Lord of Grace

Biodata

Meaning and Usage

• A relational title, not a unique divine name. Cheng Shi addresses both Deception and Destiny as his Lord of Grace, while Zhang Jizu uses it for Death 196 411 611.
• Not restricted to Nothingness. Followers also apply it to Order, Birth, Filth and Decay, Folly, and Annihilation 517 794 1064 1080 1183.
• Multiple patrons can share the title. Cheng Shi explicitly speaks of the protection of “two Lords of Grace” and prays to Deception and Destiny through the Mask and Dice 326 411.
• “Former Lord of Grace” marks a changed allegiance. Cheng Shi uses this wording for Deception after accepting Destiny as his new patron, although he continues seeking Deception’s help 197 254.
• The title can conceal a patron’s identity. Cheng Shi deliberately substitutes “Lord of Grace” for divine names when Deception alternates between appearing as Deception and Chaos 900.

Known Referents

Faith and Divine Patronage

Prayers and Audiences

Believers use prayers and divine tokens to seek contact, but a Lord of Grace does not necessarily answer.

• Cheng Shi prays through the Dice and Mask without receiving an audience from either patron 411.
• The token matters: Deception explains that Cheng Shi’s prayers through the Dice reached Destiny rather than Deception 139.
• Direct audiences are not universal: Filth and Decay had summoned neither players nor even its emissary Afros 517.
• Order’s players believe private audiences would compromise faction-wide fairness. Square and Round nevertheless eventually receives one 1080.

Faith Fusion and Apostasy

• Obtaining a second faith requires both the second Lord of Grace’s agreement and the original patron’s approval 538.
• Qu Yan’s original patron, Silence, offers no judgment; in his case, that silence is treated as a lack of refusal, allowing the fusion to proceed 538.
• Accepting another deity’s gift is not automatically punished as oathbreaking. Deception permits Cheng Shi to accept Memory’s artifact without an Oathbreak Curse 139.
• Decay’s partial Faded authority allows its proxy to dissolve believers’ faith contracts, acknowledge apostasy, and erase their curses 537.

Gifts and Delegated Authority

• A deity can grant a believer limited power to exercise a divine authority on its behalf. Prosperity’s partial Vitality authority grants Cheng Shi Endless Life 335.
• Believers can request authority directly: Cheng Shi’s dealings with the imprisoned Order prompt Li Wufang to ask for the same treatment 1207.
• Divine gifts may leave the recipient visible to their creator. Death’s concealment artifact blocks other gods’ observation but does not hide conversations from Death itself 989.

Protection and Its Limits

• Having a patron is not the same as receiving protection. The Lips of Foolish Play explicitly distinguishes Kainlaur’s active divine protection from Cheng Shi merely possessing several Lords of Grace 936.
• Apparent protection may come from another source. Deception explains that the Covenant—not its personal intervention—prevented Memory from attacking Cheng Shi directly 96.
• Patronage can include punishment. Destiny subjects Cheng Shi to gales of Nothingness as a warning against blasphemy 746.
• A patron’s death removes that protection: Hong Lin is warned that once a Lord of Grace dies, its believers are left unprotected 1069.

Identity and Succession

Deception and Chaos

Katarro’s patron is repeatedly associated with both Chaos and Deception. Order directly questions which deity he serves, and Katarro answers that it depends on how Order chooses to understand the situation 253.

Cheng Shi later discovers that Deception has taken control of Chaos’s authority and identity. He adopts “Lord of Grace” as a neutral form of address to avoid Deception answering references to one deity by performing the other 885 900 908.

When Zhen Xin inherits Chaos’s Divine Throne, Katarro initially mistakes her divine presence for his Lord of Grace. Cheng Shi corrects him: she is the new Chaos, not Deception 1344.

Counterparts in Other Worlds

• Independent starry skies can contain an identical Deception who is not an avatar of the familiar Lord of Grace 1369.
• Cheng Shi consequently cannot identify a encountered Deception solely by appearance: he must consider both the deity’s world of origin and the stage of its existence 1420.
• The existence of countless matching patrons leads Cheng Shi to question which Lord of Grace, if any, is the “true” one 1169.