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 Aether (b), Light, Vaveram (c), Maricarum (d), Endeon (e), 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) Aether: Estate of 'Absolute Potential', the 'Impossible made Possible', the very basic element of creation from which all matter and life flowed. It was said to have been more abundant in space. (Now excruciated, succeeded in part by the estate of 'Magic')

(c)Vaveram: Estate of Spontaneous Sentience and Awareness (Now Excruciated. Never replaced.)

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

(e)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.

It is unclear what her true nature or form is. Nobody seems to remember when she came to be, or how for that matter. Some suspect she is one of the Heavenly legion, an Angel, but not only do the Heavens and its angelic denizens despise her at the best of times, her ways are most definitely not that of Heaven. Some surmise that she is a fallen Angel, but the cause of Hell she does not serve. It is highly possible that she is a True God, but all of creation knows they did not appear until long after the Angels had begun the Great Work. Recently, when passings of the Transcendants were properly documented in AP 4732, it was surmised that she is perhaps a Transcendant who somehow chose to settle upon the World Ash, perhaps one of the Charitable. Said document is Creation's closest description of the Shepherdess' nature, her gifts being her Estates and her Law.

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.

Details

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

Excruciated Estates: Aether, Vaveram, Maricarum, Endeon, Astelumina

Qualities:

Great Harvest (2)

Cold (-1)

Demanding (-1)

---

The Famiglia of the Enlightened

The Famiglia of the Enlightened were a highly respected and influential group about 4-5 centuries before, their power extending from the very birth of creation. However, in a highly unorthodox move around the 4002 A.P., the Council ordered the Shepherdess to provide additional support in the Valde Bellum proper, above and beyond her maintenance of the Weirding Wall. Seeing as the Wall already consumed most if not all her power and attention, she was forced to mobilize members of her Famiglia, something quite unprecedented. The Nobles of Maricarum, Aether and Endeon were the first to volunteer for the great undertaking, having attained near-Imperator-level powers at the time. A few centuries later, Vaveram, Astelumina, Chivalry, Courage and Alchemy too joined their brother and sisters in the direct defense of creation. They held the line for a good few centuries, seeing a slow but definite turnover in nobles. That was until, for reasons still unknown, Maricarum, Aether, Endeon, Vaveram and Astelumina were excruciated one by one. The last to fall were Endeon and Astelumina in 4895 AP, at the same time 500 years of Human History was erased.

With no time to mourn, the Famiglia of the Enlightened were forced to mobilize more members of their famiglia to the front lines. The following few years saw more of their Nobles killed, though thankfully not excruciated.

Now with few remaining senior members, the famiglia struggles to stay on its feet with the large influx of new family members. Will they be able to live up to their predecessors? Will they be able to return the family to its former glory and take it to new heights? Or will this be the end of the Enlightened? That is up to the new Famiglia.

PC Nobles of the Enlightened

The Foreguard of the Enlightened

Alicia - Principissa of Illumination

The 21st Principissa Of Illumination.

Emil - Power of Determinism

The 13th Power of Determinism

Charles - Lord of Chivalry

The 77th Lord of Chivalry

Lyna - Regina of Magic

The 66th 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

Vie - Noble of Hope

A rather mysterious member of the famiglia, she wonders in and out of the chancel rather randomly.

Chancel - Locus Enlightenment, 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. Legislative and 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 house a good portion of the Sanctum's agricultural and mining settlements. Her seat of government is the Emerald Palace, a beautiful viridian structure of moss-covered wood and succulent, fresh folliage that grow and thrive all year round, coiled around a giant magnificent Emerald of a green deeper than the land that surrounds it.

Other Noteworthy Locations

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, Magical Taskforce Ruby Gardenia

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

Groups

Besides the defense forces of the Chancel, the Sanctum also harbours a number of groups.

The Enclave of Emerald Alchemists Also known as the 'Emerald Artisans', this society of Alchemists was founded by the 7th Noble of Light, TanetNephthys, and the 1st Noble of Alchemy, Armagustine Trimegistus, after the passing of the third Noble of Maricarum, Hermes Trimegistus, founder of the Emerald Arts.

In a major nettle rite wrought by the 2nd Noble of Botany, Ephistopheles, against the Noble of Alchemy, in a daring move to split the art into two major paths forever, the Enclave was splintered in two - The Cleave fo Botanists and the Enclave of Emerald Artisans. The Botanists left the Sanctum, carrying with them the entirety of botanic knowledge. The Alchemists, however, managed to keep the Principa Alchimia safe and prevented the botanists from acquiring an absolute monopoly over the Emerald Arts. The two now jealously guard their arts, for if one were to acquire the arts of the other, they would become unstoppable.

The botanists are known to pass through the Chancel to deal with the Emerald Artisans.

Laws

The Chancel operates on general principles of Justice commonly found in any other society where concepts of Law and Justice exist. It has a few notable exceptions such as:

- Any deed with noble ends are exempt from law's scrutiny upon its means. This means even the most foul of deeds is considered lawfully just as long as its ends are noble. It comes with a very, very important caveat - the good of the outcome must far exceed the evil committed. This is particularly difficult to achieve with murder, as murder, the theft of the sanctity of one's life, is the basest, most evil of crimes that even the earth itself abhors.

-

N.B. The Chancel operates on the Code Napoleon, that the suspect is guilty until proven otherwise, as Lady Justice willed it to be in the prosaic realm.

Notable Individuals

Orphus Denilzante Chief Magitech Engineer of the Sanctum and designer of the Deus Ex Machina.

Reno Orfayne Owner of Reno's Empirio, the one-stop fashion designer for Nobles, known to be second only to his Master, Enzel Haulor of 7th Avenue and 91st Street NY.

Sammy Westine Proprietor and Chief Engineer of Westine Airships, Sammy is the young brilliant mind behind this generation's latest magitech airships. Having mastered Alchemy, Magic and Magitech at a young age, she went on to implement her excellent knowledge in airship design and construction. Her airships are used not just within the Sanctum but all over Creation. While she does produce combat-ready airships, she only produces them as personal favours for Nobles she trusts. These make proud flagships in any war fleet. It is rumoured that she is working with Aeril Jotunstrom, Noble of Ships, from Locus Atlantis, on warships capable of sailing the world beyond creation and taking part directly on the frontlines of the Valde Bellum.

Victor

Mythic Realm

Chancels Known

From the Primer on Loci Celatum, by Holly Djurisic What follows are descriptions of chancels considered widely known and to be no secret to those versed in the ways of the Mythic. Everyone knows them as a matter of common sense.

Locus Amarant

The Great Market, the Gardens of Lady Profit, Amarant is perhaps one of the few chancels that has no doors, and, even if it did, they would be wide open to welcome one and all. After all, even your worst enemy is a potential customer. Any invader would quickly find themselves besieged by peddlers of weaponry, trust and treachery, even the very spoils they are after. Everything the discerning Noble might need is available here...for the right price. The preferred currency are fleurs, but the locals have been known to trade with other things such as miracles and pacts. Some nobles come here not just to buy but also to sell. If you want or need it, Locus Amarant will sell it, or if not, then at least it will sell you the expertise of someone who CAN get it. Needless to say, the cammorae are all over Amarant.

It is well-known that even Excrucians frequent Amarant, and they know full well never to destroy Amarant....at least not until their victory is assured, for Amarant will be more than happy to sell them the means to that victory, or maybe even that victory itself....for the right price. Why destroy something so blatantly useful?

Chancel of Lady Profit, Immiae Arathy, and the Nobles of Trade, Currency, Negotiation, Supermarket Loyalty Cards, and Cookies. Yes, Cookies.