https://preview.redd.it/fzrd0sxe9nih1.png?width=1122&format=png&auto=webp&s=f90c2b4ba7b078055103297f03f384a6f50f59d4

I came across this image on Pinterest and the description says it comes from a Facebook group, "Taoism and Taoist Alchemy Study Group."

This idea came to me when I began to delve deeper into the narrative arc of Reality Fracture.

>Jace wants to remake the Multiverse according to his ideal version of how events unfolded.

This implies that we have mirror versions of many characters who, as a rule, are "better" than their base versions. In addition, this narrative arc is also linked to the Plane of Arcavios (Strixhaven), which instinctively made me think of the Planeswalkers most narratively connected to it: Rowan and Will, the Planeswalker siblings native to the plane of Eldraine.

They both arrived in Strixhaven at Kasmina's invitation, and from then on, the narrative compels them to choose the Arts and Elementalism faculty: Prismari. And I understand that for the editors, this makes sense; keeping the characters together avoids having to manage their placement throughout the narrative. It also makes sense for those in charge of set construction; having the two characters of opposing colors in their corresponding faculty is easier to manage. But I can't shake the feeling that this decision has triggered the butterfly effect that leads to all the bad things that happen in Wilds of Eldraine.

>Note: I know that from the beginning, Wizards of the Coast wanted to make Rowan a villain, but I'm considering it entirely from an in-world perspective.

So, during their first year at Strixhaven, even without belonging to any faculty (although they're never seen in the first-year uniform in any of the promotional art), it's already clear that their paths are beginning to diverge. Rowan is seeking to increase her power, while Will intends to better control his magic and understand exactly how his fused magic works. While their time there brings out their potential, it also begins to shape both siblings' perspectives in opposite directions, which reminds me a bit of the case of Ugin and Nicol Bolas.

I don't think I need to explain what happened next. In the Willd of Eldraine story arc, Rowan herself says that what she learned at Strixhaven is that magical problems require magical solutions (which is a euphemism for her view that if you can't fix things, you just have to hit them harder). Meanwhile, Will is more concerned with being a good king and bringing the rest of the plane under his rule in the right way. And it all ends with Rowan betraying her brother to join her aunt, and Will reigning but having lost his sister.

And the most curious thing is that this was the most expected outcome. Strixhaven pushes its students in opposite directions, hoping that internal conflict will develop their potential. But this creates an interesting contrast because throughout the original Strixhaven storyline, it's hinted that the twins are losing their ability to perform magic together due to the imbalance between them.

Now, I'm going to put on my Theorist robes and explain why I think that if the siblings had chosen different faculties, their current situation wouldn't be so bleak.

>Will should have chosen to study at Quandrix, and Rowan should have chosen Lorehold.

The underlying principle behind the Kenrith twins' separation is that their personalities are increasingly radicalizing in opposite directions, which gradually affected their ability to live together and make decisions jointly. Rowan is increasingly drawn to raw power and neglecting its control, while Will, unable to keep up with his sister, decides to focus on controlling his magic. So, with this in mind, we must ask the pertinent questions:

What would have changed if Will had joined Quandrix?

To begin with, Will's goal of analyzing how his own magic and his sister's work would have been much easier from the perspective of this faculty. Furthermore, the magic of students at this faculty tends to become more powerful the more they understand it, which would be an organic way, from a narrative standpoint, for Will to realistically match his sister's firepower.

Regarding the Wilds of Eldraine story arc, his training at Quandrix would grant him access to Gigantification magic ([[Big Play]]), giving him a very strong diplomatic advantage in negotiations with [[Castle Garenbrig]]. I can almost imagine Will with the title of "The Wizard King of Eldraine".

What would have changed if Rowan had joined Lorehold?

I think the real question is, what wouldn't have changed?

I know some may disagree with me on this point, but I believe that with the right development, she had just as much of a chance of joining Lorehold as Will had of joining Quandrix. To begin with, contrary to what it may seem at first glance, Lorehold is not just a history school, it is also a history school Military history, and consequently military tactics, and the Chaos faction would have been an ideal place for Rowan to develop in a more controlled direction (in a somewhat ironic way).

>Note: We will also get an important character from the Chaos faction besides Dean Plargg.

urthermore, a genuine interest on her part is possible given her inclination towards battle in general; it's a leap that seems logical to me. As for her actions during the Wilds of Eldraine arc, her general actions would be the same (except for the ending), but her motivations would be radically different:

• The lightning she would conjure during the battle between Will and Imodane wouldn't be so much impulsive (although it would still be partly so) but rather a display of veiled power by her faction, something she would learn from history classes in Strixhaven.
• Her dream about her parents calling her would not only attract her because of the dream itself, but it would also give her the idea that, with her abilities, she could bring her parents back as spirits.

>Note: Here, she would also be more capable as a general commanding the army her brother has assembled.

• Ultimately, she would accept her aunt's offer not for the sake of power itself, but out of curiosity about the past (a trait acquired during her time at Lorehold) and as a way to investigate how to undo the sleeping spell.
• This would culminate in her meeting with Ruby and Kellan, where it becomes clear that joining her aunt's side is a cover and not a genuine change of allegiance.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately,it's not necessary to separate the two siblings from Prismari College. During their interscholastic project (as happens in [[Dissection Practice]]), they could very well choose Prismari as a way to spend time together.

But even after all that's been written, I know it's unlikely WotC will use this approach because unless Jace recreates the history of each plane individually, Strixhaven is out of the equation since he has Hexhaven to replace it.

>I'd like to analyze the possible creative decisions behind Hexhaven's design, which is quite an interesting topic to explore.

Well, I'll be honest, I didn't think I would hit writer's block at this point 😅

So I decided to be more direct and write exactly what I would expect from Derrick.

First, I would like him to ascend to Sequence 1 White Angel. The fact that we have tracked down where 2 of the 3 Sequence 1 characteristics of the Sun pathway are, is, to me, foreshadowing that Klein has the missing characteristic in his possession and is saving it for Derrick. But on the other hand, I think in this case there is a greater danger that the consciousness of Primordial God Almighty could awaken in him, given the existence of the Symbolism of Inextinguishable Light. Although we already have that risk with Lutique and Viève, who are already Sequence 1.

Second, regarding his character arc, Derrick is already complete. He has already saved his people by helping to get them out of the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and after the events of COI, the hidden danger of the sealed artifact Gift of the Land has also been resolved.

So, tied to that last point, all I have left is to speculate on Derrick's personal motivations.

You might wonder why I put in Chapter 8 that he wants information on the state of the Forsaken Land of the Gods?

Well, because if we put ourselves in his shoes, knowing what he knows and understanding the landscape left after the end of COI, he now has the opportunity to fix the Forsaken Land of the Gods since the presence of the True Creator no longer exists there. A personal mission to finally bring peace to all the souls who lost their lives or their humanity due to the mystical conditions of the Eastern continent (writing this, I realize this could actually be Derrick's motivation for wanting to become a Sequence 1).

Beyond what was said above, I think he will be happy to work more closely with Alger in the Church.

As for his honorific name, it really wouldn't change much if he became a White Angel, since he doesn't heavily rely on using the titles of previous sequences, except for Bard.

Maybe it's better to introduce myself a little first: To be honest, I'm not a Magic player, but something that I love is the setting and the entire background of the Planes: Planes like Theros, Kaldheim, Kamigawa rethink common mythologies of our world but give them a special twist, I really like it.

But it has always seemed to me that there is a lack of great mythology to explore, and being so popular today it seemed strange to me not to see a plane of Chinese mythology in Magic.

Investigating the wiki I found that there is indeed a Plane based on Chinese mythology. Shenmeng, And I immediately started reading what stories this plane could tell... I didn't find anything relevant.

The Plane seems to be an excuse for the existence of Planeswalkers Jiang Yanggu and Mu Yanling.

So I gave myself the task of designing a Plane based on Chinese mythology, but that feels different enough from Shenmeng to be a differentiated plane, so the approach is as follows:

Shenmeng despite having fantastic elements seems to be a place that was more influenced by the Wuxia (Martial Hero) aesthetic, therefore making a plane of Xianxia (Divine Hero) inspiration and what better way to find inspiration than from the setting par excellence of the Wuxias, Murim

Art of Leo-Leonis

• The north is a land of freezing, snowy plains, being protected by the Basalt Turtle
• The east is a vast realm of seas and archipelagos, been protected by the Azure Dragon
• The west is a desolate desert of wasteland and deserts, protected by the White Tiger
• The south is an region filled with miasma and jungles, being home to the Vermilion Bird
• And the center is the most prosperous area, bustling with life and teeming with top-tier masters. With the optional presence of a golden dragon or a Qilin

This is the common layout of terrain in Xianxia novels and I think many would have realized that they are easily comparable to color combinations. But first of all, something that I would also like to include is the separation within the plane. In Chinese novels, reality is usually divided into different Realms, typically there are 3: The mortal realm, the immortal realm and the divine realm. Including this configuration would allow the plane to return to something comparable to the internal cosmology that planes like Theros, Kaldheim or even Alara have.

So, without further ado, here is my proposal:

Jingzhou Plane (Provisional name)

Mortal Realm

	🔴🔵
	The Frozen Mountain Range
⚪⚫	🔴⚪	🔵🟢
Endless Desert	The Great Plain	The Thousand Islands
	⚫🟢
	Southern Wetlands

Endless Desert ⚪⚫

>A rocky and dry wasteland where the law of the strongest prevails.

Most of those who live here are rogue cultivators and bandits seeking to seize the few resources available ⚫. Besides them are also several nomadic tribes who move according to the needs of their herds ⚪. Every so often, a cultivator becomes powerful enough to unite all the rogue cultivators under their command and launches an invasion of the Great Plain ⚪⚫.

The Frozen Mountain Range 🔴🔵

>An icy mountain range with several hot springs and scattered populations.

The few settlements that exist there do so thanks to their proximity to hot springs 🔴. They are generally small villages that subsist economically thanks to their mining activity and sell what they manage to excavate to the Orthodox farming sects 🔵 that are also in the mountain range, and to the kingdoms to the south (⚪🔴).

Southern Wetlands ⚫🟢

>A collection of forests and swamps in a humid (subtropical) climate.

This is where many unorthodox growers like beast channelers ⚫🟢, and diabolical growers ⚫ end up, as the difficult terrain and amount of life in the area make it the ideal environment for their practices. However, they still have to be careful of the demons 🟢 (animals that have begun to cultivate and develop wisdom)

The Great Plain 🔴⚪

>A large plain ideal for human life with the sporadic presence of plateaus.

• In this large central expanse, the 3 Great Empires are currently vying for territory with a low-intensity war: The Da Tian Empire (大天) is the one that possesses the largest expanse of land and survives thanks to the association of sects ⚪🔴 that have a mutual defense pact with the imperial family, this situation has led them to manage several regions that are de facto semi-independent and serve as a place to find talents.
• The Jin Tian Empire (金天) is managed by the Jin Tian Sect ⚪ and is the second largest in terms of territory. Unlike the other two empires, its entire population is practically dedicated to cultivation, which means that, on average, its inhabitants are healthier than ordinary mortals. However, due to a lack of talent among most, they are actually mediocre cultivators. Their settlements are typically built atop plateaus, which, according to their sect's doctrine, are "The Foundations that Support Heaven."
• The smallest of the three empires, Xie Tian (斜天) 🔴, prohibits cultivation sects, with only the royal family and certain members of the military allowed to cultivate. However, they should not be underestimated, as their current emperor is the most powerful cultivator in the entire mortal realm, one step away from achieving immortality. He is only stopped by the seven sect leaders of the Da Tian empire and the five elders of the Jin Tian sect working together.

The Thousand Islands 🔵🟢

>An archipelago with islands of varying sizes. The ideal place to obtain rare alchemy materials.

• As you travel east through this first layer of the Plane, you'll find more water, with streams becoming rivers that flow into the Eastern Sea. The reason this region is called The Thousand Islands is because it never fully opens into an open sea. There may be areas with a lower density of islands, but there will always be another island visible from any vantage point. Some islands are inhabited by the Heavenfolk 🔵🟢, who are said to be descendants of ancient Immortals trapped on the mortal plane. Their peculiarity is that, unlike the humans of this plane, they possess a unique cultivation system which they begin to practice instinctively.
• In addition to them, the seabed is dominated by sea demons 🔵 who are usually very protective of their territory, making traveling by boat very dangerous.
• And some islands may contain plant demons which, unlike other types of demons that tend to assume a humanoid form as they progress in their cultivation, manifest dragon-like characteristics as they advance 🟢.

Imortal Realm

	🔵🟢
	Celestial Grove
🔴⚪	⚪⚫	⚫🟢
Unchanging Lands	Inmortal Kindom	Spirit Forest
	🔴🔵
	Dual Sea

Inmortal Kindom ⚪⚫

>It is a hyper-dense, cube-shaped megacity.

This is where most human cultivators who manage to ascend to immortality end up. It is a compulsive place where the greatest heroes ⚪ and the most vile villains ⚫ are on every corner.

Dual Sea 🔴🔵

>A sea that constantly changes between liquid (water) and solid (rock).

The sea constantly changes its morphology and is a very dangerous place, as the mana currents in the region destabilize the farming bases, causing several immortals to die unexpectedly like mere mortals. The reason it is so attractive is due to the formation of cubic rocks that appear on the surface of solid areas. These rocks are valuable for crafting immortal weapons capable of changing shape and size.

Spirit Forest ⚫🟢

>A forest where spirits roam freely and alter the environment.

Due to the high concentration of ⚫ and 🟢 mana, both animal and human spirits frequently appear in this section of the plane. This has changed the ecology of the place, causing what these spirits interact with to mutate to become hybrids of the original being or object and the spirit that affected it, thus resulting in animals as varied as ferrets-tiger, spider-snakes, etc. those with a mana core can resist this conversion.

Unchanging Lands 🔴⚪

>A vast, incredibly solid rocky expanse with many caves and tunnels beneath the surface.
Note: the entire surface has a metallic sheen

Celestial Grove 🔵🟢

>A grove north of the Immortal Realm of the plane. Consisting entirely of a single cloned tree.

>"When the first immortal, the balancer of Heaven 🔵 and Earth 🟢 ascended to the Immortal Realm, he found a vast expanse of Wastelands, no matter how much he traveled, he did not find a different landscape. After a long time wandering, he decided that the right thing to do was to return to the world everything that had been given to him, so he returned to the origin and adopted his original form of a tree and decided to plant himself in the place. With the passage of time, a whole new world was born. tree that changed the strange mana of the place giving way to a place where green and blue mana were abundant, as a chain reaction the other colors of mana appeared in the rest of the Immortal Realm, giving way to the creation of the other regions."

Divine Realm

	🔵⚫
	Mirroded Heaven
⚫🔴	⚪🔵	🟢⚪
13 Pits of Asuras	9 Heavenly Continent's.	Beast Domain
	🔴🟢
	Limitless Mountains

9 Heavenly Continent's. ⚪🔵

>Nine paradisiacal continents suspended in the middle of the DAO ocean.

The nine continents are ruled by their own God-King, who manages everything according to the ideals embodied by his divine position (generally aligned with the virtues of mana ⚪ and 🔵). They are all under the command of the God-Emperor of this domain, the Platinum Qilin, whom they respect and admire as a Master.

Mirroded Heaven 🔵⚫

>A place where heaven is earth and earth is heaven.

These are the domains of the God-Emperor Black Iron Turtle. Here, the rules of the plane can be violated and subverted. The reason for this is that the God-Emperor himself reflects and inverts the rules throughout the territory, making it the ideal place for eloquent Devils and theoretical experimenters 🔵 with cultivation methods to settle.

Note: There are no natural Devils on this plane; all are ⚫ mana cultivators who have attained divinity.

13 Pits of Asuras ⚫🔴

>Thirteen wells where you can see the most inhospitable and deadly weather conditions.

The pits are extremely violent places where Devils ⚫ and Asuras 🔴 compete for supremacy. But everyone without exception fears Tiger Carnesi, the God-Emperor of this territory.

Limitless Mountains 🔴🟢

>A group of almost vertical-looking mountains from which grow trees with red foliage.

The vertical mountains are home to the Phoenix Empress (🔴) and her companion Parasol Tree (🟢), who jointly rule the territory. Although, in reality, it is their followers and descendants who administer everything in their name.

Beast Domain 🟢⚪

>The birthplace of most of the divine beasts, its trees have golden bark and grow to be over a 120 meter long.

It is said to be the oldest place on the plane and the origin of life within it. Here dwell the Divine Beasts ⚪, beings with the form of mythological animals native to the divine realm. It also shelters the Sacred Beasts 🟢, the name given to demons who have achieved divinity and return to their origins. Its God-Emperor is the Golden Dragon ⚪🟢, said to be the oldest being on the entire plane, ancient enough to remember when the plane was a single entity.

Additional information

God-Emperors

The God-Emperors are the epitome of cultivation and, to a certain extent, a physical manifestation of the territory they govern. They are inspired by the five divine beasts that guard the cardinal directions in Chinese culture (White Tiger, Basalt Turtle, Phoenix, Azure Dragon, and Qilin), and each has a distinct origin, although they currently fulfill the same role. Additionally, they also possess a human form, which they only use in exceptional cases. This form is achieved through the "state of triple harmony," which, in short, means balancing four types of mana. For example, in the case of the Platinum Qilin, it would control ⚪🔵⚫🟢 mana, and its mere presence would have a repulsive effect on 🔴 mana.

General world-building

I've actually already developed the story of the five Emperors and the general background of the entire plane, including interesting details like the five God-Emperors' general distrust of Planeswalkers, and indeed of all beings from outside their plane—it has to do with the Eldrazi. I also have specific stories of cultivators on the plane in mind, but it would be too much to write all of that in this post.

If you have any questions about the terminology, I'll answer them in the comments. I know I used a lot of cultivation novel slang. I also have a couple of ideas for card effects, but as I said at the beginning of this post, I'm not a player per se, so they might be some of the most unbalanced things you can find.

Anyway, thanks to those who have read this long text, and I plan to make about 3 more posts regarding the general lore with ideas I've had while reviewing all the stories of the sets.

So it's time to talk about our favorite Vampire Sanguine, Emlyn White, the bearer of the Major Arcana of The Moon in the Tarot Club and savior of the Sanguines.

Emlyn is a curious character in terms of development. His proclamation as savior of the Sanguines is somewhere between a self-fulfilling prophecy (from repeating it all the time in a place like Sefirah Castle) and being an actual designation by Lilith (since it cannot be denied that she intervened at some point). Furthermore, for the purpose of this series of posts, Emlyn also fulfills a very important function, but I will develop that later; first, let's review his current status.

By the end of COI, Emlyn is already a Sanguine Duke, which in standard Beyonder language is a Sequence 2 of the Moon pathway, Life-Giver, and the weight of the responsibility he himself sought is already beginning to make itself felt.

Regarding the latter, I think some might wonder about the reason for the interaction between Emlyn and Anderson that I established in Chapter 8 of this series, where Emlyn asked Anderson for all the Moon pathway characteristics he could find during his stay in the Forsaken Land of the Gods. The way I see it, Emlyn would feel even more responsible for the well-being and prosperity of his species after the events of COI. Let's review the Sanguines' situation:

• Lilith, their creator, is now effectively dead, with a fairly low probability of resurrection.
• Their population has decreased considerably after several of their members were abducted by MGoD-worshipping cults (or by her direct influence).
• All their Dukes (except for Emlyn himself) are already reaching the end of their lifespans.
• All these circumstances leave the Sanguines as a species in a very delicate situation. And it leaves Emlyn feeling very responsible (even though he is not the cause of it, for obvious reasons).

So, what can he do to try and reverse this trend?

One of the things he could do is secure a larger supply of Beyonder characteristics so they can reproduce, and why not, advance in their sequences.

That would be the foreseeable short-term development I see for Emlyn after the events of COI: taking advantage of the fact that the True Creator no longer exists to gather all possible characteristics in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

Now, in the medium and long term, things get interesting (and complicated for me).

To begin with, complying with Rule #6 of these posts depends entirely on Emlyn ascending to Sequence 1 and becoming a woman 😅. Yes, in the event that Emlyn remains a man, we would have a surplus of 2 men, and his change would solve that problem.

1. On one hand, I would like him to ascend to Beauty Goddess, but the only characteristic found on Earth is the one prepared for Lilith's resurrection; the other two are held by MGoD, so it is not a viable option, at least not until the problem of MGoD's existence is solved. So this option is not viable.
2. On the other hand, there is the possibility of him changing sequences and becoming a Naturewalker, which would be interesting since it would put into practice the trivia Cuttlefish gave about the possibility of retaining one's gender in these pathways. But that would also eliminate the possibility of the birth of a Sequence 0 Mother, which would prevent any attempt to recover the Brood Hive. So this option is also discarded.

To be honest, and giving a little spoiler, I actually have the solution for either of the two options to be viable, but I will reveal that in the last chapter of the series

>Which actually isn't because I want to make you beg, it's literally just because the Mother pathway is the last one in the Tarot 😅

Usually, I conclude with the modified honorific name, but seeing that at least for this chapter Emlyn remains at his current sequence, we will have to see what fate holds for:

>Warden of the Doors of Summoning;
The Embodiment of All Things’ Spirituality;
The Creator Bringing the Blood of Life;
The Moon Nourishing Plants and Animals;
Divine Envoy of the Dominator of the Spirit World

Miss Sharron, The Temperance of the Tarot Club.

Her case is quite interesting. We know the character quite well, given everything she contributed to the story in the first book. But by the time we see her again in the second book, she is already a member of the Tarot Club, and we don't know exactly under what circumstances she joined (we already know from Lumian's case that only Klein can bring someone into the Club, but at the same time, during that period, he should be sleeping).

It is this lack of knowledge about exactly how she joined the Tarot Club that is the reason why I have been creating hypothetical scenarios for the new members based on Klein's (also hypothetical) decisions.

Now, regarding her future:

By the end of COI, she is a Sequence 2 Ancient Bane, and her teacher Reinette Tinekerr is a Sequence 1 Abomination. This is important since it conditions her advancement. If they want another Sequence 0 Chained to emerge to aspire to retake control of the Tenebrous World Sefirah, it would imply that it is necessary to keep the other 2 Sequence 1 characteristics available for use.

This situation is basically what conditions her advancement to Sequence 1. Only the existence of a Father of the Demons would provide the necessary availability for that advancement.

>Note: Given the title, if a female Beyonder advances this far, would she need to find a way to change into a man? I mean, it could be a case like with God Almighty, where the symbolism can cause an unexpected backlash if the Beyonder isn't male.

>Note 2: Mother Tree of Desire is only in possession of the Sefirah. Both the Uniqueness and the other 2 Sequence 1 characteristics are in Klein's hands.

Well, perhaps this is fitting for a character who advocates for temperance and restraint. In any case, a sincere bow of admiration to:

>Puppet Cursing All Things;
Deviant from the Depths of History;
Disciple Bringing Silence and Ordinariness;
Lady of Temperance Against Desire and Wicked Thoughts;
Emissary of The Dominator of the Spirit World.

Because this path is not an easy one to walk.

P.S.: It is curious that her honorific name doesn't include her current Sequence. I think she is the only one in the Tarot Club with this peculiarity.

The Death… I think we will all agree that there is only one character who could occupy this seat among the Major Arcana, and that is Mr. Azik Eggers.

Mr. Azik, what can we say about him: former baron, former emperor of the Balam Empire, Sequence 2 (Death Consul) throughout the entirety of both books. Mr. Azik was Klein's lifesaver on multiple occasions and, although in the background, he was also the driving force of the plot in the second narrative arc in Trier.

Mr. Azik is a bundle of enigmas that even he himself is trying to solve, which makes him a fascinating character. But right now, I want to focus on what the future might hold for him.

Approximately halfway through the events narrated in COI, Mr. Azik recovers from his soul ailment thanks to the water that Lumian and his team obtain from the spring in subterranean Trier. This means he no longer has to die recurringly, plus he can now attempt to continue advancing in his sequence (this is notable since it is explicitly mentioned on at least 2 occasions in the novels). So here we could assume that Mr. Azik would be ready to continue advancing… that is, until we look at the big picture, which is that currently the three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics of the Death pathway are unavailable:

• One is possessed by Evernight, and is necessary for her stability since it is the only one she has.
• Another is possessed by Mr. Azik's own descendant, Sia Palenque Eggers, the current Pale-White Empress (Pale Emperor) of the Royal faction of the Numinous Episcopate.
• And the last one is in the hands of Bernadette Gustav in the form of her Grade 0 Sealed Artifact: Pale Death.

The first option is unviable for obvious reasons. The second is unlikely given that Mr. Azik himself wouldn't want to take his descendant's Sequence 1 characteristic away from her. Which leaves us with only the third option: asking Bernadette to hand over Pale Death to be destroyed and converted back into a characteristic… which might also be difficult.

As is common in this series of posts, I am going to propose a scenario where this is possible, but before that, I imagine you are asking yourselves a question:

>Why would Mr. Azik join the Tarot Club when I established in previous chapters that the other angels under The Fool wouldn't have much to gain from it (see Will and Pallez)?

Well, the answer is simple: primarily to get more personal-type anchors. In COI, it was established that this type of anchor is of better quality than faith-based ones, but the problem is that they usually didn't last long due to the standard human lifespan. Having the other Tarot Club members—who are already (or will be) Angels and who will get to know the current Azik—as anchors is a great way to secure them.

Secondly, I think Mr. Azik would join simply to have something to do and entertain himself. Mr. Azik gives me the vibe of one of those 70-year-old men who join book clubs just to have some company and see what the kids are talking about.

With that point cleared up, let's look at the following scenario:

At the end of COI, we are given a glimpse of the possibility of accelerating Roselle's resurrection so that he can attempt to become The Anarchy (which to me would be poetic since that would make the first three returnees occupy the Sefirot that CW had during the First Epoch). Now, how could this resurrection be sped up?

Let's say hypothetically there is a ritual to bring back a soul regardless of its state, but it normally requires the one performing the ritual to be Death (Seq 0) itself. Now, Mr. Azik hypothetically mentions said ritual at a Tarot Club meeting, which catches Cattleya's attention, and she asks more about it. Mr. Azik mentions that he wouldn't know if the Evernight Goddess, being the GOO now, could perform the ritual on her own, but in the absence of a Sequence 0, the next best option is for three Sequence 1 angels to officiate the ritual since its essence lies in "gathering all death and killing death."

After the conversation, Cattleya looks expectantly at Mr. Fool, and the others also look at Him with curiosity for the answer. Klein would reply with something like:

>"In these cases, it is better to play it safe. You already know what to communicate to Bernadette; let us know if she is willing to make the transaction."

Then Bernadette, seeing an opportunity to get her father back faster, would accept the exchange.

Then it would only be a matter of Mr. Azik performing the Pale Emperor ritual and convincing Sia Palenque Eggers to help, which in truth wouldn't be a problem since a Sequence 1 characteristic had returned to her family and she would take that very thing as payment.

And well, the Pale Emperor ritual would be performed without many setbacks. After all, in Mr. Azik's current condition (being revered as an Angel of Death by the Church of The Fool), he more than fulfills the ritual requirements:

>Ensure your name becomes synonymous with death and the afterlife, remembered and recited by most sentient beings in your domain.

So that is how the early return of Roselle would end up being justified. A ritual performed between the two Sequence 1 angels of the Death pathway and the Eternal Darkness to bring back his soul, and from there, due to the proximity to the Uniqueness of the Black Emperor pathway, his own authority would do the rest and revive him as a deity.

To close, I would like to end with his honorific name as on other occasions, but we don't have information on the canonical one. In theory, it should include "Angel of Death" due to his title in the Church of The Fool, and added to that, it shouldn't include anything related to his kinship with the ancient Death, to avoid corruption from his father.

Furthermore, while writing this post, I was convinced that Sia Palenque was the daughter of Mr. Azik, even though Wiki doesn't reflect that. Was I mistaken, or has Wiki not been updated?

Well, after my first post about general opinions on COI, I thought this post would come easily, but then I got writer's block 😅 ; perhaps it's because I couldn't decide how to approach it. In the end, it turned out to be a rather long text that reads partly like a wiki entry and partly like a fanfic summary.

Warning: I want to remind you, just as I wrote in my previous post, that I am a mechanics reader, not a narrative one. So, many of the opinions I am going to publish in this entry come partly from ideas in a vacuum (without taking into account the factual events of the novel), and the other part from exploring alternative plot decisions that Cuttlefish could have explored in COI.

My ideal construction of Lumian would be based on three core points:

• Weapons
• The 3 Blessings of The Fool
• Connection to the City of Calamity

Weapons

I'll be frank with you, the scene in Volume 1 where Lumian grabs the axe and the shotgun and prepares to hunt the creatures during his dream felt very cool to me, and that scene seems like the perfect synthesis of what a Hunter should be. And I don't think I'm the only one who was left wanting to see more scenes like that.

So of course, in the low and mid-sequence stages, Lumian would use different Beyonder weapons aimed directly at the target's weaknesses, giving a greater sense of a hunt. It's like taking the concept of Beyonder bullets from the first novel and extrapolating it to weapons themselves.

As for Sealed Artifacts, we would give Lumian a wider variety to use. Some examples I imagined at the time:

• Butcher: A butcher's knife with a Reaper Beyonder characteristic. The user must endure the heat generated by the knife; the longer it is held, the more heat it will generate, and the sharper its edge will become. This would be Lumian's main melee weapon, and once he digested the Pyromaniac potion, he could use it to its full potential since he would gain fire resistance.
• Night: A dagger with an Assassin Beyonder characteristic. It possesses a critical hit ability when the environment is in darkness; after using it, the user would feel the urge to stab themselves.
• Lash (Modified): I think many of us were left wanting to know what kind of sealed artifact would be formed by mixing the remains of the Shadow Tree with the Werewolf Beyonder characteristic, so here is my version: They are brass knuckles that, when used at night and in the presence of the moon, progressively extend their curse onto the user's arms (think of Sonic the Werehog), thereby increasing their strength. Additionally, for each hit the target receives, their mood changes abruptly and excessively. The side effect is the permanent mutation of the affected parts (like Klein's Life Staff) and a risk of completely losing control if used by accident during a Blood Moon.

Note*:* I was also particularly drawn to the possibility of making a sword out of these remains, but with the Beyonder characteristic of a Zombie. I don't know, the idea of a wooden sword that is stronger than metal and allows freezing seems funny and interesting to me.

• Praise: A gold-looking gun with a Priest of Light Beyonder characteristic. A gun that can only be loaded with gold bullets; before firing, a praise to the Sun must be performed. The potency of the purification effect will depend on how many people saw you performing the praise. The user must attend a mass before using it, otherwise, it will jam.

Among several others that he would obtain in different ways.
The general idea is that the Sealed Artifacts Lumian obtains should almost always be from different pathways and of Sequence 5, so that they can function as advancement materials for his teammates upon reaching the boundary between mid-sequence and high-sequence.

The 3 Blessings of The Fool

One aspect of the blessings that always rubbed me the wrong way was that they were basically granting sequences but without everything that comes with advancing through them. While I am not going to modify the blessing system regarding the Outer Deities, I would like to mark a contrast with what we knew as blessings in LotM. If we think about it coldly, Klein obtained a blessing from the Evernight Goddess, which was a single ability from the Sleeper pathway: the capacity to maintain lucidity during dreams.

My proposal is that for Lumian's case, it should be like that: having three blessings from the pathways under the Lord of the Mysteries (Fool, Door, Error), and having them be the basis of Lumian's advantage in combat, leaving aside the idea of a direct dual-pathway for him.

>Note: From my perspective, Lumian in COI has an overlap of two different concepts regarding what it means to be a dual-pathway Beyonder: the first is direct, based on blessings, and the second is indirect, which is the result of switching pathways. In my version, Lumian would only belong to the second group.

• Fool: Physical Enhancement With this blessing, we replace the bodily reinforcement granted by Dancer, focusing physical reinforcement on agility instead.
• Door: Blink It would allow Lumian to perform short-distance teleportation, making his style even more dynamic.
• Error: Theft (Circle Inhabitant) Here we would justify Lumian's ability to reset his body at 6:00 AM.

I think with this set of blessings, he would have a reasonable initial buff. As an extra point, I initially contemplated having the Door blessing be the replica of Circle Inhabitant and having Error give Lumian a mystical sense of error (knowing instinctively when someone, including himself, is making an error) as a sort of replacement for the Seer's intuition, but thinking about it coldly, this would bring quite a few narrative problems in the long run.

Connection to the City of Calamity

I don't think I'm the only one who, upon seeing Cordu's dream, thought it was the City of Calamity, or at least an aspect of it. Ultimately that wasn't the case, and it turned out to be a dream manifestation of Lumian's subconscious.

Now then, I kept thinking: What would happen if that had been the case? How would it affect Lumian to be linked to the City of Calamity, and how could it be justified?

If I had to justify Lumian's union with the City of Calamity, honestly, I would have to modify the entire structure of COI, because broadly speaking, it would only make sense if it was Klein's doing. Let's imagine the following case:

>Lumian saves the vagabond follower of the Church of The Fool, which places Lumian within Klein's perception. Klein, being the beacon of destiny, realizes that Lumian has a high probability of becoming the Calamity of Destruction if he becomes a Beyonder of the corresponding pathways. So, he leaves the blessings latent within him and grafts a connection to the City of Calamity onto him.

This would obviously completely change the general narrative of the story, moving from a situation of multiple interests placed on him to being the result of a not-so-premeditated push by Klein. This isn't my main intention, but it is the obvious result of changing Lumian's Sequence advancement structure.

>When I used to read the wiki before reading COI, I thought that at some point Lumian would go to the Western Continent with Alger and, while there, he would learn to cultivate, and that's where he would form a connection with the City of Calamity. That didn't happen either, but it gives me an idea for my next post about a, highly unlikely, LotM 3.

Now, what advantages would this incorporation have? Well, we can go back to the weapons section, since a general idea would be that the initial Beyonder weapons originate from here. They would be the byproduct of the attempt by Outer Deities compatible with the City of Calamity to try and assimilate it (unsuccessfully). Therefore, Lumian would have access to Beyonder weapons of those pathways (Inextinguishable Glimmer, Second Law, Condenser).

Now, regarding the direct benefits of the connection to the Sefirah, I was inspired to some extent by those obtained by Klein. Sequence by Sequence, they would be:

Seq 6 [Conspirer]:

• At this sequence is when the Sefirah truly begins to integrate with Lumian. Theoretically, Klein's graft is no longer necessary (although it is still necessary to bypass the existing barrier of the Western Continent).
• His connection to the City of Calamity allows him to see the amount of lingering 'Calamity' in a person. This would serve as a replacement for luck inspection; the way Lumian perceives it is by 'seeing' a black/dark red cloud above people. The more dispersed outward it is, the more people that 'calamity' will affect besides the observed target. The higher and more vertical the cloud, the more intense the calamity will be. The difference from luck inspection is that Lumian won't be able to distinguish someone with good luck from someone with neutral luck (since both would have an 'absence' of said cloud).
• While their luck can be altered, whoever tries to change their luck will likely receive a considerable amount of bad luck (Calamity)."

Seq 4 [Iron-blooded Knight]:

• Lumian acquires the ability to make sacrifices to the City of Calamity and begins to understand its true form.
• At this sequence, the connection to the Sefirah becomes hidden from other Deities.
• The City of Calamity allows expanding the effective range of the team. Lumian obtains the Conqueror (Seq 1) ability to add sealed artifacts to his team (as long as they possess consciousness).

And unlike Klein, Lumian wouldn't obtain further spontaneous benefits from the City of Calamity beyond what is written, because he is not the only active influence within it.

General Advancement Structure

Okay, time to finally get to the point. Having clarified the details of Lumian's peculiarities, I can now explain the general advancement I would have given him.

During the low Sequences, we would see a Lumian working relatively alone, using weapons mostly to make up for his weak points. But precisely during some interactions, he would notice those who helped him at some point. Midway through digesting the Conspirer potion, he would spontaneously notice the need to have a team to cover his weaknesses more effectively (this could be partly due to his increased intelligence and partly due to the influence of the Beyonder characteristics within him). Thus, he would begin recruiting characters who had teamed up with him spontaneously to turn them into a proper team.

Imagine what a team led by Lumian would have been like with: Ryan, Leah, Valentine, Franca, Jenna, Anthony, Amandina, Lugano, Rhea, Camus, and possibly Kolobo.

>Note: As I said at the beginning, many of these ideas are thought up in a vacuum, but it occurs to me that for something like this to be plausible, Lumian should be part of the Tarot Club from the start (or at least from Vol. 2) for various logistical reasons (both in terms of writing and within the world itself). Still, I find the idea interesting: how the Tarot Club members would react during their routine meetings with The Fool asleep, when suddenly, and without any prior revelation, a new member appears among them, leaving them unsure how to respond to that in the moment. By the time Lumian passes to High Sequences in my version, he would continue along the Hunter Pathway and become an Iron-blooded Knight. Now, although the ritual normally requires up to 30 people to complete, here we will have all the other team members advance to Sequence 4 before Lumian so that they can better fulfill the requirements of the ritual.

Once the Iron-blooded Knight potion is digested, Lumian would face the crossroads of switching to the neighboring Pathway to revive his sister. In this version, Franca would advance first and mention to Lumian that she digested the potion instantly, leaving him pensive about the path to follow.

During the ritual, Mirror Lumian would act just as seen in the novel and would agree to make peace in order to revive Aurore. At that moment, Lumian would realize that wasn't going to work and decides to use an ability that up to that point in the story he wouldn't have used: making a sacrifice to the City of Calamity. He would sacrifice himself, transferring the "Calamity" on Aurore onto himself, failing the ritual on purpose to use his original body as a vessel for Aurore's soul, leaving his mirror version to take over in terms of continuing to advance and grow stronger.

• I am divided here between whether the consciousnesses of the two Lumians fuse like in the original novel—but without the acquired ability to see things in the second person (a characteristic of making peace with the mirror self). This would be due to the mirror persona being busy for the time being with Aurore's regenerating soul. Or if we should directly assume that that Lumian is gone. After all, it's something I see Cuttlefish as very capable of doing.
• Furthermore, this way, mechanically, a strange symmetry would be obtained with the other versions of successfully passing the ritual.

Finally, we would reach my favorite sequence of the Hunter Pathway and the one I most look forward to seeing: War Bishop. I can just picture Lumian borrowing the powers of Ryan and Rhea—a total bomb. And if for his acting he begins to lead the fight of the southern continent's forces himself, uff... just the image of a giant red-furred wolf surrounded by a storm...

Anyway, I'm rambling a bit. For the Weather Warlock ritual, Lumian would use the borrowed abilities of Rhea or Franca's abilities, performing the same procedure as in the original novel.

For the final stretch is when I would have applied the pathway change, with the following being the general scheme for Lumian to follow:

>Weather Warlock → Apocalypse → Apocalypse + Conqueror → facing the City of Calamity → Red Priest + Primordial Demoness → Calamity of Destruction.

This is because the Apocalypse ritual is much more viable if we assume we have a fully awake Klein and we can cause the downfall of the Primordial Demoness herself.

Additionally, I would keep Jenna's sacrifice but give it a different nuance: her soul was left extremely fragmented to the point that Klein himself cannot save her. The only option is to fuse it with Aurore's reassembling soul, resulting in an outcome that is neither completely Aurore nor completely Jenna, but a new person with all the memories of both and a mix of their personalities.

>Note: This new entity, let's call her Jenna Aur, remains Lumian's mirror person on a mystical level, but in practice, she is a separate person. Though she can now share thoughts with Lumian.

Once at Sequence 1, the battle against Medici would take place. In this battle, many of the hybrid abilities mentioned in the novel could be seen, for example, the rain of illnesses. Furthermore, now having Aurore's full knowledge on his side, he could attempt to perform powers that Medici himself wouldn't understand, like creating bacteria with inverted chirality. Winning by the skin of his teeth, and in this case, absorbing Medici's soul along with his Beyonder characteristics, since the Conqueror ritual is unfeasible.

Note: It would also be possible that before all this, Klein simulates a war in dreams between Lumian and Alista Tudor to:

1. Deactivate Tudor's resurrection plans.
2. an isolated environment for the ritual.
3. Digest the potion. Though in this scenario, Lumian would be considerably stronger than Medici.

After that, Lumian would prepare to assume complete control of the City of Calamity, and the confrontation against the Malevolent Dragon would take place more or less as shown in the novel.

>In case there were still Conqueror characteristics left to digest, they should be digested on the spot by the sheer fact of conquering a Sefirah.

It is at this moment that Lumian would take the Sequence 0 potions. He would complete the Primordial Demoness ritual by utilizing his team connection, which he would have reconfirmed with Franca (who in this version remains quite close to Lumian), to cast an ability that combines the powers of Sequence 1 pathways under the Sea of Chaos. As for the Red Priest ritual, this would be simpler since we can make use of the advantage of having Klein as an ally again and turn the fight against the Sefirot into a "war" at a symbolic level, replacing the number of battles won with a direct victory, and the "sweeps an entire continent" part with the collateral damage of the fight (which in this version wouldn't be so contained).

And so Lumian would advance to a dual Sequence 0, and in this case, instantly to Calamity of Destruction. Here is my version of his divine title:

Calamity of Destruction; (The title, plain and simple).

Destruction of the Calamity; (His first title inverted has two reasons: taking advantage of reflection symbology to create a safe invocation title, manifesting his role as one who, just as he can cause calamities, can also dissipate them).

Dual-bodied Conquistador of the Mirror World; (This title points both to his Red Priest status, given the 'conquest' part, and to the Primordial Demoness part due to the 'mirror world' section. Aside from that, it highlights the dual-bodied condition which is important for Lumian's stability in this version).

Origins of Disaster; (Another basic title).

Feminine and Masculine Aspects of the Reflected Original Creator. (Here, mention is made of the Reflected Original Creator as a means to avoid the influence of God Almighty).

Finally, I have one last thing to comment on.

Lumian's Mythical Creature Form

One of the things I said in my previous post was that one of the few things I disliked in COI was Lumian's mythical creature form, coupled with the almost absolute statement by Klein that the state of Lumian's body was impossible to change since it was an intrinsic part of his being. That makes no sense on many levels.

To begin with, we have examples to the contrary, such as the case of Herabergen; by birth he is a dragon, and his mythical creature form is a white brass tower. I don't think a combination further removed from human bodily structure exists, and yet he possesses a human form (the way he possesses it is irrelevant to the argument; it could be through a spell or something else).

I understand the reasons why Cuttlefish did it this way: the reference to the Asuras of Hindu mythology and to the original version of humanity in Greek mythology (the myth from which the word Androgynous comes) is truly an interesting nod. But the justification that "it's like that and cannot be changed" is laughable, not only because of the expected knowledge of a GOO like Klein but also because of the examples we have to the contrary. To conclude, if the justification had been "your body is like this due to the high levels of corruption you carried with you while advancing through the Sequences, and it will only be reversible when you manage to safely expel it from your body," a simple explanation without absolutisms would have been enough for me.

Now, by this, I don't mean I am totally against the idea. As I already wrote, it seems like a very interesting reference to use, especially in the context of the pathways under the City of Calamity. Below are two examples of what I would have done with the mythical creature form of a dual Sequence of the Hunter and Assassin pathways.

Example 1: Utilizing the references

The way I developed Lumian's advancement had a clear idea: the main body would contain at a mystical level the characteristics corresponding to the Red Priest, manifesting all the physiological changes generated by his Beyonder characteristics (red hair, a slight increase in height, etc.), and the uniqueness would manifest externally as a red hooded jacket.

Meanwhile, his mirror self would contain the Beyonder characteristics of the Primordial Demoness, likewise manifesting the corresponding physiological changes (thick black hair, crystal blue eyes, white skin, and in this specific case, facial features reminiscent of a mix between Jenna and Aurore), with the uniqueness becoming a crystal tiara instead of a statue.

The separation would serve to prevent the resurgence of both God Almighty and the Original Creator, but in case they wanted to resort to the full power of the City of Calamity, they would have to fuse into a single body with the following characteristics:

• A body expressed without sexual dimorphism, meaning:
  • No hypertrophied muscles
  • No prominent mammary glands or buttocks
• Three human heads with the following characteristics:
  • Right head: A male head with long black hair and crystal blue eyes (the face is Lumian's).
  • Left head: A female head with intense short red hair and iron-colored eyes (the face is Jenna Aur's).
  • Central head: The face vaguely resembles a mix of Lumian, Jenna, and Aurore's features, but without the changes applied by potion consumption. The hair was replaced by snakes with golden scales.
• The Red Priest uniqueness becomes a red cloak that is always burning, and the Primordial Demoness uniqueness changes from a tiara to a crystal crown on top of the central head.

The idea is that aesthetically it resembles both Ne Zha and the previously mentioned inspirations.

Example 2: The theoretically basic version

During the development of LotM, it is mentioned to us that Beyonders who change pathways obtain a mythical creature form that is a mixture of the pathways they have taken. For example, Ince Zangwill, whose mythical creature form was a mutated and deformed eight-legged wolf with white feathers (Eight-legged Wolf plus Feathered Serpent); so I wondered, what should this form look like for Lumian if his advancement had been more conventional? Here is my proposal:

First, let's review the individual characteristics:

Pathway of the Primordial Demoness:

• Sequence 2 [Catastrophe]; A female humanoid, her black hair like venomous giant serpents—long, thick, and slick, their tips either embedded with rolling black and white eyes or bearing venomous snake heads, mouths slightly open, tongues protruding.
• Sequence 1 [Apocalypse]; No data.
• Sequence 0 [Demoness]; "She" appears enormous, clad in a white dress made of bone. "Her" visage grows increasingly beautiful, yet from different angles exudes distinct temperaments: pure, elegant, majestic, delicate, pristine, and decadent. "Her" black hair, as thick as pythons, exudes an eerie slickness. Some strands rise and rotate, their black- and-white eyes spinning; others extend forward, sprouting serpent-like heads that flick their tongues. Others coil at "Her" feet, forming a vortex of snakes. Whether one gazed directly at the Primordial Demoness or not, everything would react instinctively to "Her" presence. Anything directly touched by these tentacles is transformed into beautiful women of varying sizes, who then run rampant and destroy all matter.

Pathway of the Red Priest:

• Sequence 2 [Weather Warlock]; A giant, a representation of calamity, crafted from flames and various symbolic elements.
• Sequence 1 [Conqueror]; A horrifying charred giant, engulfed in blazing purple flames, continuously emanating illusory symbols—lightning, hail, fog—the majestic purple flames and the iron-black metal body held inscrutable knowledge, representing countless real phenomena.
• Secuence 0 [Red Priest]; No data.

Combining the two, we would have the following:

The lower part belongs to a serpent whose scales present a Damascus steel pattern, giving the illusion of forming its own climate of disasters. The upper part of the body consists of a black metal skeleton that can be seen through the blood-red fire replacing the flesh. Its hair consists of snakes with red scales that, upon opening their jaws, resemble eyes as black as iron.

The face is composed of transparent fire that reveals the metal skull and whose shape is extremely beautiful, generally with its eyes closed. Anyone who survives looking at it directly will be instantly conquered and charmed, and in case of receiving its gaze, they will receive different types of calamities (which can be petrification, spontaneous combustion, genetic mutations, direct molecular dispersion, etc.).

Thematically, it also strongly resembles Typhon from Greek mythology.

Extra: Mechanically unlikely, but fun.

Lumian replaces the Malevolend Dragon's shapeless third head, transforming it into a head with red scales, inverted horns, and crystalline blue eyes. Furthermore, a third dragon-like body is added to the mix.

Final Thoughts

Well, I think with this I have said almost everything I wanted to say about Lumian. At most, I would be left to explore specific things, like for example, that with the extra Sequence 1 characteristics, if the Tarot Club had a "Miss High Priestess" (Melissa), she could have a set of sealed artifacts as permanent weaponry.

Also, I didn't know where to place the detail that in this version, the central core of the City of Calamity would be found in the mirror world, and it would be the part with recursive reflection—such that just as the Historical Void emanates from the Sefirah Castle, the base of the Mirror World emanates from the City of Calamity.

My next post will be: How would I structure a hypothetical third part?, keeping in mind that Cuttlefish doesn't seem to have the intention of writing it at the moment.

After that, I will continue with posts about curious interactions between Pathways. Additionally, I will begin a couple of series of posts: "Completing the Tarot Club," where I would explore options to complete the group based on the context of the end of COI; and "Customizable Pathways," where I will give my opinions on possible distinctive characteristics of sequences whose powers are modified either by the ingredients used for the potion or by the rituals used to advance.

Finally, to those who read this far, thank you very much for taking an interest in my ramblings. I look forward to your comments.

I had planned to finish the volume to ask this question, but since I still have something to do to finish it, I decided to ask it now.

>!Do you think Gandalf chose the Twilight Giant's path because he learned it was one of the paths that could be altered by external influences and he wanted to experiment?In other words, given how the chapter is structured, I believe that Gandalf is a Silver Knight who used a blessing from the god of wisdom (White Tower) for his ascension ritual.!<

What do you think?