ENTITIES
Ursur Pandyon
ImpDog
Born to a lowly concubine in the holy Kraud palace, Ursur finds himself twisted into a string of strange events that lead to becoming Imperator Crotalus’s heir, and subsequently fulfilling that role once Crotalus steps down to make way for Ursur as they both know he was meant and made to be–Imperator of Kraud as Void, the God of Hell and the God of All Gods Manifest.
Eventually fleeing the holy land within the sewer depths after killing Crotalus and eating his heart, Ursur finds himself in the neighboring deadside city of Nyx where he works in Priest’s, a sandwich shop, in relative mundane peace despite being haunted by Crotalus’s bloody specter.
Crotalus’s eventual appearance in the flesh proves some things wrong, and Ursur is again twisted into their own web of destructive, passionate chaos where he can’t dare look away, and where running would be lethal.
But, finally unbearably tired of sandwiches, Ursur strikes another weighty deal with Crotalus and joins the high ranks of the Paraselene Syndicate as ImpDog, a stealthy agent with recording devices built into his own eyes and ears.
Although, all he wants to do is play bass and write his music, he continues to run from both the Etherwalk cult and his own personal demons and their convictions.
Former god, persistent troublemaker, bugged Parasyn spy, the devil on Crotalus’s shoulder.
Crotalus Culzu
Cerastes, Blue
Confident, clever, and cunning, Crotalus works hard within the Kraud holy order to ascend to high priest, creating alchemical organic compounds for the cult’s religious rites. Eventually he succeeds his grandmother and becomes the highest priest, the Imperator, accompanied by his three biosynthetic robot Hellhounds.
Despite the satisfying power trip, he begins to turn attentions to the son of one of the temple’s concubines, and in deep fascination, cannot manage to look away from that calamity.
When it becomes quite clear that Ursur is meant to be a god, he helps and coerces Ursur transform himself into his true form, naming him heir and subsequently stepping down.
After Ursur’s sudden disappearance, Crotalus reclaims his title for a period of time before hunting Ursur down himself under the name Cerastes. In his search, his skills and ambitions land him in the Paraselene Syndicate where he climbs the ranks and eventually manages to seize full control, becoming the most powerful of the Paraselene Syndicate elite Moondogs, Blue.
Former highest priest of Kraud, bioalchemist, Parasyn drug lord, and deadly hunter at Ursur’s throat.
Raziel Culzu
Ashen Keeper of Revision, Echoed Keeper of Revision, The Ethereal Undertaker
Raziel is born into the ruling house in Kraud, but unlike most of his relatives, he pursues a different path than priest. Instead, he becomes the sole undertaker, a perfect match for his quiet, pensive, and calm demeanor.
Despite adamant protest from his family and the clergy, Raziel finds himself intensely involved with the prostitute Kamilla, eventually allowing her to be concubine and servant within the temple–her only stipulation is that her young son must receive some form of education. Enough strings are twisted for the deal to be struck, even though no one likes the boy, Ursur. However, when Kamilla falls fatally ill, he sides with Crotalus to keep Ursur within the temple.
As they age, Raziel grows quite close with his nephew Crotalus, exchanging contemplative and enigmatic conversations as they both lie in relative shadows. And as time passes, he still has nothing to say to Ursur except vague acknowledgement, until there is a sudden onslaught in Kraud many years later, after both Ursur and Crotalus have left. So, perhaps he could atone for his painfully cold conduct by saving Ursur from the hands of Fester, if he, the ethereal Undertaker, could find Void, God of Hell and the God of All Gods Manifest, first.
Kraud Keeper of Revision, Walk of Echo Keeper of Revision, (holy) undertaker.
Buteo Culzu
Brother Eagle
Playing a scholarly role within the Kraud ruling family, much preferring speeches and oration to any conversation, Buteo would rather stay out of politics and drama, unless it is was in written form. He becomes the best shot with a longbow, and an accomplished falconer using biosynthetic robots.
As the melodrama of Kraud becomes unbearable, Buteo flees with distraught and unstable Ursur, planning to leave him once they hit the city of Nyx and continue on his own. Though, after some time they reestablish contact, and Buteo once again becomes a wary friend.
Within Nyx, Buteo channels his love of snooping and learning about people and their lives into private investigation, journalism, and ethnography under the anonymous guise of Brother Eagle. He also serves as a pressured, unwilling informant for the Paraselene Syndicate, once Crotalus tracks him down as well.
Kraud historian and scholar, private investigator, journalist, codebreaker and codemaker, Parasyn informant .
The Moondogs
A group of the highest ranking officials of the Paraselene Syndicate, working directly under the leader Blue. Feared and respected, these mysterious figures serve as operatives representing and leading their departments.
Each department corresponds to an anonymous persona with an undying code name that is passed from one Moondog to the next. Identities are never disclosed, until the next Blue is crowned and reveals himself as Cerastes, while his lackeys still remain faceless.
They are known for their outlandish, dramatic, intense, unyielding personas.
MEMBERS
Blue, Beaver, Buck, Cold, Flower, Harvest, Hunter, Pink, Snow, Strawberry, Sturgeon, Wolf, Worm
Blue’s lackeys, Parasyn department heads, Parasyn operatives, helmeted and anonymous rabid dogs.
The Gundogs
The Moonbitches
A unit of the Moondogs closest to Crotalus once he takes the title of the Paraselene Syndicate’s Blue. They function as primary advisors, and as they are frequently found together, they also serve as bodyguards and devout operatives for their leader.
Widely known for their direct association with Blue, and for their exaggerated feminine qualities, the Gundogs are commonly referred to as the Moonbitches.
MEMBERS
Harvest, Flower, Hunter
Blue’s most trusted Moondogs, primary Parasyn advisors.
Lady Luck
Ezmerelda Obscura
A member of the Kraud mystery, Ezmerelda makes friends with the quiet and kind Kamilla shortly after her arrival. Their friendship grows strong as they share their faith with each other in the confidence of sisterhood, true acceptance, and the power of the Ether. At first shocked and unwilling, Ezmerelda follows Kamilla into a path of blighted Ethercraft, dark magic, in secrecy and shadow.
As their trust grows, Kamilla names Ezmerelda godmother of her son, Ursur. However, Ezmerelda only spends a short span of time with the title, and is abruptly exiled for her dark, blighted Ethercraft by Imperator Crotalus.
Settling in the city of Nyx, she adopts the name Lady Luck and works with sparse population of believers and wishers to found a new mystery, the Walk of Echo, where she works as the highest priest, fighting the constant, deep, internal struggle to slip back into dark, blighted, powerful ways.
Kraud [artisan, apothecary?], Walk of Echo founder and High Priest, [a practical job], Ursur’s renounced godmother.
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FACTIONS, LOCATIONS, OTHER
Nyx
In the middle of the scorching deadside urban ruins lies an unusually large yet sparse and bustling city, scrapped together from remnants of civilization before, and the ingenuity of its modern denizens and passersby. Life in the concrete region is marked by fights through the blazing-to-freezing temperatures, as well as the destructive dust storms and monsoons.
No faction controls the entirety of the city, and no boarders mark its boundaries. With no declared, unifying government, social orders remain balanced on the tip of sharp daggers controlled by handfuls of factions in webs of wars and alliances, undeniably unified in their desperate attempts to survive the brutalization.
Night Owl City
NOC
A large, self-contained, and primarily self-sustaining arcology that has survived some of the tests of time that most of the exterior, empty city lands of deadside have not, and is marked by a particular level of lavish luxury that most cannot afford.
The Paraselene Syndicate
Parasyn
Grown from a group of vigilante biopunks that betrayed their company’s biopharma-racketeering scheme and an underground criminal syndicate based in Night Owl City, the parties joined forces to produce plant-derived drugs to combat the racket at affordable prices.
Over time, the affiliation split into a separate faction that leaves to expand into the niche of deadside city Nyx, where they continue to research, develop, and produce a wide variety of plant-derived drugs of both medicinal and recreational functions.
Powerful and mysterious, the faction is known for their potent products and their obscured, helmeted personas that man various nightclub-like dispensaries throughout Nyx.
NOTABLE MEMBERS
Blue (Cerastes/Crotalus), Ursur, Hunter, Flower, Harvest, Pink, Beaver, Snow, Cold, Strawberry, Sturgeon, Buck, Wolf, Worm.
The Etherwalk
A secretive religion that strives to rid the individual of suffering and pain by reaching enlightenment, and to transcend death and survive reincarnation by connecting with the Ether and its daughter elements that are personified as deities.
It is believed that individuals are composed of mosaic souls that shift and recombine in Hell, and stay together in the living realm of Limbo. Incompatible arrangements bring suffering, and enlightenment, and sometimes the etheral practice of Ethercraft, can alleviate the present suffering in Limbo, as well as future suffering through Hell and into further journeys into Limbo.
Practicing communities are referred to as Mysteries, and regional forms of the Etherwalk as practiced by a Mystery is referred to as a Walk.
Kraud
Walk of Ash, Kraud Mystery
An Etherwalk mystery based under some of Night Owl City’s abandoned subterranean architecture and sewer systems, Kraud quickly developed a unique culture devout in their practices, run by a strict, powerful, and holy elite, mostly comprised of the same family and their related lineages.
Both notoriously hard to enter, and notoriously hard to leave, the members of the mystery are secluded into their own realm of the powerful Ether and its ruling Gods.
Kraud is also particularly known for their production of Ethertech, a feat no other mystery has managed, although usage is limited to their mostly holy of practitioners.
NOTABLE MEMBERS
Ursur, Crotalus, Buteo, Raziel, Kamilla, Lady Luck
Walk of Echo
Nyx Mystery
A small Etherwalk mystery located in Nyx, primarily founded by long-gone defectors of Kraud and curious spirits that heard of their mysticisms in the whispers of the quieter regions of the city. The mystery is particularly known for its subtle, tranquil, and peaceful practices, unlike its neighboring mysteries of Kraud and Fester.
NOTABLE MEMBERS
Lady Luck, Buteo, Raziel, Hekette
Walk of Fester
Fester, Fester Mystery
An Etherwalk mystery located somewhere deep in the Paradise Badlands. The mystery is known for their extreme, violent, and judgmental practices, but also notably marked by their unwillingness to kill to avoid creating a sacrilegious Ether chasm–though this may often result in a fate worse than death.
The mystery is responsible for the quest of the Unholy Pilgrims of Fester.
NOTABLE MEMBERS
Hekette, 32
Unholy Pilgrims of Fester
A pilgrimage from the Walk of Fester tasked with the mission to kill the rumored incarnation of Void, God of Hell and God of All Gods Manifest, that has taken root somewhere in Kraud, creating a devastating wake of an Ether chasm that has been destructively tipping the balance of the holy elements.
The pilgrims are comprised of deeply unholy sinners, led by inhuman androids running off AI constructs that believe they were once human, and had performed blasphemous acts for which they must atone. Unable to die, the unholy sinners’ only salvation lies in killing Void, to release enough charged Ether for a truly holy death.
It becomes apparent Void has fled the Kraud Mystery, and has escaped to the city of Nyx.
NOTABLE MEMBERS
Hekette, 32
Priest’s
A sandwich and sushi shop that is notoriously hard to find, owned and run by Mr. Priest himself, who is even more notoriously hard to find. In the shop, patrons can talk to staff that act both as bulletin boards for odd jobs and unique weapon dealings.
MONSTER < MONSTER < MONSTER 