Balan

"For it has all been written and it will all be written once more upon the Tablets of Time, as instructed by the Final Justice and the Lord of the Law." — the Book of Balan

The Final Justice

Balan is one of the twelve gods of the Heavenly Council. Balan features prominently in much of the Heavenly Council's cosmology and eschatology—it is his actions that both ushered in the beginning the Mithril Era and will supposedly have predicted the Final Doom of all mortalkind. Balan holds dominion over natural and mortal laws, writing, order, civilization, public service, and equality. Additionally, he is believed to play an important role in the movement of souls from the world of death to the afterlife.

Divine Domains

Balan is the god of laws, writing, justice, order, civilization, public service and equality. His divine domains are Knowledge and Grave.

Holy Books & Codes

Balan is the god of laws and is said to have actually written the original copy of the Heavenly Codex, which became the basis for all mortal laws. The "Book of Balan" is the largest book in the Heavenly Codex, because of the inclusion of multiple law codes as compiled by the Final Justice.

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Balan's divine symbol is a crossed cordoned flail and an iron rod. His sacred colors are white and slate blue.

Tenets of Faith

Though not the head of the Heavenly Council and not considered to be a very "powerful" god, Balan is one of the most widely revered gods in Holos along with Uriah and Porcia.

• This is largely because Balan presides over the Judgments, the monthly gatherings of the Heavenly Council where the gods determine where to send the dead—to the Underworld, to the Burning Labyrinths or to the Celestial Mountains. Balan argues for those who have no divine favor to the Council.

• It is also his duty to escort the damned dead to the Gates of Castorai where the gate to the Burning Labyrinths and the Court of Mists is. He and his angels are said to keep and protect this portal to the evil realms.

Holidays

Balan's feast month is Sun's Crest and he shares his feast day, the Day of Noons, with Ezrahil. Balan's weekly services are held on Brothersday.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Balan is typically depicted as a stern, bearded male in fine white robes. He's often shown either holding a set of cuneiform glass pane—fabled the Time Tablets—and an iron stylus, or he is shown wielding his cordoned flail and iron rod. Older depictions of Balan depict him with the head of a crane and dressed in a cloak of white feathers. These depictions, particularly images from the Mithril Era, show him in a more contemplative state than his disciplinary Palladian form. Sometimes, in larger reliefs, he is shown astride his unicorn mount, Artaza the White.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Balan is famed for his Battle on Mount Castorai, where he faced down Rheseldar and her army of 10,000 devils wearing nothing but his white clerk’s robes and carrying only his Repentor flail and iron rod. Balan slew every devil and drove Rheseldar from Mount Castorai to her realm in the Court of Smoke. After the battle, Balan’s lost blood pooled and formed the fully armored form of Ezrahil, the Truth Deliverant.

Social

Family Ties

Balan is the son of Uriah⁣ and Porcia.
He has no spouse or children, and it is said that his love of mortalkind is so great, he needs no Celestial partner. However, some consider Ezrahil to be his daughter as she was born from his blood after the Battle of Mount Castorai.
Balan also has several divine siblings:

• Rashi, the Tempest's Fury

• Lacorré, the Sea's Lover

• Calorba, the Beast's Foe

• Acien Tali, the Lady of All Wilds

Hobbies & Pets

Though rarely mentioned, the Heavenly Codex and its supplementary texts suggest that Balan is also the creator and anointed rider of Artaza the White, the god of all unicorns and pegasi. He sometimes is shown astride Artaza particularly in Auloan art from the Mithril Era.

Divine Classification

Deity

Alignment

Lawful Neutral

Church/Cult

Heavenly Council

Honorary & Occupational Titles

The Final Justice; The Lord of the Laws; The Last Judgement; The Breaker of Castorai;

Current Residence

The Celestial Mountains

Aligned Organization

Heavenly Council

Hallowed Arms:

Repentor: a cordoned flail made from the hair of the first unicorn, Arzata

Holy Orders:

• Acolyte: Clerk

• Cleric: Arbiter (Knowledge Domain)

• Paladin: Order of Artaza (Oath of Redemption; Order of Constables (Oath of Devotion)

• Leader: Justice

• Temple: Tribunal

Animal Harbingers

Crane; Unicorn (archaic)