Tomes of Balance

Purpose

The Tomes were created to guide mortals and help them understand the truth of the world. They describe the incredibly delicate balancing act that the world is always in. Each tome contains a variety of stories and poems meant to explain the importance of that balance to the masses, and how the gods are always striving to maintain it.

Document Structure

Clauses

The Tomes consist of 5 different books:

Tome of Tranquility

The first tome details the creation of the world by the four elder gods. The tome describes the four as being extremely beautiful and god like. According to the tome they were two beautiful for mortal eyes to handle and so the tome directly bans depictions of the four. The tome goes on to discuss how the four created the material plane from absolutely nothing and birthed the world into existence. The four basked in the beauty and pure balance of their new world for millennia, before creating the first mortals. The book details the various ways the natural world remains in balance through a variety of cycles.

Tome of Divinity

The second tome details the creation of mortals and the other gods. The four decided to create 12 races of mortals that would serve a variety of different roles in the world. The four supposedly created the mortals to help maintain the balance in the world, but soon learned mortals are driven by conflicting and much more imbalanced forces. The four originally intended for each race to take up a specific role, however they quickly learned that mortals aspirations deviate from that. The four had trouble directly involving themselves in the lives of mortals due to their beauty. To solve this problem the gods selected a mortal envoy from each race and gave them divine powers over various aspects of the world. The 12 newly ordained gods used their power to influence mortals to help maintain the balance the four so desperately fought to maintain.

Tome of Harmony

The third tome deviates from the other four which are mostly told through various stories and fables. Tome of Harmony is made up of over 200 different hymns and various songs. The songs tell of various deeds of the four as well as the other 12 gods. The songs depict various elements of the world and how beautifully it all balances together.

Tome of Flames

The fourth tome tells tales of disasters. The tome details that the greed and lust of mortals began to cause imbalance in the world. No matter how much the gods tried they were unable to fulfill their duties and influence and keep track of all the mortals. The mortals began making large sprawling cities and destroying many important natural features creating imbalances. They waged wars and destroyed landscapes, while others meddled in magical things they had no business in. All of this warped and changed the world, causing great imbalances and bringing plagues, famine, and natural disasters to the world. With a heavy heart the four decided the only solution was direct divine actions. Their actions created a series of events that helped return equilibrium, however it killed nearly all of the mortals, and ruined their cities. The tome details a variety of terrible disasters that wiped cities off the map and is often used to demonstrate the power of the gods if balance is not kept.

Tome of Absolution

The fifth and final tome supposedly contains direct commandments from the four. It details the four absolving the remaining mortals of the wrongs of their people if they agree to be more careful in the future. The four also sets out 7 major rules for the mortals:

• Thou must live a demure lifestyle
• Thou shall not take more then one partner
• Thou shall not lay with a person of the same sex
• Thou who steal shall be receive punishment of equal value to the crime
• Thou will live to serve the gods and the realm
• Thou shall not jeopardize the balance of the realm
• Thou shall not lust for power

By following these rules the four promise a life of luxury and grandiose after death. The four created 12 planes where the gods would reside and do their duties managing the mortals. If a mortal lived their life and followed the commandments, then their soul would go to live with the gods of the upper planes. If they failed to follow these rules and only caused imbalanced they would be punished and forced to spend eternity in the lower planes.

Publication Status

The original Tome's were kept in the Grand Vatican Palace in Paris. Currently the church distributes abridged versions to the masses and complete versions can be found in various major cathedrals.

Legal status

The Tome's are considered holy books to the Communion of Balance, and their word is considered law by the Jouilat culture.

Historical Details

Background

The tomes were supposedly written by holy envoys of the four to guide mortals into a new age of balance. The tomes were used by Altinum and Hilverdoorn descendants to form the Communion of Balance.

Legacy

The tomes have been used by the church for over 500 years, and the church's growth shows no signs of slowing down.

Type

Text, Religious

Medium

Paper

Ratification Date

0

Signatories (Organizations)

• Communion of Balance