The Lantern King

The Lantern King

(Deity)

Titles

The Laughing Lie

Realm

First World but no permanent abode

Alignment

Chaotic neutral

Areas of Concern

Laughter
Mischief
Transformation

Edicts

Play pranks, seek new sources of humor, leave lit lanterns in unusual places

Anathema

Be completely honest, ruin or explain a good joke

Follower Alignments (1E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (1E)

Chaos, Charm, Madness, Trickery

Subdomains (1E)

Deception, Love, Lust, Thievery

Follower Alignments (2E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (2E)

Change, delirium, passion, trickery

Favored Weapon

Dagger

Symbol

Golden lantern

Sacred Animal

Firefly

Sacred Colors

Black, gold

Source: The First World, Realm of the Fey, pg(s). 24 (1E)
Gods & Magic, pg(s). 78, 126–127 (2E)

The Lantern King is one of the Eldest, a divine fey creature of tremendous power said to be able to reshape the very fabric of the First World on a whim. He is known for his capacity as a trickster god mixing caprice and mischief in god-like capacity within a realm already full of such practice. His sense of humor is vast, both in its breadth and its potential for harm, and his pranks, even well-intentioned ones, are not always pleasant or convenient. However, those that have spent a long time in his presence note that behind the Lantern King's mischief is a cunning, cosmic-level schemer influencing numerous major events across the Great Beyond.

He has been known to be adept at riding the fine line between his antics being mischievous or outright sadistic. Though this has mainly been because he reserves his most truly horrible ideas for those who invite such cruelty upon themselves through their terrible actions.

Appearance

The Lantern King resembles a foot-wide ball of golden light surrounded by a circlet made out of glyphs. When expressing a point or emotion, he often changes colour. Because of this resemblance, he is sometimes suspected to be the progenitor of will-o'-wisps or the original model for lantern archons, but the fey lord derisively laughs off such claims. He speaks in a booming, merry baritone which is the only indicator of his gender. The Lantern King is also capable of taking the forms of other creatures, including other Eldest, to cause mischief.

Home

The Lantern King has no permanent abode. He wanders freely through the fields and forests of the First World, bending reality and changing lives wherever he goes, and is often blamed when a traveller is led astray. He is particularly fond of the Witchmarket, a caravan that travels across the First World and into the Universe.

Relationships

The other Eldest cautiously respect the Lantern King, as even they are not immune to his pranks, particularly Ragadahn and the Lost Prince, whom he considers too serious. He is mysteriously friendly with Ng, and respects Shyka, who has seen all of his schemes and is hard to fool.

Cults

The Lantern King cares little for worshippers but is willing to provide power to them whenever he feels like doing so. To meet the King is a First World expression meaning finding oneself subject to strange fortune, and seekers of the Lantern King rarely return the same.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.