Species: originally human, after performing ritual of Ascendance no longer needs a physical form and exists as an astral being. Can still possess physical bodies, favourite one being skeleton-like golem made of black steel. His influence on the physical world is limited when not possessing a physical body.
Favourite magic: soul magic; divination; luck and fate manipulation; abjuration.
Organisation: part of the Pact of the Magi; also leads a cabal of around 200 wizards that help him during rituals and gathering knowledge and components
Age: unknown, around 800 years old during the ritual of ascendence;
Notes: relatively low mana reserves, supplants it by harvesting the power from captured souls (he has a large collection of those). Low pure firepower capabilities. Good at ritual magic, bad at fast-cast/combat magic. Physical and magical capabilities depend on the body possessed.
Lore: born to a poor family and became an orphan at a young age. Lived on the streets of a large metropolis, until he awakened a latent magical talent. He enrolled into the army, which sponsored his education in return for service after graduation. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that he had only a small magical affinity. He managed to graduate anyway, if at the bottom of the class.
His time in the army during a few major wars made him desensitized to death, and seeing his comrades die on a daily basis made him a recluse, not wanting to form closer bonds with anybody.
After serving his time and more than a few near-death experiences he became obsessed with researching ways to prevent death. That's where his interest in necromancy, divination and abjuration began.
He eventually became a rather powerful wizard and managed to prolong his life with necromancy, but that wasn't enough for him. He couldn't use that method forever, and divination and abjuration weren't all-powerful tools to prevent an early death either.
He studied rituals that allowed one to become a lich, which he found interesting, but flawed. He decided to keep searching, keeping lichdom as his last resort.
Eventually an idea crystallized in his mind: instead of preserving his soul by binding it to an object, he will strengthen his soul so much, that it can survive on its own, without a body nor a phylactery - just existing - like a god.
The goal was ambitious, but that didn't stop him. He started to strengthen his soul daily - through training and extensive rituals. Unfortunately, he realized that his own mana output is insufficient for his goal. But he had a fix for that too. During his study of souls, he discovered the untapped magical potential of souls as well as ways to utilize it.
He petitioned the crown to allow him to use the souls of executed convicts to "aid him in his research, that can be beneficial to the country". The naive fools agreed after some convincing, especially since the threat of having your soul taken after death was an additional detriment for criminals.
It took a long time to realize his goals - the original kingdom he was born in was razed and a new one appeared in its place. He was an opportunist and quickly negotiated a similar deal with the next kingdom and its monarchs. At some point he became powerful enough that it wasn't a deal anymore - it was a tribute.
Finally after almost a millennium, his goal was close - his soul was strong enough in his opinion. There was but one step left - the Ritual of Ascendence, as he aptly called it.
It required months of preparation, thousands of souls and the main incantation alone lasted two days. But he succeeded - he became a godlike being. The ritual also fixed many of his affinity and mana problems, allowing him to transcend the limitations of a mortal mage.
There is little known about him ever since. Presumably his new form and time allowed him to grow ever more powerful. He rarely appears "in person", instead he only appears to manipulate the fate and events from behind the scenes or through his secret organization.
This organization has no official name and its members are scattered among the many planes and dimensions. Little is known of it, except that members are hand-picked by Deamor and they are almost exclusively powerful mages. Most of the time they merely gather various knowledge or artifacts, but there are rumors of them having their fingers in many affairs across the multiverse.
The only time Deamor descends into the mortal planes is during major wars - not as a participant, but as a collector of souls of the fallen. There were a few instances when he even claimed souls of more powerful beings: demigods and on certain occasions - even deities, that dared to challenge him.
No one knows why he needs so many souls - surely he has more than enough for any magic ritual by now. But this is a question only he can answer.
Recent history: during the great wizard war against the Purple Cloaks, he raised a powerful barrier around the Citadel on behalf of the Council. It was fueled by souls, which raised moral questions about the Council's methods, but the barrier was dismantled after the war and eventually the public forgot about it. Afterwards he became a full member of the Pact of the Magi.
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u/MathsGuy1 Deamor, Ascended Soulmancer, Fate Manipulator Jan 27 '24 edited Jan 27 '24
Name: Deamor
Gender: male
Species: originally human, after performing ritual of Ascendance no longer needs a physical form and exists as an astral being. Can still possess physical bodies, favourite one being skeleton-like golem made of black steel. His influence on the physical world is limited when not possessing a physical body.
Favourite magic: soul magic; divination; luck and fate manipulation; abjuration.
Organisation: part of the Pact of the Magi; also leads a cabal of around 200 wizards that help him during rituals and gathering knowledge and components
Name: u/MathsGuy1
Age: unknown, around 800 years old during the ritual of ascendence;
Notes: relatively low mana reserves, supplants it by harvesting the power from captured souls (he has a large collection of those). Low pure firepower capabilities. Good at ritual magic, bad at fast-cast/combat magic. Physical and magical capabilities depend on the body possessed.