#starlore

In the Year of Three Ships Sailing, 1492 DR, an elvish or half-elven vampire lord from Kozakura, Cazador attempted to perform a ritual granted to him by Mephistopheles, transforming himself into a powerful form of a vampire ascendant – removing all undead weaknesses from the vampire and giving him back pleasures of the living. The preparation for the ritual took two centuries. Cazador's favored vampire spawn, the number that included Astarion Ancunín, a member of the Absolute Adversaries, collected countless victims for their master, turning them all into spawn who were to be sacrificed to empower the vampire at the center of the ritual. During the Absolute crisis, the ritual was initiated. However, neither its outcome or Cazador's fate were recorded.

Cazador became the vampire lord of Baldur's Gate in the Year of the Crumbling Keep, 1276 DR, when he killed his master, Vellioth "the Martinet", in the Rite of Perfect Slaughter.

Sometime in between the 13th and 14th century DR, Cazador started carving infernal contracts onto the backs of his spawn, which were part of an agreement with the archdevil Mephistopheles. The devil would grant him the knowledge about an ancient ritual named the Rite of Profane Ascension, or the Black Mass, which would allow Szarr to become a higher form of vampiric being, called the Vampire Ascendant. In this form, the strength of his vampiric abilities would increase tremendously, and he would no longer be affected by the curses usually afflicting his kind, such as being vulnerable to sunlight.

Notable Vampire Nightbringers

Celia, an enemy of Cazador Szarr active in Baldur's Gate.

Notable Vampire Lords

Artor Morlin, the undead master of the Fireplace Level beneath Waterdeep.

Phultan, the grotesque Duke of Whispers of the Night Masks.

Saed of Old Vaelen, the Beast Lord that formed the alliance of monstrous creature factions in the Beastlands.

Strahd von Zarovich, ruler of the demiplane of Barovia.

Cazador Szarr of Baldur's Gate, the first known vampire to attempt the Rite of Profane Ascension.

Szarr Palace is a large fortress-like building in the gothic style

I know enough about what the master has in mind with his ritual that I refuse to be the stand-in for that missing brat Astarion. Even if Cazador finds my body, the potion Bonecloak's sold me is promised to provide a convincing illusion of death - especially since I'll leave behind a lookalike potion of acid poison.

Favoured Spawn, Cazador's best prey hunters who are entitled to stay in the Special Bedchamber, year to date:

- Leon

- Leon

- Violet

-Leon

-Leon

-Leon

Mrel Alkam

I suppose, as you say, that you have reason to be proud of the expansion of the vampire circle in your city. Of course, Athkatla is more homogenous than Baldur's Gate and you face fewer challenges from other factions and law enforcement, but still, accept my kudos on your progress there.

Enjoy your success while you can, Alkam, for I'm afraid that very soon it will be surpassed by my situation in Baldur's Gate, definitively so.

I am on the verge of a long-planned transformation that entirely changes the rules of the game. Too long have I been content to be merely a major's city's vampire lord when I can be so, so much more. And I shall.

But that's all I'll say about the matter at present, young Alkam. After all, we mustn't give away the surprise entirely!

This is a Vast/Eye Avatar Jon roleplay blog, it is set mid Season One and will follow the basic plot line up till Season Three (with some minute changes). Jon is already an avatar of the Vast and he has been since he was around the age of twelve. (This will be developed on over time.)

WARNING: This Jon will probably be slightly different from canon Jon given his different childhood experiences and interactions. This is also a polychives rp account.

This Jon is in the same universe as @liminally-vastly-yours, @angel-of-the-archives(who is currently being revamped), and @the-mother-of-fear

Starlore: a worldbuilding exercise on the existential horros of creativity by me, Banavalope :) Amadeus, Betty, Ace, and Luz are a species of cosmic star beings best described as anthropomorphic personifications. Their home is called Astropa, which is not so much a planet as it is a cumulative of their nearly-endless realm, the Upside.

Despite the name, there is no way to quantify where in non-euclidean space Upside sits relative to Otherside and the Blanket*. Stars - known for having an exaggerated sense of self-importance - feel confident they’ve got it right.

Inherently, stars have an infinite amount of potential, but some facts can be held as true of the whole species: 1.) They are all sexless.** 2.) All stars have wings.*** 3.) “Unexplainable encounters” could be explained if stars admitted to making mistakes. * Three parts to a complete universe completely unrelated to our own - with the exception of a few copied answers, as to be expected. ** Unless they really want to make the effort, of which many do for any reason at all. *** Having wings is the leading cause of common misconceptions for any species. Often assumed to be an indication of the ability to fly, when they are just as easily an identification of the tendency to fall.

Astropa - the birthplace of ideas Anyone native to the Blanket would find the culture of stars incredibly stressful and incomprehensibly complex, were they to learn about it. This would be a correct observation, as stars seem to think they work well under pressure and go about scheduling it into their day.

An eternity spent in this kind of environment have made stars the only species known to effectively harness the most renewable source of energy across the universe: Validation.

In the ancient times of the Starmakers, validation was manufactured by fulfilling miracles blanketside. This was soon found by Timekeepers to be toxic on the environment, necessitating the regulation of wish granting* through the glory duty system**.

Modern day stars now mass produce validation locally and by natural means to meet high demand.

* Giving stars a whole lot less to feel superior over their peers about, ** and at the expense of longer lines at the Department of Miraculous Verisimilitude.

Elemental Anomalies Lucy’s hair reflects their current state of emotion. It maintains a sunny baseline, but has the widest range of expression compared to their siblings.

Ace breathes fire, losing control over it only when he’s incredibly frustrated. Holding it in makes him smoke.

Betty effects the air around her in a reliably straightforward way, under usual circumstances. In circumstances subjectively unusual, any adjective of air is possible.

Amadeus changes color to reflect the intense moods of others, rather than himself. Unfortunately, as everyone has unique colors they feel in, its not particularly helpful.

A variety of advanced technology can be found on Astropa. Holo’s are a versatile piece, commonly used to translate language when stars are blanketside.

Side Facts Some stars find them useful to have on all the time; Amadeus will use his to display closed captions for anyone not versed in sign language if his hearing aid* is out.

It isn’t necessary for stars to eat - or sleep, for that matter - but they do out of enjoyment.

* Which is not often.

Timekeepers A separate classification of anthropomorphic personification to stars are Timekeepers. They reside on a plane outside of spacetime, unimpressively called Timekeeping Affairs HQ.

And nothing more.

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then

You are safe here child

Be born

Show your light

Resurface

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