The Dominions
The Dominions are the great anthropomorphic embodiments of the universal concepts of life. The seven entities serve as the great caretakers of the universe, overseeing and defining concepts such as free will, death, and dreams. Despite their cosmic presence, the Dominions manifest as a very human-like family, complete with all the drama and tensions inherent in any group of siblings.
The Great Domains
The most significant structures within the Platonic Field, the metaphysical/spiritual plane of thought and emotion, are universal conceptual ideas. These concepts are massive Platonic forms, coalesced Platonic superstructures known as Domains. These Domains are to the Platonic Field as the fundamental forces of physics (gravity, electromagnetism, the Speed Force, etc) are to the Quantum Field.
The Great Domains are:
- The Domain of Free Will and Predestination (known as the Garden of Forking Paths)
- The Domain of Life and Death (known as the Sunless Lands)
- The Domain of Abstract Thought, Imagination, and Dreams (known as the Dream Lands)
- The Domain of Creation and Destruction (known as the Fulcrum)
- The twin Domains of Ambition/Action and Resignation/Inaction (respectively known as the Threshold and the Gray Realm)
- The Domain of Insanity and Rationality (known as the Madness)
Those able to travel in the Platonic Field can visit a Domain, a virtual space that feels as authentic and expansive as the universe. Each Domain also represents its opposite, so the Domain of Free Will is also the Domain of Fate and Predestination. By defining what is not real, the Dream Lands also define reality, i.e., what is real.
The Dominions
Each Domain has an embodiment or incarnation called a Dominion. These are the guardians and caretakers of each Domain and its concept, but they do not exist separately from the Domains they embody. For example, the Domain of Imagination is called the Dream Lands, and its Dominion is the Oneiromancer, who is simultaneously the Lord of the Dream Lands and the Dream Lands themselves.
The Family
There are seven Great Dominions, one each for the Great Domains, who see themselves as the children of the Source and the Greater Darkness—the children of light and dark, of time and night. They view each other as siblings, with all the dysfunctional relationships of any mortal family. The eldest is the stoic the Oracle, embodying fate and free will. Next is the Ouroboros, the gatekeeper between life and death, who can be as comforting as any medical worker. In contrast, her younger brother, the Oneiromancer, embodying imagination, is as introspective and self-absorbed as any artist.
The fourth Dominion, the Dominion of creation and destruction, is embodied by the Olethros. Once an active force in the early universe, he has since grown weary of his role and has stepped away to pursue his own agenda. This demonstrates that while the Dominions may embody their Domains, they are not essential to the existence of those concepts; in this case, creation and destruction continue without his involvement.
Each elder Domain personifies the dual nature of its charge. The Oracle, for instance, embodies both free will and fate or predestination. However, the fifth and sixth Dominions are twins, the Orexis and the Oizys. Each embodies opposing aspects such as action versus inaction and motivation versus depression. They are balanced only when considered together. Unfortunately, when separated, they risk embodying the worst aspects of their Domains.
The seventh and youngest Dominion is the Oloflux, the embodiment of sanity and madness. She is treated as a favoured younger sister by the older Dominions but may be the most powerful of them all.
Death and Replacement
As embodiments of universal concepts, the Dominions cannot be killed in the conventional sense. Instead, like many of the unliving, their individual personas can undergo a “death of personality.” When this occurs, their current personality appears to die, but their responsibilities, duties, and presence in the universe remain. A new persona will emerge almost instantly, often shaped by those around the original persona at the time of its “death.”
The Ancient Code
The Dominions are members of the Immanent Council. They are bound by the Ancient Code, the set of rules and conventions that governs the actions of the Councillors and their interactions with one another. The Virtues and their servants may pay lip service to the Code, but the Dominions take it deadly seriously.
Only parts of this code are known.
- 7th Prohibition: A Councillor may not enter another’s Domain or Realm without permission. Thus a Dominion has to be invited enter the Silver City or another Domain.
- 11th Prohibition: A Councillor may not harm another Councillor or their family. This seems to extend to include their children, lovers, and descendants.
Two more rules were added after the Rebellion of the Virtues:
- 21st Prohibition: Unless exercising their duties, no Councillor may interfere in the life of a mortal.
- 22nd Prohibition: No Councillor may love a mortal.
Timeline for The Dominions
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The First World The Oracle awakens
The first Dominion, the eldest child of the Triarch, a primordial one called the Oracle, awakens. As the Monitor watches, so it is the duty of the Oracle to record all that is.
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The First World The Ouroboros awakens
Almost unnoticed, the Ouroboros steps into existence. With little to do, she bides her time by touring the newly formed Universe and keeping her brother the Oracle company.
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The First World The Oneiromancer awakens
The Void, the Greater Darkness, falls back into slumber, becoming the first being to sleep and dream. The act of the first dream calls forth the third Dominion, a primordial one called the Oneiromancer, whose duty it is to safeguard dreams and imagination (the things which are not).
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The First World The Oletheros awakens
The first stars threaten to illuminate the Elder Things and attract the attention of Bleed-horrors from the Overvoid, great predators that seep in from the Bleed between worlds. To defend these new sources of light and order, the fourth of the Dominions, a primordial one called the Olethros, is created by the Source and tasked with battling the Elder Things and the Bleed-horrors.
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The First World Orexis and Orizys appear; the Graces awaken
A heated debate at the Council Immanent gets so intense that the Dominions Orexis, the personification of action, and Orizys, the personification of inaction, incarnate spontaneously amid the Councilors. To balance their influence, the Source raises the Graces (Eminence the witness, Equinox the judge, and Empath the mercy) to balance and rule their influence.
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The First World The Rebellion of the Virtues and the Fall of the Empyrean
The Eminence brings news of the emergence of mortal life to the Silver City. A schism immediately develops between a rebel faction led by the Empyrean, who consider this new life an abomination to be erased, and a loyalist faction led by the Elevatus, who believe it should be nurtured. A pitched battle erupts between their supporters. The Olethros attempts to separate them, but the bungled intervention of the Graces results in the persona death of the Olethros and the Eminence. The Source’s response is instantaneous.
The rebels are stripped of their station and ejected from the Silver City. Their punishment will be to serve Ouroboros as the jailers of corrupt mortal spirits. For their part, the Equinox and Empath are sentenced to undergo persona death, but they will be allowed to continue to serve the Council. Their new personas are granted by binding them to a succession of mortal hosts. The Dominions mourn their brother and lay his first persona to rest in the vaults beneath the Silver City. A new persona eventually emerges who continues his duties.
The First World, the Primordial Age, ends.
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