this backstory is in line with the Minecraft lore and the lore videos that have been put out by The Game Theorists so, with that being said: cracks knuckles and smirks here we heckin' go:
Phoenix was born to a couple in the Ancient Builder times. Brown hair, green eyes. She was named Phoenix because her parents had followed the High Priestess Phoenix until she passed. The High Priestess gave her life in a huge battle against a huge threat. They named their daughter after her, not only because they followed the High Priestess, but also due to her heroism and they felt the name was a strong name, too. They knew their daughter would be a strong person, too. Boy, were they ever right.
Little Phoenix was only 11 when the Warden took over their city underground, where they hid from the Wither that was devastating the world above ground. By the time Phoenix was born, the Ancient Builders had been underground in their city for a quarter century. Anyway, back to 11 year old Phoenix, she was separated from her tribe as everyone scattered to get away from the Warden.
Phoenix learned how to stay quiet, stay within the sculk, be one with the sculk, and loot chests without setting off shriekers in her years of being stuck in the deep dark city. Once she ran out of food, she went to the failed portal frame in the middle of the city. She knew there was an item called 'soul sand' there, making the soulfire underneath.
She, reluctantly, tasted some of it, figuring that if it's called 'soul' sand, it would help her live until she can find a way to get out of that city. It tasted bitter and was super grainy, but she soldiered on and kept eating. To keep the soul sand around long enough, she only ate it once a day and she had plenty of water. There was a pool of it at one end of the city, plus an altar of it in the same area.
She also had a few Silence armor trims she looted from one of the chests. She liked the design so much, she copied it, using cobbled deepslate and diamonds. She'd gathered some of the resources left behind by her tribe and gathered her own, too. She'd been out of the city many times, the monsters of the caves being less threatening than the Warden. She could always quickly exterminate those monsters as she caved and mined.
She also applied the Silence armor trim to the leggings she found in the chests left by her people. She also made a diamond helmet with the leftover diamonds from her making the copied templates and put one of the armor trims on that, too. She had mostly iron stuff and she knew how to make a shield. She mined the wood from some of the battlements on the city's walls that surrounded the failed portal.
As time went on, she became accustomed to the dark, so she gained night vision and due to her diet of soul sand, her hair began turning soulfire blue and she became immune to the effects of fire and lava. She also found that she had gained fire powers, soulfire powers and also Soul Magic. She learned of her powers one day when she walked close to the soulfire underneath that old portal and it flickered. It had never done that.
Phoenix tilted her head, curious. She raised her hand and the fire flickered again. She blinked, then moved her hand, the fire moving with it. Her jaw dropped. She brought her hand back in front of her, then she thought of something. She turned to the one wooden plank she had yet to chop down for her usage. She faced her palm toward it and willed soulfire to appear, and appear it did. Soulfire shot from her palm, igniting the wood on fire. She panicked and, instinctively, waved her hand, extinguishing the fire.
"Hah," she said, in complete awe. "Well, no kidding, I've got soulfire powers. I wonder what else?" she pondered. She went back to the soulfire and decided to put her hand in it. Surely, if she can make fire, she'd be immune to it, right? Sure as shootin', she was, indeed, immune. She was ecstatic. She went back to her campsite after her meal of soulsand and jotted down in her journal what she had just discovered.
After finishing her entry, she sat her journal down and sighed. If only she had someone to share this with. A moment passed and she felt someone approaching. 'Felt'? She looked up and saw a ghostly apparition, but she could tell colors. She had red hair as red could be, a black, leather jacket, black jeans, and black and red boots. She knew who this was.
"High Priestess Phoenix?" The High Priestess smiled softly.
"Yes, it is I. You were born for greatness, my young reincarnation." Soulfire Phoenix was not young. She was 511 years old, but she still looked young due to her diet of soulsand.
"'Reincarnation'? Did my parents know?"
"They did not. It was mere coincidence." HP Phoenix explained to Soulfire Phoenix what I explained to you, reader, about Phoenix being a strong name and all the other stuff I said with it.
"I see... well, I suppose they were right." Soulfire Phoenix told HP Phoenix how she survived this long.
"I know, I've been watching over you. You were destined from the start for soulfire and Soul Magic. You're also developing psychic powers, like what I have, but yours will be much more powerful than mine. You were destined to take my place, you are the next High Priestess." Soulfire Phoenix was stunned.
"Me? Wow... Ok, but... the Wither is still out there. It got you."
"It did... but it's also going to be gone within the next 500 years. You will breach the surface in the next 500 years. Prepare yourself for surface living. It will be so much brighter than this cave. Brace your eyes for extreme brightness." Soulfire Phoenix nodded.
"You also, as I mentioned, have Soul Magic. That's why you see me, even though I'm dead. You have the power to see souls and even deal with them accordingly. If they're evil and causing mischief and harm, it's off to the Nether with them. They'll be trapped in the soul sand there. That's also why you're living this long and why you have this Soul Magic. You've been consuming the souls of the dead."
That horrified Soulfire Phoenix and it showed on her face. "Don't worry, they're committed to helping you. They gave you the powers willingly. They've been trapped long enough that they wanted to do good, to make up for their wrongdoings. With this information, I must now take my leave. You'll do everyone proud, I know you will. Good bye, Phoenix." HP Phoenix disappeared.
Soulfire Phoenix put her head in her hands. This was not the conversation she thought she would have. So this is her destiny, eh? She took her head out of her hands and held it high. She resolved to practice her powers, become great, just like the High Priestess Phoenix was. She also remembered the words HP Phoenix told her about the next 500 years. So, she spent the next 500 years preparing, gathering more resources, doing what she needed to do to prepare to breach the surface.
500 more years passed and Phoenix was even more powerful than she was before. The day came when she would come to the surface world. She grabbed all of her things, sans anything from the Nether, despite knowing of the place from HP Phoenix 500 years ago. Soulfire Phoenix knows how to make the portal, she is a descendant of the ancient builders, after all. She just never felt the need to go there.
Once all of her stuff, and her cyan bed, were packed up, she started her journey to the surface. She faced the monsters of the cave that she had faced before and gone higher than she ever had. She only ever gone past the deepslate a few times in the past, to get resources that she hadn't touched, yet. Higher and higher she climbed, closer and closer to the dirt of the surface. Once she hit dirt, she knew she was close. She could also feel the difference in pressure. Finally, she broke through.
It was a shock to her system. She was used to cave air, cave temperatures, cave climates, cave air pressures, cave environment. She had to sit on the edge of her hole and try to get used to this new environment. It definitely took a while. Even her eyesight was affected, as HP Phoenix warned her. Finally, her body began accepting this new feeling, she began her adventure to find civilization. She felt for presences. She felt presences everywhere.
She didn't know what these presences were. She'll have to learn more of this surface world. Eventually, she found a village. As she strode through the paths, whispers followed her. She felt the feelings of the villagers. They were feelings of trepidation, of nervousness. A villager came up to her with an air of importance.
"What business have you, cyan haired stranger?"
"I'm Phoenix. I'm 1,011 years old. I am the last survivor of the Ancient Builders. Surely you've heard of them." Skepticism flowed throughout the crowd. "I can prove it! Watch." Phoenix brought out her crafting table and created a redstone repeater and showed it to them. The villagers gasped and murmured in awe, bowing to her.
"I didn't think your race were real! We've only passed on tales of the Ancient Builders. How are you still alive after all these years? Are there more of you?" someone else asked. Phoenix shook her head and told her story.
"You must become our Priestess. We have a Cleric who could teach you, be your mentor," the important feeling villager suggested.
"Do not volunteer me... but this is a special case, indeed. I'll teach her the ways of potions and how to be a Priestess. I've also heard tales of the High Priestess Phoenix who succumbed to the Wither. Her sacrifice will never be forgotten. Come, Phoenix. I'll teach you." Phoenix followed the Cleric, later learning that her name is Aurora.
Phoenix was a natural at potions. But... now was the time that she needed to go to the Nether. She found a surface lava pool, pouring water over it to get obsidian. She had a diamond pickaxe to mine it, so she got to work. She gathered 18 pieces, for the portal and for the enchanting table.
She made the portal and used a flint and steel to light it. She went through. The Nether was not what she expected. She spawned in a Warped Forest, which she absolutely loved. She mined the trees, taking a bunch of the wood to bring back with her. She's living with her mentor, it'll be nice to have a place of her own.
She moved on, looking for a Nether fortress. She knows of it because her people had built many during their stays in the Nether. She finally found one in the Soul Sand Valley. She dug up some soul soil, as she had never seen it. It looks a lot better than soul sand. She could use it and the sculk and sculk catalyst as pathing to her house. She'll implement the sculk in her house as a nod to her upbringing.
She also learned of Ancient Debris to make Netherite with after smelting it. She'll mine for some when she's done gathering potion resources. Once she felt she had enough, she searched for a good place to dig down. She went to y 15. She'd heard that's where you find the most debris. She spent hours digging, getting enough for armor and also mined blackstone for her house, too. She'd also found 2 Rib armor trims in the fortress she found. She's gonna make one more. She'll use two, but like with the Silence armor trim, she wants to have an extra just to look at.
Once she was satisfied with how much she got, she left the mine. She wandered around, trying to find her portal and stumbled upon a bastion remnant. She was prepared for this. She had gold armor on and had a bucket of lava for the brutes. She expertly looted the bastion and got out of there as quick as she could. Eventually she found her portal again. She went back to the Overworld and back to the village.
She dropped off the potions supplies to her mentor and went to the Mayor, Cameron. She got a permit to build her house at the edge of the village and got to work. She built an amazing manor using the blackstone and the warped wood. The villagers gathered around, clamoring in awe at her building skills, which have not been lost to time. Being an Ancient Builder, it's in her bones. It will never go away.
A few more years passed and she heard rumor of a dimension called The End. When she asked for clarification, the villagers couldn't give her much info. She decided she'd go there. She already had Ender Pearls and Blaze Powder, she could make Eyes of Ender, so she did. She packed up and made the journey to The End. When she reached the Stronghold, she raided the libraries.
There were some darn good books. After she was satisfied, she went to the portal room. There were two Eyes in it, so she put the ten that she needed into their slots. The sound of the portal activating reverberated throughout the room, and she swore it reverberated throughout the whole world, not just this room. She took a deep breath and jumped in. Great... she spawned on a platform in the middle of the void...
Good thing she had an Ender Pearl. She chucked it toward the land, hoping that it landed on top and not against the side. It landed on top, good. She got to work on the towers, shooting her arrows at the crystals. She's a really good marksman. When she took them all out, she began her fight against the dragon. She also gathered quite a few bottles of dragon's breath to make lingering potions.
It fought valiantly, but in the end, no pun intended, she got the better of it and defeated it. She got the egg and collected all the experience. She sought out the end gateway and found one, pillaring up to it and threw an Ender Pearl through it. She reached the Outer End and began her search for an End City with a ship. It took what felt like weeks, but was probably only hours, and she found a city with a ship.
She had found a city before this one, but it didn't have a ship. She was looking for a ship to gain an Elytra. She took out the Shulkers with ease and looted this whole End City, too. She built out to the ship and fought the Shulkers on the ship before going inside. There she found the coveted Elytra. She fought, and defeated, the Shulker guarding it, and took it from the item frame. She put it on and looted the chests. Now, she's got all she needs to make maxed out armor and tools and finally use her Netherite she had so painstakingly mined those few years ago.
She leapt from the ship and deployed her Elytra, feeling exhilaration from gliding through the air towards a new gateway. She hit her face against the bedrock, but still could go through. She'll have to practice gliding through one block holes... that hurt... She respawned at her bed and she put everything in their respective chests. She had an Ender chest already, so she put the Dragon egg in there for safe keeping for now.
She'll figure out how to hatch it soon enough. Right now, she's eager to make her armor and tools maxed out. She got to work. She had also tamed a few stray cats who roamed the village, so she told them they could roam around the house, stretch out their legs. They happily obliged, purring up a storm. Phoenix smiled and continued working.
Finally, after days and nights of endless enchanting, grinding enchantments that don't work, and combining, she had the perfect set of armor and tools. She put them in her Ender chest for safekeeping and took the Dragon egg out. She brought it outside and put it above her soul campfire, figuring that dragons did that to hatch their eggs. They do breathe fire, after all.
She also made a ring of soulfire to keep villagers away from it. It took a month and a half for it to hatch, but when it did, an adorable baby dragon hatched as Phoenix sat by it. She looked up at the dragon and smiled gently.
"Well, hello, little one. You're so cute. You need a name, too. I'll name you... Shadowflame." (little nod to my long time, good friend, Talon) The villager, and Phoenix's best friend, whom she'd gotten close to over the years, Kal (a nod to my best friend, Kal) went over to investigate. Phoenix introduced them to little Shadowflame and told them that they didn't need to be afraid. Shadowflame will be raised with good manners and hopefully not be a threat once she grows to her true size. So, finally, more years passed and she went from Apprentice Priestess, to Priestess, to High Priestess.
She had Netherite armor and two of each Netherite tool. She had Silence emerald helmet trim, Rib diamond chestplate trim, Silence emerald legging trim, and Rib diamond boot trim on her armor. She even conquered a few ocean monuments, using a Looting 3 sword to have a higher chance of getting a Tide armor trim, which she did. She duplicated that quite a few times to put on her gold armor that she uses to traverse the Nether without angering the Piglins.
For the color, she used Redstone. Her gold armor is even maxed out. She lived as High Priestess with her companion, Shadowflame, for many, many years. She even had Kal as an Apprentice, who now is a normal Priestess, serving under Phoenix. As a Priestess, you have an extended life, so Kal will be Phoenix's best friend/sister for a long time. Kal is not so great at potions, but she tries. Kal is good at other things, though.
Now, though, now came a time of tribulation. It will test Phoenix and change her life forever, no matter the outcome. A new threat presented itself in the form of a raid, but this is no ordinary raid. This is a raid of extreme proportions. The raiders are more geared, more powerful, more everything. This won't be easy... Phoenix and Kal prepared to defend the village. Phoenix with her potions mastery, her powers over soulfire, and her psychic powers, and Kal with her warrior training.
The battle commenced, both Priestesses fighting valiantly. Phoenix and Kal do not fight to kill, but rather fight to incapacitate, to make the threat not a threat anymore. That's one of Phoenix's trials. Making sure she knows the value of life. She deals with souls, not lives. When these raiders pass on, she'll judge their souls and condemn them to the Soul Sand Valley. Another trial of hers is relying on help, not doing this by herself or being stubborn. She's passing that, too. Another trial is how she treats civilians and Kal. Well, with Kal as her best friend, it's obvious that Phoenix would treat her well, but the civilians she also treats well.
Phoenix is a great candidate for bigger things, and she's proving it. This trial is to test her leadership skills and if she can protect her village. She's leading well and is protecting well. Her and Kal fight well together. They were able to best this raid and they gained Totems of Undying, powerful ones. Phoenix counted out how many they gained and looked at Kal, determination shining on her face.
She divvied one out to each villager who was old enough to use it. There were many totems, so when the kids grow up, they can use the ones in storage. Phoenix will not use one for herself, and her decision influenced Kal, too. Phoenix felt a familiar presence, and when she turned around, she saw HP Phoenix. Soulfire Phoenix smiled softly.
"Been a while, Phoenix. What brings you back to the physical world?" Soulfire Phoenix inquired.
"I have come to bestow upon you goddesshood and Kal High Priestess-ship." Soulfire Phoenix and Kal were shocked. HP Phoenix explained to them that because of their leadership and care for the village, they could move up a rank. They both have proved themselves ready. Phoenix was already destined, but she also needed to prove herself ready. Kal, being Soulfire Phoenix's best friend and Priestess, could move up to be the new High Priestess after Soulfire Phoenix became a goddess.
"How do I become a goddess?"
"Both of you follow me." They followed her amongst whispers to the Cleric's chapel. They stood in front of the elevated platform, where HP Phoenix stood. The villagers all stood behind us and out the door, but can still hear and watch.
"Phoenix, I, High Priestess Phoenix of the past, hereby grant you the title of goddess of Soulfire and Soul Magic. You have proven yourself worthy of this title and given your powers, you were bound to become one no matter what. We just wanted to make sure you were ready. You are ready." HP Priestess laid a hand on Soulfire Phoenix's shoulder and Soulfire Phoenix's outfit went from pure white with ice blue trim and ice blue flats to a goddess look. (check the cover photo of this story, it's Phoenix's goddess look)
"Wow, Nix! You look beautiful!" Kal exclaimed in awe. Goddess Phoenix looked herself over as much as she could and smiled.
"Kalena, I, High Priestess Phoenix of the past, hereby grant you High Priestess-ship under the goddess Phoenix." HP Phoenix laid a hand on Kal's shoulder and she transformed from her Priestess garb to a pure white dress with pink accents and gold flats.
"Aww, Kal, you look so pretty in your High Priestess outfit." Kal looked herself over and beamed, excited to have been blessed with this position. "Thank you, Phoenix."
"No need to thank me. It has been your destiny, all along. I just gave you your titles so that it was official." Goddess Phoenix and Kal both inclined their heads. "Congrats, you two. I must go. I cannot be in the physical world for very long." Both nodded and HP Phoenix disappeared. They turned to each other and squealed in excitement, then giggled. Two little villager kids went up to them.
"Wow! A real live goddess and her High Priestess!" they exclaimed. Both were Tuffy, named for how tough she is, but also unrelated, spelled like the tuff you find underground, and Minnie. Tuffy and Minnie always loved watching both work and always asked questions. Phoenix and Kal would always patiently answer their questions and allow them to observe from a safe distance.
More friends of Phoenix's came to congratulate the two. Both girls smiled and gave their thanks. Goddess Phoenix went on to be a benevolent goddess and her High Priestess was a very kind person, too. They kept in the village and Shadowflame was a constant companion for Phoenix as the Ender dragon she was.
And that's how Phoenix survived the Ancient City, was the sole survivor of the Ancient Builders, got her powers, became an Apprentice Priestess, Priestess, High Priestess, and finally goddess of Soulfire and Soul Magic.
it took me 3 hours and 31 minutes to type out her whole backstory ~dizzy eyes~ XD