Elu

This is the form that the Beast is known to take.

## Common Knowledge

Knowledge of this all-mighty being is not common. At all.

## Powers

Elu is the one, the only, the all-mighty, all-consuming, all-powerful entity that rules the universe. Literally nothing is beyond Elu’s power.

In their slumbering state as the Beast Below, Elu’s power lies at rest. Were the Beast to be awoken for any reason, the sheer force of its sudden return would completely annihilate all of reality. Even minute changes to the sleeping patterns of the Beast Below have drastic repercussions at a cosmic scale.

Elu also has the power to grant certain people the ability to evade death itself, known as Nirvana. Only members of the Binturian Party are known to have this power.

### Names of the Elder Gods

To invoke the name of an Elder God is to call its attention to you. To have the attention of an Elder God is to see reality sputter and cave in on itself, crushing the caller until their soul is ejected from their body like juice from a grape. This is especially true for Elu, the foremost of the Elder Gods.

[[AN: From a gameplay standpoint, saying the name of those specific Elder Gods, even by accident, causes the speaker to instantly take a Nirvana Death, or possible Perma-Death. Before Spring 2019, this expanded to the speaker ''and all who heard it''. The name of the Elder God of Life, and this note, are included for the sake of completion]]

## Personality/Appearance

Elu’s current appearance is that of a massive, slumbering monster, known as the Beast Below. This Beast looks something like a bearcat.

## Relations

Elu created all Elder Gods, the Material and Soul Planes, life in its earliest forms, and the Pionus species of mortal humanoid.

## History

### Origin

Elu has always existed, and is simply a fact of reality.

### Dealings with Mortals

#### Creation

Elu is responsible for the creation of the Elder Gods (whose actions indirectly created some mortal races), as well as the Material Plane (where most mortals dwell), and the Pionus race (whose descendents evolved into most other mortal races).

#### Old Binturia, Formation of the Beast Below

Elu had a special relationship with the first nation of Orelisle, the Pionus kingdom that would later be known as Old Binturia. During the final days of the Old Kingdom, when its enemies marched against it in search of the source of its power, Elu agreed to merge with King Binturong to become a creature that could defend Binturia against its aggressors. In doing so, however, the King’s name became synonymous with Elu’s name, and thus became a Name of Power. As the Binturian people chanted their support for their king, they called the full attention of the Beast and destroyed themselves and their kingdom.

#### The Binturian Party

Even though Elu now slumbers, they have hand-selected certain individuals to have the power to cheat death itself. These people are always mortals, and though they come from all walks of life, they always somehow find their way to the Binturian Forest. These mortals, who compose the members of the Binturian Party, do not receive the ability to Nirvana until after they first enter the Binturian Forest.

The method by which Elu decides who can and cannot Nirvana is not known, nor is it known how they decided such people while within the Beast Below. The ability to Nirvana has no noticeable effect on a creature’s body, soul, essence, or true name (Since Elu decides whether a Nirvana succeeds or occurs at all, there is no indicator on the creature themselves).

#### “Overseeing” Reality-Shaping Events

In 10,012 A.B., the Beast Below stirred ever so slightly in its sleep, changing the frequency and intensity of its snores. These snores radiated across the Material Plane, and the sheer power of them could instantly kill anyone unfortunate enough to be in their path. To rectify this, the Binturian Party travelled into the depths of the Underforest and mounted six powerful warding stones to the Beast, sending it further into sleep.

This new level of sleep, however, was deeper than it had ever slept. The Beast’s snores no longer kept the planes of existence from moving closer to the Material Plane, and as predicted in an ancient prophecy they began to move closer on a collision course. As they crashed into the Material Plane in 10,015 A.B., the Binturian Party mobilized once again, anchoring the planes to points in the Void and slightly disturbing the Beast to bring its snores back to acceptable levels.

In 10,017 A.B., the Binturian Party and William Wilson conspired to banish the other Elder Gods from the Material Plane, restricting the influence of Madness upon it. In order to accomplish this, Morgan, then a member of the Binturian Party, became the Prophet of Elu, and even if Elu did not directly influence this, Morgan benefited from their power. This ritual ended up being improperly conducted, and needed to be adjusted in 10,019 A.B. by Possibility and the Binturian Party. This second ritual was conducted in the presence of the Beast Below.

In each of these instances, the Beast Below was present, and when Elu’s name was spoken the Beast’s eyes flashed open and flooded the Underforest with a blinding white light. If not properly executed, this flash can and will kill any creatures nearby.

#### Ascension of Elu’s Prophet

The Prophet of Elu, a lesser water spirit named Morgan, was manipulated by Elu in the guise of a phoenix life goddess from his hometown. This manipulation led to Morgan developing his own abilities, eventually revealing the true power that always lay within him as he ascended to become the Elder God of Compassion.

#### Apocalypse

When the Beast Below is woken up, as happened in 10,012 and 10,015 A.B., the weight of Elu’s omnipotence collapses into reality and destroys it utterly. Possibility then fixes it, and restores the universe as close to its previous state such that it won’t happen again.

### Current Residence

Elu is presently within the Beast Below, an enormous, bearcat-like monster. The Beast Below resides at the bottom of the Underforest, several miles below the Binturian Forest, and sleeps on top of the Conduit.

## Further Information

* The Binturian Party
* Deathless Days
* Elder Gods
* Essence
* Magic
* Old Binturia
* Pionus
* Planar War
* Reality
* Soul