Kalki

I started out searching for various ideas of ['Avatar'], and ended up delving into Hinduism in the process.

Hindu philosophy divides time up into vastly cosmic cycles taking millions of years to complete. The one we're supposedly in now is Kali Yuga, the lowest and basest. At some point when Kali Yuga is complete, there arrives an Avatar of Vishnu named [Kalki] in the form of a white horse (or a rider of a white horse). His job is to 'reboot' the universe, destroying everything and purifying evil and so forth, then bringing forth the Satya Yuga, the golden age. In the golden age, apparently, "the great majority of the people can experience spirituality by direct intuitive realization of truth. The veil between the material and the transcendent realms becomes almost see-through, as the illusion of different densities of vibration is dissolved." --([From here.]) This new universe, of course, could be Puzzlebox. Entire universe 'rebooted' into psuedomystical encompassing sentient universe. So! Taking this the various definitions of Avatar and combining them, we've got Kalki--the Avatar of Vishnu who happens to also be Puzzlebox {her}self, the one who exploded the previous universe and rebooted into this one with the Mess. At least, this is how he sees it. Kalki's done his job as destroyer and remaker already, he's fulfilled his purpose. So what does a virtual representation of a spiritual representation of a digital-spiritual worldgod do, living in the Satya Yuga of infinite enlightenment? (that is, until the next cosmic cycle runs it course...but according to most, that won't be for another 1,450,887 years....)

Well...at least in this universe he won't be bored. And he'll be able to keep more friends, since of course being an Avatar of Destruction, anyone he gets close to ends up annihilated....but then again, on Puzzlebox they come back! Okay, so that sounds maybe a bit too Twinnish (then again, Twin violently abhors actually killing anyone). But what does a purifying messiah do after he's done his job, not everyone was saved, and the Golden Age looks more like tarnished brass? That's what I want to figure out.

Personal notes, things to still figure out:

• Description
• Brief summarized philosphy
• Faction/Warp leaning...if any.
• Full name or short version? (Kalki Avatara)

Comments

For commenting, of course. I'm still brainstorming the character.

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Actually, Twin has a weird attitude towards killing. Mass and singularity both have inner drives to do it - one because (she)'s as much a wild beast as a monster-grrl, the other because (she)'s a Thing of Entropy. (She)'s become a little looser about physical death since coming to Puzzlebox - there's an intimation that (she) might have no moral issues with killing someone with claws or other physical ways, as long as they're backed up. (She) even briefly toyed with the idea of getting out of Amanita's slow mind-twisting at the claws of Okyno by killing the shiny to revert to a backup. But (she)'s sworn to not Devour anyone, ever again.

Twin and Kalki might have some interesting conversations. (She)'d also be very glad to have a real Diety of Destruction around so (she) can quit seeing (her)self as such a thing, and just get on with having a good time. But... while Twin-mass is endlessly recreatable... Twin-star is beyond Puzzlebox's technology to recreate. Or so I maintain.

On the other hand, if Kalki = Puzzlebox, they've kinda flirted offstage already - or so Twin led people to believe when (she) was still regularly telling (her) history. And (she) doesn't seem prone to lying.

He is not Puzzlebox {her}self, entirely. I don't want to take *that* much responsibility. But his perceived history is as a tool of Vishnu, which he perceives as PB. That may not be entirely true....likely he could be an artifact in the infrasystem that found a neat belief and set of powers to claim as his own. --K

(Also: white horse, or rider-of-white-horse... some way to combine the two? Horse-and-rider-in-one? Yet another gestalt. Gestalt characters may be on their way to cliche here.)

Well, centaur, then? That'd work. Or horse with rider attached, though that would be akward. Or a rider with horse telepathically and cybernetically linked. Though since they're both holosolid projections at the same time, it could be any of these and all at the same time.--K

An equitaur. - Echo

Maybe the denizens of the Mess are the ones who aren't Enlightened... --Twin

Ooh. I do like that. Kalki did his job, vanquished the evil...and ended up with the rejects? I should go see if Hinduism even has a 'hell'...doubtful. At the least, he might eventually suspect that PB isn't all that full of perfection, not-so-Golden Age. --K

People of Puzzlebox don't care about Enlightenment sometimes. And the place is definitely far from perfect. Just... happy. --T

That would be an interesting riff to go on, dear, T thinking that Puzzleboxians are far from pefect and just...happy -:) (I personally love the ideas that other critters bring here, the many aspects of meaning: the Players taking on the aspects of their Characters and promoting their beliefs, almost infecting others with them and seeing what happens, for one)--Zoe

Hmm. Flip a coin on whether or not this guy and GrayZero would be capable of getting along. Certainly she could have fun deconstructing that belief set to see if it really does work. I mean, presuming that he's a retired Messiah of her Lady? Bit of a stretch, there, 'specially when you (are fanatically convinced you) have talked to Her personally and are not sure if you've heard of such a thing. :) In any case, I think the concept sounds interesting; certainly it'd be nice to have other folks regarding Puzzlebox as a divine figure. --GrayZero

The sound of apples striking stone --Zoe