Celeste

Domains: Magic & Knowledge

Celeste is the Stewardess of both magic and knowledge. Each of the Stewards is a powerful mage in their own right, but no one claims the kind of mastery over the circle of eight that she possesses. Celeste has quite literally mastered every type of magic, including the greater paths. To her such mastery is merely an extension of her thirst for knowledge, an attribute she insists her followers share.

Celeste as a Mortal

Celeste was a beautiful woman with long blond hair and stunning blue eyes. She was soft spoken, but with a quick temper that is often the hallmark of a Fire Aspect. The first school of magic she mastered was destruction, taught in service to a small and aggressive kingdom that has since faded into history.

Despite her incredible skill at the greater path of destruction Celeste thirsted for more. She wanted to learn all magic, which could never be done while serving the masters who’d originally taught her. So she left.

The kingdom sent a team to recover her. She dealt with them. Three more were sent in rapid succession, but each met with a similar fate. After that her former masters left her alone, and she spent the next several years delving into the secrets of first divination and then enchanting.

By the time Rei found her she’d mastered five greater paths and been to fifteen catalysts, with no intention of slowing her journey.

Elevated by Rei

Celeste awoke one day to find herself at the top of Mount Shyar, a place she’d never been much less heard of. Her first reaction was to attack the strange golden figure standing before her. Every spell she threw, no matter how powerful or from what path, was simply nullified when it reached the figure. After a dozen attempts Celeste finally subsided, waiting for the figure to attack.

Instead Rei told her something that chilled her to the core. I am not nearly as powerful as the eldest gods. If you cannot face me, then you’d be as a child before them. Celeste felt something she’d never experienced, not even before she’d cast her first spell. Fear.

Rei continued, saying that in order for the world to defend itself against the return of an elder god it must have one able to command the greatests of magics. He snapped a golden bracelet set with a giant ruby around her wrist, which flooded her with immense power.

Even now, Rei said, you do not have the strength to best me. But it is a beginning. Go forth an gather as many faithful as you can. As their ranks swell so shall your power. Treat them well, lest they forsake you.

Celeste did as he asked. She gathered all who wished to learn, opening the first Celestial Academy in the city that would one day become the capital of the Elentian empire. For centuries she instructed her followers in the magical arts, training them to unlock the Circle of Eight.

Her followers scoured the world for knowledge, particularly anything about the time before the godswar. Rei’s demonstration still terrified Celeste centuries later, so she strove her utmost to increase her number of followers and find any information about the elder gods.

Since then she has gleaned a few secrets, but after nearly two millenia of searching true knowledge of the elder gods remains tantalizingly elusive. Still, her search continues as does that of her followers. Celeste’s temple pays a bounty on all books, particularly those they do not yet possess.

Orders of Celeste

Celeste’s followers are divided into many different orders, however two have gained prominence in the Hasran Imperium, which is the center of her worship:

Histors– None of Celeste’s followers share her thirst for knowledge quite like the Histors. The Histors will journey to troll infested catalysts, to the hostile Ashlands in search of a single scrap of knowledge they do not posses. They maintain most of Celeste’s temples, and tend to her great libraries in the cities of Valys and Hasra. Most histors tend to be very scholarly, though more than a few have picked up some destruction magic to aid their search for knowledge.

The Imperial Battlemages– The battlemages are the most widely feared of Celeste’s followers, and for good reason. Much like the Stewardess herself they strive to master the greater path of destruction, serving as the signature weapon of the Hasran Imperium. Battlemages are known the world over, and those who worship Celeste are often more powerful than their less enlightened counterparts.