User:SilverCrono/Nine Heroes

THE NINE HEROES CHRONICLES

A series of novels / stories revolving around NINE HEROES.

The main idea of the overarching series is that the Chronicles are a series of stories revolving around Nine Heroes and their reincarnations. Far in the distant past of the mythos, the Nine Heroes were all powerful pseudo-immortal beings that challenged the Goddess and challenged her for control of the known universe, for the Goddess was apathetic about the universe she had created and her creations were beginning to know suffering. Of course, the Heroes lost, and they only managed to turn the Goddess away from creation in more disgust. Before abandoning the universe entirely, she cursed each of the Heroes with the shackling of their souls to her abandoned creation, forcing them to consistently reincarnate after their lives ended and to experience some form of suffering or tragedy during their lives for their hubris.

Though the 9HC involves a mythos behind / linking together many otherwise different stories and novels / novellas, it also involves many other inventions and concepts, such as a religion, a subspecies of humanity, and more.

Characters
The Hero most tied to the concept of Ruin. Most brooding of them all. King Silverius was a ruthless, power-hungry ruler that fought his way to his throne rather than been born nobility. Of all the original Heroes, he was most hungry for the possibility of divine power. Due to his strength, he was a great loner and abandoned or even killed many that were close to him. As a result, all of his incarnations tend to lead strikingly similar lives. The Hero most tied to the concept of Discovery. Most lonely of them all. Said to be borne from a flaming womb, Emperor Vikrayama was extremely powerful and noble, but led a tragic life with little personal happiness. Is usually homosexual in his incarnations, though some of his tyrants have at least been bisexual. The Hero most tied to the concept of Ambition. Most bodacious of them all. In her original form, Queen Nolstuvainia ruled the largest nation of all the Heroes and was very powerful and almost impossibly influential. Her incarnations tend to be very headstrong and selfish.
 * SILVERIUS, King of Ruin – The first hero with a Soul of Wind. Manifests in KoS as Singun Crono Silverius.
 * VIKRAYAMA, Emperor of Discovery – The second hero with a Soul of Fire. Manifests in KoS as Vikcent Hyusei.
 * NOLSTUVAINIA, Queen of Ambition – The third hero with a Soul of Sea. Manifests in KoS as Nolstuvainia Sestrum.

After attempting to become immortal, Queen Nolstuvainia’s rebirth efforts were botched and she was half-reincarnated into a body made of her own magical energies. The process drove her somewhat insane and caused her to lose her humanity, so she is eternally immortal alongside Taurisvaan’s tyrant Gin Taoris. At this point, she refers to herself only as the Queen of Eternity before re-discovering her true name. The Hero most tied to the concept of Eternity. Oldest of them all. Knight Taurisvaan was from a nation whose population tended to have extremely long lifespans, and he was an outlier even amongst them. Among the Heroes, Taurisvaan was easily the oldest, and he was even reputed to be immortal. Though he was wise at first, his incarnations tend to go mad from their long lives and invulnerability, leading them to become berserkers entirely unconcerned for their safety. The Hero most tied to the concept of Illusions. Most beautiful of all. Queen Kornelia had the most magical power of all the original Heroes, and was gifted with the ability to alter reality itself with her powers. She was very close to Queen Noltiavati, and the two enjoyed a long love affair in their original incarnations, but it fell apart when Kornelia fell in love for Silverius. Tyrants: Chosen Knight -> Selena Ultimata The Hero most tied to the concept of Love. Most passionate of them all. Though she was compassionate, supporting, and very benevolent, Queen ;Noltiavati was also a prodigious warrior who was constantly challenged and despised by the very people she wanted to rule. It was this tragedy that led her to challenge the Goddess in order to fix the tainted nature of mankind. She was horribly heartbroken when Kornelia abandoned her for Silverius, but she was unable to hate either one of them. Tyrants: Lance Knight -> Divina Ultimata The Hero most tied to the concept of Sorrows. Most cultured of them all. She had the most advanced and intelligent kingdom, and she was known for being talented in all the arts, but she came from a very abusive family and was surrounded endlessly by sycophants. No matter how hard she tried to eliminate the corruption from her nation and return it to its glory days, she was constantly manipulated and defeated by her enemies.
 * TAURISVAAN, Knight of Eternity – The fourth hero with a Soul of Immortality. Manifests in KoS as Gin Kama Taoris.
 * KORNELIA, Queen of Illusions – The fifth hero with a Soul of Dreams. Manifests in KoS as the Chosen Knight.
 * NOLTIAVATI, Queen of Love – The sixth hero with a Soul of Desire. Manifests in KoS as the Lance Knight.
 * VARANNIAV, Empress of Sorrows – The seventh hero with a Soul of Memory.

Due to her disillusion in her nation and her love of the arts, Empress Varanniav’s incarnations tend to take less action and prominence among the worlds compared to the tyrants of her peers. She also tends to have more tyrants of the opposite sex than any other Hero. The Hero most tied to the concept of Yearning. Most envious of them all. Though he was very powerful and had a large kingdom, Lord Aranavyst always wanted more than he had, and he was the one who came up with the idea of attacking the Goddess.
 * ARANAVYST, Lord of Yearning – The eighth hero with a Soul of Strength.

The Hero most tied to the concept of Time. Most honorable of them all. Genderfluid and pansexual in every incarnation, and always childlike and pure of morals, though inexperienced in various worldly ways. Watcher Cidolayus was more of a wise figurehead in his nation than a ruler, and they were always fascinated with the motions of time and the actions of the Goddess. They wanted an empire that would last forever, but in a different, less authoritative way than Queen Nolstuvainia.
 * CIDOLAYUS, Watcher of Time – The ninth hero with a Soul of Protection.

After failing to prevent the creation of the Crystals, Watcher Cidolayus’s reincarnation process was damaged and multiplied with the memories and humanity of each body having only a fraction of Cidolayus’ true consciousness. The resulting “Cidolas bodies” retained only the most basic pillars of Cidolayus’ original personality, such as a desire to protect the other Heroes and genderfluid characteristics.

There are often recurring themes or ideas behind the reincarnations of the Nine Heroes. For example:
 * Silverius and Kornelia are star-crossed lovers,
 * Silverius and Vikrayama are rivals – sometimes enemies, sometimes the best of friends,
 * Nolstuvainia and Taurisvaan are always close friends or bitter enemies, but their relationship never becomes romantic,
 * Aranavyst and Cidolayus are always enemies,
 * Kornelia and Noltiavati are always in love, but their relationship never works out or is unrequited on one end,
 * Cidolayus tends to sacrifice himself for the sake of the other Heroes,
 * Tyrants of Varanniav tend to remember parts of their past reincarnations, stay out of the conflicts of the other Heroes, and are thematically associated with the image of having multiple arms,

Settings

 * Terra – The original home planet of the Nine Heroes, where the Crystals were created.
 * Postmetropolis -

Before the Abandonment
Little is known of the past world that existed before the Nine attacked the Goddess, as absolutely no records or remains from that time still exist in any of the current stories. It is known that humans existed for some time, long enough for them to reach a state of magical power and innovation that has yet to be reached again since. All creation was ruled by the Goddess, who ruled over the universe – though it is unclear if she was metaphysical or had an actual, concrete existence. At some point in time, the Nine Heroes became rulers of the nine nations on their home planet (thought to be Terra, though there is no proof of such) and collectively drove humanity to even greater heights. The Heroes became named as such after each one of them achieved almost god-like lifespans and magical abilities.

At some point, the Heroes became unsatisfied with the situation of their existences and seek to usurp the Goddess’ power to rule creation for themselves. (Some historians and theologians believe the Heroes were influenced and stirred up by some third party, though of course this is unconfirmed.) It is said they fought alone against the Goddess for a thousand years, but ultimately failed and were cast back down to the world (symbolized by the Ninth Starfall).

The Abandonment
The failure of the Heroes only convinced the Goddess to leave behind that which she created, and she left the universe forever in what became known as the Abandonment. This act immediately lessened the power of all magic available (causing many to believe all magic is residual from the presence of the Goddess, and thus is inherently finite / limited) and put an expiration date on the known universe.

The Abandonment made all the Nine Heroes become hated on all of the earth, and it also came with a curse from the Goddess – each of the Nine Heroes would reincarnate endlessly until the universe she creates ends, at which point their souls will die and be denied access to any kind of afterlife. This curse, coupled with the backlash of all the people they ruled over, drove the Nine Heroes to despair, and in their sorrows they started wars with one another and caused untold amounts of destruction. Their wars ruined their kingdoms uniformly and ended with them all killing each other, starting off their cycles of rebirth with tragedy.

Post-Abandonment
Almost nothing is known about this era, as it happened without a single incarnation of the Heroes and likely was a time of horrible ruin and degradation. Considering the next era occurred in a time of magical flowering and a complete revival of civilization, though, it is extremely likely that the Post-Abandonment era lasted for an extremely long period of time, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years.

Concepts

 * CRYSTALS – One of the main facets of the 9HC.
 * TYRANTS – The name for avatars / manifestations of the Nine Heroes, who consistently reincarnate over the ages. Notable for their universally golden glowing eyes, superhuman strength and reflexes, and tendency to gravitate towards each other. They also tend to either have extremely long lifespans or extremely short ones.
 * ROSARIES – The name for artificial / genetically controlled humans that are designed to emulate or have the same talents as the Tyrants of the Heroes. Named for Rosaria Hyusei, first known Rosary and sister of Vik Hyusei (tyrant of Vikrayama) that was psychologically broken and magically controlled to be able to hold her own against her brother. As time went on and the Crystals were forgotten, Rosaries lost much of their magical ability but were still distinctive for their golden eyes (not glowing), unnatural beauty, long lifespans, and psychological instability. The Rosaries are perhaps one of the most tragic parts of the 9HC, besides the Nine Heroes themselves, as they tend to be flawed individuals that have huge self-diaspora and psychological issues.
 * Rosary #0 – Rosaria Hyusei, sister of Vik Hyusei and the first known natural Rosary, a being that could emulate the powers and reflexes of the Tyrants.
 * Rosary #1 – Nyna Vahlart

Stories

 * 1) Kings of Strife – One of the only two times in the history of the universe that the nine heroes are all alive at once. Chronicles the first realization of the heroes to their powers and the unification / destruction of the Seven Crystals on Terra. The only story to directly involve all nine Heroes. The biggest planned story besides a possible endpoint.
 * 2) Kings of Strife II – A direct sequel to KoS, involving a further tale of Alstromya Silverius, offspring of Silverius and Kornelia. Details the aftermath of Terra’s Great Separation and the origins of Rosaries, and foreshadows 10,000 Years. Involves three Heroes: Kornelia, Noltiavati, and Varanniav. (Vikrayama and Cidolayus make appearances too, but these are little more than cameos). Much of the story is about the fragmented relationship between the two Queens, the behind-the-scenes actions of the Empress, as well as investigations into the actions and plans of Queen Nolstuvainia.
 * 3) 10,000 Years – A short sequel to KoS and KoS II that details the botched reincarnation of Nolstuvainia that traps her insane consciousness in an immortal magical body, her reunion with Taurisvaan, and Nolstuvainia’s destruction of Terra. Takes place ten thousand years after the end of KoS. Involves two Heroes: Nolstuvainia and Taurisvaan.
 * 4) Millennia of Sorrows – A novel set long, long after the destruction of the Terra system, in a world remarkably similar to Earth. The main character is an incarnation of Varanniav that becomes trapped in an almost incomprehensible postmetropolis after attempting to kill herself. Involves one Hero: Varanniav.
 * 5) The Liberator – A novella describing the destruction of the Terran star system and Taurisvaan’s escape from it. (Directly) involves zero Heroes, being that this is a side-story.