Zun
Zun is the youngest of the celestial Stewards, created by the Mother of Us All (MOUA) alongside his siblings Resh, Isoko, and Huichi, and was born just prior to the arrival of the Devourer in their universe and subsequently being forced to flee from it.
From the beginning, Zun has been a figure of intense conviction, embodying the raw force and purity of summer. He is known for his black-and-white worldview, seeing morality and the stewardship of life as absolute concepts with little room for compromise. He took on early the role among the Stewards to protect his siblings and maintain the vitality and purity of life during the summer season.
As Zun matured, his serious and overprotective nature became more pronounced, eventually causing tensions between him and the other Stewards. He was particularly disturbed by the un-sanctioned rise of the Prime, the sentient beings born from the corruption left by the Harbingers. While his siblings debated ways to steward and guide the Prime, Zun saw them as a direct threat to the balance and harmony they were tasked to preserve - they were not part of the Mother and Father’s plan. This led Zun to advocate for their eradication, a stance that would eventually drive a wedge between him and his siblings, particularly Resh and Isoko.
In his later iteration as Zun-2, Zun took a more extreme path, believing the new races his siblings had derived from the Prime needed something to unify them against the Prime, as the Prime had begun a campaign to eradicate them.
He “revealed” himself to the Maia, Pukta, Grizzla, and Nakhasi, declaring himself the "One True God" and protector of the realm. It worked, the races united and fought back, and the Prime were thought completely eradicated.
While his intentions were good, this declaration of godhood began Zun's descent into authoritarian rule, where his successor would attempt to form absolute unity through fear and domination.
The current successor of the Zun Power, Zun-3, has become consumed by his own fear of mortality and the weakening of his power. His obsession with remaining immortal led him to take increasingly desperate actions, including kidnapping Bulan, the daughter of Huichi-2, forcing her into experiments of her powers to find a way to extend his indefinitely. While unsuccessful so far, it did result in developing a method to prolong the lives of the soldiers of his fanatical followers, The Exalted, leading to the creation of the infamous fighting force known as “The Empty.”
Zun-3, like his predecessor, made an “appearance” to the Exalted and claimed that his “absence” had been due to fighting off the Devourer, but he needed the full devotion of all peoples of Alathor in order to maintain the fight. If it could not be mustered, then he would have to let them be consumed, which spurred the fanatical expansion of the Theocracy of Aurorum.
In truth, Zun-3 found a way to go into a “stasis” mode, preserving his charge while he waits for Bulan to find a way to extend it forever.
Divine Domains
Zun’s divine domains encompass Heat and Fire, Purity and Cleansing, Judgment and Morality, Passion and Intensity, Power and Authority, Conflict and Struggle, Discipline and Order, Rebirth through Destruction, Righteous Anger, Unyielding Will, Divine Sovereignty, Ambition and Drive, and Justice.
His divine power is associated with the growth of crops, the long days of summer, and the intensity of life during this season and his embodiment of purity is reflected in his harsh moral judgments, believing that only through strict adherence to his vision of right and wrong can the world be made whole. His control over fire and heat symbolizes not only the nurturing aspects of life but also the relentless and consuming force of purification, often burning away what he deems impure or unworthy.
However, his control of fire and heat can also lead to destruction, as unchecked power in summer can cause droughts, wildfires, and devastation. His demands of the people of Alathor have also thrown off the balance so carefully established by Father and Mother and meant to be maintained by the Stewards, resulting in a prolonged summer and global warming, as the planet begins to take on more lifeforce than it can hold, which will inevitably lead to its destruction, which will then subsequently free the Devourer to consume the universe.
