Taran Estus

Taran Estus is the Supreme Priest of the Cult of Obsidian and the tertiary antagonist of the Shardsverse Series. He is the main antagonist of Vol I and the grandfather of Zoe Kagami and Nyx Kagami. He is the father of the late Karina Kagami neé Estus. Taran is an extremely powerful mage whose powers are equal to that of the Original Skywatch Members making one of the greatest threats in both Etheria and Materia, with his powers having crossed into the realm of the Gods much like the original members.

History
Taran was born in Othras as an orphan where he was adopted by Celica Estus of the Estus Clan, a clan specializing in Fire Magic. He was subjected to torment by the current heir to the Estus Family, Reinard Estus. Eventually, Taran was sent to Lexida Academy where he ascended to the rank of Archon in the span of a few years. Taran met and fell in love with his now-deceased wife, Mariana Schneider, after falling into a rift that led to the realm of Materia. He lived there for a few years until he found an ancient tome depicting the phase spell which he used to return to Etheria. Learning that his daughter was a mage with great talent, Taran took his daughter and wife from Materia to Etheria to learn magic. Watching proudly, Taran and Mariana watched as Karina grew in grace and beauty.

During the God War of Etheria, Mariana was killed by members of the Church of Aurba, led by his adoptive brother Reinard. Taran engaged him in combat and brutally killed him, blasting his remains across the entire city of Halidas on Illoran. After the end of the God War, his son-in-law, Samuel Kagami, disappeared and returned hellbent on destroying all of Etheria. It was during this second war that the previous Ever-Being fell alongside his daughter. Disillusioned after the loss of his wife and daughter, Taran disappeared, leaving his life behind and was found by a woman who offered him the power to right all the wrongs in the world and showed him the future in which the vile will be destroyed and he will stand triumphant. Taran accepted and became the leader of the Cult of Obsidian.

Appearance
Taran is an elderly man with long silvery-white hair that reaches down to his back and a long beard. Despite his elderly appearance, Taran is surprisingly muscular, displaying high levels of physical strength. He wears a black shirt and long grey armored pants with a long black high collared cloak with silver pauldrons.

Personality
A man whose entire life is defined by loss and grief, Taran strives to make a world in which there are no winners and losers and where everyone is equal. He has been entranced by Apophis's promises that her father will bring about paradise into the world and everyone that he ever lost will come back to him as a reward. As a result, Taran is driven to make the Cult's ambitions a reality. He will do whatever it takes no matter how underhanded as seen when he sent flesh golems to kill Rosa before she could come into her prime and become a threat. Taran despises the world, seeing it as false due to the fact that it took his daughter and wife from him.

Despite this, Taran has a sense of fairness and justice. He has a tight control on what his subordinates do and despises racism and rape. An example of this is when he beat Vortimus within an inch of his life after the extermination of possible allies solely due to the fact that they were non-humans. Taran will also spare those who he believes can be turned and will lament having to kill them. Taran treats all of his subordinates and allies in a polite and cordial manner, making sure that the newer members are comfortable within the Cult, displaying a grandfather-like-persona. Upon finding out that he had grandchildren, Taran strove to be a better grandfather to Nyx, displaying great joy when she took up his offer and still tries to sway Zoe and Joseph to his side. Taran respects Apophis and follows her will so long as she holds up her end of the bargain. As for Kairos, Taran is fanatically devoted to him as he believes that the Chaos God can restore the world to "what it once was.

In battle, Taran is cold and uncaring, as well as exceedingly brutal in how he kills his foes. His preferred method is total and utter evisceration often causing his foes to explode into a mess of parts. He is merciless and does not allow survivors unless he believes that they can be converted to the Faith. This causes him to be feared as well as respected among the Cult and across all of Etheria.

Personal Statistics
Alignment: Lawful Evil

Date of Birth: August 20, 1905


 * Zodiac/Horoscope:
 * Etherian: Zircon

Birthplace: Othras

Weight: 6'3 (1.9 m)

Height: 220 lbs (99 kg)

Likes: His family, The Cult

Dislikes: People who oppose the cult

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Silvery-White

Hobbies: ???

Martial Status: Widowed

Status: Alive

Affiliation: The Cult of Obsidian

Themes:

Combat Statistics
Tier: 5-A | 2-B

Name: Taran Estus, The Old Man, The Messiah

Origin: Shardsverse

Gender: Male

Age: In his late 90's to early 100's

Classification: Archmage, Human, Cult Leader

Powers and Abilities:

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Aura, Magic (Taran is one of the most powerful mages to ever exist, possessing levels of mana on the level of the original members of the Skywatch. He possesses a plethora of spells including the Phase Spell and is well-versed in Elemental Magic. Taran can wield Dark Magic, the purest form of Shadow Magic, with ease and combine it with various elemental spells with Darkness. Taran is also well-versed in Sealing Magic as well as Necromancy and Summoning Magic.), Forcefield Creation via Magic, Necromancy, Corrupted Elementalism, Dark Fire Manipulation (Taran can wield Corrupted Fire Magic, which can burn through all materials as well as harm the soul on a conceptual level.), Telekinesis via Magic, Extrasensory Perception, Matter Manipulation (Possibly Molecular Level; Caused his adoptive brother to explode during the God War.), Sealing Magic, Danmaku, Darkness Manipulation via Magic (Taran can wield pure dark magic which is more potent and destructive than Shadow Magic. Taran can create massive avatars and constructs of Darkness as well as atomize Divine Tier Beasts which are strong enough to destroy planets.), Sanguinomancy, Carnomancy, Gravity Manipulation, Summoning, Avatar Creation (Taran can create Battle Avatars), Creation (Taran can create an army of Dark Beasts from pure energy.), Soul Manipulation, Master Hand to Hand Combatant, Primal Transcendence, Non-Physical Interaction All previous powers enhanced 100 times greater, Soul Manipulation, Conceptual Manipulation, Dark Aura, Fear Inducement, Space-Time Manipulation (Taran sundered Naia's realm into several fragments and disrupted the infinite 5-D Construct of Prima)
 * -|Base=
 * -|Primal Transcendence=

Attack Potency: Large Planet Level (Taran is superior to the members of the Trinity. He was able to easily fight on the same level as Creoz Mitarian, a member of the Original Skywatch, as well as easily defeat Auralia and Oz and forced them to enter Primal Transcendence. Taran was able to move the Moon and cause it to slam down on Etheria and would have destroyed a majority of life if not for Illia Merravine's interference.) | Multiverse Level (In his Primal Transcendence, Taran is said to have reached and crossed into the territory of the Gods. He is vastly superior to some of the Gods and is comparable to Nefertari and Naia, the latter he was able to defeat and force to retreat before he used his magic to sunder her realm.)

Speed: Relativistic (Superior to the Trinity Members)

Lifting Strength: Unknown | Class Z with Telekinesis and Gravity Manipulation (Moved the Moon)

Striking Strength: Large Planet Class | Multiversal (Harmed and injured Naia, a major Etherian Goddess with physical blows.)

Durability: Large Planet Level | Multiverse Level

Stamina: Immensely High (Taran is able to fight extremely powerful being such as Creoz and Illia for extremely long periods of time as well as fight Gods.)

Range: Extended Melee Range|Several Hundred Meter to a Few Thousand Kilometers with Attacks and Spells|Multiversal with Phasing

Standard Equipment: None Notable

Intelligence: Immensely High (Taran is an immensely intelligent person with a massive arsenal of spells in his repetoire. He is one of the few mages in Etheria that is aware of the existence Materia. He is the master of the Cult of Obsidian using its resources to create a shadow hold over the entirety of Etheria. Akasha mentions that she has a hard time discerning his next move.)

Weaknesses: Can be arrogant.

Notable Attacks/Techniques:

Primal Transcendence
An elevated state of being that can only be obtained by powerful mages. Transcendence allows them to "transcend" their limits bolstering their magical and physical powers, boosting their strength, speed, and defense up to twenty times the norm. This allows mages to fight on par with beings much stronger than they are. Taran has a mutated version of Transcendence known as Primal Transcendence which boosts her power more than a normal Transcendence. In his Transcended Form, Taran is much more powerful than even most members of the Skywatch, completely outclassing them in power.

Key: Base Taran | Primal Transcended Taran

Other
Notable Victories:

Notable Losses:

Inconclusive Matches: