief; if this was indeed the case, it would add credence towards the view of the Cosmius as a sentient entity. Though the Cosmius was thought to flow through every living thing, its true power could only be harnessed by beings described as "Cosmius-sensitives." This Cosmius-sensitivity was correlated with, and sometimes attributed to, a high count of internal microorganisms known as molecosmians that were found in a Cosmius-sensitive's blood: the higher the count, the greater the being's potential Cosmius ability, though there were some exceptions to this rule. Cosmius-sensitive beings were able to tap into the Cosmius to perform acts of great skill and agility as well as control and shape the world around them. Sometimes this ability was described as having a strong Cosmius "aura".

## Early history

Before the Ethron Era, around 20,000 years ago, ancient Ethrons and Anjo'nians sorcerers gathered to share mystical knowledge. The Cosmius was "discovered." Unfortunately, later, several Ethrons began using their knowledge of the Cosmius to pursue power, leading to the beginning of the Great Cosmius War. Peace-minded Anjo'nians that participated during the conflicts established the Zêirí Order.

## The Azure

The Azure was concerned with the ideals of good, benevolence, and healing. Followers of the Azure strove to live in harmony with the world around them, acting out of wisdom and logic rather than anger and hasty judgement. In order to achieve harmony with the Azure, its practitioners would often meditate to clear themselves of emotion; particularly negative emotions such as aggression, fear, anger, and hatred, since these were thought to lead to, or entice one to an acceptance of the Shadows.

### The Zêirí Order

The largest group of proponents and teachers of the Azure was the Zêirí Order, who strove to maintain peace and justice throughout the galaxy. The values of the Azure were encapsulated in the Zêirí Code. The Zêirí accepted the view of there being two sides to **the Cosmius**: the Shadows and the Azure. A follower of the Azure tried to live selflessly, in harmony with those around him, and in harmony with "the will of the Cosmius" itself. Mutual trust, respect, and the ability to form alliances gave the Zêirí their distinct advantage over the No'med. In contrast, a follower of the Shadows typically used the Shadows out of selfish motive, for oneself. As such, use of the Shadows was forbidden within the Zêirí Order and the Lux Republic, and was strictly considered the domain of the Ghosts.

Traditional Zêirí were keen to keep the Cosmius "in balance." They attempted to achieve this by destroying the No'med and denying the Shadows, essentially "keeping balance" by restoring the Cosmius to its natural state, as they viewed the Shadows as corrupt. This involved the purging of negative emotions such as aggression, anger, and hatred, since they could easily bring on acceptance of the Shadows. In contrast, positive emotions such as compassion and courage nurtured the Azure. The Zêirí Code compared such feelings and provided insight into the ethical use of the Cosmius.

## The Shadows

The Shadows was considered by the Zêirí to be the element aligned with selfishness, fear, hatred, aggression, and malice toward all living things. Such emotions seemed to increase the strength and abilities of a user of the Shadows, providing a path towards personal power and the destruction or control of all opposition. It was generally accepted that use of the Shadows was extremely addictive.

### The No'med

The No'med were the most infamous of all Shadow religions, and the members of the cult were often seen as the pinnacle of power within the Shadows. Throughout their long history, the No'med commanded the Ethron Supremacy and the Ghost Empire. With such great influence, the No'med religion inspired many cults that weren't technically part of the No'med, nor did they consist of actual No'med. Instead, they were founded and made up of No'med devotees and other Cosmius-sensitives dedicated to prolonging the teachings and the memory of the No'med. Such cults included the Ghosts.

## Cosmius abilities

*Main article: Cosmius power*
Manifestations of the Cosmius, which were mentally-based abilities and tapped through the practitioner's thoughts, emotions, and willpower. These abilities could take all forms, and included telepathy, telekinesis, and enhanced physical and metaphysical perception. It can allow people to affect and some control over physical forces, such as kinetic energy, inertia, friction, pressure and even gravity, allowing them to be able to defy both of these and enhance force and momentum they create, with a variety of different effects and range. Such things allowed users of the Cosmius to be almost completely unharmed by extreme impact, such as falling from great heights or being struck with great force or at high speed. It should be noted that anticipating the impact lessened its effects, allowing some users of the Cosmius to not be stunned or even land on their feet with ease. This effectively enhanced the physical durability and recovery capability of a Cosmius-user.

Power over physical forces and momentum also allowed Cosmius users to partially defy gravity and other weight, allowing them to move and jump at unnatural speed and distance in seconds, though the speed only worked for limited times and was not constant while jumping could be done repeatedly to those who have mastered this ability. This effectively enhanced the agility of those who used it, giving the user acrobatic capabilities at unnatural levels. The vitality, health, stamina and endurance of a Cosmius user was naturally enhanced to varying degrees and can even be temporarily boosted further by more powerful and skilled, notably allowing aged or crippled users to be able to temporarily transcend their physical weaknesses or to allow user or allowing a user to temporarily enhance their physical abilities beyond the limitations of their respective species. A skilled user can use techniques to control their physical condition to the point of controlling their ability to feel pain or putting themselves in a trance that simulates suspended animation.

The Cosmius could be used to bend the will of weak-minded beings and guide an adept's body. Users who were very good at using the Cosmius could cease merely reacting to their surroundings and actually predict events in the very near future, such as the next blow in a duel. The Cosmius could also be used to induce mental or physical incapacitation, such as sedation or induced sleep. Further techniques could allow users to be able to subtly or fully manipulate the minds, emotions, memories, and willpower of their targets, with some Cosmius users being able to enhance, decrease and drain it from their targets.

In addition to enhancing their own skill, Cosmius users were capable of channelling the energy of the Cosmius directly into the world around them. No'med generally used the Cosmius for abilities that malicious, immoral and unnatural, such as the technique of telekinetically choking, strangling or otherwise physically damaging their victims. No'med were infamous for making heavy use of this ability to conjure Shadow attacks, which would. The Zêirí preferred to use their abilities to heal and protect; closing wounds and shielding others with barriers of Cosmius energy.

For most users, physical or mental fatigue, stress, or disorientation would subsequently significantly weaken, nullify or invalidate the use of their power in the Cosmius. In the event of exhausting or stressing their powers or themselves, physically or mentally, users have to wait a minimum length of time before they can use it again or refrain from using it until the user regains sobriety, willpower and calmness. Emotions could also affect the strength of a users abilities, which depending on the user, could add or detract strength. For No'med, positive, non-aggressive and peaceful emotions would potentially weaken their strength, as strength in the Cosmius can naturally be increased by raw, intense and aggressive feelings, but not without risk of being corrupted by the Shadows. Such instances could hamper or limit the use of Cosmius abilities, especially in combat, resulting in Cosmius users resorting to physical combat especially with the use of a handheld weapon. The ability is usually accompanied by motion of the eyes, hands or even the entire body, the latter being the most common way to use the power, which can can also limit use of the ability, especially when the user's mind or senses are strained or overwhelmed.