Seralkono, the Divine Tempest
Summary
From the fear of death sprung Kirichiki, but from the reverence of wind was Seralkono born. A veritable goddess, one can find her in a great many histories and religions, their sole divinity or a leader amongst a pantheon. Commanding such respect dragons and jiuweihu bow to her, Seralkono is an intensely polarizing figure no matter where she is. In one breath she is an icon of wild destruction, little rhyme or reason to her wanton destruction. In the other, she is a bringer of truths and a protector whose brutal nurturing engenders greatness or ruin. Sometimes, both at once. Enshrined high in the Heavens, she awaits within Schlaier. Yet all who owe tribute, any who come seeking her words, and those desperate to invoke her name, may soon be visited upon. In mighty winds she will descend, sternly bringing truths that are to be followed. Her wings will sweep away that which is unworthy and faithless; those who remain will soon fear the flooding rains. Through the veltron-sundering crucible she engenders, those who can embody her teachings arise toward greatness. Unique, perhaps, among many goddesses is her ambivalence toward doctrine. Seralkono embodies freedom in its truest expressions, decrying hierarchy and rules. Yet at the same time, some are meant to exist by providing the loosest form of structure. It can be said that she abides societies that offer more choice to a person's freedom as a consequence. Those who attempt to strangle them will earn her ire; the worst offenders are that much harder to find in history books. Over time, she has become a dangerous symbol of liberty and anti-slavery, one feared by rulers and adored by the oppressed. Worship around her became increasingly banned and outlawed. She vanished from most religions, but new ones cropped up around her. Sometimes an unofficial add-on, or an entirely new faith unto itself, the result was the same. The conflict between these two extremes sparked endless wars, rebellions, and civil unrest. To the modern day it still continues, although many have adapted ways of avoiding outright sectarian violence. At least, until the age of the Imperium. Imperious' ravenous ambitions for global conquest couldn't be ignored. For the first time in 'modern' history, Seralkono descended in great frequency, undermining and battling the tyrannical dragons every step of the way. Although joined by other goddesses, that many more fought beneath Imperious' rule, and their battlefields rewrote the face of Veltrona time and time again. Chief amongst her rivals stood Bloodwing, a wyvern that lived only for war. Yet if Bloodwing stood unbeatable in direct combat, Seralkono remained unmatched in wide-scale destruction. The near success of the Imperium and its downfall denoted a shift in Seralkono's engagement with the world. No longer relying upon others to invoke her, she takes leave of her temple, scouring Veltrona with a critical eye. If she is not called to evil as it will spring up, then she must find it herself. Another Imperium can never be allowed to arise, and her dutiful vigilance has carried on ever since. In that respect, Seralkono's awesome presence has left myth and legend, and become a very real force that others can no longer skirt around. Curious still is the changing nature of her teaching. Freedom remains paramount, but now she is demanding of prosperity as well. The two stand at odds with each other, but that is almost the norm where she is concerned. A welcome change to be sure, but her critics are somewhat speculative to the reasoning. Like all harpies, Seralkono does enjoy jewelry and shiny artwork, and her temple appears to be lacking in it recently.Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Imposingly gigantic and adorned in resplendent, beautiful feathers, Seralkono is a legendary Exalted amongst the cloud-kissed heavens. The entirety of her body is covered in varying degrees of said feathers, giving her a fluffy or sharply fierce visage, depending on her temperament. Shorter feathers cover the softer parts of her body, while her six wings can flex and display hundreds of large and grandiose ones.
Body Features
Seralkono's torso section is hardly and athletic, with supple breasts befitting of her frame. Like all harpies, her arms branch out into enormous wings, and hers are larger than normal amongst her kind. Upon her back, where her shoulder blades would meet, another set of wings emerge. Upon her lower back, just above the hips/buttocks, a third set of wings emerge. Altogether, her arm wings can be considered the 'top' pair, the shoulder wings the middle pair, and the lower back the, well, lower pair. A distinct, but small tail juts out of her rear, a triangular shaped fluff of flexible feathers covers some of her butt.
Her legs are typical in the harpy fashion, gradually transforming into hardy scales from the middle of the thigh and downward. Unlike others, Seralkono's lower legs are heavily draconic in nature, exhibiting inordinately armored dragon scales and Y-shaped, three-pronged claw feet. These scales and the feathers touching them are a darker blue in color, and possess a queerly intriguing, almost metallic, sheen to them.
Facial Features
Her face is sharply angular, even the feathers upon it sweeping to accentuate the ferocity it carries. These same feathers are backwards swept, seemingly blending into the wild mane of 'hair' that juts out of her head. As the hair itself is a strange mixture of dreadlocks and feathers, it helps to keep it out of her eyes during flight, while simultaneously carrying the pomp and regality of a noble bird. Her ears are, themselves, wing-like in nature, with the feathers there adapted more to picking up sound. Her mouth can open up quite large, almost enough to swallow a grown human in one gulp, and similar to Kirichiki, it is lined with rows of vicious teeth to help in that purpose.
Identifying Characteristics
Aside from her size, Seralkono's six wings are quite distinct, a fact further impressed by her colorful displays.
Special abilities
Exalted – Seralkono is a true Exalted.
Wind Magic – Seralkono embodies the essence of the wind in its entirety. She can create enormous tempests and maelstroms at will, and wreak incredible devastation across huge swathes of land. The finer attacks can form razor wind blades so sharp they will cut through mana-reinforced steel like it was paper. These very same attacks are nigh-invisible, making her deceptively sinister to fight against.
Draconic Strength – Her father's blood has given Seralkono incredible physical aptitude, even separate of her nature as an Exalted. Blunt-damage and other normal weaknesses for harpies are far less of a concern to her as a result.
Apparel & Accessories
Seralkono, for the most part, eschews clothing outright. Rather, she's very interested in jewelry, bangles, necklaces, and other fanciful decorations. While they're chiefly made out of sun-gold, a few exotic pieces may be fashioned entirely out of gems or unusual metals like palladium. It varies greatly which are simple, which are detailed and etched, and which have gems or other precious things embedded into them. Regardless, everything is bent to two purposes: being non-intrusive to her movement and flying, and to enhance her sex appeal. Given this is framed in the harpy perspective, her glinting jewelry may come off entirely different to other species.
Mental characteristics
Gender Identity
Female
Sexuality
Pansexual
Education
Nearly completely self-taught, Seralkono has picked up bits and pieces of education from the various scholars she 'acquires'. Because of how much time tends to pass, very different teachings, methodology, and knowledge are passed onto her. Thus, she has a very ramshackle, put-together-awkwardly comprehension of much of the great mysteries of life.
Intellectual Characteristics
Supremely arrogant, Seralkono embodies the viciousness of harpies in its entirety. With few natural enemies in the skies, she believes herself the sole ruler of the Heavens, with the likes of Bloodwing and Kirichiki being invasive outsiders. All others who do not serve her fancies are either tributaries in waiting, or meals to be devoured. Those who are unfitting of either, somehow, are ignored by her.
When she is not preoccupied with expanding her territory, she indulges in hedonistic pleasures greatly. Art, stories, music, and other complex, thought-created works fascinate her especially. She loves to acquire scholars and other learned persons, who are charged with informing her of the worldly affairs from below. In this sense, she gets to peer into the world otherwise completely alien to her.
In many ways, she is a queen from out of time, born and raised eons ago. Thus, much of her mannerisms and perspectives, especially as a nearly immortal Exalted, are frozen in time, with little input forcing them to change. It should be affirmed she is not stupid or incapable, but rather, the environment she lives in simply has very little stimulus to promote change. In another perspective, this is a problem endemic to harpies as a whole.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
"Where the wind blows, I own. Where the sky shines, I fly. If you wish to be free, ruin those who would deny it."
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