Territory

Akah’teal’s territory covers the entirety of the Crescent Isles and the surrounding shallows and reefs. It is a place of inhospitable jungles and rainforests, where natural wildlife grows in abundance, slowly enveloping the detritus of civilizations left abandoned in the last decade. The surfaces of the Isles are teeming with bestial communities at an uneasy peace sharing the dense vegetation. All that are left have found a way to thrive on the windfall of their once great Queen’s grace.

A fallen humanoid empire mars the otherwise unblemished sea of verdant treetops in the tropical Isles Akah’teal calls her home. She resides hidden deep in her greatest temple in a vulnerable state, and it remains to be seen if she can even defend her territory from invasion. Her Veiled Cult is ever watchful of her physical condition and takes care of her every need, and they ensure that the secret of her location remains untold to outsiders on pain of death.

With the Grand Temple hidden away, deep in the mixed jungle and forest, many still have attempted an expedition. None have come back to tell tales of glory and gold.

The Vestigeborne spends much of her time projecting her influence beyond the confines of her temple, slipping through a rift to scour the Astral Void. Her destination is the Plane of Life, which she believes holds the power to restore her to her former glory. Due to her condition, however, as the veil grows thin, creatures from the Deadlands seeking her energy and spirit are drawn like moths to her weak flame. This is especially true when she manifests, as undead amass near leylines and burial grounds on the Material Plane. She is careful to avoid manifesting for long, as this manifestation carries a thread of connection to the Deadlands with it, where her spirit would be trapped should she breathe her last.

Appearance

Physical Form

Akah’eal’s physical draconic form is diminutive in size and humbly postured compared to her firstborn siblings. Her draconic body is similar in size to a massive anaconda, stretching from 10.5m snout to tail. On all fours, she is a meek 2.5m in height and standing upright on her hind legs, and she is 7 metres high. Most might mistake her for anything but a dragon as her frail body rests serenely in a coiled position on her ornate palanquin. Her scales are covered in heavy bandages inscribed with glyphs and sigils, and her jade colouring scarcely peeks through the finely oiled and scented wrappings giving her a demure but opulent aesthetic. Her long feathered wings are left uncovered and outstretched to an impressive 20 metres, hung by silver threaded rope to ensure the countless feathers adorning them are habitually preened with preserving balms and oils. A millennia ago, she dressed to fit for a proud and mighty warrior covered in garish displays of splendour. Her Draconic death mask depicts her snake-like face carved from massive chunks of jade and malachite. The depiction of her feathered head is lavishly gilded in mithril and gold.

The mortal form she takes has only ever been seen by those who upkeep her body in her designated temple. Those followers privileged with the honour of attending to her continued preservation are rewarded with the opportunity to behold her resplendence. Measuring under six feet tall, her striking appearance begins with a lithe female form covered in wrappings. When gazing upon her face, the strong jaw and cheekbones cast darkness on her already tan skin. Sunken cheeks and eye sockets contrast her tireless and wary gaze. Her unnerving eyes shine like opals, and her pupils are frequently missing. She holds a wicked jade-embedded Macuahuitl in one hand and a snaking silver kris in the other. Her chest is bound with a tight ceremonial regalia that has seen use in battle. A cuirass ornately decorated with a pair of leather wings befitting lost sovereignty. Around her waist rests an armoured battle skirt with silver embellishments. Her wrists and ankles are further adorned with silver cuffs covered in sigils and glowing blue hieroglyphs modelled after the inscriptions on after the inscriptions on the Doranth, the Firstborn of Magic’s scales.

Manifested Form: (Astral)

Akah’teal’s manifested spiritual form can only be described as “a solemn and ethereal eminence.” The few who live to tell the tale after seeing it have the palpable gravity of their situation suspended by their awe and disbelief. Pulsating malachite waves of energy wash over them as they feel unknowable sorrowful woes strike at their spirits. The dreary ghostflames mirror the anguish of an immortal’s bouts of misery.

Her projected state is a dazzling mosaic of coruscating jade scales, constantly shifting in subtle ways. Opaque and ethereal at the same time, the attempt to focus on any one detail is bewildering, and hieroglyphic symbology manifests and changes as her form writes with twisting visuals. No description nor rendition is the same, as the eyes of the beholder portray her with whatever their minds can fathom from a blurred and overwhelming memory.

Since her injuries prevent Akah’teal from moving in physical form, be it her draconic or humanoid form, she has mastered and prefers manifesting instead. While projecting her Draconic form, she can portray herself as larger than her true self but never smaller in stature—ethereal and ghostly hues of jade, with coruscating feathered wings. Adorned in silver and gold jewellery and wearing her death mask, she is an intimidating figure to behold.

When she projects her humanoid form, she can strike out from the astral realm with her jade Macuahuitl, a weapon of silver with pieces of glowing jade in place of a blade jetting from its handle. Her ethereal garments and wrappings glow and move with the winds. The scents of the balms and oils from her bandages fill the air of the surrounding living. The sigils on her partially mummified wrappings glow softly and pulse with life. The air grows thick, and fog is manifested over a village-sized area. When she speaks, her voice is soft and echoes in the wind. This is the most common form the Fallen Queen uses for communication with those that do not attend to her injured material body.

As a manifestation, Akah’teal still can use her breath weapon and only maintains this form for short periods of time because of her spirit’s proximity to the deadlands. The flickering energy of what is left of Akah’teal’s lifeforce calls out to Oblivion, who hungers for her energy; if he was to catch her while manifested, she very well could become part of his hoard.

Passions/Hoard

Akah’teal’s need for synergies, items that aid in healing or preservation, aid in interplanar travel, and jade gemstones cannot be understated. Methods of interplanar travel so that she might find a way to utilize the Plane of Life to heal herself are coveted by the Fallen Queen. She collects all these to provide her caretakers with the tools they need to serve her with purpose without risking them to the dangers beyond her temples.

Akah’teals’ most coveted valuables outside of the aforementioned are gold and mithril. Large quantities of coins, ritually sacrificed pottery, obsidian or jade decorative weapons and physician’s tools belong in her hoard. Pieces of jade the size of coconuts that are polished to an ethereal green glow are embedded in the walls of her tombs. These large stones encrust almost all jewellery in her regalia and her palanquin.

Finally, rare and exotic magically curative fruits, their seeds and magical fauna are always welcome in Akah’teal’s hoard. With her power over senescence, she manifests and cultivates a secret orchard filled with the most extraordinary vegetation.

Aspiring knights should take note of Akah’teal’s aversion to the undead and seek to contribute, in equal measure, a helpful and protective bounty to her hoard should they wish to gain her favour. With every new method of healing her Aspirants and Knights discover, she grows ever closer to regaining her strength that has been long lost. With her weakened state, many methods have been exhausted to bring her back to her previous magnificence.

Temperament

Akah’teals two primary temperaments have manifested in her due to her trauma and her constant struggle with being relatively alone and secluded all the time. Spending so much time in the Astral Void, she is highly untrusting. While she seems charismatic and caring, she is, in reality, a very antisocial being who has difficulty understanding other people’s feelings.

Akah’’teal trusts no one to this day and only grants her veiled cultist Draconians access to her as they wish to be in her presence. Her untrustworthy temperament has left her keeping no close allies and a mentality of “trust only in thyself.” Her Dragon Knights and aspirants often share this distrust, although friendship and trust can be won more easily if their allies revere Akah’teal as they do. Despite her trauma, she looks for the good in others and tries to buffer perceived threats by being the first to offer value in an exchange. Having been humbled by her previously overzealous nature, the Firstborn’s demeanour and approach have in her ruined state. She is slow to trust others, despite her helpful nature. Her trauma has tempered her bleeding heart, and now she cannot liken others with anything but an untrusting and wary gaze. This conflict causes her to neglect her followers, and her followers have trouble making allies in turn. Staying in isolation and constantly travelling while manifested leaves little time for attending to her people. Her attempts to heal herself have become obsessively selfish in the wake of her former generosity. Akah’teal teaches her followers how to preserve their bodies and minds without the abhorrent use of Necromancy. If one cannot preserve their body, then their mind must be preserved, and vice versa. She believes that the only way to preserve one’s culture, memories, and soul is to continue to live on and teach the ways of life to the next generations. Many of these processes are found in chemistries and ritual magics. However, living on comes with the responsibility of being the caretakers of the natural way of life. Discrediting Necromancy as a way to live on is taught to all her followers, and they teach this to all who seek her guidance. All who follow Akah’teal are expected never to use or tolerate the use of Necromancy.

While sea and land held by the Firstborn Ilyxtriaks buffer the Crescent Isles, Akah’teal is constantly watchful of Styphon’s necrotic influence. Having witnessed the fate of Suulazurtsur, she invests heavily in defences against the necromantic arts.

A hatred borne of a rational fear of an ending worse than death pervades Akah’teal’s decrees. After Malagant and Styphon, a strong sentiment of enmity is extended to Haldora and Oblivion due to their treatment of spirits.

To this end, Akah’teal’s temperament is multifaceted. Balanced and besieged in equal measure, she has a complicated relationship with the mortal plane, as she was Firstborn long before she was caught in the veil. Yet, knowing this, she only persists due to some miracle or curse of fortune, depending on who you ask. Envious of her siblings’ full lives and shielded from many of their problems, her perspectives are distracted and half-spirited. This causes a schism of disconnect between her casual observers and those who follow her ardently, especially because she allows most of the world to believe she has long perished and is content with being forgotten for the time being. She cannot risk herself while she builds her strength, lest she fall victim to another tragedy.

Her most telling characteristic is her attitude toward the divine. The days for aggressive libation have long passed. Now, she pities those whose eyes are clouded by the lies spewn from divine mouths and hopes to elevate those within reach beyond childish fantasies of heavens beyond the mortal plane. Waging war on the divine comes second to her own life, as she understands the disadvantaged state she is in. With all of this in mind, however, she wishes to learn from those spirits stuck like her between veils, hoping that one day she may discover the secret to solving her current vegetative state and take to the field once more, actively commanding legions of her followers in cracking the foundations of divinity.

The coming blossoms of senescence will be marked by churches bursting apart as ancient trees spring forth. In the fog of her war, there are no terrible sights to behold until after the screaming stops.

Affinities

Transcendental, Senescence

Akah’teal’s stubbornness against her final death puts her grit on full display. Ironically in a state of constant suffering, she transcendentally overcame her limits through sheer force of will to exist in a state unique to her.

Careening between life and death has its perks, it would seem, as she does not share the physical limitations that most physical creatures encounter. Being able to manifest anywhere her mist covers allows her to observe her Isles with a great degree of oversight. The cost, however, is her vulnerability and inability to exert influence lest she is discovered by the world at large and put to “rest” or worse.

She searches the void for a path into the Plane of Life, so she might draw from it and heal her wounds. It would seem that a mortal dragon unbound into the astral void might discover secrets in the reaches of the veil that no other might encounter. Following this exploration, though, brings with it trouble as well. Hungry vestiges of dead greater beings haunt the Astral Void seeking her life force to fuel their rebirth, and as she explores this vast emptiness in search of clues, she finds herself encountering strange creatures that have been abandoned by fated death.

This flavour of spirited, unyielding, and insightful nature leads to her chosen servants being cut from a similar cloth. Chemists, Mystics, Sigil casters, and the like all find unique roles in her service. She hopes to establish a humble retinue that will honour and take guidance from spirits.

Necromancy in its entirety is an undisputed threat to Akah’teal. She sees the magic as a plague on the living and her followers. Her fear of such magic has turned into hatred unbeknownst to her own mind. Aspirants should be very much aware of this displeasure and do what must be done to keep their Queen from meeting a fate similar to Suulazultsur.

Breath Weapon

The Ghostfire

In combat, Akah’teal can use her breath weapon like many other Firstborn. A ghostly, ethereal fire clings to the ground and enfolds all in its path. Her breath’s potency is wide but short in distance. Beginning from a span of 30 feet, the ghostfire grows to cover an area as large as she needs to engulf her targets. Bodies immediately become feeble and weak, emaciated and finally a husk. This weapon is a potent one but has little effect on the undead and her firstborn cousins. Akah’teal’s breath is most dangerous while she is manifested. The ethereal flames seem to age a soul directly and weaken those in her wake in a way that has long been seen yet leaves no scorching of the material.

To organic matter, the breath hastens their time by many orders of magnitude, allowing them to mature and even grow ancient in a brief moment of exposure.

Style of Governance

Akah’teal was once known as Queen of the Isles. She was absolute and demanded tribute from those she cared for. Her followers would bring gifts of food, fabric, weapons, and anything they had hand-crafted from the Island to their Queen. She was hot-headed and proud, no less for a Dragon that was revered. As she saw her Isle and her people decimated by outsiders, she entered a deep slumber, and it is said that once she arose, her composure was quite different. A Dragon of Compassion and Mourning, Akah’teal could feel how the Island and its people felt during its siege.

Akah’teal has a very small number of followers due to her legends being lost with time. The people of her Isle never thought to travel and pass on her legacy as they were busy rebuilding their homes and preserving their once radiant Queen. Her Dragon Knights have searched far and wide for a cure to restore their dragon but to no avail. They have kept her home and existence a secret in hopes of never reliving the horrors the Island faced.

During her slumber, Akah’teal met with many spirits, some from the Island and other travellers. At first, she was hostile, protecting any and all that she had claimed. But over time, Akah’teal opened her heart and began to understand the stories of the spirits which walked her Island. They had all come from various territories and told her stories of their travels. Through this, she learned humility and wisdom. Words became an important tool to express the knowledge the spirits had to offer, and Akah’teal appointed the most proficient mystics into her ranks. To pass along the stories and words of those long since gone.

Temple Structure

Temple Appearance

The Fallen Queen’s temples are built for the purpose of life preservation. Steppe pyramids of all sizes can be found dedicated to her. Pillars of stone are commonly seen depicting her draconic visage. Elevated gardens usually surround the inner walls so that the rarest of flora may grow. The ceilings are typically open to the sunlight so that the gardens may flourish, and her followers have ample light in order to perform body preservation processes when the sun is at its highest. Temples often have stores of incense and balms used in these rituals. Offerings of jade, Healing and Sigil rituals are stored inside hollow openings of the stone altars. The Altars are usually surrounded by a ring of sarcophagi or places of rest for those whose bodies must be preserved.

Akah’teal’s temples in the Crescent Isles were once adorned with pillars of gold and jade, depicting her likeness resting atop a large pyramid-shaped mausoleum. From the outside, large stone rings slowly ascend to the sky in a ziggurat fashion. Entryways are steeply set into the rock, carved with thousands of painstakingly chiselled steps into granite. Most of her temples leave a plateau for her to land and keep their apexes open to the sky. At her grand temple, the apex is instead topped by a temple that beloved community members were once allowed to approach. The Firstborn would sit atop a platform to greet her people and perform what they would call miracles. So long as the people took care of her domain, she would provide. Now crumbling and near to ruins, many believe that the temple fell when Akah’teal did. Still, her temple priests and the Veiled Cult will not allow even the most faithful entry into her sacred chamber. It is rumoured that the temple is shrouded in a heavy mist, filled with the spirits of her once fearsome warriors. Only her most faithful, her chosen, are given passage through the mist to reach the temple. Others will be bombarded by the wails and screams of her army who, even in their afterlife, guard their Firstborn with all their might.

The Veiled Cult

Priests of the Veiled Cult are an elite force of her draconian mystics who are proficient in medicines and sigil magic, chosen by Akah’teal to preserve her body and stories amongst the Isle. These priests have endured rigorous training of the mind and body to be worthy of maintaining Akah’teal’s physical form.

Priests of the Veiled Cult are called into service by spirit possession or the revelations in a dream.

When someone is called into service by Akah’teal, the aspiring servant has their head washed in a basin filled with youthful waters. This is done to cleanse the mind and give the initiate a second perspective on life. Second, they are left to meditate alone on the meanings presented during their sleeping visitation and must do so until they are able to share some kind of unique and new insight. These revelations are judged not only by the current priests and priestesses but by the fallen haunts that stalk the halls of her temples. Finally, once they are found worthy, they are presented to Akah’teal in only their sigil-covered undergarments to be possessed. It is said that their spirit is inspected by Akah’teal herself, and they age into dust if found lacking.

Priests’ can speak to and hear from the spirits. The specific skills and knowledge gained by these priests enable them to mediate between the physical and spiritual realms, and as a result, they can interpret the advice or warnings sent by Akah’teal through them.

Rumours have it that there are sometimes people who have been possessed by the fallen chosen of the Jade or even by the Jade herself.

Dragon Knights: Knights of the Veil

Akah’teal’s Dragon Knights, otherwise known as the Knights of the Veil, are her warriors tasked with finding a cure for her ever-weakened physical state. Her Dragon Knights are known to travel throughout the Arthos in search of knowledge to bring back to their Island and have been known to visit many graveyards in search of answers. Their temples are usually solitary. Her Dragon Knights use these to commune with the dead and hope to gather more knowledge to help their Queen.

In their research, the Knights learned much, and they used their powers to extend Akah’teal life far beyond its terminal span. However, they could not halt the passage of time indefinitely and were merely postponing the inevitable while their lady’s physical body became ever frailer from her injuries. The Knights of the Veiled Cult are naturally reluctant to reveal these limitations to Akah’teal, who worried for her lands and those who survived. So, her Dragon Knights continue to search in vain for a way to accomplish this impossible task.

Those who stray from the true path of Akah’teal often turn to Necromancy. Her Knights know of the corruption that befell Suulazultsur, and thus Necromancy is met with exile. Followers of the Vestigeborne actively fight to maintain the purity of their Queen.

Historical Highlights

Queen Akah’teal’s people were self-sufficient, and they never wanted for anything within her territory. Her breath held the power of senescence, the ability to increase the ageing process of any organic matter. It was always revered as a miracle. With a single breath, Akah’teal would decrease the time in which crops would grow, flowers would flourish, and forests would sprout. While weak in comparison to the other Firstborn, her miracles would serve to sustain her people and her lands for generations to come, and to this day, her lands are lush and beautiful rainforests that do not otherwise exist this far north.

Newcoming refugees came to the Isles seeking a new home to coexist in after their homes were decimated by Brood that swallowed up towns in the southern half of the continent, and these untamed wilds seemed a perfect spot to hide from the chittering horde. They were met with open arms by the inhabitants of the Islands as long as these travellers were not bringing their gods with them.

First came the dwarven races who delved into the earth, never to be seen again. Gems flowed out of their mines unlike anywhere else, as Akah’teal’s senescence gave way to mineral formations far exceeding the bounty of other lands.

Next came the Greenskins, who had fled their captors in Berphaunt to grow strong beyond the Empire’s influence. They took to hunting the giant game roaming the Island.

Finally came the humanoids. Ajaunti came and brought their ancestors with them and were welcomed amicably without issue. They made friends with the merfolk of the coast and brought much value to the Isles with their merrymaking and ship-craft. Humans and Einher, however, brought their own gods, and that caused derision.

Akah’teal’s knights and native folk of the Isles slowly but surely began to escalate hostilities and Favoured began to clash.

Shortly after the old savage gods were slain, Akah’teal laid claim to some of the relics left behind. These were recovered by her knights, and she imprinted the power of many runes onto her scales, so she would be better equipped to defend her territory from invaders.

However, a young, new god with three eyes challenged her for the runes, as he claimed that they were his birthright, and in her pride, she accepted.

Valdr defeated and stripped the runes from her, which had melded with her flesh.

He was certain he had triumphed over the dragon. Claiming his prize, he began his departure from the Island. Valdr had not known that Akah’teal’s spirit was strong, the Island had become a part of her, and she would not give up her life so easily. With her breath weapon useless against a creature unable to age, she lay crushed as his hammer cracked the jade armour she so proudly wore.

Her final breath was released as the runes were stripped from her flesh. What once was considered a miracle could now be compared to a banshee’s wail. As the Jade lay helpless, her eyes clouded over and began glowing light green. The gems on her spine flicked upwards, dulling in colour and clouding over, her wings outstretched. She meekly stumbled onto her now unstable feet. Akah’teal raised her head as she took to the skies. Her jaw slowly opened as tears began to stream down her face. A woeful sound soon turns to an ethereal lapping flame that descends upon the Island. The vegetation, like a sea of vitriol, roared to life, strangling and swallowing all those within reach. Whoever survived was thereafter taken by the curse of age and senescence. As the three-eyed god turned his back and left, the Fallen Queen was left humbled and dying.

Hidden away in a tomb and on the verge of death, Akah’teal founded the Veiled Cult and demanded that her wisest and most powerful Dragon Knights devote their efforts to discovering the secrets of preventing her passing. The Knights of the Veil did as Akah’teal bade them, and for years they have brewed potions, recited incantations, and travelled into unknown lands in search of the secret to eluding true death.

The Knights journeyed for many years throughout the world in secret. They studied all aspects of death; over the years they learned much, and their powers grew as they learned. Using their arcane knowledge, they were able to extend their own lives as well. They learned how to preserve a corpse from decay until the art of mummification had been tuned from proficient to perfection. Once they learned all they could, they returned home to share what they knew, so that one day their Queen could return home too.