Writing Journal: Deities and Races, Volume VI; Koshiri and the Pueri

I got the name Koshiri as a combination of the terms Kosmos (universe) and Hostis (enemy). Pueri comes from the term for children, in this case being children of the enemy.

Koshiri is one of the deities who was undecided regarding whether there was some sort of master plan for the universe, and because of that indecision, was incensed that Fyrste would go about the business of enacting Creation in the way that he did. Koshiri, like Malithia, had believed in the idea of coming to consensus before action was taken.

As soon as Fyrste acted, however, Koshiri's first response was to undo what was done and to attempt to unmake it. She found that she could not, of course. When Malithia convinced Fyrste to attempt to unmake his own Creation, it seemed as though the answer was clear: what has been done cannot be undone. The fact became a bitter debate. However, Koshiri still maintained a thoughtful dedication towards her desire to see Creation begin from a better point of origin. Koshiri believed that there were still many points that had to be tested, and many questions answered. Like perhaps Fyrste's Creation could not be undone because Nasci and Scieppend had already acted upon it? What if they could be convinced to undo their own acts of Creation one at a time, backwards from the order that they were completed?

By this point, however, it seemed like a hopeless task to unravel all of the doings that had been done before. Malithia and Weyveren had already acted, and Nasci had acted upon those creations, as well. Koshiri then decided to act in a very small way, creating creatures that flew through the air, to lord over the rest of Creation from above. It was a move not so much to attempt to destroy Creation as it was to insult it a bit by placing it below Koshiri's small contribution to Creation, and to give Koshiri a point to work from. For as soon as she created them, she attempted to unmake them, as well.

It was then that Koshiri felt certain that what was made could not be unmade. And the fact disturbs and frightens her far more than the other deities. In fact, the expressions by Eleuth of wonder and promise given from this fact have incensed Koshiri to such a degree that she and her followers will attempt to bring down the followers of Eleuth wherever they may find them.

It was then that Koshiri came to act once more upon Creation by creating Death. Certainly, death existed to some degree from the creatures that Malithia and Weyveren had Created already, but those were deaths that could be considered to be preventable or deterred by the individual acts of the creatures themselves. What Koshiri created here was the inevitability of death for all creatures, great and small, animal or plant.

This act itself sent a chill through all but one of the deities. And while Nasci still found a means of weaving life cycles in a way that was beautiful and harmonious, even she had to pause and shiver at the totality that was offered by Koshiri's primary act of Creation. In what had been a flurry of activity moving back and forth between Fyrste, Scieppend, and Nasci, and their rivals Malithia and Weyveren, now there was very little, but carefully articulated action going on.

In fact, once Nasci touched that inevitable Death and wove it into the harmony of life cycles in the world, none of the other gods acted for quite some time, with the exceptions of Heah and Eleuth, who put in their own contributions before the rest of the deities stopped and considered all of Creation as a whole. At least, up until Apothos created dragons, which sparked an entirely new set of Creations in the mortal races.

In fact, it was Koshiri's careful dedication, and her desire to attempt to unravel Creation in a backwards sort of spin, that caused her to consider opting out of Creating a mortal race in the first place. Hers was the second to the last race to be born. However, create a race she did. And the Pueri are unlike what any of the other deities suspected.

While the races of the Algein and the Heuvians are monstrous and fearsome in appearance, the Pueri rival even the Artere in beauty and grace. They are of the highest intelligence, and are relatively unfettered by communal needs or by constant agony. They are a people Created solely for the purpose of enacting Koshiri's desire to unmake Creation.

In so doing, however, they are still unlike Weyveren's Algein in terms of attempting direct assault in most cases against many of the powers associated with Creation. They have developed armies and enacted such aggression at times, of course, but such direct aggression was never Koshiri's style. Her desire to unmake Creation is not borne out of sheer hatred and anger, as Weyveren and Malithia have. And in fact, Koshiri bears no particular ill will towards specific aspects of Creation itself. It is simply this: she is focused specifically and solely upon the goal of unmaking Creation for the purpose of starting over.

As such, her people do not enact cruelty for its own sake. However, when their needs serve, they make for the greatest implementers of torture due specifically to their desire to be the most efficient and productive in the method, so as to reach their goal. The Pueri are the undoubted greatest chroniclers of history in the world. Their purpose, of course, is to document every event that ever happened in Creation so as to be able to undo those acts. However, that does not mean that they have not developed vast historical resources and archives.

The primary acts of the Pueri, however, are usually acts of subtlety, subterfuge, and manipulation. Their ultimate goals are to bring the high to the level of the lowly, and to undermine even the greatest within the world. Thus, the Pueri delight in managing to cause a Bergan to bring about destruction, to wither an Artere's sense of artistic wonder and creative impulse, or to devolve Changelings into bestial predation. The Pueri seek out Makhan to attempt to manipulate them into breaking laws and systems, or to break the will of Luthans to make them bend to another's will and judgment. When they kill, they utilize grace and care. The greatest assassins in the world are Pueri. Poison is one of the common tools of the people of a deity who wishes to unmake Creation from within itself.

The magics of the Pueri are subtle. And yet they are extremely powerful. Pueri magics are those that intrude upon the will of others and weaken their resolve. But they also are magics that erode away at the earth, suffocate fires, or pollute the air or water. Koshiri's magics have a deadening and stilling effect upon their targets, and nearly all of the magics of the Pueri are offensive in some way. The only exceptions are those magics that the Pueri use to garner knowledge of history and Creation. For they must get to know and learn their enemies before they can strike definitively against them.