Deep

Deep
"This war is love."
Origin	Flesh, Blood
Titles	Gardener. Well in the Woods. Twice-Deceived. War of Ants
Aspects
Date of arrival	Sometime before the Collison
Owner(s)	Seon)

The Deep is an Hour born either from blood or from flesh, created by the Seon. The Deep, also called the Well in the Woods, the Gardener, the Twice-Deceived, or the War of Ants, is an Hour associated with hour 7, or 7 AM Her aspects are adversity, survival, and the yearning for perfection. She is the patron of any who seeks to survive, as long as they continue to be willing to pay the price. She is notorious for being so-far indestructible, and despite her mischief, other Hours have allowed her be in her Garden in the Woods where she watches travelers into and out of the Mansus.

It is unknown how much of the Deep is the original God from Stone, Storm, or the human warrior who deceived the Maelstrom.

Description

History

The Deep's body originated from the Storm, a God-from-Stone which was deceived by mortals and weighed down with curses. The Maelstrom that resulted from this descent was then too deceived by a human warrior years later, descending further into the Forest's soil where it became the Deep. The Garden in the Woods have grown fat from drinking its well-waters.

Travelers seeking to pass further into the Mansus must take care not to be seduced by the Deep's whispers from the Garden, lest the Gardener ensnare them. Some aspirants with a particular madness in their minds, however, purposefully seek the Deep in the center of its Garden, seeking strength to survive adversity.

Appearance

The Deep appears both as the darkness in the Well at the center of the Garden, as well as the Gardener who lurks in the Forest. The Gardener appears as a human woman in a soldier's uniform.

Principles

The Deep wields the Principle of Edge, the eternal struggle. She wields the principle of moth, for she defies understanding. She wields the principle of winter, for the Well is the stillness at the center of the Storm.

Worship

The Well-in-the Woods is invoked by defeated warriors and those who face certain death. The War of Ants is invoked by conquerors and bandits. The Gardener is invoked by rulers and assassins. It answers every prayer uttered in its name, driven by its insatiable curiosity and love of life, but be wary for she will demand a price.

Cult

• Order of the Egg, Divided: An ancient and secretive organization of warriors, scholars, and soldiers with unknown roots. Thought to predate the Deep. The Order's main purpose is to commune with the Gardener and "give tithes' to the Well through destruction of Longs and aspirants of other principles. Have a particular enmity towards those of Forge principle.

Locations

The Mansus

The Garden in the Wood

The Garden in the Woods is a black and damp place of immaculately cut stones and flowing waters, filled with ants and other creatures who dedicate themselves fully to expansion and war. Occasionally, they stray into the Forest or other parts of the Mansus.

The Gardener lurks in the Garden where she ensnares unwary travelers or mad aspirants seeking to reach its center, where the well-water springs pure. The Gardener is described invariably as courteous if slightly sardonic, and only engages in long conversations to those few invited or with those brave and clever enough to navigate her hazards and drink from the Well. Power is offered freely to those who's willing to risk everything.

Items

Lore

• Logic Elegant6:

The question is "Why do you exist?" Each logic is an attempt at answering this final question.

Influences

• Atomic Insight
  • Aspect: 6

Books

The First War

A recent transcript of an interrogation on a high ranking member of the Order of the Egg, Divided

Study the First War

The cultist attempts to explain in an exasperated manner the precepts of his faith to the interrogator of a particularly unscholarly disposition:
'I drive myself to the edge of madness attempting to explain it to you...'

'It's so simple. Elegant like a knife point. It explains - this is not hyperbole, this is the farthest thing from exaggeration - EVERYTHING. Why do we exist? Why do we have atoms? It is simple. Because atomic matter is more stable than what preceded it. That was the first war, and this war was love.'

->Edge 6 Lore.

Walk in the Garden

A dream diary of one M_______ and her encounter with the Gardener.

Study the First War

The dream diary recounts all the ways to avoid the creatures of the garden to reach the well, where in its deepest pits, one may be able to listen to the Deep itself:
'My friend, my friend. Welcome. Strip off your armor. Drop your sword. This is a place of peace, of quiet, of life.'

'Oh my friend, how can we explain it to them? That the world is not built on laws, but rather, on mutual interest. Not on peace, but by victory. The universe is run by extermination, on thousand tiered gardens stamped into the ground by conquering armies. How can we explain that if anything is to survive to the end of days, it must live not on a smile, but by the sword. Not in a soft, warm place, but in cold hell of that one beautiful self-verifying truth: Existence at any cost. The fate of everything is made like this. In the collision.'

->Edge 8 Lore.

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