| The Eclipse passes without the loss of the young. For the first time in centuries, cubs are not taken from their parents - they do not disappear into the ether. Nothing comes to take them away to a faraway land from which they may not return. They are born. And they stay. But a God's mark appears over them - at first it is just a symbol that glows ethereal above their shoulders. Then it stretches and blooms into a tangible idol. A living presence of the Gods, the idols hum with power and promise. Their Elemental Mutations are small, contained and quarantined to the right or left arm. The cubs remain with their Mother, but feel no attachment or pull to her. They stay near here for protection only until they're big enough to not fear aggression from others. Then they drift away, leaving the bonds of family to wilt and wither. They grow unnaturally fast. Cubs for three days, teenagers for five, and adults by the two week mark. They age as if time itself is broken around them, like it doesn't know how to tell them apart or - perhaps - how to make them belong. There is no joyous, free, cubhood full of mistakes and learning. No teenage months to explore and stumble. Just a fast approach to adulthood that feels like a race, and no observer is sure what victory means. The Eclipseborn are aloof. Oddly mature, as if the loss of youth means nothing to them. As if they were never meant to exist as cubs. They stand apart from their family. Distant, disinterested. Not at all curious about what their blood means to them, or what family might have to offer. Born with the weight of Purpose, the Eclipseborn have no room for anything else. |
| The dreams start the first night the Eclipseborn cubs fall into the embrace of sleep. They awaken in a dreamscape where the spectre of their patron God is waiting. They speak to the cubs of strength, of promises, of protecting the Dimensions from harm. They've been chosen for this task, and been granted the powers to defend and overcome the threats that rise against them now. Scions. Champions of the Gods themselves. In their dreams they learn how to fight; how to defend, how to kill. How to hunt, and how to hide. They are the Assassins, and they are the Shields. Those born to destroy the monsters that hide among them. It is in the dreams where the Gods teach them how to use their powers, and it is in the dreams where they gain the adornments they bring back to the waking world. The tattoos start in their teenage days; dark curls of symbols that draw upward from the leg that contains their Elemental Mutation. (There are times they awaken from the dreams, their bodies having been moved somewhere else. It's disorienting, but dismissed as sleep walking. There is no one close to tell them of how their eyes shift, how they speak with an echo from afar, or how they seem to be trying to figure out where they are.) |
| Each Scion is born with the rank of Initiate. It's the rank of their Standing with their patron God, that will evolve and increase with the quests they complete. As they learn and grow their connection to their Patron God, their God Idol and Elemental Mutations will evolve and change as well. Each quest that is completed will increase the strength of the connection between Scion and God. The Scions are born with the power to sense those who do not belong - to sense Shade Corruption, and those sympathetic to them (Black-Curse Order, Whispers of Rekura, Shade-Touched, Abyss, Plague, Central, Belief, Varishi). With a touch they can burn out the Corruption, the tainted powers and ill-gotten magics, releasing and redeeming the contaminated soul. When near those who carry such taint, their own blood boils with absolute rage. The need to Destroy overtakes; they attack and burn out the enemy, regardless of who they are. But it is not enough. It is just a start, and the Gods tell them that there is a great threat that must be stopped. A Purpose rises, and the call rings out in their dreams: Get to the Gates. Reopen the door to the Fire Plains. |
| (After 2019/Going into 2020 and beyond) Those who were unable to answer the Call that first year will find it fading over time, until the passing of the first Eclipse after their birth will cause it to fade entirely. The connection to their Patron grows silent, the dreams become rare, and the God Idols upon their backs less animated. They do not lose their Scion status, but the Gods shift their focus away from those who cannot answer. (Scions that were unable to participate in story are now free to be used in stories/pairs outside of it, with the only caveat being that they not be used in RP outside of Outrealms. They keep their current powers and God Idols, but lose their chance to up their standing or grow their connection with their Patron. In the future they may seek to re-strike these connections, but it will require RP and story to do so.) |
| (After 2021/Going into 2021 and beyond) General Note Updates for all Scions: Scions of War are not genetically compatible with: Plague Dimensionals, Abyss Dimensionals, Belief Dimensionals, Central Dimensionals, Varishi, Angelics, Rishta Blood, Natural Demons, Black-Curse Order members, Whispers of Rekura, or those of Astralis descent. Enemy Sense (Plague, Abyss, Central, Belief, Varishi, and individuals of Astralis Descent/Origin will inspire Rage in the Scion when they look upon them) has evolved to no longer lead to an uncontrolled Rage state. Now when being near individuals that would ping this sense, they instead feel an itch in their awareness that makes them aware of a natural "distrust" for these individuals. |