Cassian

Cassian Ironvale is a level nine divine mage from Irrathis, a member of the Xalmyrran Council, and Xarion's advisor. Known as the Hero of the People and the Hammer of Justice, he heals people and defends settlements throughout Xalmyrra. He left Xalmyrra with Eira and later freed the Tenari from Xoh'Metztli's control. He now travels with Arinella and Kaelion in Xolterra.

Appearance

Cassian has golden hair and teal eyes. His hair was brown and his eyes were earthy when he was younger; both changed as his divine magic strengthened.

Personality

Cassian readily helps people he does not know. He healed injured villagers, drove away bandits without killing them, and treated people in Thalcoris despite the control over their minds. He dislikes taking lives and was troubled by killing Xoh'Metztli even though it freed the Tenari.

He repeatedly puts himself at risk to protect his companions. During the flight from Xalmyrra, he stayed behind to delay the pursuing mage so Eira and Lythariel could escape. He is reserved about his feelings and can appear distant to people he cares about. His friendship with Xarion lasted through his years of traveling alone.

Magic

Cassian became the youngest mage acknowledged at level nine in Xalmyrra. His reputation came from rescuing and healing people as well as his combat strength. He combines enchantments, healing, and layered divine shields to keep fighting after attacks that would otherwise disable him. He often fights with his fists, sending out a divine wave with a clap before advancing behind it.

He also uses resonance magic, strengthening his healing and his attacks at close range. His senses distinguish magical signatures over long distances and allow him to follow a person's remaining essence. He recognized the control over the Tenari's minds and traced Eira and Deylin through Erenmyr.

History

Childhood

Dorian and Rowenna raised Cassian in Irrathis and encouraged his magic from an early age. His healing developed quickly, and he advanced faster than the other children at the magic school.

Other children lured him into a room and locked him inside. Eira opened the door, and they became close friends throughout their schooling. She called him Lil Cas. Eira later left Irrathis, while Dorian and Rowenna urged Cassian to use his gifts to help people elsewhere.

Service in Xalmyrra

At seventeen, Cassian was awarded level seven by the council, with Aldar's support. By twenty he had reached level eight, and his hair and eyes began changing with the growth of his divine magic.

He met Xarion while defending Velundra in his early twenties. Xarion wanted him beside him when he became high arbiter, and Cassian later served as his advisor. He traveled to treat people in damaged villages and drive off bandits. The council acknowledged him at level nine, and he became known as the Hero of the People and the Hammer of Justice.

In the Irrathis tournament, he defeated Durvek and Kaelric before losing to Deylin. Cassian also worked with the healers maintaining the arena's barriers and intervened with Ilyra when Eira's duel with Astheron became dangerous.

During the cataclysm that struck Irrathis, he drew essence into a barrier over much of the city. Xarion supplied cores while Cassian sustained the shield against the falling darkness. Afterward, he joined the council's discussions about Aurion's orrery and the deaths across Xalmyrra.

Cassian accompanied Eira and Xarion to the Soltheris border as its armies prepared for war. When Eira released the shard's power, he shielded Xarion and helped keep their companions alive. He followed Deylin's trace into Erenmyr and found Eira with Lythariel and Kaelion. He opposed treating her as a key to solving the darkness and chose to accompany her out of Xalmyrra.

When a mage pursued them through the Land of Darkness, Cassian stayed behind to delay him. Draven threw Cassian back to Eira and Lythariel and took over the fight. Cassian formed a shield boat for their escape to the island gate. At the golden mage's request, he channeled essence into the gate and helped the group reach Xolterra.

Freeing the Tenari

In Thalcoris, Cassian trained and fought with the local mages and helped heal people returning from the war. He recognized magic in their minds that resisted his healing. The songs spreading through the nation also troubled him, and he kept his own mind shielded while investigating Aurivallis.

He met Arinella, a priestess under Xoh'Metztli's control. Xoh'Metztli spoke through Meliora and ordered Cassian to send his friends away and return to her. Meliora reached him separately in a dream and asked him to kill the goddess. After Cassian broke the control over himself and Arinella, he retrieved the Wanderer's Book from the library in Aurivallis.

He went alone to Xoh'Metztli's temple. When Xoh'Metztli released her shields, he drove divine spikes through Meliora's body and held the shard while destroying Xoh'Metztli's essence. Meliora died with the goddess. It was the first time Cassian had killed anyone, and he struggled with the act despite the Tenari's freedom. Arinella stayed with him after her mind was freed.

He later left Thalcoris with Arinella and Kaelion to find Eira and Lythariel. They traveled on Splin and followed Eira's trail toward a jungle gate.

Relationships

• Xarion: His best friend and commander. They met while defending Velundra. Xarion trusted his advice, supported his rescue work, and provided cores while Cassian shielded Irrathis during the cataclysm.
• Eira: His close friend from the Irrathis Magic School. She freed him from the room where other children had trapped him. They later reunited, and Cassian protected her during the fighting and accompanied her out of Xalmyrra.
• Dorian and Rowenna: The parents who raised him in Irrathis and urged him to use his magic to help people beyond the city.
• Arinella: His girlfriend, a Tenari priestess whom he freed from Xoh'Metztli's control. She stayed with him afterward and left Thalcoris with him.
• Lythariel and Kaelion: His companions during the journey with Eira. He healed and protected them. Kaelion later left Thalcoris with Cassian and Arinella to find Eira and Lythariel.

Cassian Ironvale is a level nine divine and resonance mage from Irrathis, known as the Hero of the People, the Hammer of Justice, and the Godslayer. He served as Xarion's advisor before leaving Xalmyrra with Eira. After freeing the Tenari from Xoh'Metztli, he went to Chronasis, where he lives with Arinella and Thalena and helps open the gates beneath Stella Aeterna.

Appearance

Cassian has golden hair and teal eyes. His hair was brown and his eyes were earthy when he was younger; both changed as his divine magic strengthened.

Personality

Cassian readily helps people he does not know. He healed injured villagers, drove away bandits without killing them, and treated people in Thalcoris despite the control over their minds. He dislikes taking lives and was troubled by killing Xoh'Metztli even though it freed the Tenari.

He repeatedly puts himself at risk to protect his companions. During the flight from Xalmyrra, he stayed behind to delay the pursuing mage so Eira and Lythariel could escape. He is reserved about his feelings and can appear distant to people he cares about. His friendship with Xarion lasted through his years of traveling alone.

He finds it difficult to rest while Eira is missing. He spends much of his time with Cyrena trying to open the gate and trains with Thalena despite the strain of her lessons. Her public teasing embarrasses him, but he trusts her help and loves both her and Arinella.

Magic

Cassian became the youngest mage acknowledged at level nine in Xalmyrra. His reputation came from rescuing and healing people as well as his combat strength. He combines enchantments, healing, and layered divine shields to keep fighting after attacks that would otherwise disable him. He often fights with his fists, sending out a divine wave with a clap before advancing behind it.

He also uses resonance magic, strengthening his healing and his attacks at close range. His senses distinguish magical signatures over long distances and allow him to follow a person's remaining essence. He recognized the control over the Tenari's minds and traced Eira and Deylin through Erenmyr.

He shapes divine shields for uses beyond combat, forming a boat for his companions and soft structures for Thalia to play on. He can unmake divine essence, preventing a god from escaping through its shard. Thalena strengthened his senses through close examination of her essence, and he used Pyrathalor's captured power with her help to open the Chronasis gate.

History

Childhood

Dorian and Rowenna raised Cassian in Irrathis and encouraged his magic from an early age. His healing developed quickly, and he advanced faster than the other children at the magic school.

Other children lured him into a room and locked him inside. Eira opened the door, and they became close friends throughout their schooling. She called him Lil Cas. Eira later left Irrathis, while Dorian and Rowenna urged Cassian to use his gifts to help people elsewhere.

Service in Xalmyrra

At seventeen, Cassian was awarded level seven by the council, with Aldar's support. By twenty he had reached level eight, and his hair and eyes began changing with the growth of his divine magic.

He met Xarion while defending Velundra in his early twenties. Xarion wanted him beside him when he became high arbiter, and Cassian later served as his advisor. They remained close despite Cassian's frequent journeys away from Irrathis. He treated people in damaged villages and drove off bandits. The council acknowledged him at level nine, and he became known as the Hero of the People and the Hammer of Justice.

In the Irrathis tournament, he defeated Durvek and Kaelric before losing to Deylin. Deylin's blinks and explosions exhausted his cores and broke through his defenses. Cassian also worked with the healers maintaining the arena's barriers and intervened with Ilyra when Eira's duel with Astheron became dangerous.

During the cataclysm that struck Irrathis, he drew essence into a barrier over much of the city. Xarion supplied cores while Cassian sustained the shield against the falling darkness. Afterward, he joined the council's discussions about Aurion's orrery and the deaths across Xalmyrra.

Cassian accompanied Eira and Xarion to the Soltheris border as its armies prepared for war. When Eira released the shard's power, he shielded Xarion and helped keep their companions alive. He followed Deylin's trace into Erenmyr and found Eira with Lythariel and Kaelion. He opposed treating her as a key to solving the darkness and chose to accompany her out of Xalmyrra.

When a mage pursued them through the Land of Darkness, Cassian stayed behind to delay him. Draven threw Cassian back to Eira and Lythariel and took over the fight. Cassian formed a shield boat for their escape to the island gate. At the golden mage's request, he channeled essence into the gate and helped the group reach Xolterra.

Freeing the Tenari

In Thalcoris, Cassian trained and fought with the local mages and helped heal people returning from the war. He recognized magic in their minds that resisted his healing. The songs spreading through the nation also troubled him, and he kept his own mind shielded while investigating Aurivallis.

He met Arinella, a priestess under Xoh'Metztli's control. Xoh'Metztli spoke through Meliora and ordered Cassian to send his friends away and return to her. Meliora reached him separately in a dream and asked him to kill the goddess. After Cassian broke the control over himself and Arinella, he retrieved the Wanderer's Book from the library in Aurivallis.

He went alone to Xoh'Metztli's temple. When Xoh'Metztli released her shields, he drove divine spikes through Meliora's body and held the shard while destroying Xoh'Metztli's essence. Meliora died with the goddess. It was the first time Cassian had killed anyone, and he struggled with the act despite the Tenari's freedom. Arinella stayed with him after her mind was freed.

He later left Thalcoris with Arinella and Kaelion to find Eira and Lythariel. They traveled on Splin and followed Eira's trail toward a jungle gate, where Thalena met them.

Thalena and the gates

Thalena brought the group to Chronasis and offered help finding Eira. Cassian worked with Cyrena on the gate beneath Stella Aeterna, but initially could light only two of its symbols. Thalena confirmed that he had destroyed Xoh'Metztli's essence and began teaching him to sense more deeply.

Their lessons required him to examine and draw on her essence at close range. He also joined the exhausting combat practice she gave Kaelion, strengthening his shields and enchantments against her attacks. His efforts gradually lit more of the gate's symbols. He agreed to help Thalena reach the gods and oppose those who controlled the world, though he still questioned her plans and the secrets she kept.

Pyrathalor later struck him with the divine glaive. Arinella and the other healers kept him alive while Thalena captured the god's essence. Cassian recovered and became Thalena's lover without leaving Arinella. The two women accepted their shared relationship.

With Thalena sustaining him, he used Pyrathalor's captured essence to light the remaining gate symbols. The gate opened, and Deylin emerged from the void. This restored a connection with Xalmyrra and gave the researchers a way to continue their work on travel between gates.

Relationships

• Thalena: His lover and teacher in Chronasis. She helped him strengthen his senses and open the gate. He agreed to help her reach the God Realm and fight the gods who oppressed others.
• Arinella: His lover, whom he freed from Xoh'Metztli. She helped save him after Pyrathalor's attack and accepted his relationship with Thalena without leaving him.
• Xarion: His best friend and commander, whose service he left while accompanying Eira. He misses Xarion and hopes to restore contact through the gate.
• Eira: His childhood friend. Her disappearance brought him to Chronasis, where he continues trying to find her through the gate.
• Dorian and Rowenna: The parents who raised him in Irrathis and encouraged him to use his magic beyond the city.
• Kaelion: His friend and companion in the search for Eira. They train in Chronasis and share the effort to find her.
• Cyrena: The researcher working with him to open the gate beneath Stella Aeterna.

Cassian Ironvale is the archon of Chronasis in Thalassai and the son of Hrzai and Orin. He is a level nine divine and resonance mage who can destroy divine essence. Raised in Irrathis by Dorian and Rowenna, he served as Xarion's advisor before leaving Xalmyrra. He succeeded Thalena after the attack on Thalassai and remained archon when she returned.

Appearance

Cassian has golden hair and teal eyes. His hair was brown and his eyes were earthy when he was younger; both changed as his divine magic strengthened.

Personality

Cassian readily helps people he does not know and dislikes taking lives. Killing Xoh'Metztli troubled him even though it freed the Tenari. He heals injured strangers and protects people caught in the fighting.

He takes responsibility for protecting his companions and finds it difficult to rest while they are missing or in danger. He spent his early time in Chronasis trying to reopen the gate to find Eira, and he continued leading the city after Thalena disappeared. He seeks advice from its officials and other archons, delegates work to people with the relevant skills, and still joins the fighting himself when Thalassai is attacked.

Cassian is reserved about his feelings and easily embarrassed by public teasing, especially from Thalena, Xarion, and Nethira. His relationships changed his earlier habit of traveling alone. He regards Xarion as a father as well as his best friend.

Magic

Cassian became the youngest mage acknowledged at level nine in Xalmyrra. His reputation came from rescuing and healing people as well as his combat strength. He combines enchantments, healing, and layered divine shields to keep fighting after attacks that would otherwise disable him. He often fights with his fists, sending out a divine wave with a clap before advancing behind it.

He also uses resonance magic, strengthening his healing and his attacks at close range. His senses distinguish magical signatures over long distances and allow him to follow a person's remaining essence. He recognized the control over the Tenari's minds and traced Eira and Deylin through Erenmyr.

He shapes divine shields for uses beyond combat, forming a boat for his companions and soft structures for Thalia to play on. He can unmake divine essence, preventing a god from escaping through its shard. Thalena strengthened his senses through close examination of her essence, and he used Pyrathalor's captured power with her help to open the Chronasis gate.

His aptitude for opening gates and destroying divine essence came from Hrzai, while his exceptional senses came from Orin. He used Pyrathalor's essence to destroy Ozaith during the attack on Chronasis.

History

Birth and childhood

Cassian was born to Hrzai and Orin in Valcirae. Thalena found him as a child in Valcirae and persuaded his parents to send him to Irrathis. She needed him for the events that would eventually end Xalmyrra's cycles.

Orin posted a quest for the Adventurers' Guild, while Thalena sent Cassian across the water in a small boat. Aldar received him and placed him with Dorian and Rowenna, who adopted him. They raised him in Irrathis and encouraged his magic from an early age. His healing developed quickly, and he advanced faster than the other children at the magic school.

That difference left him isolated. Other children lured him into a room and locked him inside. Eira opened the door, and the two became close friends, spending their school years together. She called him Lil Cas. After their schooling, Eira left Irrathis, while Dorian and Rowenna urged him to use his gifts to help people elsewhere.

Service in Xalmyrra

At seventeen, Cassian was awarded level seven by the council, with Aldar's support. By twenty he had reached level eight, and his hair and eyes began changing with the growth of his divine magic.

He met Xarion while defending Velundra in his early twenties. Xarion wanted him beside him when he became high arbiter, and Cassian later served as his advisor. They remained close despite Cassian's frequent journeys away from Irrathis. He treated people in damaged villages and drove off bandits. The council acknowledged him at level nine, and he became known as the Hero of the People and the Hammer of Justice.

In the Irrathis tournament, he defeated Durvek and Kaelric before losing to Deylin. Deylin's blinks and explosions exhausted his cores and broke through his defenses. Cassian also worked with the healers maintaining the arena's barriers and intervened with Ilyra when Eira's duel with Astheron became dangerous.

During the cataclysm that struck Irrathis, he drew essence into a barrier over much of the city. Xarion supplied cores while Cassian sustained the shield against the falling darkness. Afterward, he joined the council's discussions about Aurion's orrery and the deaths across Xalmyrra.

Cassian accompanied Eira and Xarion to the Soltheris border as its armies prepared for war. When Eira released the shard's power, he shielded Xarion and helped keep their companions alive. He followed Deylin's trace into Erenmyr and found Eira with Lythariel and Kaelion. He opposed treating her as a key to solving the darkness and chose to accompany her out of Xalmyrra.

When a mage pursued them through the Land of Darkness, Cassian stayed behind to delay him. Draven threw Cassian back to Eira and Lythariel and took over the fight. Cassian formed a shield boat for their escape to the island gate. At the golden mage's request, he channeled essence into the gate and helped the group reach Xolterra.

Freeing the Tenari

In Thalcoris, Cassian trained and fought with the local mages and helped heal people returning from the war. He recognized magic in their minds that resisted his healing. The songs spreading through the nation also troubled him, and he kept his own mind shielded while investigating Aurivallis.

He met Arinella, a priestess under Xoh'Metztli's control. Xoh'Metztli spoke through Meliora and ordered Cassian to send his friends away and return to her. Meliora reached him separately in a dream and asked him to kill the goddess. After Cassian broke the control over himself and Arinella, he retrieved the Wanderer's Book from the library in Aurivallis.

He went alone to Xoh'Metztli's temple. When Xoh'Metztli released her shields, he drove divine spikes through Meliora's body and held the shard while destroying Xoh'Metztli's essence. Meliora died with the goddess. It was the first time Cassian had killed anyone, and he struggled with the act despite the Tenari's freedom. Arinella stayed with him after her mind was freed.

He later left Thalcoris with Arinella and Kaelion to find Eira and Lythariel. They traveled on Splin and followed Eira's trail toward a jungle gate, where Thalena met them.

Thalena and the gates

Thalena brought the group to Chronasis and offered help finding Eira. Cassian worked with Cyrena on the gate beneath Stella Aeterna, but initially could light only two of its symbols. Thalena confirmed that he had destroyed Xoh'Metztli's essence and began teaching him to sense more deeply.

Their lessons required him to examine and draw on her essence at close range. He also joined the exhausting combat practice she gave Kaelion, strengthening his shields and enchantments against her attacks. His efforts gradually lit more of the gate's symbols. He agreed to help Thalena reach the gods and oppose those who controlled the world, though he still questioned her plans and the secrets she kept.

Pyrathalor later struck him with the divine glaive. Arinella and the other healers kept him alive while Thalena captured the god's essence. Cassian recovered and became Thalena's lover without leaving Arinella. The two women accepted their shared relationship.

With Thalena sustaining him, he used Pyrathalor's captured essence to light the remaining gate symbols. The gate opened, and Deylin emerged from the void. This restored a connection with Xalmyrra and gave the researchers a way to continue their work on travel between gates.

The attack on Thalassai

As Thalassai prepared for an invasion, Cassian trained with Aelius and learned more about its defenses and legions. The god ruling Ulzathir as Ozaith eventually attacked Chronasis himself. Silas brought Cassian to Thalena as the celestial god approached her.

Hrzai pinned the god with a golden sword and ordered Cassian to act. Drawing on Pyrathalor's captured essence, he wrapped the god in golden strands and crushed his being, unmaking him. Hrzai then embraced Cassian and called him her son.

Thalena used the power remaining in the necklace Cassian wore to stop the asteroid descending on Chronasis. Cassian and Jin caught her before she struck the ground. She vanished from his arms after asking Arinella to care for him. He wanted to follow her, but Arinella's plea kept him with the people who still needed him.

The other archons nominated Cassian as Thalena's successor. Imperators, legati, chronarcs, and regional leaders agreed, and he became the archon of time. He accepted responsibility for rebuilding Thalassai, welcomed Thalcoris and Tazarin into its government, and ordered contact with Xalmyrra after news that the storms and cycles had ended.

Thalena later returned after centuries in Xalmyrra's past, while only days had passed in Chronasis. Cassian remained archon with her approval. Calythos helped him learn the city's agriculture, Arinella and Nethira assisted its administration, and he assigned legions to begin the rail project after the repairs.

Relationships

• Thalena: His lover and teacher. She helped him open the gates, and he helped her defeat Ozaith. He remained archon after her return, with her support.
• Arinella: His lover, whom he freed from Xoh'Metztli's control. She helped save him after Pyrathalor's attack and supported him after Thalena disappeared. Neither woman required him to leave the other.
• Xarion: His best friend and former commander. Xarion trusted his advice and supported his rescue work. Cassian arranged contact with Xalmyrra after becoming archon.
• Eira: His close friend from the Irrathis Magic School. She released him from the room where other children had trapped him. He protected her during their travels and searched for her after they were separated.
• Dorian and Rowenna: His adoptive parents, who raised him in Irrathis and encouraged him to help people elsewhere.
• Hrzai and Orin: His biological parents. Hrzai supplied his divine gifts and helped him defeat Ozaith, then acknowledged him as her son.
• Nethira: His colleague in Chronasis, who helps him learn its administration and organize the city's work.
• Jin Leiyun: A friend and ally who saved him during the flight from Xalmyrra. They trained in Chronasis and caught Thalena together after she stopped the descending asteroid.

Cassian Ironvale is the archon of Chronasis in Thalassai and the son of Hrzai and Orin. He is a level nine divine and resonance mage who can destroy divine essence. Raised in Irrathis by Dorian and Rowenna, he served as Xarion's advisor before leaving Xalmyrra. He lives in Stella Aeterna with Thalena and Arinella and directs the city's reconstruction, trade, and searches for the companions taken by the timerift.

Appearance

Cassian has golden hair and teal eyes. His hair was brown and his eyes were earthy when he was younger; both changed as his divine magic strengthened. His archon robes are navy with silver decoration.

Personality

Cassian readily helps people he does not know and dislikes taking lives. Killing Xoh'Metztli troubled him even though it freed the Tenari. He heals injured strangers and protects people caught in the fighting.

He takes responsibility for protecting his companions and finds it difficult to rest while they are missing or in danger. He spent his early time in Chronasis trying to reopen the gate to find Eira, and he continued leading the city after Thalena disappeared. He seeks advice from its officials and other archons, delegates work to people with the relevant skills, and still joins the fighting himself when Thalassai is attacked.

Cassian is reserved about his feelings and easily embarrassed by public teasing, especially from Thalena, Xarion, and Nethira. His relationships changed his earlier habit of traveling alone. He regards Xarion as a father as well as his best friend.

Magic

Cassian became the youngest mage acknowledged at level nine in Xalmyrra. His reputation came from rescuing and healing people as well as his combat strength. He combines enchantments, healing, and layered divine shields to keep fighting after attacks that would otherwise disable him. He often fights with his fists, sending out a divine wave with a clap before advancing behind it.

He also uses resonance magic, strengthening his healing and his attacks at close range. His senses distinguish magical signatures over long distances and allow him to follow a person's remaining essence. He recognized the control over the Tenari's minds and traced Eira and Deylin through Erenmyr.

He shapes divine shields for uses beyond combat, forming a boat for his companions and soft structures for Thalia to play on. He can unmake divine essence, preventing a god from escaping through its shard. Thalena strengthened his senses through close examination of her essence, and he used Pyrathalor's captured power with her help to open the Chronasis gate.

His aptitude for opening gates and destroying divine essence came from Hrzai, while his exceptional senses came from Orin. He used Pyrathalor's essence to destroy Ozaith during the attack on Chronasis.

He found a hidden chamber in Stella Aeterna by recognizing an area without essence behind a wall.

History

Birth and childhood

Cassian was born to Hrzai and Orin in Valcirae. Thalena found him as a child in Valcirae and persuaded his parents to send him to Irrathis. She needed him for the events that would eventually end Xalmyrra's cycles.

Orin posted a quest for the Adventurers' Guild, while Thalena sent Cassian across the water in a small boat. Aldar received him and placed him with Dorian and Rowenna, who adopted him. They raised him in Irrathis and encouraged his magic from an early age. His healing developed quickly, and he advanced faster than the other children at the magic school.

That difference left him isolated. Other children lured him into a room and locked him inside. Eira opened the door, and the two became close friends, spending their school years together. She called him Lil Cas. After their schooling, Eira left Irrathis, while Dorian and Rowenna urged him to use his gifts to help people elsewhere.

Service in Xalmyrra

At seventeen, Cassian was awarded level seven by the council, with Aldar's support. By twenty he had reached level eight, and his hair and eyes began changing with the growth of his divine magic.

He met Xarion while defending Velundra in his early twenties. Xarion wanted him beside him when he became high arbiter, and Cassian later served as his advisor. They remained close despite Cassian's frequent journeys away from Irrathis. He treated people in damaged villages and drove off bandits. The council acknowledged him at level nine, and he became known as the Hero of the People and the Hammer of Justice.

In the Irrathis tournament, he defeated Durvek and Kaelric before losing to Deylin. Deylin's blinks and explosions exhausted his cores and broke through his defenses. Cassian also worked with the healers maintaining the arena's barriers and intervened with Ilyra when Eira's duel with Astheron became dangerous.

During the cataclysm that struck Irrathis, he drew essence into a barrier over much of the city. Xarion supplied cores while Cassian sustained the shield against the falling darkness. Afterward, he joined the council's discussions about Aurion's orrery and the deaths across Xalmyrra.

Cassian accompanied Eira and Xarion to the Soltheris border as its armies prepared for war. When Eira released the shard's power, he shielded Xarion and helped keep their companions alive. He followed Deylin's trace into Erenmyr and found Eira with Lythariel and Kaelion. He opposed treating her as a key to solving the darkness and chose to accompany her out of Xalmyrra.

When a mage pursued them through the Land of Darkness, Cassian stayed behind to delay him. Draven threw Cassian back to Eira and Lythariel and took over the fight. Cassian formed a shield boat for their escape to the island gate. At the golden mage's request, he channeled essence into the gate and helped the group reach Xolterra.

Freeing the Tenari

In Thalcoris, Cassian trained and fought with the local mages and helped heal people returning from the war. He recognized magic in their minds that resisted his healing. The songs spreading through the nation also troubled him, and he kept his own mind shielded while investigating Aurivallis.

He met Arinella, a priestess under Xoh'Metztli's control. Xoh'Metztli spoke through Meliora and ordered Cassian to send his friends away and return to her. Meliora reached him separately in a dream and asked him to kill the goddess. After Cassian broke the control over himself and Arinella, he retrieved the Wanderer's Book from the library in Aurivallis.

He went alone to Xoh'Metztli's temple. When Xoh'Metztli released her shields, he drove divine spikes through Meliora's body and held the shard while destroying Xoh'Metztli's essence. Meliora died with the goddess. It was the first time Cassian had killed anyone, and he struggled with the act despite the Tenari's freedom. Arinella stayed with him after her mind was freed.

He later left Thalcoris with Arinella and Kaelion to find Eira and Lythariel. They traveled on Splin and followed Eira's trail toward a jungle gate, where Thalena met them.

Thalena and the gates

Thalena brought the group to Chronasis and offered help finding Eira. Cassian worked with Cyrena on the gate beneath Stella Aeterna, but initially could light only two of its symbols. Thalena confirmed that he had destroyed Xoh'Metztli's essence and began teaching him to sense more deeply.

Their lessons required him to examine and draw on her essence at close range. He also joined the exhausting combat practice she gave Kaelion, strengthening his shields and enchantments against her attacks. His efforts gradually lit more of the gate's symbols. He agreed to help Thalena reach the gods and oppose those who controlled the world, though he still questioned her plans and the secrets she kept.

Pyrathalor later struck him with the divine glaive. Arinella and the other healers kept him alive while Thalena captured the god's essence. Cassian recovered and became Thalena's lover without leaving Arinella. The two women accepted their shared relationship.

With Thalena sustaining him, he used Pyrathalor's captured essence to light the remaining gate symbols. The gate opened, and Deylin emerged from the void. This restored a connection with Xalmyrra and gave the researchers a way to continue their work on travel between gates.

The attack on Thalassai

As Thalassai prepared for an invasion, Cassian trained with Aelius and learned more about its defenses and legions. The god ruling Ulzathir as Ozaith eventually attacked Chronasis himself. Silas brought Cassian to Thalena as the celestial god approached her.

Hrzai pinned the god with a golden sword and ordered Cassian to act. Drawing on Pyrathalor's captured essence, he wrapped the god in golden strands and crushed his being, unmaking him. Hrzai then embraced Cassian and called him her son.

Thalena used the power remaining in the necklace Cassian wore to stop the asteroid descending on Chronasis. Cassian and Jin caught her before she struck the ground. She vanished from his arms after asking Arinella to care for him. He wanted to follow her, but Arinella's plea kept him with the people who still needed him.

The other archons nominated Cassian as Thalena's successor. Imperators, legati, chronarcs, and regional leaders agreed, and he became the archon of time. He accepted responsibility for rebuilding Thalassai, welcomed Thalcoris and Tazarin into its government, and ordered contact with Xalmyrra after news that the storms and cycles had ended.

Thalena later returned after centuries in Xalmyrra's past, while only days had passed in Chronasis. Cassian remained archon with her approval. Calythos helped him learn the city's agriculture, Arinella and Nethira assisted its administration, and he assigned legions to begin the rail project after the repairs.

Chronasis and the missing companions

Cassian arranged trade and travel with Xalmyrra, assigning Nethira and Astryx to work on the routes and sending windweavers to chart eastern Valrindor. He welcomed Dorian, Rowenna, Xarion, and Orin to Chronasis. Orin identified himself as Cassian's father, and Cassian recognized the similarity in their magic.

At the feast in Stella Aeterna, he appointed Deylin and Ilyra as chronarcs. A timerift then took Dorian, Rowenna, Xarion, Thea, Zayren, and Aelius. Cassian healed Jin's damaged arm, sent the archons to check their regions, and ordered repairs and an examination of the city. He sent Orin and Jareth to Irrathis and continued searching for the missing people.

During that search, he established that his father was the Orin who had founded Thalassai and later lost his memories after entering the storms. In the palace records, he found a chamber concealing The Legacy of Thalion Zenith. Thalena stopped him from reading further, but told him that she had been Helena and that Thalion was Xarion. Cassian accepted her history and their relationship despite his grief at the separation from his friend.

Relationships

• Thalena: His lover and teacher. She helped him open the gates, and he helped her defeat Ozaith. He remained archon after her return, with her support. She told him of her earlier life as Helena and her history with Xarion, which he accepted.
• Arinella: His lover, whom he freed from Xoh'Metztli's control. She helped save him after Pyrathalor's attack and supported him after Thalena disappeared. Neither woman required him to leave the other.
• Xarion: His best friend and former commander. Xarion trusted his advice and supported his rescue work. Cassian arranged contact with Xalmyrra after becoming archon. The timerift separated them soon after their reunion in Chronasis.
• Eira: His close friend from the Irrathis Magic School. She released him from the room where other children had trapped him. He protected her during their travels and searched for her after they were separated.
• Dorian and Rowenna: His adoptive parents, who raised him in Irrathis and encouraged him to help people elsewhere. He welcomed them to Chronasis before the timerift took them.
• Hrzai and Orin: His biological parents. Hrzai supplied his divine gifts and helped him defeat Ozaith, then acknowledged him as her son. Orin identified himself during the visit to Chronasis, where Cassian recognized the similarity in their magic.
• Nethira: His colleague in Chronasis, who helps him learn its administration and organize the city's work.
• Jin Leiyun: A friend and ally who saved him during the flight from Xalmyrra. They trained in Chronasis and caught Thalena together after she stopped the descending asteroid.

Cassian Ironvale is the archon of Chronasis in Thalassai and the son of Hrzai and Orin. He is a level nine divine and resonance mage whose gifts include destroying divine essence and opening gates. Raised in Irrathis by Dorian and Rowenna, he served as Xarion's advisor before leaving Xalmyrra. He lives in Stella Aeterna with Arinella and leads Thalassai's preparations against Ulzathir while searching for the missing Thalena.

Appearance

Cassian has golden hair and teal eyes. His hair was brown and his eyes were earthy when he was younger; both changed as his divine magic strengthened. His archon robes are navy with silver decoration.

Personality

Cassian readily helps people he does not know and dislikes taking lives. Killing Xoh'Metztli troubled him even though it freed the Tenari. He heals injured strangers and protects people caught in the fighting.

He takes responsibility for protecting his companions and finds it difficult to rest while they are missing or in danger. He spent his early time in Chronasis trying to reopen the gate to find Eira, and he continued leading the city after Thalena disappeared. He seeks advice from its officials and other archons, delegates work to people with the relevant skills, and still joins the fighting himself when Thalassai is attacked.

Cassian is reserved about his feelings and easily embarrassed by public teasing, especially from Thalena, Xarion, and Nethira. His relationships changed his earlier habit of traveling alone. He regards Xarion as a father as well as his best friend.

Magic

Cassian became the youngest mage acknowledged at level nine in Xalmyrra. His reputation came from rescuing and healing people as well as his combat strength. He combines enchantments, healing, and layered divine shields to keep fighting after attacks that would otherwise disable him. He often fights with his fists, sending out a divine wave with a clap before advancing behind it.

He also uses resonance magic, strengthening his healing and his attacks at close range. His senses distinguish magical signatures over long distances and allow him to follow a person's remaining essence. He recognized the control over the Tenari's minds and traced Eira and Deylin through Erenmyr.

He shapes divine shields for uses beyond combat, forming a boat for his companions and soft structures for Thalia to play on. He can unmake divine essence, preventing a god from escaping through its shard. Thalena strengthened his senses through close examination of her essence, and he used Pyrathalor's captured power with her help to open the Chronasis gate.

His aptitude for opening gates and destroying divine essence came from Hrzai, while his exceptional senses came from Orin. He used Pyrathalor's essence to destroy Ozaith during the attack on Chronasis.

He found a hidden chamber in Stella Aeterna by recognizing an area without essence behind a wall.

History

Birth and childhood

Hrzai mirrored Orin's being to have a child with him. Orin was a wisp who had taken human form, and Cassian inherited a body that resembled a human's without being fully human. Thalena found him as a child in Valcirae and persuaded his parents to send him to Irrathis. She needed him for the events that would eventually end Xalmyrra's cycles.

Orin posted a quest for the Adventurers' Guild, while Thalena sent Cassian across the water in a small boat. Aldar received him and placed him with Dorian and Rowenna, who adopted him. They raised him in Irrathis and encouraged his magic from an early age. His healing developed quickly, and he advanced faster than the other children at the magic school.

That difference left him isolated. Other children lured him into a room and locked him inside. Eira opened the door, and the two became close friends, spending their school years together. She called him Lil Cas. After their schooling, Eira left Irrathis, while Dorian and Rowenna urged him to use his gifts to help people elsewhere.

Service in Xalmyrra

At seventeen, Cassian was awarded level seven by the council, with Aldar's support. By twenty he had reached level eight, and his hair and eyes began changing with the growth of his divine magic.

He met Xarion while defending Velundra in his early twenties. Xarion wanted him beside him when he became high arbiter, and Cassian later served as his advisor. They remained close despite Cassian's frequent journeys away from Irrathis. He treated people in damaged villages and drove off bandits. The council acknowledged him at level nine, and he became known as the Hero of the People and the Hammer of Justice.

In the Irrathis tournament, he defeated Durvek and Kaelric before losing to Deylin. Deylin's blinks and explosions exhausted his cores and broke through his defenses. Cassian also worked with the healers maintaining the arena's barriers and intervened with Ilyra when Eira's duel with Astheron became dangerous.

During the cataclysm that struck Irrathis, he drew essence into a barrier over much of the city. Xarion supplied cores while Cassian sustained the shield against the falling darkness. Afterward, he joined the council's discussions about Aurion's orrery and the deaths across Xalmyrra.

Cassian accompanied Eira and Xarion to the Soltheris border as its armies prepared for war. When Eira released the shard's power, he shielded Xarion and helped keep their companions alive. He followed Deylin's trace into Erenmyr and found Eira with Lythariel and Kaelion. He opposed treating her as a key to solving the darkness and chose to accompany her out of Xalmyrra.

When a mage pursued them through the Land of Darkness, Cassian stayed behind to delay him. Draven threw Cassian back to Eira and Lythariel and took over the fight. Cassian formed a shield boat for their escape to the island gate. At the golden mage's request, he channeled essence into the gate and helped the group reach Xolterra.

Freeing the Tenari

In Thalcoris, Cassian trained and fought with the local mages and helped heal people returning from the war. He recognized magic in their minds that resisted his healing. The songs spreading through the nation also troubled him, and he kept his own mind shielded while investigating Aurivallis.

He met Arinella, a priestess under Xoh'Metztli's control. Xoh'Metztli spoke through Meliora and ordered Cassian to send his friends away and return to her. Meliora reached him separately in a dream and asked him to kill the goddess. After Cassian broke the control over himself and Arinella, he retrieved the Wanderer's Book from the library in Aurivallis.

He went alone to Xoh'Metztli's temple. When Xoh'Metztli released her shields, he drove divine spikes through Meliora's body and held the shard while destroying Xoh'Metztli's essence. Meliora died with the goddess. It was the first time Cassian had killed anyone, and he struggled with the act despite the Tenari's freedom. Arinella stayed with him after her mind was freed.

He later left Thalcoris with Arinella and Kaelion to find Eira and Lythariel. They traveled on Splin and followed Eira's trail toward a jungle gate, where Thalena met them.

Thalena and the gates

Thalena brought the group to Chronasis and offered help finding Eira. Cassian worked with Cyrena on the gate beneath Stella Aeterna, but initially could light only two of its symbols. Thalena confirmed that he had destroyed Xoh'Metztli's essence and began teaching him to sense more deeply.

Their lessons required him to examine and draw on her essence at close range. He also joined the exhausting combat practice she gave Kaelion, strengthening his shields and enchantments against her attacks. His efforts gradually lit more of the gate's symbols. He agreed to help Thalena reach the gods and oppose those who controlled the world, though he still questioned her plans and the secrets she kept.

Pyrathalor later struck him with the divine glaive. Arinella and the other healers kept him alive while Thalena captured the god's essence. Cassian recovered and became Thalena's lover without leaving Arinella. The two women accepted their shared relationship.

With Thalena sustaining him, he used Pyrathalor's captured essence to light the remaining gate symbols. The gate opened, and Deylin emerged from the void. This restored a connection with Xalmyrra and gave the researchers a way to continue their work on travel between gates.

The attack on Thalassai

As Thalassai prepared for an invasion, Cassian trained with Aelius and learned more about its defenses and legions. The god ruling Ulzathir as Ozaith eventually attacked Chronasis himself. Silas brought Cassian to Thalena as the celestial god approached her.

Hrzai pinned the god with a golden sword and ordered Cassian to act. Drawing on Pyrathalor's captured essence, he wrapped the god in golden strands and crushed his being, unmaking him. Hrzai then embraced Cassian and called him her son.

Thalena used the power remaining in the necklace Cassian wore to stop the asteroid descending on Chronasis. Cassian and Jin caught her before she struck the ground. She vanished from his arms after asking Arinella to care for him. He wanted to follow her, but Arinella's plea kept him with the people who still needed him.

The other archons nominated Cassian as Thalena's successor. Imperators, legati, chronarcs, and regional leaders agreed, and he became the archon of time. He accepted responsibility for rebuilding Thalassai, welcomed Thalcoris and Tazarin into its government, and ordered contact with Xalmyrra after news that the storms and cycles had ended.

Thalena later returned after centuries in Xalmyrra's past, while only days had passed in Chronasis. Cassian remained archon with her approval. Calythos helped him learn the city's agriculture, Arinella and Nethira assisted its administration, and he assigned legions to begin the rail project after the repairs.

Chronasis and the missing companions

Cassian arranged trade and travel with Xalmyrra, assigning Nethira and Astryx to work on the routes and sending windweavers to chart eastern Valrindor. He welcomed Dorian, Rowenna, Xarion, and Orin to Chronasis. Orin identified himself as Cassian's father, and Cassian recognized the similarity in their magic.

At the feast in Stella Aeterna, he appointed Deylin and Ilyra as chronarcs. A timerift then took Dorian, Rowenna, Xarion, Thea, Zayren, and Aelius. Cassian healed Jin's damaged arm, sent the archons to check their regions, and ordered repairs and an examination of the city. He sent Orin and Jareth to Irrathis and continued searching for the missing people.

During that search, he established that his father was the Orin who had founded Thalassai and later lost his memories after entering the storms. In the palace records, he found a chamber concealing The Legacy of Thalion Zenith. Thalena stopped him from reading further, but told him that she had been Helena and that Thalion was Xarion. Cassian accepted her history and their relationship despite his grief at the separation from his friend.

The Celestial Games and Thalena

He continued preparing the Celestial Games with Nethira while Thalena traveled. Her proposed trials included journeys and discoveries far beyond the races and duels he had expected. Cassian kept the events secret from the participants and accepted the more difficult program. He also organized Thalassai's military preparations as Ulzathir's forces and the Plains of Eternity threatened its borders.

When Thalena disappeared again, Cassian searched the void after Jareth and Astryx failed to find her. He offered Anshar refuge in Stella Aeterna and investigated reports of Zain's army and his new shard.

Relationships

• Thalena: His lover and teacher. She helped him open the gates, and he helped her defeat Ozaith. He remained archon after her return, with her support. She has since disappeared again, and he searches for her in the void. She told him of her earlier life as Helena and her history with Xarion, which he accepted.
• Arinella: His lover, whom he freed from Xoh'Metztli's control. She helped save him after Pyrathalor's attack and supported him after Thalena disappeared. Neither woman required him to leave the other.
• Xarion: His best friend and former commander. Xarion trusted his advice and supported his rescue work. Cassian arranged contact with Xalmyrra after becoming archon. The timerift separated them soon after their reunion in Chronasis.
• Eira: His close friend from the Irrathis Magic School. She released him from the room where other children had trapped him. He protected her during their travels and searched for her after they were separated.
• Dorian and Rowenna: His adoptive parents, who raised him in Irrathis and encouraged him to help people elsewhere. He welcomed them to Chronasis before the timerift took them. They died in the past.
• Hrzai and Orin: His biological parents. Hrzai supplied his divine gifts and helped him defeat Ozaith, then acknowledged him as her son. Orin identified himself during the visit to Chronasis, where Cassian recognized the similarity in their magic.
• Nethira: His colleague in Chronasis, who helps him learn its administration and organize the city's work. They prepare the Celestial Games together.
• Jin Leiyun: A friend and ally who saved him during the flight from Xalmyrra. They trained in Chronasis and caught Thalena together after she stopped the descending asteroid.

Cassian Ironvale is the archon of Chronasis in Thalassai and the son of Hrzai and Orin. He is a divine and resonance mage whose balance magic can unmake essence and sever a god's connection to the God Realm. He was raised in Irrathis by Dorian and Rowenna and served as Xarion's advisor before leaving Xalmyrra. He lives in Stella Aeterna with Thalena and Arinella and raises Leonora, Thalena's daughter with Xarion.

Appearance

Cassian has golden hair and teal eyes. His hair was brown and his eyes were earthy when he was younger; both changed as his divine magic strengthened. His archon robes are deep indigo, with silver constellations embroidered along the hems.

Personality

Cassian readily helps people he does not know. He healed injured villagers, drove away bandits without killing them, and continued treating people in Thalcoris after discovering that their minds were being controlled. He dislikes taking lives. Killing Xoh'Metztli troubled him even though it freed the Tenari, and he later refused to help Alistair kill Nahm and Tianlei.

He takes responsibility for protecting his companions and finds it difficult to rest while they are missing or in danger. He spent his early time in Chronasis trying to reopen the gate to find Eira, and he continued leading the city after Thalena disappeared. He seeks advice from its officials and other archons, delegates work to people with the relevant skills, and still joins the fighting himself when Thalassai is attacked.

Cassian is reserved about his feelings and easily embarrassed by public teasing, especially from Thalena, Xarion, and Nethira. His relationships changed his earlier habit of traveling alone. He regards Xarion as a father as well as his best friend.

Magic

Cassian became the youngest mage acknowledged at level nine in Xalmyrra. His reputation came from rescuing and healing people as well as his combat strength. He combines enchantments, healing, and layered divine shields to keep fighting after attacks that would otherwise disable him. He often fights with his fists, sending out a divine wave with a clap before advancing behind it. He shaped shields into a boat during the escape from Xalmyrra and into soft structures for Thalia to play on.

His resonance magic supplements his healing and divine attacks. He can damage an opponent with resonance at close range, briefly disrupt their control, and use gentler spells to ease distress. During the fighting against Zain, he used a resonance blast to interrupt the gravity pinning his companions. He later touched Jin's temple with resonance magic to ease his guilt after the defense of Pyrenis.

Cassian senses distinct signatures across large distances and can follow a person's remaining essence. He noticed the magic controlling injured Tenari before he understood its source. In Chronasis, he found a hidden chamber by recognizing the absence of essence behind its wall. His senses also distinguish the connections through which a god reaches the world, allowing him to cut them and block the god's sight or escape.

His balance magic unravels essence and its connections. He first used it against Xoh'Metztli without knowing what he had done. Hrzai supplied both this ability and his aptitude for opening gates; his exceptional senses came from Orin. Cassian later practiced unmaking Anshar's fire spells and learned to cut the connections of gods before destroying their shards. He cannot simply erase any amount of power: the essence bombs exceeded what he could unmake, and Gabriel's remaining essence overwhelmed him during their attack on the god.

Hrzai gave him a large golden sword, which he kept charged at a Chronasis essence tower. He used it to pierce Zain's body and Azarion's severed shard hand while unmaking the divine essence within them.

History

Birth and childhood

Hrzai mirrored Orin's being to have a child with him. Orin was a wisp who had taken human form, and Cassian inherited a body that resembled a human's without being fully human. Thalena found him as a child in Valcirae and persuaded his parents to send him to Irrathis. She needed him for the events that would eventually end Xalmyrra's cycles.

Orin posted a quest for the Adventurers' Guild, while Thalena sent Cassian across the water in a small boat. Aldar received him and placed him with Dorian and Rowenna, who adopted him. They raised him in Irrathis and encouraged his magic from an early age. His healing developed quickly, and he advanced faster than the other children at the magic school.

That difference left him isolated. Other children lured him into a room and locked him inside. Eira opened the door, and the two became close friends, spending their school years together. She called him Lil Cas. After their schooling, Eira left Irrathis, while Dorian and Rowenna urged him to use his gifts to help people elsewhere.

Service in Xalmyrra

At seventeen, Cassian was awarded level seven by the council, with Aldar's support. By twenty he had reached level eight, and his hair and eyes began changing with the growth of his divine magic.

He met Xarion while defending Velundra in his early twenties. Xarion wanted him beside him when he became high arbiter, and Cassian later served as his advisor. They remained close despite Cassian's frequent journeys away from Irrathis. He treated people in damaged villages and drove off bandits. The council acknowledged him at level nine, and he became known as the Hero of the People and the Hammer of Justice.

In the Irrathis tournament, he defeated Durvek and Kaelric before losing to Deylin. Deylin's blinks and explosions exhausted his cores and broke through his defenses. Cassian also worked with the healers maintaining the arena's barriers and intervened with Ilyra when Eira's duel with Astheron became dangerous.

During the cataclysm that struck Irrathis, he drew essence into a barrier over much of the city. Xarion supplied cores while Cassian sustained the shield against the falling darkness. Afterward, he joined the council's discussions about Aurion's orrery and the deaths across Xalmyrra.

Cassian accompanied Eira and Xarion to the Soltheris border as its armies prepared for war. When Eira released the shard's power, he shielded Xarion and helped keep their companions alive. He followed Deylin's trace into Erenmyr and found Eira with Lythariel and Kaelion. He opposed treating her as a key to solving the darkness and chose to accompany her out of Xalmyrra.

When a mage pursued them through the Land of Darkness, Cassian stayed behind to delay him. Draven threw Cassian back to Eira and Lythariel and took over the fight. Cassian formed a shield boat for their escape to the island gate. At the golden mage's request, he channeled essence into the gate and helped the group reach Xolterra.

Freeing the Tenari

In Thalcoris, Cassian trained and fought with the local mages and helped heal people returning from the war. He recognized magic in their minds that resisted his healing. The songs spreading through the nation also troubled him, and he kept his own mind shielded while investigating Aurivallis.

He met Arinella, a priestess under Xoh'Metztli's control. Xoh'Metztli spoke through Meliora and ordered Cassian to send his friends away and return to her. Meliora reached him separately in a dream and asked him to kill the goddess. After Cassian broke the control over himself and Arinella, he retrieved the Wanderer's Book from the library in Aurivallis.

He went alone to Xoh'Metztli's temple. When Xoh'Metztli released her shields, he drove divine spikes through Meliora's body and held the shard while destroying Xoh'Metztli's essence. Meliora died with the goddess. It was the first time Cassian had killed anyone, and he struggled with the act despite the Tenari's freedom. Arinella stayed with him after her mind was freed.

He later left Thalcoris with Arinella and Kaelion to find Eira and Lythariel. They traveled on Splin and followed Eira's trail toward a jungle gate, where Thalena met them.

Thalena and the gates

Thalena brought the group to Chronasis and offered help finding Eira. Cassian worked with Cyrena on the gate beneath Stella Aeterna, but initially could light only two of its symbols. Thalena confirmed that he had destroyed Xoh'Metztli's essence and began teaching him to sense more deeply.

Their lessons required him to examine and draw on her essence at close range. He also joined the exhausting combat practice she gave Kaelion, strengthening his shields and enchantments against her attacks. His efforts gradually lit more of the gate's symbols. He agreed to help Thalena reach the gods and oppose those who controlled the world, though he still questioned her plans and the secrets she kept.

Pyrathalor later struck him with the divine glaive. Arinella and the other healers kept him alive while Thalena captured the god's essence. Cassian recovered and became Thalena's lover without leaving Arinella. The two women accepted their shared relationship.

With Thalena sustaining him, he used Pyrathalor's captured essence to light the remaining gate symbols. The gate opened, and Deylin emerged from the void. This restored a connection with Xalmyrra and gave the researchers a way to continue their work on travel between gates.

The attack on Thalassai

As Thalassai prepared for an invasion, Cassian trained with Aelius and learned more about its defenses and legions. The god ruling Ulzathir as Ozaith eventually attacked Chronasis himself. Silas brought Cassian to Thalena as the celestial god approached her.

Hrzai pinned the god with a golden sword and ordered Cassian to act. Drawing on Pyrathalor's captured essence, he wrapped the god in golden strands and crushed his being, unmaking him. Hrzai then embraced Cassian and called him her son.

Thalena used the power remaining in the necklace Cassian wore to stop the asteroid descending on Chronasis. Cassian and Jin caught her before she struck the ground. She vanished from his arms after asking Arinella to care for him. He wanted to follow her, but Arinella's plea kept him with the people who still needed him.

The other archons nominated Cassian as Thalena's successor. Imperators, legati, chronarcs, and regional leaders agreed, and he became the archon of time. He accepted responsibility for rebuilding Thalassai, welcomed Thalcoris and Tazarin into its government, and ordered contact with Xalmyrra after news that the storms and cycles had ended.

Thalena later returned after centuries in Xalmyrra's past, while only days had passed in Chronasis. Cassian remained archon with her approval. Calythos helped him learn the city's agriculture, Arinella and Nethira assisted its administration, and he assigned legions to begin the rail project after the repairs.

Chronasis and the missing companions

Cassian arranged trade and travel with Xalmyrra, assigning Nethira and Astryx to work on the routes and sending windweavers to chart eastern Valrindor. He welcomed Dorian, Rowenna, Xarion, and Orin to Chronasis. Orin identified himself as Cassian's father, and Cassian recognized the similarity in their magic.

At the feast in Stella Aeterna, he appointed Deylin and Ilyra as chronarcs. A timerift then took Dorian, Rowenna, Xarion, Thea, Zayren, and Aelius. Cassian healed Jin's damaged arm, sent the archons to check their regions, and ordered repairs and an examination of the city. He sent Orin and Jareth to Irrathis and continued searching for the missing people.

During that search, he established that his father was the Orin who had founded Thalassai and later lost his memories after entering the storms. In the palace records, he found a chamber concealing The Legacy of Thalion Zenith. Thalena stopped him from reading further, but told him that she had been Helena and that Thalion was Xarion. Cassian accepted her history and their relationship despite his grief at the separation from his friend.

He continued preparing the Celestial Games with Nethira while Thalena traveled. Her proposed trials included journeys and discoveries far beyond the races and duels he had expected. Cassian kept the events secret from the participants and accepted the more difficult program. He also organized Thalassai's military preparations as Ulzathir's forces and the Plains of Eternity threatened its borders.

When Thalena disappeared again, Cassian searched the void after Jareth and Astryx failed to find her. He offered Anshar refuge in Stella Aeterna and investigated reports of Zain's army and his burning shard.

The defense of Pyrenis

Eira, Xarion, Jin, and the others eventually returned to Chronasis. Xarion told Cassian that Dorian and Rowenna had died and that they had loved him. Eira and Kaelion identified his unmaking as balance magic, which he had already begun practicing with Anshar. Orin trained him to resist induced sleep, and Cassian learned to mimic his father's motions. Hrzai gave him her golden sword. He also carried the glaive taken from Pyrathalor before giving it to Aelius.

Abraxas stayed in Chronasis and worked for Nethira before becoming a black box. Jareth's experiments made the box responsive to its bearer. Cassian first tried to direct it toward his missing friends without success. When he infused his will to bring down Thalassai's enemies and unmake their essence, the box responded by taking a woman's shape. Abraxas accompanied him to Pyrenis as Zain's forces approached.

Cassian summoned reinforcements, assigned Ilyra to treat the wounded aboard the windweaver, and fought Zhulkar at the ocean wall. Abraxas's clash with Zain interrupted their fight. Zhulkar withdrew, and Cassian warned the defenders of the approaching tsunami.

When Qadir's essence bomb threatened the city, Cassian layered shields with Jin and Tianlei's protection. Abraxas drew the explosion into the void but could not survive the essence passing through her. She disintegrated in Cassian's arms after thanking him for a new purpose. He and Jin could not restore her. Cassian took the remaining particles to the Nexus, where Jin guided them into an empty core held by Cyrena. The group sealed the core and left it with Jareth for study.

Afterward, he prepared to stop further bombs and discovered that he could cut a god's connection to the world. He tested this by preventing Tianlei from seeing Nethira. He considered removing the other gods' power after defeating Thalassai's enemies, but rejected killing every god merely because they could become a threat.

Zain, Khauren, and Gabriel

Marcellus disguised Cassian as a young Sharumara recruit for the infiltration with Zayren. Virel joined them, and Cassian supported Zayren's pursuit of Zain with shields, healing, and enchantments. His resonance interrupted the gravity holding their companions long enough for them to act.

Alistair, posing as Aldar, fought Khauren in Zain's body. Cassian cut the god's connections, drove the golden sword through the body, and unmade Khauren's essence, erasing Zain's body. Alistair then identified himself. Cassian questioned the heart carrying Raphael's magic and agreed to work against Gabriel, while refusing to kill Nahm or Tianlei.

During the attack on Gabriel, Jin and Zayren launched Cassian toward Azarion's severed shard hand, which contained Gabriel. He pierced it with the golden sword and cut the connections Gabriel could use to escape. Kaelion warmed Cassian's freezing hands, but the remaining divine essence overwhelmed him. Garrik caught him as he fell. Eira, Garrik, and Azarion continued the attack, and Gabriel's shard was destroyed while Cassian was unconscious. Xarion cared for him before returning him to the others.

Alistair's demands

Cassian received Thalena after Ozaith, Xarion, and Nethira restored her body. Alistair then entered Chronasis disguised as Astryx, trapped the weakened companions, and threatened the city and everyone Cassian loved. With the others' agreement, Cassian sealed the chamber's connections to the God Realm.

Hrzai, Ozaith, Zal'therak, Tianlei, and Xoh'Tenol descended in human form. Cassian severed their connections, depriving them of their divine power. When Alistair demanded proof that the gods had become mortal, Hrzai volunteered. Cassian pleaded for her life, but Alistair aimed his finger at Thalena and told him to choose. Hrzai reaffirmed her choice, and Alistair killed her with a cosmic ray through her heart. Alistair then forced Cassian to destroy the Sun, Galaxy, Diamond, and Lightning shards, holding Xoh'Tenol's life over him as well. These acts removed the gods' powers rather than killing the people they had become.

Alistair left his spiral shard, which later cracked in Cassian's hands. Cassian allowed Azarion to stay despite his initial opposition. He proposed Anshar as Ulzathir's new emperor and attended his coronation in Ishtanûr, leaving Thalena to act as archon during his absence. There, he joined Anshar, Virel, and Simon in affirming cooperation between Thalassai, Ulzathir, and Haverloch.

Leonora and the council

Cassian and Thalena agreed that Xarion would father her child, since Cassian could not have a biological child with a human. Cassian chose the name Leonora and began raising her with Thalena. Xarion remained close to both of them and recognized Cassian as the man who would care for his daughter.

At the Valrindor Council, Cassian invited its members to the next Celestial Games. He took care of Leonora after Thalena left the Council meeting.

Thalena's account

In Thalena's Shores of Eternity, Xarion shielded Cassian beneath Melandor when Gabriel's crystal exploded, dying while Cassian survived. Cassian continued leading Chronasis and kept Leonora close during the disasters that followed. When a plague killed her, he asked Thalena to let him go and unmade his own body. Arinella also died during that course of events.

Relationships

• Thalena: His lover and teacher. She helped him open the gates and develop his senses, while he helped her oppose the gods. He accepted her earlier life as Helena and her history with Xarion. They raise Leonora together.
• Arinella: His lover, whom he freed from Xoh'Metztli's control. She helped save him after Pyrathalor's attack, supported him after Thalena disappeared, and works with him in Chronasis. Neither she nor Thalena required him to leave the other.
• Xarion: His best friend and former commander, whom he regards as a father. Xarion trusted his advice and supported his rescue work. Their separation during the timerift deeply affected him. Cassian raises Xarion's daughter with Thalena.
• Eira: His close friend from the Irrathis Magic School. She released him from the room where other children had trapped him. He repeatedly protected her and searched for her after they were separated. They love one another as brother and sister.
• Dorian and Rowenna: His adoptive parents, who raised him in Irrathis. They returned to adventuring after he left their care and knew little of his later life. Cassian learned of their deaths from Xarion after the others returned from Malverand's past.
• Hrzai and Orin: His biological parents. Hrzai supplied his divine gifts and helped him defeat the reborn Ozaith. Orin's magic accounts for his exceptional senses, and they trained together after reuniting. Hrzai's death under Alistair's attack left him grieving his mother.
• Nethira: His friend and colleague in Chronasis. She helps him with administration, healing, and the Celestial Games and readily teases him about his relationship with Thalena.
• Jin Leiyun: A friend and ally who saved him during the flight from Xalmyrra. They fought together at Pyrenis and against Gabriel. Cassian treated Jin's injuries and eased his distress after Abraxas died.
• Abraxas: Cassian welcomed him into Chronasis and later gave the black box the will to oppose Thalassai's enemies. Abraxas protected Pyrenis from the essence bomb and died in his arms. Cassian preserved the remaining particles for Jareth and Cyrena to examine.