The Lost

Ancient times bring with them ancient mysteries. One of these is the little known and certainly unlamented legends of the Lost, the near mythical First Disciples of Azrai. In a time when the world itself had turned asunder and it seemed that the heavens would rip themselves apart, the forces of the newly christened Shadow required leadership, and boundless were they who would betray all they held dear to gain the powers granted by a god. If one were to look deeply enough into the ancient histories surrounding Aduria, long buried and oft forgotten though they be, one would find records ancient beyond belief if lucky enough, ancient rumblings that give hint to the structure of the world during the Flight from the Shadow, and before. Perhaps counted as the ramblings of a madman, a scrap of work remains from an author almost unknown that speaks of the old gods, and in particular it speaks of Azrai.

The first hints of this incredibly ancient work speak of the Keeper of Power, and Loremaster. They also title Azrai the Boastful, and the Prideful Youth. Another work, this but a scrap, two pages from a tome show drawings of the interior of a cathedral focusing on a graven image of a young man and extreme beauty that appears to view the world at the length of his nose, and text that declares this the image of Azrai the Beautiful “whose glory nearly outshone the Light of the World”. Little can be pieced of these, but they full reading and compilation of other small sources indicates that Azrai was not at all times the Shadow and Cursed of the Light, but perhaps something less so, something less (or more?) than the incarnate evil he represented at Deismaar.

The truth that all these hint at is perhaps unguessed by most mortals, and certainly not of import to the immortal Sidhe, tricked as they were by the Oathbreaker. Azrai was for a time the keeper of the Adurian peoples, the most secular and least holistic of the races of humanity. Rather than seeking the glories of their god in the life of simplicity favored by Reynir or in the endless pursuit of the seas as Masella, the Adurians glorified Azrai in the building of monuments and cities. Industrious, devoted and innovative these peoples grew to such an extent as to nearly outnumber any of three of the other “tribes” together.

In this endless chase of graven perfection, the Adurians crafted wonders to stun the world. Grand bridges of huge rivers, cities with towering monuments and incredible structures rising high enough to make a man senseless, and in some cases harnessing the powers of the elements to create works of power whose existence is scoffed at by modern era scholars, for surely modern Aduria does not boast these awesome feats, does it? And yet, some point to the towering monolith that is Kal-Saitherak and say "There is one of their contemporaries, see what he has done?"

Beyond all of this, Azrai the Knowledgeable, the Beautiful became infatuated with himself, for what other perfection could there be than the perfect god. And was it not the perfect god’s right to have all worship devoted to him? So did Azrai begin the slide to evil, first becoming vain and malignant, and slipping downward from there. Over the coming centuries Azrai would slowly begin introducing a new power to humankind, a power that could surpass the godless creatures of this world and the servants of other gods. Thus was there born the first Sorcerer of humankind, Atar, a Vos chieftain and devoted of Vorynn who was seduced by the lure of new magic.

Until this time there existed only one form of human magic, that being the power of the magician. Rumors abounded of the Land of Monsters far to the north where strange Faerie dwelt, wielding power the likes of which had never been seen by human eyes. In fact, some superstitious tribesmen of the Vos at first thought that Vorynn had taken form before them, and so the rumors spread of powerful “elves” and their otherworldly magic.

THE GODS AND POWER An Outsider's Perspecitve exceprted from a work by by Tannith Annul of Sigil (editor's note: this material will seem fragmented due to the editor's desire to remove much of Annul's ravings and obviously outlandish speculation from the text presented)

At this time, perhaps a brief primer on the relationship of the gods (or the powers of Aebyrnis) to their people is best given. In the ancient world on the home of humankind, the Mother Land now called Aduria, the peoples of the gods existed in careful balance, neither truly sharing lands and resources, but not truly competing at the same time.

Their gods likewise lived in a semi-balance. In a convention since disbanded by the new gods, and unheard of in the multiverse, the gods knew that to compete so openly would be to destroy the fragile balance of the southlands. Unlike any other sphere in the Prime, in Aebyrnis the gods walked openly. Unfortunately the thruth of their birth is lost to history, but the strongest and most likely speculation, heathen and blasphemous though it is, is that the gods of the tribes were the first beings of each tribe, the initial creations of a much more powerful entity. It is speculated that with this unlikely and strange origin would account for what observers from Sigil say is impossible, for the gods to manifest their full powers openly on the prime material.

That this speculation exists throws new light on the debate of the powers of the Outer and Inner Planes, and on why it is that the powers do not walk the prime freely, and perhaps is contradicted or supported by the events known as the Time of Troubles on the sphere of Faerun (editor's note: Annul goes into a long and obviously fevered connection between sweet Aebyrnis and a forgotten backwater of the multiverse, see his works for further pursuit)

In the unique state of being on the sphere of Aebyrnis, the powers of Aduria (ed note - Annul differentiates between the human and demi-human powers, noting that he believes the human powrs were NOT responsible for this sphere's creation, and are merely caretakers) held relations to mortals in a very similar manner to the powers of the outer planes. Like their bretheren, these beings also chose proxies and servants whom they chose to bless with certain auspices and abilities. In some cases, proxies became lovers, and I speculate that the subsect of the angelic branch of swarphim in the Haelyn, Cuiraecen, Neserie triumvirate are a result of such a union breeding true. This can be seen in their superior status to low order devas, while they remain quite subservient to the high order solars. (note - solars also serve Avanalae)

Further speculation of the nature of 'magic' on Aebyrnis shows that this energy is particularly more potent than on any other sphere. The sheer raw power that springs live from the depths of Aebyrnis and flows across the surface is astounding. In a hazardous journey through their Shadow World, I broke through and hapened upon a particular valley in the Gorgon's Crown where I saw a quite active volcano of immense proportions (see my maps, named Shaitan). My specially altered detect magic spell near blinded me with the immense power flowing from its peak. I caution any who try to acquire the secrets of their "realm magic" to not even think of attempting the chanel the magics of the active volcanos, and stick to the safer wellsprings in forests and vales.

I also suspect a hugely secret connection between the elves and the magic of this sphere (editor's note - more of Annull's ravings)

Anyway, after prolonged exposure, it seemed that certain entities, particularly proxies, were quite open to the energetic outporings of the land, particularly that the huge wellspring of Cerilia. I think that before the catalclysm caused by the powers of Aduria on the shores of that island, that a very small group of beings was quite able to tap and manipulate that power, largely due to their intense alteration by the gods. Certain legends point toward one gods manipulation on a much grander scale than the others, that being their shadow bretheren, Azrai.

After some time, these experimentations were able to wield the potent magic of this sphere and the first humans of this strange union of godly essence and human spirit were his disciples. I believe that their legends cal these beings the Lost, though they hold quite a different significance in the south lands.

(editor's note: from here Annull's speculations turn very wild, but the core of them indicates that he believes Azrai manipulated these "Lost Ones" with his essence, thus allowig them access to the magic of the elven peoples, though twisted by his dark imagination)

THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE LOST ONES
The Nine Disciples of Azrai, The Chosen of the One God,