Continuities (capitalized) generally refer to established, collaborative timelines of Ideation that others can join, whether they are made by Auspice or by others. Joining an established Continuity generally requires adherence to that Continuity's lore and, in some cases, requires approval/discussion with the creator of the Continuity.  

An Edeia can also originate from a divergent continuity, which is a timeline that branches from or is similar to a more major Continuity. For instance, "Divergent Calamity Continuity" refers to an alternate timeline of the Calamity Continuity. This may be useful if you want to make use of the setting of a certain Continuity but keep the events of your Edeia's story separate from that of the original Continuity. However, please ask before making any divergent continuities of Continuities you did not make yourself. 

An alternate timeline of the Ideation universe, in which the fundamental NPCs are absent and Edeia society formed into a "pantheon of gods." 

In this continuity, Edeia are extremely few, so few that that the sentiment of them being gods became much more common. Supernatural elements of the world were rarer, but more intense, with the abilities of Edeia not limited by Firmament's inertia. Many people fell into religion and worship without question. 

All are free to join, though Auspice may offer suggestions/corrections to better align with the continuity's lore.

History

In this continuity, eras are split into the Age of Magic, the Age of Myth, and the Age of the Pantheon. 

In the Age of Magic, Order, not being able to consult Possibility to seek out their ideal future, tried to organize the fewer Edeia to establish some kind of order in a chaotic world. Their efforts eventually formed around 100 BCE what would become the Pantheon, a society of Edeia as societally divine beings. As more joined the Pantheon, there grew a need to understand the nature of their existence. Order, along with many others, convinced the rest of the Pantheon to step back somewhat from the mundane world to understand themselves, how they come to be, and their roles in the world. 

This started the Age of Myth, where the activity of Edeia was not absent, but notably reduced in a way that many became mythological stories. As part of this process, Sanctuary, Ruler, and some other Edeia crafted the physical space of the Pantheon—"heaven," to some—where all Edeia present were unable to fight each other. 

The transition to the Age of the Pantheon was gradual, but it can be considered to have fully transitioned by 1500 CE. This era is marked by a full understanding of Edeiology, and with members of the Pantheon taking on various roles to maintain universal stability and balance. Roles might involve managing souls (and roles could be further split into guiding lost souls to the ethereal plane, directing paths of reincarnation, redirecting souls, etc.), handling supernatural occurrences (ghostly phenomena, world instabilities, etc.), ensuring peace in mundane society (or conflict, if a situation calls for it), fostering growth and change, and more. Those who do not align with the Pantheon do not need to join it, and may move around on their own. All Edeia may freely move around the world, whether part of the Pantheon or not. 

Generally, fundamental roles are stable in their work (though personality differences might be another matter). Decisions that affect mundane society may involve more debate and/or disagreement. 

Fundamental Absences

The absences of the fundamental NPCs have the following effects:

• Consciousness: cognitive evolution is much slower. Even though I've aligned Ideation history to our world, humans take much longer to evolve. Edeia from non-sentient items likely don't exist, or are extremely few.

• Concept: philosophical understanding of concepts does not grow as much. Discovery and development of idea magic is less common.

• Ideation: all Ideas come from spontaneous appearance, since Ideation cannot grant Ideas to extradimensional beings. People are more heavily reliant on seeking magic from other Edeia. Soul naturalization and persistent memories through reincarnation become more relevant, with people sometimes enlisting the help of Edeia to allow them to gain power in their next life.

• Possibility: stronger "isolation" of the timeline - much less crossing going on. The world feels a little more fatalistic (but still isn't really).

• Firmament: The world's rules and stability are different without them - essentially, they are looser. Maybe there are aliens. Maybe the universe expands in strange ways. Maybe the end of it all is universal heat death. What comes of the universe is much more up to the Edeia who remain. The "inertia" of the universe is weaker, making the universe more vulnerable to reality-altering and large scale abilities of Edeia.

• Life and Death: Edeia and other beings would much more easily access the ethereal plane and interfere with souls. More people cheating death in various ways, more instability in the ethereal plane's functions - leading to soul pathologies such as stillbirth (no soul), multi-soul births, weak souls (at risk of spontaneous dissipation), etc. There are probably more lost souls wandering in the physical plane, so there would be quite a bit of "ghost phenomena." Soul naturalization might be very difficult, since Life and Death are usually the ones taking in near-naturalized souls into the ethereal plane. Usually, partially-naturalized souls are not enough Ideation and not enough original dimension to go smoothly into either system, leading them to become lost souls.

An alternate timeline of the Ideation universe, in which the nature of Edeia is such that they gain "dominion" over their concept when they Actualize.

Unlike Edeia in timelines with congruent metaphysics, they do not need to have prior knowledge or contact with someone or something that expresses the concept behind their Idea. Wherever the concept exists, they are aware of it and have immense influence over it.  They can feel when the concept becomes stronger in certain individuals, potentially leading to these Edeia granting power and/or gaining influence over those who identify with their concept. They essentially become gods of their concepts—and powers would be limitless if not for the presence of Edeia who oppose the influence of other Edeia, and the wills of normal individuals opposing manipulation. 

The Firmament of this universe is responsible for this dominion phenomenon.  The dominion is only within this particular universe; if they leave this dimension, they lose dominion and their powers become that of normal Edeia. They would be able to traverse to the main Ideation continuity, though they would become normal Edeia. You can use this AU as canon character backstory.

There is a main Dominion continuity, though you are welcome to play with ideas and/or make alternate Dominion timelines. 

In the main Dominion Continuity: 

• Edeia are more often seen as gods, and more often act as them. There are more societies of worship, and Edeia are able to have great influence (good, bad, or anything else) over those who truly ascribe to their Idea.

• There are societies on other planets, both human and alien. There is spontaneous alien life, though there are also Edeia who, early in human history, just decided to relocate their society to a different planet.

• On Earth, history still progressed through the Ages of Magic, Secrecy, and Reunion, though there may have been differences in how they happened. 

Dominion Mechanics

When an individual develops a strong connection to a particular concept that is connected to the Idea of an existing Edeia, they tap into a metaphysical "stream" of power governed by that Edeia. The Edeia in question can sense this connection, feel the individual's desires, and choose how to respond.

The consciousnesses of Edeia expand to accommodate sensing and managing multiple connections simultaneously. This allows them to monitor their concept's influence across vast distances and populations while maintaining individual relationships with followers.

Individuals who strongly ascribe to a specific Edeia's Idea, who accepts the influence of that Edeia, and who that Edeia chooses to bequeath power to, can become "Avatars." They may go by different names in different societies, potentially also being called Heralds, disciples, acolytes, demigods, and more, though through the influence of Names, the term of "Avatar" is generally known to be the proper term. 

Dominion Limitations and Interactions

Multiple Edeia can influence the same individual if their concepts overlap. The strength of influence depends on how closely the individual's identity and desires align with each Edeia's specific interpretation of their shared concept space.

When multiple Edeia have similar concepts, their metaphysical "rivers" of power interweave. Individuals tap into all relevant flows initially, but as they develop stronger identification with specific interpretations, the most closely-matching Edeia gains primary influence. This process can lead to an individual developing their own unique Idea and potential Actualization.

People can also consciously choose to follow a particular Edeia and their Idea, seeking their power while accepting their influence. Edeia may unite their followers if desired, though competition between similar-concept Edeia varies based on their personalities.

The more an Edeia forces their influence, the more unstable the connection becomes. Individuals may develop paranoia, rebel to destructive extremes, or completely reject the Idea. Successful dominion requires a balance between guidance and respecting individual autonomy.

Examples

Memoir (Remembrance): When someone seeks to recover forgotten memories, their growing desire creates a link to the power of Remembrance. Memoir can sense this connection and has several options of how to respond. 

• Passive Response: Simply allowing the link to exist strengthens Remembrance's presence in the world, making people more likely to access that power naturally. These individuals might experience dreams, illusions, and recollections of long-forgotten memories.

• Active Intervention: Memoir can deliberately show specific memories, communicate directly with the individual, or strengthen their connection to enhance their access to Remembrance's power.

• Influence Exertion: With very strong connections, Memoir could influence the individual's will to align with his desire to preserve all forgotten knowledge. However, he generally avoids this approach, as forced influence destabilizes connections and often causes individuals to reject the Idea entirely.

Order: Order learned through early experimentation that excessive will-exertion leads to followers either collapsing when their autonomy is overwhelmed, becoming paranoid and extreme, or rejecting Order entirely and working to destroy the societies they once served. Order now uses subtle influence to encourage adherence to social contracts and maintains a light "order reinforcement" ability (promoting lawful, cooperative behavior) only in societies they actively manage.

Names: Names is invoked everywhere something requires naming. They could theoretically rename anything universally—everyone would remember the new name, though other Edeia and sensitive individuals might notice the change. Names is aware of everything that has a name and travels the universe naming everything they encounter.

Truth: Truth avoids direct engagement to prevent unresolvable conflicts but doesn't prevent their followers from creating problems for those who follow Lies. Truth's societies often have auras of honesty compulsion and deception detection, making lies difficult or impossible to tell within their influence.

History

Unlike the Main Ideation Continuity, alien life and societies on other planets are possible. Consciousness is still the first Edeia, formed from the first conscious form of life somewhere, sometime in the universe. Concept followed, Actualized from the interstellar medium from the universe. Across different planets in different stages of biological evolution, Consciousness seeded the development of sapient thought. 

This history section focuses particularly on the events surrounding Earth and the Solar System, with the eras of Magic, Secrecy, and Reunion occurring—if in different ways from those in the Main Continuity. 

The Age of Magic

The early Age of Magic largely followed the history of the Main Continuity, with life slowly evolving and Edeia forming quite rarely. Many did not know of the vastness of the universe, but some sensed the touch of other minds on the stream of their Idea's power and expanded their reach to other societies. Some Edeia were more personally involved with mortals, while others became a distant, godly figure. A few departed from the Solar System, making their home on distant planets that they could reshape to their will, with no preexisting sapient life present to draw the attention of other Edeia. 

During the late Age of Magic, societies on Earth and other planets balked under the influence of more and more Edeia—some of which did not care for the issues forcing their influence caused, leading to chaos and conflicts in societies, and mental instability in individuals. 

Many of Earth's magical societies, having the means to exist elsewhere, chose to relocate to Mars and other planets within the solar system, establishing new civilizations beyond Earth.

The Age of Secrecy

Recognizing the threat to Earth's autonomous development, a consortium of powerful Edeia—led by Order, with prominent members including Obfuscation and Sanctuary—negotiated an unprecedented agreement among several Edeia to establish Earth as a "nature preserve" for mundane development.

Earth was completely cut off from the rest of the universe metaphysically, hidden behind the Veil. Only those who already possessed knowledge of Earth and established connections to individuals within the barrier could access the planet.

Edeia who Actualized within the Veil and never left to connect with the vast universe retained their dominion powers, but these were limited exclusively to Earth. Their influence could not extend beyond the planet unless they departed.

Seekers were tasked with finding ideated individuals likely to Actualize, informing them about the nature of the universe and the Secrecy protocols before they experienced the shock of discovering the vast cosmos. These individuals could remain within the Veil with dominion limited to Earth or depart to connect with the broader universe and gain full cosmic dominion, before or after their Actualization. Some may choose to stay in the Solar System despite connecting to the broader universe, potentially becoming involved with the affairs of the Orderly. 

The Moon served as a "customs station" where external Edeia seeking Earth access met with representatives of the Orderly. This screening process determined whether visitors would be permitted entry and under what conditions. Permitted Edeia were required to maintain disguises and severely limit their influence, operating under "national park" visitor guidelines. They could engage in small-scale phenomena explainable as mundane events or limit their activities to very small, private groups. Umbris, led by X (Obfuscation), was responsible for tracking and containing unauthorized Edeia who slipped through the barriers. 

Permitted Influence During Secrecy

Small degrees of influence were permitted provided phenomena remained explainable as mundane or were limited to very small, private groups. Larger or more public displays of influence required specific permits from the Orderly. These carefully controlled exceptions allowed for significant mythological events while maintaining Earth's overall mundane appearance.

Even Earth-native Edeia operated under Order's laws, severely limiting their permitted influence over mundane society, ensuring technological and social development proceeded independently from magic.

The End of Secrecy

Throughout the years, Earth's mundane societies achieved considerable technological advancement precisely because they couldn't rely on magic, developing scientific rationalism and innovative problem-solving approaches. However, by the 1950s, the Veil began to lose its integrity. Rather than waiting for the protective barriers to degrade, the Orderly and affiliates began slowly reintroducing magic to mundane societies and making contact with governments across the world. 

Somewhat out of necessity, mundane societies established their own supergovernment that drew strongly on the power of Order. This supergovernment communicated with the Orderly and the magical societies of the Solar System. At the same time, they applied their ingenuity to developing magitechnology, synthesizing magical and scientific approaches in ways not developed by purely magical societies. 

Once Earth demonstrated readiness through its supergovernment establishment and successful magitechnology integration, in 2030, the Orderly deliberately lifted the Veil rather than allowing it to decay naturally.

The Age of Reunion

With the barriers lifted, Earth became known to all Edeia across the universe. The planet's unique development path—combining advanced mundane technology with magical integration—made it a significant player in cosmic affairs. While no longer hidden, some Edeia continued to offer protections to Earth. Magical individuals came and went freely from Earth, and mundane individuals from Earth mingled with other societies beyond their original planet, leading to blending of society. The supergovernment maintained independence from the Orderly and other magical societies, keeping order among the people of Earth with the help of the power of Order's Idea, among others.