Niam, the False Wanderer

     The rain pounded down on the dark Septian rooves as Niam relished the feeling of being free from his prison and starting his path back to godhood.
     His prey frantically looked around the tower below, and Niam watched his water-lion companion shrink into the form of a sword. The boy glanced at it in confusion and Niam heard his voice through the pit-pat of the storm.
     "Wh.. Why would I need this?" He said. "There's no one.."
     Niam smirked and dropped down onto the tower. "You probably need it because of me."
He dashed forwards and gently let his blade nick his opponent's neck, causing the tiniest scratch.
     His opponent whirled around to face him, his wave-like cloak flapping in the wind like a flag and his hand tightly clutching his weapon. The boy looked at him, bewildered, then held out his sword defensively.
     "So... Indigo, was it?" Niam asked, tracing his finger along the small amount of blood on his blacksteel sword. "Nice to meet you. Call me Niam, I have a favor to ask." He held out his sword, forcing Indigo to back up.
     "What-" Indigo said, grabbing the crenellations for support, looking panicked as he seemed to contemplate the fall.
     "Fight me." Niam said. "I win, you obey me. You win, I'll tell you anything you want."
     Indigo looked at him suspiciously. "Why can't you just tell me what's going on?"
     Niam smirked. "Because that's less fun."
     And the battle began.

Former Glory

     Niam was once the Prophet of the Stars, a Wanderer with the future in his palm.
He was a traveler dedicated to exploring the world and everything in it, running into people and giving them helpful (or otherwise deadly) Prophecies. He was an energetic young man, eager to help and make friends, until one of his prophecies twisted into a thousand-or-something year imprisonment that lead him down the path to near-madness.

Fall From Grace

     At the time, a council of Kings ruled Kathrir with a firm hand. On the day of the Solar Eclipse, however, things changed.
     The Council had called Niam forward, asking him to give them their fate. Joyful to be of service, the young Wanderer looked to the future and apologetically told them that their council would be destroyed by the Primordial Gods themselves unless they changes their ways within the next day.
     The Kings did not take this news well, and started a great war between the Gods and the Mortals on the very next day. The war was long, and cost many, many lives.
     To prevent further prophecies during the war, the Gods stripped Niam of his powers without his knowledge, leaving him almost mortal and encasing him in amber for protection, hoping to release him after the war.
     An unfortunate side affect was that at his last breath for a thousand years, Niam unwillingly prophesized the Mortals would win the war, and win they did. Despite the heavy casualties and thousands of lives lost, they managed to corner the Gods on an island.
     The council sealed away the Gods, then forfeited their roles as rulers to prevent further divine retribution from the remaining Wanderers who were still in hiding, making Niam's prophecy come true.
And then the story started coming to a close...

But it doesn't end here.

Desperate for Validation

     Thousands of years later, Niam broke free from his crystalline prison and learned of how his title of Wanderer had been stripped off and tossed into the bin, though with no knowledge of who had done it.
     After a bit of asking around and research in a mad frenzy of curiosity, he learned of the Primordial Gods' imprisonment and came up with a plan. If he could free the gods, then they would surely restore his status of a wanderer and a prophet.

     A few months passed, and Niam had his plan set in motion. Create a false prophecy with what power he had left, lure some heroes into it after a few years, and then lead them on a quest to free the old gods. Absolutely foolproof, he had thought. Foolproof indeed.
     Relishing the idea of the praise he'd receive, he took up residence in a small gemstone capable of holding his power, then waited for the moment to come.
     Unfortunately that moment came too soon, when one of his five selected heroes jump-started the prophecy a good few years before Niam had hoped it would, which did nothing good for his sanity.
Nonetheless, he kept going with his plan, hoping it will all go well in the end and he'd successfully free the old gods and be known as their savior for the rest of time.

Both pieces of art in this article were hand drawn by me using the drawing app Procreate on an Ipad.

Pronouns
He/they

Gender

Male

Eyes

Orangish-red

Hair

Shoulder-length. blond

Known Powers
Future sight, celestial manipulation, minor time magic, limited shapeshifting
Classification
Ex-Wanderer