Per 
From: L.S.
To: gro.noitadnuof|retserrof#gro.noitadnuof|retserrof
Sent: 8:47 AM, August 11, 2022
Subject: Building a godT -
I have always known you to be one of the jailors, even when attempted to dissemble on the matter. Nevertheless, I still consider you an ally and a friend - it was always possible to count on your willingness to fight for what you considered right, no matter the cost. I hope that is still the case.
You cannot stop the madness of the Foundation, at least, not head-on. An apotheosis may be troubled, it may be delayed, with the right inputs, however. There will come a time, very soon, when you must decide whether your cause is that of the Foundation, or that of humanity.
- L.S.
The Theophage
Other names: The Devourer; The Tiger Between Skies; The False Herald
Conspectus
A creature hungering for divine flesh. There is no limit to the power which those who sacrifice themselves can achieve, so long as they provide sacrifices to the creature. At first, the Theophage contents itself with small offerings of broken laws or human lives. Gradually, however, the creature demands more its prey, demanding its very nature - from its principles to its former allies to its very sense of self. The more the Theophage receives, the more it feeds its prey on assurances of their right path. The Theophage raises its prey to apotheosis, then the moment of ascension, the Theophage pounces, devouring the new godling whole.
Illustration
The Theophage has no physical form, although those who think in only three dimensions may find the comparison with an ant-lion larva to be a useful one. Other metaphors include the angler fish, the lesser ravelwood snipe, and the Venus fly trap - QD
Knowledge
Traits: The Theophage exists out of time and out of space. To say it has a "home" or a "dwelling" is as absurd as claiming that a clock has a favorite tea. That being said, the creature seems drawn towards periods and places of great instability, particularly those in which there is possibility for long-term change in the political and social life of the environment. It is not known whether or not this preference stems from instinct or a pre-cognitive ability to determine the future.
The Devoured shall be described here only briefly1. As the Devoured grows in temporal power, too does the scope of its action and choice narrow. As it nears its apotheosis, it is little more than a marionette, reacting instinctively towards outside stimuli.
Nature: The Theophage is capable of dormancy for decades, presumably even centuries at a time2. Once, it was believed that its coming was effected by the performance of an elaborate and vicious ritual known only as the Slaughter of the Ratking's Children, but this is now widely recognized as false. Instead, it is drawn by upheaval - cultural, political, social, or economic - to its prey.
Once it has selected its space-time for hunting, the Theophage selects its Devoured. The methodology whereby it selects the Devoured is unclear - some speculate that it marks the most exceptional individuals yet waiting to be raised to greatness, others believe that marks its victims by their single-mindedness and drive. A less popular but more coherent school of thought holds that the Theophage selects its victims through the preference of zodiac symbolism.
Once the Devoured is marked, it and the Theophage enter into a symbiotic relationship. The latter provides power, both over individuals and the tides of fortune generally. The rivals and enemies of the Devoured are sidelined, events work out in their favor, and they come to be, both in perception and fact, the undisputed leaders of their movements. The disruption that summoned the Theophage becomes increasingly associated with the Devoured, until the Devoured becomes the iconic personage of the disruption. Often, they will become the foci of extranormal events, although we do not know if this is intentional or not. In many cases, the Devoured becomes associated with divine status.
The Devoured, in exchange for its power, begins to divest itself from all that once made it human. The Theophage has no need of friends and comrades - the Devoured will purge them from its life. So too are personal idiosyncrasies, mercy, and principle all stripped away. The Devoured becomes more isolated from its followers, to the point that, near the end of its life, it will only communicate with a select handful.
As the Devoured draws closer to the jaws of the Theophage, any agency it once possessed will wither away into nothing. Its entire being becomes enmeshed in its ascension. Where once it sacrificed bodies to feed a principle, now it will do so only to sustain its power. Often, the Devoured will begin to speak words of images, not known but understood.
When the hour and minute call for the Devoured to ascend, that is when the Theophage strikes. Its exact processes are difficult to explain to a three-dimensional creature, but a useful3 image may be pouring ink into a pitcher of water. The essence of the Theovore overtakes and consumes that of the godling, reducing them to oblivion in an instant.
Due to the interference of the Theophage, the Devoured invariably serves as the keystone for its revolution. With the death of the Devoured, the revolution collapses, sometimes into reaction, sometimes into anarchy, always destroying those it sought to aid.
The essence of the Theophage is inherently inimical to three dimensional space4, and will begin to tear and bite at the physical form of the Devoured from within. The physical form is destroyed, the being of the Devoured is utterly obliterated, and the Theophage is satiated for a time.
History & Associated Parties: It is questionable to speak of the history of an entity such as the Theophage, as it moves as easily through time as we through space. The first instance of confirmed activity by the Theophage dates back to the Napoleonic Wars, although Hand informants have speculated that Jean-Paul Marat or Enrico Dandolo may well have been its first slaves.
To list the countless petty tyrants and warmongers who found themselves in the grip of the Theophage would be as cataloging the grains of sand on a beach, so we will refrain.
The creature does not appear to have any consistent behavior as regards time, glutting itself for years, then remaining dormant, creating a frenzy in a week in one case, then building slowly to a crescendo over decades in another.
There are several foolhardy and erstwhile members of the Serpent's Hand who have attempted to appropriate the power of the Theophage for themselves. Of the destruction of these qusilings, read below in "Approach."
Approach: To approach the Theophage is to court Oblivion itself. Those who have attempted to destroy or otherwise attack it have found their corporeal bodies rent by the many servants of the Devoured, and their souls subjected to the full wrath of a gullet stuffed with divine flesh.
There are those who have attempted to parlay with the creature, under the mistaken impression that it is interested in exchange rather than consumption5. Every attempt has concluded in tragedy.
Members of the Hand who encounter those unfortunate souls who become the Devoured are encouraged by all to end the Devoured as soon as possible. Although difficult and often fraught with danger due to the power of the Devoured, it is best for all, not least the Devoured themselves, whose souls may yet remain their own.
Doubt
We maintain with utmost certainty that the Devoured are not destroyed utterly, but are merely reduced to a state of non-existance. As ghosts are to mortals of the third dimension, so too are these shades of the Devoured to the fifth. To capture and consume one of these spirits without body or essence, and yet with being, would be a day of wonder6.
- Claren of the White Hand
We know that the Theovore exists out of time. Still, we have assumed that its feedings are entirely random - now a Mexican revolution, then something minor like Sternberg's Mongolia, then again to the rise of the Iron Guard. What if this is not the case - what if, from its point of view, the Theovore is building its power, selecting one after the other of increasingly catastrophic events as its meals?
What is it building to? What can we do? We can even be done?
- L.S.
