Divine Child
Divine Child is the term for the offspring of Divine Parents, born through Divine Marriage and destined to inherit or guide a universe. Every Divine Child carries the potential for true godhood, yet none are granted it immediately. Before ascension, each must undergo the Mortal Pilgrimage—a period of incarnation and limitation through which they learn the experiences of mortality. Only after such trials can a Divine truly comprehend the weight of creation.
Origin and Purpose
Divine Children are conceived through the harmonizing of divine essences within the Concord of Essence. Their souls contain fragments of both parents’ domains and memories, forming a balanced spark capable of shaping reality. Yet raw divinity, untempered by experience, is dangerous. For this reason the Continuum decrees that every child of the gods must first live as mortal, bound within a Mortal Vessel on a world of their own universe.
This descent is not punishment but education. Through sensation, love, failure, and death, the young Divine learns empathy for the beings they may one day guide. The process ensures that wisdom precedes power.
The Mortal Pilgrimage
The Pilgrimage begins at a moment chosen jointly by the child’s parents and the Celestial Colleges. The child is stripped of divine memory and form, descending into a mortal body suited to the laws of their home universe. They live a complete life—sometimes more than one—until the moment of remembrance known as the Veil Return.
At the Veil Return, the Divine Child’s memories reawaken. They are then called before their universe’s presiding Divines for judgment, a ceremony that coincides with that universe’s Judgment Day.
The Judgment of Souls
On that day, the Divine Children are assessed according to their deeds, compassion, and understanding. Their fates fall into three categories:
- Ascension to Divinity
- Granted to those who achieved harmony of wisdom and will. They are elevated to full Divine status, often assuming stewardship of a new or renewed universe.
- Immortality
- Given to those who showed virtue but not full comprehension. These beings become Immortal—eternal but bound to time, serving as teachers, stewards, or companions to mortals.
- Severance and Imprisonment
- The gravest fate. If a Divine Child abuses power, rejects empathy, or disrupts universal law, their soul is divided from its vessel and confined within the Aetherial Veil for purification.
Some remain imprisoned indefinitely, serving as warnings to future generations.
Theological Interpretation
The requirement that Divines must first live as mortals is known as the Doctrine of Reflection. It teaches that creation can only be understood through participation; to feel hunger, love, fear, and loss is to perceive what existence truly is. Without such empathy, a god becomes hollow—a voice without understanding.
The Valorik summarize the doctrine in the proverb:
- “The stars that forget the soil grow cold.”*
Role in the Continuum
Divine Children form the bridge between creation and creator. Their mortal experiences influence the next Divine Fathoming, shaping how new universes are conceived. Thus, every generation of Divines carries within it the memories of countless lives lived in infinite forms.
Their Pilgrimage also renews the Harmonic Chain, for each mortal life they live contributes energy and wisdom to the soul-field of existence. Even failure enriches creation by adding nuance to divine understanding.
Notable Examples
- Lyrenna of Kosmos — Lived twelve mortal lives before attaining Divinity; became known as the Weaver of Empathy.
- Rathol of Aerenda — Chose to remain Immortal to serve as judge during his universe’s cycle renewal.
- The Nine Unnamed — Divine Children imprisoned after inciting the Contradiction; their souls remain sealed within the Outer Rings.
Symbolism
Divine Children symbolize the humility of creation—the reminder that even gods must learn to be small before they can guard the infinite. Their stories are retold in mortal myth as heroes, saints, or tricksters, ensuring that each world remembers the nearness of the divine.
Trivia
- Some Immortal-class Children volunteer for repeated descents to guide new civilizations.
- The act of imprisonment is accompanied by the “Silent Cry,” a resonant pulse detectable across the Aetherial Veil.
- The Celestial Colleges record that no Divine Child has ever achieved Divinity without first tasting both joy and despair.