Redeemers, Part 2: The Ancient Stelae (en anglais)

The Gyronomicon Giraud´s expository on the Redeemers pg.20

And before long, the Divine appeared to Demira and bid her return to his side, as humanity had failed and the days of this last creation seemed numbered. But Demira stood tall and steadfast and refused the almighty. And out of love for all she had seen and gotten close to on earth, for all the hopes and dreams she had gotten to know and for how she had come to admire the resilience and humble splendor of the human spirit, she begged the Divine to allow her a last attempt to save them. And the Divine saw that she was unmovable.

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At the end of the Age of the Ancients, the Stelae were built by the Fay, instructed and guided by Demira herself, in order to protect and benefit this Divine´s tenth creation. The Fay, building on their ancient wisdom and having seen creations come and go throughout the aeons, knew that sooner rather than later, this creation would need all the help they could give to withstand the corrupting agents of Hell.

Demira, who had not only rediscovered the Fay, some of whom were the original incarnations of the Divine’s image from a much earlier creation, had come to understand their plight and chosen mission and she, therefore, decided to aid them in this endeavour. And perhaps she saw in this some glimpse of hope for them and all those they protect to gain redemption in the eye of the Almighty eventually.

Fay magic manipulates the elements of creation using life force itself and so the stones were aligned to bolster and protect all living things. And even after Demira had made the ultimate sacrifice, banishing the three Lords of the Nether and the Fay had retreated with her seemingly lifeless body deep into their hidden realm, her spirit still nurtured and maintained the Stelae’s influence throughout the Elysian Age.

And a millennium passed.

It was in the last year of the Elysian Age, at the peak of the great Demon Incursion and the beginning of the First Crusade, that Armozel, the fifth redeemer, through his ingenuity and wild desperation, harnessed the mysterious powers of the Stelae. He reshaped them and imbued them with a spark of eternal life drawn from Phaionios’ angelic divinity, allowing their fallen paladins to rise again and return to the fight against the Legions of Hell, that at this point seemed would overwhelm and swallow the world.

But at the end of the demon wars, when victory was had, and Phaionios had triumphantly returned to the side of the Lord, the Stelae gradually lost their powers. And so it was that when Armozel, in his vainglory, gathered his host of paladins once more for the final push to hunt The Deceiver into the depths of Mount Medula, they soon became overwhelmed by the unending swarms of the minions of Hell that awaited, the fallen would not return. And before long, all was lost.

Since then, throughout the ages, the Stelae have laid dormant, lost to the memories of mankind and their former powers forgotten. But recently, something has begun to stir within. The Ancient Stelae however faintly, are once again emanating nurturing strands enforcing the fabric of life and bringing the people of Demira’s Second Arch back to life whenever they falter. What it is that has brought the Stela back to life is still draped in mystery, but bright and hopeful voices whisper that this, among other current, wondrous occurrences around the world, may be a sign that heralds the long prophesied Age of Renewal.

~Sages Annals