Far above the highest reaches of Aetheris, where even Celestials could only whisper and the laws of nature bent like reeds in the wind, sat the Twelve Concepts in eternal convergence.
They were not gods, but they were the closest to one and even older than many. Each represented a pillar that anchored the existence of Aetheris itself, their wills shaping reality as effortlessly as a breath.
They were known by their domains—Judgement, Knowledge, Balance, Origin, War, Peace, Life, Death, Dreams, Time, Dominion, and Order.
In the astral convergence—a boundless realm bathed in crystalline light and shifting stars—twelve thrones remained suspended in a circle of divine geometry. Upon them, the Concepts gazed into the swirling reflection of Aetheris below, watching the delicate strands of fate as they twisted and trembled.
Dominion was the first to speak, his voice like thunder wrapped in silence.
"She grows stronger. Lila, the one we marked."
