Pappa Glory

Pappa Glory is the God of Garbage, who holds court in the cavernous sewers of the Gri’x. Portals to his realm (physical and otherwise) can be found in junkyards, trash heaps, dumpsters, wastebaskets, toilets, &c.   In accordance with the Law of Opposite Extremes, the sense of desolation and dejection felt by some items (worn-down toothbrushes... leftover food... tattered clothing... old toys... people...) which are used up and tossed away without a 'thank you' or any pang of regret for the severed connection between the refuse and the refuser invokes the opposite condition: Belonging.   Yes, even the trash in the Gri’x can claim sentience, and Pappa Glory is its essence, its spiritual center, its bona-fide deity.   You do not want to know what his Avatars, Angels, and Avenging Spirits are composed of. (Ed: Or maybe you do, but I won’t describe it here, as I’m sure that would require a trigger warning or two.) Let’s just say that rejected body parts, parasitic growths, and other medical waste removed during surgery (or otherwise) have, at times, been granted a new life of their own.   Despite his traumatic beginnings and the depressing horrors (at least, from some perspectives) of such an existence, Pappa Glory is not at all unkind—his only concern is that everyone and everything should have a place in existence that feels like home. He embodies the sense of Belonging brought about by its own absence, called into being by the cast-aways’ desperate yearning for acceptance and companionship. His countless tentacles of spiritual awareness stretch across the dimensions: wherever feelings of abandonment and rejection linger, there are the Pappa Glory’s children, and he loves them all dearly, because somebody should.   Members of his congregation, however, can often be far more volatile. Still, regardless of whatever internal turbulence they may suffer—or the ways in which they express these torments—they do receive his blessings. If some people protect their psychoses, Pappa Glory is the psychosis protecting its people.   All of his followers can sense when a pile of trash contains something useful and/or sentient. Should they reach in there to retrieve it, they need fear no harm from any dangers that might be lurking in that pile. For his more advanced clerics, Pappa Glory also grants the power to summon Garbage Elementals: animated, golum-like creatures comprised of any trash in the vicinity.   His most devout worshippers call themselves The Beloved. They have a permanent encampment in the Junk Yard, surrounding an old maintenance shed in which a large sink hole, the main portal to Pappa Glory’s underground domain, lies beneath a moldy piece of plywood.   Be kind to your trash, and Pappa Glory will look upon you favorably, should you ever find yourself in his realm. You may find that your old, forgotten garbage can be your Advocate there—or your Accuser.