Xiuthan

Cycle of Life Interrupted

Where once she brought about the natural order of things, with the end of lives creating a base for new beginnings... now all that surrounds her is death.

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— Worshiper of Xiuthan

In the middle of Cathedris's largest country, in a massive stretch of land nearly completely devoid of life, trudges the broken god that once exemplified the cycle of life and death. With every footstep she takes, an aura of decay spreads outwards, and anything that might still be clinging to life in this barren landscape soon fades. Xiuthan used to be the god of Growth and Decay; nurturing life and helping it grow, live, and eventually die to make space for and fuel new life. In the thousands of years since she became a husk, all that she's been able to do is end life instead.
Her 4 arms, each hundreds of meters long with one too many joints, sway awkwardly as knobbly knees propel her slowly forward, one awkward step at a time. What was once a great and elegant gown covering her 460m tall form is now reduced to a tattered cape that hangs loosely from her hood, revealing a guant and atrophied body wrapped in dull purple skin. Some like to say that Xiuthan used to be the puppeteer of life, pulling the strings of mortal beings and dancing them through their place in time; now the only one being strung along is Xiuthan herself.

Death Begets Life

Above all else, Xiuthan was dedicated to the cycle that is life; every single part of the process was of equal importance to her. From the decay of organic matter breaking down into various nutrients, to the fauna that feeds on whatever has just absorbed those nutrients, it's all a key part of the chain of life.

Continental Nursery

The area she called home, a large portion of the continent Vir Adanea that'd later become the country Kazcallen, was essentially an evolutionary hotspot thanks to Xiuthan. It wasn't that she necessarily created new species however; rather any spark of life that seemed viable would thrive, earning it's chance to live and to die, to become a part of the cycle of life.

This place used to be so vibrant -- it used to be home to such biodiversity. Even now, we're discovering new species that once lived here at an astonishing rate.

— Kazcallen archaeologist

The Nursery, as it'd later come to be known, was home to more species of flora and fauna than anywhere else in Cathedris. It was a patchwork landscape of different biomes all shouldering up against one another into a beautiful mosiac; where species adapted to specific climates were able to live in close proximity to areas that'd otherwise be antithetical to their existance, leading to many new mutations and adaptations overall.

Scraps from The Comprilith

A room dedicated entirely to skeletons of some of the more unexpected species found within the Continental Nursery. At the time of discovery, this room single handedly doubled the amount of known reptiles within the region.

A book, dictated by Xiuthan, of the expected life-spans for thousands of different species. Curiously, humans are not included.

Birth

Born on the 6th day of the 19 Days of Creation.

Kill Count

Killed T'kalia during The Seven Day War.

Death

Died on 4th day of The Seven Day War.

Killed by

Codod and Farad's combined effort.

Present-day Power

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Movement

Xiuthan seems to be confined to the Kazcallen Desolation Plains, walking endlessly in a warped figure-eight pattern. She moves slowly, but with an unstoppable energy in every movement she makes; per day she trudges roughly 100km.

Creation and Destruction

Around each footstep sprouts miasma and toxins that have an immediate and fatal effect on life. Should anything have been alive before Xiuthan arrived, it will shortly die, as an aura of death and decay forever follows her.

Awareness

In her life, Xiuthan would love to watch living things thrive and grow; in a cruel twist of fate this desire to see life is all that remains of her awareness. In her broken state, should she see anything living, Xiuthan moves directly to it, bringing her aura along.

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Process of Time

Yes, T'kalia's love for Xiuthan was strong. He thought of her as the only other deity that appreciated time in the way he does. But the truth of the matter is, she didn't think of time in the same manner; to Xiuthan, it was but a fuel to her process.

— The Tower Duo; A history of Rak'tos and T'kalia

In general, not a lot is known about the relationships between the God-husks; only a few examples can be seen within the records. The companionship and codependency of Codod and Farad, the working relationship between T'kalia and Rak'tos, and finally the one-sided love from T'kalia to Xiuthan. The reason for this is thought to be because for T'kalia, Time was essential to his very core, but Xiuthan was incapable of ever seeing it as more than a mere tool. Time to Xiuthan was simply part of the chain -- she cared not for the intricacies or complexities of it, but rather simply how it gave space for her life to be born, to grow old, and to die.

All that remains

Circlets of the Chain

In her prime, each of Xiuthan's 4 arms were home to a circlet of power; together they formed a portion of the chain of life that she believed so fully in. Each circlet represented a stage of life, which was also reflected in each circlets appearance. Bright, unblemished gold for Genesis; solid silver flecked with pearlescent materials for Maturity; weathered yet unbroken steel for Seniority; and simple, roughly carved wood for Rebirth.

Maximum Potential

Xiuthan was capable of using each circlet individually, or in combination with any other; they contained and focused the power of life and death within them, and allowed her to direct it at will. In times of great need, such as during The Seven Day War, Xiuthan could use all 4 circlets at once to produce a cone of energy so large and so strong that anything caught within would be totally and irreversibly removed from the chain of life entirely.

Current Power

As far as historians and Entheologists can tell, the circlets no longer exist. At some point during the Seven Day War, when the combined efforts of Codod and Farad were employed in southern Kazcallen to bring about Xiuthan's end, the circlets were utterly destroyed. Xiuthan was left broken, and Kazcallen was left desolate.

The Desolation Plains are actually an archaeological hotspot -- so long as you steer clear of Xiuthan. Which, as it turns out, isn't too difficult. As long as nothing living moves near her, she stays fairly contained in relatively small 10,000 square kilometer area.
...Which makes me worry about the end result of the Kazcallen Revitalization Project, however. What happens when the renewed life expands too close to Xiuthan? Won't it draw her into civilization?

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— Kazcallen archaeologist

To Renew What Was Lost

Sometime within the last 100 or so years, an idea was put forth that quickly gained traction among Kazcallens: attempt to restore life to the now desolate plains that fill up 75% of their country. Back in the initial stages of the idea, however, the technology required to make any sort of impact just simply did not exist. Interest waned quickly, and the project overall was nearly forgotten about until modern times -- when the amount of extinct species being discovered each day by Archaeologists seemed to skyrocket, reigniting the public's focus on the biodiversity that this continent used to enjoy.
However, even with the advancements in technology (and some experimental use of transmutive Catalurgy), not all were on board with this idea. Across Cathedris there are certain worshipers of the God-husks that believe in "deservidism" -- the idea that the way things are now, broken, barren, and dangerous, are the way things are meant to be. Xiuthan, out of all the God-husks, has the largest amount of followers that believe in this ideal; and they're the ones disagree the most and the loudest when it comes to the Kazcallen Revitalization Project.

The Consumed Church

Along the northern coast of Kazcallen, right at the border between the desolation plains and habitable land, is an ancient decrepit church from the times before the godly civil war. Barely standing at all, it serves as the main congregation grounds for Xiuthan's deservidistic followers. They are a somber and bleak group, worshiping their god from afar; taking solace in the way things are now, but working to undermine any attempts to improve the plains in which Xiuthan trudges.

Guild of Growers and Finders

This guild, the main driving force behind the Revitalization Project, contains members that come from a wide variety of background; there are archaeologists, chemists, engineers, and politicians that all believe in the cause. Of the whole guild, over half of them are self identified as Xiuthan worshipers -- though they differentiate themselves from the deservidistic followers by attempting to bring about what Xiuthan would've wanted, rather than wallowing in what is here and now.

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