Taran Estus

Taran Estus is the Supreme Priest of the Cult of Obsidian and the tertiary antagonist of the Shardsverse Series. He is the main antagonist of Vol I and the grandfather of Zoe Kagami and Nyx Kagami. He is the father of the late Karina Kagami neé Estus. Taran is an extremely powerful mage whose powers are equal to that of the Original Skywatch Members making one of the greatest threats in both Etheria and Materia, with his powers having crossed into the realm of the Gods much like the original members.

History
Taran was born in Othras as an orphan where he was adopted by Celica Estus of the Estus Clan, a clan specializing in Fire Magic. He was subjected to torment by the current heir to the Estus Family, Reinard Estus. Eventually, Taran was sent to Lexida Academy where he ascended to the rank of Archon in the span of a few years. Taran met and fell in love with his now-deceased wife, Mariana Schneider, after falling into a rift that led to the realm of Materia. He lived there for a few years until he found an ancient tome depicting the phase spell which he used to return to Etheria. Learning that his daughter was a mage with great talent, Taran took his daughter and wife from Materia to Etheria to learn magic. Watching proudly, Taran and Mariana watched as Karina grew in grace and beauty.



During the God War of Etheria, Mariana was killed by members of the Church of Aurba, led by his adoptive brother Reinard. Taran engaged him in combat and brutally killed him, blasting his remains across the entire city of Halidas on Illoran. After the end of the God War, his son-in-law, Samuel Kagami, disappeared and returned hellbent on destroying all of Etheria. It was during this second war that the previous Ever-Being fell alongside his daughter. Disillusioned after the loss of his wife and daughter, Taran disappeared, leaving his life behind and was found by someone who offered him the power to right all the wrongs in the world and showed him the future in which the vile will be destroyed and he will stand triumphant. Taran accepted and became the leader of the Cult of Obsidian.

Appearance
Taran is an elderly man with long silvery-white hair that reaches down to his back and a long beard. Despite his elderly appearance, Taran is surprisingly muscular, displaying high levels of physical strength. He wears a black shirt and long grey armored pants with a long black high collared cloak with silver pauldrons.

Personality
A man whose entire life is defined by loss and grief, Taran strives to make a world in which there are no winners and losers and where everyone is equal. He has been entranced by the woman's promises that her father will bring about paradise into the world and everyone that he ever lost will come back to him as a reward. As a result, Taran is driven to make the Cult's ambitions a reality. He will do whatever it takes no matter how underhanded. Taran despises the world, seeing it as false due to the fact that it took his daughter and wife from him.

Despite this, Taran has a sense of fairness and justice. He has a tight control on what his subordinates do and despises racism and rape. An example of this is when he beat Vortimus within an inch of his life after the extermination of possible allies solely due to the fact that they were non-humans. Taran will also spare those who he believes can be turned and will lament having to kill them. Taran treats all of his subordinates and allies in a polite and cordial manner, making sure that the newer members are comfortable within the Cult, displaying a grandfather-like-persona. Upon finding out that he had grandchildren, Taran strove to be a better grandfather to Nyx, displaying great joy when she took up his offer and still tries to sway Zoe to his side. Taran respects the woman and follows her will so long as she holds up her end of the bargain. As for Kairos, Taran is fanatically devoted to him as he believes that the Chaos God can restore the world to "what it once was.

In battle, Taran is cold and uncaring, as well as exceedingly brutal in how he kills his foes. His preferred method is total and utter evisceration often causing his foes to explode into a mess of parts. He is merciless and does not allow survivors unless he believes that they can be converted to the Faith. This causes him to be feared as well as respected among the Cult and across all of Etheria.

Powers and Abilities
Master Magician: Taran is one of the most powerful mages to ever exist, possessing levels of mana on the level of the original members of the Skywatch. He possesses a plethora of spells including the Phase Spell and is well-versed in Elemental Magic. Taran can wield Dark Magic, the purest form of Shadow Magic, with ease and combine it with various elemental spells with Darkness. Taran is also well-versed in Sealing Magic as well as Necromancy and Summoning Magic.
 * Barrier Magic: Taran can create extremely complex and powerful barriers that can withstand an attack from God Class Beings.
 * Darkness Magic: Taran can wield pure dark magic which is more potent and destructive than Shadow Magic. Taran can create massive avatars and constructs of Darkness as well as atomize Divine Tier Beasts which are strong enough to destroy planets.
 * Umbra-Pyromancy: Taran wields dark corrupted flames which can burn away nearly anything. Ddraig compares it to his original flames only much weaker however, these flames cannot be doused by water of any level and burns until nothing is left.
 * Molecular Combustion: During the God War, Taran used Matter Magic in order to make his adoptive brother explode into "a million pieces" for killing his wife.
 * Carnomancy: Also known as Flesh Magic or Living Flesh Magic, Taran can use biological matter to create golems and other horrendous beings. He can also create amalgamations of different beasts. It is considered to be the opposite of Animism.
 * Battle Avatar Creation: Taran can create battle avatars.
 * Gravity Magic: Taran can use gravity magic, increasing gravity in a certain area, decreasing it in others. He puts a massive gravity spell in the main headquarters for the Cult creating a massive series of islands that float high in the skies of Etheria.
 * Sanguinomancy: Taran can use blood magic.
 * Sealing: It was Taran that taught Vortimus sealing magic so it is surmised that his skill is much greater.

Immense Strength: Taran is a mage whose skills and power are equal to that of the Original Skywatch, having wielded power equal to that of the Big Five. He has attained power most mages have only dreamed of and that is to be able to cross into the territory of the Gods. His strength far outstrips that of Nyx, Vortimus, and Morius as well as the members of the Neo Skywatch. With his strength, Taran is considered to be a Divine Class Threat+.

Immense Speed: Taran possesses immense speed.

Immense Durability: Taran possesses naturally high levels of endurance to physical and mental trauma.

Master Hand to Hand Combatant: Taran is a skilled combatant. He can fight members of the Original Skywatch blow for blow and can easily defeat the Trinity Members. He once nearly beat Vortimus to death for putting his racist desires over the needs of the Cult and for allowing a potential wielder of Primal Magic Emerald to escape their grasp.

Immense Intellect: Taran is an immensely intelligent person with a massive arsenal of spells in his repetoire. He is one of the few mages in Etheria that is aware of the existence Materia. He is the master of the Cult of Obsidian using its resources to create a shadow hold over the entirety of Etheria. Akasha mentions that she has a hard time discerning his next move.

Hunter's Gaze
An Eye Magic developed by Taran which was passed onto his daughter, the Hunter's Gaze allows the user to see the opponent in high detail and analyze their breath, heart rate, and body language. This allows them to counter opponents who rely on pure speed with great ease and evade those who utilize strength. It is often known as the bastardized version of the Kagami Family's Eyes of Umbra, however, unlike the Eyes of Umbra, the Hunter's Gaze increases the user's physical capabilities as well as their magical ones.

Primal Transcendence
An elevated state of being that can only be obtained by powerful mages. Transcendence allows them to "transcend" their limits bolstering their magical and physical powers, boosting their strength, speed, and defense up to twenty times the norm. This allows mages to fight on par with beings much stronger than they are. Taran has a mutated version of Transcendence known as Primal Transcendence which boosts her power more than a normal Transcendence. In his Transcended Form, Taran is much more powerful than even most members of the Skywatch, completely outclassing them in power.

Trivia

 * Taran Estus's appearance is based on Hades/Precht Gaebolg from Fairy Tail.
 * His backstory is somewhat similar to Obito Uchiha's from Naruto.