Lumineth Realm-lords

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Lumineth Realm-lords
Lumineth Realm-Lords 01.jpeg
An Alarith Stoneguard.
Grand alliance Order
Main grouping Great Nations of Hysh
Major characters Teclis
Light of Eltharion
Avalenor
Celennar
Sevireth
Ellania and Ellathor
Lyrior Uthralle
Allies Cities of Sigmar
Idoneth Deepkin
Core resources Aetherquartz
Races Aelf
Aelementor
Mounts Horse
Lightcourser
Treerunner
Creatures Scryhawk
Spell lores Lore of Hysh
Lore of the High Peaks
Lore of the Winds
Lore of Zaitrec
Endless spells Hyshian Twinstones
Rune of Petrification
Sanctum of Amyntok
Scenery Shrine Luminor
Archetypes Alarith Stoneguard
Alarith Stonemage
Scinari Cathallar
Vanari Warrior
Warbands Myari's Purifiers

The Lumineth Realm-lords are the most stable and pure Aelf souls recovered from the belly of the Chaos god Slaanesh. [1] Often mistaken for angelic beings of pure light, the Lumineth are a scholarly and precise people, often regarding themselves as being the most advanced civilisation in the Realms. Now they go to war in all the splendour of bygone days and alongside them are the towering avatars of those magical places, the war forms of Hysh itself.[3a]

History

Age of Myth

In the Age of Myth the gods Malerion, Teclis, Tyrion worked with Morathi to trap Slaanesh before beginning the process of syphoning the aelf souls trapped wtihin the deity. Teclis and Tyrion settled those souls they claimed in the Realm of Hysh. The first of those aelven souls to be siphoned from Slaanesh’s essence became known as the Idoneth and were extremely scarred by their incarceration both physically and spiritually to the point they were close to madness and the vast majority of their offspring were born with swiftly withering souls. In his grief, Teclis nearly destroyed them all but Tyrion stayed his hand and the Idoneth fled to the deepest, darkest places they could find. Other groups of aelven souls saved from within Slaanesh, ranged in appearance from the monstrous to the angelic and the most stable and sane were the Lumineth. [1][3c]

Tyrion and Teclis refined the process to the point that they could reincarnate those saved from Slaanesh hale and whole while the Lumineth created a culture of betterment that founded nine Great Nations across Hysh, one in every paradise save except the mind-searing landscape of Haixiah. Some sought to conquer the vistas of the mind gaining the ability to project their spirits out of the body while others travelled the lands, studying fields of cartography, biology, botany, history and more. They did not slaughter those monsters and savage creatures they as they considered it barbaric and instead tamed the beasts where possible or left them to their own and in the case of creatures that were particularly predatory they were lured through realmgates to other realms.[3d] The aelves found it extremely easy to learn new languages, sciences and arts with even the meagrest talent growing into mastery in a mere few weeks of study. The Lumineth’s citadels, palaces and spires became taller and more ambitious with each passing year, gleaming in the bright Hyshian light. One attuned to the magical nature of Hysh could simply think of a bridge of light, and that gleaming span would appear. Soon various academic bodies of Hysh turned their gaze to those around them and sought to outdo one another and many friendly rivalries began. The teachings of the Lumineth masters, based on the escalating pursuit of higher knowledge, was formalised into the Teclamentari, or Teclian Ladder. Each ‘rung’ of this ladder was a stage of mastery over the mind and soul and graduating from one to another required the passing of a strenuous mental test and many lost their sanity. However the rewards were great and those who climbed to the higher rungs became so enlightened that they seemed almost ethereal, literally glowing with inner wisdom.[3d]

Age of Chaos

Supercharged by aetherquartz the unbridled progress had an intoxicating effect on the aelven psyche as competition became fiercer as the struggle to corner the market for the raw stuff of aetherquartz became intense and intrigue led to skulduggery and sabotage. Lumineth climbed higher to escape the earthly demands of the body and the lands and even began to forsake sleep. Over time the friendly rivalries became an insidious fever of pride that resulted in Lumineth attempting to obsessively outdo each other. This led to spells so destructive they could unravel the fabric of reality but swore to one another that they would never use these and were simply deterrents against of Chaos. But under civility and manners of every debate were implications and subtexts filled with spite. Soon the whispers of Slaanesh began to grow louder in their subconsciousness and the fierce competitions turned into attempts at laying each other low which led cycles of vilifications and accusations they eventually grew into violence and destruction. Tyrion and Teclis were tending to the arcane wards of the Hidden Gloaming and treating with the Pantheon of Order as they believed their kin were above acts of self-destruction. Meanwhile in Hysh rumours of daemonology circulated as it was a useful tool for blackening rivals’ names. As conflicts raged spells were woven first to denigrate, then to harm and soon were used in the open with the intent of killing and quickly evolved to the point even the strongest spells were being thrown at their rivals. The magical cataclysm that followed became known as the Spirefall, the Ocari Dara, and reality itself was ripped apart opening rifts to the Realm of Chaos from which daemons of Slaanesh came pouring in.[3d][3e]

Lumineth that remained level headed fought back and Tyrion’s martial genius saved them from complete destruction. However, the Lumineth civil war had devastated the vast majority of Hysh and the daemonic invasion turned the realm into war-torn hellscapes. Tyrion led the realm’s defence against Chaos incursions while Archmage Teclis was nowhere to be found the Lumineth cried out begging him to aid them. While Teclis felt every word he did not reply and was meditating in the wilderness of Haixiah. His mind travelled far into the aetheric void and spoke mind-to-mind with beings outside of the realmspheres and found new wisdom. He also communed with the spirit of Hysh’s true moon, Celennar where Teclis made a major breakthrough, a critical shift in perspective from that of a centralised body of thought to an existence that orbited another a spirit known as an aelementor. Celennar recognised a kindred spirit in Teclis as he had a duality in his soul like its own duality with the realm it orbited. While Celennar's sentience was singing with the music of the spheres, they kept a sliver of themselves alert as Teclis spoke of the dilemma facing his race and a month later Teclis returned to the remnants of Lumineth alongside Celennar.[3e][3f]

Together the two gathered the most selfless and repentant of the remaining Lumineth and taught them the art of bonding with the realm itself. The founders of the aelementiri temples were chosen by Teclis for a number of factors with the primary factor being humility. They were mages who had tasted the dizzying power of the Teclamentari’s upper reaches but willingly put it aside while some had fallen back to reality during the Spirefall. Many of them were scarred in body and soul by centuries of war against the daemons of Chaos but continued to fight on becoming the first true Realm-lords. Teclis taught the Lumineth to speak to the geomantic spirits of Hysh and began the Wars of the Reinvention, a long, bloody and strife-filled period in which the Lumineth overcame daemons both within and without to become one with Hysh.[3f]

Age of Sigmar

The Lumineth were entirely absent from Realmgate Wars as they had other business to deal with. In the years since the Reinvention, the aelementiri have founded hundreds of temples and the Ten Paradises have gradually rebuilt a semblance of their former glory, tempered by humility and a yen for cooperation, at least outwardly.[3f][3g]

While still recovering from the Age of Chaos Hysh manifested the signs of the Time of Tribulations and in their scrying saw that the forces of Sigmar, the Dark Gods and the savants of Destruction, were moving against Nagashizzar. But still consumed by the painfully slow reclamation of Hysh they could not send any forces and instead by the order of Teclis, raised structures of aetherquartz that would lessen any necromantic emanations. Deathly magic cascaded across Hysh and in every one of the Ten Paradises the dead arose in countless numbers. Due to early warnings and the tall pillars and obelisks of aetherquartz they held the worst of the deathly disaster at bay but despite the speed of Lumineth forces the dead never tired and came in endless numbers and the magical backlash meant that many of the spells cast by the Lumineth became sentient. The wastes of Hysh were now prowled by predatory magical entities.[3g]

The disaster showed that Aelves cannot remain in isolationism and Teclis, seeing that the escape of Slaanesh is inevitable, marshalled the armies of Lumineth. They would go out into the Mortal Realms and seal the sites where reality is thinned to make it harder for daemons to breakthrough. While a noble endeavour, it also brought many complications of its own.[3g]

Culture

Runes of the Lumineth Tongue and the Runic Mandala, Hysh-Mhensa

In the aftermath of the Reinvention, the Runic Mandala, the Hysh-Mhensa has come to become the favorite rune among the Lumineth. Representing not only their society, but the Realm as a whole.[5e]

The left half of the mandala represents the Tyrionic aspects, but also the Tyrionic Nations. It represents the shinning sun, brilliance, purity, and quick action without place for hesitation or doubt.[5e] Skilled athleths, fearless explorers and cunning warriors are represented by the Tyrionic half of the mandala. In a Lumineth warhost, its the Vanari that are the closest associated with the Tyrionic aspects of the mandala, be it lines of Auralan Warden, lances of Dawnriders, or skilled Lord Regents. While all nations field legions of Vanari, its those of the Tyrionic Nations that are the most renowned.[6e]

On the other half are the Teclian Nations. Associated with the moon, deep reflection, but also mages, craftsmen and philosophers. The Teclian half of the mandala represents refinement and deliberation. On the battlefield, these aspects are represented by the powerful mages of the Scinari cast. Be it the artisan-mages of the Scinari Calligraves, or the spiritual intune keepers of Aetherquartz, the Scinari Cathallar.[6e]

At the center of the Hysh-Mhensa, and the Lumineth society at a whole, stand the four geomantic runes, and the aelementor spirits. Putting an end to the chaos of the Ocari Dara, Teclis taught the Lumineth to communicate with and channel the powerful geomantic spirits of Hysh known as the Aelementari - mountains, rivers, wind and zenith. Spreading out from the Great Nation of Ymetrica, and the Teclian Nations, Aelementari temples have become common place across all Great Nations of Hysh. The Aelementors of these temples combine martial and magical mastery in themselves, while their temple orders balance their tyrionic warriors, with their teclian mages.[6e]

Where most Lumineth fall on either the tyrionic, or the teclian half, there are the rare few souls that combine both halfs into them. Representing both of the Lumineth Twin-Gods at once. These Aelfs, called Eclipsians, represent the duality and oneness of Hysh at the same time. Serving, among others, as Scinari Loreseekers and agents of Tyrion and Teclis, while trying to balance these two halfs of their souls.[6e]

Aetherquartz is also a bedrock of their civilisation which they use to enhance their body, mind and spirit but it would also drain their emotions. For many, this was a price worth paying as it made them less likely to be influenced by Slaanesh but they would become ever more cool or aloof. [1]

Military

The Realm-lords are able to field peerless coordinated phalanxes of spearmen and formations of swift cavalry, whilst their formidable mages deluge their enemies in destructive, elemental magic. [1] All of the warriors of the Realm-lords are able to use their arcane arts to either to enhance their Sunmetal weapons or dispel the magic of their enemies. [2]

Vanari

The Shining Companies of the Vanari.

Vanari are the primary military organization of the Lumineth Realm-lords acting as their standing armies and form the radiant core of the host. They are charged with defending the nations of the Lumineth from threats from inside and beyond Hysh. They are organised in phalanxes made of Auralan infantry who form shining companies whose dazzling brilliance makes them a harder target.[2][3b][3n]

Each Vanari army consists of smaller battalions formed according to Decree Tyrionic, the principles of efficiency and warlike optimization. They often have the same number of Auralan Wardens and Auralan Sentinels. Enemies that attack in large numbers are stormed by Dawnriders to balance the numbers before the enemy reaches the Vanari battle line.[3k][3n]

Auralan means luminous host and has its origins in magic, as with so much of Lumineth society. Each weapon is enchanted, its tip made of sunmetal that has basked in the light of Hysh for centuries at a time. When the Auralan Wardens call out the correct magical phrase, bolstering their power with aetherquartz to ensure its focus, the tips of these spears glow whitehot. They can melt through a thick breastplate as a heated awl would push through a plate of wax. The spear blocks of the Lumineth have learnt to time this ability perfectly – when the enemy is but a hand's breadth from their blades, their speartips glow bright, and those who think their armour will turn aside or break the polearms realise with a heart-wrenching jolt that they have made a fatal mistake.[3o]

The Vanari can use their aetherquartz reserve kept in the form of a jewel on the helm, decorated weaponry or enhanced armour they burn with the energy of tiny suns which is channelled through the staves and shafts of their weapons and reflected by their robes and armour to make the Lumineth appear as if they are bright and angelic figures. Many primitive enemies prefer to flee that face them and the forces of darkness recoil at the burning touch of this Hyshian energy. Marksmen that peer through a telescope or scrying lens at the bright Lumineth formations are blinded and those who strike at find their vision blurring and their blades turned aside. [3o]

  • Auralan Sentinel: Masterful Archers, no enemy can hide from their sunmetal tipped arrows.[3o]
  • Auralan Warden: Adepts of defensive warfare, a unit of Warden strikes in perfect unison to protect their brothers in arms.[3o]
  • Bladelord: One of the most finest warriors of the Vanari, the Bladelords are walking contradictions. They represent the peak of the Tyronic martial tradition, yet they protect the towers and mages of the teclian Scinari. Known as warrior-philosophers, the Bladelords see a battle or a fight as a complex mathematical equation to be solved with a single, perfect strike.[6c]
  • Bannerblade: Only the most dependable of the Vanari hosts are tasked with carrying the revered banners of the Lumineth into battle. Woven from Solarsilk and blessed by the Scinari, the banners of the Lumineth are artifacts with immense power. [6b]
  • Dawnrider: Each Dawnrider is bonded to their Xintilian Stallion. Together, they leave a trail of white light when they blaze across the battlefield.[3o]
  • Lord Regent: The commanders of the Lumineth warhosts, ridding into war on one of the rare Lightcourser steeds. The Lord-Regents derives their authority from Tyrion himself, and few dare to countermand their orders in the matters of war. Single-mindedly dedicated to the matters of war, the Lord-Regents stand apart from their birth-nations and the intrigues and bickering of the courts.[6b]
  • Starshard Ballista: Accuracy, flexibility, and the ability to punish those that seek to harm the land, the Starshard Ballistas represent the core values of the Vanari. Crafted from the Dreamwood Trees of Hysh, the Ballistas are similar to a larger version of the bows used by the Auralan Sentinels.[6c]

Scinari

Scinari Calligrave fighting alongside Scinari Loreseeker

They are made up of a mage caste who commands the vanari armies of each of the nations of Hysh.[3b] While many specialize in casting blinding rays of magic from the Lore of Hysh[3a], some among their numbers form part of the Cathallar Order, mages who learn to harness the emotional backlash from the lumineth's souls.[29]

  • Scinari Calligrave: Esoteric symbol-mages that can alter the reality via gigantic aelven runes made from aetherquartz lightmagic.[5d]
  • Scinari Cathallar: A sisterhood of mages tasked with releasing their fellow Lumineth from their harmful emotional energies.[5d]
  • Scinari Loreseeker: Emulating both Tyrion and Teclis, the Loreseeker embody both halfes of Lumineth society, combining the mastery of the blade with arcane knowledge.[5d]
  • Scinari Enlighteners: Where some Scinari prefer to retreat into a life of Solitude and deep meditations to seek out the inner truths and enhance their individual abilities, the Enlighteners seek out the 'lesser races' to share with them their arcane knowledge. And to remind their enemies of their place in the cosmic order.[6a]

Alarith

A unit of Alarith Stoneguard fighting Khornate Bloodreavers

The Alarith are Lumineth that have devoted their entire lives to the spirituality of the mountain and have been endowed with supernatural abilities by power of the tectonic plates. The warriors of the peaks stand immovable, and when they strike, they do so with the might of stone. At their sides walk the war forms of the very mountains they worship. The mountains of Hysh have a limitless power, and they have stood since the creation of the Mortal Realms and have witnessed the lessons of the passing aeons. Since the Reinvention the Lumineth have cherished the knowledge that the mountains can impart to them. To be one with the mountain is to exude an unshakeable confidence that can turn aside the ravages of time, and gain wisdom that lasts beyond mortality to define the truths of the realms themselves.[3m]

  • Alarith Stoneguard: Having passed their Mountain patron's test, these hammer-wielding Aelementiri have mastered the art of turning their skin into stone. Motionlessly standing guard for years of even decades.[3m]
  • Alarith Stonemage: The Stonemages of the Alarith temple have passed even the most hardest trials, and now live in perfect harmony with their Aelementor patron. Every Stonemage is as much a masterful artisan, as they are hardened warriors.[3m]
  • Spirit of the Mountain: Crafted from pure aetherquartz and inhabited by the spirits of Hysh's highest mountains, these avatars of the Realm itself join the Lumineth only in the most pivotol battles.[3m]

Hurakan

The Hurakan caste are those that seek oneness with the wind, be it a calming breeze, howling gale or a raging cyclone. Their temples can be found constantly buffeted by strong air currents and ringing to the strange music of the skies. Such structures are built into floating metaliths that can be found across the Mortal Realms and are highly favoured by wind spirits of all kinds, especially those that form clusters or airborne archipelagos for the invisible entities to race to. Hurakan aspirants will make their way to such places by mastering a trance-like state, known as hurathré, that enables slow levitation. Once they reach the desired metalith, they will eruct a shrine upon it, despite the perilous winds and sandstorms sent to test them.[5c]

Over time, Hurakan shrines will be strung with chines and holes will be drilled with awls along its lengths s o the winds that whirl past it give rise to meldious chords and tinkling percussion. Should the wind find a shrine's music pleasing, it will frequent the site and form a bond with the Hurakan aspirants that sing it praises as it rushes by. Should an aspirant believe they found an accord with a spirit of the wind, they will throw themselves from the edge of a metalith. If the wind chooses them, it will catch them and send them soaring through the skies in a spiritual breakthrough. However, should the wind spirit spurn them, the aspirant will instead fall to their death.[5c]

  • Hurakan Windcharger: Windchargers are the warrior-monks of the Hurakan temples. Each, an archer with uncanny skill. Their arrows are guided by the living gales, seeking out even the tinniest gaps in an enemies defence. The Windchargers ride on the agile hyshian beasts known as Treerunners.[6d]
  • Hurakan Windmage: Windmages form the higher echelons of the Hurakan temples. Having ascended so high, they have bonded with the spirits of the winds and the skies. Each Windmage rides on a minor cloud-spirit, now only rarely touching the ground. Among the other Lumineth, the Windmages are known as unpredictable tricksters, for just like the wind, a soft breeze can turn into a bitter storm on a moments notice.[6d]
  • Spirit of the Wind: The winds of Hysh are known as mercurial and fey, and even the Aelfs of the Hurakan temple are sometimes wary of appealing to their patrons. But if soothed by the rituals of the Hurakan, the spirits can be convinced to fight side by side with the hosts of the Lumineth. When they march to war, they manifest in a form reminiscend of the semi-mythical Horned Foxs of Hysh. Each spirit carries a colossal bow that launches spear-sized arrows, impaling the enemies with vindictive glee.[6d]

Great Nations

The 10 Paradieses of Hysh and the eight Great Nations of the Lumineth

Teclian Nations

  • Iliatha: A matriarchal society that makes use of cloning magic, ensuring that they have a large population. [2] [3k]
  • Syar: The Syari are preternaturally talented artisans that lost greatly during the Ocari Dara. They turn their ingenuity towards both reconstructing their homeland and towards the realms' salvation. [2] [3j]
  • Ymetrica: A land of lofty peaks and lofty ideology, combining ambition to climb higher with warrior skill. This nation holds the most Alarith temples. [3i]
  • Zaitrec: Lambent mystics that hold a great deal of reverence towards Celennar and a great deal of admiration from Teclis himself. [3l]

Tyrionic Nations

  • Alumnia: Indomitable in body and mind, the people of Alumnia are famed for their explorers and pionieers, always moving on and pushing forward.[5b]
  • Helon: The windswept nation of Helon is known for its floating Metalith isles, and the many Hurakan temple doted around the land.[5a]
  • Aurathrai: A nation on the Tyrionic side of Hysh.[4]
  • Oultrai: A nation on the Tyrionic side of Hysh.[4]


Sources

  • 1: Lumineth Origins
  • 2: How Lumineth play
  • 3: Battletome: Lumineth Realm-lords (2020)
    • 3a: pg. 1
    • 3b: The Aelves of Hysh, pg. 4-5
    • 3c: The Age of Myth, pg. 8-9
    • 3d: Rise of Enlightenment, pg. 10-11
    • 3e: The Toppling of Spires, pg. 12-13
    • 3f: The Elemental Pact, pg. 14
    • 3g: A War of the Spirit, pg. 18-19
    • 3h: The Symmetry of War, pg. 22
    • 3i: Ymetrica - The Scions of the Peaks, pg. 24
    • 3j: Syar - The Makers of Wonder, pg. 25
    • 3k: Iliatha - The Mothers of the Spirit, pg. 26
    • 3l: Zaitrec - The Lambent Mystics, pg. 27
    • 3m: Disciples of the Mountain, pg. 38-39
    • 3n: The Teclian Vanguard of Ymetrica, pg. 20-21
    • 3o: The Shining Companies of Hysh, pg. 36-37
  • 4: Exploring Hysh
  • 5: Battletome: Lumineth Realm-lords (2021)
    • 5a: Great Nation of Helon, pg. 99
    • 5b: Alumnia - the Indomitable, pg.28
    • 5c: Upon the Killing Winds of Hysh- the Indomitable, pg. 46-47
    • 5d: Champions of the Scinari, pg. 38
    • 5e: The Symmetry of War, pg. 22
  • 6: Battletome: Lumineth Realm-lords (2022)
    • 6a: Wielders of the Arts Aetheric, pg. 42
    • 6b: Paragons of the Vanari, pg. 38
    • 6c: Pride of the Warhosts, pg. 40
    • 6d: The Gale that slays, pg. 46
    • 6e: The Symmetry of War, pg. 26


Lumineth Realm-lords
Units Alarith (Spirit of the Mountain - Stoneguard - Stonemage) - Hurakan (Spirit of the Wind - Windcharger - Windmage) - Lightcourser - Scinari (Calligrave - Cathallar - Loreseeker) - Scryhawk - Treerunner - Vanari (Auralan Sentinel - Auralan Warden - Bannerblade - Bladelord - Dawnrider - Lord Regent - Starshard Ballista) - Xintilian Stallion
Characters Avalenor - Celennar - Ellania - Ellathor - Harantio - Lyrior Uthralle - Light of Eltharion - Myari's Purifiers (Ailenn - Bahannar - Myari Lightcaller - Senaela - Ulari) -Sevireth - Teclis - Tyrion - Yliana
Great Nations Alumnia - Aurathrai - Helon - Iliatha - Oultrai - Syar - Ymetrica - Zaitrec
Artwork - Miniatures - Endless Spells
Grand Alliances and factions
OrderChaosDestructionDeath
Cities of Sigmar (Collegiate ArcaneDarkling CovensDevoted of SigmarDispossessedFreeguildIronweld ArsenalOrder SerpentisPhoenix TempleScourge PrivateersShadowbladesWanderers) • Daughters of KhaineEldritch CouncilFyreslayersIdoneth DeepkinKharadron OverlordsLion RangersLumineth Realm-lordsMonsters of OrderOrder DraconisSeraphonStormcast EternalsSwifthawk AgentsSylvaneth