[ Myrioi ] [ Aura | Avenger | Epariti | Demiourgoi ]
The Demiourgoi
The Convocation of Equals
Home Plane: Arcadia / Abellio / The Grove of Congruent Voices
The Demiourgoi (demi-OR-goy) or “crafters of order” are Arcadia’s ultimate council—a parliament of fifty equals drawn from the wisest myrioi across the sisterhoods. Unlike mortal governments, they sit on no throne, and wield no sceptre or gavel. No cutter wears a crown. The power of the conclave flows from the collective wisdom of the myrioi and their ability to find harmony, not from a hierarchy. Think of ’em as the plane’s conscience if you like, and its nightwatch. It guides the blades of the epariti, interprets ancient Arcadian laws, and ensuring harmony endures no matter what befalls the plane.
Despite the fancy-sounding title though, demiourgoi are themselves regular myrioi. They serve on the council for three cycles before being returning to their convents and being replaced by one of their sisters. Demiourgoi may wield the political power of paragons when convened as a group, but individually, they are physically equal to their sisters.
Arcadia’s Living Parliament
Nestled in deep the heart of Abellio’s pastoral layer, at the centre of one of its largest hedge mazes, the demiourgoi gather in an open-air amphitheatre of needle-straight silverwood trees. It’s an ancient assembly under open skies. Deliberations happen beneath the Orb of Day and Night, and its shifting light shapes their discourse. By day, the grove glows like molten pearl; by night, it becomes a star-flecked void. Stone benches form concentric circles with no head seat. Members face one another as literal equals. A crystal river bisects the grove perfectly; twenty-five avenger myrioi sit on the right, and twenty-five aurae on the left. Speakers toss rune-inscribed leaves into its currents, symbolising ideas flowing toward consensus.
Each session, a different member opens the debate as Harmony’s Echo (also known as the lawspeaker). The job of the Echo is to frame the issue which is scheduled to be discussed, but they themselves command no vote on the matter. The Echo presents both sides of the argument, trying to represent each option fairly and to show no bias. The demiourgoi then silently debate the matter telepathically—their thoughts woven into a shared mental landscape. There’s none of that unseemly shouting you see in other parliaments. It’s quite a surreal thing to experience, a room full of armoured myrioi exchanging knowing looks, side glances and raised eyebrows, before the Echo eventually rises and says “the decision is made”.
Decisions require full agreement. If consensus cannot be achieved, the matter is suspended in starlight—tabled for a future date until harmony returns. Dissenters may walk away from the conclave temporarily, but they are never disruptive. Failure to achieve consensus happens less often that you’d think though, cutter—remember how myrioi tend to think alike and speak as one? The main disagreements come when the more militant avengers and the (slightly) more laissez-faire aurae view matters differently.
In this way the demiourgoi act as the moral compass of all myrioi, and enforcing this will is the duty of the sisterhood of epariti. The demiourgoi issue orders which the epariti follow without challenge or exception. When chaos threatens (perhaps a demonic incursion), the parliament “whispers the threat’s pattern”—the epariti appear from wherever it is they dwell before they are summoned—then they act as they determine fit.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt. Canonwatch: The demiourgoi are homebrew leaders of the myrioi race. They are inspired by the δημιουργός (workers for the people) of Ancient Greece. While the name means different things to different authors, in the Arcadian League the demiourgoi were a group of 50 officials who led the council. The epariti were a military unit of 5,000 who preserved the independence of Arcdian towns and the general population of voting citizens were called the myrioi, or ‘ten thousand’.
