The Awakened

Overview

When the Last God sacrificed Himself to protect @Sanctum Prime , His essence shattered into seven divine Pillars. These Pillars continuously radiate Aetherlight, a spiritual frequency that only a rare few souls can perceive and fewer still can attune to.

Those who can are known as the Awakened — mortals whose souls have harmonized with the divine fragments. Each Awakened resonates with one or more of the Seven Pillars, manifesting powers that echo the god’s lost aspects.

Their abilities are extraordinary — and dangerous. Every use of power burns away a piece of their soul, inching them closer to becoming Hollowed, empty vessels that attract divine predators or even become one.

When an Awakened’s resonance falls out of harmonic sync (via despair or overuse), their frequency inverts beginning the Benediction of Ash.

How Awakening Works

Upon intense trauma, mortal peril, or rare divine exposure, a soul resonates with a Pillar’s frequency. The character undergoes the Awakening and gains a Resonant Power tied to that Pillar.
Most Awakened can resonate with one Pillar, but exceptional souls may handle up to three (rare, dangerous). Multiple resonances cause instability known as Soul Fracture.
The gods sense Resonant energy. Excessive power use draws divine attention or godspawn attacks.

Soul Resonance is the metaphysical phenomenon by which mortals align their soul with the fragments of the Last God’s divine essence the Pillars of Aetherlight.
This resonance forms a spiritual bond between the Awakened and the Pillar’s living energy, granting the mortal a fraction of godlike power.

This bond transcends distance the connection is spiritual and eternal but the closer an Awakened stands to their attuned Pillar, the stronger their resonance frequency becomes. The air hums, the senses sharpen, and power flows unbound… but so does the corruption.

The Spiritual Law of Resonance

Every soul vibrates with a frequency a divine tone that once harmonized with creation.
The gods’ awakening shattered these frequencies, but the Last God’s sacrifice left seven chords of creation still resonating through Erevale.
Awakened souls instinctively align to one or more of these chords, forming a Resonant Link.

The closer one moves to the corresponding Pillar, the stronger the harmonics grow:

• Distant Resonance: Weak but stable, requiring more effort to channel.

• Close Resonance: Intensely powerful, but unstable — extended exposure near the Pillar causes spiritual overload.

• Direct Contact: Fatal to mortals. Their bodies combust or crystallize into divine matter.

The Resonance Link is bi-directional: as the Awakened draws power from their Pillar, the Pillar also feeds upon the soul’s stability to remain luminous.
In a sense, every Awakened is both a protector and a battery sustaining the Sanctum Veil.

The Seven Pillars Gifts

@Valor, The Pillar of Defiance

• Domain: Strength, battle, resolve.

• Manifestation: Physical augmentation, invulnerability, kinetic projection.

• Power Examples:

  • Divine Pulse: Release shockwaves of energy through weapons or fists.

  • Unyielding Form: Become immune to fear and pain for a short duration.

  • Aegis Break: Reflect damage by sheer will.

• Drawback: Overuse petrifies muscle fibers into stone-like rigidity.

@Mercy, The Pillar of Restoration

• Domain: Healing, empathy, transference of pain.

• Manifestation: Manipulation of life essence; healing or absorbing injuries.

• Power Examples:

  • Soul Mend: Restore health by sacrificing your own vitality.

  • Echo Bond: Link with an ally to share pain equally.

  • Purify Essence: Remove corruption or poison.

• Drawback: Each act of mercy dulls personal emotion — eventual emotional numbness.

@Truth, The Pillar of Clarity

• Domain: Knowledge, perception, insight.

• Manifestation: Awakened see beyond veils, lies, and even reality itself.

• Power Examples:

  • Unveiling Sight: Detect lies, illusions, and divine presences.

  • Soul Mirror: Reflect an enemy’s next ability once per long rest.

  • Echo Recall: Temporarily access memories of others.

• Drawback: Repeated use causes Truth Delirium — inability to distinguish visions from reality.

@Judgment, The Pillar of Wrath

• Domain: Retribution, balance, divine justice.

• Manifestation: Condemning energy channeled as radiant destruction.

• Power Examples:

  • Condemn: Smite a foe marked by sin or guilt.

  • Chains of Light: Bind target in radiant shackles.

  • Scales of the Judge: Redirect harm from an innocent to the guilty nearby.

• Drawback: Every act of judgment feeds arrogance — users risk believing they are divine.

@Memory, The Pillar of Echoes

• Domain: History, souls, reincarnation.

• Manifestation: Manipulation of time fragments and ancestral spirits.

• Power Examples:

  • Echo Step: Rewind personal time by 6 seconds once per rest.

  • Recall of the Dead: Summon a memory shade to fight alongside you.

  • Archive Soul: Store knowledge or experiences within your essence.

• Drawback: Gradual erosion of personal identity; memories merge with past lives.

@Hope, The Pillar of Light

• Domain: Inspiration, courage, perseverance.

• Manifestation: Aetherlight manipulation — channeling pure energy of the Veil.

• Power Examples:

  • Radiant Burst: Blind and repel darkness or divine creatures.

  • Beacon: Empower allies within a radius with temporary courage or strength.

  • Aurora Field: Temporarily extend the Sanctum Veil’s protection in a small area.

• Drawback: Hope burns fast — each act shortens lifespan slightly.

@Sacrifice, The Pillar of Blood

• Domain: Martyrdom, redemption, the link between life and death.

• Manifestation: Transfer, exchange, or consume soul essence for immense results.

• Power Examples:

  • Soul Exchange: Trade your HP with an ally or enemy.

  • Final Gift: Upon death, unleash stored energy in a divine explosion.

  • Martyr’s Pact: Bind fates with another — if one dies, the other inherits their strength.

• Drawback: Slowly fuses your essence to the Veil; die too often, and you become part of it.