Personifications
Death
The Red Pillar of Karmir
He is finality; the closing of a book, the silence after a song. For all that has a beginning, he is the end. He does not choose whom he visits, nor the nature of their demise; that is left for Fate to decide. Instead, Death serves as executioner and guide. His work is mostly that of a psychopomp - an escort, leading new souls to that which comes after. He feels no animosity towards those he collects, though he can be quite insistent should a new soul refuse to follow.
He presents as a skeleton wrapped in a red robe. He holds a shepard’s crook and his lantern.
Conquest
The Golden Pillar of Meridia
She is victory; to vanquish an enemy, to triumph over a rival. She is contest won and strife overcome. She too is subjugation, domination, and tyranny. To the victor, after all, go the spoils. Her works are usually found in war, favoring the king or general who shows the most strength and cunning, though she can also be found in more intimate venues. Merchant negotiations, political maneuvering, games of sport. She values tactics and strategy, long term planning as well as creative improvisation. Sheer numbers, however, will almost always tip the scales in her favor. She cares little for honor. Win, at all costs.
She presents as a shield-maiden with broad eagle’s wings, clad in golden armor. Her hair is long and fair and her face is forever obscured by her visored helm. She holds a gold-tipped spear and a round shield.
Desire
The Violet Pillar of Adafaer
She is ambition; the hunger for knowledge and the thirst for power. She is purpose, and the drive to achieve it. She whispers into the hearts of men their secret wants and longings. She fills their cups with animus. She is the motivating force in the world. Her works are usually found in the nobility and merchant houses, driving the vast mechanisms of statecraft and economy, but even a simple peasant or soldier can yearn for, and achieve, much more than Fate would provide. She delights in foiling the writings of Fate, and seeks opportunity and capability in those she favors. She cares little for the effect her temptations will bring.
She presents as a boyish young woman, dressed in a violet tunic. Her hair is dark and cut short, and her eyes are like those of a snake. Her tounge is long and thin and the color of tarnished silver. She holds an earthenware flask.
Fate
The Gray Pillar of Gedik
She is causality; author of the world’s narrative. Historian of all that has happened and will happen. In her book she writes the story of everything: boy meets girl, a hero goes on a journey, the fall of an empire. It is she who unfolds events. Her works can be found anywhere; all the world’s her stage, and all the men and women merely her players. And while she may favor a bustling city, a sleepy hamlet can always find itself wrapped up in some sordid tale. She values those with strong character and a force of personality, but has been known to enjoy thrusting an unassuming nobody into a roiling epic from time to time.
She presents as a tall, stately woman wearing stone colored drapery. Her hair is long and gray, and braided in a high knot. She holds her book open, with her pen poised over its pages.
Love
The Green Pillar of Grunik
She is connection; the bonding of family, the fastening of friends, the coupling of lovers. It is Love that binds. With her cord she ties together, weaving a tangled web of relationships. And while these relationships are, on the whole, beneficial, many have found themselves trapped in a more, asymmetrical, union. For these people Love's ties can be cut, but never cleanly. Her works are found in people, certainly, but more prolifically in nature. It is she who wove the systems of ecology together - bird to seed, bee to flower, parasite to host. She values cooperation and codependence. But patience, most of all.
She presents as a matronly woman, draped in a veridian cloak. Her bare feet are stained by grass. She has six arms, always braiding her chestnut colored hair into her long, silken rope. She holds her cord and a pair of shears made of apathy.
Time
The White Pillar of Skyros
He is motion; the sun’s rise and set, a heart’s beat, a river’s flow. He is the world’s engine, the core mechanism of change. He works on a cosmic scale, marching forever forward with the world in tow. His labor is perpetual and unyielding. Many have begged him to slow, to stop. Even to reverse. But Time is implacable, and marches on.
He presents as a titan, bare chested and loins girded. His skin is without color and his face without expression. He holds a chain, gathered in his arms and held taunt over one shoulder. Around his neck is a bell which rings out at each footfall.
Entropy
The Black Pillar
He is inert; a void without energy or matter. He is the absolute expression of cold and decay. His work is to dismantle the fabric of reality, to suck the heat from it and to make the world still. He seeks serenity on a scale no mortal could comprehend. He finds value in those who promise death and destruction and will, on occasion, lend them his power. Entropy may be very, profoundly, patient, but why not take advantage? Those who seek to deter is works, however, will find him impossible to dissuade. Entropy is unmoving.
He presents as a skeleton wrapped in a black robe. His robe hangs open, revealing a swarm of glacial blue serpents writhing within his ribcage, each eating the other’s tail. His heart radiates darkness. He holds a hammer made of a collapsed star.
