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The Theoi and Their Mantles

The nine Theoi were the shard-god Primarchs of Pelithos. By the end of the Time Storm, they had ceased to exist, and little is known about them or deeds.
- Their names are not remembered, so they are known only by their titles.
- They are generally believed to have sacrificed themselves to contain the chaos of the Time Storm and the attempted escape of the titans.
Each Theos shattered into three parts, referred to as Mantles, each a combination of the god's divine focus and their soul.

The Builder

God of Form. Traditionally represented as an older, muscular man with a crooked leg. He was the craftsman and architect of the gods. Serious, perfectionist, curious and creative, sometimes even a little playful in his works.
Mantles: The Key, The Hammer, The Clay

The Mariner

God of Life. Represented as a muscular, bearded man in his prime, boisterous and passionate, fond of revels. He had a fiery temper, but was abundantly generous and forgiving when his ire was spent. Always roaming the seas in his ship.
Mantles: The Trident, The Cornucopia, The Caduceus

The Weaver

Goddess of Destiny. Depicted as a striking, older woman with the bearing of a matriarch. Regal and farsighted, she guided her charges with a stern hand.
Mantles: The Loom, The Owl, The Pyxis

The Keeper

(death, man)

Mantles: The Oboloi, The Sickle, The Amphora

The Sentinel

(day, woman)

Mantles: The Aegis, The Wreath, The Beacon

The Reaver

God of Night. Depicted as a handsome and athletic man, still a bit youthful, with a cruel smile and cold eyes.
Mantles: The Helm, The Viper, The Spear

The Huntress

(summer, woman)

Mantles: The Bow, The Horn, The Hound

The Dancer

God of Pattern. Depicted as a youthful, androgynous figure, lithe and athletic.
Mantles: The Scroll, The Lyre, The White Tree

The Witch

(winter, woman) - white witch vibe

Mantles: The Jewel, The Wand, The Shroud

The Imitheoi

An imitheos (demigod) is a mortal bonded to one of the Mantles and able to wield its power.
- Imitheoi are also know as Bearers (e.g. Trident-Bearer, Bearer of the Hound, etc).
- The means of bonding varies among the Mantles, often taking the form of specific rituals or contests. The Mantles contain not only the divine power, but fragments of the original gods' souls. They are not conscious, intelligent artifacts, but the personality, attitudes, goals, dislikes and interests of the god uniquely color each Mantle's nature.
- Mantles move on upon the death of their bearer, seeking a new one according to their preference. Some Mantles may reject and leave a bearer who falls too far out of alignment with it, and some can also be usurped from a current bearer.
Imitheoi are not as powerful as Primarchs.
- Despite representing a third of the original divine focus, a Mantle comes closer to wielding a quarter of its power.
- To wield the full power of a Mantle requires both personal practice by the bearer, but also their attunement with the "personality" and nature of the Mantle. Many bearers never truly master their Mantle.
The struggles and machinations of the imitheoi some of the main movers of events on Pelithos, collectively called the Theagonas (contest of gods).

Thrones

The Apparatus has nine "slots" for the expected nine gods, termed Thrones. Imitheoi can, by various metaphysical maneuverings, attach themselves to these slots, greatly amplifying their power.
- These (up to) nine Imitheoi are referred to as Enthroned (e.g. the Aegis Enthroned, the Trident Enthroned).
- If each Mantle holds a quarter of a Primarch's full power; the remaining quarter residing in the Throne, to be wielded by its occupant. Enthroned imitheoi have much greater capacity for large-scale and long-lasting works; the creation of new beings or objects of power, kingdom-spanning enchantments, etc.
The Apparatus "wants" one imitheos Enthroned from each Domain, but it's possible to overcome this.
- The Enthronement of imitheoi from the same domain is less stable, so they often come into conflict, trying to dethrone one another to secure their own position.
- Side-effects in the Apparatus result from the lack of an Enthroned domain. The domain's power may become weak, surge out of control, or fluctuate erratically. The other imitheoi and servitors can work to counterbalance this, but it also pushes them to take sides in dethroning a surplus bearer.

Heraldry

The power a Primarch has to invest in heralds and exarchs is more fungible for the imitheoi.
- Some Mantles distribute this power according to their own designs, but many bearers can bestow greater or lesser amounts of power upon their followers, creating sacred bands or fellowships called synods.
- Even when the Mantle permits the bearer to distribute its power to followers, the imitheos often has to learn the "divine engineering" necessary to bestow it as they intend, and the same rules that govern the Mantle successor and what it seeks in a bearer can color who is able to attune to its power, or gain its favor.

An imitheoi sometimes inherits the synod of their predecessor, or its dies out soon after its creator, leaving them a fresh canvas to work on. Some synods persist apart from the current Mantle-Bearer, conveying their now-fixed pool of foci to new members. Some war with a new imitheos, who may want to redistribute power to his own loyalists, or the synod may feel one of their own should now bear the Mantle.
- Like all heralds, divine foci bestowed cannot be reclaimed without the acquiescence or death of the bearer.

Without reliable access to stable, widespread organizations of heralds, "folk heraldry" fills the gaps for ordinary Pelithines.
- Many people seek local servitors for their aid, resulting in a wildly varying set of arrangements ranging from harmony to extortion to bizarre ritual demands.
- "Performances" of a domain (festivals, feasts, contests, or other public ceremonies) also offer a crude means of amplifying the domain in the participants. A feast and orgy could boost Life, and a brutal series of contests could boost Night prior to a battle.

Servitors

Given the cosmological disarray of Pelithos, and the unreliable attentions of the imithoi in addressing it, the Apparatus dispatches many, many servitors to the realm.
These servitors often stay for much longer than in other realms, lingering long enough to develop independence and personality. This gives Pelithos a very animistic host of divine beings, great and small.
Servitors, especially powerful ones, often do not quickly bow to the authority of imitheoi, especially weak or untested ones.
Many powerful servitors have become patron "gods" of regions, natural features, cities, or organizations.

Temenoi

A temenos is the Pelethine term for a Forgeheart, one of the regional loci of Form across the realm.
From them, one can exercise power over a wider area and achieve deeper workings.
Most temenoi have been claimed as the territory of servitors. Some are claimed instead by long-standing heraldic cults.
- They may attract ordinary mortals seeking heraldic aid, becoming holy sites, or site of pilgrimage.
- Imitheoi often seek them out when they need to push their power beyond its normal limits, and some establish a seat of power at a temenos.

The Mantles

Builder (Form)

The Key

Appearance & Nature
- a sceptre-like rod of truemetal, studded with geometric forms.
Notable Powers
- (modulates the flow of fury energies; throw lightning bolts)
- The Key oversaw the transduction of free and integral reality into one another. The titancults have long sought to claim it, believing it is the key to opening the Vaults and perhaps even deintegrating the cosmos. Other imitheoi have gone out of their way to protect the Key and keep it from their hands.
- The Key can draw on the power of Fury, even though it can no longer transduce it. The bearer is a font of fury magic, should they learn to control it, and they can give savants the initial charge of power that allows them to begin performing it.
- The bearer is said to be able to draw almost limitless Fury power, but this risks causing extensive environmental fury-corruption and the violent loss of the Key.
Rules of Succession
- The bearer's bond to the Key weakens as the level of fury power around them rises (weather, charon, furyborn, spells, etc). Unlike many Mantles, this doesn't weaken their power at all, but if it get weak enough the Key can be physically seized and attuned to its new holder with a modest exercise of fury magic.
- In truly drastic concentrations of fury power (such as drawing on the Key's full power, or if the bearer dies while channeling a great deal), the Key may explosively sever its bond (and the nearby surroundings and bystanders) and be hurled away.

The bearer can always pass the Key to a chosen successor by simply drawing enough power to weaken their bond, and handing it over.

Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods
- foci are granted, but they effectively make you a special kind of fury sorcerer or champion, not a herald

The Hammer

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Clay

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Mariner (Life)

The Trident

(controls water, seas, rivers, rain; created the spring of Pyrgos)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Cornucopia

(birth, fertility, growth)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Appearance: the yard-long spiraling horn of a bestial titan slain by the Immortals in the Lost Age, chased and banded with truemetal. Duty (Spring): overseer of the Soul Springs, ensuring that the genius loci of the world remain nourished by their power. Notable Powers The Cornucopia can pour forth fresh water, salt, grain, produce, fruits, seeds, herbs, and flowers without end. The bearer can call upon the genius loci to raise springs, gently shift the course of rivers, mold the landscape, and break stones down into mud and soil. A common minor Boon created by the Cornucopia are a host of magical seeds. These can swiftly grow into a walking tree-guardian, a wall of thorns, or potent alchemical and medicinal herbs. The Cornucopia is one of the most widely revered of the imitheoi, carrying great influence among the common people. Her offerings come thick and fast, giving her a great deal of charon to wield. Rules of Succession The bearer builds bond by tending and attuning to the Soul Springs of the various genius loci across Pelithos. Their collective "consent" sustains her bond. If a Spring is neglected, it turns against her, but a bearer who has the support of most of them can endure some discontent. If enough cease to support her, or she dies, the Cornucopia moves on to seek someone with a strong association with fertility (often a cultivator of bountiful lands, or a parent of many children). In times when free travel across Pelithos is not possible (the Fall, the Acrolonian Invasion), the Cornucopia often passes rapidly through many hands. The Consort also gains bond from tending the Soul Springs, and the bearer can usually pass the Cornucopia to them, should they wish.

The Caduceus

(healing, medicine)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Weaver (Destiny)

The Loom

(fate, beginnings?, order time and space)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
- governed by the Prophecies of Calandra; fulfilling the ones relating to the Loom builds affinity with the Loom; build enough and it will come to you.
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Owl

(guidance, strategy, farsight, wisdom, travel)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Pyxis

(doom, disruption, breadkdown of space and time) ???the bearer is turning the box into a die to become chance (carved runes on the faces of the box, it can grow and shrink)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Keeper (Death)

The Oboloi

(ruler of the underworld, crucible, lead coins, gravity)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Appearance: a pair of truemetal coins with a dull sheen; they seem heavier than they should be. They are stamped with the sign of the Lord of Entropy on one side and the asphodel flower on the reverse. Duty (Autumn): overseer of the Soul Forge, they smelt the spirits of the dead to prevent them from falling prey to the Strange and renewing the pool of spirit to fuel life. Notable Powers While the bearer lies inert, their spirit can project swiftly through the world. They can inhabit any corpse, or exert their power to shape powerful vessels to inhabit. Rules of Succession To become bearer, one need only place the coins upon their eyes. They falls lifeless, imperishable but inert. Only an act of mortal volition can remove the coins, leading to the old bearer's death. To guard against this, bearers have traditionally built vast and secret tombs to house their bodies, filled with traps, guardians, and mazes. There is no other way to permanently slay the already dead bearer. If the coins are abandoned after being removed from the old bearer, they will seek a new one according to unknown criteria.

The Sickle

(dying, entropy, killing)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Appearance: braided bands of truemetal form the handle and fuse together to form the crescent of the blade, embossed with Supernal glyphs. Duty (Autumn): troubleshooter of Autumn, the adjuster of death's pull on the living, ensuring the necessary level of mortality in the world. Notable Powers It has the power to cut and kill anything. The bearer can cut herself, shedding blood that spreads plague. A person ritually marked with that blood is under a geas; if they do not abide by the Sickle's demand, death comes for them. Rules of Succession There is only one bearer of the Sickle. When the Weaver died, two fragments of her soul adhered to the Mantle. These fragments are endlessly reborn as mortals, one becoming the bearer of the Sickle until she is slain by the other, who then claims the Mantle. The killing is often not even intended; the world conspires against the current bearer when their other half is near. The slain half immediately passes into a newborn vessel, and the cycle continues. Some bearers struggle against their own succession (perhaps slaying their other half, who simply reincarnates again), while others submit and pass on the Sickle. The identity of the mortal half is never obvious. The soul can be born anywhere on Pelithos, to any race, and it has no special insight into its own identity. Some have believed misleading prophecies or omens, and perished attempting to claim the Sickle. There is no certainty to be had, save in success. If the current bearer is slain by something else, they will reincarnate, and the Sickle will find its way to one of the two halves.

The Amphora

(psychopomp, gathering of waters, holds the memories/experiences of the dead; in vino veritas; poet speaks the stories of the dead? drink to forget / river lethe? maenads (lose the drinking contest and become a maenad, dionysus and thanatos)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
- drinking contest; spiritual strength helps you resist the power, but you can also let it out by expressing the stories / memories / laments of the dead in poem and song; thus the better poet can endure far longer. losers are overwhelmed, becoming maenads, awash in other people's memories, flitting madly through identities
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods
- the Maenads are the Bearer's entourage, as they heed his authority (imperfectly). they are powerful heralds, though hard to organize for long. sometimes a powerful maenad will split off, perhaps taking some others in tow, doing their own thing.
- the Bearer can also make heralds in a controlled fashion, offering measures of drink and training the herald's will and poetic craft; unless this is done in a very flawed way or to a flawed candidate, there's little risk of becoming a maenad.

Sentinel (Day)

The Aegis

(protection, courage, hope)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Wreath

(charismatic leadership, harmony)

Appearance & Nature
- A set of truemetal stems woven into a crown, from which living, golden laurel leaves sprout, never withering or fading.
Notable Powers
- The bearer is supernaturally charismatic, a natural leader with an aura of majesty about them (often manifesting as a literal nimbus of light), but the Wreath does not grant wisdom. The rule of the imitheos is often tumultuous, his subjects bound together by the cult of personality rather than law and common tradition.
- The bearer can shed a halo of light, potentially visible for miles, and all within its light can hear his words.
Rules of Succession
- The bearer must always lead a group (merchant prince, king, first speaker, general, headmaster, etc) by the member's acclaim. The larger and more devoted the group is to the bearer, the stronger their hold. If the group dissolves or repudiates the bearer as its leader, the Wreath moves on. Sometimes the Wreath will desert its bearer when their bond is shaky, but not broken, if it comes in contact with the strong candidate.
If the group chooses a wreath herald as their leader (formally or informally), the Wreath moves to them. This can cause the Consort to become the bearer after the previous bearer's death, if they are chosen as successor. Otherwise if the bearer dies, the Wreath moves on to find a candidate to its liking.
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Duty (Day): overseer of the sun. In the Dawn Age, Lucidus of Acrolon does most of this, with aid from the Wreath as needed. Notable Powers The bearer can cast the Judge's legendary Bolts of the Sun, blasting and burning those he smites.

The Beacon

(clear sight, revelation, truth, light)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Reaver (Night)

The Helm

(tyrany, domination, fear)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Viper

(treachery, discord, hate)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Spear

(mercilessness)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Huntress (Summer)

The Bow

(speed, movement)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Horn

(sound, call to passion)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Hound

(swift, hungry, and howls)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Dancer (Pattern)

The Scroll

(language, law, commerce) Appearance: a great scroll of Supernal script, written in ebon-black ink upon vellum from an unknown beast from the Lost Age, wound on rods of truemetal, and housed in a case of dark wood bound in truemetal. Duty (Mind): overseer of the Codex, gathering Truth extracted from the spirits of the dead. In the Dawn Age, it is no longer clear whether this task is relevant, but servitors continue the work, and the bearer does as well, just in case. Notable Powers The bearer of the Edicts can lay geases and taboos upon others. They can also personally bear witness to an oath or contract, placing the power of the Edicts behind it. If it is broken, the oathbreaker will suffer retribution. Rules of Succession The bond strengthens as one behaves in a generally upright and virtuous manner (as the Judge would have seen it). It weakens, often significantly, if he tells lies (or otherwise promotes what he knows to be false, even for valid reasons), breaks his word of honor, or neglects duties freely accepted. If the bond grows too weak, or the bearer dies, the Edicts move on, seeking a candidate of virtue, ideally one in a position to exercise judgment or fulfill important duties. It will often look close at hand, in case the former bearer's weakness was coupled by another's display of righteousness.

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Lyre

(music, art, stories)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods
- The Lyre can only distribute nine powerful foci, each with a fixed domain (music, dance, visual art, theater, games, "social" (ceremony, fashion, etiquette, hospitality, food), comedy, tragedy, history/non-fiction). Each of these nine can distribute more power to lesser heralds.

The White Tree

(now a vestige)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Rules of Succession
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

Witch (Winter)

Rules of Succession
- The Mantles of the Witch remain linked in a unique manner, which governs their collective succession and creates the triumvirate known as the Maiden, Mother, and Crone.
- Instead of dying like the rest of the Theoi, the being who had been the Witch became mortal and the initial bearer of the Wand. The Jewel and Shroud had no bearers, and seemingly could not be claimed.
- The Witch discovered that only one of her daughters could claim the Jewel.
  - It's unclear if a male child could claim the Jewel, but it has never been known to have happened.
- Becoming a mother herself set the stage for a Jewel-bearing daughter to usurp her Mother, claiming the Wand and passing the Jewel to her offspring, the new Maiden. The displaced mother became the Crone, bearer of the Shroud. The former Crone passed on into death.

The Jewel

(greed)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods
- The Jewel can only grant foci to those with some blood connection to any bearer of the Witch's Mantles, past or present. Descendants of the current Wand (thus siblings or nieces/nephews of the current Jewel) wield power with the greatest facility, thus acting as the most effective agents, but having a Jewel focus make it easier for them to usurp the Jewel itself.

The Wand

(ice, cold; can't fully inherit until you have a daughter of your own)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods

The Shroud

(stillness, heat death, grief, sorrow, regret, the wisdom and insight of regret)

Appearance & Nature
Notable Powers
Famous Bearers
Heraldry & Famous Synods
- The heralds of the Shroud are all oracles and historians, tapping into the deep, dark well of the Crone's memory. Most feel the weight of time and regret, and have little agency themselves (though there are exceptions). They are created at the Wand's behest for petitioners who desire an oracle be made to serve them, created from a subject who must be at least marginally willing, but seldom is more than that.