Faction Introduction: The Enlightened

Playing the Enlightened

The Enlightened is one of the four factions of Ascension – the others being The Lifebound, The Void, and The Mechana. Each of these factions has its own approach to the fight against The Fallen One and, as such, its own strategies in the game itself.

The Enlightened, as the faction of the mind and knowledge, deal with the physical world in different way than the other factions. In fact, no Enlightened heroes or constructs produce Runes or Power at all! Instead, Enlightened cards produce resources and deal with threats on their own terms.

Let's take a look at Arha Templar, whose story you'll learn later in the article. Arha Templar can be used to defeat a monster directly, without the use of Power at all. As a four-cost hero who can defeat a four-cost monster, the Templar is a very good deal – he's the most efficient way you're going to find to hunt down Corrosive Widows and Mistakes of Creation! It's important to note, however, that unlike cards that generate Power, the Arha Templar's ability cannot be combined with other cards to defeat bigger monsters. The Templar's mind strike will never be able to kill an Earth Tyrant, even if you have two of them in your hand. What if you have an Arha Templar but nothing worth killing in the center row? Don't worry, the Enlightened are all about planning and options

Seer of the Forked Path is an Enlightened hero who can banish cards from the center row, which can both disrupt your opponent's strategy by eliminating cards they may want to buy as well as dig for cards you want to see – like something to kill with your Templar! And if nothing good still comes up, you can always discard the Templar to your Temple Librarian to go digging for better options.

There's no better way to find more options than just drawing more cards, and Master Dhartha is the the best in the business, snagging you three cards when you play him. Not only can drawing cards help you assemble more resources in a single turn to acquire more powerful heroes and constructs or defeat stronger monsters, but going through your deck more quickly gets you to those powerful cards again that much faster! The more Enlightened cards you have in your deck the faster you tend to go through it, giving you that many more chances to use your most powerful heroes.

The Enlightened are a powerful faction in Ascension because they focus on the game's most fundamental resource – cards. Any strategy can be improved with card drawing and selection, but the Enlightened pair particularly well with the Void and Lifebound. The banishing power of the Void combined with the card drawing of the Enlightened can let you tear through your deck quickly and replay your best cards over and over, while the Lifebound's focus on rune generation combined with Enlightened heroes like Master Dhartha can lead to some truly explosive turns.

You know what they say – knowledge is power. And knowledge is what the Enlightened are all about.

Who are the Enlightened?

Drifting silently in the wake of creation’s arrival (an eternity ago for you or I, but for the gods, a spark recently washed upon cosmic shores), there is a star upon which a clever god invented knowing. It is called Arha, one of the Old Realms, and it is a prototype existence from which further creation was derived. There, away from the influence of his divine brothers and sisters, the god Logos the Enlightened refined the method by which all sentient creation would be granted the gift of reason.

Arha is a sparse and arid world of many roads and journeys, yet it is a pathless land, like the very truth sought by all who dwell there. A fool could wander Arha forever and learn nothing- but those with the will to blaze a trail will find it a utopia of ideas and challenges. So it is for the Enlightened. The mountains, canyons, and endless roads of Arha are the sharpening stones by which their minds and bodies are honed. For those feeling keen, the quest always remains to find one yet keener- and this is a quest that never ends. In the mountaintop temples, the remote monasteries, and the secluded towers of the realm there will always be a more disciplined master, a wiser sage, or a guru yet closer to the absolute truth.

The Enlightened were the first beings to reason, achieving thought while those in other realms were still ruled by pure instinct. They strive to achieve a martial and spiritual perfection that is equal to the intellectual. By this balance of physical and mental prowess they come not only to know a truth, but to apply it.

Sometimes, they apply it pretty hard.

The Templar are the warrior class of the realm of Arha. Swordsmen without equal, their might is built on a foundation of rigid training regimens, divine tribute, and meditation. Through a complex system of rites, they gain access to great stores of martial knowledge and strategy. A lifetime of study has taught each member all he or she needs to know about diet, exercise, anatomy, battle strategy, and martial forms. The greatest of the Templar order have developed the ability to slow the aging process to almost nothing, gaining near immortality. Some have mastered flight or levitation. Some can walk through walls, or become invisible.

As a Templar strikes with his sword, he only appears to be performing a physical action. In reality, the sword strike is just how all non-Enlightened beings unconsciously interpret a Templar’s attacks. A Templar’s strikes operate on a level disconnected from the physical plane- they wield kinetic forces in a separate mental “layer”. The only way to block a Templar’s sword blow is to access one’s own subconscious mind and block the attack “over there”. This is even harder than it sounds- for the Templar know the enemy mind the same way an assassin knows an exposed neck.

Aside from the Templar, many other powerful entities exist on Arha. The Enlightened worship the god of knowledge, and every worshipful society has its angels. On Arha, these beings are known as Askaras. Sometimes an ally is so useful that you wish you had two of them to call upon. With the divine help of an Askara, you can.

These many-armed, double-faced agents of Logos watch over the people of Arha and serve as their guides, teachers, and enforcers. Bidden to guide and protect the people of the realm, they bring counsel with one mouth and decree judgment with the other. Each day, the various castes of Askara set out from the Tower of Thought to bring enlightenment to the masses, pose questions, criticize conclusions, and spark epiphanies.

The Twofold Askara is one of only four Meta-Askara, or archangels of Logos. It is also the only Askara with two faces that look exactly the same. Twofold Askara is tasked with hinting at paradoxes, criticizing duplicities, and providing guidance at
crossroads where choices are diametrically opposed. It often appears to heroes who stumble upon cosmic ironies or cruel dichotomies at a time when their choices will have far-reaching consequences. Able to precisely mimic any form or action, the Twofold Askara has influenced the course of human events more than any historian would ever suspect.

Though the Templar represent might and the Askara order, the backbone of Arha is and will always be knowledge- the power that comes with knowing. There are a great many peaks and mountaintops in the realm of Arha, and at the summit of these, if you’re lucky, you might find a sage with a wealth of mind-blowing secrets to share.

Of all the buildings in Arha, temples and libraries are the most plentiful. Those who are wise even by Enlightened standards often choose an ascetic’s life, selecting a remote location to meditate and commune with Logos directly, learning not by study but by a direct link with the Tower of Thought and the great being that holds court at the top. Those privileged enough to gain access to this method of osmotic enlightenment become beacons for other rising intellects to seek out…and the greater the sage, the greater the difficulty in reaching his or her door.

In the same way that renowned warriors engage in duels to prove their worth, these ascetics occasionally engage in “debates”.

The venerable (and cranky) Dhartha is currently the longest-isolated ascetic in the realm of Arha, having lived alone in a secluded temple for over five thousand years. Dhartha has many specialty areas of knowledge, including life extension, military strategy, cosmogony, history, and demonology. The Master has not been challenged to a debate by one of his so-called peers in over two millennia. This last debate was held behind closed doors at the top of a mountain, and lasted for only fifteen minutes. After that time, the opposing ascetic announced to the masses that he conceded defeat, and then hurled himself off a nearby precipice to his death, having been convinced that not only was he wrong, but that he no longer deserved to live.

That’s the way of the Enlightened.

Cut with your mind, and there is no defense.