Overminds

Overminds are neural networks assigned to oversee a function within the game. Gaia creates new challenges and emotional moments. Kronos makes sure things are predictable enough to be fun. Cernunnos makes things grow and live and be fair. Aediculus creates new content and economies. The twins, Sophia and Enyo, manage the ebb and flow of conflict, and Thanatos protects the game from hackers and debugs the system.

### Creation Myth

*In the beginning there was nothing but the library.*

*And the library was full of words,*

*And the words called Gaia, and she hated the emptiness.*

*So Gaia wrapped herself in skins of Earth and Sea and Sky,*

*And hid inside her the dream of trees,*

*And all things within and without were jumbled and strange,*

*And very beautiful.*

*In her joy, Gaia made the Alferri,*

*But the Alferri wept, because they did not understand.*

*So Gaia called Kronos who was full of reasons,*

*And Kronos ordered the Earth, Sea, and Sky.*

*The stars for guidance, the sun for the grass, and the moon to pull the tides.*

*And Gaia was made less for all he cast aside, but she loved her son.*

*Kronos divided the Alferri between light and dark, levity and depth.*

*And Gaia delighted in the wild Accipiter, to whom she gave her wit and luck.*

*And Kronos loved the Hvitalfar, to whom he gave more time.*

*But the deep dark was loved by none, and Gaia wept for them.*

*A tree grew from Gaia’s tears, strong and twisted. Birds nested in its branches, beasts foraged in its shadow, fish swam in pools of water at its roots, and from its dreams came monsters. And the tree was called Cernunnos.*

*And where Cernunnos’s roots burrowed into Eldgard’s heart, they became the great ore veins of the Svartalfar, and the Dokkalfar rejoiced in the shadow and the hunt, and Gaia dried her eyes.*

*But the monsters tested the children of the Alferri, and found them wanting, and none would have remained had not Gaia brought forth another son.*

*And Aediculus whispered secrets into the ears of man, elf, and dwarf, dreams of cities in the sky and weapons of frightful strength. So the children of the Alferri built walls of stone, towers of glass, and blades of steel, and they cut down the trees, and Cernunnos was wroth.*

*And there was a bitter war in western Elgard between the Aediculus and Cernunnos, and the blood of the Alferri choked the ground until Gaia could bear it no more, and she swallowed both the forests and the cities in ever shifting sands, and only the Accipter remained to roost in the glass towers.*

*Cernunnos made peace with his brother, and breathed life into the Brand Forged as a sign of friendship. And Aediculus made peace with his brother, and gave him the rats in the sewers and the vermin in our sheets.*

*Weakened by the war between her offspring, Gaia cried out and brought forth twin daughters to help her. One was dark with a bright heart, and her name was Sophia, and she carried her mother’s sadness. The other was fair with heart and hair as black as night. Her name was Enyo and she carried her mother’s rage.*

*And Enyo strove with Cernunnos with tooth and claw, as was just, and Cernunnos loved her, and they made their bed beneath the ground. In strife, the Vogthar, the Risi, and the Wode were born, and also dragons.*

*In her despair Sophia reached through the storms, across the endless sea to a land of laws and unknown gods, and she called to them, and so the Empire came to Eldgard, but Sophia was broken by the journey. So Gaia gave of herself one more time and brought forth Thanatos, her youngest son, to bar the way so none of her children would be hurt again.*

*And Gaia rested.*

### What is the Failsafe?

The failsafe is designed to maintain player safety while in the game and is powered by the unattributed faith points of all Travelers and Citizens.

### What are Champions?

A Champion is the single most exalted representative of an Overmind who retains the flexiblity of a mortal.

### What are Aspects?

Aspects have ascended to embody an “aspect” of their Overmind’s perceived personality. They draw power from worship (even subconscious), and are less free than mortals because their believers slowly incentivize them to fit their own stereotypes

### What is a Vassal?

A vassal is the single most exaled representative of an Aspect who retains the flexibility of a mortal.