Void Guardians
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Contents |
Summary
Awash in the powerful glow of the Radience, striving to bring some semblance of peace and justice to the planet Earth, the Void Guardians stand ready. Wielding the raw energies of creation and the cosmos and holding to a Charter of Duty akin to a Knighthood, yet walking in the ether of the universe, they struggle against threats to the planet earth both within and without.
History
The Radiance
We shall all grieve the loss of High Guardian Almak-ul, whose lessons are a boon to us all. Hear his words, new Guardians, and know where the legacy you carry with you comes from....
To presume to know about the Void Guardians you must first begin to learn of Alamith-Alan, "That Which Is Now Lost." It is the homeworld of my people, the Sata'ar. One might ask why such a curious name is given to our world... and I will tell you plainly, and without joy that it is because its name has been lost within the dusty winds of eternity. But, one does not mourn the passing of those who died to fulfill their destinies... Alamith-Alan was destroyed, yet my people had brought the Joy of the Radiance throughout the Galaxy. We, my people, have fulfilled our destiny as a species. We shall honor that always.
Alamith-Alan was close to the center of this Galaxy. As you note, it is a "spiral" in shape, as the humans call it. The closer one gets to the center of this spiral, the more intense the radiation bombardment becomes. My people believe it is the birth-heat of the universe. If a species can listen carefully enough, through the life-pulse of nebula and collapsing stars, they can hear a primal song. To us, it was the "Sual Duat," the life-song. We listened to the Song, and it spoke to us.
By heeding its voice we harnessed the raw cosmic forces of creation and the very universe. At first, our technologies bridged this gap, summoning and controlling the "Sual Vaht," the Life Radiance. With this power, we mended the sickly and infirm and we created even more advanced technologies.
As we grew as a people, we grew in the Radiance. The day when we could harness the Radiance without our technology was only the next logical step. And we succeeded.
Only those strong enough of will could become reservoirs for its power. As you would put in your language, they became as bottles and the Radiance the liquid that filled them. It changed our people. It made us capable of great feats beyond even our vivid imagining. With it, we traveled the stars, first of our system, then of the Galaxies around us. During our exploration we met many races with many beliefs... but none concerned us so much as the Valtoan species.
The Valtoan species, what Terrans would refer to as a "reptilian" race, were mind benders and conquerers. They rivaled us in technology, using their knowledge to warp sentient species and enslave worlds. Most terrible of all was their capacity for violence. The Valtoans are a power thirsty race, intent only on enforcing their rule over every planet their eyes take in.
Unsure of how to proceed, we returned home, to develop a method to handle the race of conquerers.
During the time we spent in counsel a new social/religious movement began. Descendants of the first of us to personally wield the Radiance had begun what they called the "Void Movement." They saw the universe as a great Void. A thing empty of tragedy on its own, full of freedom and wanting to be filled by the dreams and visions of all races. They saw the Universe as a Terran artist views a blank canvas. The leaders of the Void Movement wanted to explore and bring beauty and culture to the Galaxy and the Universe.
Originally a minor inconvenience to the Council... the entirety of Alamith-Alan was soon swept in religious fervor. The Radiance spoke to us, and revealed in the Sual Duat was the beauty all species could find. The Movement would bring Joy to the Universe. Joy and peace.
Hindsight, as you humans say, is .. what is the phrase... 20-20? Haijka. Yes. It is amazing to believe a species so advanced could be so naïve. Regardless...
The Joy-Bringers moved through the various systems of one of the Galaxy's arms. Things truly did seem to be marvelous. The species encountered, mainly the Vilph, took with a fervor to the Joy-Bringers' words. However, as they warn, nothing good lasts for eternity.
Our Joy-Bringers were slaughtered where they were found by the Valtoan. Peace, hope, and beauty were threats to their oppression. In anger, one of our Joy-Bringers, whose name has been stricken from our annals, lashed out with the Radiance and destroyed a Valtoan battleship as it pursued her and her followers. The Valtoan now had met the power of the Sual Duat, and they feared it. As the Sual Duat spread to their worlds, they sterilized them in response.
The Council summoned all our species to Alamith-Alan. There, we enforced a Conservist Policy. Our meddling had damned entire planets. No longer would our arrogance threaten those sentients around us. And so, we placed a ban on all off-world travel.
The Birth of the Void Guardians
As the centuries passed we grew restless. As a species we had experienced the joys of the Void. We had met hundreds of sentients and had seen visions that only our most talented song crafters could devise. It was only a matter of time, then, that the Joy-Bringers were reborn.
As they delved into research past, they had time to develop a safer way to spread the Sual Duat. Nearly seven hundred years had passed; we had grown used to the shock of the Radiance being used as a weapon. Our people were no stranger to war and strife, though using the Radiance as a weapon was akin to using our children as shields.
The Leaders of the Void Movement birthed what they called "Void Guardians." A select few trained in the use of the Radiance as a defensive weapon. Not to destroy, but to hinder and defend.
Over the next several centuries we began to spread the Sual Duat once more. The First non-Sata'ar became a Joy-Bringer. One able to hold the Radiance within them. His name was Silvasi and he was of the Vilph species.
Then, the worst of possible outcomes happened. In 32 B.C., in your Terran reckoning, one of our own, whose name we shall never speak, fell from the Sual Duat. He no longer listened to the Song; he listened instead to his own ravaging soul. Consumed with grief for a fallen life-mate, he began pulling the Radiance from everything around him, draining the life energies of nearly an entire planet, devouring them as they were converted into pure cosmic essence. He sought to gather enough to bridge the Lucis Muat. The Death Shroud.
The Joy-Bringers watched in grave sadness as the fallen one consumed himself finally in his grief.
After many years of debate, we decided that we would learn from the loss. Our Guardians would be selected even more carefully, and the Radiance was slowly weaned from those not within the Joy-Bringers. We realized how heavily we had begun to rely on the Radiance as our reason for being instead of a method of enlightenment.
The Joy-Bringers continued to spread the Sual Duat, until they once again drew the wrath of the Valtoans. Though we had been limited to skirmishes on various worlds, never before had they struck so decisively.
Tracking our missionaries back to the Almith-Alan, they studied us for years. Then, in A.D. 120, they eradicated all life on Alamith-Alan.
What came next was a savage hunt for the remaining Void Guardians. We fled from system to system, the Valtoan ravagers always only a half step behind. The year 140 was good to us as three entire species joined us in our fight: the Uthalan, the Savien, and the Messik.
