Crossing The Forbidding Part 1; Tremors of the Past (Patreon)

Long ago, when the Kingdoms of Theria were young, a great kinling known as Leodin was offered the ‘Power of Ascension’ by the Druid Bast. This power was granted to the lion for his heroism and strength of character; and though he would not claim himself to be a god, for despite his newfound immortality, the humble King knew his limitations; he would still be come to be known by his patron He would come to be known as the God King Leodin.

Leodin would not hoard his new powers, instead, sharing the secrets of ascension with his siblings; his sister Kimbra and his brothers, the twins Hayder and Panja. Each became the patrons of quarter of the lands of the Reach, reigning as Kings and Queens, each ruling for over a hundred years before it was decided that they should leave the governance of the mundane to their mortal lines.

An idealist at heart, the God King dreamed of a day when all of Elcrest would benefit from having a patron such as he. To this end he traveled around the world looking for a chosen few, paragons of their peoples and cultures. Immortal and blessed with the power of an ascended, he had the time to wait, watch, and assess those he would consider forging into divinity. It is here where the very first seeds of what would become the Leodian Pantheon were planted.

Those ascended by Leodin, his Eternians, were not gifted ascension like he had been, for he did not wish others to give that power and knowledge away so freely. He instead would use magics and ancient machina to share the gifts of ascension, and the knowledge to wield it, without revealing how the power worked in truth. This was the only stipulation the Druidin Order had for allowing Leodin to forge his pantheon.

The Eternians of old possessed incredible might, polymorphic abilities, strong arcane affinities, and unrivaled ætheric attunements. Each had the power to change form, function, and even gender at a whim. The power of ascension gave them command of their inner essence so completely that they were more one with themselves and their physical form than any living being on the planet. It is these abilities and powers that gave rise to the first Elderian races.

Little is known in the present day about the ‘Power of Ascension,’ what the ancient Draconians referred to as the ‘Gifts of Salamus’. It is believed that these ‘arcane abilities’ were the complete attunement with one quintessence and the vessel housing it. A sort of ‘gift of internal understanding’. This endowment of knowledge is thought to allow sentient creatures a deep, preternatural understanding of the workings of their bodies, the awareness of the intricate relationship between ætheric energies and the physical form, and how to alter or augment themselves through mastery of this insight. Granted them the ability to change what it meant to be a being of the world.

Those chosen by Leodin received the intrinsic knowledge of an Eternian, allowing them to increase the density of bones, increase the strength of their muscle fibers to incredible levels, and even control their cellular senescence; slowing the aging process to less than a and effectively making them immortal. Potent weaves benediction and ancient enchantments were weaved into their spirit wells, increasing their arcane affinities and attunement with the flow of Mana. These were boons and abilities imprinted in the core of each new Eternian, a portion of their radiance that they could not control, nor understand; but there were other gifts that were not so limited.

Many of the polymorphic abilities of Eternians were used frivolously. They could change their appearance, species, hair, eye, or fur color. Eternian could grow new appendages, such as wings, or additional horns. Beautify themselves to fulfill some sort of vanity or model themselves to a visage more appropriate to their new station. An eternian could make virtually any change to their physique to suit their own personal taste. Most did so simply to stand out and above the mundane for which they were tasked with watching over.

More useful were the abilities to change how their bodies interacted with the world around them. An Eternian could change how they sustained their existence. Despite seeming immortality and possessing of newfangled arcane might, Eternians still needed to consume energy to survive. How they consumed that energy however, was no longer bound to the constraints of their original form.

A few did away with the basic need to eat food and drink water, instead drawing their energy directly from outside sources; like the flow itself. Though this had its dangers. Others were creative and drew nourishment from the sun's rays. Like a plant, they were able to absorb water from the rain, or draw it to them from the precipitation in the air. There were some who changed their physiology so completely, that none could tell how they sustained themselves at all.

The understanding of self, brought a deeper understanding of the natural world. Knowledge is indeed power, and the ascended had been granted the secrets of science, arcana, and self that allowed them to better comprehend the complex dynamics of life and death.

Eternians had a deep understanding of why life decayed and deteriorated over time, and were able to not only curtail this in themselves; but subtly affect other organic life with their abilities. This is where Leodin’s Pantheon got its name. Not for the fact that they themselves would be eternal, but that the knowledge and the energies created by their ascension would exist in everything they touched. Their essence is forever a part of the living world, rather than returning to be subsumed by the flow of Mana.

Despite Leodin’s originally assertions and wishes, the Eternian’s would come to be considered the new gods of Elcrest; with only the Druids and the All Mother, the Goddess Angea revered about them.   Why things deteriorated over time and how they could curtail and even cease this process within themselves. This made them for all intents and purposes, immortal. Thus the Eternian’s of old were born to the world and with the power of ascension ruled over the lands and lesser beings, revered as deities and gods chosen upon high.

Before the end of ‘The Baptism of Fire’, the Leodian Pantheon numbered in the hundreds. Kinlings from all over the world had ascended to divinity and taken on a name and role in service as patrons of their people. In time a great deal of the original Eternians had offspring. Elioudan that would carry their legacy and a hint of their power down a blessed mortal line; however there were other children, those not born of mundane lovers and consorts, children born of the divine union between Eternians. These powerful progenies carried more than a hint of their parents ascended might.

Known as the Elderians Races, these scions of the ascended had more than a mere fraction of their parent’s might, they had most of it. In spite of not inheriting the power of ascension directly, Elderian children possessed most of their parents powerful attunements and affinities, and all of the physiological augmentations that were present during their conception. Not true Eternians, they nevertheless displayed the talents and latent abilities of their progenitors. The physiological changes their parents underwent were now simply their natural form.

In spite of lacking all of the polymorphic talents of an Eternian, especially the ability to change the core aspects of their physical form at will, the Elderian’s were nevertheless quite a great deal more powerful than any mundane kin, including most Elioudan. Many of these ascended races grew both famous and infamous over the centuries, each writing their own legend on the stage of history; but none were so compelling as that of the cubi.

Historians believe the first succubus, and mother of the entire race, was Alilia Eisheth; a former princess of the ancient kingdom of Sathariel. When her Kingdom was beset by invaders, Alilia, a girl of merely seventeen, sought the blessings of the Goddess to help save her people. It is said that the will of Mana heard her prayers by Vandarian the Nightshade, one of Leodin’s Eternians. Vandarian was intrigued by the sheer force of character and inner confidence of the young lagomorph who demanded an audience at one of his temples.

Hearing her plight and seeing a benefit in her cause, Vandarian gave her his blessing; bestowing her with the symbol of his majesty and item imbued with his power. The curio was not a weapon however, but a talisman. One that would grant Alilia the essence of Vandarian, infusing her being temporarily with the will of his quintessence. With it she gained his powers of seduction and charm. His gravitas and ability to manipulate mundane at a whim. Vandarian had altered himself to be more appealing to others through sound, scent, touch, and taste; and his amulet granted Alilia these powers. If only for a short time.

The bold hare wasted no time using the abilities to sway foes, influence allies, and gain the support she needed to resist the invaders. Though a common hare who was no more beautiful than another, Alilia relied on her wit, confidence, and unflinching sensuality to make up for her pedestrian looks. They say she toppled an entire army with only her bountiful breasts and the crevice between her legs. Vandarian was impressed.

Vandarian would take Alilia as his consort, promising her a life better than she was born with; but the young temptress was not interested in his offer. She had had a taste of power that she’d never known and wished to gain more if she could. Alilia would use her abilities and Vandarian’s gift to ingratiate herself to others in his pantheon, the audacious mortal who deigned to seduce the divine. A laughable notion, until it proved so successful that she managed to convince Hayder to grant her the power ascension.

Alilia became the Eternian of Lust and grew very popular among those who worshiped her. Though she’d grown obsessed with carnality and debauchery, she was nevertheless a just patron. Often using her gifts to punish men and women who abuse their beauty without giving anything in return. Over the centuries she would change her appearance and race as others would change shirts, tailoring her look to be the most desired among the crowd.

Her children, for she had many, were born with her gifts and the physical augmentations she had granted herself. Like a scant few Elderians, the scions of lust retained a great deal of the polymorphic abilities of their matiline; they would also gain her ability to consume the quintessence through coitus to sustain herself. Like their mother, this new race, the cubi, gained great pleasure in the act of feeding. What they did not inherit was Alilia’s discipline or restraint. The Eternian of Lust had birthed the fist lilins and they became a scourge upon Elcrest.

Thankfully Alilia’s offspring were not nearly as powerful as their mother. The only reason that they weren’t all hunted down and purged off the face of the planet. Still, they survived by relying on subversive magics and feeding upon the quintessence of other living beings. A near insatiable lust was a part of their very being and those who could not control it would feed gluttonously, unconcerned about nourishment or survival, just the simple pleasure of it. The cubi were constantly in danger of themselves being subverted by their stolen energies, becoming demons who hungered for nothing more than to continue to consume. It is this exigency that almost saw the entire race purged by the Leodian Pantheon. For cubi would grow powerful, perilous, and beyond all else deadly to all life on Elcrest.

For you see different creatures have different flavors of energy to a cubi. Emotions such as happiness, sadness, enjoyment, and guilt; everything a person feels and inexperienced has an impact on their quintessence. What succubus might call ‘flavoring’ their essence. Addiction to the euphoric experience of taking that essence is as intoxicating as energy itself; creating a vicious cycle that nearly always ends in a subverted creature being born of the cubi. The vile predators of the night which are cited in the legends of such beings are these poor souls.

During the time before the culling, cubi preyed upon mundane kinlings unbidden; killing many and enthralling many more. They Elderians enjoyed ruining virgins, destroying harmonious marriages, defiling the pious, and some even enjoyed draining their victims to the very last drop. Leaving nothing behind but the withered husks of once was a person. They fed in excess, not to sustain themselves, but for the sheer pleasure of it; it is no wonder Hayder himself sought to rid the world of their menace. It was only the hand of Leodin’s mercy that they were not all purged.

For her irresponsibility and disregard, Alilia was stripped of many of her powers. The magic weaved into her being weakened as punishment. No longer would she be allowed to roam free and unchecked in the world, and her children, the remaining cubi, would be closely monitored. Their survival is linked to their ability to exercise restraint and self control.

Alilia fearing that she would be cast from the pantheon, losing her immortality and beauty, took her chosen children and allowed the rest to perish. Any who refused the authority of their mother would not reap the benefits of her protection. In order to survive the cubi created a culture of discretion, secrecy, and self-discipline in their dealings with the mundane. This reticence became law and all future cubi would be compelled to abide.

The cubi would spend the next centuries living in secrecy, never revealing themselves en masse, and interacting only in situations of their choosing. They became something of a myth to the mundane whose memories would not stretch back more than a few generations. The very name of Alilia being lost to all but those who still worshiped the Eternian of Lust.

When Salamus fell upon the world and the purge of the furkin, both mortal and Eternian alike began, the cubi did not choose sides or take up arms. They continued to hide away, hoping to ensure their own survival. Unfortunately for them they too were castaway behind the Forbidding with the rest of the ‘true ascended’ at the great war's end.

Though Alilia remained a member of the Leodian Pantheon, now led by the Stone King Dumat, sealed behind the Forbidding; her daughter, the first true succubus, Lilith is a member of the dark council and one of the infamous ‘Nine’. Little is known about this group of Elderians who are said to oppose their Eternian parents. Information about the Elderlands are scarce at best, with little crossing over in the two and a half centuries not much is known about the politics of the Elderlands. Though it is speculated that the Eternian’s still rule.

Not a place, but a pocket of existence between the mortal and astral planes. It is said that the Eidolon Salamus himself, stole away an entire continent, lifting it from the sea and casting it in the realm between realities; but it was not he who erected the forbidding.

No, the great magical barrier was constructed by the combined efforts of his celestial Dragons on one side and two of the most powerful Eternians on the other side. Alowyn the Eternian of Mercy, and his lover Eræthia, the Eternian of Reason, two souls who were once caught on separate sides of the conflict, reunited to ensure the survival of the furkin race. The two sacrifice themselves, their very essence becoming the veil between worlds, or so it is written in the annals. With their sacrifice all creatures of ascension were sealed behind the Forbidding, trapped in the Elderlands, ostensibly never to return.

This new circumstance seemed to serve the cubi race well for a time. Their legend and influence still echoing in the shadows of the mundane lands. Many foolish mortals wish to somehow pierce the veil and beg for their favor. Among the Elderian races only they could cross over, though temporarily, with any degree of frequency. With their culture born of secrecy and discretion, it was easy to keep their dalliances from both the Dark Council and the Eternians beside.

That would all change however, when one night, under the blood moon, a foolish cadre of witches would summon one of their kind with enough energy to sustain her in our world for some time. That night, under the light of the blood moon, the flow of mana was altered and changed, the mighty Forbidding weakened enough for one as powerful as she to come through. With golden eyes she marveled at the mundane world, feeling the flow directly for the first time in nearly three hundred years.

Giddy at the thought of all the mundane lands had to offer, a wicked smile grew across the succubus’ maw. With the eerie light of the crimson night reflecting off of her long, emerald hair, she laughed; the history and rules of her people far from her mind. Reveling in the anticipation of future conquest, the Elderian ran a clawed finger over her burgeoning arousal and licked the air. With a glint in her eye she stared down at the Maaheesian town of Braylen, wet with the expectation and dark promise.