The Eleventh Vial

The gift of godhood

Once, the Fullblooded were like the rest of us. Mundane. They were gifted their powers. And if you are well-behaved, and practice all of Ligo's teachings, one day, you could be like them.

— Blooms children's sermon

The Eleventh Vial was a Fullblooded holy relic that held great importance. It was considered too sacred to view, and was kept in a special ornamental container. During the war that nearly eradicated the religion, both the box and its supposed contents were lost. According to scraps of religious text that survived the Imperial purges, the Vial had the ability to choose and elevate a new deity. This possibilty has made the myth of its eventual return quite attractive to the modern believer.

Summary

The myth of the Eleventh Vial has two distinct versions. The first is the version told by the original sects of the Fullblooded, pieced together from what survived. The second is a modern version, altered after the loss of the Temples and the artifact itself.

Historical

The Fullblooded were once as mundane as the rest of us. The Creator, Caedis, had gifted his creations a few fragments of his creative essence. Eleven pieces of creation. Each piece held the power to shape the world to its weilder's will. Ten of these pieces found a place, inside the veins of the gods. The Eleventh was far more picky. None of the people of the world were worthy. So it will wait, until it finds someone fit to hold its power.

Modern

Long ago, the Fullblooded left us. But they did not abandon us. They left behind, in the most hidden of places, a gift. It waits in darkness for someone worthy. It judges us all from a distance. But when we are at our darkest day, it will return. A new Fullblooded will rise. And they will save us all.

The Search

All three surviving sects of the Fullblooded participate in some sort of activity to try and find this lost artifact, though each has a different method. Usually, they attempt to prove themselves worthy of the Vial's return. Rarely, groups have attempted to hunt for the artifact itself, though these groups have all met with failure. On one occasion, the failure was so spectacular that a fictionalized version of the event became an incredibly popular book.

Fular's Eye

Prophet's Children

Ligo's Blooms

The world is too orderly for the Vial's return. We must cause more chaos to prove our worth.

The world is too imprisoned for the Vial's return. We must work to free everyone to prove our worth.

The world is too civilised for the Vial's return. We must grow more forests to prove our worth.

Historical Basis

There is some light evidence that supports this myth. For one, the illicit drug known as Godsblood, the ground-up form of Hyacinem, grants incredible sorcerous power. It is possible this artifact was simply some Hyacinem found by a superistitious person, who believed that it could elevate someone to godhood. For another, the container in which this artifact was supposedly stored has been recovered.

Appearance

The Vial has no agreed-upon appearance. Many different versions of the myth have their own, unique version of what it looks like. The most common telling says that it appears as the most overlooked object to each observer, hidden in plain sight.

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