The Heartless
"The Order protected Zealor with their lives. For decades, no one dared to challenge the peaceful rein of Zeal. However, on that day the truth was revealed. Evil was biding its time, waiting to strike. The Order hadn't driven back evil, but let it creep in closer." - King Submarle of Cape MemoryThroughout the chronicled history of Zealor, no evil has been as prevalent, powerful, and persistent as the Heartless. Considered to be the antithesis of all the known laws of Zealor, the Heartless is a being that retains sentience despite lacking emotion, willpower, or knowledge. The only sense of life it has within its body is a cold indifference to any matter, along with a surprisingly avid sense for dark humor.
Abilities
The Heartless has the ability to bend how others perceive reality, effectively giving it the strength to summon and change things out of thin air. In general. this ability has many similarities to the element of chaos manifested by the Passionate Soul. This ability has been used by the being for manipulative purposes. Not much else is known about the Heartless' abilities as many aspects of its existence remain enigmatic in nature.Appearance
The Heartless is a cunning shapeshifter with many different forms. This power is a natural result of its ability to the change the perception of reality. Generally, it takes the form of a tan-skinned human male, but has also been famously depicted as a sun dragon and northmonger. In combat, it has been seen changing parts of its body into various forms of weaponry and even into things that can distract its combatants.History and Motivations
The Heartless is a being that was manifested in the early antiquity of Zealor. While its original origins may predate this by a large margin, it first showed itself during the reign of the Zealian Empire. After the Triangle Conflict involving the three gods in the city of Senturica, the pillars holding the fabric of the ability to perceive reality were blurred. This blurred perception allowed a previously powerless entity to gain the mental capacity of a sentient person. While its origin and ability to have sentience without possessing any of the three pillars of the mind is a marvel in itself, this being seemed to have the ability to change the way reality was perceived, giving way to instability throughout Zealor. The Heartless' goal was a simple, yet disturbing one... to eradicate all who possesed the complete sentience it did not. To do this the Heartless would need a foothold in Zealor. It assumed the form of a Human male and started using its reality bending powers to gain allies throughout the world. Around 50 years after its rise to sentience, the Heartless had gained major influence throughout the world outside the Zealian Empire. Foreboding signs of this revealed themselves for months prior, but no one put the picture together until it was too late. At the height of the Zealian Empire's power, the Heartless launched a massive assault on the capital of Senturica. In addition to its powerful allies from around the world, the Heartless had created an army of monstrous beings dubbed "Sentimentals". These Sentimentals were people taken over by one emotion to the point where their humanity was lost. These monsters were able to harness to harness one elemental power, and could easily match the strength of a skilled Zealomancer. The Heartless' motivations for attacking Senturica were simple. It had already taken the minds of Syrtian and Elsian, the gods of emotion and willpower. To completely destroy all of sentience, the hearltless would need to weaken the minds of those who created it in the first place. The three gods were defeated years prior by the Passionate Soul, and were weakened into a state of submission. This allowed the Heartless to easily attack the settlements where Syrtian and Elsian were held in complete secret. The Heartless only needed to subdue the mind of Thalian, God of Knowledge to destroy all sentience. And uncoincedentally, Thalian was imprisoned within Senturica. This day of reckoning would be come to known as Darkest Zeal (D.Z.) and can be considered as the most important event in the history of Zealor. Here is a quote to encapsulate the conflict:"From beyond the oasis of Senturica, we were able to witness what was about to unfold. It had amassed an army of over 100,000, all surrounding the city. Before any of us could breath, they launched their assault. We in the order led the Zealian army to battle on the buttes and shallows of Senturica, holding nothing back. Long after we had taken out the underlings, those two were still going at it. Although our forces well outnumbered it, we knew that the only one with the power to destroy it was him. He had brought out chaos, while it was using whatever evil magic it had to pull things out of thin air. In all my years combatting the greatest evils of this world, nothing has rivaled the power that thing possessed. Nothing. If it wasn't for his sacrifice... lets just say we wouldn't be here imagining what ifs" - Ignebord, Warrior of the GlacierWhile the details of D.Z. are widely disputed, one thing is always for certain. Both the Heartless and the Passionate Soul perished after the conflict. Senturica wasn't taken, Thalian wasn't captured, and sentience wasn't destroyed. However, the Zealian empire had lost the figurehead of its strength. And without said figurehead, it would eventually crumble to criminal influence. Years later in modern-day Zealor, there are rumblings of evil. The same evil which plagued the world during antiquity. In Modern-day Zealor, the Heartless has somehow returned and once again used its influence to amass power. This time, creating an organization whose goal was to train a Zealomancer who could become a Passionate Soul. With this power, the Heartless plans to exact its revenge on the reality that wronged it once before, and once again plots to destroy all sentience. Only time will tell how its plans work out.
Type: Otherworldly Being
Intelligence Level: Sentient
Origin: Unknown
Power: Extreme (Threat to reality)
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