Court Of The Ascendants Ep. 1 [FINISHED]

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Note: Do NOT post here unless you have been accepted in the Out Of Character Thread

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Since the dawn of Existence, our world has been divided in several parts. The one we know and dwell in, where Earth and all of the planets and stars we know reside, is the only one we can see, but it is by no means the most important, though it is one of the three Main Planes. Aside from this Mortal Plane, which is composed of thousands upon thousands of realities, four more exist. One is the Outer Plane, a vast expanse connecting the three Main Planes. Another, also part of the Main Planes is the Realm of the Adversary, enemy of the Ascendants, where it and all of it's agents dwell. Yet another is the Plane of Oblivion, located between the three Main Planes, where all things go after being destroyed, never to be seen again.

However, the first and most important of all planes is the Court of the Ascendants, another Main Plane, where the Ascendants, guardians of Existence and all of their Chief's creations, live. This Plane is where the Prime Drive, the central joint of all Existence, rests, as well as where mortal Souls that have undergone Salvation are allowed to rest.

However, not all is prosperity in the Existence. Now, the Court of the Ascendants is being threatened from outside...

...And from within.


Court Of The Ascendants
Gates Of Salvation

A tall, powerful being stood completely alone in an immensity of white. It was covered in a ceremonial armor the likes of which no civilization had ever seen before, it's face obscured by a silvery helmet, though behind a white mane flowed freely, even though in that white infinity, the wind did not blow. The being in question appeared to be a human in it's form, but it also had two massive, concave feather wings with yellow and orange patterns in them, and seemed to irradiate light and a soothing calmness. In it's hands, held before it, it held a great sword with symbols of unknown origins adorning the blade.

From above, several orbs of what appeared to be a purplish blue flame descended and came to a stop before the great being, and slowly spread, forming humanoid shapes. The flame then dissipated and revealed several mortals that now stood before the great being. One of them was a mere human with red hair and a patch covering one of his eyes.

"What the...?" Rodrick Steiner muttered to himself as he came to his senses, seeing only an enormous, winger, armed man in front of him and a random assortment of people around him, in a completely white and desolate environment. "But I was just at home..." He thought to himself, before noticing the knife in his hand and the patch in his eye. Then memories of his demise came flooding back to him. "I'm.... I'm dead. But then..." He continued thinking, taking a step forward and looking around, in vain, trying to see anything other than white.

"But then is this heaven...?" He thought to himself. Then a thought came to him and he shuddered. "Or..." He thought, and gulped. "Hell?"


Realm Of The Adversary
Valley Of The Damned

In the Realm Of The Adversary, there was a valley, with nothing but dirt covering it, and a sky and horizon composed of different shades of red. From the crimson sky, however, something could be seen falling down. It seemed to be a purplish blue flame that slowly spread in mid-air to form a humanoid figure. The flames then extinguished only to reveal a young italian man in a black jacket that seemed to be marked for death, yet again.

However, before the man hit the ground, an armored giant leapt out from seemingly out of nowhere and grabbed him. It roughly lifted him in the air and examined him for a few moments, before grinning. "Ah, yes, yes, you'll do for a good slave." It said, and then, carrying the man, the creature ran towards a destination unknown.

[Lambrinisia]

Francesca opened her eyes slowly, taking everything in. The last thing she knew, she'd been in that jewelry shop as four guys burst in with guns, and now...

She looked around, squinting. "I'm dead ain't I?" she asked herself quietly. Her eyes twinged slightly. The whiteness was just so bright. Slowly they became accustomed to the brightness.

[AETEN II]

AETEN II USED MASS CONFUSION,

IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE!

[Stattr]

Silveria Zaph slowly opened her eyes and looked around.

It was her 120th birthday and she was walking home from school. The sun was out as she could feel from the warmth and everyone could see what everyone was doing...except her. She then tried to figure out the rest. She only remembered a dark voice and feeling a sharp blade against her throat. She had tried to screm but nothing came. She tried to bite him. She couldn't. her walking stick gone. She slowly thought this when she noticed someone else beside her and nodded slowly.

"Apparently we are dead lass." Silveria said in her english accent and said it again more softly. It sounded off but she didn't care. She remembered something and felt her arms. She had her cloak on and luckly her bookbag as well.

[Rupudska]

Charlotte opened her eyes blearily to clear skies. She immediately realized where she was, and wasn't happy about it at all. "Wonderful. Just perfect. Damned cancer finally killed me, didn't it?" She was about to continue when she realized her voice didn't sound nearly as scratchy as she had gotten used to. Come to think of it, her back no longer hurt. Or her knuckles. Or any part of her body, for that matter. She held her hands in front of her face. Not a wrinkle in sight. Only one more test that she could think of. She lowered her body to the floor... and performed a perfect split. Almost giddy with excitement, she jumped back up, a bit awkwardly, as if she had trouble remembering how to get up off the floor again. "Excellent, excellent!" Ohh, there's a HUGE list of things I want to try that are legal now but weren't when I was twenty.

[AETEN II]

Vebjorn grumbled as he floated about the 'afterlife' as many reffered to it, he still was saddened by the fact that it was nothing like the tales of Valhalla even though he had been here for over a thousand years. Promised he was, never-ending glorious battles where even for inept warriors such as himself would be fun, as the dead would rise at the end. Both parties would then shake hands and drink themselves to sleep with endless mead. Then in the morning the next battle would start and the process would continue to the end of time. Sadly however, Vebjorn and his Nordic kin discovered this to be a cruel lie spun by some drunken elder long, long ago at the dawn of their culture. While they were all thankful there was an afterlife, if it was only different in some small ways...
Like if everything wasn't godawful white that reflected the smallest source of light and blinded one. Vebjorn was thankfull for his priest mask as it saved him the trouble of having to squint, but the decorating could be improved upon. Trophies, scuptures carved from the bones of the old hunts, and nature. Nature. Vebjorn craved it among this city and spent most of his time in the gardens, but none of them could capture the majesty of the Norwegian landscape. Especially when winter arrived. The cold air frosted the greenery and created a wonderland. But no, this place was full of buildings and not his beloved sod roof covered in frosted grass. Such a shame.

Vebjorn half-walked and half-floated up to the large group slowly gathering outside of the gate. The Nord sighed heavily at what would be a loud and annoying injection of youth, but at least it was something new.
"I take it you are the newcomers?" Vebjorn asked as he coughed deeply in his mummufied throat and switched to English.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The armored being of the yellow and orange wings suddenly opened it's eyes, something visible though not particularly noticeable. From beneath the silvery helmet, piercing golden eyes scanned the mortals in front of it. After a few moments, it stepped forward, something that caught the attention of at least one of the mortals, the man with the eye patch. The winged one then stared at each one of them for several seconds. Once done, it seemed to look up. And, surely enough, a silvery orb descended. It outstretched it's hand and seemed to absorb the orb.

Then, after that, it finally spoke to the mortals.

"Greetings, mortal souls. In sight that the guardian of your reality, the Ascendant Eteriel, has deemed it fit to grant you all Salvation from Oblivion, I welcome you to the Court of the Ascendants. I understand that you might be confused now. As every mortal does, you all have passed away and have been brought here." It said, it's voice calm and soothing. It then made a pause to let all the information sink in.

"Now, if you follow me, you will soon understand everything better." It stated, and then turned around, extending his palm in front of him. The being then uttered a word that was unintelligible to any of the others. However, they would still understand the meaning of the word.

"Open."

As soon as the word was uttered, massive ivory gates materialized in front of the being and then were swung open, revealing yet another corridor of absolute white. The being then continued walking.

"If you wish me to do so, I can try to satisfy your curiosity answering any questions you might have to the best of my ability." It said as it walked. "Vebjorn, you should return as well." It said afterwards, referring to the masked priest, and then continued on it's way.

Rodrick had stepped back as soon as it saw the big thing move towards them, but listened to it's words nonetheless. When it explained the situation, far too confused to do anything else, Rodrick simply looked at the people around him and then quietly followed the gatekeeper, not knowing what else to do. There wasn't really anything else to do.

[Lambrinisia]

Francesca started walking through the gates after the gate keeper. She looked around at the group and then to the him. "Why were we chosen? What is so special about us?" she asked in Italian, as she looked around at the whiteness. Her eyes finished adjusting to the brightness of the place. She made a small sign of the cross. Not that she was particularly religious but more because of her roots. "Are we going to meet God?" asked Francesca reverently. "Is there a true religion? Is this even heaven?" Her voice was getting slightly panicky and she began to breathe deeply.

[AETEN II]

"Oh how I adore this part. Blah blah blah you're all special unge dårer who happen to have skillsets these 'superior' divine beings like. Think of yourselves as a really useful sword that they like to use to chop off the heads of agents." Vebjorn said with a grumble as he floated ahead of the group by using jets of hot air to lift him up.
"Thankfully it isn't anywhere near as corny as those damned monotheist christians though it'd be like. Like life, only one of the largest cities in 'reality' as those new philosophers would refer to it along with the excitement of brutally killing some poor fool who though Loki was making him a fair deal and was turned into an agent of evil. Although I still keep re-submitting requests along with my other 'Vikings' that the decorating should be different. I advise you find a pair of those 'sunglass' things to block out light."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The gatekeeper continued walking as it heard Francesca's questions, understanding them perfectly. "Heaven is what some mortal societies understand as the positive side of the afterlife. This is where the guardians of Existence dwell. There are great differences between one thing and the other. Religion is only what mortals use to understand things that are beyond them. They are subject to mortal understanding and are therefore far from the truth. God is what mortal religions view as the creator of all, and therefore technically there is one, but we will not be meeting the Absolute One." It stated. "As for why you were chosen, only Eteriel knows that."

The gatekeeper then turned to Vebjorn. "They are only souls that were saved from Oblivion, Vebjorn. They are not Ascendants. They do not have the responsibility to fight the agents of the Adversary." It explained as it continued walking.

[Nature-Spirits]

Upon materialising, a tall humanoid creature with deathly pale, greyish skin that was thin and wrinkled; overlarge facial features (such as eyes nearly the size of tennis balls that were completely covered by the pupil and his hawk nose) that contrasted with his spindly figure and thin, long fingers with an extra joint each; webbed feet that the humans would recognise a similar to a duck's; and dressed in ash grey robes made from a thick, fibrous material opened his eyes, muttering, "... Gae'a?" He'd not expected that he would still exist as an individual, as his people, those of the world locally known as Scry'ptor'a, believed that when they died their souls were absorbed into Gae'a (the goddess residing at the centre of their planet) as raw energy, which were reformed into new souls that were reborn on Scry'ptor'a, repeating this process of reincarnation for eternity.
The creature, called (in the abbreviated form of his name; his full name was 81 syllables) Tak'mar to'x Fhan'heih, listened, confused, to the Gatekeeper, following it when it began walking. He was disappointed and slightly panicked when he heard that religion was false, a single tear rolling down his wrinkled face, but he was curious about one thing. "What is the Adversary?"

[Freemountia]

To say that Gilead was disoriented would be to commit a crime of gross understatement. All he remembered was the roof of his parent's garage slowly fading away. Cold concrete. Warm blood. Faint, on the edges of his hearing, the sound of voices in the house and the panicked scurry as his murderers ran.

Now he was standing, walking on a material he had never seen before, trying to keep up with what appeared to be the Archangel Michael's kid brother. And he could still feel the places where the gangbangers had plugged him. There is nothing quite like the tugging, slamming impact of the bullet, and the effect it has on body and soul.

When he had first arrived, he had been on his back, and his first action had been to pull the trigger of his SP101. The hammer clicked over the empty cylinder, and no one else seemed to notice his reflexive reaction. He had blinked, looked around, and holstered the thing. Now apparently he was getting the grand tour of the Afterlife. Swell.


"...agents of the Adversary." He paused, blinking, "Wait, Adversary? As in Satan?"

[AETEN II]

Upon materialising, a tall humanoid creature with deathly pale, greyish skin that was thin and wrinkled; overlarge facial features (such as eyes nearly the size of tennis balls that were completely covered by the pupil and his hawk nose) that contrasted with his spindly figure and thin, long fingers with an extra joint each; webbed feet that the humans would recognise a similar to a duck's; and dressed in ash grey robes made from a thick, fibrous material opened his eyes, muttering, "... Gae'a?" He'd not expected that he would still exist as an individual, as his people, those of the world locally known as Scry'ptor'a, believed that when they died their souls were absorbed into Gae'a (the goddess residing at the centre of their planet) as raw energy, which were reformed into new souls that were reborn on Scry'ptor'a, repeating this process of reincarnation for eternity.
The creature, called (in the abbreviated form of his name; his full name was 81 syllables) Tak'mar to'x Fhan'heih, listened, confused, to the Gatekeeper, following it when it began walking. He was disappointed and slightly panicked when he heard that religion was false, a single tear rolling down his wrinkled face, but he was curious about one thing. "What is the Adversary?"

The semi-floating nord priest turned around at this and with a puzzled expression looked at the thing that had just popped out of no-where.
"Nasty demonic agents of chaos who have a habbit of bursting and attempting to kill us/destroy the city. It never really works out too well. The valkyries as I tend to call them typically crush them the momment of reveal, but occaisionally one of us must step in and do the dirty work. Which in my extensive stay here (over a thousand years if you follow the christian calendar) I've squashed many an attempt. It's almost cute really. Well. Unless it's one of those occaisions when more than one attack. They're most annoying and dangerous as a pack. I advise to keep you head down if you ever spot one. Unless you happen to have exceptionally lethal powers like some of us ex-mortals do." The Priest stated as he folded his arms and looked up at the rather odd figure.

"What in Thor's name are you anyway?"

[Nature-Spirits]

Upon materialising, a tall humanoid creature with deathly pale, greyish skin that was thin and wrinkled; overlarge facial features (such as eyes nearly the size of tennis balls that were completely covered by the pupil and his hawk nose) that contrasted with his spindly figure and thin, long fingers with an extra joint each; webbed feet that the humans would recognise a similar to a duck's; and dressed in ash grey robes made from a thick, fibrous material opened his eyes, muttering, "... Gae'a?" He'd not expected that he would still exist as an individual, as his people, those of the world locally known as Scry'ptor'a, believed that when they died their souls were absorbed into Gae'a (the goddess residing at the centre of their planet) as raw energy, which were reformed into new souls that were reborn on Scry'ptor'a, repeating this process of reincarnation for eternity.
The creature, called (in the abbreviated form of his name; his full name was 81 syllables) Tak'mar to'x Fhan'heih, listened, confused, to the Gatekeeper, following it when it began walking. He was disappointed and slightly panicked when he heard that religion was false, a single tear rolling down his wrinkled face, but he was curious about one thing. "What is the Adversary?"

The semi-floating nord priest turned around at this and with a puzzled expression looked at the thing that had just popped out of no-where.
"Nasty demonic agents of chaos who have a habbit of bursting and attempting to kill us/destroy the city. It never really works out too well. The valkyries as I tend to call them typically crush them the momment of reveal, but occaisionally one of us must step in and do the dirty work. Which in my extensive stay here (over a thousand years if you follow the christian calendar) I've squashed many an attempt. It's almost cute really. Well. Unless it's one of those occaisions when more than one attack. They're most annoying and dangerous as a pack. I advise to keep you head down if you ever spot one. Unless you happen to have exceptionally lethal powers like some of us ex-mortals do." The Priest stated as he folded his arms and looked up at the rather odd figure.

"What in Thor's name are you anyway?"

Most of this description went right over Tak'mar's head, as he didn't understand many of the references.
However, at the other creature's question, he felt slightly offended, his wide, colourless lips pursing as he replied, "I am a Monk of Gae'a of the world of Scry'ptor'a. My name is Tak'mar to'x Fhan'heih. What are you?" His eyes wandered over the skeletal figure before moving onto the Gatekeeper, then the rest of the mortal souls. "What are all of you?" He was now slightly alarmed, being surrounded by strange, unfamiliar beings. Everything about them looked wrong. Too short, too-small features, stubby fingers, fat.... They just looked all-around strange. Their only similarity was their basic anatomies, but he still found them all... deformed....

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The gatekeeper listened to the questions of both Tak'mar and Gilead and saw how Vebjorn jumped right in to try to explain things, only confusing Tak'mar even more and offending him to boot. The gatekeeper turned around and stared at Tak'mar.

"The Adversary is the one that the Absolute One created, an enemy of the Ascendants who protect Existence." It stated, answering the first question. It then pointed at Charlotte, Francesca, Gilead, Rodrick, and all of the humans. "They are a race called Humans, who live in planet Earth, Reality #6241, under the watch of Eteriel. She..." It added, now pointing at Silveria. "Is a Vampire, from a planet called Xaz'fa'grd-, Reality #5237, also under the watch of Eteriel. And I..." It stated, lowering it's hand. "Am Koriel, an Ascendant, the keeper of the Gates Of Salvation." It stated, and then turned around and continued walking.

[The Inritus Extraho]

Lind noted that he had fallen behind, and rushed to keep up. If there was one thing he noticed that he didn't like about the whole saved-from-Oblivion thing, it was that he noticed his clothes weren't repaired. There were still three nasty-looking bulled holes slightly about the left breast pocket. he pulled the pocketwatch from the aforementioned pocket, noticing it still ticked.

"Who knows if it's even right anymore..." he murmured sadly, then sped up, catching up, and listening quietly. He was kinda confused about the whole thing, except that he was supposed to fight some Adversary, maybe? He heard something about a sword, and was excited, then realized it was metaphorical. Too bad.

[Freemountia]

Gilead was a little taken aback that the angel not the angel, the ascendant, Koriel, or Corral, or something has answered his question directly. And he was just a tiny little bit irritated at the way in which the viking guy was patronizing everyone. He may have just died, but Gilead still had no tolerance for insufferable know-it-alls. He bit his tongue and held it in, instead looking at the archaically dressed, sword-girded gentleman who was busy looking at his watch and muttering at it.

"Need to be somewhere?" He stuck his hand out. "Gilead Wright, at your service."

[The Inritus Extraho]

Gilead was a little taken aback that the angel not the angel, the ascendant, Koriel, or Corral, or something has answered his question directly. And he was just a tiny little bit irritated at the way in which the viking guy was patronizing everyone. He may have just died, but Gilead still had no tolerance for insufferable know-it-alls. He bit his tongue and held it in, instead looking at the archaically dressed, sword-girded gentleman who was busy looking at his watch and muttering at it.

"Need to be somewhere?" He stuck his hand out. "Gilead Wright, at your service."

Lind looked up, slipped the pocketwatch back into the pocket, and then extended a black-gloved hand, shaking the man's hand. "No idea; as far as I can tell, I'm dead. Pity, too, I was about to go- no, that's another story." he smiled at the man.

"Lind Windsor, fencer and professor of physics." He released the man's hand, executing a short bow without stopping moving, and then stood straight again, left hand in a pants pocket, right hand on the basket-hilt of the sabre. "So... how's life? Or wait - how's death?"

[Freemountia]

Gilead was a little taken aback that the angel not the angel, the ascendant, Koriel, or Corral, or something has answered his question directly. And he was just a tiny little bit irritated at the way in which the viking guy was patronizing everyone. He may have just died, but Gilead still had no tolerance for insufferable know-it-alls. He bit his tongue and held it in, instead looking at the archaically dressed, sword-girded gentleman who was busy looking at his watch and muttering at it.

"Need to be somewhere?" He stuck his hand out. "Gilead Wright, at your service."

Lind looked up, slipped the pocketwatch back into the pocket, and then extended a black-gloved hand, shaking the man's hand. "No idea; as far as I can tell, I'm dead. Pity, too, I was about to go- no, that's another story." he smiled at the man.

"Lind Windsor, fencer and professor of physics." He released the man's hand, executing a short bow without stopping moving, and then stood straight again, left hand in a pants pocket, right hand on the basket-hilt of the sabre. "So... how's life? Or wait - how's death?"

Gilead smiled and fell into step with Lind. "I'm afraid I haven't been...deceased....long enough to determine whether I like it or not. So you're a fencer? That's really cool. I always wanted to learn how to use a sword."

[The Inritus Extraho]

Lind smiled, and drew the sword, his left hand still in his pocket as he lightly practiced a couple lunges then a parry. "Being dead doesn't seem to have degraded our physical abilities - mine, at least, are intact - though, being dead, it may be purely mental. If I expected to not be able to, maybe I wouldn't any more." He sheathed the sabre with a quiet snick, and then turned to look at the man, easily keeping step.

"So, what do you do?" He frowned. "Or is that did you do?"

[Malshan]

Gustave awoke from a sleep that no man should ever wake up from and looked around at the light and the group moving away from him. "Dammit. What kind of drug do they have me on? This is some strange shit..." He felt his chest and legs, searching for the lacerations and deep fissures in his skin and bone, yet finding none. "Huh. Well, I won't complain. Being whole is SO much better than being some wolf pack's dinner."

Gustave stood and hurried to catch up with the group of people that were following some kind of Seraphim. He checked over his gear and made sure that his sidearm was still loaded with its 9mm shells. His compound bow was still strung and his arrows were still separated by type, as far as he could tell. "So this isn't Hell nor Heaven....hmmm....some kind of Hades-type idea then? How interesting. The Ancient Greeks were smarter and more perceptive than we gave them credit for." He scratched his head. "So why exactly are we here, besides the obvious bit of having been saved from this 'oblivion'?"

[Freemountia]

Lind smiled, and drew the sword, his left hand still in his pocket as he lightly practiced a couple lunges then a parry. "Being dead doesn't seem to have degraded our physical abilities - mine, at least, are intact - though, being dead, it may be purely mental. If I expected to not be able to, maybe I wouldn't any more." He sheathed the sabre with a quiet snick, and then turned to look at the man, easily keeping step.

"So, what do you do?" He frowned. "Or is that did you do?"

"Biathlon, mostly. And trail running. I am...was... studying linguistics at Colorado State. Although I doubt that I will get to use any of that here. I see a deficiency of firearms in this place."

He glanced over at Lind's coat,

"Were you shot?"

[AETEN II]

"Because they like you essentially. Be it pity, empathy, or sympathy. I was plucked from the jaws of nothingness due to my many moons as an alchemist/healer. Sadly I was snatched here before they had the ability to restore extensive damage." Vebjorn stated as he held out his right hand, a skeletal structure wrapped tightly by ancient black skin that hugged his bones.
"Lucky youths. I died being preserved alive while that state some newer arrivals call a 'coma'?"

[Stattr]

Silveria followed the group silently and the Archkeeper. She kept quiet and when she heard something click she whirled around and listened again. This time hearing someone else. She listened to the conversations and heard another guy. Apparently his name was Tak'mar. When she heard her name and what she was she bowed slightly. "Yes that is my name." She repiled out of habit and again she heard something. She heard Lind, Gilead Wright announce himself and then Gustave.

So many people. She felt out of place and walked wil the rest of the group silently.

[The Inritus Extraho]

Lind smiled, and drew the sword, his left hand still in his pocket as he lightly practiced a couple lunges then a parry. "Being dead doesn't seem to have degraded our physical abilities - mine, at least, are intact - though, being dead, it may be purely mental. If I expected to not be able to, maybe I wouldn't any more." He sheathed the sabre with a quiet snick, and then turned to look at the man, easily keeping step.

"So, what do you do?" He frowned. "Or is that did you do?"

"Biathlon, mostly. And trail running. I am...was... studying linguistics at Colorado State. Although I doubt that I will get to use any of that here. I see a deficiency of firearms in this place."

He glanced over at Lind's coat,

"Were you shot?"

Lind nodded sadly. "Three robbers, or muggers, or whatever. They assumed from my attire I was fairly rich, and cornered me. Because of them standing so closely, I attempted to... disarm... them with my sabre. I got one of them before the others shot me." He frowned. "Doesn't quite matter. Biathalon is skiing and... pistol? Or was it rifle? I can never recall. I only watched the Olympics for the fencing and the skeleton."