#rise of asura

[toxicmetalzine]

Rise of Asura

Alternative melodic metal band RISE OF ASURA launch new album ‘DYSPHORIA’ Get the album details right here: https://toxicmetalzine.com/post/alternati

[jj-gold-falcon]

Some Old Sketches that were Made over a few weeks course. 

Moira from Overwatch, Monsoon From Metal Gear Rising, Chakravartin from Asura’s Wrath, and of Course, Shadow the Hedgehog.

[galaxicalsart]

justice, vengeance

Justice is what I seek

I judge the ones in debt to me

They stole my soul, these wanton thieves

Now dole my foes their penalty

I think “judge” is actually supposed be “charge” but mleh

This song possessed me (/j) so I drew some of my characters seeking justice… or, well. Most of them are out for vengeance.

Polaris wins the ‘ok but are they actually out for justice’ award, lmao. Tenebris gets second place tho

Featured characters: (hough, okay.) Firesong (she/her, from Parasitic); Starstrike Splendor (“Star,” he/him, from RFtA); Phire (she/her, from RFtA); Asura (they/them, from RFtA); Prince Polaris Eosphoros (he/him, from Draonkrifs); Tenebris (she/they/whatever, from my MLP:FiM AU); Electric Afterglow (corrupted Stormstrung), she/they, from my MLP:FiM AU); Dusk Requiem (corrupted Eventide Melody, she/they, from my MLP:FiM AU)

(Please don’t repost, but do reblog!)

@emmettland

[eira-kuso]

If anyones interested i made a marvel vs capcom roster wishlist

I feel like my choices are veey good

[the-emdash]

Murpp meets Moop

[sunsrefuge]

hold on. pause. rotating Rylii and Qirri in my head.

[theclumsyxeno]

This video is magical xD

[divinitys-bleach]

He started off as "hey what if I made a tiny grumpy asura noir detective, that'd be a hilarious joke character" and, uh He quickly became Not A Joke Character :) They clean up nice, I think! Thank you, Anet, for making my noir detective fashion dreams possible. Wixxi belongs to @rytlockdripstone

this is going to be my personality for the next week. bye.

[vinetooth-prime]

I finally finished a lineup of my most active girls* on my roster!

In order, there is: Arvil Wardbreaker, Phila, Krirri, Amira Holt, and Lee Harding*! Quick summary of each below the cut.

*not a girl, but I had to put her beside Amira 😔

Arvil Wardbreaker (she/her) - angel, Astral Ward, Ward Fractaler At the end of the day, an angel is more of a cultural distinction to set her apart from Tyria's harpies. She is a berserker masquerading as a holy guardian of Dwayna's, struggling to maintain an air of proper culture and manners.

Phila (she/her) - sylvari, necromancer A sylvari awoken prematurely by the Shadow of the Dragon sent by Mordremoth. The damage of an early awakening has thrown her body out of proper working order; it is prone to constant new growth and over-compensating for injuries with new growth as well. She is a kind, shy sort, nearly constantly embarrassed by herself.

Krirri (she/they) - asura (Canthan Generational) A quiet, rather stoic elementalist who's grown up sheltered in the roots of the Echovald Forest in Cantha. With the rapid rise of the Ministry of Purity, the asura who had made it out this far found themselves stranded. They made do and melded into a now-dwindling community that eventually harmonized with its neighbors of the forest.

Amira Holt (she/her) - human, ex-White Mantle For better or for worse, she's a deeply depressed person plagued with suicidal thoughts and reckless actions resonating from her guilt about her life as a whole. Counter-balancing that, she's an obsessive thrill-seeker, over-eager to find or cling to anything that gives her an ounce of happiness or distraction; even if it's slowly tearing her down further.

Lee Harding (she/her, he/him) - doppelganger Doppelgangers are far from sapient. Souls, however, are difficult to detach from Bloodstone. When Amira's soul fractured from a blast of a shard of Bloodstone, the doppelganger woven of the amalgamated magics gained the severed piece. As the two pieces healed, the fragment gained its own thoughts, though the bloodthirst remains.

[wilsons-journey]

Novelist Aeonn

Necromancer • Synergetics • He / Him • 24 years old.

Formerly known as Researcher Eoann and Memeber of the Order of Whispers. Another near death experience forced him to retire and start a new profession - as an author.

At the same time, an inconspicuous life rises to a significant role for Tyria - The Commander, his inspiration to start writing again.

More about him under the cut:

Aeonn is the anagram of his former Name Eoann, he starts to use after he retires as Author.

He is charming, but rather quiet - yet he has the big ego that one would expect from an Asura. He is never afraid to leave a sarcastic comment.

Back then he left Rata sum behind, after he felt not enough appreciated for his research for the Elder Dragons. Especially the research of Zhaitan - that one day ended for him learning to use his magic - becoming an necromancer. That was also the first day he nearly died. Something that seem to happen a lot to him - during his life he had several close calls.

But he often brushes them off. Thats the danger of an Researcher, right?

He joins the Order of Whisper, that has a far bigger interest in his research - giving him all the recognition he wanted.

One day a young Charr joins the Order. They never really talked with each other. Not even after this Charr saved his life during the Events of Claw Island. But he will never forget her - she had something on her, that stick to him. She was destined to greatness - and he should be right about that.

The incident during Claw Island sadly ended his career in the order of Whispers. He got so badly injured, it left him in a wheelchair. He was no longer able to walk on his own - for a moment people where afraid he might be no longer able to move his arms, too.

But he was lucky.

His ability to walk was taken, but this also gave back time for another passion - writing. After hearing about the remarkable things the Commander did, he starts to write them down in a story.

The Commander, hero of Tyria.

This will be his first book. Finished right after the Commander slayed the first Dragon. Something no one in Tyra thought would be possible - Aeonn included.

Though this first book he gets in contact with the Commander. They start to exchange letters and slowly become friends. But it will take some years before they meet in person - Aeonn is too ashamed to appear before the Commander in his current state.

He made peace with his disability to walk - and his overall bad body-shape. He grows frail and sick. He never intended to get out of this,... but since he started to write with the Commander - July - more often, this view changes.

So he starts to work on that - slowly. Telling himself, when he is back on his feet again, he earned his right to meet this incredible person.

Some loose bits

I planned him meeting July during PoF, after Balthazar killed her (and she comes back to life) He is still on his path of recovering - still needing a cane to walk. But the news of July dying nearly broke his world. He no longer wanted to waste time, only because of his pride

The first meeting will be a little awkward - cuz July thought he is another Charr or at least an Sylvari. She never thought Aeonn would be an Asura.

But they will grow close together rather quick - they connect over their experience with engineering. But also over the need to prove themself. (But they already grew close together over the letters they exchanged years prior)

Aeonn was not aware he is still able to fight properly - but due to an incident, he learns better. With that he will join the Dragons Watch and become an Companion to July

Aeonn also adds a lot of knowledge about the elder Dragons to the table. Maybe Taimi found some of his old research, helping her and Gorrik in their research. Aeonn will definitely join them and resumes to his old research

I feel he will never fully recover from his injuries - still having him rely on his cane or some tech to talk without problems Maybe during EoD or Janthir - maybe not. He would be fine either way. (I might like the idea of July carry him around, a little bit too much - its silly, but also cute)

Even after becoming a Member of the Dragons Watch he keeps publishing books about the Commander. But also about the Elder Dragons or other topics related to the Dragons Watch. He is also friend to Snargle. And yes he reads his books, too. (And Aeonn maybe wrote one or two books like these, too......)

It will be a running theme if he and July have something going on. And to be honest - neither of them really can tell. At one point they make jokes about that - even playing into the idea, without becoming lovers.

They become Soulmates for sure - but it looks like its more platonic - but maybe this changes in the future? Who knows. I don't know - they don't know.

But Aeonn will become the person July was always looking for. Someone she can talk to about everything, without fear or shame. An anchor, that makes her feel safe.

They will become inseparable.

[justlarkin]

Hi! Sorry for bothering you. But I'm writing my own fanfiction of housamo, the whole game in fact, but I'm having complications on understanding the reasons why most of the exiles were banished according to their worlds rules... I'm not very smart and wiki information is incomplete or too difficult to get... could you please help me by sharing a simple explanation....?

No bother. I don't get some of the lore stuff in housamo either, so don't feel dumb about it.

So the general reason they were exiled is because the rebelled against the worlds' system in some way and had to be removed to protect their systems. Not all of the exiles' rules and backstories have been revealed yet, so I'm not sure about all of them currently.

-Takamagahara's system tosses away anything undesirable and works with Amaterasu exposing everyone's sins with her light and reflecting their shame back at them to keep them in line. Susanoo felt zero shame and therefore couldn't be controlled that way, so he was eventually sent away due to his behavior.

-The World of the Old Ones exists within Azathoth's dream, so invading one's dream without consent is considered very taboo and is forbidden. Cthulhu's ability allowed him to invade other's dreams whenever, which of course violated that big rule.

-Hourai's system runs on the belief of letting nature run it's course and not interfering, but Nüwa would constantly interfere by causing and trying to prevent wars and disasters.

-The Oceanic Realm's system is the belief that in the end everything and everyone will sink to the bottom of the ocean for eternity. From what little we learned from Gurangatch, the Rainbow Serpent would rise from the depths again and again, so while everything else would sink forever, they wouldn't.

-Great Spirit's system is the belief in unity with everyone being one with Wakan Tanka. Heyoka's eccentric behavior caused him to become a social pariah and an outcast, separating him from Wakan Tanka and the rest of Great Spirit, so he was exiled.

-Olympus' system relies heavily on everyone's connection to the world representative, Zeus, most importantly the familial and sexual bonds. Eurynome's rule allowed her to rend bloodlines and anything that stemmed from said bloodline such as curses, so the Olympians would've been screwed with most of them, especially the key players, being related to Zeus in some way. Also, Eurynome's relationship with Zeus isn't known yet, so there could've been more there. Another thought I've seen is that Eurynome might've rejected Zeus, which is unheard of with the way his power works, on top of the bloodline thing.

-Varuna-Kamadeva and Asura were essentially exiled for the opposite reasons. Shangri La's system is the belief that one should let go of all of their attachments to achieve enlightenment. A situation happened where one of Smokey God's other friends did something to Asura's daughter and he became enraged and attacked them. Unable to let go of his anger and wanting to continue fighting, he was exiled. Either Asura himself or a part of himself that he cut off went to Deva Loka and became known as Varuna.

I can't remember the exact way Deva Loka functions, but Varuna was the omnipotent world representative who would gift parts of his power to others. He would continue doing this until he was left with nothing but love and desire and became known as Varuna-Kamadeva. That's when the others decided that he wasn't fit to be world representative anymore and wanted him to relinquish that role to Shiva by making him fall for Parvati. And obviously Shiva blasted him once Varuna shot him with an arrow, exiling him. So since he became unworthy of the role of world representative once he lost his attachments, I guess the belief focuses on holding onto one's attachments.

-Yggdrasil holds the belief that the world will eventually experience Ragnarok and the era of gods will end, making way for the era of humanity. This of course never happened since Loki confined Yggdrasil within a wall that causes the world to loop post Ragnarok the same way Tokyo's wall functions. It's a world of those destined to fall, but Freyr couldn't be defeated as long as he had the power to rend through defeat, so he had to go. There's also just the fact that Freyr seemed to be opposed to meaningless sacrifice like what the gods intended to do for humanity.

-Kitezh's system is belief of diffusion, so pretty much just combining and spreading into other sources to achieve power. Maybe it's more parasitic or infectious in nature. Like if they were to be attacked by invaders, Perun could mix himself into their memories to mess with and dominate them for example. Perun lived heavily by this belief, but the ultimate goal of diffusion is complete assimilation, to be combined everyone, so you're no longer identifiable to one location. He attempted to do this by removing all documented traces of himself, but the problem was Veles existed. Veles' rules, his words, allowed him to separate and isolate things, so he was potentially able to untangle everything achieved through diffusion. Ofc Perun wasn't the one who wanted him to go, but he still violated the belief of the world.

Those are the ones I could think of rn, some of them haven't been revealed clearly or I'm just blanking rn.

[talonabraxas]

Goddess Lakshmi Talon Abraxas

Origin: the Perfect Creation

The origin of Goddess Lakshmi is described in one of the central Hindu legends. According to the story, Sage Durvasa offers a garland of flowers to Lord Indra with a lot of respect. Lord Indra takes the flowers and places them on the forehead of his elephant. The elephant throws it down to earth. Sage Durvasa gets angry at this blatant display of disrespect and curses Lord Indra. He curses Indra, saying his kingdom would be destroyed, just like the garland he had thrown.

As Lord Indra returns to his capital Amravati, he sees that Gods and people have lost their vigor and energy, and all vegetables and plants have started dying. Everyone’s desires have become uncontrollable. The demons invade the weak gods. This symbolizes the archetypal battle between good and evil that resides within all of us.

After this, the Gods approach Lord Vishnu, who suggests the churning of the ocean to restore their power. The churning would provide Amrit (nectar) to the gods which would make them immortal.

Goddess Lakshmi Rose out of the ocean foam

And, thus according to the legend, Goddess Lakshmi emerges, among other precious things, from the foam of the ocean of milk. She rises out of the waves, seated on a full-blown lotus. When she first appeared, she had the option of going to the Devas or the Asuras. She chose the Devas’ side, and among the thirty deities, she chose to be with Vishnu.

[saturnselkies]

Thanks for the tag @i-mybrunettelady!!!😊 I did it for both my commander and wayfinder & if you're reading this and want to do it, you're tagged (and please tag me in your post! So I can read).

-- B A S I C S

name: Penelope Starbinder (formerly Ry). age: 34. She was born on November 1 (Season of the Colossus/Scorpio. I picture her with an Aquarius moon and an Aries rising!). race: She had two mothers, one is Canthan and the other was a Mist Being with draconic blood. gender: NB femme (she/her). orientation: Lesbian. profession: Holosmith and Commander/Champion of Aurene.

-- P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

hair: Currently a copper orange. eyes: Right now her eyes have a purple and yellow hue which is impossible in-game, but that's the kind of shade. skin: Tanned. tattoos/scars: She has a tattoo on the base of her neck, it's supposed to represent her title of Starbinder. I haven't designed it yet because I haven't had the opportunity to draw her back AJKFJSF but yeah. Scars: one on her left breast/shoulder from when Bangar shot her.

-- F A M I L Y

parents: Mimi Ry (deceased) and Nvaa (deceased). siblings: Her twin sister Deanna Starlighter (formerly Ry). grandparents: Unknown. Her human mother had no family of note. in laws and others: Jormag - not officially married, but… honestly they have 6 children together so. It makes the Elder Dragons family ig. LMFAOOO. pets: Starry shiba inu.

-- S K I L L S

abilities: Proficient in engineering and holosmith skills; on the same level of Canthan engineering. She would be classified as a genius (she just doesn't use it like asura do, so it's never really commercialized). Great eye for strategy and making small talk with just about anyone. Good at solving things quickly and has a stellar sense of direction. She can't cook good food or sew or anything like that; that's Jormag's thing lol. She doesn't have a hobby or other skills that aren't related to being a commander and she should rethink that. The burnout is real.

-- T R A I T S

most positive trait: Easygoing, extremely loyal, dependable. most negative trait: Martyrdom, impulsiveness, speaks without thinking at times.

-- L I K E S

colors: Purple, gold, cyan. smells: Lavender, coconut, beach. textures: Soft fur/hair, warm skin, weighted blanket. drinks: Energy drinks, cocktails, fizzy soda.

-- O T H E R D E T A I L S

smokes: Not usually, but she has. drinks: Yes. drugs: Nope. been arrested: Well yes, canonically so. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

-- B A S I C S

name: Badri the Starstorm (alter ego: The Starfall Ego). age: Unknown, but definitely over 150. race: Unknown. gender: Cis lady (she/her). orientation: Lesbian. profession: Wizard and Wayfinder. Chronomancer. (Alter ego: crazily powerful elemental cosmic magic).

-- P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

hair: Mousy blonde, very soft and shiny. (Alter ego: very light lavender/iridescent). eyes: Pale with a golden sparkle. skin: Pale purple-blue. tattoos/scars: None.

-- F A M I L Y

parents: Unknown. siblings: Unknown. grandparents: Unknown. in laws and others: Isgarren is her father figure and Peitha is her toxic yuri. Isak and her share a pretty strong sibling bond even if they are not related at all. pets: Her moth skyscale, Belle, is very much like a cat to her.

-- S K I L L S

abilities: Learned chronomancy from her teacher Basira & her skills are pretty good. She learns any kind of magic pretty easily and with efficiency. She can cook, sew, dance, play instruments, sing, and many other stuff. She's like a swiss army knife of skills. She devoted most of her time to hobbies and reading because she wasn't allowed outside the tower.

-- T R A I T S

most positive trait: Cheerful, tooth-rotting sweet and attentive, caring. most negative trait: Selfish, passive-aggressive, sheltered.

-- L I K E S

colors: Jade, lipstick, periwinkle. smells: Strawberry cake, peppermint, scented candles. textures: Velvet, encrusted gems, embroidery. drinks: Green tea, cocoa with chunky marshmallows, smoothies.

-- O T H E R D E T A I L S

smokes: Nope. drinks: Nope. drugs: Nope. been arrested: Nope.

[blacklegsanjiii]

So I just got back from the theater watching demon slayer and I have thoughts about Tanjiro!Sanji.

There are demons in the OP world and there is a demon slayer corps that Mihawk and Sanji are a part of. Mihawk is a Hashira and claimed the title of world's greatest swordsman from a demon. Sanji goes through all the training and is technically a fully fledged member but there's been a dwindling number of demons for years, Sanji hasn't been called away for a mission since Baratie. Having just got back a week before joining the crew. He retired during the two year time skip due to realizing helping Luffy is his main priority and demons aren't really a problem anymore.

Sanji does have Tanjiro's nose and he is suffering. Then he notices Zoro starts smelling different thanks to his Asura form. Sure he's the Demon of the East Blue but it's just a name. Though he did crawl back from Hell to kill Sanji. Then a crow appears on the Sunny and appears to be following Sanji and then departs a few hours later. Sanji stares after it and smiles brightly at the crew. It's the first time he's been visited by one since retiring.

Robin mentions crows usually are warnings, foreboding messengers with ill intent. Sanji laughs and says he has a few extra things to do at the next island. When they get there he waits for everyone to be asleep before he goes looking. He runs into Mihawk and he thinks it shouldn't be a problem if it's the two of them. It's a small problem, it's an upper rank demon, something not seen in decades.

They're both beaten and bloody and the demon has gotten away because the sun is rising. The crow finds them and lets them know upper rank demons have been making appearances more often and that they are both needed at the head of the corps to discuss this. Sanji says he's retired and can't go back. His crew will freak out if he leaves again, but he'll take care of whatever he finds. He heads back to the Sunny when the crow assures him and Mihawk more members will be there by nightfall.

The crew is shocked to see Sanji come back in the state he's in. He waves it off and says it was just a small fight he accidentally got into. Zoro puffs a breath at him and they leave after breakfast. Chopper checks over Sanji and deems he'll live but needs to go on light duty. A few islands later Sanji and the others are out drinking and soon it's just him, Luffy, and Zoro walking back to the ship. Sanji had a guy feeling that told him to bring his sword and he smells it when they're on the way back he looks and -

It's a fucking kid. The demon is a fucking kid. It's an upper rank too. Sanji is staring at it wide eyed and Zoro tells him to leave the kid alone. The island is small and almost deserted so it's not like it can get lost and that's the problem. The demon smirks as spikes shoot out of a hand it raises that Sanji manages to stop. Luffy and Zoro look fully and Luffy asks what's wrong with the kid as they take fighting stances.

"So these are the two students of Dracule Mihawk? A retiree and a half demon?" The child sneers.

"Don't know what you're talking about kid. You should go home before picking a fight you can't win." Zoro warns but the demon moves in a blink of an eye and Zoro barely blocks the sharp claws of the kid.

They fight and Zoro and Luffy don't understand why this kid is so strong, why it's not going down. Sanji is trying to get them to leave because he doesn't want them to get hurt by a fucking demon. Luffy grabs the kid around the waist and yelps in surprise when the kid splits in half and then regenerates.

"Woah, what kinda devil fruit is that?" Luffy asks.

"I'm a demon, not a devil fruit user like you!" The kid shouts and Sanji starts using his breathing forms so Zoro and Luffy get hit with a one two punch of demons and Sanji's sword skills. It would be great if there were more demon corps members here, active or not, to take this thing. Sanji tells them they have to behead it and Luffy and Zoro are like 'were not killing a kid' and Sanji doesn't have time to explain it's not a kid and hasn't been for years.

Sanji eventually gets a hit to the demon's neck but his sword is stuck even with breathing techniques so he kicks it. He hates himself for it, but it works in actually decapitating the thing and the body starts turning to ash. He picks up his sword and winces it the nicks in the blade. Sanji explains what happened on the Sunny after Luffy gets everyone.

"Wait, how come that kid knew Mihawk? And why the hell did it say he had two students?" Zoro asks.

"Right, see, I was raised by him and I joined the corps but I retired." Sanji explains.

"Corps?" Robin asks.

"Yeah, there's a whole multi island years long training thing to go through to kill demons." Sanji nods.

"And you did it?" Nami asks.

"For a few years."

"The World Government must sanction it then." Usopp says.

"No, it exists outside the government, we think they know demons are real and just act like they're nocturnal devil fruit users." Sanji shrugs.

"Why?" Franky asks.

"Well, demons get stronger with the more humans they eat. Devil fruit users get stronger the more they train and those can look really similar." Sanji answers.

"Can you have a devil fruit user who is a demon?" Robin asks.

"Ya know, that's not something we ever experimented with but I'll write a letter." Sanji grimaces.

"Yeah get to that, swirls." Zoro grunts.

"At least I don't smell like demon." Sanji shoots back and ignores the questions about that. A few days later a crow lands on the railing next to Sanji who blinks at it.

"You and your crew have been requested to come to the masters island at once or you will be brought by force." The crow says.

"I'm retired!" Sanji yells at it.

"Mihawk and the master will be waiting." The crow says before flying away as Sanji screams and sets his legs on fire.

[ratasum]

The Battle of Claw Island was a disaster. With all five racial representatives dead, Trahearne meets with Steward Gixx and Zojja back in Lion's Arch while the Risen cast a long shadow on the shores. They're running out of options fast, but when a sly young Inquest soldier shows up offering his age, will they be desperate enough to accept his help? Is it worth it for the fate of all of Tyria?

“This is an unmitigated disaster. Sieran, dead. Tebb, dead! All the representatives that the rest of them brought… all of them are dead.” Zojja pressed her fingertips to her temples as she felt Leyya’s hand rest against her shoulder. She hadn’t even meant to be here at all; she had more important things to be doing. But Gixx’s message had been urgent, and so they had come back as soon as they could manage. “How could this even happen?!”

Gixx just shook his head as he folded his arms. He looked forlorn, and it wasn’t like anyone could blame him. Sieran, for all her empty-headedness, had been well loved in the Priory, and Tebb had the sort of everyman vibe that seemed to just get on well with everyone he met. “It certainly wasn’t meant to, Zojja, I assure you. But it leaves us with a conundrum- Trahearne has told us the situation on Claw Island, and it is dire. We must find a way to retake the island, but with Tebb and the others dead… and now Lion’s Arch itself is in jeopardy! I’ve a way to stop it for now, but…”

Zojja’s brow furrowed further as Trahearne finished the steward’s comment. “...we’ve no one to complete the ritual. Gixx has an Idol of Balthazar. It imbues the user with the power of the human god of war, allowing them to gain power through the defeat of their enemies. It will allow them to uncover the unseen.”

“So we use this idol and it’ll help us keep those things out of Lion’s Arch? Give us time to stop the rise of the dragon?” Lowering her hands, Zojja let out a soft breath through her nose. “What are the risks?”

Shrugging, Gixx flipped his hand into the air. “Oh, the usual things. Murder. Mayhem. Losing control of one’s self and becoming a raging vessel of some fiery wrathful creature’s anger and fury upon Tyria itself? It requires a great deal of strength. Tebb… would have been perfect.”

“If we need someone to do this, Zo, I can.” Leyya’s grip tightened on her companion’s shoulder. “We don’t have a lot of options, and we’re running short on time.”

Immediately, Zojja’s head snapped up. “No! No, abs- absolutely not, Leyya, this is dangerous enough. We’ve already lost every other racial representative, three representatives of the Orders, I am not… going to lose you too.” Sucking in a breath as she put her hand over Leyya’s, Zojja gave her head a slow shake. “Do we have anyone here that might fit the bill?”

All their gazes swept over the assembled Priory members. The meek looking little asura healer helping a sylvari with Mira. A handful of magisters discussing the ritual. No one of all that much interest. Gixx sighed, folding his arms. “Afraid not. Kippa is far too valuable as a healer, and I don’t dare pull Gwella from assisting her. We’ll need Kekt, Lhon, Gunhild and the others there for the ritual. Unless you have another Savant hiding under your skirts, Zojja, I’m afraid we may have to hope the other orders have better options.”

For a moment, no one spoke, Gixx only moving when the asuran healer came over to update him on Mira’s condition. As they spoke, some commotion rose among the nearby magisters, and everyone’s eyes instead fell on another figure approaching: he was a tall asura, taller than any Gixx or Zojja had seen in recent memory, and broad shouldered, with eyes that glowed brightly in a scarred face. Long hair pulled back into a ponytail, a charr stalking along behind him…

But the thing everyone noticed more than almost anything else was what he wore: the stark black, red, and white of the Inquest.

Click here to read the rest!

[nidhi-writes]

Deepavali - Great power comes with great responsibility

Growing up in the southern Indian state of Tamilnadu, where Deepavali is celebrated cause of Narakasura’s Defeat by Krishna. Each year I heard the story of how and when it happened, why Krishna killed Narakasura, and how cruel he was.

As the adult age struck I started to work with people from many parts of India, surprisingly that's when I heard that the story of Deepavali/Diwali which they celebrate is very different from the one I did.

Some specified that it celebrated the cause of Lord Rama and Seetha’s return to Ayodhya

Some Specified that it was celebrated cause of Ravana’s Defeat by Lord Rama.

They were surprised when I said in Tamilnadu it is celebrated for the reason I mentioned above, some were quick to point out how wrong I was and how one should know one's true culture and blah blah blah.

It was hard to explain culture and practices vary throughout our country and that's the beauty of it, there is no right or wrong cause every path and every practice leads to the same destiny. Our paths may vary but the destination is one.

So I wanted to read more about this one-line story I heard about how Krishna defeated Narakasura and the origin of it. And man if I say it made me cry, weep.

To dive into this story we have to travel from Kaliyug to Krita(Sathya) Yug

When the earth was in the hands of destruction by the asura Hrinyaksha and to save the earth and defeat Hrinyaksha, the almighty Vishnu took in the form of Varaha, as both Hrinyaksha and Varaha fought, Varaha overpowered Hiranaksha and at the end defeating him and also restored the earth to its original position in the universe

Varaha defeated Hiranaksha with ease and his only exertion was a drop of sweat, which fell to the ground. From that drop, a young warrior rose, his name was Naraka.

Is that when Bhoodevi and her heartbeat as a mother, her eyes watered at the scene of her son rising from her Swami’s drop of sweat. How could she not love him as he is her son, with love Bhoodevi hugged her son and smiled at how strong and a warrior he was. Bhoodevi turned and asked her Prabhu Varaha that her son should be invincible. Varaaha pulled out one of his tusks and gave it to Naraka saying he could use it as a weapon whenever he was in great danger.

Naraka accepted the weapon provided by his father and felt immensely blessed and ready to go to seek his fortune, as his father provided him advice on how to use the power to do only good.

‘Uphold Dharma’ said Varaha and Bhoodevi blessed her son as happy tears fell from her lotus-like eyes.

Just like any mother, her heart is filled with love and confidence for her son. She does not doubt her son becoming powerful in all three worlds and being just like her Swami. Varaha looked at Bhoodevi and smiled at her nodding his head as if he knew what she was thinking, but his smile didn’t seem to be filled with confidence.

Varaha smiled, his son will be powerful but the question is will he uphold the dharma to do good things, will he use his powers to be righteous, cause great power comes with great responsibilities.

As the yugas rolled one by one from Krita(Sathya) to Treta, to Dwaparyug. Lord Vishnu again came down to earth in the form of Krishna, Yadava. He vanquished his Uncle Kamsa and continued to restore dharma on the earth.

Just like the yugas rolled down, Naraka also grew very powerful, as he conquered everything from heaven and earth, he was drunk with power. That's when he snatched the celestial earrings from Aditi, the mother of Devas.

Amid the chaos, Indra the lord of devas sought Krishna’s help to vanquish Naraka. Upon hearing this Satyabama, one of the wives of Krishna, who is none other than Bhoodevi herself, got devastated and her heart ached along with anger boiled on how her son turned out. Her confidence in her son now made her feel like crying a river but as a Bhoodevi she had a job first that is to accompany her swami and solve this problem.

Both Krishna and Sathyabama left Prag-joyitisha-pura on Garuda. But entering the Prag-joyitisha-pura was not easy as the capital has four layers to its defence, The chief defender of Naraka’s capital was Mura, who was so confident that no one could penetrate the defence he had set and was relaxing deep down at the ring of defence.

But can anything be against Parandhaman himself? Krishna took down each defence layer at ease thus causing violent ripples in the water. Mura woke up from his slumber, enraged rushed out to defend and attack Krishna. Mura fell fighting against Krishna who then earned the name Murrari, the enemy of Mura.

Upon hearing the chaos outside Naraka Narakasura himself came out and started to fight against Krishna. The fight went on day and night causing extreme chaos and it became very difficult to say who was winning. As Naraka still had the weapon provided to him by his father Varaha, he took out the deadly tusk and threw it on Krishna, who got stuck by the tusk into his chest and fell unconscious. Naraka let out a victory cry but an enraged Satyabama picked up the bow and started to fight Naraka with so much anger. Naraka was shocked and continued to fight Sathyabama not knowing her real identity just like he did with Krishna.

Sathyabama’s eyes turned red flashing anger and her love for her son was now completely overshadowed by the monster he had become. Amidst the fighting, Krishna woke up and saw Sathyabama fighting and smiled at her. Naraka is shocked to see how Krishna is now awake, no other being can able to be alive after being struck by the deadly weapon, if Krishna is alive then he must be none other than Lord Varaha himself, his father.

Naraka fell on his knees and his father's words rang into his ears ‘Uphold Dharma’. He realized that he had failed his father's words and surrendered to Krishna, who used Sudarshana chakra at Naraka.

As his life slowly leaves Naraka he subconsciously surrenders himself to Krishna and Sathyabama. Sathyabama who was Bhoodevi born again, rushed to him and held him. The cries of sorrow, hurt, love, anger everything heard in her. As she helplessly held her son whose life slowly leaving him, Krishna silently watched the reunion of mother and son. As the tears fell on his body he found light in his dying moment. The darkness has been lifted as the dawn broke.

That day is celebrated as the festival of lights, Deepavali or Diwali, which signifies that we have to emerge from darkness to light.

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