Fiction:Obvia'Atra/Original



''' "This is the Ravenrii page, we are the ancient beings of Light! We know all of the Universe' secrets!" '''

"Beware them, for they are creatures of the light, and when you have touched darkness light is vicious forever. Do not trust them blindly, for no matter how benevolent their actions, their reasons are unknown. And always remember, however natural they might seem, that they are not of this world."

- Unknown

The Obvia'Atra, better known as the Ravenrii, are an archaic race of beings that exist to re-light Universes each time that one is destroyed, and to root out any Empires that stand in the way of their goals or their master, Kkia'Sihm. Benevolent but cold creatures towards mortals, they were born from "the Light" at the creation of reality. They are immortal and timeless, one of the rare anomalies in time. The Obvia'Atra are the purest beings within the mortal world, envoys of Kkia'Sihm and the five ascendant Fates from the Realm of Heaven. Descended from Heaven and ntroduced into the realm of reality at its birth, the Obvia'Atra are Kkia'Sihm's tools in the Game of Existence, as the opposites of the evil Ayrai'Shikua, their opposites. The master of the latter is the only rival of their own god and master.

Overview
Because the Ravenrii are a manifestation of Light itself and their connection to the rebirth of the universes is permanent, they are impossible to destroy-in texts that refer to this, it is said that "The Beings of Light [the Ravenrii] are impossible to touch by the hand of destruction". However, their bodies can be rendered unusable, sending their inner spirit back to their native Realm, though they eventually come back in another body. Despite the fact that they must possess enormous power to recreate universes repeatedly, shows of their strength are usually involuntary and they sometimes pretend to be a mortal race. A fact that supports their alleged true nature is that they are immortal and hail from the Realm of Heaven, outside of Reality.

Reputation
Imperious beings by nature, the Obvia'Atra are widely regarded with a mixture of respect, distrust, and even fear, as they are unnatural beings and their actions are not always understood. They are related to other immortal races, notably the Xhodocto, who are the opposites and their most hated enemy. They also have a connection with the Taldar, beings of time, as their paths often crossed each other in the past. Innumerable races in different universes are said to be distantly related to them as well.

The Ravenrii are natives of the Celestial Realm, and are thus sometimes caled Celestials. Within the realm of reality, the Obvia'Atra are spread throughout the Omniiverse across thousands of galaxies and universes, though only few ever come into contact with mortal races. The Ravenrii's civilizations have often held significant political and social power amongst other races, as they often become involved in mortal affairs and, in contrast to their opposites, like civilization and societies in general. Their civilizations are usually used to gather power in the name of their master, making it easier for them to interact with other races and search for Potentials. In addition, unlike their opposites the Obvia'Atra hold the mortals in mild curiosity and even inner jealousy, as opposed to hating and destroying the mortal races as their archenemies do.

Names
Throughout the aeons, the Obvia'Atra have had many names, given to them by other beings and races. Their true name evokes their nature but it unpronounceable to mortals and is a secret that has been lost to time. Only the most unnatural of races called the, by it, however, and their name in ancient history was usually Obvia'Atra, derived from an ancient tongue's Obviam Atrum, or against the dark. Other races have called them by many other names through history, including The Luccians, as they are from the realm of Lucia; the Enduring or the Eternal, for their immortal natures; The Hosts of the Hollow Thrones, for their high position but debilitated state; and the Heralds of Light for their related existence to enlightenment.

Traits and Abilities
"This must be kept in the shadows. We have plans, plans within plans, and it would not do to have others know of them."

- Anonymous Ravenrii

The Ravenrii have a trait unique among both the mortal and immortal races; Purity, the absence of any kind of essence of energy, though they are virtually surrounded by Celestial Energy. Ravenrii are masters of deception, known to do anything, even wage war, to bring peace to the wider omniverse or accomplish their master's goals. They are an ancient and proud race, and hold most mortal species with contempt. They do have an underlying benevolent nature, as they are creatures of light, though they can be vicious and ruthless. Ravenrii share one mind; in every one of their three civilizations, an event has happened at the early stages of each that bonds every individual minds into a common mind pool, making strong feelings almost impossible and granting them the ability to confer secretly with each other across the vast poool of thoughts. The Obvia'Atra are thus commonly perceived as cold, feelingless beings, as they do not hesitate to manipulate and use other creatures for the "greater good", even though they will actually do everything and anything in service of their master and the virtues he stands for. Though love as an emotion in commonly unusual in the species, they dpo have an ancient appreciation and love for society and civilization, giving rise to the vast political entities that have sprung from them in the past.

Ravenrii tend to be very self-conscious and observant, usually keeping a cool complexion while in the presence of others. They can understand and mimic emotion perfectly, yet they themselves never feel it strongly. Their minds are virtually impossible to break, as any mortal being that looks upon their essence in its true, unveiled form goes mad with its complexity and unnatural workings. Ravenrii are able to carry out complex mental tasks-they are cunning, imperious and dignified. When a Ravenrii is extensively provoked, they may enter a Rage, during which they will be ruthless and even violent, and will stop at nothing to destroy their target. They are usually calm creatures, however, who keep their strength and thoughts to themselves.

The Ravenrii's cold state of mind is due to ages of hardship, this in turn due to their nature; their philosopher have stated that the most predominant reason for their unhappiness in ancient times wwas that "everything around us died, while we lived on to see it perish." This caused them to adopt a general feelingless demeanor as a means to avoid pain or sadness. They generally remain very polite towards outsiders and think of other races as innocent, though they have an old resentment and jealousy of the mortal races because of their ability to die and pass on towards Heaven or inexistence.

Abilities
Due to their immense size Ravenrii and nature the Ravenrii possess vast physical strength and, predominantly, endurance. One of the most expository examples is their complete lack of change through endless amounts of time; since the moment they comeinto reality from their native realm the only change as they age is gradual growth. They retain the physical form achieved when they reach young adulthood forever, thus also being eternally "young". The Obvia'Atra have immense strength due to their nature as well, the oldest being able to carry more than 100 kiltons and having the size of a large house. Ravenrii are all "Pure", meaning that they have no Essence at all. They consider this the purest state of being other than divinity itself. Their lack of a specific energy makes them virtual magnets to Celestrial Energy, which although is not within them usually surrounds them instead. It also grants them the ability to pass undetected under life-detecting fields, nullifying other energies such as Psionic and Fiamman when it approaches them.

The mental capacity of the Ravenrii stems from their supernatural nature. They have the ability to subtly influence the minds of those around them, though they cannot completely control or change a being's thoughts. When in prime conditions, Obvia'Atra can dissolve into a gaseous form and attack or enter the minds of mortal beings, though some, such as the Krassio, are trained to repulse these mental incursions. The ones that aren't and are subjugated can experience visions, illusions, or in extreme cases even possesion by the invader. Despite this, Ravenrii tend to stay away from the temptation of the illimited mental possibilities that mental invasions, called immersions bring, as they are said to be addictive.

Ancient History
Although the oldest history of the Ravenrii and their origins remains unpublished, it is known that it is closely tied to two prophetic scripts; The Book of the Eons, a sacred tome that they keep only at their homeworld, and the Necroveast, three horrific ones believed to have been written by Kamik-Shi himself that spawned the Xhodocto. The Ancient tomes deal with the Onvia'Atra's eldest civilizations, two of which stood from the beginning of reality until around 10 billion years ago, with the birth of their youngest one, known as the Core Federation. Throughout history, the Ravenrii's civilizations have remained above most others in their eras.

The modern history of the Ravenrii dates to over 18 billion years ago, when they were at the end of one of their many empires and existed as pure beings in harmony with all of life and Essence. The Ravenrii then lived in a beautiful homeworld, Alva-Es'riia, also called The Place of Light. The calm beings lived in peace, until records dating to 16 billion years ago tell of the start of another vast war against their hated enemies, the Xhodocto. Before the eve of 15 billion years ago, Kamik-Shi, in the form of a multi-potent dark creature that engulfed worlds known as the Darkness, advanced towards the homeworld analong with Xhodocto invasions. the Ravenrii sacrificed their planet with devastating light forces in the hopes of imprisioning the Xhodocto, though they resurfaced 13.8 billion years ago. The Ravenrii were spared and found themselves in a new world a millenia afterwards, and found that the light had recreated Life while they were unconscious. The years of fighting against the Darkness before it consumed Alva-es'riia are known as the Great War of Light. Excerpt for the Book of the Eons;

"He had come as the End, we knew, had come as the End of Life and the End of Reality. His bloody darkness filled the skies, flesh turned to rock and water to blood. And so at last he engulfed our world-but before he destroyed reality itself forever, we burst in Light as we never had before, and this last Light, we knew, would allow us to reconstruct Life once again."

Afterwards, records speak only of the Ravenrii's regaining of consciousness in a new planet, around a million years afterwards. However, it was the species's best kept secret and was unpublished until now. Consequently, the Ravenrii that awakened in the planet, now known as Centrus are the Ravenrii of today. They began the period of Modern History, and pretended to be a mortal race while they took control of the entire galaxy for the next 5 billion years.

Modern History
The modern-day Ravenrii awoke ovafter an unknown time after the Great War of Light, in what today is the capital of the Federation, planet Centrus. However, they quickly dispersed into seven smaller Empires called the Minor Empires around the Caeus Cluster, the cluster of stars around Centrus. The Empires constantly collided over trade and wealth, until in the year 43M, F.A., they united to create the Raev Federation, which was simply a non-binding federation amongst the seven Empires that encouraged trade and diplomatic relations.

After over a hundred million years of existence, though, the monarchy that had been so vehemently supported fell into decadence. The rapid expansion of the Empire meant that the capital was strained, and soon there were violent riots in the central systems of the Empire. The riots' casualties grew and eventually reached Centrus: the inhabitants of the Federation desired a more business-oriented government, as the monarchy's politics were corrupt and ineffective. Eventually, circa 92M, S.A. a great upraising called the Royal Revolution ensued, as the Queen's advisors threatened the royalty with a coup and betrayed the Queen, at that time the monarch Ayra the Innocent. The civil war was serious, and most worlds were devastated before Her Highness was impeached and exiled for eternity. A massive civil war came next, which lasted for over five-hundred million years. Over 60 factions tried to take control, but finally at the end of the war then-High Viceroy Carcus Airdone took control of the central systems and rearranged the Federation with the Uryean Reformation, installing the High Court of the Core as the legislature and judiciary and the High Viceroy as leader of the Federation. Then, a very rare phenomenon occurred; the entire species' minds were fused into a single, vast thought-pool, a happening that Airdone is usually deemed the cause of.

The Unification further welded the Ravenrii together, who grew peaceful and concentrated on relations with the first Galactic Empire that they met; the Solarian Empire, which was situated lower down the Haethus Arm, next to Prathus. The Federation grew fierce once again, acquiring most worlds around the Core Worlds Section of the galaxy ruthlessly.

The following year, the Core Federation rejected an alliance of several galactic empires, called the Interstellar Alliance of Independent Empires, and invaded and captured the organization's delegates in the neutral planet of Sulcan where they were meeting, which sparked the eight-hundred million year Great War of Xanthrus. During this conflict, the Federation took control of the entire Grox Worlds, a total of 5,700 systems and around 15,000 planets that swelled the Empire to an enormous size. Though supposedly peace-like, the Ravenrii were ruthless when acquiring the Core Worlds and invaded constantly with vast fleets. The Federation proceeded to ruthlessly invade all remaining worlds around the Core World Sector, and finalized a trade monopoly around the Grox Systems. The aquisition of these sytems angered the other Empires of the galaxy, and the Core Federation declared war circa 1M, T.A. The Solarian monarch, Solya Athera, reportedly had a vision of what the Federation would look like once it completed galactic dominion and abdicated, claiming that it was useless to fight against Kkia'Sihm's servants. The Empire, which had been a close rival of the CorFed for billions of years, collapsed and the latter gained even more systems in the Prathus Arm. The destruction of the Grox and Solarian's Empires ended the War after it had occupied most of the Third Age, earning it the name of "The Age of Wars".

After the Great War was finalized with the destruction of The Grox Empire, the rejected empires; the Arenesque, Mushrum, and Creancer Empires continued to lead the IAIE with subtle anti-federation actions until the organization was dissolved following the Federation's complete annexation of every inhabitable planet in Xanthrus.

Trade and its new land wealth brought varied riches and influence to the federation, which became a prominent member of the galaxy and one of the most powerful. Circa 50M, FO.A., the Core Federation celebrated over two billion years of governmental stability and reinstated the royalty with the Royal Reinstitution, though in a much less powerful state.

Genders and Birth
The Ravenrii's method of reproduction is at times one that requires their own sacrifice; upon reaching unknown conditions, some female Ravenrii will implode into pure white light, which then takes the form of many hundreds of thousands of "newborn" Ravenrii, in reality bodies that are instantly filled with new souls descending from Heaven. Depending on the strength of this light, which relies on the mother's living conditions and current state while "giving birth", the number may increase or decrease, though these kind of births are exceedingly rare. Dubbed "the Sharing", those born from this selfless act are said to have legendary roles awaiting in their destiny. Most Ravenrii, however, have been alive for an unknown period of time, presumably brought into Reality by Kkia'Sihm himself at the beginning of the Omniverse.

The gender differences between female and male Ravenrii are very pronounced; male Ravenrii have a broad, muscular build, while Ravenrii women are delicate, graceful and light. While in the species' descended form, the differences also include different shades of skin colour; males usually have strong shades of blue, while females are light blue, cyan or turquoise. The race's color is also important in determinig each particular Ravenrii's ancestors. The most uncommon Ravenrii, with turquoise skin, are usually attributed to the noble families, for example. In their higher forms, all Ravenrii males are identical, as are all females, and they acquire a deep gold skin tone, becoming larger and with more elaborate horns the higher the form they're in.

Biology
"The Ravenrii may be beautiful, but they cannot see in the dark."

- Anonymous Xhodocto

The Ravenrii have a flexible membrane (or skin) enveloping their inner biology, which permits them to feed on the Kii'ria-na rays normally found in common sunlight, as well as on normal food. They have, however, no material internal organs and no circulatory systems or blood. Their bodies possess six different brain-like appendages that emit the Ravenrii's Essence, a clear yet bluish light. Instead of internal organs or even biological appendages (other than the "brains"), their bodies are filled with hard, flexible fibers made of an unknown substance that intertwine and are attached to the "skin". This membrane can have alternate colors depending on the curent form of the Ravenrii race; while in their descended form, it is blue, and has an elastic texture, and while in their ascended one, varying tones of gold and bright cyan. The Ravens' physical features are universal among the species; males and females are almost identical within their sexes. All Ravenrii possess blue eyes with swirling golden flecks and immensely tall, strong bodies, at places laced with large, spiked bone-like protrusions.

It has been proposed that the Ravenrii were underwater creatures in the most ancient time periods, but their oldest records describe an on-land civilization. The theory originated from the fact that the Ravenrii are reminiscent of terrestial water mammals and possess a variety of fins and muscles inside their skin, which give them a humanoid appearance. Male Ravenrii bodies tend to show said muscles more and have larger and more elaborate fins. Females, meanwhile, are more slender, though they both have the same inner biology. The species posseses large horns on their heads and/or arms, legs, back and neck, depending on their current form. These horns tend to get larger and more elaborate the higher the form they are in, and are made of an indestructible, light element, much like their innermost biology.

Civilizations
"They're not...they're not attacking! Why won't they kill us?"

"Oh, I expect they have bigger plans."

- Solya Athera and Unidentified Solarian

Throughout the Ages since their introduction into Reality, Ravenrii have erected many dimension-spanning civilizations to increase their involvement in the mortal world and as a show of their deeply ingrained appreciation for society and culture. Their culture is very ancient and revolves around the creation and founding of beauty and renewal, and so each of their civilizations has been considered very modern for their times.

Ancient Civilizations
The earliest civilization of the Obvia'Atra centered around a universe now believed to have been destroyed quadrillions of years ago, in a vastly different part of the omniverse. It can be assumed that this universe was located on the fringe of the realm of reality and on the "upper" side of it, as it is closer to the Ravens' native realm, Heaven. The Empire was known as the T'i'iirian Ge'zhium, or the Imperium of the White Hand. The Imperium lasted quadrillions of years, and was testament to the first Xhodocto-Ravenrii conflict, the age-spanning War of Beginnings.

Dozens of other civilizations followed, most prominently the Raev Imperium, a vast empire entrenched around the area that is now the First Gigaquadrant, around 15 billion standard years ago. The Raev civilization ended with the devastating Great War of Light (again against the Xhodocto), and a Ravenrii so-called "Queen sacrifice" over the skies of the Imperium's homeworld, Alva-Es'riia, as the Obvia'Atra destroyed the planet with a strong "light" hoping to trap the Xhodocto in. however, the plan failed, and the Xhodocto returned 13.8 billion years ago and were first encountered by the current mortal world. This conflict is known as the Failed Quest, as it is one of the "turns" that the Ravenrii lost in the Game of Existence and thus lost their ascension. The resurfacing of the Xhodocto eventually caused the return of the Ravenrii when they awoke after a millenia of sleep with most of their memories gone, in a new planet that is now Centrus and was once at the fringe of the Raev Imperium. With the return of the Ravenrii, a new civilization surged; their most recent one, known as the Federation of the Core Worlds.

Current Civilization
The Ravenrii's current society is a massive federation that serves as their method to carry out the orders of Kkia'Sihm. The Federation, known widely as the Federation of the Core Worlds, has a political system based on their modern federate monarchy-the Queen of the Federation, political and racial leader of her race, is chosen by the Federation's twenty-five Viceroys, each of which rules over one of the Federation's 25 States, and the High Viceroy, who rules the Federation's capital realm at Xanthrus Spiral. The Monarchy, meanwhile, is composed of Five Royal Houses that reside in planet Certion in the Ghelia System, neighboring the capital system of the CorFed.

The Ravenrii choose all of their leaders, except for the Queen, who is chosen by the Viceroys. They house vast political systems in order to keep the Federation afloat and expanding; their government, the Silver Ministry, is divided into the High and General Ministries. The High Ministry includes all of the Federation's highest political powers, and the general ministry is divided into 9 sub-ministries. (i.e. the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Ingress, etc.). All of these traits are the essence of the Federation, meant to mimic the mortal civilizations that the Ravenrii now deal with on a daily basis.