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Snow Crumble
21e8b4
This is a fallen angel, the first children of the gods. They once served the will of the Finder, but since his loss, they are now only abominations with an unknown agenda. Though they have an eldritch and unfathomable intelligence, they cannot be reasoned with. They can only be driven back with superior force or destroyed outright.
Fallen vary widely in appearance and capabilities, though all have flesh of metal and hearts of magic, totally devoid of life energy or soul. Not all are known, however this particular type has been recorded in the tomes of many prior paladins. The drums on their backs may explode when damaged, their claws and tail are sharp and their feet are quick. They also have an affinity for arcane relics, which can pose problems of their own. This one appears to be studying a broken relic, but is otherwise unarmed. Also troubling is their skill at conjuration. If they are allowed to reach one of the summoning circles that dot the landscape, they may teleport away or summon other, more formidable fallen.
You are armed with an arcane relic of your own design: a gauntlet equipped with a blade of pure energy, impossibly sharp and thin but still unyielding to any force, powered by your own magic. You are also gifted with one of the rarer spells, through the Mother's blood in your veins due to your nature as a Seraph. You have mastered the conversion of life and magic, and to you they are interchangeable. Your touch can grant or steal either of these energies from others, as well as transmute one to the other within yourself. You have another spell which allows you to identify and manipulate the magical properties of relics, which helps you in your own tinkering. However, this takes too much time to be useful in combat.
In addition to your gauntlet, you are equipped with a set of arcane scribing tools, in case you decide to craft, upgrade, or repair any relics with any magical components you scavenge on your journey. You have some water, trail rations, and a firestarter as well. You know that many prior paladins have had to pack bedrolls and the like, but your particular manifestation of the Mother's blood allows you to stay awake indefinitely.
However, like all paladins past, you carry perhaps the most important item on your journey: your Finder's Tome. In this book is transcribed the lore gathered by all paladins past. At least, all paladins past whose tomes made it back to the Heartland. The church receives these tomes, interprets the knowledge contained within, and writes the common Finder's Tome contained in nearly every household. Every piece of history, every sermon, every map, all the accumulated knowledge of the worlds is contained in this tome, and all of that knowledge that wasn't gathered in the Heartland was brought back by paladins. Your journey and the journeys of those before you are the only way the common people have to learn about our worlds, the Finder, and how we came to be what we are. Imperfect, but trying our best to realize our fallen god's vision so that one day we may complete his work and all ascend to the paradise we were promised.
Your tome is different from the common tome in a very important way: it contains many blank pages for you to document your own journeys. That is your quest: to go out into the other worlds the Finder created, learn what you can, spread what you know to any other civilizations you might find, and destroy those who act against the Finder's plans. Also, if you find the remains of any other paladins, you are to collect their tomes as well. When you feel your tome contains enough knowledge of import, you are to return and submit it to the church. Then, your quest begins again, over and over, until you are lost to the wilds. The paladin's journey ends only in death, but through the accumulated knowledge of the Finder his spirit is honored and undying.
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