Ascension OC

The story of Ascension OC is, in a way, the story of modern Tyre itself. It reflects the spirit of the city to rebound from tragedy and chart a new course into the future, facing it with a boundless optimism and unflagging hope.

While it is rightly said Ascension is a team founded in recent decades, the roots of it stretch back before the series of armed conflicts that swept through eastern Kael two generations ago. Tyre before the conflicts, like many other sizeable cities, had several associated olaya teams within its greater urban area. While the entire region never before produced any teams of particular note, the cities of Tyre and Raya were known for their lively street-olaya scenes and for producing several famous players that went on to be signed to international teams. One need only think of Hall of Famers such as Kadaj or Mirriel to see examples of this. But those days would come to an abrupt end with the breakout of hostilities in the series of conflicts now known as the Veldt War.

The story of the war is well known to many Kael, and is looked on as either a source of pride or shame depending on who is asked. The campaign, led by the Ecclesia with tacit support by the Kael government, led to widespread crimes and reprisals on civilians, as well as largescale destruction of urban areas. The war was particularly well publicized abroad, eventually compelling the Havan and Artimea to intervene and arbitrate an end to the conflict, and leading inevitably to the discrediting and disbanding of the entire Ecclesia Order.

In the aftermath, the residents of the devastated region searched for ways to pull their struggling communities together. One effective way was through sports, specifically in reestablishing olaya, even if it meant playing in the still bombed-out stadiums. The team that would become Ascension was founded as Tyre Inter-Urban OC, formed by combining two previous teams which had each lost many players in the conflict, the Tyrian Corsairs and the Khora Sylvans. The new unified team proved a great rallying cry, and visible symbol of their determination to reclaim their lives, and helped to kick off the remarkable future Tyre had ahead of it.

The years following the team’s founding saw the city rebound in a spectacular fashion, referred to by many as the Tyrian Miracle. In some ways, the war proved to be a blessing in disguise, as in the frenzy of reconstruction and development, Tyre was able to reinvent itself as an economic and industrial powerhouse of eastern Kael. Much of the capital generated allowed a thriving cultural scene to emerge, and led to a flourishing of arts, letters, and music, including much more shared cultural knowledge and understanding of the Augurs and other minority races and sects who called the city home. This was reflected in the adoption of the team’s new emblem, following its change of name to “Ascension OC”. The crest is a modernist interpretation of traditional Kael art forms, and very deliberately included prominent Augur symbols as a way to remember those lost in the war. When the crest was unveiled, it immediately sparked protests to the International Olaya Federation that it violated many religious precepts and morays. These protests amounted to little in the long run, and Ascension began playing under the new crest to great acclaim in Tyre itself.

The fortunes of Ascension, however, did not long correlate with the good luck of their home city. After some initial successful seasons, Ascension began a downwards slide which eventually saw them hovering in the bottom tier of the national pyramid, often flirting with being demoted into amateur league status on several occasions. Many residents of Tyre had gravitated towards other sports and forms of entertainment, but Ascension always remained as a symbol of pride for the communities, and the team never faltered entirely.

The team’s prospects took a dramatic turn four years ago with a shakeup of management, coaching staff, and players. Perhaps the most fortuitous advent was the signing of goalie Zehra Q’Lar, fresh from several impressive seasons in her Academy olaya team, and carrying with her a reputation for both aggressive plays and innovative defenses. So impressed were her teammates and coaches, that she was elevated to captain in only her second season as a professional player. Since becoming captain, Q’Lar has led Ascension in their meteoric rise through the league, sometimes referred to as the “Second Tyrian Miracle”. Her first season as captain saw Ascension finishing as tier champions and securing their first promotion in more than a decade. The following year, Ascension finished in second place, broke the Kael conference record of most goals scored in a single season, and once again earned promotion. In Q’Lar’s next season, she helped lead Ascension to claim the Supporter’s Shield and come within a feather’s breadth of claiming the tier championship cup, only losing in a sudden-death shootout. The pain of the loss was mitigated, however, by Q’Lar also being voted MVP in Kael for that year.

Q’Lar herself hails from Asani, but is of Au’Kael descent and a member of their faith. Though not outspoken about her religion and practices, she does not shy away from the issue either, and does not hide the fact she belongs to a group many mainstream birds consider heterodox. Apart from the surprise at having such a young player as captain, her appointment to the position caused very little reaction, given that Ascension was still anguishing in the lower tier leagues. As they rose through the ranks, however, there began to be very active calls either for her removal from the lineup or demotion from the captaincy. These calls were almost universally ignored, as Q’Lar had proved herself too much of an asset to the team, and was too well-loved by the Tyrian fanbase for such a drastic step to be taken, especially after both securing the Supporter’s Shield and subsequently being named MVP. Tensions came to a head during the subsequent off-season, when Ascension took part in the Asani Invitational tournament. Fueled by a mix of simmering political tensions and several embarrassing losses by the Asani home team, large scale riots broke out across the city, one of which swept over the residence used by Ascension during their stay, Q’Lar incurring several injuries during the incident. While not life-threatening, her beak was left with a chip and several prominent gouges, for which she refused cosmetic procedures to correct. In the wake of the riot, there was some discussion of having her sit out the upcoming season, as both a means to let her recover and to allay tensions. The idea was quickly scrapped when several other prominent Ascension players threatened to resign if Q’Lar was relegated to the bench.

Now, in their inaugural season in the Continental League, Ascension is looking to make an impression, and show the world what Tyrians are made of.