the false prophet

MIN, they/them, 26

a person who believes themselves to always be cursed with misfortune (despite, in many cases, having been blessed with the opposite)

alongside their identical twin brother san, they were abandoned as an infant at the foot of a local temple

raised in moderate comfort by the priests and priestesses within, the twins were trained as acolytes - that is, until san began experiencing fainting spells out of the blue, from which he would later wake claiming to have dreamt of strange visions and heard the whispering of the gods, warning him of events not yet come to pass. rumors spread among the temple that they had found their next oracle - a divine being thought to be a speaker and host of the gods, born once every hundred years - and began to be spread nationwide as many of san's visions proved true

despite also being admired and raised into the lap of luxury as the twin of the oracle, min's own magical abilities were comparatively weak, and they began to grow jealous and resentful of the attention and idolization san received as people from across the realm gathered to worship him and seek his advice

as min grew more and more hateful and bitter, they finally hatched a plan - they would fake their own illness, bribing a few local physicians so as to make it appear that they were dying from disease. when the time was right, they then poisoned their own twin brother, disguising his body as their own. while the temple mourned the death of "the oracle's twin", they would never know that it was the true oracle who had passed on

the world - devourer

HIRA, she/her, ageless

once a primordial world-bearing goddess. much like her other siblings, she was born alongside the dawn of time itself

her most beloved creation was the singular world she bore of her own - a beautiful seemingly-idyllic paradise, where she often walked among its people freely

as the benevolent and caring mother-god of their world, her people began worshipping her as a goddess of love, fertility, and motherhood - a role she took to enthusiastically, answering prayers and bestowing gifts upon her followers readily

however, the goddess was the most obsessive and overindulgent of her siblings, and the more time that she spent amidst her people, the more twisted and frenzied her love for them grew

in a final extreme act to show her love and devotion, she devoured the world she had once birthed, swallowing it whole

rightfully appalled by her actions, her siblings sealed her powers and exiled her permanently to the mortal plane

still believing herself to be a love goddess, the not-quite-mortal not-quite-god hira travels the mortal realms as a wandering fortune teller, selling love & fertility potions and spells and reading the fortunes of those curious (or foolish) enough to seek out her services

the loyal retainer of wang youming, the fourth prince of a faraway kingdom. real name yi mingze, he was born the eldest son to a pair of opera singers of middling renown. growing up in the theatre, he learned acrobatics and swordsmanship from a young age, and by the time he was old enough to be conscripted into the nation's army his notable skill with a spear and powerful healing magicks were already turning heads. his abilities later caught the attention of the fourth prince, who became further drawn to him due to his lovely singing voice and graceful dancing, enough so that he requested the young man as his personal guard.

melancholic and unconventional with a flair for the dramatic, he is currently in disguise under the alias bai xue, a brilliant but peculiar singer, as he and his liege remain on the run after the prince was accused of a horrific attack on the royal family. despite this he remains loyal to his dearest friend, and longs for the day he can return to the land of his birth.

the fourth prince

the charming, playful, art - loving fourth prince of a faraway kingdom in another life, now on the run after being accused of a horrific attack that left much of the royal family and court dead. constantly changing aliases to avoid the wrathful, ever - watchful gaze of his younger half - sister, the newly ascended empress, and her many assassins, wang youming currently travels under the guise of qin yue, a poet and playwright of growing renown. a near constant presence at his side is his ever - loyal if not equally eccentric retainer, disguised as his muse, the opera singer bai xue, as well as his cat qiqi.

"...then i will become history's most brutal queen."