Pre-Exaltaion
Dreadful Shadow of Progress has lived many great and varied lives. He would not be one of the Champions of the creator if it was any other way!
One such life he has lived was Jerreth, a simple mortal of Autochthon origin. His life was spent infiltrating void bringer cults around his city to gather information to aid in their destruction. He traveled the waste between cities with his unit hunting and exterminating the goblin hives they could without assistance and when his end finally came at the age of 57 it was at the claws of a goblin trying to secret its way into his cities Vats.
His next life was as Soleren, a grand creator in his city, creating and maintaining the various automations and artifacts of Autochthon. His hands and tools crafted several artifacts of great power in his time. Many of which had served the Chosen of Autochthon well over the decades. Some though, would find their way back to him when the time was right. This life died at the age of 82 when he passed in his sleep.
His final mortal life was as Alexi, a soldier and general in the troop of his city. He had many violent encounters with the troops of other cities over the invaluable resources in the wastes between the cities. These needed to keep various sections of their home running and none wanted to be caught without reserves of the needed magical material. Where he sold himself was in the tunnel warrens between the great cities, holding back troops and automations in the darkness, again and again he turned back waves of the foes until reinforcements came. By the time that the reinforcements should have arrived the cities had shifted apart and the tunnels no longer connected the cities, when the enemy over ran his position after the 12th day of fighting there was nothing for them to gain.
Because of the shift of the cities his men and he lay strewn about the tunnel for dozens of years until the cities shifted once more and his home city came back to its original place.
Exaltation
An exalt of the soul steel cast, Thousand Cuts of Justice, was the first to enter the tunnel warrens of Alexis death after 46 years had passed. The first to find the scene of Tripartite soldiers who had held the line so their city might survive. Among the corpses he had found the commander, his soulgem protected by the bodies of the fallen from stray gremlins who had come and gone over those years. He would remove the soulgem from the desiccated corpse to bring it home.
Upon the review of his deeds from his former lives it was decided that he was worthy of exaltation, to join the ranks of his cities champions, even more so with the opening of the gate coming soon. Different castes made their claims on his soul, the Jade called for his soul as it was that of a warrior. The Starmetals laid claim based on his creativity. But the Soulsteels laid claim because of his unwavering faith in Autochthon and willingness to do what must be done for the good of all. These debates raged for days untill the Soulsteels won out and gained this soul.
Bringing his gem to the vats the technicians were nervous. A body of dark metal sat silently in its chair, lifeless and red ruby eyes staring into oblivion beyond. This body was that of a killer, even without life it had taken many souls, hundreds of qualified exalts had been lost to this body, the soulsteel of its construction draining the gem of its life force before even activating.
The technicians of the vats would attach the gem then sink it into the Vat, applying power they collectively would frown as the gem darkens in the bodies skull. Thousand Cuts of Justice stood in the shadows of the room, watching his finds introduction to his new body. A cry of surprise comes from one of the technicians as the soulgem flares to life stronger than before, catalizing the steel making it shudder and liquefy in the vat, the red ruby eyes flattening to become a visor across the face and the molten soulsteel flows into a more masculine form, plates forming over the chest and a helmet forming over the head and covering the soul gem to protect it from harm.
His ruby visor would glow with what seemed like infernal light before settling into a dull red glow before he sjhifts and pulls himself free of the Vat. Looking to the pale human technicians staring openly at the catalized Exalt.
Thousand Cuts of Justice would step from the shadows surprising the humans further who had not known of his presence. He ignores the humans though looking at his newly born brother. "What is your name brother?" He asks. The new exalt turns his visor toward his kindred. Like a deep rumbling and grinding of gears he speaks through his mouth grill. "I am the Dreadful Shadow of Progress."
Post Exaltation
He served his city well early on in his life, His form came easily to him, possessed of the skills he would require from the outset, gathered from his previous mortal lives and presented to his new life. He excelled at ranged combat and hand to hand when tested and he was chosen to be one of the advanced chosen for the next wave of expansion. He thought he was being assigned to a collosus who was to become a new allied city. How he was wrong. He was guided to the armory to choose his equipment for his expedition to Creation. Among the artifacts two seemed to call out to him. His choice would make Thousand Cuts of Justice smirk inside. Those artifacts that called to him so had been forged by him in one of his former lives, not that he would know such a thing in his memory.
He didnt think much of creation when he first set foot out of the portal, it was dry baren and sandy. Not at all what he had expected when shown landscapes of green and gold in paintings brought from the original time of exile. Their first objective was to secure a base of operations, which they had in two places, raising fortresses of stone and metal on points of power in this desert, large enough to provide them with several bases of operation but small enough to not draw the attention of the forces of this land. He had met one of the children of this land quickly after raising the second and main fortress. Deep Tide he was cald, a worthy adversary but one that shouldnt be wasted, they forged a bond quickly, seeing a mutual use in eachother. Now he allowed the town that had sprung up around the fortess as a haven for those whom were hunted by the main interferance in Autochthons plans, The Realm.
Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:33 pm