Nobilis Enlightened

Imperator - The Shepherdess of Light

1. ‘Omneaum(a) became aware. In its awareness, it found loneliness. It saw potential, good, an impossibility.

2. Omneaum gave way to potential, and made the impossible possible. It was, things became.

3. Enlightenment arose, and so did I, Whole, Complete, bearing the Gifts of Light, Vaveram (b), Maricarum (c), Endeon (d), and Causality.

4. Omneaum’s legacy I shall honour and hold safe, now and forever, till the hour I too stand alone between Impossibility and Despair.’

- The Glorious One, the Shepherdess of Light, Imperator of Enlightenment -

(a) Omneaum: The Original Absolute Void

(b) Vaveram: Estate of Spontaneous Sentience and Awareness (Now Excruciated)

(c) Maricarum: Estate of Great Miracles through Personal Sacrifice (Now excruciated, succeeded by the estate of 'Magic' and 'Sacrifice')

(d)Endeon: Estate of the 'Lone Wolf Phenomenon', wherein those fighting against overwhelming odds are always guaranteed victory. Better known in our time as the 'Storm Trooper effect'. (Now excruciated)

Having predated the Imperators of 'Name', the Shepherdess is nameless and formless. Those who are fortunate enough to know her identify her as 'The Glorious One, the Shepherdess of Light', or, simply, 'The Shepherdess'. Having come into being before the birth of the concept of 'form' or even 'matter' and 'physical law', she is without form in the physical universe. She used to communicate with her agents in the physical universe through pulses of light and ripples in a fountain of light. Needless to say, a lot of liberty had been taken in deciphering her wishes. Recently, however, the Chief Engineer of the Sanctum, Orphus, has devised an ingenious megastructure, the Deus Ex Machina, a gigantic clockwork device that allows the Shepherdess to see into the physical realm and engage with it using a gigantic, rather clumsy steel claw and communicate using a ticker-tape telegram machine.

(Interestingly, having also preceded the Imperator of Gender, she is, or, at least, was, in essence, genderless. However, around 300 B.C. she became a part of debate amongst philosophers as an example of a being who must be 'of the default gender'. For some reason it was decided that the default gender was female, and so the Shepherdess has since been considered to be of the female persuasion. Not that she really cares. It is suspected that the Noble of Women had something to do with this, but that's a tale for another time.)

Prophesized successor of Ananda and future Shepherdess of the Fifth Age, the Glorious One has purposely been denied a seat on the Council of Four, for her ways are that of the ‘Enlightened’, incompatible with the ways of the other council-members. She earns Lord Entropy and Ananda’s tolerance for her existence only through her service in the Valde Bellum and her Light’s importance in maintaining the Weirding Wall, a task that consumes almost the entirety of her attention and being (much to Lord Entropy’s and Ananda’s satisfaction).

The Heavens despise her, for an Angel of Creation she is not, and yet she brought forth the first Light that made everything that was Beautiful possible. Only the fact that her Light is necessary for beauty and this fact alone earns her the toleration of Heaven. The Wild would have nothing to do with her, for there is no freedom in sacrifice.The Hells, the Darkness and the Light all loath her, for not only is she the voice of wisdom that transcends not just the Corruption that the Hells endeavour towards, but she is also the voice that moves all beings towards becoming more than the matter they are made from, transcending what they are, pushing them ever onwards towards a greater purpose not only in life but also in death. Those who follow her code wish for naught else but the glory of dying for a greater good.

Vow of the Enlightened

1) Everything has a cause and an end. The Enlightened shall embrace this.

2) Noble deeds are of Noble cause and Noble ends. The Enlightened shall serve this.

3) The Impossible has a cause and the Enlightened transcends its end. The Enlightened shall surpass this.

1) Everything has a cause and an end. The Enlightened shall embrace this. - One thing leads to another. And at the end of all things is an ‘end’.

2) Noble deeds are of Noble cause and Noble ends. The Enlightened shall serve this. - Every good act must be good of purpose and good of result. This clause seems to fail to (most probably purposely) mention anything regarding the means. Taking the most liberal interpretation, a ‘Noble deed’ can have means as lacking in morals as a psychotic mass murderer, and yet still be considered ‘Noble’ in the eyes of the ‘Enlightened’. What matters is the cause, the intention and the ends. Everything in between matters naught.

3) The Impossible has a cause and the Enlightened transcends its end. The Enlightened shall surpass this. - The ultimate sacrifice can conquer anything, even the impossible. This is the one true ‘Miracle’, Magic at its purest, one that allows the Enlightened to surpass his/her own end and achieve greatness through sacrifice. The Shepherdess safeguards the cause of all who sacrifice themselves for a greater purpose, guaranteeing them the miraculous magic of success.

Estates: Light, Determinism, Magic, Chivalry, Honour, Loyalty, Courage, Justice, Karma, Logic, Alchemy, Sacrifice, Curiosity, Sun, Moon, Stars

Excruciated Estates: Vaveram, Maricarum, Endeon, Astelumina

Qualities:

Great Harvest (2)

Cold (-1)

Demanding (-1)

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PC Nobles of the Enlightened

The Foreguard of the Enlightened

Alicia - Principissa of Light

Emil - Power of Determinism

Charles - Lord of Chivalry

Lyna - Regina of Magic

NPC Nobles of the Enlightened

The Vanguard of the Enlightened

Regine - Inquesta of Loyalty

Jessie - Tempesta of Courage (Sort of veering towards Impetuous Juvenile Recklessness)

Illumina - AllMother of Alchemy

Novice Alchemist extraordinaire and (rather unwilling) Commander of the Alchemist Flameheart Squad, Illumina is yet another recent addition to the Famiglia. She's currently worried about the sorry state of her estate (mostly usurped by Chemistry and now reduced to nothing more than a fantasy fiction gimmick) and a missing prominent Alchemist amongst other things....but mainly by the prospect of responsibility in general.

She is widely known, even outside Alchemist circles, as 'Big Bang Lum'.

Elune - Principissa of the Stars

While relatively senior in the Famiglia of the Enlightened (by simple virtue of everyone else being very recent additions), that's as far as her seniority goes. In every other respect, she is mostly helpless, though the more understanding dismiss this as a reflection of her estate - stars aren't known to be do much other than be pretty, especially lately with modern technology supplanting the need for stellar navigation or calendar-keeping. It used to be so much different when her sister, the Noble of Astelumina, the power of stellar influence upon the workings of the universe and lives on earth, was still around. Now as the stars fade and people forget the stars, Elune lies ill, slowly fading herself.

The Diplomatic Corp (Intelligence) of the Enlightened

Rang Fan - Excelifficer of Logic

Born a humble villager in a Tibetan highland settlement, Rang Fan grew up completely illiterate. She was, however, a keen observer and deep thinker. She developed her own concise and strict principles of logic, one that often found fault in the traditionalist views of the people she lived amongst. Some saw her as a source of wisdom, some saw her as a demon-possessed child.

She became the favourite anchor of the previous Noble of Logic for a while. During this time, her mastery of logic developed brilliantly. Unfortunately, she came afoul of a Chinese official when she publicly defeated him in a debate regarding the accusation of rebellion on the part of the village.

Geronimo - High Chief of Sacrifice

Han Gua - Exarch of Honour

Jimmy - Arch-Provost of Curiosity

The Unassigned of the Enlightened

Justice(?) - Empress of Justice

Not much is known about Justice, the 1st Noble of Justice. She is the eldest of the current Famiglia, though in the time of the original Famiglia, she was the youngest. She is the last surviving member of the original Famiglia of the Enlightened. It is rumoured that she was an Angel before she joined the Enlightened, though whether or not this is true is unknown. Her real name is unknown. Nobody has seen her in a long, long while. The only members of the current famiglia who have seen her are Han Gua and Elune.

Currently absent. Whereabouts unknown.

Thomas Eire - Keeper of Karma

Kaguya - Himegami of the Moon

Tsukishiro no Kaguya-hime is perhaps the second eldest of the Famiglia, though she takes great care not to let anyone know that. She is the second Noble of the Moon. There are rumours that she was behind the Apollo 13 failure. When asked about it, she would give you a disdainful look and walk away. Then again, she'd do that no matter what you tried to bring up with her.

Currently very, very vain.

Kimo - the Emperor of the Sun

Chancel - Sanctum Excelestia

HG's Impression 1

Qualities

Megalomaniac King/Queen (-4)

Normal Magic (3)

Alchemy (1)

2 Banes (-1)

Convenient Gates (2)

Anchorable Magical residents (4)

Government

The Sanctum is under the absolute Executive rule of the Emperor who answers only to the Shepherdess. Administrative rule is divided amongst the 4 major domains under the 4 queens:

Alicia - High Queen of the Diamond Tower.

Technically, having inherited the title of 'High Queen' from her predecessor, Alicia commands the Council of Four Queens and the Round Table of Dominums. However, as she has only recently joined the Famiglia, responsibility over the Council of Four Queens has fallen on the reluctant shoulders of Elune while the Round Table of Dominums is overseen by Han Gua.

Lyna - Queen of the Ruby Gardens.

The Ruby Gardens refers to the entirety of the Arcane Arts Academy Complex within the Outer Circle where the majority of mages of Excelestia train and live. However, to most of the citizens, the 'Ruby Gardens' itself refers to the seat of government, the Ruby Palace, a magnificent rose-shaped palace of crystal grown from the very essence of the Chancel itself in the middle of the Ruby Gardens.

Elune - Queen of the Sapphire Sky.

The Sapphire Sky refers to the entirety of the sky in between the floating structures of the Sanctum. While Elune governs no real land, she controls all traffic in the airspace around the Sanctum. Her official seat of government is the Sapphire Palace, a beautiful crystalline Sapphire star floating high up within the Inner Circle, though she is rarely ever there. She usually lives in her observatory on a lonely island high above the Sanctum.

Jessie - Queen of the Emerald Fields.

The Emerald Fields refer to most of the land floating in the Ciellan Expanse, the sky beyond the Outer Wall. The Emerald Fields

Other sub-domains include:

The Amethyst Shores

Governed officially by Illumina, provisionally by the Arch-Artificer of the Great Guild of Alchemists. The Amethyst Shores are a group of closely-packed islands within the Outer Circle where the majority of the Alchemists of Excelestia live. While alchemists can be found just about anywhere, the Amethysts Shores are really the only place where they can make things explode to their hearts content without causing tempers to explode all around them. Alchemists can also be found en masse at the Ruby Gardens.

The Garnet Fortress

Governed mainly by Charles, the Garnet Fortress encompasses the Inner and Outer Walls of the Sanctum and the bastion of the Knights.

The Beryl Earth

Governed mainly by Regine, the

Judicial Rule is under the Absolute Court headed by the Shepherdess and the Supreme Court headed by the Noble of Justice and her Circle of Justiciaries.

Security

The city has a number of defense corps organized to different degrees by a number of Nobles.

The Chivalrous Gentlemanly TownWatch

The Magical Avengers of Love and Peace

Organized by the 5th Noble of Magic, a rather...odd Master of Magic who believed that wearing frilly clothing is a form of sacrifice to society and preached that magical power is exponentially proportional to the frilliness of one's clothing. Now maintained by the 7th Noble of Magic, Lyna, who keeps up most of the traditions of the 5th.

The Upholders of Equivalent Exchange, the Eternally Passionate Flameheart Alchemists (EPFA)

Organized by the previous Noble of Alchemy, a rather fluffy and passionate Lady Alchemist, and maintained by the recently appointed Noble, Illumina, the EPFA are at best socially-involved nerds, at worst really, really messy vigilantes (unfortunately, more often the latter). They mainly keep the domain of the Alchemists, the Amethyst Shores, as well as their portion of the Ruby Gardens, safe...for a given value of 'safe'.

The Infallibly Just Circle of Justiciers

The Eternally Loyal Shieldmaidens of [Insert Place Name Here]

Organized by the current Noble of Loyalty,

The Ever-Watchful Lantern Kindlers and Lamp Bearers of the Stars

The Righteous Karmic-Retributioneer Monks of Karma

The LoreKeepers and Agents of Literary Vengeance, the Combat Librarians