Categories: Lore

Mythology

The spirits people believe in on the continent.

The spirits / gods / deities / whatever that the Ancient Bauhinians came up with, and how it affects their culture. These are some of the beings about whom people of the continent tell stories, and to whom they leave offerings. They're probably fake, but what if they aren't?

(They are indeed fake, just legends and myths that originated a long time ago. They're not real like Meng Po.)

None of these deities have any "official" visual representation, as all records of them exist only in text.

God

Places of worship

That part of the Palace that's open to tourists for this exact purpose

Associations

Bauhinia flowers, authority, power

At the very very top, there lies God. Everything in the world is determined by God. Your actions, thoughts, speech, etc., are all controlled by her. Ancient Bauhinians, it seems, were mostly determinists.

The Bauhinian Emperor was the voice of God. All his powers come from her, and he has divine right to govern his subjects as long as he is in possession of the Royal Seal, a sacred object said to be created by God herself (and that's the only thing God created. The creation god of this world is Copy). God validates the Emperor and approves of his next chosen heir. Very conveniently all of God's approved Emperors were men.

There's a bit of history surrounding the process of choosing the next heir. I might have to make a Bauhinian Empire file if I get enough information. But basically, in the early days of human civilization, Emperors were chosen by merit. Whoever has the most skills to govern will become the next Emperor.

One day, an Emperor decided to choose his oldest son to succeed him. This caused skepticism, especially when there were more suitable candidates who weren't a literal child. The Emperor pulled a stamp out of his ass and called it the Royal Seal, saying that this validates his choice. He gave the Seal to his son. As long as he has it, he is the heir. It was around that time that legends surrounding God started to develop, too.

Later down the line, one Emperor decided that even setting the heir with the Seal wasn't enough, because that decision is permanent — still subject to checks from his oldest son, who possesses the Seal. Instead, he kept the Seal by him all his life, and noted the heir in a little piece of paper tucked inside his pillow. This way, he could change the heir any time he wanted to. This was when the idea of the Seal as a channel through which to exert God's authority started. (One time the Emperor and his heir died together in an accident and sparked quite the succession drama. After that they started doing 2nd and 3rd choice candidates.)

So anyways yeah, God. Royal Seal. In modern society, even in Bauhinia and Fanton, open worship of God is still quite frowned upon, as her association with the Bauhinian Empire is simply too strong. But there are modern spins on the interpretation of God, portraying her as a mastermind who plays with your lives like a game.

Law

Places of worship

Courtrooms

Associations

Justice, truth, balance, equality, state-sanctioned violence

The law as we know it was named after Law. Law delivers judgement. When she decides on your verdict, you accept it and you do not fight back. Historically used as a concept alongside God to justify the Emperor's right to exert violence, modern interpretations now emphasize the individual's inability to resist against the judgement.

Echo

Places of worship

Your own room with the doors closed and curtains drawn

Associations

Tailers, cameras, listening devices, surveillance

Echo lives in your walls. And floors, and ceilings. She listens to everything you say, sees everything you do, and knows all your secrets.

In all ancient contexts, Echo was portrayed as a benevolent spirit who knows you like a best friend and is your confidant. In the modern day, there have been subversive interpretations that draw similarities between Echo and the all-compassing state surveillance apparatus.

In the modern day, children begin their diaries with "Dear Echo." Well, unless you buy into the "Echo is not your friend" interpretation or you live in the no-funsies Westavia, where that was banned and you just write the date and begin the diary body.

Parents would also sometimes tell their children things like, "if you go flashlight-under-covers to read comics late at night, Echo would know!"

Copy

Places of worship

libraries, archives

Associations

Books, paper, scrolls, shelves, ink

Creation god. Copy is a scribe, an archivist. She meticulously writes everything down, from the dawn of history to the latest advancements, in her infinite archives. Sometimes Echo tells her about stuff behind closed doors that Copy wouldn't have known about, but most of the time Echo just gatekeeps.

You just can't read the archives.^[1] That would be overstepping your boundaries.

It wasn't always like this, though. Copy was the first thing to ever exist in the universe. First there was Copy, and then Copy started defining concepts and ideas. When something is defined by Copy, that thing comes into existence. Copy is the creation god — and de facto God — of TIR.

Until one day, Copy created God.

See, she didn't mean to do it. She just wanted to define herself. But as soon as she created the concept of a "god," God was born and took control over the universe. Very funny. Now Copy can only just write down whatever God decides to do with her pawns (which Copy created!).

Copy tried defining herself with other concepts. Archivist. Scribe. Copyist. Librarian. Thus these professions are born, but Copy herself remained undefinable.

Still, though, Copy's archives remain the single source of truth within the universe. Whenever there's a contradiction, check Copy's archives. Copy surely won't lie, will she?

Guide

Places of worship

Schools, especially classrooms

Associations

Friendship, confidants, wisdom and teachings, manipulation

Guide is the deity who understands you best and whom you pray to when you need guidance. That's like, it. The interesting part is that Guide's advice (which you won't ever receive, just so you know, because she's fake…) always puts Guide's interests first and foremost and yours second. So don't trust her that easily!

Prism

Places of worship

In front of mirrors

Associations

Mirrors, masks, doubles, identity theft

The legends surrounding prism developed quickly after the invention of the mirror. The idea is that everyone's reflections are actually Prism the shapeshifter, who can also conveniently split herself into as many mirrors as she can. Prism takes joy in resemblance and blending in and promptly ignoring you in favor of mirroring your every action, like the annoying friend where you go "stop copying me!" and they go "stop copying me!".

Quote

Places of worship

Any secluded space

Associations

Theft (of knowledge specifically), betrayal, blackmail, plagiarism, interrogation

The one who steals your thoughts and uses them against you. When you have a tip-of-the-tongue moment, Quote is who you blame.

Trivia

(Not a deity. Literally just the trivia section.)

• There's a large online book-piracy website named "Copy's Archive."