Beyond War

Ordinary Life

Ordinary human beings may never see a Sanguine in their entire lifetime, at least knowingly. At most a legacy - a derived offshoot of the Sanguine line of lesser power, may at times appear or become active to raise a planet against the worlds of its nearby neighbors.

These rogue regimes, or more often individuals, are an anomaly - like a plastic deer set out in the Universe to see if any predator or other animals of its kind are present but concealed nearby. These 'Judas goat' Sanguine may be made barely stronger than ordinary humans - completely unaware of their capabilities.

These privateers often blend in with ordinary populations, crews, and arise on worlds of other species. Whether made or placed there, the lesser Sanguine are usually discovered only when they fail to die as ordinary human beings. Whether double agents or artificially created, these rebels seem to prove if a species is adept enough to be entrusted with eternal life by their actions and the way they conduct themselves upon awakening from the first-life of their mortal body.

Unlike the greater Sanguine of legend, the lesser cannot float mountains in the sky or alter the course of stars, and most do not even know how to read the thoughts of others or create biological weapons and engineer other life. More often, they can reproduce and infect other life, converting them into quasi-Sanguine which act under the will of the creator to a wide degree, making it hard to determine who is alive and who is a puppet of a Sanguine Lord.

Like the Gods of human legend, the Lesser Sanguine Lords are as close to the Sanguine Seraphim Primo, the King of Kings Beyond Life, as any child of man.

This in no way stops them from being arrogant, abusive, and as horrible as their human and other species they are born into. The genetic delta is undetectable prior to conversion, and shields itself from analysis using transmaterial technology, including some pretty spectacular self-destruct modes to prevent capture.

Those civilizations under control of the Kai'Gi or other species would exterminate them on sight, due to prior "incidents" where these beings became full Sanguine Seraphim very quickly.

It is believed that near each such being is a true Sanguine Seraphim, watching and waiting for their student to become worthy of the Gift of Blood. Despite this, no action to help their ward is taken by accounts, and this "Trial of Blood" mentioned twice in the "Prayer of Blood", the holy book of the Sanguine King.

The Arrival of a Sanguine Lord is often cause for the Kay'Gi to reveal themselves and forces of other races opposed to the King of Death. The risk that such a Lord would grant immortality to a people would destroy the Cult of the Child which enslaves billions beneath the heel of the Kay'Gi, trapped in a cycle of slavery and caring for their offspring, bartering that right for their work and labor, products, and creative works - a peonage of love.

This struggle between the power of the Sanguine Blood and the Enslavement of all Mankind by the Kai'Gi (God Men, literally God Way) is the story of Beyond War.