I was struck by the divine muse of inspiration.
Lord of the Rings
"It began with the forging of the Great Rings."
Insertion Point: Blasted Heath (+3)
Magics: Viscerality (-2), Clerical Error: Khoduar (-2), Gifted Essentialist (-3)
Benefits: Chosen One: Clerical Error (-2)
Artifacts: Memento: Lord of the Rings (-1), Memento: Ring (-1)
Drawbacks: Hamartia: Pride (+1), Phylactery: Ring (+1), Ark's Golden Gloom (+2), Twilight (+3)
DLC: Power Word: Bird (+1)
The Lord of the Rings, once an ordinary tale penned by Tolkien, is changed by the stroke of Beckoning; now manifest as a serviceable manual and guide to Ringcraft. Although the secrets of the arts within don't cleave close to the Sheyd-Craft which formed the Seven Rings of Sin, it nonetheless enhances and enables the creation of various Rings of Power with a variety of supernatural endowments and domains. With Viscerality, the Rings shall have a concealed, inner thaumo-organic component that asserts mental and emotional control over its wearer, making them unquestionably loyal to the Ringlord who bears the One.
Gifted Essentialism and clergydom of Khoduar act as the devices by which the Rings themselves shall be crafted. Viscerality allows you to eventually become superhumanly attractive and fair, corrupt civilians into orcs and create warrior-breeds, and improve yourself in a variety of other ways: the basis of an empire with vast political outreach. With Chosen Clerical Error, you'll eventually come to supplant Khoduar, and become a true prince of heaven and earth, draining his own might to fuel your ascension.
Although Sauron despised the eagles, I decided to grab Power Word: Bird to acquire a Memento Ring. Sacrifices must sometimes be made on the altar of imposing my perfect order onto the world. The One Ring's earliest focals are on a sort of conceptual, astral invisibility (focused on enabling mitigation of Twilight procs by crafting enhancements to the Ring) and, eventually, even further enhancement of already-impressive skills and magical powers.
With Clerical Error, attainment of relevant supernals should be especially swift and result in a massively better product. With the One Ring's power and control, the most powerful among the world can be snared as servants. To start with, it'll be the most impressive players on the Pleroman stage: Jarchald, King Eleazar of Meritria, Denlah of Arranor, Valeska Trisagion, a variety of oracles, the dwarves who lead the Consortium, and maybe a Finger of the Hand (assuming one can be ensnared at all.)
Some of the Rings will necessitate non-Visceral variants, for those on whom such control would be ineffective or detectable. In some situations, such as with Valeska, careful application of political pressure and obvious temptations with power and rewards can lead them to put on their Rings anyway. So what if Denlah does not accept my Ring, when Eleazar had? The resultant conflict will force his hand out of desperation. Then, bending in thrall to my commands, Pleroma's citizens shall convert from an Ogdoadic pantheon to a single God of Craft and Order. Let the Ogdoad come, if they wish - by now, even the Hierophant shall struggle against me in an outright Theomachy.
Still, to amortize risks, some level of diplomacy is almost certainly necessary. If you wish to control gods, you must appeal to their natures and domains: Ozerin can be bought, and shall be, an incandescent Ring of her own serving as a perfect prize, making her more pliant to my designs and purchasing neutrality, alongside assurances that she'll be allowed to maintain her own cult presence. Sovarus, a God of Fealty, may come to see the merits of bending the knee and accepting a Ring, especially if I allow him to retain Meritria at the price of festivals in my honor. And to Cyravesh, I could offer a wedding band; promises of a strong alliance and calamities to come in my future plans.
Not every deity shall be onboard. Claphion will oppose me as a tyrant, Uledras shall see through me, Lemrasil won't accept an authority over her, and Loesil will do as Lemrasil does - all this is irrelevant, as half the pantheon is already in my grasp. Once they are defeated, I'll feast on their divinity. Claphion, I shall absorb fully into myself, Liberty remade into Autarchy, as I become the ruler of myself, free of my chains, and Darkness left so that I may rule over its fathomless Depths; a cogitative aspect I'll likewise absorb from fallen Uledras, whose domain of Equanimity can be handed down as a reward to a loyal servant. And as for Lemrasil and Loesil, I'll craft them into artifacts: twin gauntlets, showing that I hold Life and Death in the palms of my hands.
And what'll follow is a glorious world peace, a Pleroma finally united under a single deity's banner. An end to war, starvation, and death, as all bend knee to one Ringlord. Sulevast will come to find a world united under a lidless gaze, already glaring up at him. With a unified pantheon and glutted on the remnants of the scum-gods, even Sulevast can be dealt with in a swift and mercilessly brutal fashion; his pitiful Ark forcibly anchored to prevent escape and then bombarded with calamities and disastrous failures as Cyravesh and I conjoin our domains to bring disaster to its internal systems. His Ring of Greed, I'll claim as my own, to adorn my other hand.
From there, all that remains is renegotiation with the Hand to access the outer Hierarchy - and then, a conquest of everything that lies beyond Pleroma. Providence is ontologically close to Pleroma and has more candidates to receive their own Rings. Grabbing the Force of Providence with an aspect of tyranny and craftsmanship should also prove a worthwhile endeavor. From there, the Estates, and their myriad Authorities are soon to follow. Eventually, the Hierarchy will bend in thrall to its new Lord.
