Hidden deep within the most secluded ruins of the old-world, a strange energy still resonates. Instantly deadly to sentient life, with enough time and exposure this resonant force can also alter the fabric of reality itself. Cutting-edge Imperial technology has granted Imperial explorers the ability to descend into these oceans of
paracausal energy for a short time, returning with relics imbued with unnatural power.
These items, mundane in appearance, have a strange sort of sentience, capable of communicating with those that bear them. Those that attempt to communicate with these objects find their physical abilities and even appearance altered over time, until they find themselves drawn to permanently accept these gifts. People who survive long enough to unleash the true power of these relics are called the Pact-Sworn and are incredibly rare, only a few have been recorded in the entire history of the world.
A true Pact-Sworn is an unmistakable and awe inspiring sight. Granted powers far beyond even the most talented mage, they can very nearly rewrite reality as they see fit. Legends tell of entire wars swayed by a single being striking down armies, reducing entire cities to dust, and even reviving the dead. Despite their sheer power, however, such beings vanish from history as quickly as they appear.
Pacts draw a heavy price for their use, sapping the very life-essence of their wielder and assaulting their minds with visions and voices seeping in from another reality. Over time, the Pact-Sworn themselves becomes a tear in reality from which paracausal radiation seeps, altering the world around them. Eventually their very soul is consumed.
Among heretical scholars, there exists a belief that the first Emperor may have been one of the Pact-sworn, wielding otherworldly power and influencing the course of history in ways beyond mortal comprehension. However, such notions are spoken of only in hushed tones, for to question the divine authority of the Emperor is to invite swift and merciless retribution.
"...the official histories, sanctioned by those sycophants who bathe in the Emperor's reflected light, speak of ascension. A mortal man, through sheer force of will and dedication, ascended to the very heights of divinity. They weave tales of trials overcome, sacrifices made, a transcendence of earthly limitations.
But I, ████ ████████, scholar of forbidden truths and seeker of the shadows that lie beneath the gleaming facade of Imperial pronouncements, propose a different narrative.
What if the Emperor Eternal, that so-called embodiment of order and strength, is not a true god? What if his power is not a manifestation of righteous will, but a twisted mockery of the Aetherial Flow, a stolen flame burning bright but fueled by a force far older, far more insidious?
Whispers linger in the deepest annals of history, tales of ████████████ – a Pact forged in the crucible of a dying world, its power capable of shattering mountains, rewriting destinies, and warping the very fabric of reality. Those who claim mastery over such a relic are not granted godhood, but a reflection of it - a borrowed power, a stolen echo, their strength as potent as it is perilous.
Consider the timing of the Emperor’s rise, his rapid ascent to dominance. Consider his obsession with controlling not only the physical world, but the flow of magic itself, the stifling of dissent, the suppression of those who wield powers that threaten his singular vision of a perfectly ordered society.
Is this the mark of a true god, a benevolent ruler? Or the desperate clawing of a man wielding a power that burns from within, transforming him, corrupting him, until only a shadow of the ████████ remains?
The evidence whispers, if one dares to listen. Look deeper, seekers of truth. The Emperor’s power, so absolute, so all-consuming, is not the light of a radiant dawn, but the cold, consuming glow of a black sun – a stolen power that inevitably demanded its price." - Recovered Text Fragment – Date and Author Unknown
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