Vaskus

Vaskus is a malevolent god and member of the Old Pantheon. Created as a side effect shortly after the creation of Ouros, Vaskus embodies pure hatred, destruction and the overwhelming drive to see others suffer. According to many religions and belief systems, Vaskus takes the form of a basilisk, and he is considered the source of all evil in Erudite. Despite being long dead, his presence still continues to haunt and influence the world.

When Vaskus died during the war following the Shattering, his memories spread across the universe. His physical body became the Deep Ekati found in Subterra. The memories, which are capable of being absorbed by an Aetherian or a mage skilled in aetheric magic, are known to cause overwhelming nihilistic thoughts and a desire for harm against others. Something similar had happened to the Great Spirit who accidentally absorbed aspects of Vaskus' memories. He only survived by purging those memories and containing them within a separate mass of negative emotions known as Antithesis.

Overview

Why Vaskus exists is considered a mystery to mortals. Some blame Asmos for deliberately allowing cruelty to exist in Erudite while others consider Vaskus as part of a necessary cosmic balance. While it is not common knowledge, the truth is that when creating the universe, Asmos had taken a glimpse into an unknown realm beyond the chaos of unformed reality. He witnessed something so profoundly sinister that he became horrified and fascinated at the same time. As such, Asmos' knowledge of the existence of this evil was enough for it to slip into creation when Ouros was made.

The Heilinthar empress Luminiferah claimed to have seen an alternate timeline with the use of the Star Crown where Vaskus was successful in destroying the Old Pantheon and taking over Erudite. She suggests that if Vaskus had gotten his way, he would have eventually attempted to call out to the unknown evil beyond the chaos to reunite it with it. The result would have been the total destruction of Erudite's physical form, and any surviving souls would be trapped in endless nightmares.

Although Luminiferah's claims were not initially taken seriously due to her use of the Star Crown to initimidate others and cause harm, the dark future she described nearly came to pass with the Long Nightmare, a year-long event where the entire mortal population of Erudite fell into a deep slumber to be constantly tormented by dark spirits. It was only through mere chance that Vaskus, his various incarnations such as Antithesis, and his other forces were defeated for good.