If you're a fan of Slay the Princess, you might like the newest story I've been working on, titled "The God of Nothing."
A young man with gray skin, horns, and hair made of shadow wakes up in a dark cell. However, he quickly learns that he can slip through shadows into a void of pure darkness. Yet in this darkness, he hears a faint crying sound, and upon reentering the physical world he finds the corpse of a young child. WIth a single touch, the child's body is reanimated...but not quite alive.
That's the least of his problems, as now he's being pursued by a being of pure light, whose presence brings him pure agony by being in proximity. Grabbing the hand of the child, he flees, though the woman made of light is in hot pursuit.
"When the universe began, long before life and even before the formation of Earth itself, there were a pair of gods: Empheryne and Kronyle. They were not the first beings to exist, but they were the closest. Siblings before there was such a concept. Together, they were the Hands of Time.
Empheryne represented long stretches of time - events far in the future and far in the past. She gazed upon a wide scale, a constantly unfurling landscape so vast it was hard to focus on a single instant. Kronyle, on the other hand, represented the miniscule passage of time. Each moment was new, and he reveled in the novelty of it all. The two complimented each other; Empheryne’s foresight and ability to look at the bigger picture kept her brother from harm, and Kronyle’s enthusiasm for the world in each instant, and each detail captured within it, reminded his sister to appreciate the small things.
The two were never seen apart. Together, they watched planets form, humanity rise, civilizations fall. They watched the birth and death of gods and the ideas they embodied. They were timeless, and they were time.
Kronyle quickly grew to appreciate the mortal world, fascinated with its temporary nature and with the passion of each moment lived. He spent more and more time with mortals, living among them sometimes for days and sometimes for decades. And he fell in love. Not only with humanity itself, but with one man. He wasn’t a noteworthy man - the son of a leatherworker whose mother died in birth - but that’s part of what Kronyle loved.
As the two grew close, Kronyle spent more and more time in the mortal world. Empheryne, used to his constant presence, grew bitter and jealous of his lover. She couldn’t understand how her brother could fall for something so temporary, and feared the pain her brother would feel once the man’s life was over. She tried to tell Kronyle this and convince him to end the relationship and spare his future feelings, but he refused, furious at the very suggestion. He tried to explain to her the nature of love and the beauty of each moment they did have, and how he could never give that up, but Empheryne simply couldn't understand. So, Kronyle turned away from his sister with a finality that cracked her bitter heart..
Empheryne decided that she would save her brother from his future pain, even if he did not agree, so she visited his lover one night - one of the few nights Kronyle was away - and she stole the time he had left in his body, bleeding every precious minute from him as he slept, and as each year abandoned him, it took physical form, sprouting wings and settling atop the goddess’s head in an insectile crown - a ring of moths adorning her hair.
When Kronyle returned to find the love of his life dead in their bed, he let out a cry of such deep agony that it shook the heavens. Empheryne heard his cries. No matter how far she went or how she tried to block them out, his pain rang in her ears, and when the wailing lasted for days and she could take it no longer, Empheryne cut off her own ears so at last her torment might end.
From her pain and holy blood, a new being was born - a child of suffering, of difficult decisions made and memories best left behind. This was Praetris, god of the past, and with his birth and the tragedy that befell the world that day, Empheryne’s and Kronyle’s roles changed. Empheryne refused to look back, unable to bear the consequences of her choice and the sight of her brother’s pain, and thus became the goddess of the future, always looking ahead. Kronyle became the god of the present, of every moment one has and the joy or pain that can be found in it, but every moment he lived was in misery, for it was a moment his love would not be able to share. He never left his lover’s side again, and as years passed a canyon carved its way through that very spot. The flow of water and time buried them, their names and their story forgotten, but Empheryne will forever bear the marks of their pain, and Praetris will be a constant reminder of her worst moment."
Bonus info:
**Statues of Empheryne always have her hair covering the spot where her ears would have been, hiding them or their absence
**Since that moment in time, the world has gotten progressively worse, the god of the present’s suffering bleeding into the world, and some gods worry that if he cannot be shaken from his lament, it may bring an end to the world itself.
As the magic that exists in the Mortalis world revolves around death and the afterlife, this seems a fitting place to start.
There are three places a soul can go when one dies, simply put: heaven, hell, and the middleground. Heaven is the place of angels, the house of virtue. Those who lived a righteous life may find themselves there. Hell is for two kinds of people: those lured into a cardinal sin by a demon... and witches. The middleground is where the majority of the populace goes, those not pure enough for heaven yet untouched by demonic influence.
Heaven
Heaven is largely unknown to the mortal world. It is known that heaven is the home of angels, and there is a strict hierarchy, sitting at the top of which is heaven's ruling deity, known interchangeably as Virtue, the Lord of Skies, Heaven (yes, that is the name of both the place and the deity; it is only capitalized when used as a name), or Aescerion, the name given in the old religious texts (there are various religions, one of which will be discussed in a later post). (Also note that Aescerion is NOT a/the creation god, simply the ruler of heaven; the creation god of all my worlds, Mortalis included, is Meilyphodes.) Under Aescerion are the Sons of Virtue, a court of seven angellic demigods, each a child of Aescerion and a mortal (Aescerion has had both male and female partners, but tends to have a preference for those who aren't quite either or appear more androgynous). As Virtue avoids interaction with the mortals as much as possible, mostly on account of their impurity, and especially in recent decades, the Sons of Virtue serve as the governing body of heaven (Court of the Sons), only going to Aescerion for judgement when absolutely necessary. Most other angels have specific duties as dictated by the Court of the Sons. Historically, angels are the guardians of mortals, but their involvement in mortal affairs has grown increasingly limited. Also note that the Sons of Virtue aren't necessarily male; they don't follow the typical binary of "male" and "female" and may present anywhere of the spectrum, but tend to be androgynous and dress in a neutral manner. Also, Aescerion doesn't align with any particular gender, and it is recommended to avoid using pronouns to refer to Virtue if and whenever possible.
Associated Symbolism: stars, wings/feathers, light colors, obsidian and quartz, clouds, yellow or blue light
Midground
Most departed souls go to the middleground. It doesn't have a proper name, often referred to in ancient texts as the middleground, midground, or sometimes simply Death. The ruling deity is Sebazhi, the Shepherd and the Judge. Sebazhi doesn't rule so much as he watches. They are the mediator between the rulers of heaven and hell, keeping peace and order and watching over the departed souls. She is also the the judge of the afterlife; as the only truly fair, just, and unbiased being, it is their duty to decide where souls go, determine if premature departures become angels or demons (as will be explained in a later post), and determine the sentences of individuals bound for hell (as will be detailed in the "Hell" section). There is no ruling class below Sebazhi, as he doesn't truly rule and is incapable of favor and thus shall not have children, and no otherworldly beings reside there, with the exception of the Locks: many-eyed, winged and horned creatures tasked with keeping the souls of the midground in and, more importantly, keeping the souls of heaven and hell OUT. Essentially, they watch and they keep everything in its rightful place, similar to Sebazhi themselves. The midground is infinite, stretching forever, and Sebazhi is capable of watching it all at once. It is also the closest, celestially, to the mortal plane, not in similarity but in the sense that it occupies the same space as earth, and simultaneously infinitely more and no space at all. Being so, it is also the easiest place for a necromancer to reach a soul from. Also, Sebazhi uses any/all pronouns, being close enough to the mortals to not mind being referred to in a similar way but also not having any one particular gender.
Associated Symbolism: forget-me-not and monkshood/wolfsbane flowers, hooved animals, sandstone, eyes
Hell
Hell is ruled by Carnis, the Mother of Sin. Carnis has seven children: the Princes of Hell. The Princes are not her real children, as they were spawned as the Sons of Virtue were born, each Prince the antithesis of one Son (meaning the Princes have no true relation to one another). They are also functionally genderfluid, presenting male, female, neither, or both as they see fit. Carnis views the Princes and, in fact, all the demons, as her children. Carnis cannot leave his throne for reasons that should be revealed in the comic (I don't want to spoil her design, but it's one I'm fairly proud of; heavy gore warning). Each Prince of Hell represents one cardinal sin (7 deadly sins). The Princes are not victims of the sins they represent; they tempt others into their sin and feed off of it (Greed isn't necessarily greedy, but would encourage others to be greedy and feed off of it if they follow through). The Princes also aren't immune to the other sins. Lust may be frequently jealous (envy), or Wrath may be lazy (sloth). Although the Princes were the original sins, they rarely do any tempting any more. They leave that to the lower demons.
Demons tempt mortals into sinning. Any soul that falls victim to direct temptation by a demon is damned to hell, and once they die, they become the servant of the demon that tempted them. Demons may have these servants wait on or entertain them, or may torture or punish them; whatever the demon sees fit. If the mortal's debt is to an ordinary demon, they are only stuck in this hellish servitude for a fixed amount of time (Sebazhi determines the sentence by how severe the sin was; once their sentence is over, they go to the midground), but if it is one of the Princes that tempted them, their stay in Hell is permanent. When a mortal is tempted, they are marked from that moment until the moment they die, the mark in question being something only demons can sense. If a demon senses that a mortal is already marked, that demon will not prey on them. The demon that marked them, however, can tempt the mortal again to earn them a longer sentence, with no limit on how many times they may do this.
The other group of mortals damned to hell are witches, who, once again, will be covered in a later post. Their sentences in hell are permanent.
Also note that Carnis uses she or he pronouns, as Carnis is not above mortals, but borne of their shortcomings. She tends to be considered for feminine, though, as he calls herself the Mother of Sin or Queen of Hell, rather than defaulting to masculine terms such as "Son" and "Prince," as many other pseudo-deities do.
Associated Symbolism: reptiles, horned animals, rubies, garnet, and red gemstones, red or purple light
The complexities of the afterlife aren't too terribly relevent to the comic, but it's still nice to know and have fleshed out. As this is already fairly long, I will be covering other aspects of Mortalis lore in pieces throughout a series of posts, this one being the first. All of these will be tagged as "mortalis lore."
Thank you for reading!!!
I highly encourage you to ask any and all questions you may have, even if it's something silly or stupid or small. I crave interaction, especially when it comes to the world of my comic. I will say as much as I can without spoiling anything.
Tag list (tell me if you'd like to be added or removed to the tag list for future lore posts): @birch-and-aspen @spectralcastle @socksthebat
Ive been itching to draw my OC deities, so I thought what better way to motivate me than put my favorite cambion man into my world and draw him with my gods?
Anyway this is srydentia, mother of the sea and 90% of demigods (shes my own lil' zeus) and the largest deity of any pantheon
