Bar-Teroka, Aspect of Exchange
The next spark of creation swirled around the newly created lands, watching as intelligent beings inched forward from their darkness towards the light of civilization. It witnessed the first attempts at compromise, attempts that would always end in violence. The spark sought to help these prehistoric beings evolve, so it brought into being the concepts of contracts and agreements, of value, price and exchange. It tore the Veil once more, spawning a land full of resources and energy, creating many species of intelligent life that came together and built the largest settlement across Aclara. The city inherited the name of the plane: Hadrone, the Neverending City.
Bar-Teroka is a Divine Aspect of Aclara that governs the very ideas of trading and compromise, making them a central pillar of any form of civilization. They have authority over Exchange, or "the Self acting upon the Other"; this can be understood as "any interaction between two individuals, where one desires a result from another". It is important to note that the interaction is neither forced by whoever initiates, nor imposed by any outside rule; in order for an equivalent exchange to take place, both parties must reach an agreement (the other two forms of interaction would fall under the juristiction of Hor-Rekesa, Aspect of Conquest or Tor-Mejusa, Aspect of Order).
They are known among their siblings for their involvement with the The High Priest, which is the reason behind the existence of both demons (malevolent creatures bound to do the bidding of those who invoke them) and Ravens (the Jin-Iataxi tasked with taking the souls of the deceased from the mortal planes back into the Veil). In exchange for their own blood, Bar-Teroka gained access to all the knowledge of the Veilborn, all compiled into an artifact simply known as the "the Book of Answers", a relic made of Tear of Heaven that can answer any question.
The Realm of Exchanges
Bar-Teroka's home plane is named Hadrone and is unique in the fact that its entire surface is covered by a sprawling city named Hadrone as well. The city is run by a few organizations that strive for the absolute control of everyone; each of them deals with a specific part of society and/or city infrastructure, making all of them important for the well-being of the inhabitants.
Divine Domains
The Divine Aspect of Exchange reigns over trading in its many shapes and forms: from merchants traveling from far away places in order to ask more from the customers, to partnerships between men and women of business, to shady arrangements in the underbellies of crowded cities. Bar-Teroka offers their blessings to all who live their lives buying and selling, and many people pray to their avatars before important hearings or when they're looking for cheap prices in order to survive another day. A consequence of this Aspect is the idea of "value", idea that had not existed prior to Exchange; objects could now be compared one against the other, and, even more importantly, their importance could be quantified. Thus civilizations slowly formed, all powered by trading, by value, by money: all thanks to the Divine Aspect.
Artifacts
Some of the most powerful artifacts related to Bar-Terosa are the Deal Coin: items that can only be obtained if a person offers their aid to a demon instead of asking for a favor.
In this case, the demon is required to force the invoker to do a task of the demon's choosing, and in exchange that person will receive a Deal Coin.
These coins are made of pure gold, with intricate designs inscribed upon them; no two Deal Coins look the same, much like snowflakes.
The power of these coins is that they allow their user to force someone else to do their bidding, using the coin itself as a "free pass" or as a coin of virtually any value.
Anyone who ever receives such an artifact (either from another person or from a demon) will become immune to the effects of these coins, rendering cyclical exchanges impossible.
These coins cannot be destroyed by mundane or magical means - the only way to get rid of one is to force somebody else into a deal and giving them the coin as payment.
If the coin is used on a demonic being, the coin will return to the Veil upon the completion of the task, essentially "destroying" the relic.
People often call the Deal Coins "cursed", and the ones holding them "people who've traded their souls".
That is in part beacuse each Deal Coin is linked to its owner, always finding its way back into their wallet or pocket until it is traded for something else.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
The only goal Bar-Teroka has is to stop the Veilborn from defeating them and consuming the planes of Aclara; to do so, they have put all their faith into their sibling, Xur-Hikasa, Aspect of Knowledge. They have decided to follow the other Aspect and give them all possible support against Lesser Fate and the Aspect of Order, the opposite side of the Heavenly Council. Still, they will offer help to their enemy siblings in exchange for anything of equal worth; they usually consult with Xur-Hikasa before doing anything rash, though.
"You really want to know the price, sibling? Here it is: once I give you this book, you have to find a solution to our problem. You have to find a path forward, you have to stop the Veilborn from consuming reality."
"...What's in it for me? For me? Do you have any idea how much I've already sacrificed, giving those creatures my holy blood? Millions will die because of me, sibling. Billions won't even get to see the light of day because of my choice. All because of me... I have robbed them of their futures, of their very lives. That is the price I've paid for this sliver of hope that is your knowledge. So don't let me down. Take the book and save Aclara... no matter the cost."
Relationships
Bar-Teroka, Aspect of Exchange
Sibling (Trivial)Towards Mur-Delusa, Aspect of Reflection
Honest
Mur-Delusa, Aspect of Reflection
Sibling (Trivial)Towards Bar-Teroka, Aspect of Exchange
Subversive
Bar-Teroka, Aspect of Exchange
Sibling (Important)Towards Tor-Mejusa, Aspect of Order
Subversive
Relationship Reasoning
Tor-Mejusa hates the concept of mutually-accepted exchanges and relationships; they view hierarchical structures as the absolute form of governance and completely rejects anything based on temporary agreements. Bar-Teroka prefers to keep a (somewhat) amiable attitude towards their sibling, althought they don't agree with the tyrannical forms of Order they support, as it slows down and hurts the processes of exchange; in totalitarian areas, the Aspect offers their help to smugglers and mercenaries just to spite their sibling.
Xur-Hikasa, Aspect of Knowledge
Sibling (Important)Towards Bar-Teroka, Aspect of Exchange
Honest
Relationship Reasoning
While they didn't care much for each other in the beginning, Bar-Teroka became close to their sibling after striking a deal with the Veilborn: the sum of their knowledge from the birth of Aclara to its end for his blood - the blood of a Divine Aspect. Bar-Teroka came afterwards to Xur-Hikasa, offering the relic to them, hoping they would be able to find a way to save Aclara from the Jin-Iataxi and their schemes from beyond the Veil; ever since, they have worked together, fighting against the decisions of the Lesser Sister of Fate.
Bar-Teroka, Aspect of Exchange
Cousin (Trivial)Towards Bin-Aclari, Lesser Sister of Fate
Subversive
Bin-Aclari, Lesser Sister of Fate
Cousin (Important)Towards Bar-Teroka, Aspect of Exchange
Honest
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