The Askani

PHASE 1

The Askani - deceased
Portrayed by
Known Aliases:	The Mother Askani; Lusanya; Galin; Rawn
Affiliations:	Nathan Dayspring
Socked By:	N/A
Introduction:	Cassandra Complex

The Askani were a clan - including mutants, humans, and synthetics - who lived in the thirty-eighth century and were eventually annihilated by their neighbors, a violent, militaristic society that saw their inclusion of non-mutants as a sign of their weakness and 'unfit' status.

Roster

The Mother Askani - deceased	Leader and founder of the Clan, Askani forged a coherent and vibrant society out of a group of exiles and outsiders, and then led them in a desperate war for survival for nearly sixty years. When her clan was finally defeated on the battlefield, she suicided in spectacular fashion, destroying the enemy armies as well as the survivors of her own in an attempt to cover the retreat of the clan's last surviving civilians. A broad-spectrum psi of staggering power, she appeared to Nathan as a young woman in her mid-twenties and once revealed to him that in life she had decided that she needed to be young and vital to lead her people - and stopped aging. Nathan later discovered that she had possessed a similar connection to his mother, but with Askani's final departure from this plane of existence, has been left with one last unsolved mystery. PB: None.
Galin - deceased	One of the astral ghosts, in life Galin was the clan's strongest empath. He helped tutor Manuel de la Rocha, at Askani and Nathan's request. A rather crusty old man, he was perpetually disappointed by his pupil's failure to grasp the basics of the Askani's rigorous empathic discipline. PB: None.
Lusanya - deceased	Galin's daughter and fellow empath, she also taught Manuel, who came to regard her as his own true friend. A deeply compassionate woman, she consistently tried to warn him about the path he was on. Her disappearance as the astral ghosts lost coherence and faded left him grief-stricken and without his confidant at a very unfortunate time. PB: None.
Rawn - deceased	The Askani's war leader late in their history, he had a close and possibly intimate relationship with the Mother Askani. He was involved in teaching Nathan the military applications of the Askani psionic arts, but preferred to manifest in his dreams rather than in the waking world. PB: None.

Other members: Hundreds of other Askani ghosts appeared to live inside Nathan's head, but were not seen individually.

Details

The leader of the clan, Mother Askani, forged a precognitive link with Nathan Dayspring over the centuries, believing that he could help her undo the chain of events that had led to her future. For nearly a year and a half, he played host to her astral self and what he thought were those of many of her clanmates. In the end, it turned out that they were born of Askani's own memories of her people, astral ghosts in truth.

After guiding Nathan through many trials and teaching him the psionic arts of her people, Askani discovered that her presence in his mind was doing slow but cumulative damage, provoking epileptic fits that would only worsen. She started to let her astral ghosts fade, but did not offer Nathan and Moira any suggestions as to how to solve the central problem of her presence. This was because she already saw the moment of her exit. At the Hellfire Club incident, Askani sacrificed herself to save Alison Blaire, allowing Amanda Sefton to use her astral self as energy for a healing spell when Alison was near death at Selene's hands.

Nathan grieved for her for months, but after following the guidance of his precognitive visions to trap his uncle Gideon, was to see her once more. Taking advantage of the temporal paradox, the Askani who had not yet died and not yet traveled back to Nathan's time in astral form traveled down the precognitive link Gideon had recreated and fatally injured him. Her future conclusively avoided with Gideon's death, Askani bade farewell to Nathan, telling him that he had fulfilled all of the hopes both she and his mother had held for him.

The later appearance of Tara Trask, who had psychically eavesdropped on Askani for years via her astral travelling mutation, brought the legacy of the Askani back to the forefront. Trask had created a new 'Sisterhood', putting her version of the Askani teachings to work in the present. It was a twisted version of their philosophy, however, leading her into outright conflict with Nathan. Eventually, it became clear that Esther Morrow, who had possessed her own connection to Askani, had trained disciples of her own, who had a far better grasp on the truth of the Clan's teachings.

Psionic Arts

The Askani had highly developed psionic arts, the knowledge of which was passed back to the 21st century through Nathan, who incorporated them into his own approach to his powers and taught them to others. The most visible product of this is the psimitar, adapted by Forge in this time; in the thirty-eighth century, it was the standard weapon of the Askani psis, allowing them to focus and amplify all forms of psionic energy.

Fundamentally, however, Askani psionic arts are based on patterns. Meditation on these patterns allows a psi to strengthen their mind; following other patterns while using his or her abilities allows for highly efficient usage of psionic energy. Askani shields are recognizable because they are layered, making use of these patterns and the natural structure of a telepath's mind to provide defenses considerably stronger than those of an average 21st century telepath. Efficient energy usage is the hallmark of Askani-influenced telekinesis; though it is assisted by the use of the psimitar, it is based on an awareness of the potential energy in the telekinetic's surroundings. Nathan refers to this as 'seeing the lines of force', something that both he and Jean Grey can do.

Nathan's firebird exoskeleton, though modeled partially after that of Tim Morgan's, is based on Askani techniques, but on an instinctive level. Though Nathan knows about many of the high-level techniques, his knowledge exists on the subconscious level due to the Askani's tenure in his mind, and is generally inaccessible.

Plots

2004

Cassandra Complex

Trojan Horse

2005

Thermopylae

X-Men Mission: A Mirror Darkly

Lost In The Woods

2006

House of Wind

2007

Immram

Meta

Formerly socked by: Alicia