Vylosha
The False Light
a.k.a The False Light
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”
― C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (Making of Modern Theology)
"Strip a soul of its personality and link its faith with its basest hungers. You will gain a zealot of proper loyalty and righteous fury. True, I could give them a choice, but why allow them that freedom to stray? Why let them stray from serenity? Why let them ignore the good that they could do? Better it is that I free them of the will to do wrong. Yet for this I would be decried as evil. What simple, confused minds to place such importance on free will as if it adds potency to a good deed. An action that is worthy or good is so, regardless of intent. Free will is a needless addition to the act yet so many 'benevolent' gods would argue for its worth. Such fools."
― Vylosha, the False Light
Even those Greylords who consider themselves lawful and good will not always seem that way to mortals. Such is the benevolent tyranny of the False Light. One of the more violent and dangerous Greylords, she works unceasingly to perpetuate her own vision of Serenity, the Firstborn out of Chaos.
This vision includes the destruction of individual thought and will for the benefit of the whole, yet still she draws in many souls with her soft, comforting words and false warmth. With cold precision she cuts away those parts that she deems unnecessary and unworthy, and this new, “perfect” soul is placed in the body of a golem with a heart of pneuma flint to enforce her will. Pieces or whole souls that are unfit for her vision are used to fuel her various machinations, such as the Obelisks she uses to monitor and power the automaton soldiers of her domain.
Obelisks are vast towers of flesh covered in huge polished plates of crystal, hardened chitin, and pneuma flint. They move at an incredibly slow pace as they patrol the borders of her realm. They accumulate massive static electrical charges which they discharge. Golems in need of recharging or repair amble up and the Obelisk extends one of its ten, spidery, manipulator arms. It is capable of amazing feats of craftsmanship and can even work to repair itself more rapidly than it can golems. Glass cobblestone roadways mark the Obelisks' paths, with small rivers of blood like fluid running between the stones.
Vylosha has remade her body into a veritable temple, formed into an expression of her devotion to Serenity. She has remained unmoving in the center of her lands and mistaken by some as mere architecture. The Obelisks and golems are partially formed of her flesh, keeping them linked and under her watchful control.
In truth the Greylord has fallen into a mad slumber, no longer truly cognizant of the existence around her. Perhaps the trauma is the result of realizing the sheer impossibility of her vision, the inability to reconcile the unclean acts she is forced to do in order to bring about her vision, or the devouring of those parts she has deemed 'unclean' has been a slow poison to her essence.
At times her fevered dreams manifest a physical figment of her soul, the Choir. They appear as unnaturally tall and lean humanoids clad in chitinous armor and robes, with skirts of an organic material resembling rubber. Their long arms reach almost to mid-calf and are capped with three agile fingers and a thumb; they often carry magical staffs of power. Their head caps a short neck emerging closer to the center of their chests, giving them a strange stooped posture, and their faces are concealed behind a bisected mask which appears to be an ornamental, owl-like face with a halo formed by a set of horns.
This face plate can split open, revealing a symmetrical riot of colors; the light emanates outward from a central point, then collapses in on itself. Its brightly hued fronds, soft as petals, seem to evaporate at the edges. It is gorgeous, and the patterns often trick people into seeing visions.
These entities act as shepherds to those foolish enough to trust in the honeyed words of her grand vision of which they speak. Their presence radiates a false, euphoric calm that addles even the most skeptical mind. These pilgrims are then guided up the steps of her temple before they are pulled in and violently remade. Their suffering lasts for but a moment; soon they are incapable of resistance or thought; their sense of self vanishes as it is replaced with their new purpose, their new “serenity.”
While the Choir may congregate around the Greylord’s temple-like body, they do not enter. This quirk may be a subconscious impulse, as to enter would mean the possibility of facing the truth of what she has become. Strangely, a rumor has begun to spread of a shrine existing deep within Vylosha's temple body, upon which a shadowy entity silently kneels and weeps. Such tales are clearly flights of fancy since none can enter the temple to bring back such tales, yet the rumors seem to persist and grow.
ENTITIES OF VYLOSHA
Choir- The Face of Kindness, preachers of her faith. Capable of projecting an aura of peace as well as elaborate illusions. Many pilgrims following them are not aware of each other and their visions even conflict to better suit their personal needs to be drawn in.
Wretch- Simple golems that act to gather materials; humanoid figures that are partially built from the remains of pilgrims. They decay over time and are discarded, their soul core removed and placed in a new body. Their crude, hunched forms are kept well covered in robes to keep pilgrims from learning the truth.
Watchers- Golems that drift in orbit around Obelisks and work as their defense. The spheres feature multiple orbiting crystals from which various attacks are launched.
Glass Runner- Scout golem built to move at insane speeds. They follow the Obelisk paths and seem to draw power transmitted through the electrified ichor between the glass cobblestones. They carry message stones between the Obelisks and Temple. Designed to be in constant motion, they seek to avoid conflict.
Render- Warrior golem, great insect-like war machines. Powerful but can only be fielded in limited numbers due to their cost.
