Every
Gods has a domain to call their own, known as a Heavenly Realm. These are celestial bodies that the Gods reside in, and where the souls of their most faithful followers go after death. However, there is one Heavenly Realm that surpasses all others. One that all Gods rely on for everything, and that is the realm of darkness. The Heaven of
Tsukuyomi: Space.
All That Exists, All That Does Not
Many credit creation to the deities that made Totania and the liveable conditions it has now: primarly
Hadur the God of Creation,
Papatūānuku the Goddess of Nature, and
Izanagi the King of the Gods. But the first God to utilize their power to create something is one that many forget. One of the most powerful Gods, despite having the fewest followers among the major Gods.
Tsukuyomi by Jarhed
Tsukuyomi was the first God to create anything, and in doing so he created everything... and nothing. He created the darkness, yet the darkness existed before even the Gods.
Some say that Tsukuyomi only claimed domain over something he had no power over, but this is untrue, as most will attest that Tsukuyomi was embraced by the darkness and quickly gained control over it. This was why the Gods eventually made Heavenly Realms, as the emptiness of Space was quickly eating away at them as they felt more and more like they were invading somewhere that was far too personal for them to remain.
Thus, the Heavenly Realms were created within Space, each creating their own celestial bodies to reside in so that they could isolate themselves from the pervasive presence of Tsukuyomi.
All of creation exists within his boundaries, as everything is contained within Space.
The Realm of Space
Space is a great emptiness, and for this, there is nothing to be found there. No air to breathe, no ground to walk upon, and no way to sustain life of any kind.
Every realm within Space, however, produces these things as needed. They sustain the life they require, produce air as necessary, and create ground for anyone to stand on if they can reach it. Tsukuyomi sees no need to provide this. All he provides is the darkness of the universe, and that is plenty. There is more darkness and Space in the universe than there is anything else combined.
Due to the inhospitable nature of Space, very few have ever traveled into it, and none have traveled beyond the bodies that surround Totania, such as the
Realm of the Moon. To do so, one needs an immense amount of mana to fly that high, and a supply of air. Only those capable of producing Wind Magic can sustain themselves in Space, and not for an extended period of time at all. This is likely why only a handful have ever survived an attempt of Space traversal.
The only official way of traversal through Space is the River Styx that leads to
the Elysian Fields through every other realm. It is only accessible to the dead, and can only be traversed by the Angel of Death known as Charon.
Charon by Jarhed
The Heavenly Body
There are many celestial bodies within Space. To list them all would require comprehensive study of the cosmos that scholars on Totania simply do not have.
What is known, however, is the object known as
the Heavenly Body. Some believe it to be a myth, others claim that it can be seen if one looks close enough at the sky on some rare nights. A large skeleton, made of darkness itself, swirling with poisonous cosmic gases and energies beyond mortal comprehension. This is the true divine form of Tsukuyomi himself.
While he sometimes appears in his temple in a human form, he otherwise appears as a skeleton of darkness and poison, floating through the vast reaches of Space.
His eyes sit upon his bony chest, with the face itself being hollow. Around the entire body, masses of darkness and poison shoot out, reaching out to anything around it. It is said that even extra arms extend from the Heavenly Body to grab anything that dares approach the God Tsukuyomi.
No true account of this has ever actually been recorded, and many claim it to be hearsay.
Stars
The souls of those that die and go to space, the worshipers of Tsukuyomi that follow his teachings well enough, get the opportunity to reside in Space itself, as with all other Heavenly Realms of all other Gods. However, even souls cannot survive alone in Space, as this helps to prevent the dead from traveling to other Realms or, Gods forbid, back to Totania.
Therefore, all souls that go to Space as their Heavenly Realm are given a blessing, and their souls shine brighter than all others, covered in the holy light of the Gods and kept far away so that the Gods do not strike them down for sharing the realm of Heaven. They are given a distant celestial body of their own, so that all the people in all the realms can see them: they are given a star. Every star in the sky contains the soul of what was once one of Tsukuyomi's followers.
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