Sylas Van Dirken
They tried to shackle me with their rules and forced me to kneel before lesser beings. I got tired of their lies and secrecy, I got tired of them binding greater ones down. So I quit and set out to do what I want. It often involves killing people.
Symbol of fear and devastation, Sylas is a byproduct that was feared for a long time by I.D.E.A.'s detractors. Alcyer and former explorer, he is a being of immense power letting his wild instinct lose. Co-founder of the dreaded Eclipse, he is its official leader although the anarchist organization does not have any kind of hierarchy.
Days of exploring
From a very young age, Sylas was skilled at both using his power and at fighting. Of a strong stature, he would even best Icarryans in bare-handed brawls. His tempestuous behavior was detected in his training days, but the higher-ups did not make a great case of it. Many explorers are fully aware of their superiority and thus become arrogant and hard to control. However, never before did one turn his back on the agency and escaped alive. To keep a good social figure, the I.D.E.A. has always been swift to dispose of outliers, and Sylas was kept under strict watch.
He completed various explorations, his powerful ability giving him an edge over his colleagues. He was designed as expert of gravity at age 23, a misleading title for a mass manipulation power. However, his time exploring has been extraordinarily frustrating for a free spirit like him who disliked being denied access anywhere. He was especially angry at the blocked access to Terra and Alcyerna. He shared this hatred with two companions, Kovid Sten and Myriam Nolesson, both powerful alcyers from the same graduation batch.
During the exploration of Syvenial IV, everything went wrong. The three friends were sent together as the dimension was determined to be bigger than normal and possibly dangerous. And dangerous it was. Their return portal got shattered as soon as they set foot in the deadly continent of Staahl. No further signs of them were received and the three were declared missing in action. Further exploration of the dimension managed to establish a colony in less lethal areas, but the rescue teams never found any trace of the three explorers.
The slaughter of Allatar II
They would unexpectedly resurface many years later, on Allatar II. The nascent colony was watched over by the expert of water Nikolas Stervis and developing quietly. At first, nobody recognized the two men and the woman who appeared at the entrance of the town. Many gathered to witness the unknown figures, unusually muscular wearing old and torn clothes. All of the curious people got suddenly crushed under their own weight together with a dozen of buildings. Hearing the commotion, Nikolas stepped up and faced Sylas alone while his acolytes were rampaging the town.
As it turned out, although the two men shared the same title, Nikolas Stervis was no match for his opponent. The fight lasted for a few minutes, after which the compacted body of the explorer lay torn in a large puddle of water. The three madmen destroyed most of the city, leaving only a handful of survivors to tell the world that an organization was born this day to Eclipse the light of the Dominium. A group welcoming any alcyer bored of the tight rules of the I.D.E.A. eager to live free of any worry.
The Eclipse
Not many joined the rebel group, but they all were mighty alcyers full of resentment towards the humans that enslaved their kin. Rather than a true organization, the Eclipse is more a banner under which the deserters rallied when performing their horrendous deeds. After the capture and execution of crimes against humanity of the other co-founders, Kovid Sten and Myriam Nolesson, Sylas was left alone at the head of the group. Far from dimming with the years, his hatred is still as burning as it was. Despite the massive manhunt that already cost dozens of explorers lives, he still roams the Dominium free. His ultimate goal is to take down the I.D.E.A. Headquarters, but he is no fool and know full well that Terra is off-limit, as there are far more powerful alcyers than him guarding the capital dimension.
Daily life of a criminal
When he is not slaughtering people by the hundreds or fighting off an I.D.E.A. death squad, Sylas likes to live leisurely. That was the initial wish of Kovid, to live free of responsibilities and duties. He is trying to perpetuate the will of his friend throughout his life. What has changed over the years is the cost of the killing. After tens of thousand of victims, Sylas is completely numb to death. He is now more dangerous than ever as killing or sparing someone is a choice as easy to him as it is to decide which foot to lace first. His face is well-known through the Dominium, but most people cannot do anything but cower in fear and hope he will not take notice of them.
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