Arial's Lotus

Elravians were well known for two things: their penchant for war, and their ability to channel the elements. Each person could only channel one: earth, wind, water, and fire. They needed special physical conduits to do so, but every Elravian could channel a specific element if they possessed one. The user would first need to attune the conduit to their element, a permanent process by which the device would forever be linked. The Lotus once belonged to Arial Vaharic, a Royal Guard of Elravian Empire court. Arial had the ability to channel the previously unknown element ether; Ether is the element of life, the energy that sustains all living things. In the thousands of years of her people’s history, she the only Elravian to ever channel the ether element. As a Royal Guard, she was supplied with a Lotus, a powerful rifle made of materials that defy entropy. They remain in perfect condition, unless damaged or broken by force. When Arial activated the conduit, the Lotus became a weapon the likes of which had never been seen before; rather than firing destructive elemental bolts, Arial’s Lotus had the ability to drain the life energy from a target. The ether seized by the weapon was transferred into Arial’s body, withering the enemy to a husk, and energizing Arial. Years of combat left Arial virtually immortal, stealing the years and vitality of those she killed. She faithfully served the royal family for millennia, changing the course of many wars and securing the future of the Elravian race. Or so they thought. After seven-thousand years of servitude and tens of thousands of kills, Arial’s mind was broken. Those of her race did not normally live past a century, let alone the thousands of years she had experienced. She renounced her title, fled her homeworld, and hid her Lotus on a remote, uninhabited planet. She disappeared from all historical records, her fate unknown. That was twenty-thousand years ago. Without Arial to fight for them, the royal family was soon overtaken, and Elravian society crumbled in war after war. A far as we know, there are no Elravians left. As far as we know… 

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It’s unclear how Arial’s Lotus ended up in the Temporal Ascendancy’s underground fortress. What is clear is that it held a special importance to The Preacher, prominently placed within his workshop. Like the Elravians before him, The Preacher had been unable to use the weapon, and he struggled to understand it’s functionality; no ammo, no power source, designed for combat yet seemingly lacking in offensive capability. What he could decipher was that it was very old, and not of his world. After the Ascendancy was dismantled by the Rangers, the Lotus was crated up and sent to their headquarters. As with so many things during the war, it was shuffled away as yet another crisis came to the forefront. Loaded into a storage vessel, the anonymous crate disappeared into the vastness of The Vault. But it has not been totally forgotten: a watcher, who once renounced the Lotus’ vile power, wonders if the time has come to reclaim it. Thousands of years of stewardship over the site of her former weapon, undone in a moment by a zealot with a knack for technology. Perhaps now, in this new age of violence and mayhem, it is time for a different approach. Arial Vaharic has come to The Vault, and she wants her Lotus back.