Unity Lore: Part 2 - The Threat We Face

Almost back to back, more lore! More art and stories are coming soon, but we hope you appreciate the worldbuilding that we've been collecting in the background even if it comes in dumps like these two parts. X3

In lore post two titled The Threat We Face, we'll answer a few more questions that the recent posts may have raised. Who (or what) are the Blackwave? What are Guardians and how do they work? Hope you enjoy!

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The invading army that is laying siege to the known universe, the Blackwave is a threat so large and terrifying in scale that many worlds fell in mere hours on first contact. Without mercy and without hesitation, this ruthless force from beyond our plane will wipe out any planet that stands in their way of complete galactic conquest.

Not much is known about the specifics of their leadership beyond very basic intel left behind on planets that were liberated from Blackwave forces. They are known to have four military leaders, known colloquially as the Four Horsemen. The true nature of Blackwave leadership is unknown beyond this. What is known however is the method by which the Blackwave is able to spread so fast.

The Blackwave are all practitioners of dark magic, a group of spells utilizing otherworldly mana that corrupts and consumes souls that touch it. Only lifeforms with immense knowledge of it can resist the corruption properties of it, but the very usage of this magic is known to alter the physical appearance of the caster whether or not it corrupts their souls. Users of this dark magic are collectively known as demons, both intelligent non-corrupted beings or corrupted hosts of darkness.

Demons take many shapes and sizes, and the Council of Divines have made an effort to document information on every kind of demon encountered thus far. 

Demon Bestiary

The bulk of the Blackwave's forces are made up of single souls corrupted by darkness called Whelps, the lowest ranked of the Blackwave's army. They are shadowy figures with a cocoon of dark magic around them that encapsulates the soul of a person, with their limbs glowing a distinct hue of purple seemingly to show allegiance to a specific general. Each Blackwave conquered world is teeming with them. While any decent spell caster could defeat one and free the soul inside, they are not to be underestimated. Massive hordes of them can quickly overwhelm as they are incredibly hostile to any life form that isn't of the Blackwave.

Larger demons are created when whelp bodies are combined together, either as a deliberate process in mass rituals or organically through in-fighting. Whelps are known to quarrel with each other and, once fights are over, consume each other for additional power. The demons listed below are much more powerful than whelps, and are referred to as special demons.

• Widows are nightmarish spider-like demons that crawl along walls, ceilings, and floors of structures. They are the corpses of higher ranked special demons that are still animated, absorbing ambient darkness to maintain the little that remains of their prior will. The unnatural amount of darkness in them twisted their form and made them extremely volatile, just a few attacks on them from an outside source bursting them like a bomb. Engaging with them at close range is a quick way to meet your end as the resulting cloud of darkness that spills out of them is extremely deadly.
• Warlocks were powerful spellcasters in their prior lives, but their minds were tainted  by dark magic. Their main method of attack is to ensnare a target with a paralysis spell, draw them in closer with telekinesis, and then leech their life force to gain even more strength. Being ensnared is almost impossible to escape if no one else can help, making them especially deadly if encountered alone. If they do not have time to cast their leech spell, they'll cast very low level elemental spells that are thankfully much weaker seeing as the malaise of darkness has diminished the rest of their casting ability. Their very tall height, glowing eyes, and shadowy cloak that conceals their bodies make them very easy to distinguish from other demons. 
• Incubi and Succubi are evolved whelps who have taken on a more traditionally demonic appearance. These two demons blend into a crowd of whelps when they are on the ground due to their slimmer size and smooth skin. Their defining trait is revealed when they're on the hunt: their powerful wings that unfurl when they're ready to pounce. They shoot up into the air and crash down onto their prey, making a distinctive screeching sound before sinking their teeth into their target's neck to absorb their essence.
• Warbeasts are otherworldly four legged monsters with no eyes. Feral demon that acts on pure instinct and a desire to devour souls, its methods of attack are its large size, vicious jaw, and horrible teeth. Because its senses are so limited due to being blind, the warbeast is controlled by another demon called a Rider who sits on the beast's back and tethers its own will to the monster. The rider will control the beast and charge it toward prey, pinning them to the ground and taking large nasty bites on the midsection. If the rider is destroyed however, the warbeast will act erratically and randomly charge, unable to focus on a single target. It is still quite dangerous however and should be put down quickly.

Beyond these special demons are threats that have yet to be fully documented. More research on these monsters needs to be done before classification can be completed.

A threat as large and as powerful as the Blackwave and their army of demons needs a force that is well trained, well equipped, and capable of defeating many hordes of vile creatures with no fear. The solution from the council was simple. Many heroes of the past having been reborn on their new planet meant that there was no shortage of magical talent, bravery, and willingness to fight for the good of the entire universe among their population.

The Guardian Corps is an organization collectively operated by the Council of Divines and many mortal volunteers. They are an army and peacekeeping force made of unitians of all stripes that lend their physical strength and magical ability to try and beat back the advance of the Blackwave. Founded by the first generation of unitians, the members of the corps are highly respected for their valor, strength, intellect, intuition, and tactical prowess. 

Volunteer mortal members of the Guardian Corps are referred to as guardians. Guardians must go through a year of rigorous training, called a guardian trial, with members of the council as well as senior guardians so that their physical and magical capability may be enhanced and reigned in. At the start of a trial, a guardian is given a specially made garment of clothing called a magical amplification suit or MagAmp suit for short. This garment, designed by the magic science division at Unex Labs, boosts the natural talents of the wearer and is constantly tweaked and adjusted during the year of training so it matches the magical profile and needs of the guardian it is made for. Every guardian wears one in some shape or form when they are on duty, but the appearance of them varies greatly.

The Guardian Corps has two main branches: the Legion and the Vanguard.

The Legion is the peacekeeping and law enforcement branch of the corps. They are typically stationed in unitian cities and towns. Besides the council of divines, they also take orders from the government of the city or province they stay in. Individual guardians in the Legion are called legionnaires and are trained in civility and de-escalation techniques to serve as a police force. Legionnaires are commonly seen in public wearing clearly marked yellow MagAmp suits emblazoned with the Guardian Corps insignia. Legionnaires typically aren't busy due to the peaceful nature of even the largest cities in Unity, so their primary purpose is to be a second line of defense should the Blackwave ever come to attack Unity directly.

The Vanguard is the branch of expeditionary guardians that leave the planet of Unity and perform combat operations on Blackwave controlled planets in small squads called strike teams. These guardians train specifically for battling demons, and they receive much more intense combat training prior to leaving the planet. Due to the difficult and dangerous nature of their work, vanguard guardians are placed into specialized classes that fulfill different roles. The four roles are Phalanx, Battlemage, Oracle, and Shinobi. Each strike team has one of each.

Phalanxes are the team leaders and are trained combat medics. They communicate directly with the god or goddess overseeing the mission and give debriefings to their team. Their magic is usually a mixture of offensive and supportive spells, and with their important team role they're usually the most heavily armored. Their MagAmp suits are primarily an olive drab color, and usually have light armor plating over them.

Battlemages are offensive magic specialists. A battlemage's abilities can vary greatly since there are so many ways that magic can be weaponized to destroy Blackwave's demons, but the common through lines with battlemages is that they usually are very cocky and use battle as a proving ground for their techniques. The equipment they carry is quite light if any, since they need as much flexibility as possible for spell casting. Their MagAmp suits have deep red accents on them and typically don't cover the entire body due to battlemages being much more adept at reflecting magic back at enemies. 

Oracles are magitech gurus who operate special technology infused with magic, usually in the form of long range precision weapons that channel mana through them as opposed to casting their own spells. A much more passive role usually, they sit on vantage points or far away to engage enemies, deploy magitech based gadgets, or otherwise support their team by subverting the enemy's technology if there is any left on the world. Being engineer types, they carry practical gear relevant to their chosen weapon more than they do armor. Their MagAmp suits have pink and dark purple colors on them.

Shinobi are spell casters that focus on fast movement or stealth, being able to infiltrate enemy strongholds without detection and gather intel before they engage in battles. While not as rough and tough as battlemages, they tend to carry lighter, compact magitech weapons shoot fast and are easily handled and concealed when needed. Typically they wear black and blue skintight MagAmp suits, that are tailored for aerodynamic purposes and for stealth by way of a cloaking field.

Vanguard strike teams are commanded by a leader known as a Chimera class guardian, which has training in all four specializations and wear black and white MagAmp suits with armor plating. Typically, they are also joined on operations by a member of the Council of Divines who goes by the codename Sovereign. The god or goddesses with the Sovereign callsign collects the fractured souls that are left behind when the guardians have destroyed demons, taking them to the spirit realm back on Unity in the hopes that they can be restored to their full selves.

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Now that was a bit more into the nitty gritty. X3

Next time we'll talk more about the planet of Unity itself, the continent of Vitas, and the many locations on the planet that contribute to the unique planet that it is.