[ Myrioi ] [ Aura | Avenger | Epariti | Demiourgoi ]
Epariti Myrioi
The Perfect Daughters
Home Plane: Arcadia / Orb of Day and Night
The myrioi are organized into three sacred legions, each one assigned to protect a particular aspect of Arcadian culture. If you’ve never clapped eyes on an epariti, count yourself lucky—or unlucky, depending on how you look at it, cutter. They are the most secretive and potent of the myrioi sisterhoods, and the kind of bloods you only see when the fate of Arcadia itself is on a razor’s edge. Most Arcadians go their entire lives without so much as a glimpse of their gleaming helms, and those who do usually wish they hadn’t.
These bloods are the mightiest of the myrioi, called upon only in times of grave peril. Indeed, they are only seen then too; where the epariti actually go when they have not been summoned isn’t clear. Some graybeards reckon they are spun out of the Orb of Day and Night itself—others think they somehow exist inside it, and fly out in unison when summoned. There’s a wild theory that avengers are transformed into epariti by the Orb, in the same way the moon can change some poor sods on the Prime into slavering wolves. And the real bloods, reckon perhaps they dwell somewhere in exile on Nemausus, waiting to for the call return. Truth is, no one’s ever followed them home and come back to tell the tale.
Appearance and Powers
Epariti look like something straight out of a celestial smith’s fever dream. They share the metallic skin and ornate armour of their myrioi kin, and you’ll never catch an epariti unarmored—not even in the bath, assuming they take them. (Not something a decent berk should think about really, why did you even ask?) Their armour is etched with shifting sigils that glow or darken with the rotation of Orb of Day and Night.
The epariti embody the duality of day and night. Stand an epariti in the full blaze of Arcadian day and you’ll see a creature of pure, radiant metal—white as lightning, dazzling to look at, and crackling with vital storm energy. Their swords blaze like miniature suns, and their shields can call down the wrath of the sky itself. But when the sudden night of Arcadia falls—or you plunge an epariti into darkness—and they become matte black, absorbing all light, and moving like living shadow. Their swords turn into void-blades, and their shields become hungry, swallowing spells and even hope.
These bloods can command the dual power of light and darkness, blasting vitality or void energy from their swords, calling down magical rays from the night, or manifesting brilliant halos. It’s almost like they’re two beings in one, shifting between vitality and void as the light changes. Planewalkers in the know say you’d best know what time of day you’re meeting one, or you could end up on the wrong end of powers you never saw coming.
Zero Shades of Gray
Epariti aren’t just black and white in looks—they’re black and white in thought. To them, there’s right and there’s wrong, and nothing in between. No half-measures, no compromises, no “maybe” or “it depends.” They hate liminal spaces—twilight, dusk, crossroads, or anything that isn’t one thing or the other. If you can find some way to force them to stand in the shadows, and you’ll see them falter; it’s the closest thing to a weakness these cutters have. Chant goes that any time you can cast a shadow upon an epariti, they become more vulnerable to all forms of attack.
Their judgments are absolute. If you break the law, you’re guilty. If you serve the light, you’re pure. There’s no room for “good intentions” or “mitigating circumstances.” This makes them terrifyingly effective in a crisis, but don’t expect mercy or nuance from a creature that literally cannot see the gray.
Place in Arcadian Society
The Epariti are legends even among the myrioi. Most of the time, they’re not seen at all—only summoned when Arcadia faces threats that could unbalance the whole plane. When they do appear, the other myrioi defer to them without question, and even the usually self-assured avengers step aside. Some whisper that the Epariti are the “final sanction” of Arcadia, called only when all else has failed. Others say they’re a last resort should a Storm King go rogue. Or a faction. Not naming names of course…
Their connection to the Orb of Day and Night is a mystery even to other myrioi. Some believe the Orb is their source, others their prison, and a few think it’s both. The epariti themselves never explain, and if you ask, you’ll get a stare colder than the void. Or more dazzling than the sun. Depending if it’s day or night, obviously.
If you ever find yourself facing an epariti—well, plan accordingly, berk. In the day, expect blinding speed, radiant power, and storm-like wrath. At night, prepare for silence, darkness, and the kind of cold that eats at your soul. And remember: whatever you do, don’t try to bargain with them. With the epariti, it’s all or nothing, and they always choose all. So if the epariti show up, know this: Arcadia itself is in peril, and the multiverse just got a lot more interesting—and a lot more dangerous.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt. Canonwatch: These creatures are homebrew, inspired by the Orb of Day and Night, which is a mysterious feature of the plane for sure and deserves to have more lore around it. The ἐπίλεκτοι (translation: ‘selected’), or epariti in our own world were an elite unit of warriors chosen to defend the Arcadian League of Ancient Greece following a war with the Spartans.
