Upheavology: Some Alicorn Terms · 12:17am Mar 23rd, 2017
The Eternal Herd - refers to both alicorns as a race and the alicorn homeworld. Frequently shortened "the Herd" by alicorns. With the rise of the abyss, the term has become more important for making a distinction between alicorns of the Eternal Herd and alicorns of the abyss.
The Throne - the Throne is an ancient, sentient device that first revealed itself to Primus Ignis, who would become the First Ascendant and King of the Eternal Herd. The very few alicorns who have seen the Throne have only seen its outer shell: a massive sphere of blinding light. Only Ascendants and their spouses have seen the Throne personally, and none have spoken of its appearance even after the end of their cycles.
The full true nature of the Throne remains a mystery to the alicorns up to the present. What is known is that the Throne anchors the different layers of the Eternal Herd into a single world so that alicorns can travel between each with merely a thought. Without the Throne's power, the Eternal Herd's individual layers will drift apart and even dissolve into the Astral Ocean, known to the alicorns as Vestibulum.
The Throne maintains the dimensional barriers of the Eternal Herd which prevents easy access by non-natives of the plane and immediately alerts alicorns of any breach through gate or other more powerful means of dimensional transport.
On a personal level, the Throne massively boosts the power of the alicorn currently attuned to it, granting them physical and magical might above all other alicorns.
Without an alicorn attuned to it, the Throne will become dormant again as it was during the days of the demiurge, when alicorns only resided in one layer and had to face invaders of all sorts.
While the Throne chose Primus Ignis as the first to be attuned to its power, it has since then accepted the candidates chosen by the current ascendant. On a few instances, such as the choosing of the Seventh and the Sixteenth Ascendants, the Throne chose the new Ascendant due to the previous one's failure to pick a candidate.
Ascendant - an ascendant is an alicorn attuned to the power of the Throne. The ascendant rules as the Eternal Herd's monarch for the duration of a cycle, commanding not only tremendous personal power and authority, but the means to shape the plane itself. Only one ascendant can be attuned to the Throne at any given time, but the ascendant has the ability to share the power with a spouse, and, to a lesser degree, an offspring meant as the successor.
Cycle - a cycle refers to the period of time that an ascendant is attuned to the Throne, thus reigning over the Eternal Herd. Cycles do not have a fixed time limit, though enough have occurred to have an average. It is generally agreed that the Ninth Cycle is the shortest and that the Sixteenth has gone on for an unusually long time. The First Cycle began when Primus Ignis secured the Throne and established the different layers of the Eternal Herd, purging them of the demiurge. The current cycle is the Sixteenth, led by Sanctus Dominus.
Alicorns do not measure age in terms of years or days, but rather consult the cycle they were born in. They make no distinction between an alicorn who was born during the start of a cycle and one born at its end.
Diminishing, Restoration, and Censureship - upon reaching their prime, alicorns do not age and thus cannot die of old age. Instead, after a long period of time, an alicorn fades to a state of near-nonexistence. This is referred to as diminishing. Fully diminished alicorns fall into a catatonic state and are almost completely undetectable by even the most powerful magic known to the Herd. This state of nonexistence lasts for a long period of time, spanning multiple cycles, though there is also no set time. Magnus Chartophylax diminished during the Fourth Cycle only to be restored during the Fifth. Primus Ignis, on the other hand, diminished at the end of his reign, and was only restored during the Tenth. Many alicorns often visit the Midnight Grove to meditate and catch very faint echoes of the presence of diminished alicorns. After this period of near nonexistence, alicorns are restored, living out their lives yet again in this cycle.
Alicorns who are killed outside of Ida but within the Eternal Herd or Vestibulum are forcibly diminished, entering this state of catanoia as if they had naturally diminished anyway. Alicorns killed in other planes of existence are instead censured, meaning they are forcibly banished from that world and lose the ability to enter it, but they continue to be in a restored state when they re-emerge.
Blessings - all alicorns are born with magical potential often tied to a specific part of creation referred to as a blessing. Though they are able to cast spells from multiple schools of magic, alicorns tend to favor power related to their blessing as they naturally excel in it. Alicorns often mention "Blessed with the power of" in reference to an alicorn's blessing such as "blessed with the power of sunlight".
Layers - the Eternal Herd as a plane of existence is actually composed of multiple places that each stretch out infinitely. They are connected primarily through the power of the Throne, which allows alicorns to travel freely into each layer. There are rare portals that connect one layer to another naturally, though they are difficult to find given the vastness of each layer. The layers of the Eternal Herd are:
The Eternal City of Empyrea
The Grand Heights and Depths of Bytos
The Blessed Fields of Elys
The Serene Dark of the Midnight Grove
The Glorious Battle Plane of Ida
Council of Elders - the Council is a group of five hundred alicorns that deliberate over important issues related to the administration of the Eternal Herd, then advise the current ascendant. Issues are discussed, then voted on by the Council, before presenting the result to the current ascendant. Normally, the ascendant's will is in harmony with the Council's deliberations, but not always so. An Elder must be an alicorn from at least two cycles prior to the one they are serving in. The first Council of Elders was created by the Third Ascendant by personally picking alicorns from the First Cycle. Since then, the Council nominates and votes on new members.
I love how much you've thought about and developed your own not-so-little universe. If the upheaval series was a completed, published, non-pony entity, I'd buy the abyss out of it.
Can a censured alicorn ever return to that realm of existence?
What is it about Ida that allows alicorns to die without being diminished?
droooool
Can you please be the writer for diablo 4?
I'm curious what role normal ponies from Equestria play when they've died and been accepted into the herd? Alicorns seem to be a truly immortal, but I'm curious how normal earth/pegasi/unicorns play. 2nd class citizens of a sort? Independent of alicorns?
So...who came across the mortal world? Surely some random Alicorn found it...or dog...or teddy bear.
4468558 Sanctus decreed that they be accepted as brethren and on another note, the royal sentinels of the herd rescue the mortal souls from Vestibulum. As for anything else, it seems they get turned into slaves for the most part. Can't have a bunch of ponies running about, so from what I've read they are put to work and in return get food and shelter. Also I'm pretty sure there's Alicorn/Mortal copulation as well.
Damn, last thing I read was Legacy. You've written a lot since them. Gotta read it, sooner or latter
All in all, Planescape feelings. A mix of Mount Celestia, Elysium, Beastlands/Arborea & Ysgard? The heights and depths kinda remind me of the duality of Bytopia, but that's a stretch
Huh, it would make some kind of sense if the Throne got layers from those planes after a destruction of the Wheel of Planes. In Pony Planescape, that is
Well, hard to say, but it's always nice when writers take the time to create those things in their worlds
Spoiler alert! The inside of the Throne is a portal to a mysterious alternate dimension where every Alicorn exists as strange creatures in a place called the Eternal Highschool...
4468660 Oh god no...
4468568
Read The Void Rift Crisis. I believe that explains the origins of the world containing Equestria.
Just found this series, and I love it!
4468712 Fack. I missed a sub story.
Been waiting for an explanation of the throne.
What's the overall alicorn population of the Eternal herd and do dead ponies become alicorns upon joining?