The Fated

The Fated is an Ascended who foresees all destiny and prophecy throughout existence, maintaining order throughout the planes from afar, though he keeps a particular interest in the Material Plane and its inhabitants. The Fated is believed to be omnipotent by many, though he only interacts with the multiverse by manipulating the threads of fate and ordering his followers to do his bidding through divine prophecy. While he does have the power to directly intervene in events, he fears this intervention would only bring disorder and defy fate. Though the Fated is often worshiped as a god of fortune and fate, he also takes a role as the Elemental Lord of Air, making him revered by naturists and divination experts alike.

## History

As a mortal, the Fated was known as Sultan Qisma Valhmedi. Sultan Qisma was the last ruler of the ancient precursor to the Qisman Caliphate, the Ohzman Empire, and is considered by most modern scholars to also be the first and greatest monarch of the Caliphate. Born into a weak noble family near the end of the dying, fractured Ohzman Empire’s life, Qisma was a completely unknown figure for much of his early life. Despite this, from a young age, he was extremely fortunate, as if fate itself was grooming him to become the next Sultan. Despite the chaos surrounding the fall of the Ohzman Empire and the assassination of the tyrannical yet feeble Sultan Meyhlak al-Ohzman II that had left the throne empty, Qisma’s family was kept completely and inexplicably safe from most of the anarchy around them while other families fell or fled. This was mainly due to strange visions given to Qisma that gave him directions on how to save the Vahlmedi bloodline and miracles brought on by some unknown force that protected him and his kin, leaving the Valhmedi family as one of the only surviving houses and the greatest one among these survivors. Once their protection was secured and the Valhmedi family rose to true prominence in the ashes of the Ohzman Empire, Qisma received more visions that drove him to unite the remaining noble houses into one grand coalition of leaders and fighters. Qisma became the prime ruler of the united Ohzman houses and began rebuilding order, establishing positive relations with those who decided to follow him and seeked a new legislation while crushing the bandits and anarchists ravaging the rest of the lands. With his divine guidance and leadership, Qisma ascended to the Ohzman throne, almost fully reuniting the lands after only a few decades of conflict and rebuilding. During his reign, Qisma fully reformed the Empire and was a renowned lawmaker and diplomat. He retook the lands stolen from the Ohzmans during its near-century of strife, abolished the caste system, and declared himself the supreme ruler of Sabaya. Being a mortal, Sultan Qisma did not live forever, however his great deeds in life led to his Ascendance into his role as the Fated, god of fate and fortune. Sabaya’s greatness did not end with him, however, and following his apotheosis, he began writing *The Golden Prophecy*. This esoteric holy book, kept safe within the deepest vaults of Halrajan’s palace, is read by an divinely-appointed Oracle whenever a ruler dies to determine the next one. This started the Qisman Caliphate when Caliph Raqqada al-Fatim was determined to be Qisma’s successor.

## Home

The Fated resides within his palace at the center of the Plane of Air, an elemental plane made up of floating cities, clouds, and palaces seated upon raging storms.

## Relationships

The Fated is disinterested in relationships with other deities who are not the Elemental Lords, including the Ascended. The only exception of this is the Shepherd, whom he regards with great respect despite her refusal to take a more firm hold upon the cycle of life and death. He also secretly respects both the Daimyo and Shogun as powerful leaders, allowing his people to worship them as long as they hold himself above them as their eternal Sultan. The Fated despises the Fool and views it as his mortal enemy, along with it being a foe of law itself.

## Appearance

When interacting with mortals, the Fated tends to retain a look similar to the one in life, though with much more grandeur and elegance. He is often portrayed as a towering king, almost the height of a giant, clad in bronze armour and decorated with jewelry of all precious metals. Upon his head sits a gorgeous crown that acts as the symbol of the Qisman Caliphate. While in battle or in his home plane, the Fated retains most of his clothing, though his form becomes a wild tornado in the vague shape of a man. He is said to wield a golden scimitar the size of an adult Human and possess crackling lightning in place of his eyes in both forms.

## Symbols

The Fated’s symbol is his crown that he wore both as a Sultan and now as an Elemental Lord. The Fated has two sacred animals that represent his wisdom and royalty - the owl and lion respectively. The Fated’s priests wear ornate clothing and decorate themselves with jewelry, keeping gold, white, and violet as their most prominent colours to represent the Sultan’s status as the Caliphate’s god-king.

## Church of the Fated

#### Worshipers

Most of the Fated’s followers are Qismans, druids who focus on the winds, and people who dabble in the areas of fate, luck, and prophecy. The Fated creates Oracles more than any other god, granting both the misfortunate and his faithful with divine wisdom, though he also curses those who try to defy fate without his permission. Outside of the Caliphate, the Fated is revered as Saint Qisma in Helgrad and receives a minor amount of worship in Haitoyuki, though the Caliphate is still where most of his following resides.

#### Clergy

Much of the Fated’s clergy is made up of oracles and diviners who receive flashes of insight from the Sultan in order to do his bidding. The largest congregation of the Fated is in the Qisman Caliphate’s capital of Halrajan, where all of his priests go to become officially ordained. The Caliph acts as the Fated’s hand on Utharia, guiding their people to glory and making sure crisis does not break out between the western nations.

#### Temples and shrines

Like the Fated himself, many temples devoted to the Lucky Star are extravagant, beautiful churches, often with Ohzman architecture. Wealthier cities and capitals where the Fated holds a following often have at least one grand temple for him that resemble a small palace. The largest temples for the Fated are the Great Masjid of Fatim in the Qisman Caliphate, which is both the largest and first one constructed, and the Mejazi Mosque in the Parsane Kingdom of Sitrane.

#### Organizations

The Fated has no officially recognized or widespread organizations on Utharia, though there are a number of secret societies who worship him and the Caliph is considered the mortal leader of the Fated’s religion.