Lemme run something by ya. My WIP has three major gods that rule over something, and there are magical beings that have powers related to a god. I know two of them, for sure, but I'm struggling with the third. 1) Life -- the Life goddess would reign over birth, all things living (humans, animals, plants), health and healing, and creation. Beings with life powers would have the ability to heal people, animals, and plants. They would also have some ability to create things, but I haven't explored that much yet. 2) Death -- the Death god would reign over death, sickness and diseases, plagues, natural disasters, and destruction. Beings with death magic would be able to kill, infect others with illness, and destroy things, all depending on their strength and limitations and whatnot. For the third, I have two options: Option 1) Time -- the Time god would reign over time, fate and the future, and possibly air and space. Beings with time magic would be able to see into the past and possible futures, and maybe something else... Option 2) Spirit -- the Spirit god would reign over spirits, the afterlife, and some other things that I haven't figured out yet... Beings with spirit magic would be able to see and communicate with the dead, and possibly create illusions or distortions. The reason I'm asking is that I'm trying to create a sort of rock-paper-scissors effect. Life defeats Time/Spirit, Time/Spirit defeats Death, and Death defeats Life. However, I'm having an incredibly hard time picking an element that defeats Death. I thought that Time would work best because, with no death or life, all that's left is time. But it just doesn't feel right to me. Which of the two options do you think works best here? Is there a third I'm not considering? Or is it simply impossible to find anything that defeats Death? Thanks in advance!
Life/Death/Spirit is evocative of a cycle of reincarnation: A spirit exists without a body. Incarnation ends this existence by giving life to the spirit. Death, the ultimate result of life's decay, ends this existence. The spirit defies death by outliving it. The spirit reincarnates. etc. Think of the rock-paper-scissors cycle in terms of freedom: death is freedom from the suffering of life, the spirit is freedom from the limitations of death, and life is freedom the emptiness of the spirit.
Thank you!! I had planned my entire book around a Time god, but I just didn't feel confident enough in the idea to begin writing. I came up with the idea of Spirit today and thought it fit better without really knowing why.. But the way you explained it makes it come together so perfectly. That's what I've been missing!! Thank you so much!
Life and death are generous abstract concepts, while both time and spirit has a more determined meaning. Depending on what your plot is about both has it's advantages. Time magic is so much different from the other two kind and spirits are beings that are neither alive nor dead. Spirit magic seems to be too close to death magic so if your goal is to use the difference for plot purposes you may need to work on it a bit. Let me suggest an alternative : life and death affects living things : plants, animals, humans, other (magical) creatures. What about a god that reign over things that do not live? Be it a "Mother Earth" planet god or an elemental like "material god" with magic that can make thunders, earthquakes or floods but also rains, sunshine, etc...
