Celestials

The Celestials were a primordial race that existed before the Yellow Flood that ended the preceding historical epoch. They possessed prolific literary records which were made available to scholars of the EHD after being deciphered via cross-reference with Eladrin and Elven translations. Some translations are matters of public and semi-public availability, but the vast majority are the closely-guarded secrets of either the universities that produced the translations, or the Imperial Dynasty itself. Apart from the usual records of bills of sale, family registries, and numerous other writing sources, the Celestials engaged in a form of highly complex, esoteric alchemy with the intent of becoming immortal and ascending into heaven. Many scholars believe that the Yellow Flood is proof of their success, or their catastrophic failure. In either case, if the secret to immortality is indeed hidden in their records, it should be no surprise that the wealthy and powerful have an almost fanatical interest in them.

In addition to their literary vestiges, the celestials left behind an innumerable number of Dixia, or underground complexes throughout the EHD and even extending into the Gorzhiak Steppe and the Wodaichi Plateau. Each one different in its design and purpose. Although most of these Dixia are located on official maps, only a few have been officially excavated and cleared. Because of the high level of danger involved in the many traps, hazards, and creatures left lying dormant in these Dixia, most universities would rather outsource the excavation process to adventurers hardy enough to take them on, or peasants desperate enough to gamble with their lives. The money to be made in clearing out these Dixia is substantial, but the cost of the adventuring is often mortally steep.

Today, an approximation of Celestial is still used as the lingua franca of the arcane arts, though linguistic analysis with the language of the Tieflings (who are postulated to be the closest descendants of the Celestials) reveals that arcane Celestial is probably not an exact reproduction, but its own artificial branch. Because of its long association with academics and official rites and ceremony, it is frequently taught in specialized schools as a mark of refinement and erudition. Even students of disparate sciences like engineering and philosophy will have some knowledge of celestial as part of their curriculum in most Imperial universities.