More actions
Arken are Demons, but with a few caveats. The way scholars have described Arken are Demons who manifested from transdimensional energy but Alorian thoughts and ideas, resulting in a Demon that exists somewhere between worlds and belongs to neither. To many, Arken are anchors (that is also where the word comes from) that have firmly rooted their magical realms into the world of Aloria, thus explaining why there are only Eidolon and Abyss Arken, but Arken from the Silence or Anima realms. For Arken to have existed, their realm must have participated in or been the cause of a Void Invasion, which remains unique to the Abyss and Eidolon, respectively. Arken Lore is part of the wider Magic Lore.
History
Arken have been the near focal point of the so-called Immortal War, an unseen war between Dragons and Arken that has stretched on for thousands of years and resurfaces every so often in the historical narration of fallen civilizations. What scant archeological evidence can prove, the scholarly consensus is that the Arken fulfill some kind of entrenching role for transdimensional Magic in the world. To manifest massive Demon hordes, an Arken needed to be present. If one imagines Aloria as a sea, a ship, the analogy for the Demon hordes, requires a physical anchor to stay put and that is also where the name "Arken" comes from, based on the Elven term for ship anchor, "Arsën." Throughout millennia, Arken have been nothing but trouble for the world, either assisting with Void Invasions or causing mass death and misery wherever they go, even those ostensibly aligned with virtues.
A swivel occurred during the last Void Invasion, which was meant to destroy the Elven civilization and wipe even the nascent Ailor tribes from existence to start a new cycle. Instead of assisting in the Void Invasion, the Abyss Arken turned on the Arch-Abyss and the Abyss Beings and did something to the Veil that violently expelled the Demon Hordes from Aloria. The resulting reality snap of Elderlaw that tried to correct this event triggered the Cataclysm. Reality tried to superimpose itself onto this event to correct matter and reality being warped, causing global earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and landslides. Much of the western part of the world was affected, but areas that were not (like the Regalian Archipelago) would recover much faster and gain geo-political prominence as a result of the weakening collapsing Empires of old.
Arken have since had a much more dubious role in existence, acting as a more capricious and arbitrary element that both aids and deters mortals. A great example of this is the still fiercely debated Vampire Occupation of Regalia, caused by the Pride Arken seemingly and randomly deciding to screw with the lives of mortals in Regalia. From the onset, this situation was thought to be an attack on the Empire by the Pride Arken and an attempt to destroy it from within. As time passed, however, and with the conclusion of the occupation drawn, the Regalian Empire came out stronger than before and had advanced both in magical rights legislation and the necessary means to prevent any such event from occurring again. The state heavily invested in anti-magical city defenses, and a powerful Vampire Dread Fort was defeated, which had scant been done in history. Some argue that despite the misery it caused, the Vampire Occupation made the Regalian Empire stronger to face the next magical calamities that came along, or maybe the occupation was for the Pride Arken's entertainment to see people suffer, but neither can be said with certainty.
Arken are technically immortal. Arken collectively agreed sometime in the past that life on Aloria is fun and fulfilling because it creates a much richer experience than their native dimensions, and that living in it forever would put them back to square one. Because the Dragons initiated the Denial of Immortality before Cataclysm (which imposed Elderlaw to revoke the laws of immortality from the world, making it functionally impossible to be immortal), the Arken had to suffer the same rebirth cycles as mortals did. However, an Arken's soul is eternal, so the Arken started being reborn after their mortal bodies died with their mind intact. They collectively decided, except for the Power and Elderling Arken, to wipe their souls clean on every rebirth cycle. This means that the Arken have an immortal understanding of what they are but have mortal bodies that can be destroyed, forcing them to be reborn somewhere else in the world as an infant and grow up like a mortal.
Arken Manifestations
The Arken do not appear randomly in the world, as there is seemingly some logic to how they manifest, when, and where. Arken are born in order and always based on a manifested trait that is strongly felt in Aloria by mortals. Scholars have attempted to categorize this emotional or feelings energy as some kind of natural force, but aside from unclear definitions made by the Arken, this is a largely untested theory. It claims that because many mortals on Aloria feel particular emotions or sensations, they create a common energy or manifestation that affects reality in a similar way to how gods are born. People feel a particular desire or common intent and Daiana, the World Dragon, dreams them into being. The belief is held that if people hold certain traits to heart or express certain feelings the energy from this is used by the Arken to manifest identities.
Arken are born in order of the strength these emotions and feelings are felt in the world, and the traits are also neatly divided between the Abyss and Eidolon, the only two realms which have created Arken. It is theoretically possible for other realms to create realms but this does not happen. The strongest "vice" as it is felt by mortals is pride, causing the Pride Arken to be the firstborn of the Abyss. The Eidolon is an opposing realm of the Abyss, and so the two manifest as opposing pairs of Arken. When the Pride Arken was created, so too was the Justice Arken because the strongest "virtue" as it is felt by mortals is a desire to live a just life, free from tyranny and unlawfulness.
Every Arken can be categorized based on their order of birth. The most well-known established sequence of Abyss goes: Pride, Fury, Power, Avarice, Envy, Body, Dread, and Betrayal. The most well-known established sequence of Eidolon goes: Justice, Valor, Regnance, Charity, Compassion, Knowledge, Salvation, and Loyalty. Note while the Abyss-Eidolon Arken are neatly arranged in vices and virtues, it is not as easy as to refer to them as the good and evil Arken listings. As a general rule of thumb, Abyss Arken do bad things for good reasons, and the Eidolon do good things for bad reasons. The Fury Arken may, for example, kill thousands of soldiers to protect a single Velheim tribe from obliteration, while the Justice Arken performs judgment on criminals and killers who have evaded punishment by giving them a kangaroo court and executing them without mercy. There is always some nuance and wriggle room to this determination, but the most important takeaway is that Arken cannot have a clear morality defined to them purely by name. All Arken are capable of doing good and bad things and acting capriciously or graciously. They, unlike other Demons, are bound by the emotions of Aloria and thus far more "human" insofar as a Demon can become human-like. They cannot deny their emotions.
There are hundreds of Arken, some more powerful than gods, some barely powerful enough to equate to a mortal Mage. Beyond the 8 Abyss Arken, for example, there is Chaos, Dependence, Rejection, Conquest, Lust, and Malediction. The Eidolon, meanwhile, has others like Frost, Weaver, Maestro, Nature, Wanderlust, Absolution, Protection, and so much more. It is impossible to create an exhaustive list of all Arken because not even a third of them are alive in adult bodies at any given time. The Arken hunt each other for power by absorbing their souls, called Arkensparks. The Pride Arken, for example, has at least 11 Arkensparks, meaning he has killed 11 Arken and consumed their power. When an Arken dies, these sparks are released and rebirthed into mortal bodies, only for them to inevitably be hunted again or become the hunter. This hunter-prey cycle has happened throughout existence, meaning that to be an Arken is just as dangerous and chaotic as the lives of any mortals they affect.
Godlike Status
Arken are immensely powerful, more powerful than the Archmages of the Allorn Empire of old, and some debatably even more powerful than the gods or Dragons they waged wars against. Not all Arken are equally powerful, however. The top 20 or so Arken are considered very powerful or god-like, with the top 8 being considered immensely powerful with minor differences from each stage further down from the top. Arken, however, cannot be divine because their god-like status is not directly tied to faith manifesting like Alorian gods are. They do not benefit from worship like Alorian gods do and are, as such, not motivated by Divinium or other forms of worship. That being said, some people do worship Arken in unofficial so-called Arken worship, while they also sometimes encourage worship out of pure vanity, not because they have any god-like inclinations to do so. At the end of the day, they are more mortal than gods, and while the Arken have certainly killed gods in the past, it is more true that gods kill Arken because they always remain, ultimately, Demons. Demons hold Arken to some degree of contempt, not only because they are powerful and seemingly waste their power, but also because they betrayed their dimensions for personal gain and benefit, and because they are always beholden to Alorian emotions and can never be free from feeling.
Refractions
Arken experience a concept called refraction, when their identity splits into multiple sentient personas. Why this happens or how is not well understood, however, scholars have come to a rough consensus on some preconditions. The most common one is when an Arken kills and absorbs an Alorian god, or when the inverse happens. The concept of merging this transdimensional being with one purely out of Aloria seems to split the identity of both, causing the Arkenspark to be brought back into the ever-recycling birth cycle, but also for the godhood to be affected by the Arken's touch. Good examples of this are the Fornoss Gods Bard, who defeated and consumed part of the Justice Arken, and Thirun, who defeated the Fornoss God of the same name and subsumed his identity.
To call refractions "sharing a mind" is not wholly accurate. Because these souls are all interlinked, it remains true to state that all refractions are aware of the same information. They know the same things, have a shared historical narrative, and more or less learn information from the other refractions on the fly. That being said, they do not see or hear the same things, and they do not act the same way. Even if a refraction knows the same information, how that refraction chooses to act may be radically different. Thirun as a Fornoss God shares a capricious nature with the Pride Arken, but the Pride Arken is far more malicious and less motivated by religious devotion. The Pride Arken is constantly power-hungry while Thirun seeks religious devotion. Refractions can often also come into conflict, during which they behave no different than other gods at war.
Arkenborn
Because the Arken are far more mortal-behaving than other Demons and even some Gods, Arken do have affairs with mortals that last far longer than any Godborn may claim a single night affair between their mortal parent and a God. Some Arken have been known to secretly remain in a relationship for decades, siring Arkenborn, so-called Demi-Demons or Demonspawn. Arkenborn are Occult mortals who nonetheless are born with powers inherent from their Arken parent, and with personalities that align with the identity of their Arken parent. Arkenborn have historically faced much oppression and discrimination out of fear of their relation to Demons, but also to some degree reasonably to what is called Arken Madness. Arken Madness is when an Arkenborn becomes hostile or violent to their surroundings as a reaction or consequence of their natural impulses. Arkenborn have strong emotional impulses they cannot always control. Furyborn, for example, may experience fits of uncontrollable, extreme rage and violence, while Maestro Arkenborn create pieces of art that draw a lot of suspicion for cavorting with Demons. Many scholars debate that this is entirely their fault and not some consequence of the oppression they face and the eventual mental break that occurs. While it is technically possible for there to be hundreds of Arkenborn types, there is only a limited defined set as playable on the Arkenborn page to make managing easier.