The Imperial Model

The Imperial Model is the standard pantheon recognized by the World Garden Empire from its founding to its current civil war. Despite being one of the largest empires in history, the World Garden does not have a large selection of deities like its neighbors, nor does it consider them equal in importance. It has a strict hierarchy, just like its capital city; unlike the Aristean Order, its greatest rival, it insists that vassal states recognize the Imperial Model first before whatever they used to culturally worship.   The primary deity of the Model is the Platinum Lady, a Divine not commonly worshipped outside of Imperial territory. The rest of the pantheon are more generally worshipped divines, but given imperial names and known by the avatars they specifically take in imperial form, a tendency not often seen in other pantheons.  

• The Platinum Lady: Divine of Profit and Hard Work
• The Legate: Divine of Wisdom and Strategy
• The Flamen: Divine of Oaths and Duty
• The Magistrate: Divine of Exploration and Opportunity

  The Platinum Lady sits atop the Imperial Model, followed by the Flamen, the Legate, and the Magistrate on the same level. Culturally, the Legate is most often worshipped by those within the Legion, while the Flamen is the most popular in the Imperial Heartlands. The Magistrate is more often worshipped by merchants, even before the Platinum Lady, given her dominion of the oceans where trade ships sail.   Additionally, the Model recognizes a demigod amongst the ranks: Her Divinity, 4th of Her Name, Child of the Divine, Queen of Roses, Lady of the Silver Palace, Keeper of the God Eye, Empress of the World, Our Holy Caretaker, Empress Alessandra Urelia Rosa IV. Though she is not divine in nature, the Keepers of the Model report her blessings from heaven, which is shown in her long lifespan despite her human heritage. Ever since she took the throne, the World Garden Empire has experienced a state of plenty, greater than any in history.   In more recent years with the fracturing of the Empire into warring factions, another figure has taken on a deific status to some groups within the region. The Imperial Loyalists speculate that the Blackdrake Rebellion’s leader Brom has ties to Infernal powers, painting him as a devilish figure to be spurned and rejected, while the poorest people in the same cities view him as a promised savior or messiah, someone sent by divine powers to dismantle the oppressive system they live under. Through either lens, he has become an opposing force to Her Divinity.