"Now now, how would you like to end?" |
Asher is one of the main protagonists of Whispers of Purgation.
Asher is a leader of the Portalcraft class, though he is not currently playable outside of the Story Mode.
Personality[]
(to be added)
Story[]
History[]
Asher is an inhabitant of Sully village, and like everyone else there, he was turned into a monster due to extreme exposure to Kathar, the corrupted "Light of Purgation" of the Keeper, Nerva. Asher lived ignorant of this simple fact because of a spell that made him look human.
Asher spent his days training to become a warrior capable of protecting others. He would later befriend Lydia, after many attempts to break through her wall of isolation and fear.
Whispers of Purgation[]
Asher is training alone when he is met by his friend Lydia, who has been tasked by the village elder, who is also Asher's grandfather, to bring him back. The two return to the village of Sully, where a celebration is being held for an event called Fest-ér-Venar. On the way to the village elder, Asher explains to Lydia, a newcomer to the village, that Fest-ér-Venar is a generations long celebration for Sully's guardian deity, who gives them the mysterious power called Katha, though he doesn't know much more about the celebration's origins. The Sully Elder announces the start of the thousandth Fest-ér-Venar and the Rite of Ordination. Asher asks the elder to tell him and Lydia more about Fest-ér-Venar's meaning and elder reveals that on the thousandth Fest-ér-Venar, they would be promised "the world's regeneration", and the celebration's true meaning would be revealed. As the celebration continues, Asher explains to Lydia that on the thousandth Fest-ér-Venar, the Rite of Ordination would take place where the guardian deity will select a chosen "hero" to complete a holy mission. Lydia coaxes Asher to admit he wants to be chosen as the hero, but before they return to the festivities, Lydia briefly senses a strange gust that unnerves her.
The Rite of Ordination begins, and the Sully Elder brings out a magic medallion that will pick the chosen one. The medallion choses Asher, to his disbelief, and the Sully Elder takes him to start the holy mission. They go to the hallowed woods where the elder explains the mission Asher will have to complete involves returning the Kathar granted to them by their guardian deity. Asher is to enter the guardian deity's glade inside the forest where he must find and escort a divine servant of the deity back to Sully to initiate the true Fest-ér-Venar. The elder promises Asher will understand everything he wishes to know about the Fest-ér-Venar once he completes his mission, and Asher sets off into the forest.
Asher makes his way through the forest until he reaches an invisible barrier. The magic medallion breaks the barrier, allowing Asher to keep going until he hears something coming towards him. Asher nearly attacks until he sees it was Lydia who was following him. Lydia explains she was worried for Asher's safety and begs him to leave, but when Asher insists on continuing the quest, Lydia tries to take the medallion to force him to leave, only for Asher to accidentally fall of a ledge during the struggle. Lydia leaves to get help while Asher finds a mysterious girl at the base of the ledge who refers to him as a the destined one.
The mysterious girl introduces herself as Elena and refers to him as her destiny. after some confusion, Asher realizes she is the one he must bring back to the village. Suddenly, a wolf attacks and Asher tries to save Elena. When they can't outrun the wolf Asher decides to fight it and Elena somehow channels kathar through the medallion to empower him.
With the power from Elena, Asher is able to defeat the wolf, to the former's joy. Asher realizes the amount of kathar he was given was more than his entire village receives from its deity and asks Elena who she is, but she doesn't know who she is or how she got in the forest. Elena reveals she has been guided by a mysterious voice ever since she woke up with no memories and that it told her "destined one" would come for her. Asher decides to ring Elena back to Sully to get everything figured out
Unable to find Lydia, Asher and Elena head back to Sully in hopes she is there. However, they see smoke coming from the village and Asher rushes towards the village to protect his loved ones. Asher races through the burning Sully and discovers everyone's been killed. He finds Kratos attacking Lydia, but Kratos makes her vanish when she tries to run to Asher. Enraged at Lydia's apparent death, Asher attacks Kratos, but he is overpowered and nearly killed until Elena arrives. Asher tries to stop the attackers from leaving, but he can do nothing but mourn the loss of his village and loved ones.
After burying the dead villagers, Asher laments his failure and Elena comforts him and promises to stay by his side wherever he goes and whatever he decides to do. Inspired, Asher decides to pursue the attackers and stop them so they can't use the stolen kathar for their own ends. Despite not understanding everything about what's been happening, Asher vows to bring the kathar back to Elena where it belongs. After packing for the trip and saying goodbye the elder and Lydia, Asher leaves for his quest.
Asher and Elena head for a village called Poluta to gather intel about the attackers and Elena's past. After Asher defeats the first group of soldiers, reinforcements arrive, but Elena gives Asher more Kathar that allows him to defeat the entire force in one swing. Asher attempts to interrogate a surviving soldier, but the soldier kills himself after declaring Asher will never defeat Kratos. Villagers thank Asher for saving them and the elder praises him and Elena as the chosen ones who will complete the Fest-ér-Venar.
During a party to thank Asher and Elena, the elder privately talks with Asher and reveals that the Fest-ér-Venar is a ritual of purification that is meant to cleanse the world of all evil. He explains that upon the Fest-ér-Venar's completion, the world will be restored to its rightful form and that the prayers shall filled the "vessel" and the chosen one shall take the role of "invoker", but he doesn't know any more details than that. Asher and the elder realize that only the inhabitants of Sully use, or even know about, kathar and realizes that he will have to retrieve the Kathar stolen to complete the Fest-ér-Venar. The elder offers all the help he can muster and Asher promises to protect everyone, accepting his role as the Chosen One.
The Elder tells Asher that the Legion must have retreated to their fortress in the north, marking on the map the location of the castle that used to belong to a small kingdom that was invaded by the Legion. Seeing all the territory that the Legion has invaded, Asher wonders why his grandfather kept it from him, if the ritual was so important that he could ignore everything else. The Elder warns him of the danger and shows him the safest route, asking him to return alive with the others. Asher and Elena head to the castle with three Poluta volunteers including Meatball, along the way discussing the three Legion generals, especially Kratos. Upon arriving, Elena notices that someone else is there, leading Asher to discover Legion soldiers hidden with cloaking magic. The three townspeople decide to stay and fight the soldiers so Asher and Elena can move on. Inside, Asher questions the place being empty, only to be intercepted by Dragrand. Calling them unworthy puppets, Dragrand challenges him to face him.
Dragrand attacks Asher, ignoring his demands for answers to the Legion's actions. Asher manages to fight back thanks to the power of Elena and the medallion, and Dragrand notes that the power not only breaks through his defenses but "erases" them, revealing its true nature as the "power of Purgation." Asher is confident that he will win this time, but Dragrand easily overpowers him, even though Asher uses more of Elena's Kathar power. Dragrand explains that he has the ability to gain more power as his body takes more damage. Dragrand claims that unlike them, the Legion fights for a truly just cause, but Asher denies that he finds justice in the slaughter. Elena saves Asher from a blow from Dragrand, encouraging him that he can win the fight. However, as he channels more Kathar, Asher falls to the ground, bleeding.
Elena tries to give Asher more power, but this only makes his condition worse. Dragrand explains that it is the price his fragile body must pay for using the power of a Keeper, and that he will die as an unworthy being. However, Elena confronts him saying that she knows nothing about Asher and everything he has done for her, but Dragrand attacks her, reproaching her for only believing in her own illusions of self-satisfaction. Elena insists that Asher will achieve everything because it is their destiny and then Asher manages to get up and continue fighting, declaring that Elena is all he has left and that he will protect her. Dragrand manages to corner him again by denigrating his efforts, but when he is about to give the final blow, Asher asks Elena for power and then strikes him with the sword that mortally wounds Dragrand. Asher explains that the only way to overcome Dragrand's ability was to finish him off in one blow, so he waited for him to let his guard down, believing him to be at his limit. Elena asks Dragrand his reasons for fighting, and although he says he's doing it for the good of the world, he falls dead, realizing that a shield that has lost sight of what it protects is unworthy.
Meatball and the rest meet up with Asher and Elena, shocked that Asher defeated Dragrand, stating that everything is as the Poluta elder told them as they just have to get Elena to where she needs to be. This latter confuses Asher but his condition after using Kathar so much only gets worse. Elena assures him that he will recover and they can continue their journey. However, Asher and the three villagers are suddenly obliterated by Teresa, who calls them repulsive monsters even in death.
Elena laments over the corpses of Asher and the others. Teresa says that the regenerative ability of these "creatures" is easily overcome with a precise and powerful blow to the core. However, Elena continues to insist that everything will be fine, and revives Asher in a dark and grotesque state, urging him to fight Teresa. The witch tells her that Asher is suffering, but Elen does not listen to her, still trapped in her own delusion. Teresa then uses her cursed power to make Elena see the "reality" beyond the false "destiny" that she invented for herself, that Aher "her toy" is no longer human. Asher suddenly becomes a grotesque and deformed monster, claiming that his friends and his destiny were only a lie from the very beginning.
After Elena drives Teresa away, Asher ask Elena to return his sword, and, to Elena's horror, stabs himself repeatedly with it, despite her pleas to stop because he will die without being able to heal. As he kills himself with the sword, Asher says that he never had the right to act like her hero and that they were the ones who stole everything from her, asking her forgiveness and to move on without him to regain that smile that she loves so much.
Whispers of Purgation: Last Words[]
In a new timeline where Nerva never existed, Asher remains human and falls in love with Lydia who is taken to Sully village to be rescued rather than abducted. Asher performs the Rite of Ordination and is chosen as the hero, although in reality this is a way for the Elder to give him the choice to follow his own future instead of becoming the new leader of the village. As Lydia follows her in the trial, Asher takes her to a beautiful sight that he claims reminds him of her and reveals that he is planning to leave Sully to see the world and offers to do so together. He briefly hears Elena's voice through the medallion, who motivates him to keep going.