Umbrasia — The Devotion

Some power is taken. This power is given — and once given, never wholly taken back.

A devotee of the Legion of Ash pours their own fire upward — into another.

Umbrasia is the schema of devotion: the dark gift of the Ancient Devil, Elder of strength and dominion. Where Klerosia binds a family, Umbrasia binds a following. A circle of devotees pledges a portion of their own thymara to a single chosen leader, and that leader becomes a vessel for the gathered will of all who kneel — a conqueror who fights with the strength of a thousand hearts.

Its truest expression in the present age is the Legion of Ash, the host of fanatical devotees who pour their power into Rysalia, High Commander of the Infernal Creed. To stand against such a leader is to stand against everyone who loves them.

"They do not follow me because I am strong. I am strong because they follow me."

• One vessel, many flames. Thymara flows one way — upward, from the many into the single chosen user. The leader wields not their own strength alone, but the concentrated potency of every pledged heart.
• Anointed, not inherited. The bond is created and granted deliberately, leader by leader. A new vessel can be raised; the admission of new devotees can be controlled.
• Unbreakable from below. Entry may be a free choice — but the pledge, once made, cannot be casually withdrawn. The devotee gives, and goes on giving.
• Personal and tamper-proof. The link is centred on the chosen one and resists all hijacking; no rival can siphon a leader's devoted, nor counterfeit their place.

A chosen vessel burns with the gathered will of a thousand kneeling hearts.

• Tethered by nearness. The Devotion is a thing of proximity. The further the faithful stray from their chosen, the weaker the channel runs — an Umbrasian leader is mightiest at the heart of their host, and diminished far from it.
• A bond that wounds both ways. A pledge freely given becomes a chain involuntarily kept. The schema's cruelty is built in: devotees cannot stop giving, even should their devotion sour.
• The vessel can break. All that power converges on one mortal frame. Fell the chosen, and the gathered strength has nowhere to go — the might of a thousand is also a single, mortal weakness.
• Faith must be fed. A following that loses its fervour loses its flame. Devotion is fuel, and fuel runs out.