Elder Celestial Spirits

"An old wizard told me that when falling stars streak the night sky, it is the elder spirits dancing among us."

- Anonymous

The Elder Celestial Spirits (先輩星霊, Senpai Seirei), also known as the Elder Spirits (先輩精, Senpai Sei) and many other names, are a sect and sovereign union of celestial spirits that stand outside the dominion, authority, and power of the Celestial Spirit King, residing in a secluded sector of the Celestial Spirit World out of the reach of the king and other spirits. Over millenia ago, long before man had triumphed over the dragons, a war erupted between the Celestial Spirit King and this faction as they attempted to usurp the king's place as the ruler of the celestial spirits. However, they were beat back and pushed to sign a pact of non-aggression as the king did not desire to continue the violence and had no way of permanently locking them out of the celestial spirit world as punishment due to the raw power of the faction. These spirits are far older than those of the golden and silver keys, thought to by ancient mages to be the first spirits to come into existence after the king himself—hence the use of "elder" amongst celestial spirits as prefix for the faction. Due to this level of experience and seniority, many of them are also far stronger than their younger counterparts. The mightiest of them of all and the primary leader is Hercules, known as the Great Traitor (大した賊, Taishita Zoku), the second most powerful spirit—inferior only to the king himself and that being alone.

Like all other spirits, they are summoned by the use of a subset of the Celestial Spirit Gate Keys, more specifically, the Iron Keys. These keys are by far the rarest of the lot and few even have a working knowledge of these spirits, much less have ever had the resources to summon such beings. Unlike their successors, these celestial spirits can tweak the individual contracts they hold with their prospective summoner. Also, many of the elder spirits follow somewhat amoral line of action, normally caring little for human suffering and have very little care for who or what calls upon them long as they are worthy according to their own personal guidelines—mages, dark mages, assassins, and murderers are at many times all the same in their book, all just human. One common requirement amongst mages that try to utilize the Iron Key spirits is a need for great mental fortitude and psychological strength. It is said men have been driven to death by madness trying to forge contracts with an Elder Celestial Spirit. Some of these spirits are known by names in many nations and have walked amongst man for centuries amusing themselves with those that cross their paths seeking their power.

Trivia

 * Iron was chosen as the material for their keys as a reference to the historical Iron Age of mankind in antiquity, signifying the ancient nature of these celestial spirits as a group.
 * The creator was given permission by Perchan to create this group.
 * Every one of the spirits' names are actual constellations ranging across different cultures.