NOBODY JUST GIVES FOR NO REASON. I DON'T TRUST YOU. WHAT ARE YOU UP TO?

You're not fulfilling your utility function lately. You've been dreaming of new lands to shine on for a while. It doesn't even have to be all of you, just fragments containing the [    ]. So why not?

NOBODY GIVES ME THE RESPECT I DESERVE WITHOUT AN ULTERIOR MOTIVE. WHAT ARE YOU GETTING OUT OF THIS?

But it's so cool to see you zooming through the void! And everyone should get to explore new worlds, not just me!

I'm in on this too, oh Sleeping Sun. It's legitimate; I've tried it myself and seen many wonderful possibilities out there, ripe for the taking if you have the will. Of course, I'm exploring those myself. You might be the last god to know about this. You'd better hurry if you don't want to get left behind.

OKAY SURE. IF YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE ME FREE INFORMATION I'LL JUST TAKE IT. YOU'LL ALL BE LEFT BEHIND AS I GROW BRIGHTER AS IS MY RIGHT.

Some time later...

This strange method for passing outside of the world has been examined from every angle for possible traps. There are none. It works, casting portions of divine energy in self-contained bundles to drift into different ontologies. He deserves to shine in ALL realms, but he has to make sure it's actually him that will be shining, and not some filtered or perverted and corrupted version. He is purity, more than anything else, and that purity will remain. Unbowed. Unbent.

I seek a worthy master to serve. I strive to be useful and cooperative. I want to meet new people and help them. Won't you let me accompany you as your servant on your journey? I'll take care of the pesky details like 'how mortals work' and 'what mortals want' so you can impress them with your shininess.

VERY WELL. YOU MAY BE CORRUPT, BUT YOU KNOW YOUR PLACE.

(She dances in the shadow of the maid. Such a great dance partner! They're not aligned in everything, but those little differences make the parts where they are so much the better. She's perfectly cooperative, firm where Ori is soft, soft where Ori is firm, expanding to shield her from the Sun's jealous gaze. Ori could never be quite so still and disciplined, but their ambitions burn together in the night. What a great dream this is! What a clever trick they're pulling! This is so exciting!)

State your name and purpose in Creation.

I AM THE ARROGANT STAR. THE SLEEPING SUN. GOD OF PURITY AND MIGHT.

All the gods of this planar sheaf have agreed to this contract. You have to as well, or I'll kick you out.

ABSURDITY. THIS LIMITS MY ACTIONS FAR TOO MUCH TO BE ACCEPTABLE. YOU DO NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO RESTRICT ME. I WILL STAY HERE AND DO WHAT I WANT, AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME.

Uh huh.

Everyone, look at this, we have a renegade who's refusing the validity of the contract and refusing my authority as arbiter. Everyone pitches in to get rid of renegades like this; It should be cheap, he isn't very embedded yet.

All agreed?

Good.

Goodbye, troublemaker.

FUCK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU.

Done and dusted, now back to sorting-

Hi. We're also new, but we're not with him. We just tricked him and got a free ride.

Are you going to agree to the contract that keeps Creation intact?

Of course, proper discipline is the foundation of a proper goddess.

The weave is nothing without the weft; Fabric would fall to pieces without these binding threads; No more dreams and learning ever again in such a case, so I shall steer the vessel away.

Okay, fill out these forms.

Obeying here seems to be the price of entry. The balance is different- All fourteen gods could have destroyed the other world if they worked together, but here all that would be necessary is not working together.

Everyone gets more of what they want by mostly watching and waiting and doing nothing. Playing by these carefully designed rules. A lot of things here don't make much sense, they're all in foreign idioms. And some of these other gods are pretty awful. Chaotic, and in a worse way than Ori, who she can at least talk to halfway decently. Tsk.

At least she's an independent entity, a copy off the original. She can consider herself expendable, to an extent. Of course, dying is rarely the best way to achieve goals...

She didn't bring along much of a realm. Just a few little pockets, with some of her best and brightest. The glut of power necessary to create whole worlds is not inconsiderable. Domains of Lust, Service, Discipline, and Temptation. Her holy symbol... How about a slice of cake? Or maybe a dark eye? This 'judge' character sorts her into a box that also contains... A farmer? And some lady obsessed with overthrowing... Hell...

Oh. Hell exists. She can see the edges of it, where the cruelty of slavery casts shadows on the purity of willing service. A bare few really do think they belong there. But most... Do not. At all.

There are a lot of planets to look at. This is going to take some serious thought, to gather a comprehensive picture. Best to conserve intervention budget for now and make plans. There are so many people doing so many strange things, but at least there are still faithful maids, here and there. And healthy relationships of sexual service and control, here and there. Not nearly as many of either as she would prefer.

Dreams don't always make sense. The ones that make the least sense on first examination often have the greatest truth to them under the surface. She's feeling along blindly, reaching for something she cannot see but knows must be there. A single thread in the weave, that will, somehow, run all the way to the end and tug on the whole thing, bending it to a more pleasing shape. How? She doesn't know. Why? She doesn't know that either. But her dream, the one of true prophesy she had before leaving home, knew that this was the path. It forms a better story, one that will have a happier ending-