Deities, Elements, and Connotations Pt II: Triple Threat
This is a follow up to my previous post, which went over the general details surrounding the pantheon of my world. This piece will delve into more details surrounding each of THE THREE, and their relationships with their constituents.
I will begin by citing the relevant information from the last post:
THE SIX are subject, just as all else on the mortal plane, by the laws of nature; however, they are far from powerless. They are bound by their metaphysical relationships to each other, and the world, but are free to manipulate what falls within their lot. Each of THE THREE, containing two of THE SIX, exemplify these relationships; however, THE THREE are a distinct entity from the two they are comprised of, just as each of THE THREE is distinct from THE ONE.
The amount of power THE ONE, and thus THE THREE, holds is eternally stable; however, its distribution is constantly changing; this is Heaven's Flux. The members of THE THREES hold an inverse relationship with their diametric opposite; as one grows more powerful, the other grows weaker, yet THE THIRD, in total, remains stable. As a deity climbs in power, its Flux grows and affects the world more severely, for good or for bad.
It is not impossible for one of THE SIX to die, or be rendered powerless; in such cases, the other half of their THIRD grows unfathomably powerful, with access to the full potential of their element, and able to remake the world in their image. This has happened before, and it, almost assuredly, will happen again, erasing life as we know it and installing new gods upon their thrones; such is the cycle of the world.
I have to be honest, the main reason that there is so much focus on these numbers is because I wanted to codify the six-sided die as a "deity" of the world. All of the above information, to some extent, relates back to the shape and mathematics of the d6: six distinct sides, with each opposite pair adding up to seven. The "Flux" bit is meant to represent the rolling of the die.
Naturally, given that there are multiple members of THE THREE, they all need names; you may recall that they are The Adamantine, The Ethereal, and The Metamorphic. Each of these entities relate not only to above-mentioned deities, but also to the social order as well, representing the struggle of, and balance between, two different poles of the human condition. The Adamant, for example, being the "parent entity" of Matheuz and Emila, represents the sum of its parts: motion, and and stillness; flexibility, and rigidity; innovation, and tradition. Both sides of the coin are contained here, because The Adamant is the coin, itself. By intent, this lends towards analysis of the world concluding it to be dualistic in nature, similar to Des Carte's designs, but more aligned with Lao Zhu's teachings.
But enough of that. What are these THREE, and what do they represent?
The Adamantine Third
Aliases: "The Adamant," "Heaven's Pillar," "Order," "Law"
Pair: Matheuz (ma-TE-oh) & Emila (em-EEL-a)
Associations: Agriculture; Protection; Truth; Justice
The Adamant is responsible for the natural world. This does not mean "nature" as in "trees, birds, and bees," but rather "nature" as in "the true nature of the universe." Things like gravity, light, magnetism, birth, death, and so on, fall under the purview of the Adamant; this also extends to both the concepts of "the laws of nature" (an understanding of the mechanics of physical actions and reactions within the universe), as well as "natural law" (a view that all sophant creatures have a certain set of innate rights and/or responsibilities, up to and including participation in a social contract). Thus, the Adamant is the foundation upon which all of society rests, both literally and figuratively.
The Ethereal Third
The Ethereal oversees the souls of mortals, from before they are born to the moment they enter their afterlife, interweaving their souls into some tapestry likely only THE ONE can fully see. Of THE THREE, the Ethereal is the most distant from mortality; consequently, it can also (inadvertently) be seen as the weakest member, having so little observable impact on everyday affairs--a falsehood observed simply because the Ethereal has no need for mortal pawns, being a balancing party between the Adamant and the Metamorphic.
The Metamorphic Third
While the Adamant may sustain, it also stagnates; this applies not only to civilizations, but also countries, and even individuals. The Metamorphic exists to counteract this by shaking things up every now and then: snipping and pruning, tugging and twisting, training and tying the world in just the right ways to keep everyone on their toes. Many see the force of Chaos as an enemy, or a calamity, but it is merely just another component of THE ONE doing exactly what it has always done, and was always meant to do: keep things moving, and make things interesting.
Conclusion
There are three forces at play here, to map to B/X's (I use OSE, but it's all the same) three-alignment system, and even then, I allow for a bit of choice as to which deity you want to actually follow. We'll get into THE SIX in the next post, as well as talking a bit about the Flux, which is where things are really going to get interesting. Let me know what you think so far!
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