Black Agent of the Renounced Pearl

Civilian Name:  Peli Morore

Peli Morore is the daughter of two prominent marine biologists, Dali and Beli Morore.  They were researchers at an underwater laboratory, where Dali specialized in marine ecosystems while Beli pursued cetacean research.

It was while working here that they discovered that Beli was pregnant with their first child.  They learned almost simultaneously that the child would be a girl and and that she had a rare and fatal genetic disorder that would impair the growth of her lungs.  The fetus was otherwise developing normally, so they decided to try an experimental treatment that showed some promise for correcting the disorder.

The surgery was successful, but had surprising side effects, as did another pre-natal experience of Peli's: while in utero, both she and her mother were pulled into the extraplanar realm known only as the Room.  Beli's entire mental landscape was upturned, inverted, and rotated by the experience; she left the Room as a mercenary capitalist driven to her research (into how to create amphibious human beings) purely out of greed for profits instead of a love for knowledge, a lifelong curiosity, and an intense kinship with cetaceans.  Oddly, this pushed her into ever-greater dedication -- even obsession -- with her work and, perhaps less oddly, made her a poor mother figure for a little girl who could breathe underwater.  No one can say what really happened to Peli at that time.

Dali somehow convinced Beli to keep Peli's ability secret rather than sell her as a performer or do research upon her; he wanted his daughter to have as normal a childhood as possible.  Accordingly, she managed (somehow) to grow up to leave for university as a mostly-normal, well-adjusted young woman.  Until her parents were killed in an attack by industrial saboteurs on their laboratory, that is.  Saboteurs that were involved with some of Beli's more secretive dealings, no less!

Peli vowed to catch the criminals -- and succeeded, but only with the help and magnetic pull of the Room, into which she dragged the murderers, never to be seen again.  In the process, the IST noticed her abilities; she joined their ranks immediately after graduation and is now a highly-respected member of IST Otheyo, where she does marine biology research.

Peli is arrogant, aggressive, intelligent, ruthless, callous, and utterly selfless.  She takes the long view, often saying, "There are a dozen men sawing at the limbs of the tree of injustice for every one who is hacking at the roots."  She believes that people with the desire to do good are often too gutless to put the ends above the means.  She's determined not to make that mistake.  She believes the end of the world is nigh and wants to make sure the next universe is a better, fairer one than this one.  She believes the Room is a means to the end of achieving this goal, thinking it exists to make selfish bitches into practical saints (like herself).

Peli Morore wants the world to be a better place, a good, kind, decent world for people to live in.  If she has to lie to people, or murder them, or violate the very core of their identity to make that happen, she will.

Aftadon

Aftadon would be counted amongst the seven souls if he wasn't so closely associated with his lover, Adno'b. Being the pericardium, he is certainly recognized as a soul, but he is usually considered of a one with Adno'b when the souls are counted.

Where Adno'b is considered the cause of mortality, Aftadon is considered the source of life and the center of the conscious mind, which after all provides the stage on which Adno'b dances and the courtroom in which Adno'b testifies. This is why it is considered so essential that the pericardium survive death through physical embalming, because even if the physical Adno'b is "dead" the spirit still uses Aftadon as its home.

Metaphysically, Aftadon is the most private room within oneself, which is simultaneously the innermost center of the universe and the womb of the earth, not to mention Ra, the Sun.

Pantheon of the southern continent

Giqe Oi Ihi
Preservationist subject-object consciousness
Cnitigk (NE Desire – the desire to be alone; Animal, Fire, Plant)
Eojmegk (NE Separation – the awareness of and curiosity about the other; Evil, Knowledge, Protection, Water)
Jikpoti (NE Virtue – civilization; arcane illusion, arcane transmutation, Destruction, Magic)
Sfrj-s (CN* Desire – the desire to create; Animal, Earth, Forge, Plant)
Smeqeqf (LE Desire – the desire to avoid work; Destruction, Knowledge, Law)
Vil (CE Desire – the desire to perfect; Animal, Fire, Passion, Trickery)
Ylo-Nnwk (N* Desire – the desire to understand; Insight, Luck, Meditation, Travel)

Fmd Goj
Subject-subject consciousness
Avaqejjj (CN Desire – the desire to entertain; Chaos, Luck, Madness, Trickery)
Father Fadih (CN Virtue – devotion; Meditation, Water)
Ijje-Jl (NG* Virtue – honor; War, Water)
Komeipa (CN Desire – the desire to preserve; Air, Healing, Protection)
Mother Jmgli (N Desire – the desire to share contemplation; Meditation, Water)
Omfiheqf (N Separation – communication with the other; Destruction, Madness, Protection, Sun, Trickery)
Voi-Nojmil (LN Virtue – questing; arcane abjuration, arcane divination, Luck, Travel)

Krl Frf
Estranged subject-object consciousness
Chicqakqe (CE Desire – the desire to live forever; Death, Evil, Trickery)
Fifito (CE Desire – the desire to acquire; Destruction, Treachery, Trickery)
Jmfniqom (NE Separation – the separation from the other; Destruction, Evil, Madness, Trickery)
Morfikk (NE Desire – the desire to suffer; Death, Pestilence)
Nrflhr (NE Virtue – persistence; arcane enchantment, arcane necromancy, Animal, Strength)
Sesfij N'co (NE Desire – the desire to conquer; Earth, Evil, War)
Wfli-Lk (CE Virtue – risk; Animal, Chaos, Evil, Plant, Storm)



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* These deities have unusual alignments for their groupings and represent the ways that the consciousnesses represented by the groupings can blend and merge into each other.

Revised theogony from the southern continent

At first, there was only the Essential Self and, because the ordering of thoughts had not yet come into being, the Essential Self was chaotic and, in its chaos, creative, and because the separation between thoughts and matter had not yet occurred, the Essential Self's thoughts had being.

It was not the first thought of the Essential Self, because if it had been the first thought of the Essential Self, it would have had no meaning and quickly been forgotten, as so much was, but the Essential Self in time came to realize that so much had been forgotten and realized that it ought to take note of the thoughts which passed through it. This thought, like all of the Essential Self's thoughts, had being, and this thought's being was the book named as the Qijbrll, and with its creation, time came into being, and with time now existing, life was now possible, and the Essential Self's thoughts now had life as well as being. It is no coincidence that the title "Qijbrll" so closely resembles the word for "regrets."

In time, three thoughts came to the Essential Self and, because the Essential Self's thoughts had being and because the Essential Self's thoughts had life, these thoughts became the three Crowned Gods. There was Eojmegk (NE), the awareness of and curiosity about the other, Omfiheqf (N), communication with the other, and Jmfniqom (NE), the separation from the other. Universal subjectivity gave way to subject-object consciousness. Eojmegk, at this time, gains the Qijbrll. Thus was the first generation of the gods, known as the Separations, brought into being.

Filled with a new and seemingly inexplicable longing, these three gods reached out into the Essential Self and drew forth companions. Omfiheqf, manifestation of subject-subject consciousness, proved the most able to meet the Essential Self as co-creator and so was the first to succeed in bringing companions into being. She first brought forth Komeipa (CN), the desire to preserve, then she brought forth Jmgli (N) who will come to be called Mother, the desire to share contemplation, and finally she brought forth Avaqejjj (CN), the desire to entertain. Having learned how to do so from Omfiheqf's bringing forth of these three desires, Jmfniqom then brought forth desires of his own. He first brought forth Sesfij N'co (NE), the desire to conquer, then he brought forth Morfikk (NE), the desire to suffer, and also he rescued Chicqakqe (CE), the desire to live forever, from being forgotten by the Essential Self, and finally he brought forth Fifito (CE), the desire to acquire. Following all this, Eojmegk brought forth his desires. He first brought forth Sfrj-s (CN), the desire to create, and also he brought forth Ylo-Nnwk (N), the desire to understand, and finally he brought forth Vil (CE), the desire to perfect. Ylo-Nnwk herself then brought forth Cnitigk (NE), the desire to be alone, and finally Vil set himself to the task of creating and created Smeqeqf (LE), the desire to avoid work. Thus was the second generation of the gods, known collectively as the Desires, brought into being.

Then it was that the gods turned their attentions to each other, ignoring the Essential Self. Omfiheqf partnered with Komeipa to give birth to three gods: the twins Ijje-Jl (NG), who is honor, and Fadih (CN) who will come to be called Father, who is devotion, and also Voi-Nojmil (LN), who is questing. Once more following Omfiheqf's example, Jmfniqom partnered with Sesfij N'co to give birth to two gods: Wfli-Lk (CE), who is risk, and Nrflhr (NE), who is persistence. Rather than partner with another god, Eojmegk turned inward and brought forth from himself, as indeed the gods had before brought forth from the Essential Self, the god Jikpoti (NE), who is civilization. Thus was the third generation of gods, known collectively as the Virtues, brought into being.

The Separations then gathered the Desires and the Virtues around them, according to their lineages. Eojmegk ruled over the Giqe Oi Ihi, gods who studied and learned about and played with the things of the world, gods who valued the world's existence for what it could provide them, gods who understood and promoted a selfish but protective subject-object consciousness like a child trying not to break his toys. They are the stewards of the world. Omfiheqf came to rule over the Fmd Goj, gods with a fierce love for the things of the world, gods who fought to continue the world's existence with no thought of benefit or gain, gods who understood and promoted subject-subject consciousness like two friends who want to see each other live their lives by their own desires. They are the preservers of the world. Jmfniqom came to rule over the Krl Frf, gods who cared not for the things of the world, gods who treated the world's existence like a temporary thing, gods who understood and promoted a careless and destructive subject-object consciousness. They are the users of the world.

Theogony from the southern continent

At first, there was only the Essential Self and, because the ordering of thoughts had not yet come into being, the Essential Self was chaotic and, in its chaos, creative, and because the separation between thoughts and matter had not yet occurred, the Essential Self's thoughts had being and the Essential Self's thoughts had life.

In time, three thoughts came to the Essential Self and, because the Essential Self's thoughts had being and because the Essential Self's thoughts had life, these thoughts became the three Crowned Gods. There was Eojmegk (NE), the awareness of and curiosity about the other, Omfiheqf (N), the desire to communicate with the other, and Jmfniqom (NE), the longing to be one once more. Universal subjectivity gave way to subject-object consciousness.

In time, each would come to be crowned ruler of a different set of gods. Eojmegk came to rule over six other gods, gods who studied and learned about and played with the things of the world, gods who valued the world's existence for what it could provide them, gods who understood and promoted a selfish but protective subject-object consciousness like a child trying not to break his toys. They are the stewards of the world. Omfiheqf too came to rule over six other gods, gods with a fierce love for the things of the world, gods who fought to continue the world's existence with no thought of benefit or gain, gods who understood and promoted subject-subject consciousness like two friends who want to see each other live their lives by their own desires. They are the preservers of the world. Jmfniqom came to rule over six other gods, as well, gods who cared not for the things of the world, gods who treated the world's existence like a temporary thing, gods who understood and promoted a careless and destructive subject-object consciousness. They are the users of the world.

Adno'b

Adno'b is the heart-soul, most important of the seven souls: the one who will testify before the goddess Maat in the underworld Hall of Judgment after death. Like all of the souls, Adno'b is considered part of each individual person's spiritual anatomy, but is often discussed as a single being; similarly, stories about Adno'b often criss-cross back and forth between myths about an individual being and descriptions of the functioning of a person's heart-soul. Adno'b is pictured as a tiny dancer treading a constant rhythm in the midst of the body, the Essential and Universal Self keeping the rhythm of life in the midst of the cosmos. This is the image upon the Devil card of the Tarot. Eridu, reputedly the earliest city of Mersu, is said to be Adno'b for the whole of the empire, having been given that position, and the wisdom to go along with it, by Enki.

Adno'b is considered to be the cause of all mortality. Adno'b once seduced the south wind. In the course of their sadomasochistic coupling (described in great detail in the ancient epics,) Adno'b broke the south wind's wings. He was summoned for punishment by the supreme god An. Enki had told Adno'b that he would be offered the bread and water of death. Meanwhile, though, the two gatekeepers of heaven, Dumuzi and Ningiszida, had interceded with An on Adno'b's behalf, causing a change of heart. An instead offered the heart-soul the bread and water of eternal life. Adno'b refused, thus losing the chance of immortality.

Adno'b is known as "The Lord of the Gates of Matter," "The Sage (or Wise Man) of Eridu," "The Diamond in the Night," and "The Eye of Set." He is the Guardian of the 26th tunnel of the Tree of Death in magical teachings, where his particular magic is that of the "evil eye," or malediction and curses. An improper relationship with Adno'b is considered to be the cause of priapism.

See also: Heart.

Game Statistics

Besides various magics that interact with Adno'b -- banishing him from a person's body, communicating with him, healing his relationship with the rest of the person, and so forth -- Adno'b has no game statistics. Though he could be considered a deity, his place as part of a person's spiritual anatomy means that interaction with him comes not as part of the priest class, but rather as part of one of the incarnum-using classes. In those terms, Adno'b is the heart chakra, which interacts with the magic of vests, vestments, and shirts.

Inspirations: Adapa (Black & Green) + A'ano'nin (Rehmus) + Ab (Walker)

Aftadon

Aftadon (known in Elven as Aftayon and in Dwarven as Aftaon) is one of the seven souls, the pericardium. Lover of Adno'b, he is the source of life, the center of the conscious mind. It is considered essential that Aftadon survive death through physical embalming, because it is he who provides the spirit its post mortem home.

Metaphysically, Aftadon is the most private room, which is simultaneously the innermost sanctum of the universe and the womb of the earth, not to mention Ra, the Sun. Accordingly, Aftadon is considered to be a solar king in heaven during the day (as Apollo,) and a Lord of Death in the underworld at night. In this latter form, he is called "The Spirit of the Pit," and is the serpent deity in the Pit of the Sifled oracle, who inspires the seeress with mystic vapors from his nether world.

Like Abroa, Aftadon lends his name to an element of the temple. Aftadon is a pit in which worshipers incubate (sleep overnight in magical imitation of the incubatory sleep in the womb). While doing so, worshipers are visited by a subucni, a spirit who brings prophetic dreams. Novice priests go down into the pit for longer periods of incubation, pantomiming death, burial, and rebirth from the womb of Mother Earth. Once initiated in this way, they are thought to gain the skill of oneiromancy: the ability to interpret dreams.

The prophet Sefjo earned his oneiromantic talent by incubation in Aftadon. The "brothers" who put him there seem to have been fellow priests. He could interpret Pharaoh's dreams only after he had submitted to the ritual. He then assumed the priestly coat of many colors, signifying communion with Aftadon under his oneiromantic epithet of "Interpreter of Dreams," given to him by a "father" who was actually the high priest. It is also said of the Pythagorean philosopher Selath of Sutelim, accounted one of the Seven Wise Men, that he derived his intellectual skills from communion with the "God of Wisdom" in Aftadon.

Inspirations: Afterlife (Black and Green), Ab (Rehmus), Abaddon (Walker)