Fate Beacon
What are Fate Beacons?
Everywhere on Theoma is touched by the weave of Fate. The idea that people can evade Fate by moving to Missing theomes is nothing but a common misconception (though it does greatly weaken Fate influences to do so). Fate Beacons are geomantic spells that land gods work which apply to all of Theoma.
How many kinds of Fate Beacon are there?
There are as many kinds of Fate Beacon as the land gods can invent, and each of them has its own details.
Are fate beacons inevitable?
Fate beacons collectively create the weave of fate that exists everywhere in Theoma. Nevertheless, they are not inevitable.
Some people, especially necromancers, are averse to all fate influences. It's possible to break one's connection with a fate beacon by visiting the theome from which it is broadcast and shattering a doll made of brittle ceramic. The dolls being shattered must be made to represent the person performing the ritual. Only one's own connection can be broken this way, but the dolls are commissioned by the dozens sometimes for necromancers who want to cut all their ties to the land gods.
Common Fate Beacons:
"Visit Me" Beacon
Used by land gods who want their theome to be seen by as many of the people on Theoma as possible, these protect the health and welfare of people all across Theoma, while boosting the fame of their point of origin.
While the effect of visit me beacons is fundamentally beneficial, some people consider Visit Me Beacons to be conceptually annoying, and organize trips to the various theomes that have them just to get them over with.
"Visit Me" beacons
Examples:
"Dream" Beacon
Used by land gods who want to lure immigrants, but never tourists. Fundamentally the same kind of influence as a Visit Me Beacon, Dream beacons are considerably subtler. They affect primarily dreams, but may boost performance in activities similar to those performed within the theome that is seeking immigrants.
Like with visit me beacons, visiting a theome that maintains a dream beacon breaks its connection. Most people don't bother; even to geomancers (who have some perception of Fate's weave), the dream beacon has no perceptible impact save to individuals who the land gods think would enjoy living in the theome for which the dream beacon is set up.
Examples:
"Willpower" Beacon
Used by land gods to strengthen and assist people who have passionately individual natures, willpower beacons try to thread the needle on a difficult benevolence by improving the Fate of the people who are most skeptical of Fate. There is an association between willpower beacons and necromancer-friendly land gods.
Willpower beacons are the most popular kind of fate beacon. Opposing a willpower beacon is ridiculous; these ones support rebels against Fate! Which leads to people who adore Fate and those who oppose it most strictly agreeing that the willpower beacon is a bad thing, being perhaps the only thing such diametrically opposed individuals can agree on. This is the only kind of beacon that anti-necromancers typically break their connection with.
Examples:
"Specialist" Beacon
Used by land gods who want to promote artisanry to extreme refinement, specialist beacons bolster people who work to master very specific skillsets for their trade. It is easiest to construct "skilltakers" and "skill archives" in the theomes that put up specialist beacons, so that the people in these theomes can collaborate in training to master skills more quickly.
Specialist beacons are some of the most bizarre ones to oppose, since they only activate to support people who've dedicated their will to a skill.
Examples:
"Tolerance" Beacon
Used by land gods who want to encourage people to get along peacefully with each other, tolerance beacons promulgate good social outcomes through Fate so that people become gentler and more socially competent over time, in the best kind of social competency.
Breaking one's connection with tolerance beacons is something of a taboo, though a few people still find reasons to do it. This most often occurs when people discover something intolerable to them that they're convinced should be intolerable; in such cases people will venture to tolerance beacons to break the connection so that they can be sure to always have the will to reject the intolerable.
Examples:
"Stability" Beacon
Used by land gods who want to encourage the pursuit of contentment over the pursuit of ecstacy, stability beacons are something like a cross between tolerance beacons and regularity beacons. Promoting a psychological even keel within and without their theome, stability beacons oppose upheaval within society by opposing upheaval within the mind. These are considered a rather conservative influence.
The land gods really wish people wouldn't break their connection with these, but some people are happier without this influence in their mind. The wiser someone is, the more likely the stability beacon is just dragging them down.
Weather Beacons:
"Blizzard" Beacon
Winter weather lovers rejoice in the theomes that host Blizzard Beacons, as they are the homes of land gods who adore snow and ice. The operation of a Blizzard beacon promotes cold weather across Theoma.
It isn't clear what breaking one's connection with a weather beacon actually means, so few people ever bother.
Examples:
"Snowmelt" Beacon
Springtime strengthens in theomes temperate or cold as a result of Snowmelt Beacons, which rise in the homes of land gods who adore the end of winter. The operation of a Snowmelt beacon provides detail and wonder to the end of winter.
It isn't clear what breaking one's connection with a weather beacon actually means, so few people ever bother.
Examples:
Rare Fate Beacons:
"Tekagoli Luck" Beacon
Tekagoli luck is considered a kind of curse on Theoma. Having Tekagoli luck means having bad, but not ruinous, luck. Some of the more arguably sadistic land gods study this stuff in their own theomes and propagate it around Theoma. Do they believe that immortality is easier with occasional setbacks? Do the ill fortunes that people suffer from Tekagoli luck prevent graver, more irrecoverable misfortunes in the future? Defenders of Tekagoli Luck claim that delays, confusions, misunderstandings, ailments, minor injuries, and so forth can all play a role in changing peoples' Fate to avert greater sufferings in the future.
Despite the existence of defenders of these, countless people consider Tekagoli Luck to be the worst kind of beacon without exception, and so they visit the Tekagoli Luck theomes to enact the specific necromantic rite that breaks their connection with a fate beacon.
Examples:
"Regularity" Beacon
Deep order in life and the economy is a key to prosperity, so believe those who adore the regularity beacons. These influence fate to reinforce constant productivity and Fate people to be productive in an orderly if regimented way. However, there is something of an esoteric conflict between different opinions over these beacons.
Regularity beacons are controversial influences that some people try to strengthen while others try to break the influence over them so they will not live regimented lives.
Examples:
"Uncertainty" Beacon
Progress depends on the ability to stop and question, not the ability to 'just follow orders'. People who are confused and uncertain in life run the risk of seeming like deadweight as they fail to find the answers they seek, and their misery can resonate painfully. Uncertainty beacons try to improve these fates by offering guidance to those who most need it, and although people sometimes misunderstand this (either by thinking that the beacons promote uncertainty or that they resolve it inappropriately), these are a beneficial influence which tries to support uncertain people in living lives worth living forever.
Skepticism of the uncertainty beacon is ironically supported by the beacon itself, which supports such skepticism in general. A few of the people who've gone through with breaking the connection report that their minds are clearer without so many questions buzzing around in them, but others have occasionally sought at once to reconnect with the beacon, as without the beacon supporting their uncertainty they discover that they'd rather be a more inquiring person with a protected fate.
Examples:
"Healing" Beacon
Aging is blocked in all theomes, but in some theomes ALL deaths are blocked. In the theomes where healing beacons are broadcast from, wounds heal very rapidly and health is maintained with stellar perfection.
Blocking one's attachment to healing beacons is considered ridiculous. They do nothing but support everyone's health. These are one of the most basic arguments that Fate is a beneficial force.
Examples:
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