|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Aethanryke the Forebearer was the second being in creation, fashioned by the Source to keep her
company after she began to feel the need for companionship. Together, the Source and the Forebearer created the rest of the Pantheon and took over leadership of the gods as well as the world they created together. When the gods were asked to take on an aspect of the world over which to hold sway, Aethanryke took Time. Traveling through the fabric of Time to the past as well as an infinite number of futures, the Forebearer has a habit of taking along companions to share in his journeys and bring new perspectives to the things he sees. He also acts as the patriarch of the Pantheon, making the tough decisions when need be while also ensuring that important people remain on the right path for the best possible future Time can provide for them.
In the Beginning[]
Aethanryke the Forebearer was the second entity in creation. Fashioned by Olwyn the Source when she grew lonely and desired a companion, together Olwyn and Aethanryke created the rest of the Pantheon from the Essence. Although the Pantheon began creating the world of Ga'leah together, skirmishes and questions of ownership over various creations caused the Forebearer and Source to decree that every god must choose a domain over which to hold sway. Each in turn chose their speciality with Aethanryke becoming the god of Time.
As the newly appointed god of Time, Aethanryke began exploring the fabric of Time itself, journey into the infinite number of possible futures ahead of the Pantheon and the world they had created. On one such adventure, he encountered a young human woman named Henrietta Wentworth. She became his first companion and the first appointed priestess of the Forebearer, accompanying him on his adventures through time. She also became the method in which Aethanryke dealt with his unrequited love for Olwyn, who was too wild and untamed to consider settling down with Aethanryke at the time.
When Aethanryke attempted to reward Henrietta for her service by giving her the gift of Foresight, it proved to be too much for her and fractured her fragile human mind. Although he attempted to undo the damage, eventually he was forced to transform her into the form of a pig and send her to the Order of Fate for safe keeping to prevent being forced to kill her all together.
Although Aethanryke could view all of time, both the past and every possible future, he was never able to see any future that involved him directly lest it interfere with his own free will. Troubled by this 'blindspot', he attempted to create a new race of creatures who could give him information about his ownn future. The endeavor resulted in the creation of the Fates and did not have the desired result. instead, he was given incorrect information that caused him to begin targetting the Demigods of the Pantheon for death out of fear that one of them would cause the destruction of the world, as well as assuring him that a strict punishment was needed when dealing with the misdeeds of Adora the Bleeding Heart.
Aethanryke did not directly take part in the creation of the Fae. He had seen futures in which the Fae were a successful and impressive race of creatures and futures in which the Fae were an abomination. Without knowing what future lay ahead of them, he refused to play a direct part in their creation or maintenance.
The Great War[]
Although Aethanryke did not play a direct part in the creation or guidance of the Fae, he was forced to take over a leadership role of the Pantheon when they chose to go to war with the Fae to prevent the wholesale slaughter of Olwyn's favored children. He did his best to lead an organized and assault on the Fae rebellion with as little loss of life as possible.
During the Great War, Aethranyke discovered the Green Man mercilessly torturing some of the Fae, even going so far as to rescue one such Fae, named Cerberus from the Green Man. Bringing the Fae back from the verge of death and helping to heal his soul as well as his body, Aethanryke took the man on as a companion and disciple.
After the Great War, Olwyn was deeply distressed by the treatment and fate of the Fae. This finally afforded Aethanryke the opportunity to prove his love for the Source as he comforted her and was present for the creation of the Yarrow.
Humanity[]
Although Aethanryke played a minimal role in the creation of the Fae, he took a more active role in the creation of Humanity, agreeing that they should be created without magic and with much shorter lifespans than their predecessors. Most of his companions came from humanity since these creatures often had a much more pure view of the world and gave him a better understanding of Time through his interations with them.
When Adora the Bleeding Heart broke the only rule by which the gods were governed, that they could not intervene in the domain of another god, Aethanryke took part in the Council meeting that determined Adora's fate. Her godhood would be removed and she would be left to die as a mortal amongst the humans with no magic. After her initial punishment was meted out, he never saw her again.
Aethanryke took on another companion in the human Brenin, a former Laurel and a man caught attempting to steal from one of Aethanryke's temples. Once more taking the man on as a companion and disciple he put Brenin and Cerberus to work as historians of Ga'leah, renamed Jacob and Wilhelm by the Forebearer himself.
The Fall of Caelum[]
The fall of Caelum came as a particularly difficult event in Aethanryke's life. He was on the gods' mountaintop home when the Blight descended and did his best to save those he could from the carnage. Although he saved several of the gods, ultimately some were lost including his beloved Olwyn.
Afterwards, he spent a great deal of time travelling throughout time, visiting Olwyn in the past and always being careful not to affect the future in any significant ways. Eventually, after being given the proper time to process his grief, he returned to the present and determined that he would reunite the remaining gods and fight for the world they had created. He found Selene and attempted to rally her to the cause but her fighting spirit was too deeply wounded by all they had suffered. Instead, he was forced to reveal that she was pregnant with the child of Helios and helped her into hiding to protect the child.
Aethanryke also took on a new companion in this time, the young tailor's apprentice, Avilon Vaughn. He took her on adventures throughout time, including visiting a nest of hatching griffins. She proved to be incredibly important to the god, becoming one of his anchors to humanity and giving him faith that there was something in the world of Ga'leah worth protecting.
The Lycans[]
Although the Lycans had long been a scourge on the world of Ga'leah, Aethanryke did not interfere with them and left them to their devices until the Big Bad Wolf killed Ceren the goddess of the Hunt. With the Huntress dead, the Big Bad Wolf had Ceren's godhood bestowed upon his faithful servant the Alpha of Envy Pack, the Huntsman. Angered by the Wolf's actions and his attempt to undermine the Pantheon with the creation of his own religion, the Faith of the Dread Wolf, Aethanryke ressurrected the Huntsman's lost love in an attempt to free him from the Big Bad Wolf.
When the Big Bad Wolf also met and forged a deal with the Sultan of Solhara to take control of the mines of Solhara and effectively cut off mining of silver, one of the Lycans only weaknesses, Aethanryke was forced to intervene once again. He met with the sultan of solhara to warn him to cease all dealings with the Big Bad Wolf, threatening to turn all gold within Solhara to sand in retaliation. When the Sultan seemed genuinely apologetic and pious, Aethanryke rewarded him with a relic of the now deceased Reveler, god of libations, a magical pot that had enough power left within it to provide food for the starving Solharans for some time.
As a final act against the Lycans and to once and for all put a stop to their reign of terror, Aethanryke captured and imprisoned the Big Bad Wolf in a prison outside of time itself that none but the Forebearer could ever enter or open. Because of her close ties to the Big Bad Wolf and fearing eventual reprisal from her for the loss of her lover, Aethanryke also installed Dahlia Rainecourt as his permanent jailer in his prison where the two of them could, in theory, live on together for the rest of time with no interaction with the outside world or others.
The Battle of Aeswick and the Leviathan[]
When the Blight targeted the oceans and perverted many of its creatures into hideous monsters hungry for flesh, Aethanryke first appeared in Aeswick intent upon helping the villagers to protect the last outpost in Dokrayth from falling to the Blight. There, he encountered a woman who appeared exactly like Olwyn and seemed to believe him to be her long dead husband Aedric. Convinced this was in some way related to the Source's death, Aethanryke fled with the woman to his Temple in Time and unfortunately left the village of Aeswick to fall to the Blight.
Although worn thing and low on magic from his involvement in the battles for various locations around Ga'leah and witnessing the death of the Coming Tide, Aethanryke made one final appearance in Caerleon where he used what final magic he could spare by providing griffins to help the defenders of Caerleon to attack the monster Leviathan from the air as well as from the ground.
After the death of Lyrielle, battle for the oceans, and his dealing with the Big Bad Wolf, Aethanryke sought out Aristillus the Starmaker for council at a loss about how to proceed after the death of two gods and the loss of the Maritanis.