#amr'dea /

[icathiaism]

Naming

The Amr’Dea (name meaning command and invite) often have two names. The first is of their 'birth’, a personal name followed by their species name (example, Mal’Dea). An Amr’Dea’s second name is taken upon maturing into adulthood. This name is often a mix of their hosts and their own (example, Al’Zahar and Mal’Dea become Mal’Zahar), should the host not possess a name they will keep their ‘birth’ name or grant themselves a new name.

Life Cycle

The Amr'Dea are born in the skies of the Void, above the mighty flesh forges. Excess biological material and matter are drawn into dense cores which becomes their centre, their ‘heart’ and 'brain’. Once the Amr'Dea’s conscience is awakened by the Void, a moment referred to the species as their 'time of first thought’ rather than birth, they are linked to the telepathic wavelength and collective thoughts of their kin. The core attracts further matter which becomes their greater amorphous bodies. This rampant consumption often leads to the destruction of other voidborn when ample material is not present.

Until the Amr'Dea have fully grown, they are without senses beyond the voices of the Void and their kin in their mind. They can not see, they can not feel, and, beyond their collective, they can not hear. These senses are born from their desire and shaped by their wills, as are their shaping bodies. However, once these senses are born so does their servitude. For they have destroyed much to be given life, they must destroy to ensure its continued existence.

Once fully grown and their abilities have matured, the Amr’Dea turn their attention to the numerous realities and the worlds within them in order to start searching for a suitable host. Hosts require certain traits, such as unique abilities and magic or status and influence, and must be compatible in mind, soul and health for the individual Amr’Dea. An unsuitable host can cause failure to merge and possess the host or death of the host and thus death to the bodiless Amr’Dea. Due to the difficulty and the importance of this task, Amr’Dea can take many thousands of years before they find a host which they decide on.

Once a host has been found, the Amr’Dea will begin to make contact while constantly monitoring their suitability. The methods that this is done is varied, some Amr’Dea may present themselves as divine beings and attempt to coax the mortal to accept them while others inflict torture until the prospective host can no longer resist. Regardless of method, should they succeed and the prospective host gives in to them, they will command them to travel to a weakness between the Void and their world.

While they are connecting with their possible host, they will take up a second form referred to as their ‘transitional form’. An Amr’Dea’s transitional form is a representation of the new body they will eventually have and a means for the Voidborn to become accustomed to the shape they will soon be inhabiting. However, most Amr’Dea will still find discomfort in their new bodies for some time after possession.

Once they have succeeded in calling their host to the weakness, the Amr’Dea will condense their inner-core into crystal and shed their greater body. The display is both dazzling to view but also exceedingly important to the species. This time is considered both their maturing into ‘adults’ as well as their reproductive stage. As they shed their bodies, they are providing matter which can be used for the next generation. However, it is not enough without sacrifice from within or outside of the Void due to some matter being taken with the Amr’dea to the other side.

When they pass through the barrier between the universes, the Amr’Dea will shatter the solid part of their core and embed it in the host’s flesh. Once the cores are embedded, they will infuse their hosts with what remains of their volatile outer core and Void essence through their body and into their veins. Both of these events inflict large amounts of pain upon the host and require them to be unconscious or in a trace.

Once their bodies are fused, the difficult task of fusing their minds as well as suppressing any resistance. The Amr’Dea do not kill the host’s mind or soul as they provide valuable information and memories about the world they are on as well as how to be perceived as of that species. Instead, the minds are largely filtered and suppressed so most control is awarded to the parasite while the other is kept placid but useful. This stage is why finding a compatible host is very important.

From then on, they are to act as a beacon and aid the passage of any Voidborn crossing into the targeted world. They are also allowed to act as they see fit to further the Void’s goals whether that is to infiltrate organisations, over through governments, cause civil uprising or simply focus on ensuring the passage of even greater and more powerful Voidborn. Their duty only ends once they have completed their task, where they will then use the world as a base for the conquering or other in that universe, or death.

Death for an Amr’Dea is long and tortuous. When an Amr’Dea fails to join to their host for one of many reasons or has their host destroyed despite their extensive gifts and abilities to keep them alive, they find themselves cut off from their collective and bathed in silence. It an Amr’Dea who has been constantly linked to their kin since their first thought and so never been alone or experienced true silence, this is the worse fate for them.

This loss of connection, however, isn’t true for the rest of the Amr’Dea. The rest of the Amr’Dea are acutely aware of the death of another as they can still hear the dying’s frantic screams still through their connection along with the call’s rage itself even though the other can not hear them itself. During these times the Amr’Dea find them unable to talk beyond a few whispers and instead purely listen and mourn. Eventually, the dying loses the rest of their senses and their awareness and their voice and then themselves, fading away into nothing.

Physiology

The Amr’Dea are largely composed of excess volatile matter produced in the flesh forges mixed with Void energy. Other matter is sourced from external sources such as claimed worlds and consumed stars and, should there still not be enough to enable their rampant growth the land and creatures of the Void itself. Due to existing in a condensed, gaseous state, their bodies are amorphous and will change periodically and at will.

However, despite their shifting and varied forms, the Amr’Dea tend to hold forms with some similar characteristics. Some of these characteristics include tentacles, bell-like structures, cape, crests and a multitude of ‘eyes’ which surround their dense cores. The Amr’Dea will also adorn themselves in a multitude of colours and patterns as if to rival and make dull the stars and divine lights.

Due to the Amr’Dea being more beings of essence and swirling matter, they do not have traditional organs nor do that have any sort of skeletal system or other biological system. This means that consumption occurs through disintegration and assimilation rather than digestion. Senses and sense receptors are also fabricated or non-existent. Due to lack of physical body, touch is not merely contact between forms and is largely impossible. Due to no tongue or nose, smell and taste are something they do not comprehend.

The only senses the Amr’Dea possess are sight and hearing, however, they are also not biologically based and are instead energy based. Their ‘eyes’ are simply receptors of light and heat energy to form a base image which provides them with sight. Like with their sight, the Amr’Dea can detect sound energy, should they wish to, and thus can achieve the auditory sense. Furthermore, since the Amr’Dea are without organs, they are also sexless and do not reproduce sexually, although they do reproduce somewhat communally.

Abilities

The Amr’Dea are beings of Void essence and volatile matter and a very destructive by nature. They can bend and tear the fabric of space and time at will, allowing for the passage of other beings from the Void to pass through to other realities. This ability also allows them to exist in a state of being both within a reality but also apart from it, as well as prevent the passage of time from affecting them and shift between realities at will.

The Amr’Dea also are gifted with telekinesis and telepathy. Their telekinesis allows their host the ability of flight as well as the usefulness of being able to maneuver objects without physical strain. Their telepathy allows for them to communicate with others at massively great distances and even across realities. This can be used as a tool and even a weapon with horrific imagery being able to be pushed into another’s mind. This use is commonly used to weaken the will of their prospective hosts and the lure them.

Due to the Amr’Dea’s physical composition, they are able to regenerate any lost of their physical form except for the destruction of their cores. Once their cores are embedded in a host, this ability can be replicated on the host’s own body as the Amr’Dea can reconstruct cells and reform the lost limbs or other. However, large reconstructions may take a while as reconstruction is more complex in their hosts than their first bodies.

Beyond this, they can control pure Void energies as both a weapon and as an extension of themselves. This is important such that their host does not die to exposure as Void energies are exceeding deadly to non-Void beings. In their hosts, the Amr’Dea can form like-appendages to their once body. As an extension of this, the Amr’Dea can force mutations onto non-Void creatures to turn them into horrific Void Beasts which they can also control. These mutations are often brought on their own host as well to increase their physical capabilities, increase their resistances and to make them more comfortable in their form.

Through the call they embody, they have the ability to command non-sentient / lower-caste Voidborn as well as influence sentient / upper-caste Voidborn. This can be exerted over long distances and across dimensions as to draw their kin from the Void into their targeted reality. This also can extend to Void-touched or mutated beings.

Metaphysical

The Amr’Dea are a very sociable Void species. Since their ‘births’, the voices of their kin and of the Void has been a constant in their minds. Their collective thoughts and communication are something of a comfort and are deeply ingrained within the Amr’Dea. As a result, the Amr’Dea fear true silence. For to experience true silence, the entire collective must be silent to you and that means that you are alone and dying or dead. Due to their sociality, they will also mourn the deaths of their kind as a loss of kin and their voice, but also knowing the Void’s rage will soon ensue.

Also due to their sociability, once touch is possible to them in their host forms, touch becomes important to them. Amr’Dea will only permit you to touch them if they either respect you or hold some fondness towards you, both of which are most often only show towards other Voidborn. And only the very trusted are able to touch the area around the embedded cores and the cores themselves. Touching an Amr’Dea without permission does not have good results for the perpetrator.

The Amr’Dea are also exceedingly loyal to the Void. Due to the Void’s call being what brought them life, they are not just subservient to the Void’s will but also in its debt. Such devotion often causes the Amr’Dea to act out of the Void’s interests first rather than their personal own. However, doing so is in their best interests as it secures their species continued existence, as well as helps prevent punishment for failure.

While the Amr’Dea are very emotionally restricted beings, only being able to experience a very limited range of emotions, they are very proud creatures. Due to their abilities and disposition, they see themselves far above the mortal races of other realities and in a place of leadership amongst, but not above, their own kind / voidborn. As a result, their demeanor can range from exceedingly hostile to welcoming and helpful depending on who or what they are talking to.

[icathiaism]

Basic Information

Mal'Dea is of the species Amr'Dea and the Void entity who possessed Al’Zahar in the ruins of Icathia. They took the name Mal’Zahar upon merging, deciding the new name was more fitting of their form. Their abilities are like those of other Amr’Dea and these abilities carry through to his host in order to empower and sustain them. Throughout the young seer’s life, Mal’Dea whispered to him in his dreams and flooded them with visions of the end of all things. Through suffering, both mental and physical, he broke the seer and drove him to walk to a weakness in the veil -- Icathia -- where they could pass through the gap between their worlds and claim their prize.

They embedded their now segmented core into their host’s flesh and infused him with the essence of the Void. These cores continuously funnel Void energies into their host and spread corruption within his body. Once melding mind, soul and body Mal’Dea turned his attention back to the Void and where they came from. Their baneful beacon flickering for all to hear and see, and willing other Voidborn to make the journey beyond the darkness by shattering the fabric of reality between the two dimensions. The rest of his attention is on the stars and how they might conquer and consume them and this world.

Personality

Mal’Dea is exceedingly prideful, seeing the mortal races far beneath them, which is typical of their kind. They are also very resolute in their goals, having little else on their mind, due to the importance of their task and the consequences of their failure. From their success, new of their kind can exist by adding more matter into the cycle of creation and the will of the Void is satisfied, both of which Mal’Dea finds great pleasure in. Mal’Dea sometimes thinks about the matter they left behind and the possible descendants formed of it, something somewhat common in his kind. Failure, however, results in a silent death of torture which Mal’Dea will not concede to. 

Mal’Dea is largely uninformed about human life and relies on Al’Zahar’s memories to understand many things about humans. For those things Al’Zahar’s memories or their own can not answer, they become very curious towards it and will take measures to learn about it, if it is reasonable or useful to do so. In the brief moment before they were in control, but they were beginning their merge, they felt through his host and they felt his host’s fear. As a result, Mal’Dea keeps a tight hold on their emotion receptors so to not feel the range of emotions humans have available to them - seeing them as confusing, a weakness and a torment to experience.

Appearance

Mal’Dea’s true form was a deep purple in colour reminiscent of a jellyfish. Their body, bell and tentacles included, was roughly the size of an average star at their most mature. They have four sets of eyes with three in each bunch. These eyes are a bright blue and can materialise anywhere along the bell, as well as alter amount and appearance however they are generally consistent. Within their bell is their core, the densest part of them and their ‘heart and brain’, which eventually solidifies and becomes embedded in their host’s body. Beneath their core extends their tentacles which range from singular and thick to a tangle of thinner ones.

Upon the top of their bell, they sport four cirrina-like fins. These fins are both for locomotion and for personal aesthetic. Their bell extends further down on their ‘back’ to form a cloak-like structure and several of the thicker tentacles extend from there, some of which formed ‘arms’. Along their body are glowing, spots which create the illusion of stars within them and their bell appears to be a spiraling galaxy. The colours on Mal’Dea’s body are somewhat variable and they change them by will and as they like.

During their transitional stage (taking a like form to their host to prepare themself for their new body -- a human in Mal’Dea’s case), their tentacles wrapped together to from a basic human figure with their bell forming the head. In this form, they appeared more akin to a hooded humanoid of nondescript characteristics with a cloak.

[icathiaism]

iirc, you mention Amr’Dea & Mal’Dea often think of themselves as superior to/above other Voidborn due to their roles in extending The Void's influence and reach in many ways-- I'm curious, what are their opinions on Voidtouched individuals (or creatures) outside of their selected 'hosts'? Like Kassadin, since he stumbled into The Void by his own accord.

Actually, the truth is quite the opposite. The Amr’Dea do not see themselves above other Voidborn, but rather have a superiority complex to the mortal races of other realities ie not the Void. They do see themselves as in a position of leadership, however:

“Due to their abilities and disposition, they see themselves far above the mortal races of other realities and in a place of leadership amongst their own kind.” (The Amr’Dea, section five, paragraph four)

“Amr’Dea will only permit you to touch them if they either respect you or hold some fondness towards you, both of which are most often only show towards other Voidborn.” (The Amr’Dea, section five, paragraph two)

“Mal’Dea is exceedly prideful, seeing the mortal races far beneath them, which is typical of their kind.” (Mal’Dea, section two, paragraph one) 

“Through the call they embody, they have the ability to command non-sentient / lower-caste Voidborn as well as influence sentient / upper-caste Voidborn." (The Amr’Dea, section four, paragraph five)

Largely, the Amr’Dea respect the other Voidborn for various reasons whether it be physical strength or intelligence and anything in between. The Void is an army and every army has its parts, and all parts are important.

A quick note before I continue, Kassadin (and other Void-touched/mutated) was not mutated from entering the Void. Of the few bits of information on the Void we know, we know that “none have yet ventured into the Void and lived, for mortals would almost certainly be consumed and woven into the endless process of creation.” Nothing beyond Voidborn and already Void changed beings can enter the Void without death.

So, it is not the entrance into the Void that mutates living beings, but exposure to Void energies. This can be seen from Kassadin’s entrance into Icathia and the existence of the Rift herald (the Rift herald once being a scuttler that was exposed to the energies of Baron Nashor’s home and mutated). This is also supported by another tidbit we know about the Void:

 “In places where the mystical barriers between Runeterra and the Void have been worn thin, the air feels charged, and fantastical occurrences are the norm…  For a time, such places are wondrous and brimming with miracles, but soon the landscape is twisted into new and deadly forms, and if the Void is able to consume enough biomass to survive, it can grow and evolve into something ferocious and terrifying.”

This supports what is stated above, places with Void energies are alone enough to transform beings into horrific creatures but entrance into the Void for mortal beings spells death. It also suggests that Void mutations are a common enough occurrence as entire areas can become Void mutated.

So the Amr’Dea think nothing much of other Void-touched and mutated, unless they possess an interesting and/or advantageous skill. Otherwise, they are just considered part of the fold, just another soldier in the army. However, what makes Kassadin unique is the fact that he has been able to resist the mental changes that come with the Void, but not his existence as a Void-touched. Mal’Dea finds this very interesting as well as irritating as Kassadin possess some of those forementioned skills. 

@smolvoidling