Ganglion

**Ganglion**, also known as Father Blood Knuckle, Lord of the Bruise, and the Stricken King, is a conceptual god of Violence and Injury. He lives and fights in his realm, called the Dust, and he dangles a Ganglion-shaped wooden puppet into Galbar on a fishing rod whenever he wants to scrap there too. It has been prophecised that he will perish due to punching things with his fists so hard that he will lose his balance, fall into a fishpond, and drown.

## History

When this newborn world first came into being, there was only that great unthinking mass known as the Lifeblood.

## Personality

Ganglion exists to fight and hurt and rage and bully, and he is content with this, because he knows that he will never destroy, only injure. He is both a violent man and a very peaceful one. He holds no grudges and encourages no hate, and builds no friendships- everyone too weak for him to fight is his student until they are strong, and everyone else is his rival. In this way he is never really lonely among men, and every fight is, for him, a chance to laugh his hearty, hearty laugh.

Ganglion holds few moral positions. Destroying things outright is fine in moderation, but there should at least be room for regrowth so that the scrapping can continue. Beating things that don't fight back is rather boring, and lazy, which is worse. Anyone who desires to fight has a right to fight, though if you're dumb about it you'll face dumb consequences and deserve them. If you stop a fight where there really should be a fight, you're a lil bitch. If you stop someone from getting back into a fight by hitting them while they're too injured to move, you're about to be offered a new fight altogether, this time with God.

Not to say he's not an asshole himself, though. Starting fights with words or fists is what Ganglion does, and he loves it. Oh, he *loves* it.

## Domain, Portfolio, and Realm

### Domain

*DOMAIN of VIOLENCE*. Ganglion Blood Knuckle is a God of Violence. Violence is a conceptual domain encompassing any act of destruction for its own sake.

The accident of a falling stone and the chipping of a mason's chisel hold not Ganglion's attention, but he watches every rock that is thrown with intent to harm. Violence occurs when the will to destroy arises before the will to create and preserve. It's easy to justify violence with good ends, or with self-defence, or with raw instinct, and Ganglion knows every justification, valid or not. It doesn't matter much to him, though. Blood is blood and bruises are bruises.

### Portfolio

*PORTFOLIO of INJURY*. Where there is ill intent and ill action, there is hurt. Ganglion is the God of Injury. Every cut, burn, and broken bone in the universe is felt by him, and dealt by him, somehow, in some strange ripple along the endless Lifeblood. When Father Blood Knuckle wills for someone to hurt, they hurt- mostly because he enacts his will by beating them with his fists, and partially because he enacts his will by getting someone else to beat them with their fists.

It's very important that Ganglion does this. Bruises teach lessons. One must be tested to know one's limits, and one must have practice to grow resilient. Without taking punches, one does not know when is a good time to sling punches, or how. And, of course, injuries heal. When a fight goes on too long or ends too quickly, Ganglion looks over the wounded and gives them only as much pain as they need. His gaze comforts the bleeding and aching, restores their strength, and gives them hope for the fights to come.

### Realm

*REALM of the DUST*. Ganglion lives and fights in The Dust. The Dust is a simple world of dust, loose rocks, and wooden beams, hastily-constructed half-ruined towers and climbing ladders on which to play and fight. It is bright and it is cloudless and it is hot, with a cooling wind to dry out his sweat. There are hills and valleys that are rather easy to scale, and some sparse pine trees, and fresh springs of water. Ganglion's sparring partners manifest here, big, dumb jolly ogres and bulls and snakes and other such things all looking for a scrap. There is night and a sun, but no stars or clouds, because those are distracting. Food and bandages manifest in roughly-nailed wooden crates, and even grievous injuries heal rapidly here.

## Forms

### Base Form

Ganglion manifests as a man approaching middle age, with well hewn muscles under just a little fat. He wears a pale green sleeveless tunic and loose beige trousers, and boots. His hair is very short, as is his beard.

### Domain Forms

#### Violence Domain

As described, but a foot or two (or a hundred) taller with fingerless boxing gloves and a black eye. His trousers and tunic are ragged, his arms are bandaged and his knees are scraped. This is the form he assumes every afternoon in The Dust after scrapping through the morning, in preparation to keep scrapping through the night. At dawn he passes out.

## Avatars

### Puppet on a Fishing Rod

Ganglion's avatar is Ganglion-shaped wooden puppet he dangles into Galbar on a fishing rod in case he wants to scrap there too. It's very convincing, though.

## Musical Theme

> *And there will be no tenderness, no tenderness!*
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> There will be no tenderness, no tenderness
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> I will show no mercy for you
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> You have no mercy for me
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> The only thing that I ask
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> Love me mercilessly!
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