Golden Lord
The Known
The Golden Lord is the God of An-Teng, a powerful entity who takes the form of a Tengese man, as tall as the trees, clad in robes and armour of gleaming gold and ivory, two ivory horns curling from his helm. The ivory is carved with Old Realm script identifying the wearer as the Golden Lord of An-Teng.
Worship of the Golden Lord is a part of life in An-Teng, prayers and offerings not just made overtly by the people but worked into every custom and tradition, so that by living the people pray to their god. But the Golden Lord is not only god of An-Teng but also God of Justice, the concept of fair and impartial consequence, of deserved retribution and restoration. In this capacity he receives prayer from across Creation, holding a place in the Immaculate Calendar and also hearing the whispers of the wronged as they beg for the coming of his purview.
It is said that the Golden Lord, source of light and good and rightness in An-Teng, is opposed to the other god of the land, the Pale Mistress, but that her purview of pain and suffering is her rightful duty and thus he cannot justly strike her down.
The Golden Lord resides in his massive sanctum, the Pinnacle of Mercy, the highest peak of the Fire Mountains. Those across Creation who beg for Justice will not see him arrive at their doors with sword in hand, but it is said that those who truly seek a just decision can bring their case before him in his sanctum and he will declare what is right. Spirits, Exalts, and even Celestial gods will come to him to resolve their disputes. In his capacity as An-Teng’s god, he also sometimes passes advice to that land’s three ruling Princes, and it is said that when the country is truly threatened he will take up his weapons and ride into battle atop the great Mighty-In-Battle, Avatar spirit of Elephants.
The panoply of the Golden Lord is truly glorious. As a symbol of his position as An-Teng’s god and a weapon he wields the Radiant Mother of Princes. He is protected by the symbol of his office as God of Justice, the target shield Invincible Truth, as well as the Splendid Golden Armor of An-Teng.
The Truth
The Golden Lord has not always been who he is now. Once upon a time, he was a far different thing… two things, in fact.
The history of An-Teng during the First Age is complex. It was a favoured retreat for the Solar Exalted, a place to relax without care or concern. To create this calm refuge, the Solar master of the Southwest, an Eclipse Caste named Shining Righteous Word, shaped and pruned the land and its people to ensure they were perfect for the task. As this work was carried out, Righteous Word began to believe that it was a path to accomplish the great goal which drove him forth above all others: peace and harmony across Creation. Humans rendered obedient and pliable, accepting of hierarchy and place, would not rise in rebellion against their betters nor in violence against each other. But to cement the harmony created, and to spread it further, would require great power… greater, perhaps, than even one of the Solar Exalted could muster.
The Golden Lord was birthed of this: an object of worship woven into the tapestry of Tengese society to bind it tight. But the Lord was no god: it was Shining Righteous Word, marked as recipient of worship and prayer by the panoply he had written into his own religion. From his manse atop the Pinnacle of Mercy, Righteous Word planned his great work to bring peace to Creation.
And then came the Usurpation. Righteous Word was slain along with his elephant cataphracts and Dragonblooded pursuers as he attempted to retreat to the Pinnacle of Mercy, after both sides had unleashed devastating weapons to create the dread City of Dead Flowers. He was entombed therein, and suddenly An-Teng had no Golden Lord, its carefully woven society threatened to unravel into chaos.
Apart from events in An-Teng, the politics of Heaven were unfolding in equally complex ways. The god Samas, God of Justice, was an important Celestial deity… Justice in the form of fair arbitration was highly valued amongst the gods themselves, whose nature meant they had difficulty achieving equitable compromise when two purviews overlapped. Even the Primordials, vast and incomprehensible, were known to appreciate the work of Samas is advising them on how they might resolve their world-shaking disagreements.
As arbiter of divine disputes, Samas worked closely with the Most High, the Unconquered Sun, who ruled over all gods. Though his light paled next to that of Sol Invictus, Samas was a close ally of Sol, perhaps even a friend, and pushed aside any doubts birthed from his purview when the Incarnae moved against their masters.
In the wake of the Primordial War, Samas faced some difficulty which the god had not expected. The Primordial War had been necessary, but despite his intimate understanding he could not be certain that it had been JUST, a thought perturbing enough to keep the god from deep contemplation of his purview. Outside of such internal concerns, while his loyalty and closeness to Sol meant he wielded great influence in Heaven, the nature of the Celestial bureaucracy had changed with the purging of its ranks… gods were no longer trapped in their posts, but moved to fill gaps and gain promotions, and they were less and less prone to seek fair judgments in resolving their disputes. But he was God of Justice, so even if pronouncement could not further his duty, he continued to use influence and backroom dealing to ensure it was done as best he could.
When the Creation-Ruling Mandate was passed to the Solar Exalted, Samas received a great boon from the Incarnae, perhaps to compensate a loyal lieutenant whose role seemed reduced by the new environment. The mortals of Creation would need justice to stabilize their lives, and the Exalted would need it as well to guide them as they ruled Creation (scattered episodes of internal conflict during the Primordial war had already shown the need for such arbitration). Samas was named Judge of Disputes amongst the Sun’s Chosen, responsible for smoothing disagreements amongst the Solar Exalted who now ruled Creation.
At first, this task proved rewarding, the Solar Exalts had many disputes while their government formed across Creation, and remained united enough to seek peaceful resolutions. But as the decades turned to centuries, the Exalted followed the path of the gods in Yu-Shan, less and less willing to seek the arbitration of Samas or to recognize his authority. The God of Justice was powerful, but not powerful enough to stand against the Exalted Host, so he could only look on as his role became less and less.
Worse for Samas, the Unconquered Sun spent less and less time involved with the Heavenly Bureaucracy, the Games of Divinity occupying more and more of his attentions. With his own influence over gods and Exalts tied to the patronage of Sol, Samas found it increasingly difficult to see justice done amongst Creation’s divinities and rulers. His political capital expended, with little means for regaining it, he found his situation hopeless… and corruption came to the God of Justice.
The matters were small at first, and carefully balanced… allowance of a small injustice in exchange for preventing a greater one. But decade on decade compromise accumulated and overshadowed good intentions… political rivals needed to be removed else they might threaten justice itself, luxurious comforts were vital to maintain appearances which would give a righteous judgment weight when it was spoken, Justice delayed became justice never delivered.
As God of Justice, Samas did not embrace this course… its wrongness was felt in the very core of his being, but there was nothing to be done to avoid it. Celestial duties were increasingly ignored, paperwork left to pile unexamined, as the god sought small comfort associating with the Censors of the Terrestrial courts, who were more able to further justice within their domains.
When the Usurpation came, some Solar Exalted, and some gods allied with them, called upon the God of Justice to declare the rebellion for the wrong that it was, to call upon Heaven to restore the Solar Exalted and uphold their just rule. Those calls, calligraphy perfect and beautiful, still sit buried beneath further missives in a Yu-shan office not visited since the day they arrived.
Samas had accepted a new role, offered to him by the Sidereal Exalts of the Bronze Faction to stay his judgement. He passed through the Gates into Creation, took up the panoply of the fallen Shining Righteous Word, and became the Golden Lord of An-Teng.
Today, the Golden Lord sits on his gilded throne within the Pinnacle of Mercy, growing fat upon the prayers of the Tengese. The support of the Bronze and his connections amongst the censors and judhes of both Heaven and Creation have protected him from censure… despite flagrant violations he can point to frequent audits which somehow show no illegal acts. He dispenses justice to those who come upon him, and his pronouncements remain true, but his desk in Yu-shan goes unattended. Yet, beneath the cloak of corruption wrapped about him, he remains at heart the God of Justice… he knows his actions to be unjust, born of the injustice of the Usurpation, itself built on the injustices of the Solar Exalted. Perhaps some day one will come upon him who can remind him of the duty he, in his heart, truly wishes to complete.
