Former God-King of the High Flora

StoryMonster

Former God-King of the High Flora
Current (Monster)Previous (Flora)
Title	God-King of the High Flora
Gender	Male
Race	High Flora
Family	Gerand Darmoor (son)
Affiliations	High Flora (formerly) Gerand Darmoor (formerly)
Minions	Knights of the Einherjar
Enemies	High Flora Verdant Flora Gerand Darmoor
Status	Unknown

The Former God-King is the father of Gerand Darmoor and the previous God-King of the High Flora.

Story

The Flora Schism

Many centuries ago, the Flora ruled Grandis under a strict caste system, with the God-King on top, followed by the Gods, the Priests, and the powerless commoners. The God-King of the Flora was reputed to be a kind man with excellent character. Under his rule, the Flora achieved great prosperity with their crystal magic, with many Gods of the Flora requesting that they expand their influence by asserting their superiority over the other races. Around this time, however, the God-King was infected with an unknown illness by his son, Prince Gerand Darmoor, which instilled him with a madness that slowly began overtaking him. In his belligerence, he slowly began to view the Flora as the superior race, with many of his subjects coming to agree with him.

However, one of his Gods - who would later be known as the God of the Verdant Flora - appealed to the God-King's former good nature, claiming that sharing the magic and knowledge of the Flora with the commoners and the other races would be far more beneficial than subjugating them, as it would allow them all to live in harmony. In an attempt to undermine his argument, the other Gods presented several scrolls in the God of the Verdant Flora's possession, which demonstrated that he had been planning to share magic with the commoners, thereby undermining the caste system. The other Gods immediately asked the God-King to exile the God of the Verdant Flora and his people, claiming that they were all traitors to the Flora race. The God-King sided with the other Gods and told the God of the Verdant Flora and his people were free to be with the other races, just as they had wanted. However, he declared that they would not be allowed to take the magic of the Flora with them, claiming that doing so would undermine all that the Flora had built. The God-King then had the God of the Verdant Flora and his people's wings torn out as punishment for their treason before banishing them from the Flora nation. Stripped of their magic and their status, the disgraced Flora became known as the Verdant Flora and were exiled, while those who remained stayed and ruled as the High Flora.

War of Genocide

Following the Flora schism, Gerand Darmoor awakened as the Transcendent of Life, with the balance of life on Grandis breaking down as a result of the God-King's plan for war. Believing that the Flora were superior to all other races, the God-King planned to incite a war of genocide, believing that it was the duty of the Flora to 'fix' the inferior races of Grandis. The God-King then ordered the Knights of the Einherjar - his legendary guards and protectors - to prepare for the upcoming battle. His bizarre and irrational decision caused dissent within the knighthood, as many of the knights struggled between their oath to the God-King and their own morality in waging an unjust war against the other races of Grandis. One of the God-King's most loyal knights, Adelaide, claimed that she could not follow him into battle, causing many knights to rally behind her words. The God-King immediately ordered her arrest and execution, and with their figurehead imprisoned, the dissenting knights were quieted, leaving them to reluctantly continue following the God-King. Nevertheless, because of Adelaide's actions, the God-King's war was delayed, giving a window of opportunity for some of the knights to find a way to restore the God-King's senses.

Mission to Sefirot

As the God-King's madness grew worse, he slowly began transforming into a twisted monster, rendering him incapable of speaking or even recognizing his people. Because of this, the knights who remained loyal to him attempted to keep the truth about the God-King's affliction secret from the Gods of the High Flora and the other Knights of the Einherjar, killing any who discovered the truth. In desperation, two Knights of the Einherjar - Edvar and Yuel - began investigating the source of his insanity, which led them to realize that his affliction came from an illness. The knights began to secretly investigate a cure for his madness, but after finding no solution, they came to believe that the only way to save their king was through the blessing of the Transcendent of Life, for which they planned a secret expedition to Sefirot, the sanctum of the Transcendent of Life. Together with Prince Darmoor, Edvar and Yuel secretly smuggled the God-King out of the capital, leaving behind a double to keep up the ruse that the God-King was still in the palace. The four of them made their way to the garden of Sefirot, where they overheard Asha the gardener telling two peddler women that the Transcendent of Life was not in Sefirot.

Upon seeing the visitors, the two peddlers recognized them as Flora and decided to leave immediately out of fear. Asha then told the High Flora that just as they had overheard, the Transcendent of Life was indeed not in Sefirot, adding that they could check for themselves at the altar. However, she noted that the altar was closed, and that they would not be able to open it. Nevertheless, the High Flora decided to check the altar just to confirm, though Darmoor remained behind. Edvar, Yuel, and the God-King arrived at the altar, which remained closed, just as Asha had said. Soon after, Darmoor arrived at the entrance, which immediately opened in response to his presence. Inside, the knights discovered a stone tablet, which they realized was a cipher that would show them how to summon the Transcendent. With Asha's help, Darmoor and the knights managed to solve most of the cipher before returning back to the garden. After the others decided to rest for the night, Asha returned to the garden, as she hadn't been able to water the flowers because she had been busy solving the cipher. As she began watering the flowers, the God-King silently entered the garden, leaking black smoke from his robes. From the gap within his robes, he began draining the mana from the flowers into himself, much to Asha's shock.

As he did, his robes began tearing, revealing a monstrous head glowing with red and black energy, as well as dark tendrils peeking out from the foot of his robes. Asha immediately attempted to stop the God-King, though none of her attacks had any effect. Defeated, Asha collapsed on the floor as the God-King growled mindlessly. As he began approaching her, Asha expressed her relief that she had been able to get him to attack her and leave the flowers alone. Suddenly, Darmoor arrived at the scene and used his powers to seal the God-King away. Soon after, several Verdant Flora arrived at Sefirot in order to seek out the God-King. Edvar and Yuel - who had learned from the cipher that the Transcendent would only appear through the sacrifice of a noble life - attempted to kill the Verdant Flora, believing that the sacrifice of a superior race like the Flora would be a sufficient sacrifice. As the remaining Verdant Flora attempted to escape, they soon encountered Darmoor and the God-King standing before them. Darmoor then told them that the God-King whom they were seeking was standing right before them. Upon sensing the Verdant Flora's mana, the God-King immediately began to drain their power, resulting in their deaths. Darmoor then disappeared, leaving the God-King to go on a rampage alone.

Soon after, Edvar and Yuel arrived to the sight of the God-King finishing off the Verdant Flora. Yuel realized that the God-King must have escaped while the barrier had been weakened during their battle and began rushing to stop him. However, Edvar stopped her and told her to think carefully, noting that there was nothing that they could do to stop the God-King from absorbing the mana from the Verdant Flora. He then asked whether she could truly call a mindless monster who couldn't even tell friend from foe, or even recognize his loyal knights, a king. Though Yuel was enraged by Edvar's treasonous statement, Edvar told her to think, pointing out that even if they brought the God-King back to the garden, they still needed a sacrifice to cure his madness. He asked Yuel whether she would really sacrifice her own life for someone like him, adding that he himself had no desire to do so. He explained that he intended to run away, noting that they had hidden their identities before leaving the capital, which meant that they wouldn't be exposed, even if an investigation were made. He told Yuel that they simply needed to set fire to the sanctum and erase any evidence of their presence, which would mean that the Verdant Flora would be blamed for turning the God-King into a monster. He added that he wouldn't make her escape with him, though he declared that he was leaving, as he would just get killed by the God-King if he were to stay.

After Edvar fled the scene, Yuel approached the God-King and attempted to get him to recognize her in order to calm him down. However, the God-King merely growled and unleashed his power, causing Yuel to realize that he had gotten even more powerful after absorbing the Verdant Flora's mana. After Edvar set fire to the garden, Yuel was shocked to find that the God-King began to absorb the mana carried by the air from the burning flowers, causing him to transform into an even more monstrous form. Upon seeing him grow even more powerful, Yuel decided that she refused to be killed, as she had to live for the sake of her siblings back home. Drawing her sword, she prepared to strike down the God-King, who unleashed a wave of dark energy that mortally wounded her. As she collapsed, her thoughts turned towards the God-King she remembered, begging him to spare her and entreating him to remember her again. However, the vision of the God-King in her mind was burned away, leaving her to stare at the monster which had once been her liege. As the God-King towered over her, Yuel realized how foolish it was of her to think that a monster could recognize her, noting to herself that she should have run away when she had the chance. Nevertheless, she once again begged the God-King to spare her life, claiming that she couldn't die in such a place, though the God-King, incapable of reason, simply finished her off.

Coup at the Capital

Although the monstrous God-King's whereabouts remained unknown, his stand-in at the capital continued to maintain the illusion that the God-King was alive and well. As the day of Adelaide's execution and the start of the God-King's genocide approached, many within the Knights of the Einherjar began to rally behind Adelaide's words of dissent and pledged their loyalty to Darmoor, hoping that together, they could stop the God-King's senseless war before it could start. Acting on Darmoor's orders, Adelaide's former sister-in-arms, Veronica, had her men free Adelaide from prison so that she could aid them in overthrowing the God-King. However, Adelaide - despite refusing to follow the God-King into battle - refused to turn against her liege and rushed to stop the traitorous knights from harming the God-King. Elsewhere, Veronica led the revolt against the God-King and broke down the Einherjar, the palace gate, while Adelaide and those loyal to the God-King attempted to stop Veronica and her knights. Eventually, however, Adelaide's knights were defeated and killed by Veronica's faction, leaving Adelaide as the only survivor, with her magical conduits being burned out from the sheer amount of magic which she had channeled during the battle. For her alleged treason against Darmoor, Veronica banished Adelaide into a pocket dimension called the Void. Meanwhile, the Verdant Flora came to learn that Darmoor planned to begin his father's war against the other races of Grandis. As the coup to overthrow the God-King raged on, the Verdant Flora rushed to the High Flora capital, only to find Darmoor standing over what appeared to be his father's body, speculated to be the God-King's stand-in. Darmoor immediately called for the guards, claiming that the Verdant Flora had murdered the God-King. With the Verdant Flora being framed for the God-King's murder, the High Flora immediately retaliated and attempted to wipe out the Verdant Flora, thus sparking the Flora Civil War.

Gallery

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  NPC Portrait of the former God-King
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  NPC Portrait of the former God-King
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  Former God-King (Adele's storyline)
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  Former God-King (Grandis webtoon)
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  Former God-King (Grandis webtoon)
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  Former God-King (Grand Athenaeum)

Videos

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Trivia

• When the former God-King was first introduced in the Grandis: Ancient War webcomic, he was portrayed as an old man with a long beard. However, when he was introduced in the game in Adele's storyline, he was portrayed as a younger man with no beard. As his appearance in Adele's storyline chronologically takes place after his appearance in the webcomic, it is likely that him seemingly growing younger with time is a continuity error due to the writers choosing to retcon his age.
• In the Grandis webcomic, the deceased God-King was shown to be a Flora, despite the fact that he had turned into a monster at this point. However, the Sefirot's Gardener storyline reveals that the God-King had a stand-in who took his place at the capital while he was away. Because of this, it is possible that the murdered God-King was his double, while the real God-King remains alive.