It is common knowledge, even among the reclusive sages of the deep Yamilin, that Neduin (both the nation and its capital) has been ruled by the Transcendent Oracle since its founding. It is also known that the Oracle does not merely foresee the future (as all oracles are meant to do), but she actually creates it (hence why she is a transcendent oracle). Although it doesn't seem that anyone can agree how.
Some say that she is a God, others that she is one of the Shining Ones, some insist that she is a human-form Rinahfa or Nao who is leading the Esün of the north. There are those in Myono City who believe she is Enlightened but hasn't ascended from the material realm out of compassion. The more suspicious ones say that she is just a puppet or an avatar of the Arc, the sentient computer and power core of Neduin City.
The truth is that, well, none of them are entirely correct, but none of them are entirely false, either. She is Esün, but has Nao-like qualities as well as a physiology that one expects to see in Rinahfa. Yet the magic she wields is mythic and grand like that of the Gods, but she prefers to use it in subtle ways to further wisdom and patience (like the Shining Ones). The breadth of her virtue and understanding is indicative of enlightened living, and she appears to be completely free from sense-desire. Yet she has the analytical mind and unnaturally soothing voice that is reminiscent of the Arc.
She is an anomaly, and only she really understand herself, though she could never express it in words or images. All of these factors, these qualities are what keep her in power. She is the only one who has the knowledge and the skill to operate the deep and intricate technologies designed by the Dragon God. She alone has enough personal power, and alternative resources to govern an entire nation night and day without rest or error.
Yet despite her greatness, her beauty, her mystery, she has one terrible flaw that very few know about. One that threatens not only her livelihood, but the stability of her city and her nation. Once there were thirteen in total who knew this secret, and now only a few remain.
Before I can tell you what this flaw is, I must expand upon her powers as an oracle. Long ago the Dragon God sought to bring into harmony all of the abstract and concrete factors of the world, to regulate them. And so he created Fate. Fate was placed in Heaven where it could be looked over and maintained by the Rinahfa. As powerful and sweeping as Fate was, it was too broad to capture the subtleties and details that could add up eventually to create larger problems. So the Dragon God, while helping the Esün to build Neduin, constructed Time.
Time was meant to be regulated by those Esün who had knowledge and skills far beyond what their modern-age counterparts do. After the fourth Moon fell from the sky, and the Dragon God's city vanished from the world, the numbers of Esün able to maintain and watch over Time dwindled until there were none at all.
And so a decision in Heaven was made, to artificially exalt one Esün. To gather the memories and the souls of all those who once had the knowledge and skills to use Time, and to refine them and craft them into a single soul, a single essence. This far exceeded their abilities and so they had to ask for assistance from the Nao, the Gods and the Shining Ones. What resulted was a child born in Neduin City at just the right time in just the right situation, who would find the path to Enlightenment and become the Transcendent Oracle.
She alone has all of the power, all of the knowledge, and all of the skill necessary to keep the world from falling into ruin. But because the Esün, the Rinahfa, the Nao, the Gods and the Shining Ones lack the vast understanding and foresight of the Dragon God, they could not have predicted that the Oracle would become hopelessly addicted to Time.
So powerful was her addiction that her physical senses withered and vanished, replaced by what Time could see. This is why the Oracle always wears a mask, gloves, ear covers, and is otherwise covered from head to foot in jewels, ornaments and clothes of celestial silk. Time was never meant to see what Fate can, and Fate cannot see what Time can, they were meant to work together as one. So what Time cannot see, the Oracle cannot see, and what the Oracle cannot see is that those who created her have realized their mistake and have set about to correct it.
By replacing her.
But this is no small task. Her unique nature makes more than just any of the peoples who crafted her, and replacing her means that she must be dissolved and re-shaped. She must die. Killing such a vastly powerful and intelligent being is not only risky because of the power you could unleash upon breaching her shell, but also because she has very loyal servants who will defend her to the death. Powerful servants both mortal and otherwise. Finally, while her senses may have been replaced by Time, she still has fail-safes that allow her to guard herself from murder, theft, and the other eight destructive actions.
She may not be able to see, smell, hear, touch, taste, or know you are there, but she can still put an end to your life more quickly than you can form the intention to harm her first.
To fulfill this task, some of the Nao, Rinahfa, Gods and Shining Ones took physical form, they took an Esün rebirth so that they, together, could un-make the Oracle. Only a few of them now remain, and only one has ever reached the Oracle herself and we do not know what became of him.
