ARIMASPI, King of Kings
Tenth of the Demiurges, otherwise known as ‘the Noble Beast’, ‘the Great Shaman’, and ‘King of Kings’.
​
Appearance: Arimaspi’s appearance is the most bestial amongst the Demiurges, and he is commonly depicted as a centaur-like creature, with two-pairs of wings and a face bearing the markings of various animals. All four of his scaly feet are hooved, and he has a long sinuous tail. He is depicted in the Mythologia Elyden as moulting with the seasons, bringing about a great change in his appearance.
​
Characteristics: Arimaspi is amongst the more enigmatic of the Demiurges. He seemed more concerned with creating life than the personal politicking and drama of the other Demiurges. Save for his intervention during the creation of the Bridge of Worlds, he features little in the tales from the Mythologia Elyden, but we do know that he was a primal being, and though of regal bearing, his temper was that of the elements, and his actions were often tempered by the season and the state of the world around him. He was known to slumber for long periods of time, reappearing energised and full of a desire to shape and create.
He was accepting of The Shapers’ various punishment for the Demiurge’s actions in destroying the perfection they have wrought in Elyden, possibly because he had been against the creation of a perfect world from the onset.
​
Other Forms: his form was mutable, and his features were changing constantly, one skin sloughed and replaced with another, as though parts from various animals were chosen at random. He was seldom seen in humanoid form, though it is believed that he was able to assume a less feral shape, if he so wanted.
​
Children: the children of Arimaspi are the vapulim, strong and graceful beings that stand 7-ft. tall, with great feathered manes around their necks and backs. Their faces bear both feline and avian traits.
Arimaspi is thought to have created the most living creatures amongst the all the Demiurges, including animals and sentient beings, many of which he viewed with more affection than the vapulim.
​
Known Scions: Ennei and Eres, who searched for their father following the disappearance of the Quintumvirate. Eres’ son, Gaeal, would become the Korachani saint of beasts. Hurd, who embodies all that is savage and unforgiving in the wild realms, and is rumoured to be alive in the depths of the Wold rainforest.
​
Relationships: never a gregarious Demiurge, Arimaspi was want to spent long periods of time alone, enjoying seeing his creations thriving in the realms he created. He shared a long-lived bond with Shibboleth, with whom he shared similar views, but her descent into madness and apathy drove him away. Following the decay of Elyden and the growing deterioration of the Demiurges, he grew close with Synchthonith, Neith and Nergaal, an reuniting with Shibboleth, becoming known as the Quintumvirate – Demiurges who refused to accept their waning star and decided to dfy the will of The Shaper and contine shaping Elyden util they disappeared from history.
​
History: as his siblings shaped Elyden and the Spheres of Creation, Arimaspi found these new realms, perfect as they were, vacant and without meaning. He was the first Demiurge to create life to populate these nascent realms, inspiring some of the other Demiurges to follow.
He took joy in seeing these creatures interact with each other and manipulate the world the Demiurges had created, and as the other Demiurges moved closer to realising a perfect world, he found himself disillusioned with the plan that The Shaper had for them. More than once he tried to dissuade his siblings from attaining perfection, but was ignored.
When the Demiurges eventually crafted the perfect realm, he became saddened, feeling that the natural tumult and uncertainty of an imperfect world better suited the flourishing of the creatures they had created. He diminished after this point and withdrew from the personal lives of his siblings, preferring to dwell with his creatures in the places he had wrought himself.
He was unaware of the Demiurge’s fall into hubris, and only learnt of their actions in invalidating the perfect world when The Shaper punished them. He too was affected by the castigation, but cared little, for it meant that he would see the imperfect world he had dreamt of come to fruition.
Where the other Demiurges were negatively affected, suffering sadness, bitterness and anger at these events, Arimaspi was alone in feeling comfort in this new world. It was into this world that his children, the valthas, were born, though he had little direct involvement in their development, feeling it better for nature to take its own course. They suffered for this, and dwindled even as the children of Demiurges who nurtured them thrived.
Arimaspi only learnt of the Demiurges’ plan to construct the Bridge of Worlds to bring them closer to The Shaper after the Great Conclave, so distant had he become form the events of the world. He found himself against the idea. The Shaper had punished them for a reason, and to seek a way to circumvent that punishment was denying the wisdom of The Shaper.
He went to Talantehut, and told her of the plan, urging her to join him in stopping it. She agreed, and prayed to The Shaper to give them the strength to oppose their siblings. They did, and the Bridge was destroyed in the early days of its construction. The Demiurges were punished and their children scattered across Elyden, their singular tongue sundered into dozens of languages so they could never again work together.
Upon Arimaspi, The Shaper bestowed the title King-of-Kings, and his was forevermore the will that would shape Elyden.
He later grew close with Shibboleth, who shared a similar outlook, and together they crafted the Goldstream, a nourishing river that sustained their many creations. In its waters they conceived the scion Ennei, who became a spirit of its waters.
He spent an age with Shibboleth, but her growing dispassion and distance from the realm they had created left him saddened, and he abandoned her for the solitude of his own realms.
Many of his siblings grew bitter of his title, and worked against him, but he cared not for their jealousy. He shaped Elyden, creating more creatures to guard it from the machinations of mortals and Demiurges alike. He created griffins to guard the Goldstream, and the scions of Haagenti to be his agents across Elyden. Sphinxes were his messengers, and the karkadanni guardians of natural realms he valued.
As the other Demiurges fell into torpor, the land around them decaying, Arimaspi remained active, shaping his corner of the world into a savage paradise that mirrored his image of what Elyden should be. Talantehut appeared to him, telling him that he was abusing his title of King of Kings, in creating this realm for himself and not for all races. He heeded her warnings, and stopped shaping, deciding to only create life. This is when the aiklahs and eelyouhns were made, and he took great pride and joy in these new races, after which he forsook the vapulim completely to their own fates.
Eventually ignoring Talantehut’s warning, he began shaping wonders for his new children to populate, but found himself getting weaker. As time passed he learnt of the slow torpor that was afflicting his siblings, and how his abandonment of the vapulim was weakening him.
This changed him. He accepted his errors, and, knowing that his actions will result in his death, decided to continue shaping Elyden so that his children would have the best change at thriving in his eventual absence.
Together with Synchthonith, Shibboleth, Neith and Nergaal he would embark on a final act of shaping, creating a beauteous continent that would last forever as a new world in the chaos of Elyden, a monument to their will and a reminder of what they had wrought.
Later known as the Quintumvirate, these five Demiurges would diminish and disappear from the Mythologia Elyden, shaping until they were no more. It is unknown what came of this new realm they crafted, and if The Shaper later destroyed it, or if it was on another planet altogether.
​
Sigil: Mas.
​