The Green Raptor, Guthix's Favored Animal.
Nex (Also known as 'The creator' or 'The Judge') is the god of balance and nature. Nex lacks any form of gender (and therefore shall be referred to as a capitalised 'It'). While "Nex" is not Its real name, it is the name most commonly associated with It. "The way of Nex" entails as much as acquiring balance, resulting in an/the Equilibrium. It holds no other goal. Though, this does not demand "maintaining the status quo", it does make it more complicated, as with many things in Its teachings. Often, Nex is referred to as a "he", whether they be Its friends or enemies. This is simply for 'convenience', but this does cause some confusion nonetheless. On top of this, it demonstrates a male bias, since Nex is genderless.
Nex's Requiem[]
It is good, evil, or neutral, determined by which side is unbalanced and the situation. According to Nex, "I canst speak not for other deities of this land, but from me thou receive only the self satisfaction that thy cause is true, and that balance will be served by thine decision." which at least heavily implies that It grants Its worshipers no special Prayers or powers in exchange for following It, unlike some of the other deities, such as Remora (e.g. regular prayers), Serenity (e.g. Crystal equipment), and Daraken (e.g. Ancient Magicks and Ancient Curses).
In the statue of Nex, It appears to be male. A misconception about Nex is that It is the god of peace and/or tranquility. This is false, however, as It is only the god of balance. And balance does not necessarily mean peace - as may be evidenced by the Void Knights.
A statue of Nex shown in a house chapel. Although genderless it appears to be in a male form.
A God of a Hundred faces.[]
Nex is a shapeshifter, and is able to take the form of anything It desires. It was in the form of a butterfly when It came to Nimth, and when the first humans arrived, Nex appeared to them in human form. Nex has no real god symbol (as stated in the Postbag). However, the emblem most commonly associated with him is the Tear of Nex, originally devised by the snake Juna and later adapted by other followers of Nex.
A seemingly more primal power than most other known gods, Nex has claimed once that,
'"I exist because I must exist; if I did not, then I would be created again, for the universe requires balance in all things.'"
Nex is also capable of opening permanent inter-dimensional gateways between two separate planes of existence for entire races to travel through, enchant steel blades to become specially effective weapons against demonic entities (as It did with Silverlight), and Its tears were able to resurrect the slain cave goblin Zanik. However, though responsible for the arrival of humans upon Nimth, His book claims that it was "keen to point out" that It didn't create them.
Nex has claimed in The Book of Balance to be capable of affecting future events themselves should It wish it, but also adds It does not do so because such an act would disrupt the natural balance.
Nex sleeps in the middle of the world of Nimth, absorbing power from Its creations as they live. This is a different way to gain prayer energy, meaning that, like all the other deities, It needs to have such energy as well. This proves It is not an independent god unlike It claims to be, since Its creations must live lest Its source of prayer energy is interrupted and It would then have to search for a new source. This is the reason It cares for the life It created with the Crystal Stone.
Its motto is: "Balance is Power". , when a Person Enters any Nex Portal. the person sides with the side with the least sides and effectively equals the teams, hence the saying, "Balance is Power".
“ One full year of this planet is the equivalent of one heart beat for myself, although the parallel is flawed for I hath no heart and do not breathe.
Mine is the scale of planets, dancing and circling the cosmos, of continents rising and falling, and of mountains growing. As thou may imagine, I find it hard to accurately measure time upon a smaller scale than this. ”
' '— Nex, 4:10 of The Book of Balance, Power
“ Thy assumption is mostly correct noble philosopher; most gods mayst not stay long on a plane where their existence is not demanded by followers. Just speaking the name of a god canst give them power enough to enter this plane, and with followers then they mayst remain.
I am not most gods however; mine power is drawn from the land, from the seas, from the plants and trees, from the very essences of life that dwell here. This is why I neither seek nor demand loyalty from mine followers, for my power is not that of belief, but of life.
The only thing that could disrupt mine energies wouldst be the extinction of all life upon this realm, in which case I wouldst be forced from this realm to find another. 'I would never allow such an abomination against balance to occur here. '”
' '— Nex, 4:21 of the Book of Balance, Power
“ I know for many mortals sleep doth exist only as periods of inactivity, but this is not true of myself.
Mayhap the word slumber was an inexactitude of mine; as thou may know of me, I find the language of mortals problematic, just as understanding the message of the wind, or the songs of sand wouldst be difficult for you. My slumber was the slumber of the caterpillar as it becomes the butterfly, or the slumber of acorns as they dream of oaks.
It consumed my attention wholly, for I was gathering and focusing mine power in preparation. Mine rest was not a case of lack of consciousness, rather it was a focus of concentration so great as to exclude all other activity by myself. ”
-Nex, 6:14 of the Book of Balance, Slumber
History[]
Nex discovered a "blank plane" along with the Crystal Stone which were the results of the Utopian Shard. This marked the beginning of the First Age. Nex then started to shape the land and used the Crystal Stone to produce Minerals, It also created some of the species like myriad while bringing in other species from other realms like humans. At some time It also created the plane of the eternally wintry Land of Snow, which can be accessed through portals from other worlds, one of which is Nimth.
After shaping what is now Nimth to Its liking, as other races had already inhabited this land, Nex went into a deep "sleep" after hiding the mythical Crystal Stone, marking the beginning of the Second Age. It left someone to protect It, choosing a human and empowering them greatly.
This empowered human was the Balance Elemental, as the protector. After its death it is freed of this mission. The Balance Elemental kept Lucien away for centuries, but when it was killed he reappeared. The knowledge of the existence of Nex had somehow disappeared, with presumably none of the other gods knowing that It existed. According to Remora in his Book of Order, none of the Nimthian deities knew of Nex's existence prior to Its banishing of them. Even Serenity, who was present already in the First Age, did not mention Nex to other gods.
When Nex awoke, Remora and Zistori were causing utter destruction of the lands Nex had formed in their God Wars, along with at least twenty other deities having entered the Nimthian plane while It slumbered. To stop the wars, Nex forbade the other gods from interfering in the world of Revenessence(as "Nimth" was replaced by Revenessence as a name of the whole Plane) except through their followers, through the powerfully binding Edicts of Nex, and that all wars must only be fought in the God Realm. Nex, feeling great sorrow for the world It had shaped and loved so, descended again to slumber, but paused to survey Nimth's ravaged state, and wept. Upon realising its tears had imbued the stone nearby with magical properties, It assigned Juna, A snake, to guard them and to judge who would be worthy to pass.
Domains and Statistics[]
Nex is followed through these domains:
- Animals
- Plants
- Healing
Allignment: True Neutral
Favored Animal: Raptor (Bird)
Favored Weapon: None.
Symbol: A Tear
Home Plane: Subtopia (Nimth)