Supremacy

“Every mortal is a slave. Dominated by the whims of their betters, the laws of their societies and of nature itself. At the last, they are all of them tethered to the inexorable commandments of time. My bequest is the nearest simulacrum of liberty a meagre mortal might ever know. The greatest freedom ever known to one slave is Supremacy over another. It is Mine to afford that privilege to them who are willing to countenance my price. Thou art bound to me. My subject and my thrall. Rejoice that thou needest kneel to no other for as long as thou dost submit to me.”

The Emblem of Supremacy

The chosen of Domina Varvara (and of her prior incarnation, Ugrimal) acknowledge and accept that they are thralls but, in renouncing allegiance to all other masters, they pledge fealty to her alone. They are the Tethered. The bound and the binding. They are masters of compulsion who hold dominion over the unwilling. They squelch the fires of revolution and maintain their own burning brand of order in a world that tends toward chaos. They are sacrifice and symmetry; the sceptre and the scourge; the sovereign and the slaver. Over the years, the Mark of Supremacy has been endowed to a rare few who garnered the interest of the Mistress of Masters, and were willing to pay her price. Varvara demands sacrifice. Firstly, she demands your complete and total fealty which binds the soul of the supplicant to her with an invisible tether through which she can communicate her commandments. Once tethered to Varvara, the devout may create their own tethers which may be utilised in different ways through the gifts she endows.

Domina Varvara also requires regular tribute to remind her servants of their obeisance. These sacrificial tithes needn’t be something that is dear to your heart, but it must be dear to someone. The Tethered are dominators and often prefer to impose loss on others rather than endure it themselves. This may come in the form of a precious relic, a beloved personal heirloom or a blood sacrifice.

Attracting Divine Attention

The Mistress of Chains cares not for those who achieve influence by stirring the hearts of a people. Her ilk are those who rule through fear and force. She favours those who break the wills of hearts that yearn for liberty. She is a reminder that such does not exist for mortals. She seeks out those with a penchant for tyranny- Even if they haven’t yet acquired the power to practice it. She is often drawn to those who have been subjects of abuse and have hearts prone to perpetuate cycles of misery unto others. She is also drawn to those born to privilege and excess whose capacity for empathy is lacking while their capacity to be imperious is abounding. Whether you demand obedience to lash out for how you’ve been treated or because you were raised to expect it, you may earn the favour of Domina Varvara.

The Age of Dreams

Thousands of years before the Age of Varvara, there was Ugrimal- Master of Chains, whose followers founded a tyrannical empire on an island off the Eastern coast of Ecith. Ugrimal sat his Throne of Chains and sent forth his Tethered to advance his control onto the continent. Their spread was slow, at first- a creeping sickness that claimed dominion over city-state after city-state, until they came in conflict with another major power that was advancing throughout the region- The Radiant Armies of Streleon. As Ugrimal’s Tethered began to vie regularly with Streleon’s Empyreal Lords, it became apparent that it was not their lands alone that overlapped, but there were also commonalities between some of the tenets of their respective dogmas. Both longed for conquest and both made it their mission to conquer the other and claim supremacy over their realms and their disciples. The resultant wars lasted for centuries- The Radiant clashing swords with The Tethered, until the final battle took place at Streleon’s sacred City of Akrinoth after all of their followers had been cut down- entire races went extinct from the unending wars, and fertile jungles were rendered into a barren, desert waste. There at Akrinoth did Streleon and Ugrimal themselves, the last soldiers in their own war, engage in a transdimensional duel that lasted decades and milliseconds at once. They were evenly matched, dealing wound after wound until the final moment when Streleon struck a death blow to Ugrimal, who used the last of his strength to reciprocate with a fatal strike to Streleon. Their mortal forms melted into the earth beneath them, and slowly the volcano, Mount Sorokyn grew forth to serve as their grave.

The Age of Wonders

Ancient powers that have long dwelt beneath the former city of Akrinoth were roused at the plea of Elven siblings who suffered great loss at the hands of a human dynasty. The brother hurled himself into Mount Sorokyn and the sister vowed to sacrifice royal blood in return for the return of her brother and for the power to avenge their many losses. She cast her pleas into the Void, and the Void did answer. The rival gods, Streleon and Ugrimal were resurrected and infused into the souls of these Elven twins. The sister, Varvara, was fused with the spirit of Ugrimal and the brother, Aværys, was merged with Streleon. The kinship of the hosts turned the hearts of the deities toward collaboration rather than conflict. Instead of fighting over their common dominions, they joined forces to complement each other. A new crop of Empyreal Lords and Tethered were awoken in the hearts of elves and humans, as these two mighty forces united to found the Kingdom of Solunarium. Exploiting the desires and prejudices of the new culture in which they found themselves, the two gods waged a new war of expansion and, once again, conquerors were sent forth to claim distant lands and act as colonial viceroys, now in service to Aværys and Varvara. For hundreds of years their ambitions and lands spread forth, until their wars led them to Ailizane where Arcas and Raxen led armies of Hytori and Ecithian Orkhan against them. Aværys and Varvara were cast down- Their spirits trapped on a site that, like Sorokyn before it, turned Volcanic over time: Mount Kaladon in Central Auris. Weak and confined, their influence dwindled from the world.

The Age of Steel

In the modern age, Varvara and Aværys remain imprisoned at Mount Kaladon, but they have been slowly mustering strength. Solunarian religious pilgrims regularly visit the site of their imprisonment, where ritual sacrifices are made which have gradually been empowering the two deities. Lately they have harnessed enough strength that they are able to confer their Emblems on those who make the trek to their mountain mausoleum. All who bear the Marks of Aværys or Varvara are now pledged to the purpose of their liberation.

Applying for Supremacy

Any who are interested in bearing the mark of Supremacy may apply in the Support Forum and receive permission from the Staff. The following should be kept in mind:

• To attain this mark, a treacherous pilgrimage must be made to a remote site in central Auris where Varvara was cast down by Arcas and bound by her own chains of domination. By rendering a ritual blood sacrifice into the volcanic Mt. Kaladon that was formed at her defeat, Varvara may be invoked and a subject may be tested. Those found worthy are bequeathed her Mark and, of those found wanting, she demands a greater sacrifice.
• Varvara values absolute submission to Her dogma, believing only those who know how to serve are fit to lead. If your heart is not fully committed to Her cause, she will exert dominion over your soul until it is broken to Her imperious will.
• This Emblem cannot be taken at the start of play.

The Tenet of Subterfuge

Unlike her divine brother, Aværys, who prefers to bask in resplendent glory and ply his powers in the open, Varvara is a subtle creature who practices the intricate art of deception to achieve her goals.

To Varvara and her Tethered disciples, the strongest chains are invisible and the mightiest master is unseen- cloaked in the potency of their mystique. They are content to be the power behind the throne- puppet masters pulling unseen strings to exert their control, rather than courting attention with ornate crowns and anthems of glory. Such superficial concerns are irrelevant to the true-hearted Tethered.

The Gift of Subterfuge: Unmasking

Knowledge is power, and Varvara endows Her devout with the abilities to obscure their own spirits from view and to discern the weaknesses of their rivals. Those bearing the Mark of Supremacy are immune to the effects of Semblance and other preternatural powers of analysis that might compromise their agendas. Because of this passive trait, their auras are nebulous clouds of indiscernible grey.

As an active trait, the Tethered may furtively extend one of their invisible cords into the soul of another mortal, which grants them insight into the strengths and exploitable weaknesses of the individual. This also enables the Tethered to probe their minds for knowledge, though plumbing too deeply into the depths of a soul may cause one to lose oneself. Overambitious practitioners of this Craft have been known to be afflicted with stowaway shards of the souls they’ve probed, which causes them to take on attributes of the people they intended to merely examine. In extreme cases, this has caused split personalities to form in the Tethered.

The Tenet of Discipline

The Tethered are strengthened by the weakness of others. A person losing themselves to their emotions is a thrall deserving of exploitation and wanting for a master. Whenever someone compromises their values or sacrifices their better judgement, the Tethered are stirred. The devout of Varvara believe that mortals en masse are innately prone to chaos, and that only a select few are fit to lead them away from their natural propensity toward disorder. Even if they do not realise it, the mortal soul longs to be dominated for its own good and that of the greater society. Hierarchies must be formed and observed. The Tethered are a people who believe in rigid and severe social structures, which must be minded attentively.

The Gift of Discipline: Subjugation

Perhaps the grimmest reminder that all mortals are slaves is to be imprisoned in one’s own body. Varvara grants her Tethered the ability to instil this reminder. By hewing them up in the invisible tethers of their Craft, they can make puppets of living mortals, forcing their bodies to bend to their wills and putting whatever words they wish imparted into their unwilling mouths. A Varvaran devout might send forth their tethers to possess the body of a wealthy merchant and force him to sign away his fortune or, from the comfort of a command tent, a Tethered adept might force an enemy general to order their armies to charge off a cliff. During Subjugation the possessed individual is a prisoner in their own mind- able to observe the actions of their body but incapable of exerting any control. It has been known to drive its victims mad if their minds are weak or if the possession persists for too long.

The Tenet of Tithing

Although Varvara is a severe mistress, She recognizes that wanton mass murder runs counter to her cause. She does not blanche at the notion of torture, nor begrudge a master for teaching a fatal lesson to a disobliging servant, but to kill too many of ones thralls is to lose one’s dominion altogether and be master over naught but the ash of destruction. Life, in this way, is precious to Varvara. The living can be controlled, whereas the dead fall outside of Her jurisdiction. However, Varvara is the Mistlord of Sacrifice, and She covets mortal loss. On the surface this may seem to suggest that she wishes for her worshipers to make personal sacrifices that aggrandize Her at the expense of their own interests. This is not the case. Varvara values imposing loss on the unwilling, just as she values their obedience. As such, the Tethered are more likely to sacrifice the firstborn of their subjects rather than offer up their own children to ritual slaughter. It was in fact such a situation that revived the spirit of Ugrimal into the world and woke Him within Varvara, when she pledged to sacrifice the blood of a royal line that wronged her people in exchange for the might to empower them. Though She does not concern herself overmuch with whom the sacrifices impact, She does expect regular blood tithes in exchange for the blessing of Her Mark of Supremacy.

The Gift of Tithing: Inferno

Varvara accepts sacrifice in many forms, but few have satisfied Her more than those which were delivered to Her through volcanic flames. Volcanoes are akin to nature’s overseers, looming over life but poised to exert discipline in the form of a level of heat, which is one of Her favourite things: Oppressive. Though even passively this gift renders them impervious to heat damage, by invoking this ability actively, the Tethered may bathe themselves in flame so hot as to melt any weapon wielded against them. They can also infuse heat into their usually unseen Tethers to create scourges of flame. These fiery whips can lash out as weapons or bind themselves to solid matter which they imbue with enough heat to render even stone or metal down to molten magma. With enough energy at their disposal, a higher tier Tethered could melt an entire building around its occupants. Blood must be spilt to invoke Varvara’s Inferno, and it is from that blood that the heat is derived. The blood may belong to the caster or, more frequently, to another, but Domina Varvara’s puissance converts it into the churning lava that fuels this ability.

Faith of the Tethered

Despite of the alliance between Aværys and Varvara, they are covetous gods. They may share the worship of the unwashed masses, but when it comes to their beloved they will brook no competition. One who commits themselves to Varvara is hers alone- Their heart, their soul, their very will is hers to dominate. The Mistress of Chains will tighten the Tether on any who dare defy her almighty whims. But whose who subject themselves to her demands, are rewarded to be masters among lesser slaves.

Acolyte | The Tethered Acolyte is a silent, servile creature. Their capacity for mastery is well hidden beneath an ostensibly submissive demeanour. Perhaps they have been broken by the lash of a lesser master, or grown up in poverty under the heel of an undeserving elite who garnered their influence by inheritance rather than merit. Whatever the case, they know we’ll how to serve and occasionally the greatest Mistress of all will visit them with her grim favour.

Unmasking. The style of control to which Varvara’s adherents subscribe abhors sunlit clarity, favouring instead the concealment of umbral obscurity. It is thus that Varvara’s mark masks the bearer's aura, symphony and any other arcane tells that might be analysed by curious mages. The Tethered exudes a sensation that there is nothing worth exploring therein, which is typically enough to dissuade mages at the level of Journeyman and below from further exploration. Experts and Masters would note that the Tethered was more difficult to examine, and might glean less than from the Acolyte than they would from a normal subject. As she hides the attributes of her adherents, Varvara endows them with the ability to reveal the attributes of others. A Tethered acolyte may extend their awareness into the soul of an individual within their line of sight. Provided the individual is susceptible to their influence, the Tethered will then be able to extract information from the subject such as rudimentary thoughts, feelings and desires. Deeper and more complex things remain out of their reach.”

Subjugation. The Tethered acolyte may begin to assert their will into the spirit and body of another. Much like their Unmasking abilities, they begin small- able to influence weak and compromised minds, one at a time. They cannot force a person to do anything to which they are vehemently opposed, such as walking off a cliff or betraying a loved one, but they can influence them to take courses of action they wouldn’t otherwise pursue. They might cause a drunken gaoler to release them from jail, unless that gaoler had any personal investment in their incarceration. They might also enhance feelings already strong within a person. For instance, they might take a common brawl between two drunken bar patrons and make it deadly by infusing undue fury into one of the participants. They cannot, however, create such fury out of nothing nor do they yet have control over the bodies of other conscious creatures. They can, at times, enter a meditative state to inhabit the bodies of lesser creatures, but such is a risky proposition as their minds and forms are so alien as to potentially afflict the mind of the Tethered with lasting, bestial inclinations which can take a lot of time and effort to suppress. These concerns are mitigated for Tethered who are practised at inhabiting other forms and shapes.

Inferno. As soon as the acolyte first receives Varvara’s Mark, their blood is infused with the volcanic might of magma. As such, they become impervious to heat damage up to a level of 600 degrees. Moreover, they may choose to sacrifice some of their blood in order to spread heat into the unseen tethers they use to manipulate the world around them. With this active ability, they can weave their tethers into a fiery weapon- Whether it is a spear, a sword or a lash, it emits a preternatural heat which is comparable to that of the churning, molten earth from which Varvara’s divinity was birthed. These infernal weapons can slice through mundane blades and armour like butter, but cannot be dismissed until they have spilt blood- whether that of the Tethered or another.

Avowed | Varvara’s first mark burns like a brand, and her second like churning lava. The pain never really leaves- it persists and asserts itself as a constant reminder of the Mistress’ influence over the marked. Whenever the Tethered thinks to dissent, that burn flares up. A truly unruly pet has been known to have been wholly consumed by Varvara’s fiery mark and reduced to churning, red hot liquid like that from which the Mistress of Chains once emerged and to which she was later cast down. But for all their pains, the Tethered Avowed wield greater power over others- often furtively employed, but always potent. More often the power behind the throne than the one that sits in resplendent glory, the Tethered Avowed is beginning to pull strings on a higher level.

Unmasking. Only Masters of their crafts of arcane detection are capable of discerning attributes of the Tethered Avowed. Even they will feel a strong urge to let the matter lie, but most Masters are keen enough to power past it. They are now able to glean surface thoughts from up to five individuals in their line of sight at once. They need no longer be compromised, but lesser creatures and lesser intellects amongst civilised creatures reveal more information than greater wits. If they devote their energies to one individual they can dig a bit further than surface thoughts and can fight to pierce stronger minds, though particularly strong-willed people would realise what the Tethered was attempting, which most Tethered would avoid at all costs- preferring to keep their abilities and allegiances clandestine.

Subjugation. The Tethered Avowed may still only influence one individual at a time with their talent for Subjugation, but their control is far greater with the power of their second mark. By entering a meditative state, the Tethered can commandeer the body of a person in their immediate vicinity. As long as they can see the person before engaging this active ability, they can force the subject’s conscious mind to stand by as an observer while the Tethered controls the subject’s body as if it was their own. Once they have assumed control, they no longer need to be in view of the subject and may control them within a one mile radius. Strong minds at this stage should be able to fight and throw off the control if they exert enough effort. Lesser minds become completely susceptible no matter their state of clarity. Unlike the acolyte, the avowed may actually inhabit the body of another conscious creature, which often has lasting mental side effects on both the Tethered and their provisional puppet. It is also worth noting, that every body operates differently and that an Avowed of Varvara may struggle in an unfamiliar form. The more different from their own form, the more difficult to control ably. For instance, a human Tethered inhabiting the body of an elf would be far easier than a human subjugating a winged Avialae or Rathari in a form with particularly animalistic features. This may be mitigated for creatures familiar with inhabiting disparate forms, such as Fae’ethalan or Animist Mages.

Inferno. The infernal tendrils may now latch onto objects and infuse them with heat. A Tethered Avowed may extend their fiery tethers and set a fountain to boiling, or to heat the ground to the point that it melts the boots of those who tread it. In addition to the infernal melee weapon, the Tethered may heat nearby objects into fiery projectiles which can be hurled with the unseen force of their tethers toward targets of their choosing.

Champion | The Tethered Champion is a crusader against that chaotic force known as liberty. Varvara’s marked know what is good for the masses better than they do, for Mother Midnight knows best and her Tethered merely carry out her will as she instructs it. Whether they choose to emerge from the shadows or exert umbral influence, they extend their chains of domination into ever more complex webs of control. If all the world bowed to Varvara, they believe, war and poverty would be things of the past and each soul would know their role. This is the goal of the Tethered, and the champion strides to see it realised on an epic scale.

Unmasking. Only the exceptionally perceptive, bolstered with the powers of Master levels techniques and skills could hope to detect The Tethered Champion. Moreover, the power now extends to the natural senses of mortal creatures. The Tethered may cloak themselves in an aura of total obscurity. While they are technically completely visible to the eye and audible to the ear, they emit a force that dissuades mortals from taking any interest in them. They may as well be physically invisible and inaudible, for how unassuming their energy feels to those in their presence. In essence, their natural submissive qualities are amplified to the point where they fade into the background at will. Their tendrils can now extend to any creature in their scope of view or any creature with whom they are familiar within a radius of one mile, and delve into deeper thoughts and overarching goals beyond what is just on the surface. They can also direct all of their focus onto particularly strong-minded individuals to pierce their cognitive defences. While strong-minded subjects may, in rare cases, know that someone is intruding on their thoughts, they will not immediately recognise the perpetrator as is often the case with Avowed Tethered.

Subjugation. Varvara’s Champion may exert control over up to five other beings and need not enter a fully meditative state to do so. This control is limited to very basic functions, however. The Tethered cannot uphold five separate conversations at once or anything of the sort, but they could influence a vote by having all five of their puppets create a bloc or veto. They can also use the bodies of their puppets to perform tasks like coordinating fighting or even choreography. Each body need not do the same thing at the same time, but the Tethered may impart simple commands like “Protect me” or “Kill her” and the puppets will oblige via what means and talents are available to the individual being subjugated. Once more, line of sight is only required at the moment the Tethered assumes control, but the Champion’s influence may stretch over 5 miles thereafter. Though they needn’t be in a fully meditative state, they do need to be able to concentrate on the actions of their puppets as well as their own, and so they cannot engage in complicated tasks during a Subjugation session.

Inferno. At the Champion tier, a Tethered may envelop themselves in blinding, volcanic incandescence- an ‘Infernal Aura’. Anything within a five-foot-radius that is vulnerable to heat damage will be incinerated. Bullets, bolts and arrows will disintegrate before piercing the flesh of the Champion and enemies wishing to rush them will be cremated alive for their troubles. At this juncture, the devout’s ability to spread volcanic heat extends to large surfaces- a small lake might be set to boiling, and the foundations of a house might be melted by the fiery tethers. A Tethered Champion may also use their flaming tendrils to lift them skyward in meteoric flight.

Herald | Varvara’s Herald is her silver flail, poised to lash the backs of those who stand athwart her version of Order. The Herald is a scourge with tethers laced with lacerating shrapnel- the iron maiden, the crucifix. The Herald is discipline made manifest, poised to condition all the world to obedience and, if not loyalty, then the lash.

Unmasking. The Herald of Varvara is obscured from mortals, spirits, mythical creatures and any celestial of Tier 4 or below who is not familiar with them and actively seeking them out. They may reveal themselves to greater beings by attempting to access any of the other powers endowed by their mark (e.g. scanning thoughts or employing Subjugation or Inferno), but if they remain passive they will remain hidden. Their tendrils can now extend to up to 25 creatures in their immediate purview (technically more, but their minds cannot process the thoughts of more people at once without being taxed and putting their sanity at risk). Additionally, they can access the thoughts of familiar individuals within a 100-mile radius. However, the farther away the subject, the harder it is to access their thoughts. Within 10 miles, one might delve deeply into the mind of even a strong-willed individual. At 95 miles, one could likely only glean surface thoughts and could be resisted by stronger-minded subjects, albeit without their identity being compromised.

Subjugation. The Herald of Varvara may subjugate up to 25 individuals at a time and extend their control over a 25 mile radius. Again, they cannot force so many puppets to perform complicated tasks, but they can engage them in coordinated behaviour such as attacks or broad displays. If they choose to devote their energies to the subjugation of one familiar person, there is no limit to the distance of their tendrils of control and they can force that individual to perform complex tasks- Giving speeches, writing proclamations, etc. Particularly strong wills or those protected by rival deities may be able to fight off Subjugation, but those instances are rare when facing off with the will of the Herald.

Inferno. The Tethered Herald may extend their infernal aura to a 25-foot radius from their bodies. They become walking (or flying) incendiary devices, melting through anything in their path. They may soar through the air, burning through airships and winged mounts, or march through a city cutting a fiery path through streets and buildings alike. The more blood they spill in sacrifice to Varvara, the more potent their incinerating projectiles and infernal aura. The Herald may increase the surrounding heat enough to turn the very earth at their feet to molten lava and, impervious as they are to the effects of heat, may travel below the earth- Albeit at the risk of creating fissures that could threaten the foundations of that which sits above.