Rathos-Va, the Eclipsed Son
Rathos-Va, the Eclipsed Son
Aliases: The Black Heir, The Fallen Radiance, Herald of the Hollow Sun Status: Slain; Echoes Persist Within the Dreaming’s Dying Light Domain: Betrayal of Hope, Light Inversion, Solar Decay Location of Defeat: At the Gates of the Ashen Sunspire
Of all the Harbingers whose shadows stain the histories of Alathor, few inspire such bitter sorrow as Rathos-Va, the Eclipsed Son. He was a being born of light—meant to be a harbinger of renewal, of celestial order—but who, through grief and betrayal, became the herald of despair.
He was light inverted, hope corrupted, a son who devoured the very sun that birthed him.
Origins and the Shattering of Hope
Rathos-Va was shaped in a universe where stars themselves were considered divine progenitors—children of creation nurtured by the radiant fields of their suns. He was meant to be a guardian, a shepherd of light across dying worlds.
But when Voidaris’s darkness swallowed his home and the stars themselves failed to save their kin, Rathos-Va broke. The brilliance within him curdled, turning inward into a cold, devouring hunger.
When he came to Alathor alongside the other Harbingers, he sought not merely to extinguish light—but to pervert it, twisting warmth into cold grandeur, and hope into a cruel mockery.
The Eclipse Unbound
Rathos-Va’s powers were a terrible reflection of the light he once embodied:
Solar Inversion: He could twist natural light into a baleful, sickly radiance that drained life instead of nurturing it.
The Hollow Sun: Manifestations of his will could create false suns—black, shriveled orbs that leeched strength and spirit from all who lingered beneath them.
Crown of Dying Stars: In battle, Rathos-Va called upon the remnants of collapsed stars, using them as weapons to tear apart reality with bursts of anti-light.
He was not merely a destroyer—he was a mockery of creation’s promise.
Legends and Mourning Songs
Among Alathor’s cultures, the tragedy of Rathos-Va is woven into their oldest laments:
The Ashen Sunspire: In Yeoria’s oldest myths, there stands a blackened spire where the sun was said to weep for the son who betrayed it, and where no true daylight has touched since.
The Weepers of the Wastes: In Virondia, tribes tell of spectral figures who wander deserts under false suns, eternally mourning their lost protector.
The Eclipse of Silent Bells: In Kataria, old temples mark eclipses with silent ceremonies, honoring the memory of a fallen guardian whose sorrow still shadows their prayers.
Defeat and Legacy
Rathos-Va was defeated during the closing acts of the Great Conflict, when the Stewards and mortal champions lured him to the Ashen Sunspire—a place where the real and the Dreaming touched closely.
There, using both ancient sorceries and lifeblood sacrifices, they fractured his corrupted radiance and bound what remained of his consciousness within the Dreaming’s dying lights.
Though his body was destroyed, echoes of Rathos-Va still drift in places where light feels thin and wrong, where day lingers but offers no comfort. It is whispered that if ever the true sun weakens too greatly, Rathos-Va’s shade might stir again—and the Hollow Sun would rise anew.
Children
