Guardians

[Forsaken]

Guardians
The Guardians are the most powerful of the two new races that arose after the apocalypse that had collapsed the ancient world(our modern world), those two races being themselves and the loup garou, or werewolves. For a time they found themselves outmatched by the Zyren, a large clan of hybrids that had resulted from a short-lived time of peace between an isolated group of Guardians and werewolves. Yet the Guardians made sure that this threat did not survive. At this time, they are as secure in their power as they have been since they'd first learned to harness it to their greatest ability centuries ago.

Their's is a beautiful race that had defied classification in the beginning. The religious had dubbed them angels, the superstitious labeling them many things, such as Fae, witches and wizards, or even vampires. It is the spirit of the first classification that they encourage, but it is superstition that guessed closest to the mark. Like the Fae of legend, their ethereal beauty could seduce any man or woman into blindly following them to death's door, glad of their chance to have been able to aid this superior race, to bask in their glory, if only for a little while. Yet they power beyond handsome features that leave the imperfect humans that set their gaze upon them awe-struck. They wield magic as only the most powerful witches and wizards found in the stories of the ancient world could. With magic, they can warp the natural world itself, extending their own life so that they could live through centuries, heightening their power to impossible levels and achieving impossible feats. With magic they could genetically alter some of the few beasts that remained, creating spectacular and majestic mounts that would carry them through the streets. They could perform miracles, such as bringing the newly dead back from the grave. They could inflict horrendous curses and enslave the minds of others. And a great many other things that could have been done just as easily by hand and were simply frivolous displays of power. They were, are, terrifying in their power and charisma, and their abuse of magic made a dark world even darker. The ash and sediment blasted into the air during the nuclear holocaust of ancient history seemed to become thicker instead of thinner as it should have as the dust filtered out of the air overtime. The days became darker. More of the vegetation died and what had been a mass extinction of all life on earth suddenly became a nearly complete one.

As life became harder still what remained of the human race gathered around their Guardian's, as they had begun to call themselves, while the Guardian's directed the blame at the demons that thrived among them. The werewolves, the ones that called themselves loup garou. And so the ongoing battle that had begun almost as soon as the Guardian's and werewolves exploded into an all-out war. The Guardian's used the werewolves prosperity against them, showing the fawning humans under their care the werewolves city, Wyvern, the only place in the world that knew the touch of sunlight, and told them that the werewolf demons were drawing all of the life from the world so that they could live in luxury. The humans, struggling for survival and desperate for something that they could blame for their suffering, did not question their leaders. And so they slaughtered every werewolf that did not immediately flee the city as well as every human with the blood of the demon in his veins. Then they set their hate-filled gaze upon it's Wyvern and fought to destroy it. They paid a heavy price, but they very nearly succeeded. In any case, Wyvern, once the only place of light in a dark world, was now as shadowed as the rest.

And so the Guardian's are able to rule their city, the city of Manticore, with an iron fist and enjoy being exalted for the favor. One of the tools that make their base of power easier to protect are the cursed wraiths that all enemies (the people who knew that the loup garou were the race that could redeem the world, and were not the ones destroying it) were transformed into. The curse made them slaves to the will of the Guardian who placed it upon them and allowed them a volatile sort of magic of their own, powerful enough to grant them the strength of their Guardian masters but impossible for them to control on their own. The Forsaken (as they have come to be know in all circles that are familiar with them, even though the Guardians refer to them as Servants if the audience happens to be their brain-washed human population) are therefor nothing more than an extension of their Guardian's will, a way for their master to accomplish all of those viscous tasks that must be performed (like subduing all opposition) without risking his/her life or squandering his/her power. Since the clever invention of the curse that gifted them with this oh so perfect tool, the Guardian's have enjoyed an even more luxurious life than what they had previously experienced. The Guardians' live like pampered kings. The Forsaken like the royal guard dogs that are regularly beaten so that they are more vigilant and ruthless in their work.

And to the Guardian's, the Forsaken truly are nothing more than dogs. Indeed, many of them don't even live so long, knowing only two to ten years of life at best and mere weeks at the worst. At the end, they turn as mad and savage as a rabid beast, and must be destroyed, leaving the owner to find a replacement. As an invention they are a priceless resource, but the individuals are not worth much.

So it is knowing this wealth of power, and possessing an arrogant philosophy that believes in the right for the superior race to survive so that lesser beings may be managed, that the Guardians rule from their Cavyrn, a great spherical building, with half it's globe above ground and the other half below. To the knowing eyes that dare to approach the imposing city, it is the hulking menace at it's center. To the humans on the inside, it is a testament to human achievement, for it was the human laborers that erected this great structure.

[Forsaken]

In addition to being a beautiful race, the Guardians also possess a fair complexion. Their skin gleams like porcelain and it's pale hue, while having some range, varies very little. It is either reminiscent of white marble beneath a moonlit sky or more closely resembles the tone of an alabastar lamp whose white shade is backlit by golden light. All variety lies between those ends of the scale.

Their build is composed of long, graceful limbs and slender forms. The women have gentle curves and move as though they learned how to dance before they learned how to walk. The men have a form whose muscles are well-defined without being over-stated(over-stated being their term for the 'brutes' that have a great deal of muscle mass). Men move with as much grace as the woman do, but with a predatory edge.

They have hair that reflects light with all the brilliance of spun gold or silver. Which is an accurate metaphor, because gold and silver also provides the scale for color. Shades of gold can include colors such as true gold, ash blond, and all of the varying shades in between, but can also be tinted with varying degrees of red. The darker shades of red, however, are rare. Silver includes a dark steel gray, true silver, white and all the shades in between. Some shades of silver are tinted blue as gold can be tinted red.

Finally, we have their eyes, which are as striking as every other feature. Their eye color seems to consist solely of jewel tones. The shade can be bright, such as the most brilliant shades of emerald or aquamarine. Or it may be a more condensed, deeper shade, such as sapphire or amethyst. They may also be colorless like crystal or diamond and have that same stones ability to shine, or reflect prisms of light the way opals do, or spark only one other color the way a white moonstone will shine blue. The shade of their eyes varies quite a bit, but never includes washed out shades such as grey, mixed shades such as brown, or, strangely enough, gold, even though this last would be bright enough to match the others.

The last thing is a note on age. Because a Guardian can extend their life span, an adult is often much older than he or she appears. However, the young age as quickly as human children do, and halt the aging process only when they are pleased with their current age. Some favor a youthful appearance and others an older one. So an individual who appears to be twenty can be significantly older than one who appears to be thirty-five. Guardians can live for centuries, but none have lived past three. They are as mortal as humans and werewolves, and magic can only do so much. This is a short-coming that older Guardian's strive to remedy.

[Forsaken]

The Guardian's have two symbols that every resident of Manticore knows well. The Eye of Vigilance and the Cleansing Flame. Both can be seen in their Emblem, seen below.



The Eye of Vigilance is a symbol of protection and supervision. It is a statement whose message is "We are always watching", though this message has a different effect on the different groups that receive it.

To the humans that have all faith in their Guardian's (which is the vast majority of Manticore) it is a promise of safety. The eye, in an exotic shade of rich amethyst, is clearly the eye of a Guardian, for no other race features shades of purple. The silver rays, reminiscent of the golden ones (found in works preceding the Renaissance movement in art) that would outline a religious icon, are a symbol of glory. The dot of light in the eye that is looking towards the heavens is symbolic of hope for times of prosperity and the return of sunlight to a dark world.

To the rebels and those of werewolf blood, it is a threat. The eye a reminder that the Guardians and their minions are always searching for their enemies with the intent of destroying them all. The silver rays suddenly seem more reminiscent of blades.

The Cleansing Flame, or the Cleansing Fire, are the beautiful white flames that the Guardian's employ to execute all threats to their power. It is a bright and showy way to kill, and mesmerizes the human population to such a degree that they are not horrified by the fact that they are watching another living thing die in agony. They believe that the fire purifies the demon soul of the werewolves that are being destroyed. They don't realize that some of these 'werewolves' are either entirely human or possessed human parents. To them, every death by white fire is a step toward a brighter future. Which makes it no surprise that the Cleansing Flame has become a calling card of the Guardian's. It is a way for them to both destroy freely and be praised for purifying the world, for making it a better place.

[Forsaken]

The majestic mounts that the Guardian's have engineered are known as Sabres. (Pronounced "Sah-brays" in plural, or "Sah-bray" if it is singular. The name of their species if based off of the archaic pronunciation and word, saber.) They are a hybrid creature, resembling a cross between a polar bear and a stegosaurus. Except the two rows of plates along their back are set farther apart (so that a Guardian can sit safely between them) and are both as sharp as blades and made out of a similar material. Something metallic that holds an edge, though the color the material varies. Their head is often wolfish or feline in appearance, and they can weigh anywhere from one thousand to ten thousand pounds.

Precisely what they look like, and how large they become, depends entirely on the Guardian who owns them. The magical charge that all Guardians radiate influences their growth. One Sabre could resemble a particularly large, spiny tiger, another a colossal horse. The only things they all of in common is their large size (for even the smallest are imposing beasts), the two-rows of sharp plates along their backs, sharp teeth, sharp spines along muscular tails, and sharp claws or hooves. They possess these features because they were created, first and foremost, to protect their masters.

However, in appearance, they are more majestic than terrifying, like a fine horse or trained tiger. This is simply because the Guardians would not benefit from creating terrifying beasts, with burning eyes or skeletal frame, that would terrify the humans that compose their armies and possible turn the population against them. As a result, the Sabres, though adapted to warfare, are as awe-inspiring and majestic as their masters are beautiful. And usually see better treatment than the Forsaken do, for they possess a freer mind and are entirely capable of turning on their owners. Due to the better treatment they receive, however, they are devoted to their Guardians and are not likely to do so.

This was the creature I invented years back and wound up basing the Sabres off of. It only has one row of plates along it's back, and so isn't a perfect example, but it's still a good visual.