Weekly Weird-- Prothidian Altar, the Way Walkers' 'boogie man'

Prothidian Altar, the Mad Mage, the First Red Mage and the destroyer of the Old World. He's both a historical figure of vast importance, the crafter of many, many of the flora and fauna of the Continent, almost all the inhuman races, and a source of great myth and superstition. He's both the most reviled man on the Continent, and arguably the most revered, outright worshiped by some Red Followers and at least respected for the absolute scope and skill of his life's work. There is no ignoring the genius, nor the sheer cruelty with which he enacted that genius.

And yet, there is a massive chasm between fact and fiction when it comes to Prothidian, though this is honestly not surprising. So, what is the truth behind Prothidian Altar, who inspires so much fear and awe? Where lies the facts, if any, about this man who first embraced the Red to become the world's greatest monster, lurking in the imaginations of millions?

Discerning this is difficult, as over the 10k+ history of Way Walkers, Prothidian's legend shifts and changes with the populace and ever changing generations.

The 'Facts'

Prothidian Altar is the creator of a great deal of the life on the Continent. How much, respectively, is under debate-- he may have created all the races except for the Solki and humans, though the Mulian and Lu'shun contest his creation of them. It's also somewhat debated on whether Prothidian actually destroyed the Old World or simply pushed forward that destruction-- and if the new Continent, while raised by Rosin and Ra'vien, had not always been his ultimate plan.

Prothidian was a terrifying enemy in the first centuries after the Fall, when the Continent was mostly unlivable due to a small ice age as the ocean currents adjusted to their new flow. The free peoples and the First Avatars of the First City lived under constant fear of attack. Runaways and small rebellions who managed to get to the First City brought news that he had built up several centers of power out in the wastelands, run by an army of slave laborers, to take over the continent. In the third century AGF (After Great Fall) Prothidian Altar attacked the First City, also known as Clana-Ca'sta or the Obsidian City, and killed nearly every first generation Avatar and Aspect. It was brutal, and while he was ultimately repelled, it was a horrific blow.

Prothidian’s fearsome reputation was also cemented by the experiences of the people who endured his captivity in those early years. While it's argued in some spaces that Prot made all of the Ki'ra, he definitely imprisoned a large population of them, known as 'the lost tribe' and their subsequent rescue is one of the most famous stories accomplished by the 3rd Avatar of Kubesh, Rhean and their Aspects during the early 800's AGF. Later, sometime in the mid 800's AGF, Prothidian attempted another breach of Clana-Ca'sta, this is when he was defeated by the 3rd Avatar of Rhean, who sacrificed himself to create a 'prison' for Prothidian-- as it's been widely considered impossible to actually kill the Mad Mage. Where that prison is, and if it's actually holding his actual person, is another deeply contested fact. So contested, that the search for this prison caused one of the greatest catastrophes of/at the end of the 3rd millennium. During "The Red Tide," as it is called, a large coalition of Red Mages (some say one hundred, but others argue that was a fabrication/exaggeration) swept through the Continent in search of Prothidian's Prison with the intent of freeing him. This ultimately failed, and Prothidian went unfound, but it caused massive damage and loss of life across many nations, and left the Continent, as a whole, shaken.

The 'Myths'

In the eight-hundred or so years prior to his imprisonment, Prothidian was actively moving through the newly formed Continent, while the majority of the population were still hiding and waiting out the new growth. The uncertainty of his movements, the fear that he might be able to enter the First City, and the confusion as to his part in the end of the Old World led to the first real myths regarding him. The First City was originally his facility, and many of the technologies housed within had his voice and recordings of his work as part of the infrastructure. Thus rumors of Prothidian 'haunting' the First City have existed even before he was removed from the Continental stage, and became outright Legend immediately after.

Prothidian is the other that stalks at the edges of the treeline, the spaces of darkness just beyond the line of sight. Thousands upon thousands of people over the millennia claim to have heard him whispering in their ears to do evil deeds, to the point where the 'Prothidian made me do it' defense is considered one of the most lazy and overdone tropes in fiction, and sadly, actual court trials.

Ki'ra parents tell their children for generations and generations after the freeing of the Lost Tribe that Prothidian will come kidnap them if they aren't careful. Both Solki and Kinawan adults are notorious for blaming every general misfortune on Prothidian, from a lost button to a power-outage in the charm engines of a byen, flying city. This is only half-joking, as the Kinawans believe that even while imprisoned, Prothidian has the power to influence the material world for the glory of the Red. In the Solkies, they also say this is true, but he is so weak his evil intent can be thwarted by simple good humor… and they are deeply amused at the thought of Prothidian reduced to stealing buttons like a weakling Near-Sider desperate for attention.

In contrast, followers of Angani across the Continent refuse to speak of him directly, much less jest about his influence on the world, which is believed to be real and dangerous. In Aralim, like elsewhere, he is blamed for pretty much everything bad-- but to speak his name is to gain his attention, and then he can wreak all sorts of havoc upon you, from simple trips that turn an ankle to outright death and destruction of your home and family. The Msāfryan of Zo'den still travel and live a nomadic lifestyle specifically because they believe Prothidian can still pursue them-- to stop, is death, they say. Iki curse him as a poisoner of water and salter of soil. Mulian still claim he has ties with more malevolent Native Near-Siders and demons, and is an active participant in the house wars.

Meanwhile in Casfield and the Lu'shun Republic, he's seen as a sort of cautionary tale-- a reminder to researchers and scientists and Talents of what happens when you become more obsessed with results and data than people; the fear of becoming him is the greater terror than running into him. In the Clan Lands he is nothing short of the murderer of their Avatar-- in that respect there is as much fear of Prothidian there as there is rage; he took from them their true leader and savior, several times.

And that, in the end, is the crux of Prothidian's hold over so many on the Continent-- it's personal, the pain he inflicted. He imprisoned entire populations of humans and experimented directly upon them for generations, creating them into entirely new, and often seemingly horrific to humans, races-- sometimes freeing them to wander the Continent and sometimes just brutalizing them further until they revolted-- or in the case of the Annarites, his imprisonment cut him off from them.

Annarites, of course, are an exception to the Prothidian fear-mythos. For them, and indeed, many non-Annarite Red Followers, he's seen more as a father-figure, or to the other extreme, a literal god, meant to be worshiped in return for secret knowledge. While reports on if Prothidian actually responds to any of this worship is very suspect (considering he's imprisoned), it does not stop the Red cults who directly worship him from claiming he does. In fact, in one of the most prominent Red cults devoted to Prothidian, the crux of their belief is that like the Red, Prothidian himself has a twin-flame who consistently incarnates, and the cult follows this person (typically identifying as a woman) and their dictates that supposedly come directly from Prothidian. Since this cult grew up in the years after Prothidian's imprisonment, and he never claimed to have a twin-flame prior, the legitimacy of this cult is called into question even by other Red Followers-- however, since their main goal is to find and free Prothidian, many still put up with them.

Though that is not to say all Red Followers want Prothidian Altar back. He is extremely powerful, and would certainly upset any Red political power structures in place should he return-- not something every Red follower in power would want. In fact, the most common belief held amid Annarites is that Prothidian failed to uphold the Red's creeds, and that his imprisonment serves as a warning to other Followers not to think oneself more important than the Red; also if Prothidian wants to be freed, he should 'do it his damn self' like a proper Red follower.