The Remnant Elders

[TheDeNuke]

The Remnant Elders
Written by Equinox
Art by Ghost Recon Captain Rex
Upon our sacred homeworld, we turned to them in their elder wisdom for millennia and beyond. As the fires of the Great Enslavers drove us out, into the wretched grip of the Nihilanth, we clung to their words like the very sustenance that kept us alive. As our feet touch the green alien grass of Earth to be met with bloodshed, we sought only to bring their will, the will of all, to reality. For millennia more, we shall serve them, as they have served us.

As the Great Enslaver's shackle us once again, we find ourselves at a loss, even if temporary. Our kind, wounded and broken, turns to the Grand Elders, so wise in their ways. We find them all but the same: wounded and broken. A grim reflection of those they led. Once there were many, a council of a thousand who had nearly led us to the very interwoven strings of reality. So close yet doomed to armageddon. Many were lost as they led our kin in glorious war against the Great Enslaver's twisted puppets. Many more were to follow them into the Void, who had been robbed of their essence under the cruel Nihilanth. In the wake of humanities carnage, we wept in our songs as even more were sent away.

But now, in these trying times, only a few remain. It is with a weary heart that I relay to you the last of what humanity deems to be our "Grand Elders." You have been referred to me so as to enlighten you on the greatest of our kind. So it would be, so it shall be. Look upon our wall of chronicals, our Grand Elder council.

The Emissary

​

You humans, so quick to action and so naive in the ways of the world. So unevolved and pitiful is your kind that you strike your own down for the sake of uncontrolled impulses. Like animals. You should be grateful that one of our greatest saw use in your misbegotten kind. "The Emissary" is the title they have earned, for they work in tandem in your lands of Europe with the ones you call the "Lambda". If the Emissary is willing to have you, then so shall I, for their wisdom is just, and their will be done. Many of our kin fight alongside you against the Great Enslavers. It is through the Emissary, the true master of war within the Lambda, that your naive race is best made to fight off that which we have known for thousands of your short years. So generous was the Emissary to place themselves among you. Without them, you would surely perish. Be thankful, human, for you are carried by our hands to victory.

The Monk

​

Despite your shortcomings, your kind is not without its moments of grace. Perhaps it was through a simple chance of fate. Or perhaps, "The Monk" has always known of your short sighted religion. A cheap copy of the Monk's infinite insight. We suspect that what you call "Buddhism" has laid within the mind of the Monk for many millennia, before your limited minds had even been able to comprehend the beauty of the Monk's philosophy. If not, I find it difficult to believe that the Monk would see value in the creations of your beloved noble "Buddha." Nonetheless, the Monk now isolates themselves in the reaches of the Burmese lands. At any moment, those of our kin who are made aware can feel the great waves the Monk makes in the Vortessence, as we feel their submersion upon the mountain tops. Rightfully so, they seem to avoid the larger populations of your humankind- but they will sometimes grace your kin with their presence, if not to only bestow insight upon others. Your kin view the Monk as a "wise man", as if to relate such a respected and enlightened member of vortal kind to your own. However, it is fitting that your kind can't help but view the Monk as a superior to your own in all things.

The Wanderer

​

In the deepest jungles, in the hottest deserts. Upon the coldest fields, and on the highest mountain tops. We have felt that which we have called "The Wanderer," but nothing more. We know not what the Wanderer feels, for they have seen fit to mask their intentions to the rest. To that we respect, but do ponder. There is beauty to your world. Your Earth. While it may not match the vistas of our own homeworld, it is paradise compared to that of Xen. A shame as to what came to preside over it as its master, both before and after the Seven Hour War. We believe the Wanderer to have taken an interest in it, for they travel upon the many roads of your world, seeking to understand the realm we now reside in. We know not where the Wanderer roams, but in a poetic way you will likely fail to understand, it is a beautiful thing to not know. Whether they are ever found or not- we know that the Wanderer wanders with a wonder that is true, even if we fail to understand it as they do.

The Puppet

​

If there is one thing we share with your kind- it is our undying, eternal hatred for the Great Enslavers. Our names can be both a title of glory and wisdom, and a title of shame and tragedy. Your kin deem the Great Enslavers puppets in their ultimate form as "Stalkers." A pitiful misshapen form, even compared to your kin. With a harrowing breath, we call one of our greatest "The Puppet". Even now, we can feel them. Their form, beaten and broken, resides in the South American lands. We know not why. We prefer not to know how. We can feel the Puppet's presence, used to enact "good will" upon our own kin. Twisted and malformed are their words. Even more unfortunate is the younger of our kin who foolishly believe them. A tragedy that brings about a sadness that your kind is not equipped to understand. So horrid and sinister is this transformation of one of our greatest, that we would see fit to have them cut from the vortessence and granted the mercy of returning to the All-in-One. Know that our shared rage for the Great Enslaver is our greatest strength between one another. You are not the only species to have lost nearly everything. Never forget that.

The Dragon of the East

​

We have come to understand dragons in your culture to be great beings of power and age. A fitting title it is then, to see one of our own deemed "The Dragon of the East." They are among the oldest of our kind, even among the Grand Elder council. In their youth, the Dragon of the East was an incredible hunter of antlions and other beasts of our homeworld. They led hundreds, if not thousands of expeditions into the deepest of nests to retrieve the most valuable Extract. In the martial fields, they saw the forging of thousands of warrior kin. In glorious combat against the Great Enslaver, they led from the front. The Dragon of the East dove into the enemies lines with a bloody grace unseen among even our own kind. A whirlwind of destruction. A dance of death. When our kind met yours upon Earth, they felled many of your feeble kin, like the antlions before. Those of your kin who know the Dragon know only fear and terror. Even the twisted warriors of your kin who now serve the Great Enslavers fall like any other human beneath the Dragon's might.

We can feel the Dragon's undying, justified rage in the mountain ranges of China- aimed at all but our own, and rightfully so. As all things in the mortal world call for a response- so does humanities treatment of our kin in the years that followed the Resonance Cascade. If there will be any punishment for the lives that humankind and the Great Enslavers stole from us, it will be through the will of the Dragon of the East, as they carry out to this day.

The Master of the West

​

When the forces of Xen invaded your world, you would become helpless to the strongest of its ever changing flora and fauna. The Malignancy Zone, as you came to call it, would claim almost half of your United States. Its growth unchecked, its hunger never ending. We have come to respect it, while your kin see fit to avoid it, and rightfully so. Your frail kind cannot help but hate that which is more powerful than your own. Even the Great Enslavers cannot shackle its growth. But for a vortigaunt, it is but a matter of understanding, and respect. We are more familiar with the likes of Xen than even your world. It is in the malignancy that we have mastery, and it is through "The Master of the West" that we are led.

You braved the perils of the great corruption. You sought our tribe. You have yet to see the form of the Master. Did you think that we would not reform and begin anew the might of our glorious tribe? It is in the malignancy that our Master dwells. It is through their will that we have gained many thousands in numbers, devoid of your weak kind. When you, human, are to approach the Master- you shall show only respect in your life, or you shall show respect in death. Once, you called yourselves the masters of these lands. Now, you shall listen to a new master.

The Unified

​

Finally, we come upon the most elusive of our Grand Elders that we know to live upon Earth- but perhaps this one is even beyond the mortal realms. In a way, "The Unified" is the closest to all of vortigaunt kind. We can feel the Unified the most within the Vortessence, even more so than my own Master. Yet at the same time, they are far away, as they do not appear to reside on Earth, or any space surrounding it. Like a light in the dark night- we know it is there, yet not what causes it. But unlike a light, we know not where it resides. Our Grand Elder, the Master, believes the Unified to be the merging of two members of the Grand Elder council. It was a desire that was sought after even on our Homeworld- the opportunity to reach a higher state of being. To be one step closer to the All-in-One while retaining our vortal coil. To be one. We suspect that the Unified has discovered the secret to such an evolution, and now resides in harmony with each other. The Master believes that the Unified keeps a tribe of its own- but only in very small numbers. A number of incredibly powerful vortigaunts aid the Unified in goals that the Master knows of, yet refuses to elaborate. We suspect the Unified to task themselves with the handling of darker forces even beyond the Great Enslaver. That which resided over the Nihilanth like a shadow of destruction. Something perhaps even beyond our own, if you would believe it.

But as to how the Unified has gone about this, we do not know. We hope that they are successful in their mission, for we fear what may rise should they fail to contain the threat at bay- and your kind should as well.

With the greatest of our kind laid to bare before you, you would do well to remember them, just as we have for many millennia. They will undoubtedly become just as important to you as they are beyond you. You will come to know them as you do any other figures in your history. Perhaps in time, even more of our sacred hierarchy shall reveal themselves- whether from obscurity or from proginy. However, it would take no more than what has already revealed to change the fate of your scarred world.​

Especially if the rumors of a eighth Grand Elder are true.​

 

[RedHotGinger]

Reasoned this could simply be a conversation from long ago.

Accepted

Though, do note, the Dragons fate remains the same. That has not been adjusted for the sake of this post.

 

[TheDeNuke]

Moved this to the Vortigaunt Section and cleaned up the posts apart from RedHotGinger's one.

The Dragon of the East is indeed deceased. However its not worth mentioning it on the roster above as that's from the IC perspective of a Vortigaunt at a far earlier point of the combine occupation of earth and thus he is still alive at that point.

I'm locking this thread for Archival Purposes. If you want to discuss your concerns with the six Grand Elders then talk to either me or RogueSynapse.

 

[TheDeNuke]

I've fixed this up with imgur links.