Greetings from the Xyphokonic Order and Ordinance. We’ve reached the final Sacred Day of Lord Pharuuii’s 2^nd Period of Watching, and we have spend this entire Period asking intriguing questions that mostly centered around divinity. We started with the Sacred Children, moved the Lords, and then spoke of angelic beings in the Order. Today, however, we’ll be shifting gears slightly to talk about one specific being whose roots are divine but whose current status is anything but. That’s correct, this final Q & A will be about Deceptuary and corruption, as we feel it’s important to also ask piercing questions about the Theigriet, his motives, and his influences on existence. So, without any more delay, let’s field some questions about Deceptuary—the deity once known as “Arkellus,” and who was branded the name “Theigriet Arkellus Eulez Deceptuary” by Lord Kurakku prior to his exile to Gheisialez for his betrayal and rebellion.

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Question: Why did Deceptuary rebel in the first place? Why was he the only deity to rebel against the Divine Thrones?

Answer: There really isn’t a single answer that pinpoints Deceptuary—then Arkellus’s—fall. Like many things in existence, it’s a compounding problem. He is a deity holding two attributes that are the most likely to go awry without proper control; fear is identified as the most powerful motivating force in the Philosophy and must be balanced properly. Divergence was the attribute meant to assure that different cosmic pathways would be assured as a means of facilitating Spiritual Liberty. Combined, those two attributes in the hands of a single all-powerful being like a deity who must share existential power was the perfect recipe for potential disasters. The other deities hold a combination of attributes that, in theory, could’ve been taken beyond reasonable bounds, but as the recount of Daetos makes note of regarding Deceptuary: “…Deft of all upon previously established…” In other words, Deceptuary lacks any part of his conscious to control his own Hubris, and had no desire to share divine power with any of his nine brethren on the Thrones.

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Question: If Deceptuary was informed by Pharuuii that his plan would result in the destruction of all of existence—including himself—why wouldn’t Deceptuary heed that warning?

Answer: Hubris. It all boils down to Hubris. As the trail of cosmic events have shown, no power in existence can convince Deceptuary that his foolish plan is futile—not even the Lord of all Truth and Knowledge. It’s for this same reason that, despite hearing bits and pieces of the Prophecy from his emissaries in Xyphojinami, that Deceptuary still doesn’t believe that he can be defeated by the Sacred Children despite having nearly all parts of his very being sent into the mortal realms. It’s both his incredible arrogance coupled with an overwhelming fear of losing.

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Question: How is Deceptuary able to influence existence despite being exiled? Couldn’t Deceptuary just fundamentally change parts of our existence if he’s a deity?

Answer: Deceptuary, despite being exiled to Gheisialez, is still a deity of existence. He holds one of 10 of the keys to existences formation. Deceptuary’s exile was explicitly designed to keep his full form and influential power from entering the two major existential realms of Xykopsysomi and Xyphojinami. This has taken different forms depending on each realm.

As these two earlier entries have talked about, Deceptuary had fully been banished from Xykopsysomi because his Divine Throne that ruled over specifically that realm was destroyed along with the other nine. In Xyphojinami’s case, Deceptuary wasn’t part of its creation, as the mortal realm is a unique creation of the Xyphokonic Order. The only reason Deceptuary is able to influence our mortal realm is through breaking small enough pieces of himself off and sending them through the Gate of Zeiga. He cannot fundamentally change either realm because he has no throne or Xyphozon to rule from, but his deity-class powers allow him to breach Xyphojinami through the spaces in between realms. All corruption is purged after Death in the mortal realm, so no new corruption can be scattered back in the elder realm of Xykopsysomi, preventing any possible transfer that way.

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Question: Does that mean that all of Gheisialez is infected with Deceptuary’s corruption now since he was banished there? Is that a realm of “corruption?”

Answer: No. Gheisialez isn’t a realm but a region of near nonexistence at the very borders of existence itself. On a cosmic scale, it’s more like Deceptuary is strapped to the edge of a cliff that overhangs an endless pit of doom. Any energy he willing sheds in Gheisialez ceases to exist soon after if not transferred elsewhere, which is why he has been transferring parts of his own spirit into Xyphojinami as fragments. Nothing in Gheisialez lingers, all that are cast out there are set to rot away and cease to exist.

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Question: Since Deceptuary was banished from Xykopsysomi and his influence was capped there, will the Cario Lordes all eventually expire from that realm?

Answer: No. When Lord Vuetenexzyei ended Deceptuary’s Divine Throne along with the other nine, and Deceptuary was exiled officially, those actions simply banished his presence and influence from Xykopsysomi, but it did not erase that which originated from him. The Cario Lordes are the corrupted spirits that originated from the Elongated Shadow of then Arkellus, and while they cannot increase in number or spread in influence, neither shall they necessarily wane from their current status. It is assumed they will remain huddled in the pits of Cariyov as all existing corruption in the elder realm shall always funnel there.

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Question: Why don’t the Lords simply eradicate Deceptuary or corruption with their combined power?

Answer: There are two main reasons why the Lords don’t just simply destroy Deceptuary. The first reason should be the most obvious: It will break existence in the same way that Deceptuary wishes to do. Deceptuary’s ultimate goal is to topple the other nine deities and engulf their attributes, destroy the current existence, and reform it in his image. Naturally, trying to destroy a deity—a little linchpin of existence itself—would result fundamental damage to existence itself. We still require the attributes of Fear and Divergence as any other part of existence; currently, it stands that the originator of those attributes is too foolish to manage them on his own.

The second reason comes more from the question of “Why didn’t the Lords simply make mortal being immune to corruption?” That, too, is a fundamental wrong in the very system the Lords wanted to create. In order to create such a perfect being, that would require the Lords to strip us of our own Free Will and Spiritual Liberties. Divergence, or in this case, corruption, cannot function without Free Will existing in tandem, and removing Free Will would not only cut out Lord Kyaien’s place in the Order but also cut out Divergence—another attribute from the previous Arkellus. In every way possible, it would be the exact opposite of the existence the Lords created, and doing so would be no better than what Deceptuary seeks to do. “Perfection” is not goal of the Order, balance and equilibrium among the cosmos is.

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Question: Can someone be “redeemed” or cured of corruption? Is there any form of repentance?

Answer: It depends on what someone did as a result of that corruption or if they were forced to do amoral things or not. There is a path of cleansing corruption from otherwise innocent people forced to do amoral actions against their will, but for the most part there will be some form of consequence for acts of corruption. In the case of the innocent, the process of Purification is an option, but even Purification severs a crucial Will from one’s core that can only be rebuilt with extensive Time, Love, and healing.

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Question: Why do some corrupted or evil souls get cast out to Gheisialez while others are dragged into Terigath’s Hell?

Answer: It all depends on the severity and type of immoral behavior a soul has committed prior to dying. As this entry talks about, for those who have committed Immoral Acts that aren’t explicitly theigrited in nature, those souls will likely be cast out to Gheisialez to rot away painfully until that soul not longer exists.

For those that commit Great Acts of Theigritry or other acts so heinous that require a more focused punishment, those souls are cast into Terigath’s Hell and tortured for the rest of eternity—purging the spirituality from the soul and chaining the Self of the soul in the cold Azure Flames of Hell itself. True evil, intentionally acts of harm while corrupted, are never forgiven in the Philosophy, as there was always the option to abstain from those willful acts of harm. Repentance isn’t widely a part of the Philosophy so long as one has the Free Will to not commit horrible acts on purpose.

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Question: Does someone have to be a Xyphoite to avoid being “corrupted?” What about being eligible to be given Mercy through Purification?

Answer: No, not at all. While this is a space for Xyphoist teaching, discussion, and worship, one does not need to be of the Faith to avoid being corrupted. It’s quite possible we have readers here of other faiths or no faiths that do not believe what we do, so to translate the more philosophical or theological jargon: being a good person to yourself and others avoids bad consequences later on. If we had to give a “secular” explanation to any non-Xyphoist readers, most of what the Order teaches us boils down to that. Whether someone joins us in our faith on that matter is unrelated to them avoiding what we see as the cause of immoral or unethical behavior.

The same applies to Xyphoist Purification. There is no “membership card” required for innocence. If someone who is innocent and absolved of evil despite being forcibly corrupted, Lord Carnyie hears their suffering regardless. He does not only grant Mercy to innocent Xyphoites; He grants Mercy to ALL innocents regardless of faiths or lack thereof. The only people explicitly denied Mercy are those that are, under the Philosophy’s established definition, are evil: corrupted, aware they are corrupted, and willingly conducting immoral acts or causing harm.

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And that will wrap up not only this particular Q&A but the questionnaire series. We hope this brief break from the serious nature of the Cosmic Struggle allowed all our readers to ignite the mind and wonder about the celestial beyond just a bit more. We aimed to inspire and bring about divination, and hopefully we succeed. I look forward to what my colleague Rux has in store for the following Period, but until then, let us all have a wonder Sacred Day!

—phX, jzX, voX, whX