Overview
The Oracles of Eternity are an order from Zarephon, the city surrounding the River of Eternity and the source beneath the Plains of Eternity. They guard the source, keep its flow free, and oppose Rahmavir, Myrravel, Malverand, and rulers beyond Zarephon when those powers seek control over it. Abraxas, the Keeper of Prophecies, leads the order during the war over the source.
The Oracles are feared by their enemies as Abraxas's faction and the force behind the Dark Lord of the Plains. Their prophecies warn about a destroyer, Barachiel, Thalion, outsiders, and the Data-Scar. They guard the source against anyone who would seize control of it.
Prophecy and origin magic
Some Zarephon residents receive names and warnings through the source beneath the city's mountain. The guarded cave leads down to the lake where those messages enter the world. People who return from the lake can be shaken by names and warnings about Barachiel, Thalion, outsiders, and a destroyer.
The prophecies are damaged messages Thalena sends through the Zarephon breach from the Malverand Intergalactic Empire. Her recorded messages ask whoever receives them to send stranded outsiders home and warn of a destroyer moving toward Barachiel. On the Zarephon side, the messages arrive as repeated names, broken warnings, static, itching inside the head, and words forced into receivers' minds from childhood.
The warnings name Barachiel, Thalion, outsiders, and the Data-Scar. Sephara investigates whether Thalion is the destroyer in the warnings. Uriandel accepts the Oracle warning and fights beside Abraxas's cause. Thalion rejects the warnings as vague and self-fulfilling. After Rahmavir captures Zarephon, the remaining signal produces static and itching in former Oracles and later in Severin when he spends too long near the lakebed breach.
The lake also exposes origin-magic spellwork. Those who survive the descent can receive names and warnings, see spells, and perceive red origin-magic light. Origin magic and standard essence magic are incompatible for most practitioners because the powers clash inside the body. The Oracles require origin-magic users to abandon standard magic. Rare inherited cases can bypass the restriction. Aurelia breaks the rule and copies the Keeper of Prophecies' reversal spell.
Power and Relations
The Oracles defend Zarephon, the source cave, and the surrounding plains with unfamiliar magic. Their defenses cause disorientation, repeating terrain, rifts, powerful spellwork drawn from the source, and containment that can trap armies for centuries. Their command of the region makes direct attacks costly.
Myrravel once has friendly relations with the Oracles, and Rahmavir, Myrravel, and the Oracles attempt diplomacy before the open war over the source. After the Plains expand, Rahmavir attacks first to seize the source from the Oracles. Myrravel later joins Rahmavir's side of the war over the source. The Oracles guard the source against outside control.
History
During Eira's early visit to Zarephon, Moranna brings her before the Oracle elders. The settlement has trade, records, elders, civic life, and a smaller group of prophecy receivers who visit the cave beneath the mountain. As essence leaking from the source intensifies, the Oracles become a clearer faction, prophecies grow more disruptive, and the Plains of Eternity spread farther outward from Zarephon.
After Barachiel disappears and Malverand begins breaking apart, Abraxas leads the Oracles in the war over the source. Sephara is an Oracle envoy and brings the destroyer prophecy to Uriandel, who joins Abraxas's cause, and Aurelia's break from the order brings Myrravel's royal line and Abraxas's stolen spell into the war over the source. Rahmavir, Myrravel, forces from Ulzathir, and Malverand enter the struggle over the source.
The original Abraxas is absent when Rahmavir and Raphael's faction later capture Zarephon. The defenders fall, Rahmavir secures the city mostly intact, and former Oracles are integrated into Rahmavir's ranks. The occupiers study the murals, prophecies, source, and origin magic. By this point, Abraxas is both the original Keeper of Prophecies and a title with later successors. The original Abraxas has the highest reputation among the Keepers of Prophecies.
Members and Associates
- Abraxas: Keeper of Prophecies and source guardian.
- Sephara: Oracle member and envoy who speaks for the order's mission.
- Aurelia: Myrravel princess, former oracle, and copy-magic user who steals the Keeper of Prophecies' reversal spell.
- Moranna: Zarephon resident who brings Eira before the Oracle elders.
- Oracle elders: early Zarephon authorities who monitor outsiders and guard access to the cave.