The Aesthetic Axiom and the Divine Compass

Related article: Creation of the Multiverse

The original goal of the gods was to determine which worlds created by the titans were “good” or “useful.” But since the titans had little use for utility, the gods were forced to understand what utility even was. This was considered by them to be a base, or profane, concept. (In this case, "base" refers to terrestrial.) Utility was a pragmatic, hands-on function—you got your hands dirty, in other words. Since the titans functioned explicitly in this way, the Arbiters determined that Utility was the work of the titans, while Goodness was the work of the Arbiters and, later, the gods.

In searching for a proper concept of “good,” the Arbiters also stumbled upon an alternate concept: the concept of Beauty, or Aesthetics. This was a “divine” use for worlds, an intellectual or instinctual love and enjoyment for something without utility.

As the Arbiters continued to judge worlds, they came to the conclusion that Aesthetics were Subjective, while Utility was Objective. This was the Aesthetic Axiom. In other words, the Beauty of a world was in the eye of the beholder, but the Utility of that world was always either true or false. Thus, Utility was quickly codified. (This also created what we know to be physics.) Further experimentation by the Arbiters determined that Utility was still Objective, but quantifiable (i.e., that utility could be true, but in many different ways), while Beauty was Subjective and qualifiable (i.e. beauty is in the eye of the beholder).

The Aesthetic Axiom

Utility is Objective and Quantifiable (many avenues to one truth)

Beauty is Subjective and Qualifiable (many avenues to all beliefs)

The Divine Moral Compass (Necessary Morality)

The Axiom created the basis for the Divine Moral Compass, or DMC. The DMC establishes a deity’s alignment in the multiverse. It is known as a “Compass of Being” or a Necessary Morality, in that it is static and always exists; in other words, a deity that is Good is always Good and never waivers from being Good. Obviously, in practice this is not always the case, but there are exceptions to every rule. The DMC has four axes.

• Chaos, or the first alignment. No Utility and No Beauty. Chaos was the original alignment and is thought to be the penultimate state of things before Entropy eventually dissolve even Chaos into Nothing. Chaos serves no utility and presents no beauty, in that is the absence of both of those things.
• Order, or the second alignment. All Utility and No Beauty. Order was observed by the Arbiters, who saw it in the titans’ shaping of raw matter into the worlds. They surmised that Order must oppose Chaos— that the two cannot exist simultaneously. Order is the primary function of Utility and thus opposes Beauty.
• Good, or the third alignment. All Utility and All Beauty. Good was an abstract concept until the Arbiters linked it with Utility. Goodness is thought to be beautiful and useful, and its beauty is known as colorful, perfection, sensuality, compassion, and communication.
• Evil, or the fourth alignment. No Utility and All Beauty. Evil is known as the opposite of Good. Evil is believed to contain no true utility (in that it is often the destruction of utility), but is suffused with beauty. This beauty is represented in many different ways— beauty encapsulated in death, destruction, but also seduction, physical beauty, and sexuality.

It's important to note that to the gods, none of these alignments are "bad," but simply aspects of their existence. A Good aligned deity may oppose an Evil aligned one, but only out of their contrast, not in the inherent quality of either alignment.

After the DMC was established, the Arbiters, now gods, quickly placed themselves within the compass— or didn’t, and were placed there in a grand council overseen by the Highest Gods.

The Profane Moral Compass (Sufficient Morality)

Much later in time, when mortals were imbued with souls, they were given a small fraction of the DMC via their sliver of divinity. This is known as the Profane Moral Compass (PMC), or Sufficient Morality. It functions similarly to the DMC but is by definition malleable and subject to change. A mortal may be Altruistic one day, and Selfish the next, depending on circumstances. Hence it is also known as the “actionable” morality, and is described as a grid axis.

• Anarchic. The act of opposing law and order.
• Lawful. The act of following law and order.
• Altruistic. The act of doing good for others above yourself.
• Selfish. The act of doing good for yourself above others.

In general: due to their nature and their connection with free will, mortals are incapable of entering static states of morality. This is in direct contrast to the gods, which are essentially the celestial embodiment of their particular morality and alignment. Morality for mortals changes depending on a variety of circumstances. Gods prefer mortals who follow actions that fit within their moral compass.

Like the DMC, the PMC also inherently does not ascribe value to the four compass points of the axis.

The PMC also believes in a concept of balance, in which the soul desires a balance within the center of the four points. This balance is also known as the Pull.

The Pull

Creatures imbued with a soul may begin to pursue paths toward a divine morality. For example, a person may decide to become Good, and thus pursue Altruism to its fullest extent. They save others, fight crime, and pay tithes to their church. Over time, this behavior takes them farther along the line of Altruism.

However, the farther away from the center a person travels morally, there is a supernatural “pull” from the opposing axis. In the above example, the farther along someone travels in the realm of Altruism, the more they will be pulled by the allure of Selfishness, which attempts to bring them back toward a natural balance. This is the Pull. The pull comes from any direction along the PMC axis. The farther a person travels toward one compass direction, the more the Pull attempts to bring them back to the center.

Gods tend to watch mortals who pursue these paths, deeming them worthy of ascension to godhood if they are capable of maintaining their path despite the intense pull toward balance. These mortals can become champions of deities and some even become demigods and are granted a new life in one of the Outer Planes.