The Serpent of Balance and Inketch

The Serpent of Balance

The Serpent of Balance was a pre-mythic age deity, now considered defunct. It wielded the Element of Balance which was said to be omniscient and omnipresent power to enact Balance however it is needed, thus making it very powerful.

The Serpent of Balance appeared shortly after the Sentinels, specifically after they began to squabble and destroyed Saturnia. It scolded them and bid them to fix what they had ruined before retiring to make their own creations. The Sentinels began to mistrust the Serpent and soon united together to use their great power to exile it. The Serpent was warped into Inketch as Balance was warped into Ink. This event also created the shapeshifters, the mortal creations of Inketch who survived the change in Element.

It’s said the Serpent left a final warning; that the Sentinels’ actions had introduced evil into the land and that one day it would return, when one of the Sentinels rejected their child.

The true motivations and morals of the Serpent are largely up to interpretation. Most Sentinel-positive creatures believe it did have an ulterior motive and was planning to steal the revitalized Saturnia from the Sentinels. However, those who do not worship the Sentinels will tell you that the Serpent was actually backstabbed and the whole tale is a tragedy about how mistrust and paranoia can have devastating consequences.

Worship of the Serpent today is extremely rare with worship of it’s later counterpart only slightly more popular.

Inketch

The Exiled, The Betrayed of Ink

Element: Ink
Color: Purple-black
Patron to: Those betrayed, unnatural, wronged or lost
Common Pronouns: he/him, they/them, it/its
Associated Land: The Inketch Death

Inketch is what the Serpent of Balance became after being exiled. Where exactly he is now is a matter of debate but the shapeshifters believe he slumbers beneath The Inketch Death, the believed site of his exile.

Inketch itself has a couple interpretations. Some portray them as a malevolent trickster, who still plans to return and conquer Saturnia. The more sympathetic portrayal is one of an ever-loving and patient parent who is also quite sorrowful.

Worship of Inketch is largely restricted to the shapeshifters, who honor him in their daily lives. They took the Serpent’s “final prophecy” to heart, believing he will return one day and perhaps even return them to their original bodies.