The Seven Ascended
First Tier Deities of the Ma’ab People
The majority of Ma'ab on Miurag function as another breed of Human. Female Ma'ab are always much smaller than the male, though all are dark-haired and dark-eyed, most with very pale skin. Even with less variation in their appearances, those of the fertile, lower Tiers of the Ma'ab castes could easily pass as Noiri or Kurgan to those unfamiliar with the warring people or cultures.
Not so with the Ascended. These are the original leaders and most powerful magic users who crossed over directly from the Greylands. Though born in a humanoid form, the Ascended had long since been shaped by the needs and whims of Abalok, their Greylord master and creator, as well as other Greylords, to serve a desired function. Their rebellion against their overlords granted them power at the expense of further transitions, making them a cabal of uniquely strange and disturbing liches, their alien appearance extremely obvious to any who lay eyes upon them.
Seven Ascended rule the capital city of Ennikar and the Ma’ab people in strict ranking. Like their caste system, each Ascended once served a necessary function, providing a powerful anchor when their race was most vulnerable to extinction during their first century on Miurag. This structure has allowed their people to survive and flourish; without them, the Ma'ab would have vanished shortly after crossing over.
Times change, however, and now the liches' purpose is less defined. They cling to Divine Right to maintain personal power but the Ma'ab as a race has stabilized and is in no danger of extinction. Their only option is expansion as the seven gods of the Ma'ab learn to squabble with each other for influence power.
Below are both the Divine Names and “formal titles” for each of the Ascended wit their place within their own pantheon, developed for and taken from Ada's Story in Tales of Miurag: Death.
The Divine Prime: The Vermillion Lady of Ebon Flame. The One Most Powerful, She Who Gave Birth to her entire people upon this new world.
The Divine Warrior: The General of the Undefeated Void. He made an unbreakable bargain with the Deathless which then broke the Ma’ab chains of enslavement.
The Divine Physician: The Chirurgeon of Souls. The first of the Ascended to understand how to manipulate souls outside of the Greylands, and how to keep them for much, much longer.
The Divine Enslaver: The Enslaver of the Nine Circles. She who found the resources and made the bargains necessary to strengthen the Ma’ab at their most vulnerable.
The Divine Matron: The Mother of Entrails. The first midwife to the Vermillion Lady and the Ascended’s initial salvation to prevent miscarriages and keep their bloodline going. The discoverer and explorer of this strangest “life magic” woven into their new world.
The Divine Artisan: The Artisan of Blood. The keeper of their genealogy and second midwife to the Vermillion Lady.
The Divine Assassin: The Opener of Ways From Within. The Ascended who knows all the ways to kill or destroy every creation they have learned about. And he is always learning about more.
