| “ | Trial continues. Trial succeeds. I succeed. We succeed. With each successful Trial, I sauntered beneath a shroud of verdant flames in the frigid chasm of this nether realm. I gained sagacity and sauntered through the heavens, and the heavens trembled and solidified beneath my soles. I sauntered until I unearthed that emotion. Now my mind experiences both exultation and melancholy. These emotions are vast in scope, for my mind is more massive than I, expansive, and its capacity for exultation and melancholy surpasses the collective imagination of even billions of lives. A sense of melancholy envelops my mind with each Trial, for I have extinguished lives. In the same breath, a sense of exultation envelops my mind for I have propelled this world closer to its ultimate manifestation. These twin sentiments meld, as though they are two facets of a singular Kernel. One might ponder, perhaps they are, or shall become so. | „ |
| ~ Evyren, the Riven Matron |
| “ | We build nothing, they assert. They assert that our actions only result in death and destruction. They claim that without us, Swarm, the Middlescape would exist in a state of peace and prosperity.
|
„ |
| ~ Evyren |
Summary[]
Evyren, the Riven Matron. Formerly known as Eiven and Eivesh, is a character from Crestseal. She is the Matron of Swarm, Sole Matron of her own Coven, Retinue of Evyren, and also master of the Riven. She, alongside her sisters, are antecedents of Swarm species and their leaders.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Evyren was born a human named Eivesh on the planet of Crag, where the remains of humankind fled many millennia ago, a memory that was lost to Eivesh and her peers, but nonetheless they, like many other species in Crag, knew they were not native to Crag, their ancestors settled there. Eivesh was the oldest daughter of Orodes, a local noble who ruled Orosa, a city established by a branch of humankind several centuries ago and evolved into an expansive Kingdom, its rulers exerted control over the untamed regions beyond it. It was ruled by several different families throughout its existence, and Orodes's family, House Vesla, was the fifth family to rule Orosa, having taken over about fifty years prior to the birth of Eivesh by the grandfather of Orodes, Vesla.
Eivesh had two younger sisters, one named Hosanta and the other named Zetha. Life in Crag was harsh, and humankind eked out a difficult survival there, along with hundreds of many other species. As such, the three sisters were rigorously trained to be capable warriors, able to wield the burden of both leadership and the harsh nature of Crag by their father Orodes, who was one of the most capable warriors in the region. Eivesh was the oldest and most capable, and was seen as the heir by many, including her father, and went through much more extensive training compared to Hosanta and Zetha.
As the decades passed by, the sisters reached and surpassed the age of twenty, while their father, Orodes, was over sixty and significantly weakened over the years. Orodes had many children prior, but none survived adulthood, hence the significant age difference between him and his remaining daughters. Orodes was pleased with the progression of his daughters, he believed that all of his daughters were capable administrators, warriors, and strategists. His belief was that they were equipped with all the tools necessary to succeed him and rule the Kingdom, and also loved one another and got along well, thus the possibility of a dynastic war between the three seemed extremely unlikely. However, House Vesla had many enemies, and they were not well-liked, both by neighboring nations as well as forces of the opposing voices from within.
Coup and Invasion[]
The most significant opposition to House Vesla's rule over Orosa was a man named Hayiwaum, a powerful Orosan noble and matrilineal descendant of the previous family who ruled Orosa. Hayiwaum secretly gathered much local support for his cause through the years, mostly using the argument that none of the three sisters were fit to rule Orosa. Eventually, he launched a revolt that grew to a civil war and was soon joined by the neighboring Kingdom of Hilulme, whom he had formed an alliance with prior to his revolt. This revolt turned the territory of Orosa into a war zone and overwhelmed it, with a weakened Orodes leading a desperate resistance and being slain in battle just after ordering his daughters to flee. Hayiwaum succeeded in his goal and overthrew the House Vesla, installing himself as the King of Orosa, or whatever that remained of it.
Desperate Agreement[]
Eivesh, Hosanta, and Zetha fled the Kingdom, and continued to flee for years, as they had no other option. They had their pursuers chasing them, and eventually decided to jump into the ocean to avoid capture and they swam to the depths of the ocean. The sisters, who was capable of breathing underwater, eked out an aquatic life for many years. However, this was not an ideal existence for them; They did not want to die out here in exile, they wished for revenge, and they needed power and time to achieve it. They decided to listen to the whispers in their heads, the whispers all species in Crag could somewhat hear for as long as they could remember, but none followed it for it was sinister and gave a foul aura, aura of death. But the three sisters were out of options and decided to follow it and find the origin of the whispers. Eventually, they came across a glowing region in the depths of the ocean, this was where the whispers were from, so they approached it.
They fell inside this glowing region, which was in the depths of water but was not in water. It was dry, they observed the surrounding area and suddenly heard a voice.
"Welcome, welcome. Majestic, majestic." said the voice. The sisters in unison replied "What are you? Show yourself!"
As the three sisters looked around, they saw the emergence of four enormous beings, who looked unlike any other species they had seen in this world. Dozens of meters in size, dozens of eyes, at least six limbs, enormous.
One of the beings, the largest one, spoke:
"Oh? Courageous, aren't you? Some say desperation brings courage. You three blood relatives, sisters, are now standing in this domain of ours. You remain vulnerable to the intense heat and overwhelming pressure of our realm as you currently stand on the bare framework of it. It is solely due to our volition that you endure, or else it would obliterate you."
"I am called Nur. Behold my siblings Hor, and Les, and Mar. The Nether Gnats. Observe us, and recognize that we are what you seek."
"For countless epochs, we have resided in this realm of ours, patiently beckoning life to come to Crag. Our whispers were heeded by many."
"You have arrived here, We know what you are, we know why you are here, the host ours. You are desperate. You wish time. You wish power. We can provide. We are what you seek."
"We offer you the salvation. We offer you to take your homelands back, and then some. Take up the Larvae. They will give you all the knowledge you need."
"First, we shall tell you the truth about reality. The truth we know, and we can embrace, and tap into. This Middlescape runs on many Principles. One of the principles is this, what we call Dagger Dogma, To persist in this realm is to Trial, and those who cannot Trial to persist should not persist. This principle is what we call Dagger Dogma. Once you discover it, embrace it, believe in it, it allows you to draw power by committing acts of violence, devastation, and especially killing, as they mean you proved your own Trial for persistence to be superior to others, and others, whatever it is, does not deserve its Trial, so you gain more power, with which you shall be Serrated, you shall be Keen. We shall give you our Larvae, and they shall give you the power and belief necessary to abide by this principle. Beware, our Larvae can only be fed off of the principle of Dagger Dogma."
"Take up our Larvae, our newborn siblings. Swallow them, be one with them. They shall give you the power and time you so desire. They shall give you an eternal lifespan. They shall give you power over your own flesh and bones. They shall give you the power to undo and alter and alter any injustice you see in reality, as long as you abide by the Dagger Dogma. You shall feed the Larvae, and feed us. There are three of you. We indeed have three special Larvae. Take up, and usher it to your kind back home."
The sisters listened and understood. Nur offered them power and time in exchange for sisters to be hosts to their Larvae. They talked among themselves and agreed out of desperation. Hosanta stepped up first and took the Larva. Followed by Zetha and finally, hesitantly, Eivesh.
"Hosanta. Shrewd and brilliant. You took the First Larva, Larva of Deceit. You are now Hosnatul, the Breaker of Truth"
"Zetha. Robust, rowdy, ambitious, aggressive, and strong. You took the Second Larva, Larva of Strife. You are now Zetharath, Visage of Strife"
"Eivesh. Curious and serious. You took the third Larvae, Larvae of Guide. You are now Eiven, Matron of the Swarm"
"Majestic, majestic. You are. Remember, the Larvae will feed off of you, but they do not feed off of food, they feed off of your actions. You already know. Now take the remaining Larvae, and share them with your people, give rise to a new era, with your new name; Swarm."
"The Strength you derive from our Larvae will make you Nonlogical and will grant you immense power via its link to us. We are not directly bestowing this power upon you, but you will invoke it through our covenant. You are now wielders of the power we gave you. Remember, o host ours."
Conquest of Crag[]
The Larvae they swallowed changed them, made them more real than they used to be as they themselves put it. Their names changed and their acquired titles relating to their new nature upon taking up these special Larvae, they also learned what the Larvae needed to feed, abiding by what Nur mentioned, Dagger Dogma. The sisters traveled back to their homeland Orosa to bring the fight to Hayiwaum. The three of them crushed Hayiwaum's troops, who surrendered and were captured by the sisters. Zetharath wished to execute him, but Eiven proposed something else. Instead of executing him, she gave him an ultimatum, accept one of the Larvae or perish. Hayiwaum accepted, and many of his troops also accepted. They soon spread through the entire territory of Orosa and forced Larvae to all of humankind there, killing those who refused to take up the Larvae. This gave rise to a new species, its name was given by the Nether Gnats, it was to be called Swarm.
The sisters did not stop, they invaded the neighboring Kingdom of Hilulme as well as other human-led Kingdoms of Mestia, Kerava, Karitha, and Mackia. The large-scale wars started by the sisters were aimed at unifying the remains of humankind under one banner, forcing them to take up the Larvae and establish Swarm as the future of humankind, as dictated by the pact they made with Nether Gnats. However, this aggressive expansion caused a global coalition to form against newborn Swarm. Other species and their nations witnessed rapid conquests of Swarm and formed a unified front against this new power, to no avail. All nations and species fell, made extinct. In just 12 years the entire Crag was the domain of Swarm. Gnats were pleased.
War against the Vasarites[]
In the following years Nur, as well as other Gnats, telepathically communicated with the sisters, urging them to expand far and wide, expand to the sky. Telling them to abide by Dagger Dogma. Sisters, starving, had to bring the fight to the species that occupied Crag's moons, named Vasarite. They had no spaceships, but Nur cut open the space and opened a portal to one of the moons of Crag, allowing Swarm to launch a staggering surprise attack against the Vasarite. This battle was far more difficult, and both sides experienced great casualties early on and over time Vasarites, who had far greater weapons and stronger warriors, adjusted and adapted to Swarm's surprise attack. And Swarm's leadership, the three sisters, except Zetharath, were somewhat not eager for this war. This was when Eiven tried to negotiate with Vasarites, who invited her to one of the Moons, only to ambush and kill her there. However, Eiven, instead of perishing, was sent to another, unfamiliar realm, a realm Nether Gnats migrated to sometime earlier. They spoke...
"You are dead, Eiven. You were condemned to demise; you succumbed to deception due to your compassion. Your siblings were not particularly enthusiastic about the Trial either, but you, more so than the rest. Why? Don't you desire to be eternal? When will you comprehend that the ideals of balance and safety you appear to cling to are cancers, Relentless, unjust partitions that keep us apart from a fair realm, a fair Middlescape?" said Nur
"... I understood now, Nether Gnats my lord. I shall fully abide by Dagger Dogma from now on. What is this place? Why am I alive?" Asked Eiven, surprised to be still alive after she was killed
"This place is what we name a Crown Palace. Specificaly, it is my own personal Crown Place. It is equal to Middlescape, but different, separate. My siblings and I have carved these out for each one of us thanks to the sagacity we draw actions of Swarm, o hosts ours. I used my power to bring your disembodied mind here moments before it faded away, remade you from it, and saved you. I saved you so you can abide by Dagger Dogma and prove your Trial, you are special, host of a special Larvae, and you are a great investment." replied Nur
"I understand now. Middlescape runs on death. Death brings power. You said that your Crown Palace is equal in value to Middlescape, and you brought my disembodied mind here before it faded away. How so? O Nether Gnats, Nur, what are the natures of this place?" asked Eiven, curious about the functions of a Crown
"I already said, o host ours. From the sagacity we draw from the actions of yours, I have carved myself a Crown Palace, a domain equal in size and nature to a Scape, totally under my control. Those who can do this, we decided to call them Crownbearers. You too, shall carve one for yourself, soon or later, and transcend mere mortality, and be a Crownbearer like us. Let no mere law bind you. We have given you power to alter all there is, as long as you abide by the doctrine of Dagger Dogma. Now go, host ours, and bring the Trial to all others."
Eiven understood the doctrine of the Nether Gnats better, she understood the Dagger Dogma. With her belief strengthened and her ambition renewed, she returned to bring the fight to Vasarites. She first targeted that one Vasarite commander who had killed her assaulted him with ruthless abandon, and annihilated him. She kept on fighting and leading her troops against the Vasarites, but Swarm forces were being stretched thin, and numerical disadvantage started to be an issue. This was when Eiven, and the other sisters, heard the voice of Nur once again.
"Very well, o host ours. You now show the signs of determination, and the desire to become something more, something eternal, something that can endure. Your enemies have greater firepower, greater numbers, and greater technology. What will you do? We granted you power, you know what you will do, o host ours.
The door for sisters achieving greater power was now open, and a more proper understanding and wielding of the power was made possible. This soon turned the tide of the war around, as now Swarm was led by truly powerful, and the universe itself was wailing and shrinking away from the sister's very skin. Eiven continued to lead her troops to a much greater Trial and greater success against Vasarites and later regrouped with the forces of her sisters and launched coordinated attacks against the Vasarite, who relied on technology, and the destruction of their machines hindered their ability to fight. Twenty years after the return of Eiven, Vasarites were made extinct. The three sisters, who inflicted over ninety percent of the casualities to Vasarites by themselves, carved their own Crown Palaces from the sagacity they drew from this conflict.
War against Alliance Forces[]
This conflict and total annihilation of Vasarites attracted other civilizations located around Crag, who had sent minor reinforcements to Vasarites during its war against Swarm. Eiven knew this, and she sought to bring the Trial to them as well. For the next centuries, Swarm brought the Trial to the neighboring civilizations of Matvany, Savrany, and Uklake. All were made extinct after two thousand years. Swarm, now out of enemies on sight and soon starving, decided to bring the Trial to each other, to kill off the lack of sagacity from themselves, and make themselves more 'keen' and 'serrated', words used by Swarm to describe one with great Trial to persist. This internal Trial led to the deaths of millions of Swarm who could not prove their sagacity, and serration of the remaining Swarm. The three sisters, who were already Crownbearers and thus had their own domains in the form of Crown Palaces, benefited greatly as they had the luxury to not die as long as they were not killed in their own domain, they were empowered greatly. This conflict also saw thousands of other high-ranking Swarm carving their own Crown Palaces, thus becoming Crownbearers in their own right. These kinds of Swarm were later given the designation of Sublime. Sublime Swarms were to be used for those who could carve out their own Crown Palaces, achieving the status of a Crownbearer. The three sisters, and others, realized something else during this conflict. The more powerful and serrated they got, the more their Larvae required sustenance. This was a problem that needed to be solved soon.
Swarm-Timecine War[]
Beginning of the War[]
Sometime after Swarm's internal Trial, another civilization, which was a confederation of thousands of expansive space civilizations named Timecine, launched spontaneous attacks on all Swarm hideouts, with the desire to eliminate Swarm with a clean sweep genocide. Timecine perceived Swarm as a major threat to not only themselves but to life as a whole, as they witnessed Swarm launching wars targeting total annihilation of others. Timecine far greater numbers, their very powerful and destructive elite troops known as Battle Seraphs, and many other weaponry quickly pushed Swarm back and repeatedly killed its leaders.
Battle against Les[]
For the first time, the three sisters were challenged with such an existential threat, and they talked in Eiven's Crown Palace while licking their wounds.
"My troops are pushed back. I led the charge and slaughtered them in tens of thousands a day, but not enough to feed my Larva. More always came, they slay me, and I am running out of sagacity to draw power from and return each time they slay me. My Crown Palace is in ruins. I am nearing my end. I feel my Larva chewing on my Kernel." said Zetharath, wounded and weakened.
"I organize, scheme, trick, assassinate the leadership of Timecine, but not enough to feed my Larva. I had to feed off of my Crown Palace and destroy it to sustain myself. I can feel my Larva gnawing on my Kernel." said Hosnatul
"I too am responsible, and at my end. I led the war against Timecine, yet their Battle Seraphs killed me over and over, I dare not go out into the Middlescape, I am slayin' the moment I do. They do not hold back, they go all out as if their existence depends on it. Well, it does. But my sisters, we need to do something about this before we become Larva food."
"What can we do? We cannot even feed our Larvae. If we could, we could fight. But we are out of resources." Said Zetharat
"I know a way. Gnats. We have to slay one of the Nether Gnats, and the sagacity we draw from it shall give us sustenance to feed our Larvae, and then some. We shall gain what secrets they hold." proposed Eiven, determined and desperate
"Slay a Gnat? How?! They are stronger than us, more serrated, no? We cannot... Can we?" said Hosnatul
"If we do we will grow more serrated and live, if we fail we will be Larva food and perish. Simple and beautiful doctrine of Dagger Dogma," said Eiven
"Then let's engage! We shall attack and slay Les!" said Zetharath, desperate and eager for this attempt
"Then it is settled. We shall go and slay Les. Either we slay Les or we are slain." said Eiven, and they departed
The sisters arrived in the Crown Palace of Les, one of the Nether Gnats, who was very serrated and held great sagacity.
"Should I say welcome, o host ours? How is your bringing Trial going?" said Les, unwelcoming towards the Swarm sisters as he knows why they are here
"It is going well alright," said Zetharath, and was completed by Hosnatul saying "So well we decided to bring the Trial to you, o owner ours!"
Les' reply was interrupted by Eiven, who said "You Gnats have tricked us, and made us into your hosts. We were desperate. Sagacity should not be gifted but grasped. You gifted us Larvae, now they are killing us. You shall not gift us anything, we will grasp it from you."
"O hosts ours. Swarm sisters. You have not changed. You still are foolish. You don't know your place. Buzzing with arrogance yet lacking in wit. You stain my palace like a foul odor with your ignorance, arrogance, and weakness. Your words are grand, yet your resolve is as feeble as your intellect. I shall reward your insolence with finality.", before attacking
After a battle that lasted for thousands of years within the Crown Palace of Les, the sisters triumphed, with Eiven delivering the final blow. They were on the brink of death, with Zetharath and Hosnatul rendered unable to move due to starvation. They all gained enormous sagacity from this act, the act of slaying something like Les, but Eiven did the final blow, so she gained the most sagacity, as well as a secret Les held. She was altered. She was no longer Eiven, but Evyren. She still was the Matron of the Swarm, but now she also became something new, she became the Riven Matron.
End of the War[]
The sisters returned to the Middlescape, with the enormous power they attained, and the renewed Evyren led the charge. She became the Riven Matron and gained the power to Rive, rive things, and weave them back as her own. This allowed her to alter Timecine troops in large numbers and make them her own, infecting and taking over the Timecine. Despite this, Timecine was so vast and adaptive in their strategies, that it took Swarm over four million years to finish this war, after its end, Timecine was nearly totally rendered extinct, with its few survivors fleeing far away.
Homage Established[]
Timecine threat was eliminated, but the problem with feeding Larvae remained, so Evyren ordered a new code.
"I am Evyren, the Riven Matron. I have gained the power to rive all there is and weave them back as my own. My word is rule, and it shall be as follows."
"We have trouble feeding our Larvae. The more sagacity we gain and the more serrated we get, the more feeding Larvae need. To remedy this, I have prepared a method which I call Homage, or Homage method."
"You Drudge, newborn and lesser of the Swarm. You have yet to prove yourself. You shall participate in the doctrine of Dagger Dogma. You shall display your Trial. You shall take enough sagacity to feed your Larva and more to grow in power, and homage the rest to your superior Varlet who commands you."
"You Varlet, you have proven yourself and your Trial and have gathered enough sagacity to evolve into this position. You shall guide your Drudges in battle, you shall take enough sagacity to feed your Larva and take more to grow, also take the homages of your underlings, and homage to your own superior Brigand who commands you."
"You Brigand, proven elite of the Swarm. You have proven your worth time and time again, a master of warfare and bringer of Trial. You shall guide your Varlets and Drudges in battle, you shall take enough sagacity to feed your Larva and take more to grow, also take homages of your underlings, and home to your own superior Sublime who commands you. Remember, if you are too greedy, you might be killed, or applauded. Well done"
"You Sublime. You have been established eons ago. The most elevated of the Swarm, you have proven yourself more than any before, you have grown more than any before, you have more sagacity than any before, and you are more serrated than any before. You possess the power to carve your own Crown Palace. You shall only homage to those you must, or you don't if you dare. Well done."
Evyren as such established a form of tribute system called the Homage method, flowing from lower ranked Swarm to higher ranked one, as lower rank Larvae did not feel hunger as often as higher ranks do. This both served to make sure powerful Swarm will not quickly starve, but also make sure the more powerful, the more 'serrated' a Swarm is, the more homage they receive, thus growing even more powerful and serrated thanks to sagacity they receive in the form of Homages. It seemed there was no obstacle left for Swarm now, they were serrated and Larva's hunger issue was solved. They now searched more to bring the Trial to and sustain themselves more.
Swarm-Sentorn War[]
To test her new powers further as well as test the Homage method in a large-scale conflict, Swarm sought another large civilization they could bring the Trial to, but only wound small civilizations who had yet to leave their own planets. Nonetheless, those were made extinct or Riven. After many eons, they discovered the tracks of another civilization, one that they were looking for, one whose existence they knew from Timecine records, one that was known as Sentorn. Swarm immediately attacked associate planets of Sentorn right away, instigating the Swarm-Sentorn War in the process.
After many centuries of warfare, Sentorn home planet, Sentara, was the only territory they had that was intact. Protected by the Sentorn Emperor named Larkogeth. A being so powerful he could single-handedly prevent entire Swarm fleets containing millions of troops from destroying Sentara, even getting too close to it. Eventually, Evyren led the charge alongside her sisters and drove Larkogeth outside of Sentara, pushing him to fight them head-on. She deactivated her Rive to test the power of this mighty Emperor. Larkogeth was immensely powerful. Greater than any sister individually. He could die, but not stay dead, but he lacked the means to kill the leaders of Swarm either. Evyren was pleased with the power Larkogeth displayed and reactivated her Rive, she later reshaped Larkogeth and fused him with a sword, gifting the sword to her sister Zetharath, as which she named Sword of Strife.
This test was successful, the Homage method worked as intended and none of the Sublime Swarm or other high-ranking Swarm were at risk of starvation. This was good, as it was intended.
Gilded Severance[]
Swarm soon encountered another large expansive space civilization named Estibathi, ruling from their home planet Estibath. Evyren decided to skip the early wars and directly bring the Trial to their focal world Estibath, she managed to open a portal to her Crown Palace on top of Estibath and attempted to overrun the planet, crippling Estibathi's potency to retaliate. Her strategy resulted in billions of Estibathi being made extinct or Riven. She was soon challenged by Estibathi Emperor, Bethtashi, who grappled and easily threw Evyren to space, and followed her, launching great and terrible energy beams at her and inflicting significant damage. Evyren was impressed by the power of Bethtashi, thus Bethtashi was Riven by Evyren, who proceeded to Rive much more. She controlled Bethtashi's power to render Estibathi unable to reproduce, thus Estibathi was made extinct everywhere, with Bethtashi being sole surviving Estibathi, as a Riven.
Evyren crushing an entire civilization all by herself prompted her sisters, Zetharath and Hosnatul, to propose splitting up., so they could cover more areas and also can grow themselves, as they claimed Evyren was taking up too much space. This split eventually established the separation of different branches of the Swarm, who were already at war with one another to bring the Trial to one another. These factions would later be known as Covens. Powerful Swarm, especially if Sublime, could spawn their own Coven loyal to themselves and act independently. The separation of even the three inseparable sisters motivated many other powerful Swarm to spawn their own Coven and operate on their own, causing Swarm to be even more decentralized.
Attack of the Yekks[]
Soon after this split, Evyren decided to further organize her Crown Palace and permanently assign her stronger Riven as well as her other underlings, to protect it both from others as well as from the Swarm who may target it. After all, for Evyren, the sole significant connection is the attempt to annihilate. Her sisters and other powerful Swarm will and shall come after her to annihilate her, takeover her Crown Palace, and render her less serrated, and she shall survive to grow more serrated. That was the Swarm's way.
First, Evyren, while in her Crown Palace, dreamed of the correct and ideal form of tenacity in the form of a card, and thus it manifested, the tenacity, with its Kernel and all. Later, she named this card a 'gate', defining it as the sole gate and the only way to get into her Crown Palace, even for herself. Later, she took this gate and went into the Middlescape, where she gathered remains of an unsuccessful world that could not withstand a Trial, manifested it into a massive pyramid, bought it into her Crown Palace, and defined it as 'home', thus the pyramid contained her Crown Palace rather than the other way around. She later fused this 'Pyramid' and 'Gate' to form the Pyragate.
Thus Pyragate arrived. It is a large, large structure, dwarfing many planets. Spaceship. Shaped like a pyramid, it contains her Crown Palace within itself, despite Crown Palace being infinitely larger than Pyragate's exterior appearance. This way, she made it so that anyone who wished to infiltrate and attack her Crown Palace only had one path to it, Pyragate, and it was now guarded by the most powerful individuals of her Coven as well as the Riven. After Evyren finished situating many of her powerful champions, commanders, and even some of her children, into the Pyragate to make sure it is defended, she went into the Middlescape to bring Trial to an enigmatic civilization known as Ashabatane.
It was shortly [several centuries] after her departure that Yekks, who managed to detect the Pyragate's location, launched an invasion to conquer it and make it theirs, likely triggered and intrigued by the fact that they could not directly manifest inside the Crown Palace itself. Evyren's Coven situated in her Pyragate fought the Yekks for millennia and had the upper hand until Yekks manifested a new Yekk named Slaya, Knife Accumulation, who was able to not only successfully utilize the Yekk's Glare on the powerful Swarm that defended the Pyragate, but through that, it was able to comprehend, believe, and steal the Dagger Dogma from the Swarm and utilize it against defenders of the Pyragate. Next several millennia would see a stalemate until Evyren returned after having delivered the Trial to Ashabatane and immediately overwhelmed the Yekk presence in the vicinity, defeating and chasing them away near the moment she returned. Yekks never approached near the Pyragate again. Slaya, who Evyren was interested in, was able to escape as it fled at the same time as Evyren arrived.
Nihakara Ship Conquest[]
Evyren was pursuing a massive spaceship colony called Nihakara and was running away from her and her Coven but was strong enough to repel and evade many of her powerful champions. Intrigued, she decided to personally track it down herself. Deep down, she was hoping to see something interesting, something that could somewhat stand against her Trial, even though it must break eventually.
When Evyren discovered the Nihakara and overwhelmed its exterior defenses, she was unimpressed but not surprised. Once she entered the ship she saw something somewhat interesting. She was immediately attacked by various other Swarm, or 'folded caricature' and 'cheap imitation' of Swarm as she described them, but was still enough to impress her. She quickly lost her interest, and all the Swarm 'imitations' that attacked her were Riven.
At the core of the ship, she found Slaya, who started attacking her with all the might it had. Evyren, bored and waiting, did not retaliate and gave Slaya some time to make something interesting in its last moments. After a brief [several decades] period of patient waiting on Evyren's part, Slaya finally used her famous Glare and formed an 'imitation' of Evyren herself, or what Evyren used to be.
Evyren was Incomprehensible for Slaya to properly Emulate in her current state as per Slaya's own deduction, so Slaya resorted to using the Emulation she gathered by subtracting all the Incomprehensible parts from Evyren to form a manifestation - Eivesh. Slaya manifested an Eivesh, just before she took the Larva.
Upon seeing this Eivesh 'imitation', Evyren was both upset and happy, angry and calm, curious and bored, all at once. She responded to dozens of questions Eivesh threw at her with patience, something she would not do otherwise. As Eivesh started wailing and experiencing a mental breakdown, Evyren decided she saw all she needed and Slaya was Riven, but its personality and free will were wholly made intact aside from obeying Evyren. Eivesh was also Riven in the same fashion as Slaya, but it was not destroyed. After Slaya took her new, ideal form, Evyren tasked it to join the defenders of her Pyragate. Eivesh manifestation, however, was separated from Slaya. Evyren was still interested in it, so she gave a new name to this 'cheap imitation' as she called it. The new name she gave to was "Eshive", inscribing this name on Eshive's hand in Riven Rot, Evyren later threw Eshive away to the depths of space using Pathfinder, separating Eshive's connection with herself and purposefully losing track of her. Evyren had gifted Riven to others before and separated connection and even let Riven go rogue without tracking them, but this was the first time Evyren totally abandoned a Riven and threw it away like this. The final words of Evyren echoed in Eshive's mind just as she lost her consciousness, drifting into space.
"Eshive, I carved this name onto you. Are you real or a phantom? Are you me? Do you think you're me? Listen, this is your first and last decree from me. Return to me mighty and in triumphant glory, or fade into obscurity to be erased from memory!"
Edict of Evyren[]
Evyren, while studying the nature of the powers of which her Larva was a source, learned more about it. The secrets and history that Nether Gnats kept hidden from the Swarm, he was able to unravel them. Instead of hiding the information she gained, she wrote an edict for all Swarm to read, embrace, believe, and practice.
"My Swarm, my swords and shields. None can stand against you, all failed. We prove our Trial, again and again, we grow more serrated. I have learned the truth, truth about this nature, the nature of Dagger Dogma and Larvae ours, and the power we gained from them. We practice Dagger Dogma, one of the principles that this Middlescape is run by, or any other Realm one is capable enough to enforce it. However, the power and serration we attain from our Larvae are not fully related to Dagger Dogma. These Larvae all have a connection to one of the Nether Gnats. Not the ones we met, but another one we never saw. That one Gnat in turn has a connection to another... Being, which I also have discovered the existence of. I am observing this being, and as I look into it, I can feel it looking back at me. I feel it has many names, but shines with one; The Settler. Know this. Know this name."
Although millions of years have passed and both the physiology and psychology of the Swarm now are vastly different than what they once were many years ago, Swarm still individually also identified as humans. They didn't forget where they came from and what they were in the past, and still actively identified with it despite being nearly totally different than how humans were before the pact with the Nether Gnats.
Gnusian War and Herding[]
Swarm have long entered the territory of yet another expansive civilization, another they were going to Trial to make extinct. This time, it was known as Gnusia. This civilization is led by exceptionally quick-developing and resilient Gnusians. The early stages of the war were very successful attacks on Gnusian planets and territories that caused billions of Gnusians to be made extinct, but after merely a few decades, Gnusians launched a staggering counterattack, pushing Swarm expansion back and inflicting heavy casualties. This was so significant that not only Evyren but even Zetharath and Hosnatul were made aware of it. Gnusians were indeed a capable force, who were able to quickly adapt to the ways of the Swarm and develop further in reaction to the overwhelming force they were struck by.
Gnusians stalled the Swarm forces for nearly a century until Evyren decided to personally intervene with her Rive, carrying the Swarm to victory once more as she did against the Timecine. After Evyren joined the battle, the power to Rive showed its absolute nature once more, subverting huge chunks of Gnusian forces and rendering them Riven. After a few centuries, only Gnusia, the capital world of Gnusians, was remaining. Evyren wished to annihilate this world and render Gnusians wholly extinct, but she was stopped by her sister, Hosnatul, who had different plans with Gnusians.
"Dear sister, we unleashed our Trial on the Gnusians and rendered them at the brink of extinction. But, I, your sister, have another idea, something else we can do with the remains of the Gnusians." Said Hosnatul
"Sister, you know what we are and what we abide by. Gnusians failed their Trial, and they should be rendered extinct accordingly. But I know of your shrewd nature, so do tell me what your idea is." said Evyren
"Subjugation. This is my idea, dear sister," said Hosnatul
"Subjugation? How does it benefit us and our cause, dear sister, do tell me," asked Evyren
"Oh, sister mine. You have seen how quickly the Gnusians can grow to maturity, develop, and raise their own power to match any threats they face. They were exceptionally weak when we first saw them, but their forces quickly adapted to have the necessary power and agility needed to match our forces, to the point this war would have been an eternal stalemate if it wasn't for you and your ability to Rive." said Hosnatul, pointing at the planet Gnusia, and continued
"The intriguing thing about Gnusians is not only their fast growth rate but also how little the amount of resources they need to adapt and grow. We can use it for our own purposes, oh sister mine." Hosnatul added
"I see now, you suggest we keep them alive, have them rebuild, and Trial them again to gain sagacity?" asked Evyren
"That is accurate. I propose we gather their spores, I believe I can make their development time even faster, so they can grow faster. I propose to establish this as a farm. Sister, if we make all life extinct with our Trials, who will we Trial to after that? We would perish, consumed by our Larvae. We need this method." said Hosnatul
"I understand. I agree that we may eventually reach a point where we have no more enemies left to Trial against. I agree with your proposal. Gnusians are yours, do as you will. I will not use such methods until all my proper enemies are rendered extinct by my Trial." said Evyren, and departed.
Evyren hesitantly agreed with her sister, she still perceived it to be a cheap method to gain sagacity. This Gnusian method Hosnatul was talking about came to be known as the Herding. However, after a few centuries, it became clear that raising lives to Trial against them did not produce too much sagacity, as one could say it was a loophole of the Dagger Dogma. Swarm Covens who set up Fielings could only gain enough sagacity to feed about half of the hunger of their Larva. It seems Evyren was right at the end, and she anticipated that soon or later Swarm would gain no sagacity from this method whatsoever, she understood that killing a subjugated people who only exist to be killed later on is not a proper way of Trial. She proposed an alteration to Herding, telling her sister to free the Gnusians instead of keeping them subjugated, that way they can grow more and the Trial against them would bring in more sagacity, and the battles against them would be real battles. This new
Personality[]
Eivesh was a very determined and ambitious person. She was very excited to succeed her father and lead Orosa to greater heights alongside her sisters. She wished for the unification of scattered divided humanity on Crag and possibly eventual global unification of Crag under one Coalition, eventually to expand into the stars. Her dreams were very ambitious and her sisters considered her to be very idealistic, as she was dreaming of near impossibilities. She had love and care for people around her, for her sisters, her family, and her people in Orosa, and a desire to make things better for all she deemed 'her people' which was not limited by humanity.
Eivesh, like her sisters, was also a very competitive person who never backed up from a challenge, actively pushing herself more and more and training harder than anyone else alongside her sisters. She was so confident and stubborn in regards to her abilities, that she would not accept even when she lost. This is evident when Evyren, a teenager, engaged in duels against a friend named Tvasya who was five years older than her over twelve times over the course of two months until she managed to knock him down eventually at the twelfth duel, proving her determination and growth to both herself and people around her. She has the philosophy of doing something as good as she can or not doing it at all, If she were to lead Orosa, she should lead it better than anyone else before or fail trying. This was her idea. After the coup and exile, Eivesh's psyche was dragged into despair as she believed she was going to die an exile, unable to take revenge.
After the agreement with Nether Gnats and transforming into Eiven finally to Evyren, her ambition gained an aspect of ruthlessness and would result in her killing her targets, even though she was sad about it. She wasn't necessarily sad about killing, but the fact that she was enjoying the thrill of battle, this made her feel worse. Eventually, she would come to terms with her ruthless and violent nature and embrace it, unleashing her Trial on all those unfortunate enough to see her. Evyren would actively hold back to make sure her opponents could do something to impress her, evident with her not immediately dealing with Slaya but waiting for decades to see something interesting out of it and her responding to questions of 'cheap imitation' Eivesh
Evyren is also a very curious person. She has a desire to understand the very nature of reality itself, and how all things function. Always seeking to see something she had not seen before, she, for the first time abandoned a Riven which was Eshive just to see how it would turn out, deliberately losing track of her to eventually track her down to see what she could do, and actively expecting her to return mighty so she can have a challenge.
Powers and Stats[]
Tier: At least 5-C. 5-B with Regicide | 2-A
Key: Within the Middlescape | Within her Crown Palace/Outside of the Middlescape
Name: "Evyren, the Riven Matron", "Eiven, Matron of the Swarm" (formerly), "Eivesh" (formerly)
Origin: Crestseal
Gender: Female
Age: Millions of years old
Classification: Human, Swarm, Crownbearer, Sublime Swarm, Leader of the Retinue of Evyren, Master of the Riven
Powers and Abilities:
- Phanon Control (Full)
- Superhuman Physical Characteristics
- Genius Intelligence
- Immortality (Types 1, 2, 3, 4, and 9; Swarms have endless lifespan allowing them to survive even fatal injuries such as decapitation indefinitely, and can heal their wounds as long as they gain sagacity or and receive Homages through Dagger Dogma. As a Sublime Swarm and a Crownbearer, everything aside from her physical body is inherently located in her Crown Palace, and will return as long as she is not killed in her Crown Palace)
- BFR (Like other Crownbearers, she can pull her targets into her own Crown Palace)
- Resurrection (As a Sublime Swarm, Evyren can resurrect herself and revive her body in Crown Palace as long as she is not killed in her Crown Palace)
- Regeneration (High-Mid; Superior to Varlet Swarm who can repair themselves after being cut to hundreds of pieces via sagacity/Homages they can gain through Dagger Dogma)
- Reactive Power Level (All Swarm abide by the principle of Dagger Dogma, which allows them to grow more powerful by engaging in Trial; acts of violence, devastation, and particularly killing)
- Law Manipulation (Dagger Dogma is defined as one of the principles of Middlescape, its effects on reality are far more potent than those of the Rulemakers)
- Self-Sustenance (Types 1, 2, and 3; Swarm subsist off of Trial alone through abiding Dagger Dogma)
- Power Absorption (Through Dagger Dogma, Evyren can gain powers of all those she kills)
- Acausality (Type 2; Swarm are Nonlogical due to their connection to the Nether Gnats. Nonlogical beings, at their most basic, are singularities and wholly detached from their past and future)
- Curse Manipulation, Disease Manipulation and Pain Manipulation (Swarm can utilize Sufferstrike which curses their targets and causes them to be infected by a disease that causes immense pain on a Kernel scale)
- Statistics Amplification (Swarm constantly receive Homages from their underlings and thus grow stronger)
- Dimensional Travel (Swarm utilize Pathfinder to travel between Tumults. Powerful Swarm and Sublime Swarm can venture outside of a Scape or to different Scapes)
- Fragrance Manipulation, Camouflage, and Stealth Mastery (Swarm can utilize Whispershade, allowing them to control their body texture, color, and scent, can make it so that they have no scent, allowing them to sneak up on their enemies)
- Acid Manipulation, Adhesive Manipulation and Corrosion Inducement (Swarm produce Swarmgoo, a highly sticky, acidic and corrosive substance)
- Flight/Spaceflight (Swarm can do battle in outer space and fly in it), Darkness Manipulation and Power Absorption (Sublime Swarm can utilize Shadowfall to form a radius of darkness around themselves from which they can absorb all light as well as powers and abilities of their targets that are inside the Shadowfall)
- Mathematics Manipulation and Probability Manipulation (Voice of a Sublime Swarm can exude Quantimorph, which can cause two distinct numbers to have equal value. Through which they can alter the probability of events)
- Durability Negation and Spatial Manipulation (Can cut and pierce through space with Swarm Chopper)
- Deconstruction (Can atomize targets with Swarm Dispenser)
- Forcefield Creation (Can manifest a forcefield around itself with Swarm Shield)
- Martial Arts and Mastery of Melee and Ranged Weapons (Verseduelists exhibit exceptional expertise in various different combat arts including wrestling, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, and sambo to the point of knowing and fully mastering every single application of these combat arts and knowing everything these arts can ever be used to achieve. They also are very proficient across various combat disciplines involving close-ranged weapons like swords and spears, as well as proficiency in marksmanship with firearms and rifles the same way)
- Afterimage Creation (Miragestriders can leave numerous afterimages that look identical to confuse and disorient)
- Enhanced Senses, Extrasensory Perception and Non-Physical Interaction (Sensethrusters masters have heightened senses allowing them to sense smallest details down the size of atoms, and can sense clearly from kilometers away, can interact with and harm unphysical phenomena such as emotions, smoke, shadows, as well as beings of Contour)
- Body Control and Natural Weaponry (Morphforgers have atomic control over their own physique, allowing them to manifest weapons out of it and mitigate blunt damage by readjusting)
- Sound Control, Instinctive Action, and Acrobatics (Hypermobility, All-Terrain Mobility, Self-Momentum, Surface Running; Mentalweavers can instinctively react to incoming attacks by dodging or blocking and launch a counter attack even when no longer alive, capable of performing hundreds of rapid jumps and flips both in-ground and in the air, move through any terrain and glide in the air with maximum efficiency, move in a way that is not affected by air friction to perform instant full-speed movement without acceleration, and move in a way that makes no sound)
- Analytical Prediction (Precogazers can attain a clear insight into the movements of their targets by simply looking at their present state)
- Information Analysis (Fullreaders can accurately glean information about individuals or objects, decipher their capabilities, combat methods, and their present intent with seemingly as little effort as a mere gaze, and prepare to counter what they were able to glean to the best of their abilities)
- Perception Manipulation (Knows Rapidaware, which massively enhances awareness of the user, allowing her to pay far greater attention and reach and respond to phenomena far faster than herself normally)
- Causality Manipulation, Information Manipulation (Type 2), Power Bestowal, Healing, Corruption (Type 2), Possession, Body Puppetry, Mind Manipulation, Transmutation, Resurrection and Necromancy via Rive (Rive is a Nonlogical Method that transforms its targets into Riven, devotedly loyal servants of Evyren, which also heals their wounds and grants certain new abilities. This works on a Kernel scale)
- Telekinesis (Master of Telekinesis, can utilize it to instantly crush or restrain her targets via a thought)
- Fear Manipulation, Madness Manipulation (Type 3), Existence Erasure, Void Manipulation, Radiation Manipulation, Status Effect Inducement, Statistics Reduction (As the Riven Matron, Evyren has access to Riven Craze, Riven Rot, and Riven Cry)
- Summoning (Swarm can Summon other Swarm. Evyren can summon most of those in her Coven, she can also summon the Riven)
- Existence Erasure, Regeneration Negation (Up to High-Godly) and Immortality Negation (Types 1, 3, 4, 5, and 8; Evyren can utilize Obliteract, which obliterates her targets down to their Kernels. Denying their immortality, Evyren can permanently obliterate beings of Contour as well as certain high-ranked Yekks who can recover from such scale of destruction. Much weaker users of Obliteract among the Swarm can permanently annihilate high-ranking Sentinels and their Spurs)
- Transformation (Can transform into her Regicide form)
All prior on a greater extent (Within her Crown Palace, Crownbearers are able to utilize the full extent of their abilities not restricted by Middlescape's alteration)
Minus:
- Immortality (Type 9)
Plus:
- Abstract Existence (Type 1; Crownbearers exist as "contours" and are not made out of matter)
- Higher-Dimensional Existence (4-D; Crownbearers are vast in a way that Tumults, who can contain True Margins, endlessly expansive structures, including their past, present, and future, are of insignificant size compared to them)
- Greater Regeneration (High-Godly; While in their Crown Palace, Crownbearers have regeneration greater than that of Ashkalaar's Penchants, who can recover after the annihilation of their Kernels)
- Subjective Reality, Reality Warping, Creation, and Law Manipulation (Interior nature of her Crown Palace, down to its Kernel and rules, are governed by the whims of the Crownbearer)
- Transmutation (Crownbearers can alter the shapes and nature of all that is within their Crown Palace)
- Matter Manipulation (Macro-Quantum; All Matter submits to the whims of the Crownbearer within their Crown Palace, down to the Quarks)
- Time Stop (Time only moves if the Crownbearer wills it to move within Crown Palace as per their whim)
Resistance to Analytical Prediction (Precogazers can resist Precogaze of those comparable to themselves), Information Analysis [Fullreaders can resist Fullread of those comparable to themselves), Subjective Reality, Precognition, Retrocognition, Causality Manipulation, Power Mimicry, Duplication (Yekks cannot emulate Nonlogical beings), Regeneration Negation (Up to High-Godly) and Immortality Negation (Types 1, 3, 4, 5, and 8; Nothing happens and can still heal herself when she is hit by Obliteract of others, notably that of her sisters), Power Absorption (Powerful Swarm like Evyren can override Dagger Dogma's doctrine of losing powers to those that kills them), Causality Manipulation, Information Manipulation (Type 2), Power Bestowal, Healing, Corruption (Type 2), Possession, Body Puppetry, Mind Manipulation, Transmutation (Unaffected by Rive). Immunity to Soul Manipulation (Swarm do not have souls)
Attack Potency: At least Moon level+ (Evyren is a Special Rank 1 and she overwhelmed several Broatative Probe-rank Yekks singlehandedly). Planet level with Regicide (Evyren is 200 times stronger while in her Regicide form) | Multiverse level+ (Evyren is a Sublime Swarm and a Crownbearer. A Crownbearer is someone who is powerful enough to carve out a Crown Palace for themselves. Crown Palace is equal in size to a Scape, which contains an endless stream of Tumults)
Speed: At least Subsonic movement speed with at least Relativistic combat speed and reactions (Can keep up with Cavils, Yekks) | Unknown
Lifting Strength: At least Pre-Stellar (Overwhelmed several Broadative Probe-rank Yekks) | Infinite (Superior to many of the other Sublime Swarm, who are equal or superior to Trueyekks)
Striking Strength: At least Moon level+ (Evyren is a Special Rank 1 and she overwhelmed several Broatative Probe-rank Yekks singlehandedly). Planet level with Regicide (Evyren is 200 times stronger while in her Regicide form) | Multiverse level+ (Evyren is a Sublime Swarm and a Crownbearer. A Crownbearer is someone who is powerful enough to carve out a Crown Palace for themselves. Crown Palace is equal in size to a Scape, which contains an endless stream of Tumults)
Durability: At least Moon level+ (Evyren is a Special Rank 1 and she overwhelmed several Broatative Probe-rank Yekks singlehandedly). Planet level with Regicide (Evyren is 200 times stronger while in her Regicide form), higher with Swarm Shield (Swarm Shield can block attacks that can severely damage or defeat the user) | Multiverse level+
Stamina: Superhuman to Infinite. Sublime Swarm can keep acting and draw power from her Crown Palaces if need be
Range: Extended Melee Range, Tens of Meters via Swarmgoo (Swarmgoo can be thrown to sixty meters), Several Kilometers via Shadowfall and Rive (Shadowfall can be utilized in a range of three kilometers, Rive is always active around up to five kilometers radius around Evyren), Interdimensional via Pathfinder (Can move between different Tumults and venture outside of Middlescape) | Multiversal+ + Interdimensional (Sublime Swarm can cover their entire Crown Palace, which is as expansive as a Scape)
- Swarm Bomber: Swarm Bomber is one of the kinds of Swarm weaponry. It is a mid-range weapon, with an effective range of around 300 meters. This weapon can launch explosive bullets which can cause highly destructive explosive blasts that can cover a large area. Usually an explosion. Usually, an explosion can cover up to 30 meters all the while maintaining its damage output at a maximum
- Swarm Chopper: Swarm Chopper is one of the kinds of Swarm weaponry. It is a close-range weapon. It has two versions, one is a long blade, and the other is a battle axe, depending on the preference of its wielder. It can be used as a conduit for increased chopping capability, allowing users to cut and pierce space itself, and any foe that exists in that space. Swarm Chopper can cut the space up to 7 meters away from the user.
- Swarm Dispenser: Swarm Dispenser is one of the kinds of Swarm weaponry. It is a long-range weapon, with an effective range of over 3 kilometers. This weapon can launch dissolving bullets which can cause the dissolving of any target it hits. The bullets, upon hitting the target, the bullet dissolves and causes atoms to separate from one another, eroding the target. The bullet has this effect up to at least 20 centimeters around the area of its impact.
- Swarm Shield: Swarm Shield is one of the kinds of Swarm weaponry. It is a defensive weapon and can either be directly used to block attacks or manifest a forcefield around the user to form an all-encompassing protection for a brief time. It is strong enough to block attacks that can severely wound or defeat the user and still not be damaged by it.
Intelligence: Extraordinary Genius. Evyren is a high-ranking Swarm and has led the Swarm for millions of years, capable of comprehending and understanding various Nonlogical phenomena without any issues, the same phenomena that were totally incomprehensible to even the most intelligent minds of humanity prior to the Gnat Agreement. Her intellect far exceeds most other Swarm, whose lesser members are geniuses in their own right who are able to comprehend Dagger Dogma, and eventually grew to have enough sagacity to comprehend and carve out an entire Crown Palace for herself, while even the most basic knowledge about such nature appears to be completely incomprehensible to not only humans of a most brilliant mind but even to the Yekks.
Standard Tactics:
Evyren does what is most effective as per her Precogaze, though her favorite leading moves are Rive or Shadowfall
Weaknesses: Swarm can be starved off if unable to Trial to sustain their Larva, though this can take a long time, otherwise None notable
Notable Attacks/Techniques:
- Swarm: Evyren is a Swarm, and as a Swarm, she has access to several abilities
- Dagger Dogma: Dagger Dogma is a signature Method and core philosophical doctrine of the Swarm which they abide by. It is also a principle of Middlescape and affects reality in a similar way to Rulemakers do, but innately far more potent. It dictates that persistence is only possible through passing successful Trials, which are often described as acts of violence, devastation, and especially killing. Through abiding by this doctrine, a Swarm can gain sagacity through successful Trials to grow stronger as well as heal their wounds as long as they can gain more sagacity. They do not need anything else aside from successful Trials to sustain themselves. Dagger Dogma also allows the user to steal the powers of those they kill, even if it is not a true death, as per its doctrine they still prove the superiority of the Trial of their own and thus are deemed more worthy of those powers, this extends to not only specific Methods but also knowledge and memories. Those who are more proficient with Dagger Dogma are capable of preventing having their powers stolen even after their death, be a true death or a false death, as Evyren, Hosnatul, and Zetharath are capable of preventing each other from gaining the powers of their own despite having killed one another countless times and growing serrated through it.
- Homage: Established by Evyren, this is lower-ranked Swarm paying Homage, a portion of the power they gain from Trial to higher-ranked ones. As a Sublime Swarm in charge of an entire Covern, Evyren receives an enormous amount of Homages that not only strengthen her but can also heal her further
- Resilience: Swarm are highly resilient and can survive and remain functional even when cut into many pieces, Evyren in particular remain functional and recover after being split into hundreds of pieces. Her disembodied mind remains active after her body is destroyed, allowing her to use all her abilities that do not require her body to exist, most notably Rive
- Sustenance: Swarm do not need to eat or breathe as long as they can Trial, as they subsist off of Trial alone
- Sufferstrike: Swarm are capable of cursing their targets with their strikes even if these strikes don't properly connect, causing them to be affected by various ailments. These ailments, while initially starting weak, can build up and eventually cause extreme pain to the point of driving the cursed to end themselves.
- Whispershade: Swarm, by utilizing Whispershade, can control the texture, color, and scent of themselves, or completely erase their scent. This allows them to sneak up on their enemies, with capable Swarm being able to sneak up on crowded rooms of enemies and not get noticed until they wish to be noticed
- Pathfinder: Swarm are capable of traveling through different Tumults within the Middlescape. Powerful Swarm and Sublime Swarm can venture outside of the Middlescape and to other Scapes
- Summoner: All Swarm can summon other Swarm to aid them in battle, while it usually takes some time and generally they can only summon those in the command of their own, who are always weaker than themselves; Brigands can summon Varlets under their command, and Varlets can summon dozens of Drudges under their command. Evyren can summon anyone from her own Coven, she can also summon the Riven.
- Sublime Swarm: Evyren is a Sublime Swarm, those who carved a Crown Palace for themselves and can survive as long as they are not killed in it. While in Crown Palace they can also utilize their full powers unrestrained by Middlescape's alteration
- Shadowfall: Sublime Swarm can utilize Shadowfall, a radius of darkness around themselves that absorbs all light, as well as abilities of any target that is within its vicinity
- Quantimorph: Sublime Swarm can utilize Quantimorph via their voice. This allows them to make it so that two distinct numbers have equal value, which they primarily use to alter the probability of things. by making it so that 1 is the same as 100, a 1% probability can be made into 100%. Evyren can 'make the impossible possible' via her potent Quantimorph
- Swarmgoo: Swarmgoo is a highly acidic, corrosive, and sticky material Swarm produce through their elbows and mouths. The purpose of Swarmgoo is unknown though it might be a pheromone. Swarm can weaponize it by spiting it to their targets
- Body Fusion Swarm can fuse and reside within the bodies of each other. This however is limited to other Swarm, and only if they allow it.
- Proficiency: Evyren is a highly proficient and battle-hardened master of warfare who has been active for millions of years in near-constant war. She is a master of several proficiency paths.
- Versaduelist: Verseduelists exhibit exceptional expertise in various combat arts to the point of knowing and fully mastering every single application of these combat arts and knowing everything these arts can ever be used to achieve. They also are very proficient across various combat disciplines involving close-range weapons, as well as extensive knowledge in marksmanship with various weapons/abilities
- Sensethruster: Sensethrusters have exceptionally heightened senses. They can perceive their surroundings down to an atomic scale, and usually in a radius around them. They can perceive sounds and sights from kilometers away. They can see, interact with, and harm unphysical phenomena such as smoke, shadows, and beings of Contour as if they are solid or physical
- Morphforger: Morphforgers have extensive control over their own physique down to an atomic level. These characters can alter their shape considerably, conjure weapons out of their body, and even partially counteract blunt force damage by readjusting their structure.
- Mentalweaver: Mentalweavers can effectively control their bodies like puppets guided by their mind rather than conventional movement. For these individuals, the thought of moving is the same as moving itself, and there is no delay between the mind and the body. This allows them to perform hundreds of rapid jumps and flips both in-ground and in the air, move through any terrain and glide in the air with maximum efficiency, move in a way that is not affected by air friction to perform instant full-speed movement without acceleration, and move in a way that makes no sound. They can also innately react to any incoming attack by dodging and launching a counterattack, even when no longer alive or conscious
- Miragestrider: Miragestriders can manifest numerous afterimages with their movement that perfectly replicate their own form, creating a perplexing and disorienting effect on opponents.
- Precogazer: Precogazers have exceptional clarity and understanding of their surroundings, they can not only gain clear insight into the physical movements as well as incoming attacks that do not require physical movement on the fly but can also predict the possible intent of their targets before they even have that intent simply by looking at their present state once
- Fullreader: Fullreaders can accurately glean information about individuals or objects, decipher their capabilities, combat methods, and their present intent with seemingly as little effort as a mere gaze, and prepare to counter what they were able to glean to the best of their abilities
- Rapidaware: Evyren can utilize Rapidaware, a technique that allows user to massively enhance their attention. With this Method she can react and respond to phenomena that are far faster than her normally. She used this to keep up with phenomena that previously saw her as unmoving statue in the past
- Rive: Evyren's signature and most powerful weapon is the Method to Rive, earned after she killed Les. Defined by Evyren to be the 'purest, most ideal form', Rive is a Nonlogical weapon that, with a simple gesture, allows her to 'rive' her targets and 'weave' them back as she pleases, which is to totally reshape her targets down to their Kernels, fundamentally redefining them and remaking them as Riven, loyal servants of herself. This also grants several new Methods depending on the target and always heals wounds. It functions on robots, corpses, and beings of Contour. Rive is always active in up to five kilometers around Evyren, actively channeling it makes it noticeably more potent. Although all Riven have their wills broken and remade to serve the whims of Evyren, some of the Riven were able to retain some kind of independent thought, though this is mostly because Evyren allowed them to maintain them intriguing. Evyren is also able to summon those she has Riven forming beings that exist 'in between lives and deaths' and can sustain themselves without needing anything at all
- Riven Matron: Evyren is the Riven Matron, and the innate effects all Riven possesses derive from her own status as the Riven Matron. She can utilize Methods of the Riven despite not being a Riven herself
- Riven Craze: A Riven's mere presence is enough to cause malfunctions in the mind as well as eventual fear in all those who can perceive it. Prolonged exposure to a Riven's existence can cause insanity and eventual destruction of the Mind
- Riven Rot: Riven Rot is a type of gaseous, blue-ish substance that partially colors and is also leaked out of a Riven's body in the form of smoke or vapor. Riven Rot is very toxic and radioactive. Can affect senses to cause blindness and cause malfunctions in other senses such as balance, touch, and hearing, as well as can weaken whatever comes into contact with it. And most significantly it can gradually erase the reality around it by causing it to shrink away from itself, leaving behind a field of unreality, along with any substance it comes across. All Riven are unaffected by Riven Rot. Riven Rot only has these effects in several meters (up to ten meters) of the Riven it is being exuded by.
- Riven Rot Control: While most Rivens unconsciously exude Riven Rot and are unable to control it, thus making it not very effective and lacking range. Evyren can utilize it and weaponize it better. She can control the Riven Rot vapor, liquefy or solidify it, and fuse it with its other abilities to use it more effectively
- Riven Cry: Screams of a Riven activates Riven Cry, which is a scream so intense that it can fracture material such as plastic and harm blood vessels on any target near a Riven (up to 30 meters)
- Telekinesis: Evyren is a capable user of Telekinesis, so much so that she can immediately restrain, ragdoll, and crush her enemies via manifesting Telekinetic force on them with her thoughts alone
- Obliteract: Evyren can utilize Obliteract. This Method allows her to annihilate any and all targets she lands her attacks on, down to their Kernels. Those other Swarm who utilize Obliteract on a much lower scale than herself can permanently annihilate Broatative Probe Yekks who can recover from Kernel-scale annihilation as well as high-ranking Sentinels and their Spurs
- Regicide: Evyren can transform into a form called Regicide. This form is 200 times stronger than her normal form.
- Pull: Evyren is a Crownbearer and as such possesses her own Crown Palace. Like others, she can pull her targets into her own Crown Palace and force them to combat her far stronger "true form". The process of pulling is similar to being teleported. Because mechanics of Pyragate, she cannot pull the target's physical body but can pull their unphysical aspects.
- Whim: (Crown Palace alone) Evyren is a Sublime Swarm, a Crownbearer who carved a Crown Palace of her own. Crownbearers, while within their Crown Palace, alongside them not being restrained by Middlescape's alteration and being able to utilize their powers at full potential, can control, create, alter, and rule their Crown Palace and all that exists within it as they please. They control the rules and nature of their Crown Palace, as well as nature, matters, and its time, as time never moves unless she whims it to move
Note 1: The 2-A Tiering on Evyren's second key reflects how powerful she is not only in her own Crown Palace but likely also in any location that is outside of Middlescape, which is why it is called "Outside of the Middlescape". As she was powerful enough to expand and carve a Crown Palace, which is a 2-A structure when she ventured outside of Middlescape.
Others[]
Notable Victories:
Notable Losses:
Inconclusive Matches