On the War against the Ratio and the Great People who fought it

Dear colleagues, guests, and students,

Our special thanks got to the Nyame (ret.) Tiara Lea from the House of Storn for the foundation of the Eastern Kingdom Education System, without which the following presentation of the most important figures of the first War against the Ratio (already being called such in the grim expectation of a second combative event with said enemy up and coming) would have been impossible. Here, too, our thanks once again to Nyame Felicia, who continues the project so undauntedly.

Recording the main actors of the War against the Ratio seems much more difficult than it might appear at first glance, since this historical conflict did not take place only on a military level, but also on a personal and even amorous level; loyalty and betrayal as the basis of mortal action as well as tactical considerations shaped the action of these historical figures. I would like to point out that we are working with the texts of the Order of the Tivar Kharr’assil here, so historical falsification cannot be ruled out, since the Order’s view upon the actions of their enemies is very limited.

Let us begin with the main protagonist, Orphaliot, the Child of the Elements.
We know this much about the historical figure of Orphaliot:
He was male and descended from three bloodlines. He descended from the Children of the Golden Dream (presumed to be the Quihen Assil, who today represents Quin Kal and Quinteluk), as well as from the Ancient Rulers of Fire, the name of their people is nowadays lost. Finally, the blood of the Sokata was mixed into his line. Servantkind who, according to ancient records, were created as one of the last servantkin and where a mixture of Lona and Akata, in a sense of temporary culmination of the creation of the Ancient Rulers of Fire, until they progressed in their attempt to once again be more powerful in the struggles against the Black Ice… (interjections).
Yes, I digress, sorry.

It is said to have been that combination of three bloodlines of Element itself, Ancient Ruler and servantkin which gave Orphaliot its power and strength. To this day we can agree that since the exile of the Quihen Assil never again has a more powerful soul walked on Mitraspera and this can be proven by the reports from the War against the Ratio.
Orphaliot was considered to be the favourite of the Elements and their voice at a time when the Avatars had not yet been sent (interestingly, they were only sent down after the slumber of the Tivar Kharr’assil, when Orphaliot was no longer available as their voice).
In that time of peace, when the Ratio had not yet been thought into existence, he was also in love with and later to married Camiira, who was later to become Nyame of the Western Seal and probably came from the Ca’ar people, but more about that later.
Camiira gave Orphaliot four sons named Athariot, Elariot and Malachandran, as well as another son whose name seems to have been forgotten. Those four sons were each brought up believing in one Element. The most famous as well as the most critically regarded of those four sons was to be Athariot, whom he had raised as the firstborn in the spirit of Ignis.

In this time and age, Orphaliot was obviously universally respected and considered the crown of civilisation of his time, but this was also the time when the Ancient Rulers became arrogant and the first of them began to openly doubt the work of the Elements.

Orphaliot, according to legend, was the first to recognise the danger of the Ratio and stood before the Elements at the Golden Chariot and implored their favour and their decree to become judge of those who openly doubted the Creation. Today there is little record of how he was answered, but when Orphaliot left the Golden Chariot he carried a Staff of Power, the axe that made him the Almahandir – the judge.
Finally, at the Golden Chariot, Orphaliot founded both the city of As’Shan and the Order of the Eternal Sword, their core consisting of people that included his sons, as well as Jehavis Evening Star and Orathon, who were among his closest friends.
In the beginning, the Order was only supposed to be a tool of the faith. The Tivar Kharr’Assil were arbiters and judges between the construct which emerged in the Time of Upheaval after the appearance of the other Staffs and Crowns of Power. The five great Seal Realms came into being and Archons and Nyames were elected. The Order of the Eternal Swords reached its greatest extent at this time, with its centre in As’Shan, and counted among its members many of the great Ancient Rulers, but also a few select members of the servantkins.

At that time, Camiira became the Nyame of the West and appointed Orphaliot’s best friend, Jevahis Evening Star, as her Neches’re. But although the Elements had sent the Staffs and Crowns of Power and had shown favour to Orphaliot, the idea of the Ratio was also spreading with increasing speed by that act, as the Tivar Kharr’Assil were perceived as oppressors by those who demanded freedom in spirit. When a small group of Sceptics achieved a breakthrough and the Ratio became the first Forsaken Element in the world, the Tivar Khar’Assil’s descent inevitably began.

Today no one can say how long the War against the Ratio lasted, but it must be assumed that it was Orphaliot who first resorted to violence to openly fight against the Forsaken Element. The Tivar Kharr’assil, previously guardians of culture and justice, became an army in those days by the command of the Almahandir and with the help of the Evening Star. As’Shan went from being a peaceful place of faith to a fortress of the Adamants, and from there Orphaliot led the fight against the Ratio.

The building of a secret place only known as the Fortress behind the Gates also dates from that time. A place to which the Eternal Swords brought their children and relatives, as well as many refugees of the War against the Ratio, and which soon became a legend. But the war against the Ratio went downhill for the Eternal Swords, who suffered increasingly bitter defeats due to their rigid attitude and increasing fanaticism. At the height of the war against the Ratio, even As’Shan was lost to the enemy when Malachandran, the Aeris-educated son of the Judge, refused an alliance with the Master of the Black Ice, Sephistikos, preferring to fight two armies rather than let a Forsaken Element set foot in the Golden Chariot.

Had it not been for the victory of the Pact of the Nine and Marien’s sacrifice, the Order of the Eternal Swords might have faced complete defeat after the loss of As’Shan, for the political climate had also reportedly turned against the Order and the Almahandir’s demands to fight fell on increasingly deaf ears.

But the Pact of the Nine was surprisingly victorious, sealing the Ratio and thus probably saving the Eternal Swords from destruction.

But when the Almahandir returned, defeated, to his wife, who had been his support all this time, he found she had become a victim of the lures of the Second Creation. Camiira had realised that while her sons and husband were immortal through the blood of the Elements, she was beginning to age. So, she was one of the first to surrender to the research from Ankor Mortis and to complete her transformation with the help of the Nechaton.

This episode is one of the best documented events in early Mitrasperan history. According to the records, Orphaliot raged when he felt betrayed by his wife and attacked her, although weakened by the wounds of the War against the Ratio. The latter confronted the Almahandir and resorted to the power of the land, returning Orphaliot’s wrath with the disappointment of spurned love.

Already badly wounded, Orphaliot had little to oppose the newfound power of Nechaton and fell before the might of his wife. But Camiira’s triumph was to last only a few moments, for Jehavis Evening Star raised his sword against her and killed the Nyame from behind to punish her betrayal of the Elements, betraying the woman to whom he had sworn allegiance.

Orphaliot, however, was dead. Legend has it that Jehavis Evening Star begged the Elements to have mercy in this darkest hour and save the Almahandir, but the body of Orphaliot passed away. The Elements heard Jehavis’ plea in their own way and granted him his request, albeit in a way that can only be understood if one is able to see through the dualism of Mitraspera. Orphaliot’s soul had matured and grown for centuries and so it no longer looked to fit a single body, which prompted the Elements to cut it in two and create a male body for Orphaliot’s hatred, anger, and belligerence, for his mercilessness, and rage. For his foresight, magic, and gentleness, however, they created a female body and so Almahandra and Almahandir rose from the tragedy.

After this rather detailed chapter, we now come to a person whose life and work must remain a mystery to us due to her position and nature, in which we must indulge in much speculation.

Camiira, the former mistress of the Western Seal. Her name, as well as her nature, are known to us only from the legends and historical records of the Tivar Kharr’Assil, and so many things must be taken as legends rather than real knowledge. By the very nature of her office, she probably once wore the crown that Marien, also later Nyame of the West, wore and with which the World Fire was started. Today, the Lady of the Eastern Realm, Felicia, wears this Crown of Power.

Furthermore, it must be assumed that Camiira as a person was full of goodness as well as a loving mother as well as wife. Not even the texts of the Eternal Swords deny that Camiiras drive to achieve immortality was her love for her family. Even today, a certain motherly love can be detected in her behaviour, although she seems to have extended it to the Ankorians of the Undead Flesh.

As Neches’re of her office she chose Jehavis Evening Star, who to this day is considered the noblest and most respected Neches’re of Mitraspera and a favourite of the Elements. To have chosen such a strong person as her chalice says a lot about the personality of the Nyame, who obviously did not worry about having to compete with two such strong males as her husband and her chalice were. Camiira’s first step into damnation was initiated via her confidante Rancalla, who she had asked to find a way to equal her sons and husband in agelessness. This Rancalla apparently established contact with King Gawan, who was in an early stage of Nechaton research and was only too happy to let Camiira share in his research. Camiira herself was probably not aware that Gawan was also a member of the Pact of the Nine at the time.

She used Gawan’s research and performed the rites of eternal unlife on herself, hoping for an eternity of bliss with her family. What followed has been explained in detail above, and Camiira met her temporary end at the hands of Jevahis’ Evening Star. However, Camiira’s spirit was probably one of the first to be reawakened after the opening of the Fourth Seal and she took her place in the hierarchy of the Undead Flesh as Epis Corpa, a very high clerical servant of the Bone Queen. That Camiira, as a powerful person among the Ancient Rulers, seriously adheres to that pseudo-religion must not believed here, however. Rather, we must assume that Camiira made some kind of deal with Gawan or the Bone Queen and pursues her own interests today, as she did then, rather than those of the Undead Flesh as a whole.

Proof of this conclusion seems to me to be her association with Argus, who, together with Quinto Selaros and Camiira, walked through the portal to the Seal of the Ratio.

About the present character of Camiira, known as the flagellant, it must be noted that she is said to have a strong hatred against men, as well as against foolish and rash violence, and also against the Tivar Kharr’assil as a group (interjection) How? Oh, yes… of course… forgive me. As my colleague quite rightly points out, this lecture is limited to the War against the Ratio. Pardon me. Please ignore any further speculation.