RE: Deity - The Breath of Creation

Character Glossary

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.

Four Realms: A variant of the Three Realm universe, the Four Realms have a Heaven Realm, a Physical Realm, a Karmic Realm, and a Spirit Realm that are each characterized by their own unique "features." Has a secret fifth realm called the Hidden Realm.

Important Characters: (Alphabetical)

Alexander: The Spirit Dragon. One of Statera's first four kids. Wise and powerful, he is the strongest in the Realms besides his Father. Creator of the Spirit Realm.

Aeriel: Goddess of Wind and Secrets. Doesn't talk much, but giggles a lot. Free spirit.

Alanna: Avian Immortal, and Dei's successor. Has not had much screentime. Ruler of the largest nation in the Physical Realm.

Argent: God of Metal. Likes music. Stood up to Morgan once. He makes a noise like a bell when struck, due to being metal.

Celene: Immortal cultivator that became the Lunar Star. Fang Xu's lover, and one of the first people to create a red string of fate in the Four Realms. Still cooking to become a goddess.

Dei: Dei died. See Xing Wu.

Elvira: Goddess of Heaven and Divinity. One of Statera's first four kids. Tries to live up to expectations, and the de-facto leader of all the gods in the Four Realms. Calls Statera Father. Creator of the Heaven Realm.

Fang Xu: Immortal Cultivator that became the Realm Sun. Celene's lover and one of the first people to create a red string of fate in the Four Realms. A self-sacrificial idiot.

Fu Hao: One of the first angels in the Four Realms. Likes to fight.

Gilles: Deity of Shadows. Elvira's husband and brother to Sol, he is a curious deity with a penchant for investigating the Void. Pale and almost sickly looking, he was almost killed by Sol, his truesoul wiped out of existence.

Inesa: Goddess of Light, Hearth, and Home. Sweet girl that likes tea, and enjoys the company of Statera. A younger god. Lover of Xing Wu.

Keilan: God of Connections. One of Statera's first four kids, and calls them Mother. Reclusive but insightful, he feels quite a bit like an overworked CEO at times. Likes boating. Creator of the Karmic Realm.

Kei: Nine-Tailed Fox-girl. Reika's daughter. Takes a frightening amount after Statera, though with the mischievousness dialed up to eleven. Powerful, and prefers to make people laugh over fight. Even if the only one laughing is herself.

Mad Scientist: A serial reincarnator known as a monkey wrench. The first to accompany Statera to the meeting. Will play a bigger role next book.

Morgan: The Shadow of the Four Realms. Sort of. After having its fate severed by Statera, Morgan's role has been a bit in limbo. Doesn't like most people or things. Hates them quite a bit, actually. Looks like a spider dog. Creator of the Hidden Realm.

Randus: God of Dreams. Born of Statera's dreams, Randus chose to become a butler after seeing one of Statera's past lives. Incredibly loyal and a master manipulator, his power lies in subtlety rather than raw fight potential.

Reika: Goddess of Change. One of Statera's first four kids, and calls them Mother. Has a penchant for puns, and likes the chaotic nature of the Physical Realm. Creator of said Physical Realm.

Sol: The Ex-God of the Realm Sun. Tried to murder his brother Gilles, and in doing so had his divinity stripped from him by Statera. Making a comeback. Slowly.

Stilicho: One of the first angels in the Four Realms. Not a big fighter, operates in the Heaven Realm primarily.

Thyia: A Dark Goddess. Originally the goddess of suicide. That is changing. Xing Wu keeps bugging her.

Xing Wu: The reincarnated version of Dei. A warrior and the first person to create a Dao strong enough to earn the right to be hung in the sky like a star. Responds to danger very well.

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.

One World: The largest universe of all the origin deities. A single, massive, planet-like world that is woefully understaffed for the number of gods that inhabit it.

Important Characters:

Astraea: Goddess of Stars, and claims to be to Yueya what Randus is to Statera. Quiet. Secretive. Wants the best for her creator.

Rot: Yueya's Shadow. A blob thing. Red, and acts like a fungus. Tied to obsession.

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.

Wheel Realm: A flat, disc-like universe that spirals rapidly. Consists of three parts; life, the afterlife, and the "spokes" that hold everything together. The rotation is what makes everything function, and allows Shin to be hands-off.

Important Characters:

Ze: Shin's right-hand woman. She is the face of the government, while Shin actually runs things. The only other eternal being in the Wheel Realm besides Shin.

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.

Seven Heavens: A universe that is essentially seven different dimensions layered atop each other. The higher one goes, the more powerful the inhabitants are, eventually reaching the Seventh Heaven which is the realm of the gods. Has two different kinds of gods; creation and destruction. Neither are inherently good or evil.

Important Characters:

Pyrah: The Empress of the Seven Heavens. Runs the humdrum part of things, while Reilly does the big stuff.

Steward: Reilly's Shadow. A shade, or destruction god. Actually kind of nice toward Reilly.

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.

Heaven Above, Earth Below: A two-tiered realm consisting of Heaven, or the immortal realm where powerful souls produce the majority of the energy in the universe, and Earth, the mortal realm that is largely run by dukes and counts and such under the Emperor's oversight. Plagued by demons that desire destruction.

Important Characters:

Jester: A comedian that earned the right to be in Heaven.

General: A general that earned the right to be in Heave. Notice a pattern in the naming scheme, here?

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.

Lair: Sehuyun's universe. It is relatively empty, consisting of mostly primordial chaos, though there are a few souls within that are developing consciousness all on their own.

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.

Cosmic Planes: Another variant universe, like the Four Realms. Consists of multiple symbolistic planes – such as the plane of death and life – separated by the roots of a great bush. The bush protects what might be considered the mortal worlds from the greater planes.

Important Characters:

Arche: A centaur god of the hunt that likes to try and hunt Rising Wind. Bit arrogant, and has a one-sided rivalry with anyone who can use the bow.

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.

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The Garden: A largely temporary universe that has a central core of eternity. It explodes outward in a big bang, then willingly lets the Void devour itself right up until it reaches the immovable core – arguably one of the most stable universes, as it doesn't actually try to constantly defy the Void.

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.

The Ocean of Stars: Visually similar to a standard "big bang" universe with space, stars, nebulas, and planets, the Ocean of Stars' defining characteristics are its time anomalies – where time flows in different directions and at different speeds – and the folding of space itself. Wormholes, separate dimensions, condensed space…you name it.

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.

Devil Cultivator: Someone who cultivates using a negative path. This typically doesn't just go against the Heavenly Dao, which is allowed, but actively works against the Heavenly Dao, which is not allowed. Well, it's not allowed when it causes actual problems.

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.

Heavenly Dao: The greatest understanding and will in the universe. In the Four Realms, this is Statera. All being initially begin by connecting to the Heavenly Dao, which similarly lays down the most important laws of the universe.

Dao Progenitor: A person who has had their personal Dao recognized by the Heavenly Dao. When this happens, the Heavenly Dao makes a copy of said Dao and hangs it in the sky as a star, so all can see the ones who have achieved this.

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.

Holy Mountain: The key feature of the Heaven Realm. The pinnacle of holy energy, and the seat of Elvira's power.

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.

Immortal:

Karmic Immortal: A buddha, or similar. Karmic Immortals are beings who follow the path of karma to immortality, specifically. This is primarily done by accruing positive karma, rather than negative.

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 King: One of the fundamental pillars of reincarnation. They function as a way to read and understand karma.

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.

Karmic Valley: The core of the Realm. Acts as a funnel for souls. This is where Keilan's palace is located.

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.

Life-Giving Tree: The key feature of the physical realm. A giant tree in the very center of the physical realm, surrounded by a plot of land. A source of abundant life energy, and where Reika's palace is located.

Pangaea: The land surrounding the Life-Giving Tree. Massive plot of land, bigger than most planets. Bigger than some solar systems. Bigger than multiple solar systems.

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.

Truesoul: The core of a soul. This is the fundamental of what a soul is, containing the true essence of what a person is. Strip away everything else, and the truesoul remains. To understand the self, one must simplify.

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.

Spirit River: The main feature of the spirit realm, this is the flow of souls, energy and other such things that move throughout the rest of the realms.

Races and Species:

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.

Holy Beast: A type of spirit beast that has risen to become immortal through karma. The spirit beast equivalent of Karmic Immortals.

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.