Мастер Исандер
Verse and Dimensions: Stories
Such a mentality often leads to much undue destruction without any system of regulation or balance to keep Alpha in check. It is for this role that Omega, Alpha’s antithesis, comes into play. Alpha often was annoyed and overwhelmed by Omega, feeling "smothered" by her efforts to regulate him and his decisions. Deep down, Alpha has the best interests of those he cares for, which is the reason he tries to always make logical decisions. He feels that the logical decisions are the best for his brethren.
White Flame
Alpha's White Flame allows beings to perceive situations in an objective perspective, and appropriately make the most logical decision based on it.
Beta
Beta is a Dragon of enigma, eternally confounding the rest of the Dragons. Nothing about them can be discerned by any of the other Dragons, which all perceive Beta uniquely. The only fact known for certain is that Beta is a Dragon, though some have even questioned that as well. Beta abstractly communicates in an interpretive manner through cosmology. Beta abstractly communicates information in an interpretive manner through the motions of cosmology throughout Whateverse. Due to the ambiguity of this, beings interpret the information conveyed by Beta in vastly different ways. Often, Beta will accidentally make disputes between other Dragons even worse when they interject and try to offer their own opinion. Beta feels guilty about worsening conflicts and inciting arguments whenever they attempt to convey information in the presence of the Dragons, and due to this they often remain silent and secluded, being anti-social. Beta is incredibly frustrated that nothing seems to truly understand them.
Clear
Beta's Flame is colorless at every level of Existence, and rightfully so, as one could imagine the chaos if all the Dragons perceived Beta's Flame as a certain color and tried to utilize it as such. The Clear Flame causes intense confusion, which disorients beings to such a point that they are led to question even basic fundamental aspects of their own existence.
Theta
Theta is the Dragon of Nature and Fertility, embodying the concept of fertility. He is so greatly attuned to nature that his avatar reflects the current state of Nature in Whateverse at any given metatime. If all of Nature is healthy and thriving, then so is Theta. However, if nature is sick, dying and withered, then so too is Theta. For this reason, he is greatly protective of Nature and does everything within his power to ensure its well-being. Unfortunately, this can come at the detriment of balance in both Whateverse and Nature itself, as Theta has occasionally taken extreme measures for the sake of his cause. There have been numerous incidents in the metapast in which Theta's actions caused unstable overgrowth in the Nature of a -verse, even intruding or harming the other Dragons' spheres and causing difficulties for them. For this reason, the other Dragons typically do not request Theta's assistance in any of their Nature or fertility-related issues.
Although typically pacifistic, Theta perceives any corruption or defilement of Nature as a personal insult and threat, and he will not hesitate to destroy any beings who perform such acts. For this reason, he has no qualms with destroying the External Hazard nor anything affiliated with it.
Green Flame
Theta bears the Green Flame, which encourages life, growth and fertility in whatever is engulfed by it. Some nefarious beings have abused this Flame for the selfish manipulation of Nature, especially after Theta had taken refuge in the sanctuary and was unable to regulate it as closely. However, the influence of the Dragons from this realm is heavily restricted, so Theta is incapable of directly punishing everyone who has committed such violations. Caution is advised in the use of this Flame, as too many Green Flames concentrated in an area will cause monstrous overgrowth.
Rho
The Dragon of Chronos, Rho's base concept had formed before any others in the conceptual sphere that his concept inhabited. As such, he may be considered the "eldest" Dragon from a three-dimensional mortal perspective. When the decision was made by Mu to restore the Dragons’ free will Rho was unhappy. Even despite his harsh criticisms of Mu, he still preferred the former modus operandi, and he fully believed the Dragons' freedom would only lead to problems later on. Although he may not have liked the change in the rules, Rho was not so quick to defect from the group like Pi had been. He had a stubborn sense of honor and pride upon which he placed his moral values, and he did not intend to violate his own code for the sake of protesting the violation of another's. Above all, Rho remained loyal to his superiors, even despite whatever "unintelligent" decisions may have been made by them.
Shortly after Pi left the group, a new threat in the form of artificially-modified External Hazard spores were on the rise. These experimental seeds functioned more as a plague rather than a mutagen. Rather than mutating or mentally enslaving targets, it instead infected them with a volatile sickness that significantly weakened them at a slow progression, until they ultimately died. A team of transcendent Deities led by Rho traveled to a nest to exterminate the plague spores and save beings from infection. The mission itself had been successful, but later it was revealed that Rho had paid a great price. Being a relatively "older" Dragon, his avatar was not as well fortified, rendering his resistance against the plague lower than the rest of the Dragons. This allowed some spores from the Hazard plague to enter and infiltrate Rho's avatar, successfully infecting it. Since Dragon Flames were an effective method of exterminating the Hazard, Rho attempted to them by circulating his own Dragon Flame – the Orange Flame, throughout his avatar. However, it seemed that the plague was adaptive, and the infection itself had initially begun and taken root within the aspect of Rho's avatar which regulated the distribution of his Flame. The result effectively ruined Rho's process of producing his Flames by altering the internal trosinic chemistry of his avatar, trapping the Flames within a thick logical mucus-like substance and rendering it harmless to the plague spores. Rather than producing Orange Flames, Rho spewed "Metaslime". It was a cruel trick, and one that successfully crippled him. The Plague which had infected Rho was a slow-burning one, especially for a being as powerful as a Dragon. All this metatime, despite his volatile symptoms, he has still remained ever-alive and ever-alert.
Due to his declining health, Rho was prevented from participating in the remainder of the Whateversal war. This served to only further embitter Rho, which already was quite bitter before. Now that the one thing in his Existence that gave him purpose and satisfaction – fighting – was lost, he became immensely depressed. Rho now currently spends most of his metatime talking Mu's metaear off about how the current state of affairs is "humiliating" for beings as powerful as they, and that they should be "getting back into the fight" right this very metainstant – particles of metaslime spittle spraying out from him as he does so.
Orange Flame
Rho wielded the Orange Flame, though now it has been reduced to a logical liquid known as Metaslime, which is capable of altering and distorting any metatime it comes into contact with. For example, Beyond Bubbles covered in Metaslime will often find huge amounts of their history completely twisted in strange and unpredictable ways. This distortion appears to be completely random and unfocused, with no discernible pattern other than that the more Metaslime a -Verse is covered in, the more distorted its history will be.
Fi
Fi, Originally named Phi, is a well-meaning but compulsive and erratic Dragon, which every being from Mu to Pi can agree should never be in an actual position of power. Attempting to comment on Fi's "morality" would be useless, as most beings are not even sure if he has any moral principles at all. Many of his decisions seem to be completely contradictory, and it seems as if Fi is either making decisions purely at random, or intentionally making the most irrational choices possible in any given situation.
Fi is often considered the least intelligent and most irrational Dragon, however still hopes to help the other Dragons whenever he can; Although it's very rare that anyone would actually want his "help" in the first place. Fi is also notable among the Dragons for being a "control freak" which has a strict and rigid idea of the perfect order and organization of things, with an obsessively strict enforcement of his doctrines. He always has the incessant compulsion for everything to be symmetrical and of an even ratio. Even if greater instability results from the symmetry, Fi still pushes forward with it because, as stated by himself, he really likes the aesthetic. If his vision is challenged by the other Dragons, Fi becomes very defensive. If any of the Dragons outright supersede or rearrange Fi's "perfectly balanced" arrangements and structures, he completely loses his composure and has a near-meltdown.
One notable example of Fi’s pettiness and self-contradiction is the reason he changed his identity from Phi. As all the Dragons’ avatars were largely composed of individual trosinic elements, Phi placed a special emphasis on his own namesake element – Phi. He insisted to the other Dragons that his was one of (if not the most) important and valuable elements in all of Whateverse, which he alone had the privilege of embodying. Despite the unimpressive and mundane actual properties of Phi the element, Phi the Dragon had a strong conviction in his beliefs, which in reality were mainly based on Phi being “shiny”. Phi even went to the extent of collecting more of the element Phi, and using it as plating which he grafted onto his avatar so that he could shine like Phi even more. This behavior was absolutely obnoxious to the rest of the Dragons, which perceived Phi as making a fool of himself by trying too hard and caring so much about his representation. Lower beings were completely into it however, and many viewed Phi as a generous mystical god who could bestow luck and fortune upon them, in turn causing them too to perceive Phi the element as a precious treasure. The artificial value placed in Phi led beings to covet it and wage wars for the element, driving its once-bountiful amount to scarcity. This ironically created a legitimate value for the element Phi. Things changed when Phi discovered that ignorant and stupid Supergods within many Transcendentems had given names to things related to the elements that the Dragons’ avatars were formed from. What Phi the Dragon did not like at all, however, was that many of the Supergods decided to name the combusted state of Phi as “Phire”. This would not have been a problem if Phire’s properties actually aligned with Phi the Dragon. But they did not. In fact they were exact opposite of what Phi stood for with all its “asymmetry” and “destruction”. Phi would cringe whenever he was reminded of Phire – which was always since he is Omniscient. He adopted delusions that Phire was a complete stain on his reputation to lower beings, who he believed were confusing Phire with his mighty and awesome Golden Flame. Despite the Dragons constantly reminding him that “it doesn’t matter, it’s only a name”, Phi did not listen as he became increasingly bent out of shape over the matter. Eventually, deciding he had enough with the supposed slander that Phire had been causing him, Phi restructured reality so that his identity was “Fi” instead, so as to distance himself from Phire or the element Phi. Even despite getting what he wanted, Fi still remained upset and bitter because now he believed himself to have ruined the "naming" scheme of the Dragons – something else which none of the others except for him actually care about.
The Golden Flame
Fi is often envied by many of the other Dragons for his possession of the Golden Flame; widely considered to be the most powerful and most valuable type of Dragon Flame, even beyond that of Mu's Rainbow Flame. Everyone wants the Golden Flame, and are extremely annoyed that Fi of all beings should be the only one to have control over it – although no-one can agree on what exactly about the Golden Flame makes it so valuable. Some Dragons consider Phi's ability to harness the Golden Flame to be an "insult" and believe that the Golden Flame should be forcefully given to a more 'worthy' Dragon. (Conveniently, this Dragon usually happens to be themselves.) Others believe it is impossible to separate the Flame from Fi, and attempt to manipulate Fi into doing their bidding to gain some control over the Flame. Unsurprisingly, this never works, and Fi often "decides out of the goodness of his heart" to do the exact opposite of what might be beneficial to whichever Dragon is trying to control him.
Chi
Chi is the Dragon of Change, and apparently the most “mystical” of Dragons. Mindful, patient and attentive, he seems to have the most inner tranquility out of the Dragons. Chi believes that inner balance is the key to strength; More specifically, he believes that allowing oneself to accept change and not resist against it, and flowing with those changes is the most crucial aspect of this philosophy. He often spouts out odd sayings such as "Let yourself move with change as a lleaf would travel the naughter stream", which he believes is very wise advice but typically leaves the rest of the Dragons confused. One of the most crucial reasons that Chi follows this philosophy, is that he believes flowing with change is what can allow one to enact profound change in their external reality. Not one to be a mere talker, Chi has demonstrated his point metatime and again, transmuting his internal emotional energies into pure power which he channels into devastating attacks against enemies. He can transmute elements into different states and even into other elements, just as a skilled alchemist would.
However, there is a particular reason Chi is so overly concerned with "inner piece". He was the angriest and shortest-tempered of the Dragons before, and he used to emotionally erupt in very violent episodes. The only way he was able to suppress this anger was through meditation, self-reflection and internal alchemy. Still, however, if Chi is pushed to his limit, he may still be prone to his more violent tendencies surfacing. And when that happens, everyone takes cover
Chi Flame
Chi's eponymous Flame is capable of healing the maladies and injuries of beings, but not always to a complete extent. Chi has attempted to use it to cure Rho of his condition, but it only serves to temporarily subside the symptoms. The Chi Flame also carries properties which allow it to transmute any harmful energies and emotions into positive and beneficial ones.
Omega
Omega is the Dragon of Love and Compassion, as many call her. Unlike Alpha's very "logical" mindset, Omega is more oriented towards emotional feelings and actions. She is very kind, compassionate and merciful – but too much for her own good. She always preaches to the other Dragons that violence is "not the way", and that "Love conquers all". She believes that even beings like Pi can still change for the better, and that they should be shown mercy and forgiveness. Many of the other Dragons perceive her as being too naïve and idealistic, while Omega perceives the other Dragons as too narrow-minded to solve problems through means other than violence. Omega is a true pacifist, and is the most non-confrontational of the Dragons, staying out of most combative conflicts. She tries to prevent and avoid discord wherever it could manifest. Due to this, however, she comes off as extremely anxious and finicky, equally making those in her presence just as anxious and finicky when she tries to solve everyone's problems. As such, Omega requires balancing support from an equally powerful yet opposite will, one that provides enough of a challenge to serve as a consistent outlet for her efforts to solve problems. It is for this role that Alpha, her antithesis, comes into play.
Omega was admittedly impressed by Alpha's stubbornness and rigidity, as it provided a challenge that she could invest in solving. In the metatime Omega spent teaching lessons to Alpha in an effort to better him, they both discovered that they could actually learn from each-other. From Omega, Alpha learned to have compassion, or at least consideration and adaptability. Likewise from Alpha, Omega learned that letting go is sometimes the best thing to do. Eventually, their rivalry became companionship, and their companionship transpired into an even greater connection.
Thus, both Alpha and Omega have achieved eternal balance with one another in an infinite equilibrium, and the two remain in a polar yet symbiotic nonduality.
Although Omega does not like to admit it, her philosophy is not without its flaws. In fact, it has even cost the Existence of many of her friends, especially on the occasion in which she chose not to fight Pi. Omega felt responsible for the loss of those close to her, which could have possibly been prevented by her intervention. And even when she herself did finally intervene and fought Pi, helping to defeat him came at a cost which was nearly too great to bear. This incident almost shook Omega's ideals and led to her briefly questioning her philosophy for a time. However, she has never truly wavered from her path. Omega always tries to mediate most disputes between the remaining Dragons when possible.
Black Flame
Omega's Black Flame embodies the general concept of Love and Compassion – "divine love", as 3-dimensional mortals may label it. It serves to pacify aggressive beings engulfed by it, and bring about empathy within them so that they may see more peaceful alternatives to resolving their dilemmas.
Mu
Mu is the leader of a group of the Dragons, having been allied with Apex before many of them were exterminated in a mass genocide. Currently, he and the remaining Dragons reside in a secluded sanctuary dimension somewhere in The Whateverse.
History
Early Existence
Long before he was a Dragon in Whateverse, Mu was the concept Leadership inhabiting Nonexistence. Leadership naturally attracted a collection of complementary concepts towards itself, forming into a conceptual sphere from within which it operated. Leadership discovered difficulty in maintaining a cohesive pattern for the conceptual sphere, primarily due to the contained concepts' inability to retain absolute synchronization. As it attempted to devise a solution to the dilemma, Leadership was approached by another of the concepts in its sphere, the concept of Subjugation. Subjugation informed Leadership that the best – in fact "only" way to properly lead a group, is by revoking its free will. Leadership was skeptical about the ethics of this, as well as Subjugation’s likely bias towards such a thing. However, the way in which Subjugation communicated its proposal was convincing. Leadership approved Subjugation's idea, revoking the free will of all the other concepts in its sphere. However, Subjugation, having formed a close relationship to Leadership as the result of seemingly strong conceptual chemistry, was instated as the second-in-command of the sphere, only subservient to Leadership itself.
Leadership always held the welfare of its sphere as the highest priority, and never performed actions without consideration for them. Although the rest of the concepts had no free will against Leadership, Leadership always had their best interests.
Whateverse and the War with the Hazard
A certain archverse relatively close to the domain of Leadership’s conceptual sphere was infected at a ω+2 soupcount level by an External Hazard. Leadership, having remotely observed this, perceived an opportunity to spread its influence and ideals into the archverse by eliminating the threat to its inhabitants. Leadership and its subservient concepts unanimously decided to migrate to the archverse – entirely on the basis of non-Leadership concepts lacking free will. Upon entering Whateverse, all the concepts became Aspect Lords and compressed themselves into comprehensible forms which were created from their environment, becoming the Dragons. And with that, Leadership became the Dragon known as Mu.
After giving themselves form, Mu and the rest of the Dragons attempted to align themselves with Apex, for the purpose of a mutually beneficial relationship. As proof of their professed loyalty, The Dragons assisted Apex in quelling the threat of the Hazard with their Dragon Flames, which were effective in incinerating it. Although Apex was relieved to have had an effective defense against the Hazard, Mu knew that they were also at the same metatime concerned by the presence of the Dragons, as to them they were another variable that upset the order they were trying to regain control over. However, Mu agreed with Apex that free will was problematic, and he would do everything he could to ensure that his Dragons would follow the ideals of Apex. As for Mu, he was allowed to keep his free will, as he was already more than willing to follow Apex's orders on his own.
The Decline of the Dragons
It first began with Apex becoming increasingly overwhelmed in their efforts to combat the External Hazard. As the Hazard spread throughout Whateverse, they lost more control over it, even with the assistance of the Dragons and Transcendent Deities; until eventually, they completely lost their whole influence. The Dragons and the Transcendent Deities failed to locate the source of the external Hazard, as it was beyond the domain of Apex’s influence. Ironically, the Dragons may have possibly been able to locate and destroy the source in their Nonexistent conceptual states, but that was no longer an option. This led Apex to finally come to terms – somewhat – with the fact that they could not control and manipulate every single aspect of Existence. With this realization, they announced that the Dragons may as well be freed, since it did not matter anymore given the circumstances. Mu was not happy to learn this, as it presented a conflict of interest in that he had no intention of changing the way he governed his group. However, now that it seemed like an option to the Dragons, presented by a perceived superior of Mu for that matter, the other Dragons quickly became restless. They wanted to be free, and Mu was trapped in a dilemma. He did not want to lose control, as it further eroded his capability of embodying Leadership, and his concerns were now compounded by the threat of a potential mutiny staged against him if he were to grant free will to the Dragons. Conversely, however, Mu did not want to keep his subjects unhappy and unsatisfied for the sake of his own selfish interests. He realized that if he truly was the good leader he believed himself to be, he would give them what they wanted and he could be an even better leader for it.
This decision was controversial among the Dragons. In particular, Pi – the Dragon which Subjugation had become – was least happy. His influence over the Dragons was now exponentially reduced. In the midst of this controversy, Mu knew that the beginning of a Whateverse-wide war with a being known as The New God who had weaponized the Hazard would require far greater levels of coordination amongst the Dragons and the rest of those who still remained loyal to Apex. He demanded that even with free will, the Dragons were still expected to follow his rules, and if they did not like it then they were more than welcome to leave. Mu expected most of his subjects to have remained loyal and stayed. And all of them did – except for Pi. Mu was shocked that Pi had left, and even slightly hurt. They were supposed to have been close – but apparently Pi never cared about that. In Pi's absence, Mu continued to lead his subjects without him. He helped to steer the other Dragons through the dark tides of the war, effectively leading assaults against the enemy.
Eventually, Pi later returned, possessing a horrifying new form. He had aligned himself with The New God's army and seemingly intentionally infected himself with the External Hazard, determined to use his newfound power to wipe out the Dragons as an act of servitude to his new "master". Pi considered the other Dragons to be a threat to himself and the Hazard, as their Flames were the greatest deterrent against it. Furthermore, the other Dragons were the closest beings equal in power to Pi, and thus were the most likely to challenge him. Pi proceeded to exterminate many of the Dragons, nearly driving them to complete extinction.
Mu was horrified and heartbroken as he witnessed all of this unfold. The being which he had spent so much metatime alongside, which had always supported him and gave him council when needed, had become a mindless tyrant filled with a blind hatred for his own kind. Even despite all of this, Mu could not bring himself to confront or kill him. And so, in his cowardice, he fled. This action came at a great cost, and because of it Pi was allowed to exterminate many of the Dragons, driving them to near-extinction and reducing the total population within whateverse down to just 24, including himself. The chaos and carnage was only stopped when a knight stepped into action and fought Pi, eventually defeating and weakening him and forcing him to retreat.
Following this, Mu relocated the rest of the Dragons and they all retreated to a secluded sanctuary somewhere in the Barrelplex. Mu feels incredibly ashamed of his actions, and feels largely responsible for the current state of his group. However, he vows that one metaday, he shall try to make things right.
Abilities
The Rainbow Flame
The Rainbow Flame may be considered the most powerful Dragon Flame. It encompasses the entire spectrum of concepts contained in the conceptual sphere of Leaderhsip, and as such exhibits the effects of every Dragon Flame. With the Rainbow Flame, Mu can generate and manipulate any of the individual Flames and their effects, as well as completely Reality below him.