a further discourse on the celestial lotus.

((Not so bad yet, right? And now you're going to hate me.))

The First Petal: the Dragon of Royalty
The First is both difficult and easy to understand. Although the dragon has no stated principles, it favors those who are good leaders. In this way, the unspoken principles of the First are diverse and in some cases very different.

It's important to note that unlike the other Lotuses, the Lotus of the First has no extra powers gained upon entry to the office bar one. As the Emperor, he is in a position to command all other Lotuses and the entirety of Atlantis, which balances out the lack of physical and magical power.

The one power that the Emperors are given is the ability to recognize and know all of the other Lotuses, no matter whether they know it or not. They also can usually identify future Lotuses with a bit of thinking.

Many emperors also have powerful telekinetic powers, and as the title normally stays within the bloodline, it's a genetic thing.

I don't think there's much else to cover. Good leaders are favored by the First, and that's about it. Powers granted often involve telekinesis.

Oh, as a note, it is possible for the Emperor to be assassinated. It's just really dang hard, and won't be allowed for anything besides a major plot point.

The Second Petal: the Dragon of Exploration
If you're looking for your traditional 'ranger' character or god of nature, the Second is what you're going for.

Beastmasters have a very intimate connection to nature. They'd be the people who always found that animals were more friendly than humans, and as such, have gained the favor of the Second. This allows them to be in-tune with the feelings of animals (not humans) around them, especially those close to them. Mistlings are a bit of grey area--if they've managed to tame a Mistling they'd be able to sense the full spectrum of emotions, but from most Mistlings they'd just be able to see anger and hatred.

Students of the Second also have an intrinsic sense of direction and survival, and will be able to survive on their own by following their instincts. They have to be able to trust their gut feeling, and as such many may act instinctively in social situations as well.

Their criteria are fairly easy to understand. Mainly, the Second wants its followers to explore their land, but at the same time respect the earth for what it is. Curiosity is also a very important factor, as it's what drives them to try and understand new beasts and discover new places.

The Third Petal: the Dragon of Creation
The Third isn't so much about literally creating humans and the races of the world as it is about forging new works of art and/or battle. The patron of blacksmiths everywhere, the powers bestowed by the Third mainly involve the ability to craft magic-imbued weapons and goods of higher quality, but they also involve a bit of control over fire (which overlaps with the powers of the Sixth).

The criteria of the Third is fairly easy to understand. The first and third principles are fairly self-explanatory.

The second principle requires a bit more talking about. It not only applies to crafting, but more to life in general. For example, some Thirds may be considered antisocial, but instead they simply seek to have a few very close friends than many less familiar ones.

The Fourth Petal: the Dragon of Secrets
The Fourth. Patron of shadows, poison, and the underground.

The Dragon of Secrets is somewhat harder to understand than the other dragons we've covered... how to explain the Fourth.

The Fourth is all about silence and shadows. To be unseen, one must be completely shrouded in an absence of light. To do this, you must literally be one with the shadows.

That's the principle of the fourth, anyway. Quietness and swiftness are two important aspects of shadows, and thus are the first two principles the god teaches. The third principle is, well... being the shadows.

People who seek secrets, such as secret agents and assassins, worship the Fourth.

Powers granted by the Fourth have a tendency to involve blending in with the shadows.

Followers of the Fourth have a tendency to be oriented more towards observing and interfering only occasionally than most. They have a reputation for troublemakers due to the fact that they'll often run heists to gain practice with blending into the shadows.

The Fifth Petal: the Dragon of Vindication
Paladins, healers, and your classic "knights" are all followers of the Dragon of Vindication.

Perhaps the polar opposite of the Fourth, followers of the Fifth will seek to be merciful yet just, and will sometimes be honorable to a fault. It takes one push to turn zeal into bloodlust, and it's happened before. However, many followers of the Fifth don't realize their zeal is turning less and less merciful until it's too late.

Still, the Fifth has the power of healing, which is quite possibly one of the most important services in Atlantis. Using this ability, followers of the Fifth can save lives.

The principles of the Fifth are fairly self-explanatory, and are best taken literally. This often leads to a straightforwardness in the followers of the Fifth.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that it's important to remember that as I try to make Eventide realistic in relation to human nature and the nature of religion, no person can be perfect, and thus no Petal doesn't have a dark side. The Fifth may be brighter than most, but everything has darkness.

After all, you can't have shadows without light.

The Sxith Petal: the Dragon of War
The followers of the Sixth are all about fighting. They're the barbarians and warriors who enjoy brawling all the time. To them, nothing's better than the rush of battle and the metallic scent of blood.

Not exactly the dragon for the squeamish.

Besides being famous for their bloodlust, followers of the Sixth are very oriented around their combat skills. Oftentimes, they'll get a bit of an inflated ego, or are overeager to jump into fights.

All of the Sixth's principles are fairly straightforward. The dragon would prefer that its followers spend more time killing and less time getting philosophical about its commands.

The powers granted by the Sixth have a tendency to revolve around increasing their combat performance--heightened strength, being able to call your weapon to your hand, etc. Those who are especially favored by the dragon can call upon the Sixth to rim their blades in fire.

The Seventh Petal: the Dragon of Invention
(Just a note: the Seventh was originally going to be the Dragon of Commerce, but I decided that was a bit boring for this world.)

For the Seventh, all but the last principle are fairly straightforward. Creative solutions, new inventions, and progress are all the Seventh's designs.

The Seventh's third principle, "measure twice, cut once," is a bit of something that applies to the entirety of life for the Sevenths. So although the Dragon of Invention's followers have a tendency to be crazy, they also know to double check their inventions before sending them to the races and to ensure that they're certain of their path in life before making a decision.

The Seventh grants powers that allow its followers to control metals in order to make creating inventions easier.

The Eighth Petal: the Dragon of Illusion
The Eighth is harder to understand than most of the dragons.

The basis is that the Eighth is all about deception. It's important to note, however, that the Eighth's powers are very specialized: they're all about manipulating light. Not to heal, but instead to create illusions to deceive and trick. However, you've got to have a showman's front--if the audience can figure out the magic trick, you're done for.

In this way, may followers of the Eighth work to understand the mind--but that doesn't mean that they can necessarily manipulate the mind itself. However, knowing where people do and don't look can certainly be useful to tricksters.

Mesmers also seek to be able to switch between seen and unseen with perfect ease. To go from the spotlight to the shadows at the drop of a dime is a valuable but hard skill.

The Eighth also commands that an illusion be maintained at all times. This is where secret agents (although, they'd be more political saboteurs than shadow-cloaked ninjas) excel and honor the Eighth. It takes many students of the Dragon of Illusion a while to realize fully what this means. Basically, you must continuously be separate from others, using your web of contacts to pull the strings and vanish, leaving unseen yet with the ripples of your actions echoing throughout the world.

The Ninth Petal: the Dragon of Death
The Ninth probably has the hardest principles to understand and put into words.

As the god of Death, it's meant to be a little confusing and alien. Death is the great unknown, after all. It's cold, distant, and ever-present, and that's what the students of the Ninth seek to embody.

Many advanced followers of the Dragon of Death realize that death is inevitable. They understand that by being on the side of Death, you will always win. As such, many cease to care about competitions and their loved ones, knowing that in the end we're all destined for the same place.

And, of course, we can't have a discussion about death without having a discussion about the afterlife.

The afterlife is the world of the stars--a celestial land with a realm for followers of each Lotus. The followers of the Ninth are the only ones with the capability to move both between the interrealm stellar matter (which can be traversed by any soul) and any of the Nine realms (which can usually only be entered by followers of that Petal). It is considered a reward to enter these realms, and a punishment to eternally wander the stars.

Knowledge of the afterlife and the nine realms is not common, but neither is it hidden. Many of the Raven Lotuses have had extensive discussions with their followers about it, which in turn have been documented.

Now that we've got that out of the way...

The principles of the Ninth are pretty dang vague. As such, I'll be reviewing each one.

Frigidity is the first principle. It's not very literal, although it does refer sometimes to the cold touch of Death. Mostly, however, it means that followers of the Ninth must be detached and above emotions. They must be cold.

See, the thing is, followers of the Ninth have an important job. They must be able to judge creatures to see which path they will take after death--and to do so, they must be above the creatures... including humans.

The second principle is efficiency. This is the most straightforward of the criteria. The Ninth expects its followers to be efficient, down to the most efficient action possible: killing with a glance. Of course, such powers only come into play for extremely advanced Reapers, and the Grim Reaper herself.

The third principle is by far the hardest.

Balance refers to the balance of someone's personality as well as the balance between frigidity and efficiency. It's a hard concept to put into words, but I'll try.

The Ninth wants its followers to be balanced perfectly between efficiency and frigidity. If you're too cold, you'll be so distant that you'll be inefficient. If you're so efficient that you start giving into rage in order to become even more efficient, you're not cold enough. There's a very careful balance that has to be struck. Very advanced followers of the Ninth can understand how to modify the balance inside themselves to suit their needs.

When a person who has blessed with the secrets of Death (read: very advanced reaper) kills a sentient creature, they have a moment of clarity in which they can judge a different kind of balance in the being. It's a balance of all different aspects of their personality, and it determines their fate in the afterlife.

Due to the incredible amount of power entrusted to the followers of the Ninth, they're exceptionally rare. Most will only ever be able to control the powers of lightning and acid, but rarely you'll get someone who knows the secrets of Death.


Contents:
1. Introduction & Contents
2. Structure of the Heavens
{3.} Discussion of the Dragons and their Principles
4. Clarifications on the Differences Between Several Similar Deities
5. Duties of a Lotus
6. Common Rituals and Taboos
7. Interactions Between the Followers of Different Stars