#+ or uncaring. i use it on myself lightheartedly because i *do* talk a lot! and that's ok!)

[express-archives]

utc is ambrose & artemis' backstory... in an infodump format! this post is written as if i was speaking to another person, and that's because i was when i wrote this HAHAH this was all copied and pasted from a dm with a friend of mine, but i felt compelled to share it here too because... oc lore!!

so. ambrose and artemis. teehee

both of them started off as normal, short-lived humans. the planet they lived on, which was nameless at the time they were born on it (though it was later fondly named 'arcadia'), was rather archaic in its technolgy, completely uncontacted by the IPC or other interstellar organizations, and terribly riddled with war and death. it had been this way since before they were born, and presumably, would be that way for long after they died… of course, it didn't end that way. long before their births, phantylia stumbled across the planet by chance and decided to sew chaos and destruction there; she has been known to enjoy watching humans destroy themselves senselessly, and what kind of lord ravager would she be if she passed up such a delightful opportunity? this chaos and war went on for years, utterly obliterating the planet's resources and slowly but surely making its inevitable death draw nearer and nearer. ambrose and artemis were born a few hundred years into the mess that phantylia created.

ambrose grew up to be a gentle and kind healer, a farmer, and—occasionally—a battle strategist. though harming people was not in their nature, they had no choice if they wanted to protect their people and their family. they also frequently took care of children, since many did not have parents to raise them. artemis grew up to be a powerful and respected soldier, though she would often come home injured and ambrose would tenderly treat her wounds and remind her to be more careful. it became like a little routine for them. neither of their parents remained in the picture (except for ambrose's sickly mother), having long since been killed in the crossfire. they really only had each other to rely on, so they grew quite close over the years.

naturally, being so close, artemis noticed when her elder cousin grew a little more withdrawn in their preteen years. she noticed when they spent more time researching old, historic books. she noticed how odd it was for them.

somewhere along the line, ambrose discovered legends telling stories of (some of) the aeons. ambrose was not the religious type, but watching their people kill one another was destroying them on the inside and this was all they could try to do to stop it. from the ages of 12-ish to 23-ish, ambrose dutifully prayed. they weren't really sure who or what they were directing it towards; really, they were just throwing their thoughts out into the universe in the hopes that something might hear them.

the first time yaoshi's gaze ever shifted in their direction was when they were 19. ambrose recognized that something had seen them, if the overwhelming sense of dread and unease was not enough to indicate it, though they were not certain who or what. but they could do nothing about it except grit their teeth and keep on, regardless of how unsettling it was to be noticed by something no doubt far greater than them.

they did tell artemis about this. how could they not? she was virtually their best friend. artemis had known about ambrose's prayers ever since they started, but she truly did not believe ambrose's experience, though it was more of a knee-jerk reaction than anything.

anyways, the feeling of being seen never quite went away for the next 4 years, and ambrose eventually got very used to it, to the point where if they were not being gazed upon, it was uncomfortable.

the night of their 23rd birthday, yaoshi made themselves properly known to ambrose for the first time via a dream after having carefully observed them for the past four years (though, to an aeon, four years would pass in the blink of an eye, so it seemed like barely any time at all to yaoshi, i would imagine). an old snippet i wrote about that encounter:

They wanted to say something, they really did, but the words only stuck to the sides of their dry throat. Anything they tried to say only got caught and ultimately could not escape. Whatever stood before them was undeniably something far greater than they would ever be. For something so intimidating… their hands were gentle, gingerly stroking whatever skin was exposed in what seemed to be an attempt to get Ambrose to relax. "Be not afraid, little one. I will not bring you any harm," they murmured kindly, lips brushing against one corner of Ambrose's mouth. When had the deity gotten so close? Gods, they couldn't breathe. "You desire to save your home, yes?" "I—" they choked, "Yes, I do, I…" The god's lips pulled into a smile, eyes so soft with pity and sympathy that the mortal couldn't help but wonder what degree of eldritch deity they had managed to get the attention of. Only something so impossibly nonmortal and unearthly would gaze at them like that. A benignant kiss was placed at the corner of Ambrose's lips. "With such a fragile body, helpless to the cruelty of war and violence, you will never manage it." "I know." "I will lend you the strength you need. I will free you from the constraints of mortality, if you will only allow me to do so." "Please," they whispered tearfully, suddenly feeling very pitiable and fragile under their gaze, "I can't… I can't live like this anymore." The god's smile only seemed to widen ever so slightly. Ambrose had difficulty reading their expression; they could not tell what the deity was thinking. Then, a searing pain shot up their leg, and they sucked in a sharp breath. Ambrose was awake in an instant, hand clamped over their mouth to muffle the shriek that threatened to breach their throat so as to not disturb the other members of their household. Their freehand frantically reached down to their leg, and there— There was a swelling welt on their calf, feverish and sore to the touch. A hushed sob reverberated in their chest. It was almost akin to the sting of a scorpion.

following this encounter, ambrose's body rapidly changed to accomodate immortality, and it was with this aeon-given ability that they were able to put an end to the slaughter of their world. stepping onto the barren land, flowers would bloom in their wake, and the world began to heal, thriving on the abundance's power channeled through ambrose like some kind of prophetic vessel. arcadia, as ambrose named their homeworld, has something like the xianzhou alliance's ambrosial arbor, from which others of their home could attain immortality. some did; others did not. artemis did, for one, making her an abomination of abundance.

artemis was very on edge for a long time, and it never quite went away. there was always something nagging at the back of her mind that this just… wasn't quite right. though, she WAS grateful that the war had been ended.

a few hundred years passed without incident, and the world was thriving better than ever. ambrose disappears one day (not without a word, however; they had spoken to artemis about this and ultimately left to explore the vastness of the universe with yaoshi as their guide, until they could "walk on their own" so to speak. until they could navigate on their own and handle themselves. essentially yaoshi was like "haha. this pathetic little human child is mine now ♡")

people do eventually start "dying" to mara, but the reactions from the people were mostly very mild.

there was never any public outcry or widespread concern. but artemis was EXTREMELY unsettled by this. she had long since ceased crying—it did no good for her, a valued soldier on the front lines, to cry—but she did when the people she loved began to die, and she couldn't help but feel the sting of betrayal. did ambrose know about this? furthermore, did yaoshi know about this and just… not tell anyone?

breaking down in such a manner triggered her mara, and though she did not die, she had her first encounter with an aeon.

it was lan. drawn in by how thoroughly similar she was to ambrose (who had an unfortunate first encounter with lan at one point and earned a very nasty scar from the aeon, barely having escaped with their immortal life), the hunt initially intended to shoot her down and move on. but i think lan formed a weird connection with artemis that day—it's known that the abundance destroyed their homeworld, so i think perhaps they may have been human before ascending. something something ummm brief flickers of humanity in what once was human, but has since been mutilated by eldritch power. yeah. anyways. that was the day that artemis became a pathstrider of the hunt. and later, she became an emanator of the hunt, though her access to the path is quite restricted… perhaps lan does not fully trust artemis. who knows? it's impossible to tell what such a powerful deity is thinking at any given moment.

it was following ambrose's encounter with lan that yaoshi granted them full emanatorship, though they had been an emanator before then, simply less powerful. by that point, i like to think that yaoshi had grown quite attached to the little one they picked up, and the simple truth is that the hunt is relentless and yaoshi might not be able to save ambrose's life in time… so what better way to solve that problem than to give them the power to protect themselves (more or less HAHAH)? 🤭🫶

as emanators, they are quite different people.

artemis sees herself as an individual who lan has shared their power with. ambrose sees themselves as but an extension of yaoshi, a vessel through which their will is exercised.