Requiem

Main details Identity Meta information Requiem was once a great city-state during the ancient eras of Rathnir — nowadays restored as an independent nation — it was originally founded by Vathir, the goddess of magic, and it is located in the southeastern quadrant of Rathnir, in the continent of Cymru. Following its restoration, Requiem is now protected and inhabited by a mercenary organization bearing the same name, led by five prominent figures at a time of which only two remain: Caseload and Hiiro.

Requiem has gained widespread fame and renown throughout all lands due to several reasons. Not only does Requiem serve as a sanctuary for ancient original magic and houses an impressive collection of god-tier magical artifacts, but it also hosts one of Rathnir largest structures entirely made out of quartz, with tall and captivating buildings grasping the sky and adorned with a large amount of gold worth hundreds of thousands of coins. The city is also highly regarded as it is inhabited by renowned individuals who are recognized as the most skilled mercenaries in the entire region of Rathnir. Furthermore, Requiem's rich historical background enhances its standing as a prominent city-state. As a result of these factors, Requiem has earned the nickname of being the greatest city-state.

Infrastructure
To be added.

Prelude Arc, the awakening of Vathir: “The rise of a Divine Ruler”
This story begins long ago, even before creation came to be, before time had a name or could be understood, when there was nothing but one thing: Power.

In one's words: To exist means to have power; thus those who came to be first, those who existed before creation and had immense power were called “Deities”, and with their hands they shaped the world and created the concepts and laws that guide the universe. Alongside the primary creation there was one in particular that would later become the one thing that would allow the mortals to shape the laws of the world too, thus reaching the pinnacle of evolution and becoming a form of “art”: Magic.

When the world was created life came to be and so countless civilizations made by the first intelligent living beings saw the light for the first time ever, most of the deities that were shaping the world and who had taken the role of Creators watched with wonder and interest. They were fascinated by these lesser life-forms that had emerged from their creations, and they marveled at the ingenuity and creativity of their mortal children like curious parents; meanwhile, the deities who had taken the role of Destructors were not impressed but rather disgusted. At first they saw these mortals as nothing more than liabilities and believed that they would be better off as sacrifices or discarded altogether; the ones who were neutral could not care less and on the other hand, felt a sense of pity for these fragile mortals. They saw how these beings were doomed to a limited lifespan, how they were born and thrown into the world completely naked and helpless in a world full of monsters and other aberrations.

And so some of them had expectations and others were just willing to oversee them and take care of them either due to being their creators or due to their benevolent hearts.

As time passed and the mortals continued to thrive, the deities began to take a more active role in their lives. They realized that the more mortals worshiped them, the more power they  obtained, and the more addicted they became to the sensation of being adored.

For some deities, this addiction became a necessity. They felt that without the adoration of mortals, they would lose their power and influence. And so, they began to actively seek out worshipers, offering them protection and guidance in exchange for their devotion.

Other deities, however, became jealous of those who were worshiped more than they were. They saw the mortals as nothing more than tools to be used for their own gain, and they resented the deities who had more worshipers than they did.

This jealousy often led to conflict between the deities, with each one vying for the adoration of the mortals. Some deities even went so far as to demand sacrifices from their worshipers, using fear and intimidation to maintain their power.

Despite these conflicts, the mortals continued to worship the deities, seeking their protection and guidance in a world full of dangers and uncertainties. And so, the deities remained a powerful force in the world, shaping its destiny and influencing the lives of all those who lived within it.

However this did not avoid the fall of many deities as time passed by, and with their deaths the collapse of the civilizations that followed them respectively, even the promising cultures were soon plundered and thrown into mayhem, destruction and death.

It was only after hundreds of thousands of years that one amongst all deities, who was different from the others, realized something: There was potential in the mortals, she saw that they had a spark within them, a flame that could grow into something magnificent if nurtured properly but the other gods seemed to not dare to exploit it. The only reason she could come up with was fear, fear of being overthrown as they were drunk with a delusion of power and they lusted for nothing but dominion, worship and renown.

When she tried reasoning with the others they did not listen, they seized her word under their decree of silence, choosing to ignore all advice and to not trust the mortals that much. They wanted to rule the world and to have control on every situation and keep all treasures for themselves, surely forgetting who they were at the beginning of time. For her they were no longer gods but a group of imbeciles with a fake illusion of balance.

── ''“Balance and coexistence? How can one have the shame of saying that this world is balanced? Does a world where all of our children have failed and died alongside their civilizations and our incapable siblings look ‘balanced’ to any of you? Then I feel pity, you have the power to give but are too afraid and have chosen to stay in your bubble, hiding behind a cult of useless followers”.''

This goddess was the first one to awake.

And so, Vathir decided to act alone, taking matters into her own hands. She gathered her belongings and descended from the heavens to the mortal realm, leaving her siblings behind and starting a journey with a single goal in mind: To discover what the true potential of mortals was.

Arc 1, the taboo breaker: “Vathir's Blessing of the Elven Race”
The goddess was saddened due to the unreasonable behavior of her siblings but more than willing to be the only one to give the created a chance.

In that moment she believed more in the potential of the mortals than in the intentions of the other deities, she had made her decision and officially abandoned the pantheon of gods.

She passed through the grasslands, traveled across the woods, sought in the inhospitable cold and oversaw the hell-like deserts. The goddess looked and looked but all the civilizations she found were starving, agonizing or being massacred by a bigger one that wanted to expand and gain more territory to prove its might; she tried to help them but all of them were already following one of her siblings, she tried to reason with them but they still were willing to blindly worship their gods even if they were abandoned, in fact they called her a liar, telling her that she was a fake deity as no divine being was saw in the earthly realms before. She realized in horror that she might be too late to be able to even make a change, but then by mere chance of destiny the goddess found them.

A group of the same race in the middle of an exodus through snowy lands, they were desperately praying to the names of multiple gods but no answer was given to the tarnished  kind. They were primitive, most of them were hungry and weak, their bodies were slim and tall with high pointy ears and white or blonde hair, their eyes were filled with nothing but despair and fear, all of them were speechless as they stumbled upon the goddess. They were fearful at first as this kind was also part of one of the first original races of the entire world, meaning their ancestors had seen the world slowly plunge into chaos and had been victims of merciless genocide.

The entire group was shaking due to the incessant coldness, but as the goddess got closer her mere aura provided them with warmth. They were injured but her light healed their flagellated bodies. They were afraid but her voice calmed their hearts.

The goddess, unlike the others, was there right in front of their eyes and answered their call in person; but for some reason they were unable to directly look at her face. She, who was kind, asked:

── “Why are you afraid, children?”.

To which they revealed that they had been forced out of their homeland, as plague and fire consumed it and left nothing but ashes. They worshiped many other gods before, but they did not listen to their begging or answer their prayers, as their kind was too weak, useless and insignificant to even mean anything in front of their egoistic eyes, the only gift they had was the basic common sense and free will and nothing else.

The goddess' voice was filled with concern and empathy, as she saw how their bodies weren’t made for that weather. She then used her power to alter the whole region right in front of their eyes, the elven race was astonished as they saw how in the matter of seconds it stopped snowing as at the same time as the clouds left the sky revealing a beautiful blue and pure sky. The warmth of the sunlight and the aura of the goddess made all of them cry in joy, they immediately bowed their heads down and started praising her, but she made a call to stop.

The goddess then showed them what “magic” was, from her own light she materialized her divine energy and turned it into “mana” which she then used to create fruits that were given to satiate the hunger they were feeling.

After being saved, healed, comforted and even fed, the group instantly decided to become her followers and worship her because she was the only one who had mercy. The goddess couldn’t help it but to smile from ear to ear, she had found the kind that she was looking for.

They asked her to not leave them like the others upon hearing that petition the goddess commanded the elven kind to make a line in front of her. They obeyed, allowing the goddess to start with her “theory”. For the first time ever a deity provided an entire race with a former divine blessing, she wanted to exploit their potential, for her they were children that she had to take care of. Each one was imbued in her aura where she granted them a developed “mana core”, a gift that made them have affinity to the concept of magic and thereby capable of producing and manipulating mana.

The goddess essentially gifted their entire group the power necessary to rule the lands, advance as a civilization and thrive. This alone was something that other deities had not dared to do in the past, thus she broke a taboo of divinities.

They now wondered the reason why she did so much for them even more why haven’t other deities also done the same. Upon revealing her theory to her people they were more than convinced that she was the one to worship, they asked to be honored to know her name but she then revealed that she indeed had none, before silence filled the scene she kindly asked them to name her, after hours and hours of debate the kind finally reached a consensus and proposed a name for her: Vathir.

The goddess approved and seemed to treasure it quite a lot, she accepted it right away, becoming their goddess of magic and knowledge. With her gift that elven kind grew in magic power, each one gained a great amount of intellect and she blessed them furthermore with knowledge. Taking them as her former followers, the entire group evolved as a species into a different kind of elven race, ones who were touched by their goddess divine’s light and blessed by her grace thus they became known as the Crowned Vathiri.

Each one of their bodies seemed to change, not only were they smarter now but also stronger; each Crowned Vathiri discovered their different affinities to elemental magic. Time passed as she fed them for weeks, the region where they met eventually changed from a cold and inhospitable land to warm and fertile green plains. With their new magic powers it wasn’t hard for them to learn how to produce their own food and with the guidance of their goddess the Crowned Vathiri learned the basics of all great civilizations: Harvesting crops, architecture, production, etcetera.

Then the goddess decided it was time she overlooked their progress and ascended, keeping an eye on them and interacting from time to time with her people so they followed her guidance, she had gifted them with power and knowledge and it was now their turn to use her gifts. Decades passed and their kind reproduced. She recommended them to not expand but instead focus on one city, one that could become a heaven for themselves, one where they could thrive and not be threatened by anyone else, so they obeyed her word and decided to establish themselves as a sovereign nation in service of the goddess that saved them, a city-state that would thrive to become their paradise.

Weeks turned into months, and months into years; the goddess saw from the skies how her followers slowly began to build a giant city made out of quartz, how their systems advanced covering all of their necessities, how their magic grew stronger and more capable and how her dream became a reality. Vathir guided them with wisdom, as a result, her Crowned Vathiri organized themselves into a fully capable and developed society, a white and golden city named “Requiem”.

The mana cores of the Crowned Vathiri seemed to be capable of developing furthermore, allowing the blessed race to evolve even further, thus they started contemplating the idea of becoming the most perfect kind of the entire lands of Rathnir, which was exactly what their goddess wanted.

The city of Requiem had been founded with a grand plan in mind, and even though it had been considered ambitious at the time, it was no longer impossible. After a couple of decades of hard work, Requiem was starting to take form, with its streets bustling with people, and its buildings rising up towards the sky. Despite their relative isolation, the people of Requiem had not remained untouched by the conflicts that plagued the world. Other imperialistic nations and cults of the destructors had set their sights on the city, eager to take advantage of its growing power and resources. But in every battle they fought, victory was always there for the people of Requiem to take, with little to no losses at all; the power that each Crowned Vathiri was endowed with was no match for any other mortal kind. Their might was proven time and time again, as they fended off the attacks of entire empires. But their goddess, Vathir, always commanded them to not become an empire themselves, but to remain secluded and focus on their own progress rather than taking over the world or getting involved with other lesser civilizations or greedy deities. She was worried that her siblings would team up against her followers if they became a threat, and so she urged caution at all times.

As the people of Requiem focused on themselves as urged by Vathir, they created a society that was truly a utopia. The city-state was the pinnacle of peace and harmony, and its people flourished in their pursuit of knowledge and understanding.

In time, the Crowned Vathiri began to master their own magic and to discover its boundless potential. They created the first academies of arcane magic in the entire world, sharing their knowledge and wisdom with all who would listen. This was nothing but the beginning of their story and in the end, it was this dedication to their own ideals that allowed them to become one of the greatest powers of the old times of Rathnir. For the people of Requiem knew that true power came not from conquest or domination, but from the pursuit of knowledge and understanding, and the dedication to creating a society that was truly a heavenly realm.

Arc 2, annihilation of Requiem: “The Fall of Vathir”
Decades turned into centuries, with time progress came, and with progress success took over.

The city of Requiem soon enough became a glorious fortified citadel made out of quartz, carved by the most skilled artists under the guidance of the guardian goddess Vathir. As its towers reached the clouds and the gold that decorated its buildings shone brighter than the sun, Requiem started to become well-known throughout the world, owing most of its renown to their evolved social system, unique infrastructure and great advances in the arcane arts of magic.

In order to guarantee Requiem and its people’s safety, the Goddess decided to give her followers one more thing, necessary for the creation of a great divine barrier that would protect all the inhabitants of Requiem from the attacks of outsiders, using her own divine mana core, Vathir created what was known as “The Heart of Vathir”, placed in her throne room in the great castle of quartz. The Heart of Vathir seemingly defied all laws of physics and reality itself, it was a never-ending source of power that had the potential of bending the world, it did not only create the so-famous barrier that kept all of Requiem safe from the outside, but also managed to feed every magical system in Requiem with more power and energy than before. However, this did not come without any consequences, upon creating this anomalous source of energy, Vathir felt how her power, which was even increased beforehand due to being an original goddess and by having so many strong followers, was drained out of her; Vathir was severely weakened as an individual due to this event, but she was still able to continue her duties as the guardian deity of Requiem, this would still have severe consequences for her nonetheless.

This great period of thriving and abundance was only shadowed by the large amount of arcane knowledge and magical development salvaged throughout centuries. The Goddess Vathir was not only proud but extremely happy upon seeing how her people became known as the sons of magic itself, each Crowned Vathiri was soon destined to become the best version of themselves, they had mastery in almost all imaginable fields, being considered by many as the actual descendants of Vathir. However, ahead this era of success and light only loomed an ominous fate that each day came closer to the golden city of archmages.

Although there were multiple versions that explained the following events that would cause the downfall of the golden city, there was at least one original source of information, which was the official records made by the goddess herself, that explained it all with detail: It started in the “University”, a millennium after the founding of Requiem, during the fourth generation of Crowned Vathiri. This University was the main and most famous school of arcane magic in the entire region, if not in the world, without a doubt the most advanced too. Only the Crowned Vathiri were allowed to become a student there, in order to hone their magical abilities and wisdom, to train their own mana cores and further expand their knowledge, it was said that those who dedicated their lives to study magic in this organization ended up grasping divinity itself as they interacted with the goddess more frequently than anyone else. The fame of this school was so much that outside of Requiem itself, it was considered to be a mere myth, just like the city itself for those in the far outer continents.

Despite all the love the goddess Vathir gave her people, due to this prestige they were bestowed of by their status as Crowned Vathiri and students of the university of Requiem, they suddenly developed something, emotions that was far beyond the control of Vathir herself as she also deeply wanted to give her “children” the power of free-will, she trusted them with such devotion that she always kept an eye on them and answered their prayers in one way or another, the most invested in the study of magic started to feel lust for power, jealousy, egoism and greed. Emotions that were proper to one thing: Mortality. At first it was rather controlled, as most Crowned Vathiri loved their goddess as much as she loved them, but soon enough, whenever they crossed the barrier that separated Requiem from the rotten outer lands, the old brothers and sisters of Vathir, bringers of chaos and destruction, contacted them. They stopped to hunt or directly attack Requiem as they noticed that even with their combined efforts, they wouldn’t be able to take down the powerful divine shield that the Heart of Vathir created; instead they formulated a plan to corrupt it from the inside.

Taking advantage of these feelings that were slowly forming inside of the hearts of those Crowned Vathiri with lust for more power, the outer deities convinced them that they were only gifted enough so they were actual useful tools, but that Vathir hid even more from them so they never reached godhood in fear of being dethroned by her own followers before taking over the world. Most of the Crowned Vathir remembered the words of their goddess, knowing that she never aimed for global domination and only wanted Requiem to one day become the ultimate utopia; nevertheless, some others only paid attention to the promises of the other deities.

── ''“Power beyond your imagination. A gift that is only for you. A seat just for you among deities”.'' ── They said.

Using this method to convince the most power-hungry ones, the evil deities managed to manipulate a reduced group of Crowned Vathiri to join their lines. Corrupted in mind and heart, they blindly believed that if they helped the others take down Vathir, they would be rewarded with eternal life and boundless magic.

The Crowned Vathiri that rejected the proposal of the evil deities warned their goddess, but she committed a severe mistake, to put her love over reason.

── “Those are the children I saved, the ones whose hearts I have blessed, thus if there was anyone who I could trust in this realm or any, it is them, I will always believe in my people, as for they have faith in me it is only fair for me to have faith on them, the inhabitants of Requiem are superior to everyone else in all lands, no mortal desires shall conduct them into the dark ways of my old siblings”. ── Vathir stated without questioning, reducing the warnings of her own people to a meaningless concern.

Although they were doubtful at first, they decided to listen to their goddess, who they adored. After all, in their own minds, if they were able to even raise this place to the state it was back then, then they were capable of everything and no one would ever take them down, but as history has proved, they were terribly wrong.

In the streets of Requiem, in the houses of the nobles, even in the great University; a series of imposters were infiltrated among them. Not aware of this by believing the speech of their leader, they did notice. These imposters were now followers of the outer faiths, the generations that were not found by the goddess and were born in the already successful society of Requiem who did not know what hunger, illness or despair was; who fell for empty fake promises just to be “better” than their own guardian.

It was one fateful day, where Vathir herself descended to the earthly realm like usual in order to supervise Requiem with her own eyes, that they started their plan. Centuries of work would be taken down in one single day.

The imposters arrived at the main hall, where the Heart of Vathir was set, and using the corrupt energy the outer deities had given them, they sealed the flow of energy that the Heart was supposed to constantly feed the barrier with, without the energy to work with, it collapsed. Vathir noticed it too late and when she rushed in her expression changed to the one of a mortal person in pain upon noticing who did it, a group of no more than 12 people, they were all Crowned Vathiri wearing robes to hide their faces, maybe out of shame or for being too coward to face the fact that they were betraying the one who had saved their kind before.

Before she could say anything more, countless legions of soldiers and beasts arrived at the gates of Requiem, starting an assault that would soon turn into genocide. Despite that Crowned Vathiri were superior to most of the beasts and soldiers individually, not only were they surprised with their guard low, but they were also extremely overwhelmed with numbers, it was clear that it was not the work of a single nation but an entire coalition of destroyers, the gods that Vathir abandoned long ago.

The sight of the descending figures sent shivers down Vathir's spine. They were like angels of death, descending from the heavens with their wings spread wide. Their presence was overwhelming, and she knew that they had come for her city. She tried to fight back, to use the powers that she had spent years mastering. But after creating the barrier and the magical core of Requiem, she was too weakened to even dispute victory. She could feel her energy draining away, leaving her defenseless against the onslaught of the deities' power, even so it was not an easy win for the evil deities, maybe it was that she was hiding her true power the entire time, but the truth was that there was something that made her go beyond any limits, something that gave her the strength to keep fighting even when all seemed lost, that was her willpower, she only wanted to protect the people that she deeply loved.

For hours they battled, Vathir and the deities, locked in a struggle for the fate of the Requiem. But in the end her struggle was useless, she lost. She was severely injured by the multiple gods, who toyed with her as torture after making sure she could not fight back, tortured the poor goddess by forcing her watch how monsters committed unspeakable actions against her children, how her beautiful city was reduced to nothing but a fire out of control.

Only after breaking her mind through that merciless and distorted celebration, the deities tried to kill her. But she was still the rightful goddess of Requiem, her mana core seemed to be indestructible, incredibly pure, untouchable even. The deities were frustrated upon seeing that she did not die, they used powerful destructive spells, legendary weapons and relics, curses of the highest grades, and many other methods. Vathir was still breathing no matter what method they tried to kill her with, it was only then that they comprehended that she was evolving too, they could not let her free and unsupervised after destroying her entire city and massacring her people, the deities were scared of what she could do in revenge, so they joined efforts to imprison her and finally sealed her in a hidden location: A cave located deep in the mountains of northern Rathnir.

Powerless, broken and defeated; the goddess sat in darkness, secluded from the world and stripped of her throne and what she loved the most, her people. With sadness, depression kicked in; she felt nothing else, not even anger for those who attacked her, it was just an endless sensation of constant pain.

With Vathir being sealed and the massacre of the Crowned Vathiri, Requiem had fallen.

There, she would be trapped for a long time, so much that she lost any notion of it or even the capacity to track it. Vathir spent her days feeling nothing but regret, being an empty vessel of what she was before; nevertheless, she still had one thing, her own life. She was a firm believer that if she was still alive, then she had another chance, just like the one she gave the Crowned Vathiri before, that hope would prevail as years passed by, years where she only ask the same question to the dark void:

── “When will I have an opportunity to change fate again?”.

Arc 3, discovery of Osseus: “A Mercenaries' Redemption”
After countless nights, the only thing Vathir could dream of was of the city that was once a bustling metropolis, filled with life and laughter. The goddess remembered how she ruled over the city with a kind and fair hand, and was loved by all her people. Until that one tragic day, when the evil deities and their monstrous minions descended upon the city, destroying everything in their path and bringing unspeakable horror to the paradise Requiem was. Vathir’s nightmares always reminded her of her fighting bravely against the invaders, but in the end, being defeated and sealed away, with her city left in ruins.

Truth was, that after the genocide, the ruins of the city of archmages were left alone as some sort of ghost town, a shadow of its brilliant pass, the remnants of one of the most advanced civilizations.

For centuries, the goddess was afflicted by her nightmares and traumas and despite her attempts to remain conscious, she decided to lay dormant in order to keep her sanity, her only companions were the shadows and echoes of her past. But one day, her desires came true, during the modern era of Rathnir, a small group of mercenaries called Osseus stumbled upon the cavern where she was sealed. They had been drawn to the place by an inexplicable need to explore it, and as they descended deeper into the cavern, they found the goddess.

That need was later explained to be nothing more and nothing less than their own souls crying for help, as they had previously formed a contract with an evil god of Death. One that only desired for more minions to wage war in his name, one that consumed the souls of the war-worned mercenaries.

Vathir woke up upon sensing the aura of the mercenaries getting closer to her and eventually breaking into the cavern, when they found her seal Vathir saw them through the transparent barrier she was shocked to once again see any type of lifeforms after so many centuries, and as she looked upon the faces of the mercenaries, memories of her past flooded back to her. She remembered the love of her people, and the warmth of their laughter. She remembered the hope and promise of a bright future that had once flourished in her city.

She did not say anything for the first moment, nor the mercenaries did, they were both confused, astonished and surprised. Vathir detected the curse of the god of death, one that corrupted the bodies of the mercenaries and their souls into a slow endless torture forcing them to follow his words and commands, to bring death and chaos to the lands of Rathnir through war and violence. She felt bad for their souls and looked kindly upon them, using what little there was of her power to speak through the barrier only to confirm that they were suffering constantly ever since the evil god tricked them into the contract, abusing their desire for power and ignorance. Then Vathir revealed herself as a deity, upon hearing her story about a great white and golden city of archmages and seeing how she was trapped, the Osseus members believed her testimony, they wanted to ask for help but the words did not come out of their mouths, as if the god tried to silence them, nevertheless the kind heart of the goddess heard their prayers for salvation, the goddess Vathir listened and proposed them to attempt to cleanse their souls from that curse and corruption, although the chances were small due to the progression of the curse in some of the members they accepted as they were desperate. As they reminded her of her own people when she first found them, Vathir was determined to help the members of Osseus. She used her limited powers to guide them through the purification process that would destroy their contaminated bodies and give them new pure ones, essentially guiding them into rebirth. She managed to cleanse their souls of the curse and corruption even through a barrier separating them. It was a difficult and painful process that included the weird sensation of dying and being born once again, but the mercenaries were determined to be free of the curse and the control of the god of death. Vathir did all she could to help them and in the end, most of them made it through the purification process and their mana cores were purified as they were reborn into purified living beings. They were overjoyed to be free of the curse and grateful to Vathir for her help, but with a heavy heart, Vathir watched as the three mercenaries succumbed to the curse when she tried to purify their cores, they were unable to be saved. She couldn't help but feel a sense of responsibility for their deaths, knowing that if she had been able to intervene sooner, they may have had a chance at salvation.

Despite the success, Vathir couldn't shake the feeling of sadness and guilt for the three mercenaries who had lost their lives in the process that she had directed. She knew that their deaths would weigh heavily on her heart for a long time as the deaths of her old followers had. But she also knew that she had done all she could to help them, and that was all that mattered.

Then one of the members of Osseus, the next in command after the previous leader who had died during the mana core purification, stepped up and asked her how they could ever repay her.

── ''“Son of men, your visit has shown me that this world has not fully fallen into doom yet. That is enough for my tired and weakened soul”.'' ── Vathir answered with a quiet voice. ── ''“You gave me something I had lacked for many years: Hope. If I freed someone else, even if it is miniscule in the great scheme of things, I have done what I wished, to change fate once again...”.''

The mercenaries heard her words, amazed by her kindness and benevolence, they bowed down and denied her following request to leave her, declaring that they wished to serve their savior, it was then when they found out that the barrier that contained Vathir was rather weak from the outside, without the curse afflicting their bodies, the mercenaries drawn their swords and destroyed the monuments of the cave the withheld the seal that kept Vathir captive, being an actual rather easy process.

With tears streaming down her face, the goddess remained speechless as the barrier broke in front of her, liberating her from that tormentous imprisonment. The remaining members of Osseus then kneeled down and once again asked her to be their goddess, to accept their prayers and to allow them to become her new loyal followers. With these words, Vathir vowed to reclaim what had been taken from her; she guided the mercenaries out of the cave as she walked among them for once, her presence gaining more power as she once again had loyal followers, Vathir saw the exterior for the first time in fifteen centuries, although a lot of things had changed in the landscape, she managed to get oriented and led the way back into the place where Requiem was once located.

There it was, the great city was now only ruins that nature had taken over. As Vathir and her new followers made their way through the ruins of Requiem, they were filled with a sense of longing and sadness for the city that had once been, a perfect paradise that the utopia represented. The goddess guided them through the rubble, pointing out landmarks and memories from her past. They arrived at the main castle, which had once been the center of power for the city. Inside the castle, they found the orb of energy that had once powered the protective magical barrier around the city. Vathir approached the orb, her eyes filled with determination. She reached out with her powers, and with a surge of energy, she reactivated the orb as it started floating in the center of the room and once again activating the protective barrier through its immense energy flow.

As the orb began to glow with a brilliant light that seemed to reassemble the look of blue azure flames, Vathir felt another portion of her powers returning to her. She closed her eyes and basked in the feeling of being whole again. With more of her original powers being restored, she turned to her new followers, who were watching her in awe.

── "We will rebuild this city together", ── Vathir said, her voice filled with determination as the mercenaries were caught by her words, ── "and we will make it a place of peace and prosperity, where you, my children, have a right to exist and live".

Arc 4, the rebirth of Requiem: "A new era"
As the group of Osseus was settling in Vathir ascended and watched from above in order to recover her own power as she was still really affected by the centuries in cautivery. She guided them and entrusted them with the restoration process, the city was in shambles and crumbly, reduced to a glimpse of its former self, nature took over most of its ruined buildings hiding the utopia that once stood there. There was an immense amount of work to be done, and the members of the mercenary group Osseus were determined to restore it to its former glory. They all worked tirelessly day and night, powered by the seemingly endless stamina provided by their new mana cores. One member in particular, known as "Caseload," caught the attention of Vathir. After the death of the group's previous leader, Caseload stepped up and worked tirelessly, even single-handedly restoring some of the damaged buildings. Vathir took notice of his dedication and blessed him with special care, enhancing his talent.

Despite their small numbers, the Osseus mercenaries worked together with remarkable efficiency and completed the work of hundreds in a fraction of the time. Most of them had never wielded a hammer before or worked in building, yet they seemed to possess an innate understanding of the task at hand as if Requiem itself was guiding them and bestowing them with knowledge, calling for their help

It took months and months, but one day, Caseload had the honor to be tasked with finishing the highest tower of Requiem, the final task for its restoration. From the tower's peak, he looked out upon the newly restored city, gleaming in the moonlight. Despite the grueling work, the mercenaries had finished in record time, considering their limited manpower. Caseload was impressed with his team's accomplishments. As he stood atop the tower, Vathir's voice called out to him. She expressed her gratitude for the work of the mercenaries, but Caseload insisted that it was nothing compared to what the goddess had done for them. To his surprise, Vathir extended an invitation for the mercenaries to live in Requiem as the only citizens allowed. While the offer was tempting, it left Caseload and his companions feeling perplexed since they were accustomed to chaos and battlefields, and now a benevolent deity was offering them a peaceful home.

── ''“Believe it or not, you have taught me many things. I have had the misfortune to experience the cruelty of this world as you, my children, also have”.'' ── She replied with a comprehensive tone. ── ''“I am aware of what you have gone through and I could not feel more sorry. But you have rebuilt my city by yourselves, you have proven yourselves worthy of Requiem. Furthermore, you are Requiem now. This world is cruel, but stay and I will show you prosperity. Together, my children, we will go against all odds and make sure this place remains a place for us. Your backs shall never land on the ground and your swords will never meet defeat, I not only allow you to battle throughout this land, but I bestow you with my greatest blessings and wishes so you always come home victorious.”''

The mercenaries were grateful for Vathir's offer and after listening to her reasoning, they accepted it. They soon settled into the city, finding comfort in the stability and safety it provided. Vathir continued to look after them, providing them with food, shelter, and guidance. They learned to work together, not just in battle but in their everyday lives, sharing responsibilities and helping each other out. As they continued to live in Requiem, they found that they had more time to hone their skills and develop new ones, allowing them to become even stronger in battle. The Osseus remnants continued to work hard to expand and improve the city and at the same time improve their own abilities. With the new mana cores they possessed, they became even stronger and more skilled than before.

They renamed themselves in honor to the city that was their home and to the goddess that was protecting them from above, officially becoming “Requiem”, as they continued to work and train, their reputation grew throughout the lands of Rathnir. The name Requiem became synonymous with power, strength, and victory. Other kingdoms and factions would pay large sums of money just to have Requiem fight for them in their wars. But despite their fame and success, the members of Requiem never forgot their roots. They continued to honor Vathir and the city of Requiem, and they never forgot the tragedies they had to go through and the hard work and sacrifice that had allowed them to reach such heights.

As time passed, Requiem became more than just a mercenary group. They became a symbol of hope and resilience, a beacon of strength in a world full of chaos and war. And through it all, Vathir watched over them, proud of the group that had once worked tirelessly to restore her beloved city, she remains curious on their next moves, occasionally visiting them in her physical form and always blesses them as she progressively recovers her own power, allowing them to exceed themselves in the battlefield, shining brighter than any star.