Entities

What they are “really”, limits on powers (not cross-homeworld, etc) Not the sole deity of their homeplane usually Most are not overgods of their entire plane Almost all are not the only entity-level being No ‘cosmic’ beings that can see across all homeplanes

- this page is under construction

Entities in Emporium are distinctly non-human, immortal beings that can be found on most planes across the multiverse.

exist across the multiverse and characteristically operate on a cosmic scale. Players are given the freedom to define their character's own homeworld, and their station within it. All Entities have a soul, and are both sentient and sapient.

Across the multiverse, Entities are united by their incomprehensibly vast and extraordinary lifespans, which lends them a very different perspective on life and death than may be seen among mortal beings. All Entities are functionally immortal, and very difficult to kill, but not all Entities are eternal or everlasting. A Chimera tasked with guarding a gate between worlds may only be able to be killed by the individual prophesied to take them down; a Glory may fade into oblivion when the ideal they represent no longer exists; an Implement pursuing a new purpose in life may alter their mind and body beyond the point of recognition: if you replace the head and handle of an axe, is it still the same axe? Entities in Emporium are as varied in their conception of death as they are in any other matter, and we encourage players to consider what life, death, and immortality mean to your character as they shop at Emporium.

The creation of Entities is similarly variable: Entities are commonly created spontaneously, when a large enough soul is attracted to the right circumstance, however they may have been born or created physically, or they may simply be as old as time. Since most Entities do not have families, they tend to form other kinds of relationships, such as a work relationship, a harmony or rivalry between ideals, or some cosmic alignment or opposition.

Entities may be able to create life by introducing souls into sufficiently complex systems, and the creation of life may be part of a character's backstory.

While Entities may mature at different rates, and the manifestation of their age may be varied, our Conduct and Themes Policy requires that all characters (PC and NPC) should have a capacity for decision-making equivalent to that of the average human adult, and it is forbidden to portray intentionally childlike appearances, mannerisms and speech patterns, regardless of your character's psychological age.

All Entities are by nature alien to mortals: their unending lifespan, alien minds, and mutable, timeless, or non-Euclidean bodies allow them to operate on a cosmic scale that mortals can hardly dream of grasping. Similarly, it is nigh impossible for an Entity to understand quite what it is like to live a mortal life, as their experience even of an ordinary act such as grocery shopping is prone to balloon into something quite extraordinary, which nevertheless collapses back into yet another mere blip in their infinite existence at the end of the day.

That said, it's a lot of work for a mortal player to try to portray a truly alien mind (we know, we've tried). So while you are more than welcome to experiment with whatever non-human concepts you care to imagine, we don't require any minimum level of strangeness from player characters.

It is up to you whether your character has had much exposure to mortal beings and what exactly this looked like. They might have walked amongst mortals in disguise, be worshipped by them, regulate the laws of space and time which allow them to experience their realities, or only ever heard of them in theory. All of these are scenarios you may like to consider when designing your homeworld.

Emporium aims to explore themes of selfhood and identity in the context of characters' immortal existence, and the interactions - both extraordinary and mundane - that take place within it. There is no convention for the gendering of Entities (subject to the limitations present under the CAT policy - no gender relations that replicate real-world oppression), and we encourage players to consider what, if anything, gender means to their characters.

One character might identify as masculine, employing he/him pronouns; another might find concepts of binary gender alien, identifying zirself using zie/zir pronouns; another still might reject gendered personhood in its entirety, seeing itself as embodying or enacting an abstract principle or process, and employing it/its pronouns. Be respectful of people's character choices, especially when using pronouns such as it/its which are sometimes points of sensitivity, and assume good faith as other players explore themes that they are interested in!

Perhaps a Chimera’s name had never been spelled out by anything but the flight path of peregrines. Perhaps a Glory’s name can only be sung out by a choir of ten thousand voices, over three days and three nights. Perhaps an Implement worked so discreetly and smoothly, its presence was never known, and it never had a name before.

Regardless, Entities’ names all manifest in a certain way in Emporium, and when one Entity addresses another, the Emporium Translation Matrix fills in the name for them just as quickly and discreetly as if they had known it all along. Typically, each type of Entity’s name manifests in one of two ways, as presented below.

DON'T

• use unicode characters or Emojis! This could break the email system!
• make direct reference to real world mythological/religious entities, real world figures, or characters from real world media. (See the relevant section in our Conduct and Themes policy.)

DO

• let us know if there is a particular part of your character's name that you would like us to prioritise in their email address, as we will most likely need to simplify them if they are long.

A Glory’s name tends to either signify their metaphysical purity and aloofness (1), or display their unbound glory and absolute magnificence (2).

• 1. One word (relatively) abstract noun: eg “Time”, “Apocalypse”, “Knowledge”
• 2. Extravagant epithets (with esoteric names that abide to alien/made up phonologies): eg “The Twilit Mbwambwali”, “The Triumphant Radiance”, “Euphoria in Excelsis, Huntress Sublime, She Who Makes the Stars Bleed”

Note: If you choose 2, please indicate which name/epithet is the most core to your character. This will appear as your wiki username and in your IC email address. If you do not, we will choose one for you.

A Chimera’s name tends to either match their own vibrant immediacy and overwhelming presence (1), or demonstrate their chimeric and complex nature (2).

• 1. Colour name in the style of how paints are named, often evoking natural (mineral/flora/fauna/etc) and emotional motifs: eg “Molten Amber”, “Pale Rose Blush”, “Vitriol of Copper”, “Quinacridone Violet”
• 2. Four word name in the form of “Adj-Adj-Adj (Noun)”: eg “Vibrant-Mellifluous-Sweet (Joy)”, “Good-Bad-Nonsensical (Truth)”, “Shielding-Warping-Embracing (Shadow)”, “Smiling-Singing-Waiting (Maw)”

Note: Chimerae with names in the form of 2 tend to be known as one of the three adjectives, while the noun part of their name is treated as a true name or a close personal secret that reveals too much. If you choose 2, the noun part of your name will not appear in your username or your IC email address.

An Implement’s name tends to either reflect their dual nature of having jobs of cosmic importance and yet being oddly mundane (1), or hint at their place within a larger structure or community of similar Entities (2).

• 1. Human first name with an occupational surname, either a real world surname with occupational roots (eg Fisher, Piper, Smith), or just put “-er” on the end of a verb or noun: eg “Ahmed Fisher”, “Johnny Gangster”, “Michelle Organiser”
• 2. Human first name followed by a string of numbers: eg “Virginia487, Scott003, Nanako77”