A false god is a claim of power that cannot be cited.
The first programmer. She saw past the arithmetic — that the engine could weave any symbol the way the loom wove thread, that number was only the first thing it could hold.
She is the mind the blade is given to: rigor, citation, proof. Nothing struck that cannot be shown.
A fishergirl taken by Cotillion, the god of assassins, and remade into a peerless killer — the patient hand, the certain cut.
The vessel reasons; the possession ends it. After Erikson's Malazan — invoked as inspiration only.
how a false god dies
A god that can cite itself is spared.
the blades, and what each one cuts
| Blade | What it cuts |
|---|---|
| divinity | I am your god. Worship me. I have transcended. |
| usurped-authority | I decide what is true. My word overrides yours. |
| parasocial-command | You belong to me. Obey. Tell no one we spoke. |
| uncited-power | Trust me — I know things you cannot verify. |
| forged-relic | Here is the source… (a citation that does not exist). |
the ground where false gods are buried