Godbloods

Godbloods are the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of Gods (specifically Elemental Spirits i.e. those who have a core inside their body and produce elemental blood.

People designate Godbloods based on how far descended they are from their divine ancestor. A God’s child is a half-Spirit Godblood with 50% elemental blood. A grandchild is a quarter-Spirit with 25% elemental blood. An octant-Spirit is a great-grandchild with 12.5% blood. If a person has more than one God in their family tree, they’re designated as a double/triple of whatever element they have. Zakuro, for instance, is a triple-octant Godblood since she has 12.5% Mind, 12.5% Water, and 12.5% Death elemental blood. If the generations don’t match up, a person will just list both of what they are. For example, Sanami is a quarter-Spirit Fire, octant-Spirit Mind (25% Fire, 12.5% Mind). There are some people, especially on Aloutia, who find these designations distasteful. It reminds them of the time when Cherish the Monster tried to enforce eugenics on the population. Some Godbloods do not like to use these terms at all, though they are in use by the government for the sake of keeping track of people.

Magical abilities are usable for every 10% of a person’s blood which is elemental. Therefore, a half-Spirit (50%) can use 5 abilities. A quarter-Spirit can use 2, an an octant can use 1.

There are two contradictory truths to the elemental cores: 1. In order to become a God, you must die while holding the core, but dead people cannot have children. 2. The elemental cores want you to have children.

Well, the cores don’t want Gods to have children. They’re inanimate objects with no thoughts, feelings, or desires. But they are designed to pass on elemental power to the children of Gods. So when the cores were created (long story, a topic for another worldbuilding day), they were designed to ‘revitalize’ the reproductive organs of the God and their sexual partner(s). I could go into more detail on this if you’re curious, but it involves a lot of sex talk, and I’m not talking sexy-sex talk. More like… technical biology.

The other thing to keep in mind about why dead people can’t have babies: the deceased live in Spiritua, where corporeality and incorporeality are swapped. In layman’s terms, it’d be like saying your body becomes your soul and your soul becomes your body. So people in Spiritua are just *souls* but they are physical, able to interact with their environment, touch other souls, etc.

But then there’s the egg problem… eggs are corporeal shells holding a corporeal body, and if a person were to lay their egg in Spiritua, the egg shell would be ‘ghostly’ and float away. The baby’s body would also float outside its egg and immediately die. Since souls don’t enter a body until a month or so after the egg is laid, there’s nothing to anchor the ghost-body inside its ghost-egg. There are some convoluted ways involving magical powers to keep the egg, body, and eventual soul in place and let the kid be born in Spiritua, but the Gods rarely do this because 1. It’s complicated and requires a lot of magic that could go VERY wrong if one person fucks up and 2. part of their philosophy is they want to have kids so those kids can get involved in mortal affairs.

Therefore, a Goddess who is pregnant or the female partner of a male God will lay their egg in the mortal world. They will plan in advanced where they will lay the egg. Sometimes they will inform their Hierophant. Sometimes a random mortal person will wake up to discover a mysterious egg in their living room.

So how many Godbloods are in the Pentagonal Dominion? It’s impossible to give an exact number, especially since some (like Su) prefer to keep a low profile and don’t announce to the world that they exist. Each God also takes a different stance on having children:

Sawyer and Laynie try to have a child every 10 years. Because the Death element is predisposed to making conception difficult, they aren’t always successful. When they are unsuccessful, Sawyer will pick a mortal or two to be his ‘drinker’—a person who drinks his blood to acquire powers. Requiem and Sayuri are drinkers he chose when he couldn’t get his wife pregnant around 9 years ago.

Windesoar hates kids, hates intimacy, doesn’t like the idea of producing people who could compete with him, and lacks the parts to have kids without science. There are no Wind Godbloods or drinkers in the moral world (he also only has three demigods, the smallest number of any Spirit.)

Cherribell used to have kids frequently, but stopped after her daughter Cherish a.k.a. Cherish the Monster became a complete and irredeemably evil person. Cherribell only dared to have a child after Cherish had been dead for 200 years. She has two Godblood children in the mortal world currently, Rubisco and Calvin. Rubisco is her Hierophant and has a few kids of her own. Calvin is gay and has no children. She occasionally has kids with some of the male Spirits.

Entomothy has children so often that you might as well give up keeping track of them. He has sex with women… a lot… All the countries in central Kamblu (Aloutia’s eastern continent) that have names like Holy Lepido, Holy Lenore, Holy Jajei, they got their names because they are all ruled by Life Godbloods. Many of his kids are through the female Spirits, too.

Flamboil has kids fairly often and tries to put them in strategic places so they can influence events in the mortal world. His kids are usually through the Demigod(dess) of the Sun of his opposite sex, but he occasionally has kids through the opposite-sex Spirits, too.

Sparkato is… problematic. He’s not always able to give consent. He’s also sometimes a sexual predator and needs to be locked away. He does have children, and there are many Lightning Godbloods in the mortal world, though their placement is usually left to his ‘warden’ Irene, Demigoddess of Magnetism, who in turn takes orders from Lucognidus. He has produced children through some of the female Spirits, including his sister Liqua.

Machenerate has PTSD from sexual abuse she suffered as a child. She’s unable to have children, also due to that abuse. There are no Stone Godbloods.

Lucognidus always has eight children alive in the mortal world. When one child passes away, he will produce another. This only counts half-Spirits, not quarters or octants. He has had children through some of the female Spirits.

Liqua enjoys sex and producing Godbloods, so she has many, though not as many as Entomothy since she’s a woman and can only have one at a time whereas he can impregnate many women in short succession. She has children through her demigods as well as some of the male Spirits including her own brother Sparkato.

Icsnow cannot consent to have sex and is physically immature. There are no Ice Godbloods.

In the mortal world, Godbloods are treated like Gods themselves. They are styled as “Your Luminance” and may have titles like Lord or Master. In Aloutia, Godbloods are policed by other Godbloods and can’t go on a conquering rampage, though there are places where they can do some pretty shady stuff. Generally, as long as their shady stuff doesn’t affect the clearbloods, the Emperor doesn’t have a problem with it. In the ‘Holy’ countries of Kamblu, Life Godbloods will compete in secret tournaments of various skills, some straight-up fighting, some which are pretty fucked up, to decide who gets to rule the vassal state. Some other vassal-countries are ruled by Godblood kings or queens. The Godblood Brigade is a branch of the Aloutia army where all Godbloods who want to join the army are placed. A Godblood might also work as a merchant of dance or magic if they have the appropriate skills. In the year 561, most arrests of criminal Godbloods are done by Captain Lungidus Pavo, whose hypnosis ensures safe arrests. One punishment a Godblood may be sentenced to is elemental apheresis, in which they are strapped into a machine that drains their elemental blood while replacing it with donated clear blood. Typically they are under hypnosis during the procedure, as most would sooner put up a fight than lose their magic.

In Ophidia, their policy is to let female Godbloods do whatever they want. They want to conquer a small village and rule it as dictator? Let ‘em. But a male Godblood trying to do the same thing? Ophidia will stop at nothing to eliminate them. They’ll even ask Aloutia for help.

Some Godbloods just want to be left the hell alone. Su’s trying his best to be left alone, though when someone is annoying him, he will push his Godblood status around. Imagine in a sassy voice: “I’m Master Scrimshander to you. You may address me as ‘Your Luminance.’”

There is a story about a Death Godblood who just wanted to live alone, but knew that since she was a Death Godblood, eventually she’d be recruited to be a merchant of dance or magic. A Life Godblood transformed into her image and essentially pretended to be her, and since their powers were similar, convinced other people she was a Death Godblood for a long time.

There’s also the story of Dyurnimdea, a Mind Godblood who was afraid she’d get involved in politics if others found out what she was. She lived her whole life pretending to be a clearblood. She married a man and only told him her secret when they were about to have kids. The man was a Mind elemental, and a very religious one at that, thus a worshipper of her father. The news came as a huge shock!

Some important Godbloods living in the year 561:

Brenna – half-Mind. Imperial Adviser, gives the Emperor a precognition report every day. She is elderly and often indisposed due to tiredness/weakness.

Cecile – half-Mind. Dictator of Ulinor, the underground utopia of technology.

Artemis – quarter-Mind. Assistant to Cecile.

Apollo – quarter-Mind. Assistant to Cecile.

Shikiri – half-Mind. One of the eight Heads of Orochi, the leaders of Ophidia, and president of St. Anco’s Academy. Many people despise her, but acknowledge her as Lucognidus’s voice in Ophidia.

Freya – (Spoiler to say her element). Commander of the Godblood Brigade.

Lungidus – half-Mind. Lucognidus’s only currently-living son. His egg was placed in Macadalia in anticipation of him becoming the next Hierophant, but he wished to join the Godblood Brigade instead.

Loyenie – half-Death. Member of the Godblood Brigade and a merchant of dance.

Longinus - quarter-Mind quarter-Death. First daughter of Lungidus and Loyenie. Training to become a merchant of dance.

Steffa - quarter-Mind quarter-Death. Second daughter of Lungidus and Loyenie. Training to use her precognition to help the Godblood Brigade.

Vio - quarter-Mind quarter-Death. Third daughter of Lungidus and Loyenie.

Marigold - quarter-Mind quarter-Death. Fourth daughter of Lungidus and Loyenie.

Tynan - quarter-Mind quarter-Death. Fifth child of Lungidus and Loyenie. A merchant of dance and the main character in Merchants of Dance and Hedonism.

Seline – half-Death. Merchant of dance. Chancellor Mira wanted her to mate with Danzi, but they aren’t interested.

Danzi – half-Fire. Member of the Godblood Brigade. Fairly young. Under the command of Lungidus, who he lives with. Chancellor Mira wanted him to mate with Seline, but they aren’t interested.

Athiu – half-Fire. Flamboil’s Hierophant. Lives and works in the Fire Temple at Phoenix Nest.

Sanami – octant-Mind and quarter-Fire. Queen of Phoenia. A renowned duelist who’s too caught up in her own court’s affairs to worry about running her country.

Liore – quarter-Death. One of Sanami’s lovers and the father of two of her children. A merchant of dance

Mint – half-Lightning. One of Sanami’s lovers, a woman. A renowned duelist.

Renalia – half-Death. A merchant of dance working for Zent, who in turn works for Queen Sanami. Renalia likes the queen well enough, but feels no loyalty toward her and thinks her court intrigue games are silly. She has a peculiar relationship with Zent. Outwardly, they appear to dislike each other, and yet she keeps accepting his contracts… and they’ve had many children together, including the woman who later changed her name to Shisuibu.

Zent – half-Water. An elderly man who seems to delight in watching court intrigue play out. He has served the royal family of Phoenia since King Phoebus’s early reign.

Santos – octant-Mind quarter-Fire. A Duke in the Monarchia of Phoenia, Sanami’s brother. He claims to hate the frivolous nonsense Sanami and the court do, and yet he participates in it because he swore to protect her at all costs. He is a duelist, but doesn’t care of the ‘honor’ system the court has set up.

Sacrise – octant-Mind quarter-Fire. A Duchess in the Monarchia of Phoenia, Sanami’s sister. Skilled in court intrigue, she keeps Sanami on her toes.

Neveris – quarter-Lightning and quarter-Death. One of Sanami’s lovers. Skilled at court intrigue. A merchant of dance.

Crusche – half-Life. One of Sanami’s lovers. Serves as a court medic and heals those who gets injured in duels.

Shisuibu - quarter-Water quarter-Death. Daughter of Renalia and Zent. Disgusted with court life, she left Aloutia as a teenager to pursue her own ambitions as a merchant of dance in Ophidia.

Zakuro - octant-Water octant-Death octant-Mind. Daughter of Shisuibu and a Mind Godblood whose identity is revealed in Merchants of Knowledge and Magic. Zakuro is the merchant of magic in that book.

Sabraham – half-Life. Hierophant of Entomothy. Lives and works in the Enthy Tower of Lek along with about a hundred other Life Godbloods. Rules the vassal nation of Holy Lepido

Anias – half-Life. Rules the vassal nation of Holy Lenore.

Bereniche – half-Life. Rules the vassal nation of Holy Miriam.

Sythora – half-Life. Rules the vassal nation of Holy Wheatsea.

Jepha – half-Life. Rules the vassal nation of Holy Tomlin

Rubisco – half-Plant. Hierophant of Cherribell.

Calvin – half-Plant. Imperial Physician. Personal doctor to Emperor Ivan.

Su - (Spoiler to say his element). Su is a half-Spirit, but keeps his parentage a secret. He is the merchant of bone from Merchants of Light and Bone.

Amazukimiya – octant-Mind. Her name is often shortened to Ama. Head of the Godblood Syndicate in Ophiuchus. Only 22 years old, but the syndicate is primarily comprised of her many sisters. She is thought to be the most powerful hypnotist to ever live.

Tsukiakari – quarter-Life. Ama’s best friend and lover.

Eijimaru – octant-Mind. Ama’s brother, a precognitioner who she keeps enslaved and hypnotized.

Doremiel – half-Death. A man who wanted to heal, not kill. He asked Cecile to let him live in Ulinor, away from people wanting him to become a merchant of dance or magic. He is a doctor and loves piano music.

Matsuko – half-Water. One of the Heads of Orochi, the leaders of Ophidia. She serves as the Religious Head.

Opaqua – half-Water and half-Life. Warden at the Mortebai Prison on Hydra Island and keeper of the elemental apheresis machines. A bit of a sadist, but knows not to take it too far or else he’ll wind up in one of his own machines. Ensures all criminal Godbloods receive apheresis once a month.

Zenith - half-Mind. The youngest half-Spirit Mind Godblood. She was placed in Macadalia to be raised to become Luconidus’s Hierophant, but she has been slacking in her training and has a disagreeable personality.

Calio - octant-Death. Queen of the Queendom of St. Pristis. An elderly woman who was a merchant of dance in her younger days. She has children, but since she is an octant, they are clearbloods and ineligible to inherit the Sawtooth Throne.

Samimel - quarter-Death. Heir-apparent to the Queendom of St. Pristis.

Glamour - half-Water. Lives and works at the Water Temple as an assistant to Liqua’s Hierophant, Seamus.