Piqumi

***“**You offer gold... how original.**”***
— Piqumi

**Piqumi**, commonly refered to by mortals as the **Fatemaker**, is the Goddess of Luck and Fate. Piqumi is the youngest of the normal Gods, though one of the most worshipped due to her nature. She entered Withdrawal after the Divine War, though she continued to hold court at her magnificent palace during this time. She remains in Withdrawal to this day but has lent some aid in the fight against Syarus in recent history.

## Forms

Piqumi is known to have two common forms. The first is the body of a recently deceased farmer's daughter which she possessed after falling to Enselonde and whose name and memories she adopted. She takes the appearance of a pale Qiuan Human female, often adorned in an outfit displaying her extravagant wealth.

In other cases, Piqumi has been known to take on the form of a cat with glistering golden-like fur from which the light bounces off. This cat often stands out in the memories of mortals whose fortunes recently changed for the better.

## Domain and Undergods

Piqumi's domain revolves around luck and fate. It's relatively small, and she only has three undergods that make up a mixed bunch. Piqumi's domain consists of:

* Cats - Hualangnian
* Dreams - Huodang
* **Fate - Piqumi**
* Gold - Wengzin
* Kindness - Shanjin
* **Luck - Piqumi**

## History

### Appearance

Piqumi was the last of the Gods of Enselonde to appear of her own volition, not counting later offshoots like Usurper Gods and Draconic Gods. Born from the wild magics of a star like most other Gods, Piqumi fell from the sky in the year 997 BW, crashing on the island of Xiatang, part of the larger Gemstone Islands. Despite being a confused and unstable being of extreme magics, the young Goddess was taken in by a local Human farmer by the name of Wenqiu.

At the time, Wenqiu was mourning the passing of his only child, his young daughter Piqumi, who had died from disease some days earlier. The young goddess now under his care was still shifting between forms and trying to get her bearings. After a few days, in which the being became the talk of the village, the young goddess went on to possess the body of the deceased daughter, taking Piqumi's name and memories as her own. Piqumi's first few years were relatively uneventful. She continued the life her mortal counterpart had lived, helping around in the village which notably became more prosperous with bountiful harvests, ore veins being discovered, and successful business ventures being established.

In time, however, other Divines began to take note of a new presence amongst their midsts. Notably, the Goddess of Air, Adyana, who held domain over the Gemstone Islands, was not pleased about a new Goddess appearing in her territory. Her annoyance became a command to her followers, and leagues of Evin and Harpies descended on the village, slaughtering its Human inhabitants until Piqumi was the only one left. She ultimately fled and went into hiding, yet the seeds for a bigger conflict had already been planted.

### War of Two Suns

Piqumi's perception varies from one race to the next. Particularly the avian Evin and Harpies, prone to infighting yet nevertheless loyal to Adyana, saw the appearance of Piqumi as a threat to their way of life. For local Human communities, who lived in the shadows of the Evin Empires and were often subjected to their tyranny, the appearance of Piqumi was a chance at liberation and a brighter future. Soon, Piqumi gathered her own cult following in the form of the Guidaozhen or "Followers of the Golden One". The rise of the Guidaozhen, a broad coalition of Humans, exiled and disgraced Harpy clans, and rogue Evin, proved an existential threat to Adyana's reign over the Gemstone Islands and marked the beginning of the so-called War of Two Suns. The Suns in question refer to the Goddesses, with the "Green Sun" and "Golden Sun" referring to Adyana and Piqumi respectively.

The War of Two Suns began as early as 970 BW and lasted until its inconclusive end in 614 BW with Piqumi throwing in the towel. She abandoned her claim to the Gemstone Islands and left for the Mainland, seeking a new following among the landwalkers. During this time, the Gemstone Islands were ruled by the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Evin Empires, all of which took different stances on the War of Two Suns. By the end of it all, the Sixth Evin Empire collapsed amidst a demographic crisis after the heavy losses the proxy conflicts between the Goddesses had caused, leading to the eventual rise of the Human Qiuans as the dominant force in the Gemstone Islands.

In the wake of the War of Two Suns, Piqumi became incredibly difficult to track down. She travelled up and down Enselonde in her cat form, blending in among mortal society. It wasn't until more than five centuries later that she began to truly thrive.

### Divine War Profiteering

The Third Human Rebellion escalated into a conflict that would deal irreparable damage to Enselonde. The Divine War saw Gods side with either the Kingdom of Humanity or the non-Human Freeholds and blatantly abuse their powers to give their side an edge. Three Gods died, over half the mortal population of the world lost their lives, countless Divine Offspring were killed, and Piqumi could not have cared less about any of it.

While the Divine War raged all across the world, Piqumi thought it a good time to settle down. She eventually settled on a cliffside spot overlooking the Endless Ocean in present-day Ostland, where she began the construction of a palace to trump all others. There was, however, one problem. Goddess of Luck or not, Piqumi couldn't create all the gold and marble required for her plans out of thin air. What followed was a rather shameless business venture by the Goddess in which she sold her favour to both sides of the Divine War at the cost of riches and the building materials she needed.

Powerful lords and nobles of both sides of the Third Human Rebellion began a war of bribery to curry Piqumi's favour believing that she would change the course of destiny and bring victory to their side. The gifts she received became increasingly extravagant, and construction on her palace began soon after. In the end, Piqumi bestowed some minor favours to both sides, meaning that neither really had any advantage. Her profiteering during the Divine War has become an infamous yet well-known factoid about the Goddess, drawing both criticism and sheer awe at the nerve of it all at the same time.

### Entering Withdrawal

The Divine War came to an end with the Starslaughter. Both sides, already driven to exhaustion, came under attack by the seemingly endless amount of Divine Offspring of the Goddess of Stars, who tried to force a ceasefire. While Cossyxia recognised Piqumi's neutrality, she nevertheless wished to put an end to her shameless selling of favours. Three star-siblings, Vilus, Ujum and Rodus descended onto Piqumi's Palace and tried to get her to surrender in 5 BW. In her first direct act of the Divine War, Piqumi refused to be ordered around and killed the three stars in the resulting clash. Further attacks followed and, eventually, Piqumi relented and agreed to Cossyxia's Peace.

Following the Divine War, most Gods were spent from using their powers for all-out warfare for decades. The idea of the Withdrawal was floated around and eventually agreed upon by a majority of Divines, including Piqumi. With her palace more or less completed, she chose to make it her Divine Seal. Hearing of the mansion constructed primarily out of marble, gold, and gems, thieves from all corners of Enselonde trekked to the Freehold of Kalyxia to try and rob it. To stop this theft spree, Piqumi created a private guard for her palace: the Order of the Golden Cliffs. The Order proved adequate, and its leader was elevated to the position of Champion with the title Fateguard, a tradition that remains in place to this day.

Soon, other figures began making the journey to the palace as well: pilgrims. Piqumi humoured them, opening her doors and receiving petitioners who came begging for her favour. In time, a proper settlement grew on the outskirts of Piqumi's Palace. While countries have come and gone in the meantime, the Palace and the surrounding town of Ylhoria have remained firmly in the hands of the Order of the Golden Cliffs and Piqumi. No governor, no matter how ambitious, would be stupid enough to lay claim to the area and risk ill fortunes for the rest of their lives, though that does not mean Piqumi hasn't made any enemies since her Withdrawal.

### Recent History

Piqumi's daily routine of enjoying her palace's gardens and taking in mortal petitioners was rudely interrupted by the Darkest Decade between 1000 and 1010 AW. In the wake of the Sapphire Empire's collapse, the Sapphire Inquisition was formed out of opportunism and placed the blame squarely on the non-Human populations of the South. What followed was a dark chapter in Enselonde's history marked by widespread genocide, with the fervour spreading into the North and Eastland as well. Certain places became hotspots for non-Human refugees, with Ylhoria being one of them.

In 1006 AW, the recently appointed High Inquisitor of Fühlgart, Kaspar Eidellmann, personally marched up to Piqumi's Palace and delivered a list of demands to the Goddess that included handing over all non-Humans in Ylhoria to the Sapphire Inquisition. Piqumi refused, had her soldiers restrain Eidellmann, stole his clothes, and had him march across Ylhoria naked to humiliate him. Eidellmann gathered his forces and attacked Ylhoria with a force of roughly 4,000 men. In the resulting Battle of Ylhoria, the confident Eidellmann, seeing his numerical superiority over the Order of the Golden Cliffs, launched a bold assault on the town. He was either brave to the point of foolishness or severely underestimated the power of a Divine. Before a single soldier was wounded on either side, Piqumi turned the inquisitors attacking Ylhoria into statues. The only one spared this fate was Eidellmann who was captured and once again robbed off his clothes and forced to walk through Ylhoria. He did not return afterwards, and the statues were sold to various buyers in the coming years.

A more recent and powerful threat came in the form of the God of Storms, Syarus. Having abandoned his Withdrawal on Mount Syarus in the late 12th century AW, Syarus had begun his revolt against the One intending to kill the other Gods. With this, he had hoped to rival His power and break free from His supposed tyranny. To accomplish this, he reforged the Godslayer's Blade, shattered after the Divine War, and used it to kill several Divines. Piqumi was next on that list in 1213 AW.

The God of Storms bypassed Ylhoria altogether and appeared in the Goddess' throne room, expecting an easy kill. He had made the wrongful assumption that Piqumi had spent years idling in her Palace, becoming decadent and lazy. In fact, honing her powers was a regular part of her daily routine. While her domain was not particularly useful in a traditional combat situation, Piqumi had nevertheless perfected her control over every power available to her. The resulting duel, while an easy victory for Syarus on paper, was an outright defeat for the God of Storms, who retreated with moderate injuries, To this day, Piqumi remains the only Divine that can boast about defeating Syarus in one-on-one combat, as not even his main rival Ihyll can say the same.

In the wake of Syarus blatantly trying to kill her, Piqumi has begun involving herself in the fight against him. While she is not at home on a battlefield, she has begun tugging at the threads of fate throughout the Great War. Some of her ridiculous amounts of wealth have also ended up in the hands of mortal groups fighting against the Republic of Fühlgart in particular.

## Champion

*Main Article: Champions*

Piqumi's Champion, as based on tradition, is the current leader of the Order of the Golden Cliffs. Their leader goes by the honorific "Fateguard" and gets a vast amount of power from their benefactor as a reward for their service. The current Fateguard is a Naerisi known as Zaelphar. Zaelphar Fateguard is by far the closest of Piqumi's Fateguards, with him serving as her confidant and friend outside of his regular duties.

## Divine Offspring

*Main Article: Divine Offspring*

Piqumi has always distanced herself from creating Divine Offspring. It is her firm belief that the creation of Divine Offspring is a recipe for disaster and she has refused to create any as a result. At no point in history, no matter how bleak, has she so much as given the idea any serious consideration even with some prodding by other Divines.

## Artefacts

*Main Article: Artefacts*

The artefacts of Piqumi are highly sought-after, as they often provide great boons and wealth to their wielders.

* **Aurelica** - Aurelica is a spear created by Piqumi that can pierce through any material and grants its wielder immense speed. It was initially created during the Divine War yet eventually ended up as the personal weapon of General Appius Cantius Novellius, the current leader of Legionary Daletia.
* **Bottomless Pouch** - The Bottomless Pouch is a small coin pouch that, once turned upside down, spews out silver coins. The amount of coins that can be produced by the Bottomless Pouch is seemingly infinite. The Pouch was donated to the Divine Order of Enselonde who have kept it in their vault beneath Torstadt after it caused severe economic troubles by creating inflation in many parts of Enselonde.
* **Caelum Ensis** - The Caelum Ensis was the most coveted of Piqumi's artefacts. It is an ornate and beautiful sword that turns anything it strikes into solid gold. The blade was a gift to Lyxis the Blind after the Divine War in exchange for Piqumi's Palace being left alone by the Freehold of Kalyxia. It remained in Lyxis' private collection yet is presumed to have been destroyed alongside the rest of Alymore during the Nytalyrian Crisis.
* **Coin of Heaven** - The Coin of Heaven was, quite literally, a lucky coin. While resembling an ordinary silver coin by all means, the Coin of Heaven guaranteed success in all of its owner's endeavours as long as they kept it on their person. It was purchased by the League of Whitecrest in the 9th century AW from a private collector in New Sallant, yet the fleet transporting it was attacked by pirates. The Coin and the ship transporting it met a watery grave off the coast of Da'al Mon. While many Xyphians have looked for it, it has never been found since.
* **Fatemaker's Bow** - The Fatemaker's Bow is a legendary bow created for King Karl II of Fühlgart, a devout follower of Piqumi and avid hunter. The bow will guide its arrows midair, resulting in arrows always hitting their intended target no matter how badly they would have missed otherwise. The bow passed hands to the von Kalzberg monarchy and later to the Republic of Fühlgart, at which point it disappeared when Piqumi summoned the bow back to her palace where it remains to this day.

## Relations

### Allies

* **Eitrius** - The God of Pleasure was perhaps the only one to welcome Piqumi with open arms despite her late appearance.
* **Ihyll** - The Goddess of Death and Piqumi have a mutual enemy in Syarus.
* **Zaelphar Fateguard** - Zaelphar is the Champion of Piqumi and a particularly favoured one at that.

### Enemies

* **Adyana** - While not outright at war with each other anymore, old hostilities are hard to forget.
* **Syarus** - The Mad God tried and failed to kill Piqumi for his own gains, making for a particularly nasty feud.