Novhar

A Brief History

The very first native inhabitants of the Vast Infinite, the first generation of Novhar were created by the Architects an estimated 900,000 years ago. They are immortal in the fullest sense, and will only die if killed—otherwise, they could possibly outlive the VI itself.

It is believed they were created in the Architects’ own image, and that the Architects used parts of themselves in this initial act of creation. Because of this, the Novhar, unlike every other living thing in the VI, are not composed of aasiur (the building blocks of life in the universe). This is what grants them their unrivalled mastery over magic, because they are removed from it, above it, and can therefore manipulate it from a removed position.

Granted advanced intelligence alongside their impressive lifespan and intimidating physicality, the Novhar were very quick to populate the VI, centring their population on the largest planet, Eld, with their burgeoning empire arising on the continent of Indaver, where the Imperium will sit almost a million years later.

Eventually, the development of the Novhar race resulted in the planets of the Vast Infinite, and the Gnostic Planes (from where all aasiur originates) drawing closer together in what could’ve been an apocalyptic collision. About 800,000 years ago, the Novhar developed the Atlas Gates as a way of holding the planets separate and granting them easier access to all spheres within their domain. They also forged the Shroud, the metaphysical barrier that separates reality from the Gnostic Planes, so that magic doesn’t bleed into the physical world and disrupt it.

But then, from about 500,000 years ago onwards, the Novhar began to consider themselves equal to the now-absent Architects. The almighty creators had retreated from the VI to watch the Novhar from afar, and with this breathing room the Novhar began experiments of their own, leaning on their mastery of aasiur. From these experiments arose the three mortal races—human, Vasipan, and Dontili. The Novhar promptly enslaved these races, treating them as unwilling servants, beasts of burden, and food.

In giving life to sentience of their own, the Novhar had betrayed the Architects, who levelled the gravest of punishments upon their foremost creations: Abyssal annihilation.

About 100,000 years ago, the Architects unleashed their executioner-race, the Ravessi. Wrought from the Abyss itself and designed to destroy all universes that Architects had no more need for, the Ravessi knew only the bottomless hunger for death and destruction. They invaded the VI, but where before they had consumed all previous failed universes, here the Novhar proved worthy adversaries.

For several thousand years, the Novhar and Ravessi battled for the fate of the Vast Infinite, with the Novhar eventually successfully imprisoning the Ravessi back in the Abyss that had spawned them. Then, fearing further reprisal and thinking themselves superior, they turned on the Architects.

Having spent the previous 800,000 years developing and evolving, the Novhar were more than a match for their creators. The Architects were either killed or driven out of the VI, never to be heard from again. The Novhar reigned supreme until 20,000 years ago, when their own mortal creations repeated the act of deicide and overthrew the Novhar as the Novhar had overthrown the Architects.

An immortal empire that had stood for 880,000 years was destroyed, with almost the entire Novhar population killed. A few thousand were driven into hiding, including Kazimiera, one of the very oldest Novhar, and the Matriarch of the long-standing Novhar Empire.

Their destruction was completed 10,000 years later with the advent of the Cataclysm, when the Ravessi again infiltrated the Vast Infinite. After destroying an entire planet and managing to infect parts of Eld, the Ravessi were eventually locked back in the Abyss, but not before the last remaining traces of the Novhar were eradicated.

If any Novhar survive to the present day, they have hidden themselves well.

The world of Eld has not known their influence for 10,000 years.

Physical Appearance

In their natural forms, they are tall and powerfully built, standing at an average of ten feet, with the females usually being slightly larger. They are generally humanoid in appearance, save for their sheer presence, and for the fact they possess a pair of immense bat-like wings that are capable of flight. These wings, though mostly leathery, do boast slight feathering along the elbow joints.

The most distinguishable feature of every Novhar Ravessi, aside from the wings, is the fact that, as they age, they gain the ability to generate their own organic body armour that they can bring forth and dispel at will. The body armour is an extension of their own forms, and something they grow into when they reach certain stages of their lives. The plates themselves resemble stone and are usually grey in colour. It has been theorised, but never confirmed, that the hardy white stone the Novhar use for all their architecture is actually generated by them in the same manner as their plates.

Because of the Novhar desire for perpetual majesty and strength, most mature specimens will maintain their plate at all times.

Also, because Novhar don’t age beyond their prime, the presence of armour is the most reliable way to define an individual’s age. The more armour a Novhar can summon onto themselves, the older they likely are. It is primarily a defence mechanism granted them by the Architects as an experiment.

As well as their natural forms, Novhar are capable of taking on mortal guises. The standard guise they adopt will resemble them, at least facially. They cannot take on the form of an existing person unless that person has died (or, as is more likely the case, been killed), in which case they are capable of aping someone’s appearing for a short length of time.

In the Modern Age

Given that their empire fell 20,000 years ago and they were rendered all but extinct 10,000 years ago, the Novhar have had little opportunity and reason to become involved with Eld and the mortal races in the modern era. Just as with the events of 10,000 years ago, the Novhar are actually widely considered to be mythical, or at the very least absolutely extinct with no chance of return. As a result, they are never seen as a threat, and the only traces of them remain in their architecture, and the only knowledge that can be gleaned from them is whatever they left behind and, in the rarer cases, in the minds of longer-lived mortal races, such as the immortal rulers of the Drasken Empire, a small number of whom were actually alive during the waning years of the Novhar Empire.

Miscellaneous Facts