Zerathiel the Ash-Walker – Backstory
Zerathiel claims origins older than empires, born in the smoldering ruins of Babel when hope was shattered and language itself fractured. In these earliest moments of human ambition and divine confusion, he emerged not as a messenger of salvation but as an embodiment of inevitable collapse. Walking barefoot upon the ashes of the Tower, he witnessed humanity’s first collective hubris crumble and swore to become the herald of despair, ensuring that no light would remain untested and no faith unexamined.
Throughout the millennia, Zerathiel wandered through the ruins of civilizations. In Sumerian cities, he whispered to those who attempted to rebuild temples, only to watch them burn again. In Egyptian deserts, he observed dynasties rise and fall, seeing the futility of kings and priests alike. Across Mesopotamia, Europe, and the Maghreb, he walked among battlefields and charnel grounds, spreading his doctrine of futility, often appearing where hope was most fervent so that its destruction would be most profound.
His connection to the Serpent of Ariphes is foundational. While the Serpent tempts mortals with forbidden knowledge, Zerathiel’s mission is harsher: he ensures that they grasp the impossibility of true mastery, turning ambition and aspiration into a mirror of despair. The Shadowed Council recognized his unique capacity to dismantle belief systems and subtly corrode civilizations from within, employing him as an agent to infiltrate cities like Fez, where knowledge, faith, and culture flourish, and to sow the seeds of nihilism.
Over centuries, Zerathiel adapted seamlessly to the evolving world. In the medieval and Renaissance eras, he posed as wandering mystics, cursed hermits, and disillusioned philosophers. In the modern age, he becomes an omnipresent plague: a digital prophet spreading despair online, a doomsday preacher attracting cult-like followings, or a charismatic hermit speaking apocalyptic truths in remote towns. Unlike other agents of chaos, he never offers salvation; his comfort is cruel, rooted in the promise that striving is ultimately meaningless.
His presence is both visceral and symbolic: ash drifts in his wake, fires dim before him, and smoke lingers unnaturally long. Through every era, his followers often witness personal tragedies magnified as he walks among them, turning their illusions of hope into dust and deepening their devotion to the despair he embodies.
Zerathiel’s enduring mission is to act as the final test of resolve for mortals and immortals alike. To Euryeth and others who strive for balance, he represents the internal and external struggle against futility, the shadow that reminds all that faith, ambition, and even art exist within a world destined for entropy. Though his touch is cruel and his doctrine grim, his role is essential: by embodying the absolute end, he makes every act of perseverance, however fleeting, meaningful in contrast.