Origin Deities, Characters, and Universes: Statera Luotian: Our MC. God of Balance, and happens to constantly be switching genders. Has a couple of catchphrases such as “You don’t know how high the heavens are,” “you dare,” “Fuck Off,” “I am the Heavens,” and so on. Regrets this, but maybe leaned too far into the whole Xianxia thing. Is literally the Heavenly Dao. Made the Four Realms, but really lets their children run things. Characterized by their ability to see through more than they should be able to. Yueya Oshun/Curie/Alala: The Triple Goddesses of Art/Science/Sport respectively. They are all aspects of the same person, and have a thing for Statera. Currently their One World is on a collision course with the Four Realms. Characterized by their beauty, which is a unique feature comparable to Statera’s eyes and truesight. Shin: The skeletal god of the Cycle. Quiet and taciturn, he is characterized by his insight into situations and people; which is very hard to notice as it is not a simple as sight or beauty. But he does notice more than he lets on, and more than he should. Does not believe in eternity for anything besides maybe himself, so the idea of Xianxia immortality baffles him. God of the Wheel Realm, and likes to manipulate events from the shadows. Reilly: The God of Luck. Dresses like a beggar and juggles dice. Has an obsession with alcohol that trumps Statera’s. Likes to complain about his luck or praise it, despite knowing that such things can only go so far. God of the Seven Heavens, though he takes a very hands-off approach to things. Has a Shadow that worries him. The Emperor: A God-King with the domain of Divinity and Leadership. Rules the realm of Heaven and Earth, and tries his best to embody the best of both. Can be a himbo at times. Wields a greatsword that can cleave open the void, to create something new. Honestly wants the best for people, and will try to force them to take the best path even if they don’t want to. His universe is technically called Heaven Above, Earth Below. Sehuyun: The Primeval Dragon – looks like a western dragon. An Origin Deity who is both Origin and Shadow of her realm, she is a shameless dragon supremacist. Would rather die than give up any piece of herself, and that is why she never developed a Shadow or became a true god. Had a big fight with Statera and Alexander, and now likes them a lot because of it. After journeying to the Four Realms, decided she might as well try and make her own kids. Named herself. Her universe is nameless, created through dragonfire, though can be considered the Lair or Hoard. Rising Wind, Crashing Waves: A Stag-God of Wisdom. Appears as a massive stag with horns inlaid with elemental gems. His power level is relatively low outside of his universe, and likes to repay people with deeds rather than trinkets. His universe is the Cosmic Planes, a variant of what one might consider a Yggdrasil or World Tree universe. The Progenitor: God of Creation. Appears as a ball of soft white light. Talks haltingly, with two pauses per sentence. No matter how long or short that sentence is. Was once the right-hand of another origin deity, and modelled its universe after its old one. Characterized by its understanding of the Overgod’s motives and designs, it is far more in-tune with the multiverse at large than any other origin deity. Its universe is called the Garden. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Nyxteria: God of Space and Time. Big starry bird is what it is, Nyxteria talks in the third person and likes to collect curios. Doesn’t always take them directly, Nyxteria can and will replace the object with something that is temporally exactly the same. Asked for one of Statera’s eyes at the beginning of the meeting. Is physically the largest Origin Deity, its true size is unknown as it folds space around itself to make itself smaller. God of the Ocean of Stars, which it refers to as Nyxteria’s Nest. MR-10: Machine God of Order. Appears as an inverted pyramid, embossed with gold inlays. Extremely logical but surprisingly chaotic for a machine of order, MR-10 has a habit of recording everything with drones, and putting drones where they are unwelcome. Collects a lot of data this way. We have not seen MR-10’s universe yet, as Statera’s domain of balance would be too damaging to it. Sylphina: God of Chaos. Is a butterfly. Yes, this is a butterfly effect pun. Has had the least amount of screen time of all the origin deities. Likes tomatoes. For the same reason as MR-10, we have not seen her universe yet. Overgod (Mr. Boxes): The Overgod of the Multiverse, and most powerful being we have seen. Is so powerful that the smallest shard of power he can make is enough to manage twelve baby origin deities at a time. Any less powerful, and his shard becomes something…else. He’s a bit snarky at times. Probably because he’s seen a lot. Everything, actually. Finds Statera amusing. Terms and Definitions: (Alphabetical) Cultivation: The process of absorbing ambient energy and adding it to your own, strengthening both body and soul. In the Four Realms, souls create some of the purest energy in existence, so cultivation adds more than it takes from the world. Dao: Commonly misunderstood. A Dao is not a power, really, but a path in life. One’s personal mantra, if you will. It can be characterized by one’s belief in their own path and self, or by following another’s path and making it your own. Heaven Realm: A place of high yang and holy energy. Elvira created it, and it is meant to represent the Ideals of the Four Realms. Hidden Realm: Morgan’s Realm. It is unofficial, and exists in a different space than the entirety of the Four Realms. Can be accessed from nowhere and everywhere, and promotes some unique evolutions because it isolates energies. Karae: Keilan’s mortal People. They look similar to him, almost demonic in nature with wings, thick leathery tails, and horns. But they are intrinsically tied to karma. Karma: Cause and effect on a spiritual level. Good deeds promote good things, and bad deeds promote bad. The question is what is defined as good and bad? How is good rewarded – and if it isn’t, is it instead being used to counteract bad and vice-versa? Good karma produces higher-quality and more useful energy. Karmic Realm: A realm of pure yin and a foil to the Heaven Realm. Souls funnel through here to get to the afterlife, and here is where memories are stored after reincarnation. Keilan was the creator of this Realm, and is very proud of it despite his quiet tendencies. Lunar Star: The moon. A great ball of blue that acts as a counterweight to the Realm sun. Cold. Origin Deity: The creator of a universe. Has certain advantages over regular gods. Physical Realm: The realm of mortality. Typically finite, Statera made the mistake of not limiting mortality when describing it, thus leaving a path to immortality open. This is where Earth would be, if it were in the Four Realms. Contains a lot of elemental energy, and life. Realm Sun: A giant sun that circles the Four Realms. Provides light for all of location, even if copies were made in the physical realm. Shadow: The weakness that an origin deity surrenders in order to become an origin deity. It manifests as a cataclysm or opposing force to the deity in question, and typically is equal if not greater in power to them. Not always outright antagonistic. Soul: The core of existence. This includes all the experiences a soul accumulates over the course of its reincarnations. While it may not retain its memories, the soul still remembers the fundamentals of what happened. The stronger the soul, the easier cultivation is. Also, souls create energy by existing. Spirit Realm: The Realm of spirits. A mirror of all three other realms, this is a realm of almost pure yin energy – so pure, in fact, that it is about to turn back into yang. This is where souls reside in the afterlife, angels largely operate, and everything else. It is the glue to the other three realms. In charge of managing the energy output of souls. Angel: As much of a job description as an actual title. Beings of great spiritual and karmic power that dedicate themselves to the service of a greater being, such as a god. Aracheon: Morgan’s mortal People. Spider-like humanoids designed as predators, they currently mostly inhabit the Hidden Realm. They will be spread soon. Asura: Keilan’s Immortal People. A race of grey-skinned humanoids, they are characterized by their defense of the Karmic Realm and the use of mental energy. They’re psychic, basically. Avian: Elvira’s mortal People. They are a race of winged humanoids, comprised of a lot of yang energy. Dimensional Creators: Morgan’s Immortal People. Small cores that function to create pocket dimensions and expand the Hidden Realm. Not inherently powerful by themselves, but massively useful in certain situations. Draconian: Alexander’s mortal People. A race of draconic-looking humanoids, with a great connection to spiritual energy. They were the last to be created by the Big Four. Dragon: Alexander’s Immortal People. They look more like Eastern Dragons than Western. Not a lot of screen time, yet. Elemental: Reika’s mortal People. They are unique in that they are comprised of elemental energy, and the elemental gods have created various templates of the original to have their own People. This is how things like Fire Elementals may be born. Fae: Statera’s mortal People and the first mortals of the Four Realms besides animals and plants. Perfectly balanced. Can live up to 200 years without cultivating, and up to 10K years without becoming immortal. Have horns, and tattoos that mimic karma. Spirit Beast: Different than a normal animal, these are beasts that have learned to cultivate. They become smarter and stronger by doing so, but still operate over animal laws than “human.” Treant: Reika’s Immortal People. Like ents, they are massive, living trees that protect the wild parts of the world. Originally designed as guardians to protect agains the Shadow, they have evolved to protectors of the wild spaces.