Ki, the Crystal Shield
My Name is Ki . I was born a very long time ago and I am a descendant of The goddess Errali . For that I was used until my body broke, but my spirit was strong. So they took my spirit and used it as a weapon of war. I helped defeat gods and dragons until even my spirit became tired. I am still tired, but I have one task left before I leave Vreathe forever!
Ki was born during the Season of Yanneth in the year 376kSA. She was born with something known as the God Trace, specifically from the goddess Errali. She was born at the worst possible time for a god-touched. This was during the time in the Silver Age when humans rebelled against the gods. The humans tore down all the gods' statues and refused to worship them. Anyone who was descended from a god was killed or thrown into a life of servitude.
Ki was excellent at Stone Shaping just like her ancestor goddess. From the moment she could speak, she was used to shape aethercite crystals into useable weapons, to fuel the Olimians' need for war against the gods. Ki was captive with other god-touched humans. The ones she grew closest to were A, Eli, and Izi. They were like sisters and they did everything they could to protect each other.
Originally they were captive to a woman named Lilu-Namtar. Ki was forced with her sisters to make Life Crystals. Ki would shape the crystals into a usable form while A, Eli, and Izi would charge the crystals with magic, slowly weakening them over time.
Later the four sisters were all sold to a man named Udug-Hul. Udug-Hul was a scientist and was always attempting to create the next great weapon to serve the Olimian King and defeat the gods once and for all. His favorite method of weapon creation was ripping the souls out of humans and forcing them into Aethercite crystals. These crystals were then fashioned into a variety of weapons.
Ki's stone shaping abilities were especially useful to Udug-Hul. Ki was forced to take part in the soul imprinting process. Her sisters consider her blameless in the matter, but Ki was forced to tear apart her sister's souls and place them in crystal shards, creating a powerful sword. After this, Ki's body was utterly spent. Udug-Hul rewarded Ki's efforts by putting her soul into a ruby crystal. This crystal turned into the sheath for the sword. Their minds were broken, but they were together.
Full name: Ki-Dari Antu
Race: Silver Human
Ethnicity: Altin
Age: 15 (at time of death)
Birthday: Season of Yanneth
Height: 4'10"
Gender: Female
Race: Silver Human
Ethnicity: Altin
Age: 15 (at time of death)
Birthday: Season of Yanneth
Height: 4'10"
Gender: Female
Children
Shattered Sisters
UdugHul used us to defeat Flora . They used us to defeat Vikuon. They used us to kill dragons like Loralkas.
My sister's minds break more with each use and are almost gone. My mind is slowly breaking.
IT'S TOO MUCH! Please stop!
My sister's minds break more with each use and are almost gone. My mind is slowly breaking.
IT'S TOO MUCH! Please stop!
In ancient times, the weapon was known as the Dingir-Gamarum, or the God-Ender. It was used to help defeat and seal many gods. When most of the gods were defeated, the weapon was then turned on the Dragon Lords. Though it grew increasingly less powerful with each use due to the breaking minds within, it was known as one of the greatest weapons of the age. Surviving scraps of Silver Age text tell of its many achievements.
When the wars were finally won, Udug-Hul took the Dingir-Gamarum back home with him. It was his precious sword. The nearly faded minds of the sisters took their vengeance on Udug Hul, haunting his dreams until he ended himself to make the voices go away.
After this, the sisters entered a long rest, for many thousands of years until some Iron Age adventurers found the sword in some desert ruins. The sisters were then reawakened. They didn't like being used, so they attacked the minds of any who used them. The sword was traded around for many years until it came into the possession of Raini Moontrace. She seemed to be unaffected by the sword's curse, and used it in a number of battles. She figured out most of the sword's abilities, even figuring out that the sheath can turn into a large crystal shield.
The sword then tried contacting Raini after attacking her failed. With the help of her friends, Raini managed to make contact with the broken minds within the weapon. Upon learning their story, Raini shattered the blade and the crystal shards containing the shattered minds of the sisters. A, Eli, and Izi were tired and finally rested. Ki's mind was still intact however, and she wanted to repay Raini for her kindness.
Ki's Shard
A few weeks later Raini found a chunk of ruby in her possession. She charged the crystal with mana in an attempt to contact the mind within, but it refused to answer her. Only darkness responded. Raini then slipped the crystal in her pocket and forgot about it for some time.
A few months later, Raini and her friends were attacked by Iruakin assassins. Raini was separated from the rest of the group and was disarmed. Before the assassin could strike a killing blow, Ki's Shard activated, turning into the large crystal shield from before. It floated in front of Raini and blocked every sword blow as if it still had a mind of its own, more than enough time for Raini to gather her thoughts and regain control of her weapons. Raini then went on the offensive while the crystal shield floated behind.
After the battle and the assassins were defeated, the shield turned back into a small ruby shard. Raini attempted to contact the mind in the crystal again. The shard finally answered Raini, revealing it was Ki. She allowed Raini to use her as a shield and offered to protect her on her journeys. From then on, Raini kept Ki close, depending on her for months after this. Raini would often charge the crystal to speak to Ki to see how she is doing.
" Xana promised that someone would save us one day, and someone finally did. You did!"
"Thank you for saving me and my sisters! You helped Izi , you helped A , you helped Eli, and you helped me, Ki , so I will help you. When you don't need me anymore, I will leave you. Until then, I will always protect you!"
Abilities
Ki's Shard will only function and turn on as long as she is charged with mana.Life Sense - Ki can sense all living things up to 50 meters away. This ability works through any material, even material that blocks the flow of magic. On sensing anything out of the ordinary, Ki will relay this information to Raini.
Communication - Raini is the only one Ki will speak to and this communication occurs mostly within Raini's mind. The two talk all the time about various things. Lately Ki's memories have been fading, so Raini has been attempting to remind her more about her past, at least what she knows.
Shield Transformation - In case of emergencies, Ki can transform into a full size and fully functional crystal shield. This shield can block almost any attack and has the ability to absorb energy from blocked hits, converting it into mana to keep powering Ki just a little longer. Ki will transform into a shield for Raini, though she has also done it for Chryssa and Saya in the past. The last member of Raini's group, Myles, Ki doesn't really like.
There is one unfortunate conequence to turning into a shield. Every time Ki does this, a little piece of her soul disappears and goes to the wellspring of souls, waiting for the rest of her soul to return someday. It isn't known how long she has left on Vreathe before she fully passes on, or how long her mind remains relatively intact, but she is determined to stay as long as she needs to.
Raini
"So...Ki. I only ever saw broken images and names of your sisters. Can you tell me about them?"
Ki
I don't remember."
"More of your mind is, er...Her name was Eli.
"Eli! She protected me, and then Udug-Hul...Udug-Hul made her the third success."
"Ki, I'm not sure if I can keep using you as a shield."
"It's okay! My soul isn't truly gone! It's just in the Wellspring of Souls! I'll return there completely someday!"
"But you're suffering! I can't keep using you..."
"This suffering won't last! I believe in your goal, to make all those with the Moon Trace free! Make all the God Touched free! I am not leaving you until that happens!"
I like this premise for the treasured companions competition, and the CSS is awesome! You've really gone to a lot of work to find and implement the cuniform names for this story too.
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