The Endless

Endless
What are the beings who call themselves the Endless? Are they gods, demons, angels or something else? The answer is... well, it's complicated. They are neither god, demon, or angel; and yet, they are somehow all those things as well... but also a unique breed unto themselves.

According to texts recovered from the Order of Ancient Mysteries, the Endless are defined as simply patterns, ideas, and repeating motifs made real... like some sort of tulpa. They are said to be the actual personifications of concepts tied to sentient life and maybe that is the best way to describe them. The Endless simply are what they are. Going further, the aforementioned text further explains that each Endless represents not just one concept but its contradictory concept as well. With such broad power, it would be easy to call them gods but as the text is quick to point out The Endless cannot be seen as gods, for gods need to be believed in to exist and require faith to nurture them. The Endless will continue to exist whether we believe in them or not, for, as their name suggests, they are Endless.

There are always seven Endless. No more, no less. The Endless were likely always immortal and were never human despite their typically human appearance (albeit exceedingly pale), but it is known that should one perish, another Endless shall rise to fulfill their purpose (as was the case with Despair) or if their purpose should cease, the Endless will shift to fulfill a new purpose (as was the case with Delight/Delirium). Despite not being human, the Endless can mate with humans and bear offspring. In fact, it might be possible for the Endless to mate with any lifeform and bear offspring. Sometimes these offspring are special, like a demigod or a figure with mythical abilities, or simply immortal, but just as often they are mundane and rather unimpressive.

How did the Endless come into being? No one knows for certain, not even the Endless themselves. Ancient texts hint that there were only two (or possibly three) beings that predate the Endless. But who these beings were is anyone's guess. I have my theories, but those are simply that.

As mentioned above, the Endless are ideas, anthropomorphic personifications of concepts, but even so, they are all individual beings and have feelings, thoughts, and personalities all their own. All this combines with their powers and purview to make the seven Endless a rather dysfunctional family of seven siblings. Though they may appear in different forms, their usual form is that of a stark white humanoid. They can reflexively change their appearance to fit the expectations of others.

So Who Really are the Endless
There are seven of them. The Endless are not known to have proper names, although Dream has a habit of collecting different names for himself. They are each known by their respective functions.
 * Destiny: The oldest of the Endless, Destiny (or "Potmos" as some older arcane texts refer to him) appears as a blind man dressed in grey or brown robes, carrying a large book. The book is chained to him, or he is chained to the book, and within the book is written the entire sum of existence, past, present, and future. Destiny seems the most possessed by his function and responsibilities of any of the Endless. He rarely demonstrates much personality. His symbol is his book.
 * Death: Death (or "Teleute" in arcane texts) appears as a spunky, attractive, level-headed young Goth woman. She wears an ankh (representing the afterlife) and usually has an Eye of Horus painted under one of her eyes. She prefers to dress and act casually and is on better terms with Dream than any of the other Endless. Her symbol is the ankh.
 * Dream
 * Morpheus: Dream's usual appearance is as a tall, pale man with wild dark blue-black hair. He dresses in a shapeless cloak of "night" with "flames dancing in its folds". His eyes are pools of shadows with glimmers of light within. He is known by many names, most commonly "Morpheus." He has a long history of insensitivity towards others, and throughout The Sandman, he must come to deal with his past cruelties. He is very concerned with fulfilling his responsibilities. His symbol is his dream-helm, made from the spine and skull of a long-dead god.
 * Daniel Hall: Morpheus's successor appears as a tall, pale young man with white hair and a white costume. Like Morpheus, his eyes are formed by shadows with a glimmer of light in their center. Before becoming the new Dream at the end of The Sandman, he was a young boy named Daniel. Daniel was born in dreams of Lyta Trevor-Hall and the ghost of Hector Hall. He is generally softer in his approach than Morpheus. Daniel carries an emerald eagle stone, although his symbol remains the same (that of the dream-helm)
 * Destruction: Destruction (or "Olethros") is described as a very large, robust man with red hair, who sometimes appears bearded and sometimes shaven. Destruction abandoned his responsibilities as one of the Endless three hundred years ago, causing much conflict between him and his siblings. He has a passion for creative and constructive endeavors, but little talent. His symbol is the sword. Since abandoning his realm, he is often referred to as "the Prodigal" or "Brother" rather than "Destruction" by his siblings.
 * Desire: Desire (or "Epithumia") is beautiful, slim, and truly androgynous, capable of appearing as a man, a woman, or neither. Desire has a cruel streak and a long-standing rivalry with Dream. Their symbol is a heart shape. Although Desire is Despair's twin, in a sense They are older than Despair. The current incarnation of Desire is the original one, while Despair is currently in her second incarnation.
 * Despair: Despair (or "Aponia") is described as a short, obese woman with grayish skin and irregularly-shaped teeth. She is always naked. Despair has a cold, quietly intelligent manner. She has a habit of carving her flesh with a hooked ring that she wears. This hooked ring is also her symbol.
 * Delirium: Delerium (or "Mania") is the youngest of the Endless, Delirium appears as a young girl whose form changes the most frequently of any of the Endless, based on the random fluctuations of her temperament. She has wild hair and eccentric, mismatched clothes. Her only permanent physical characteristic is that one of her eyes is green with silver flecks and the other blue, but even those sometimes switch between left and right. She was once known as Delight, but some traumatic event caused her to change into her current role. Her symbol is an abstract, shapeless blob of colors.

Axiom
The Axiom is a collection of ancient rules regarding the way the Endless must live their lives, giving them limits to their power. While it is unclear how the Endless know them or who gave them such commands, all the Endless know these rules.

1) Should an Endless spill the blood of their kin, harm will soon befall them as well.

2) Should an Endless give their devotion to a mortal, nothing good can come out of such a relationship (usually it means that mortal is doomed to die and/or suffer).

3) Should an Endless travel to another realm, they must show proper respect or find themselves unwelcome to return.

4) Likewise, an Endless shall treat all guests within their realm with due respect or disastrous ruin shall find them.

Each of the Endless also has a personal restriction defined in the Axiom.
 * Destiny shall not record the existence of certain beings within his book.
 * Destiny, likewise, cannot see or interact with these beings in any manner.
 * Death shall live one day as a mortal every year. She does not know when this is to occur or which mortal life she will experience. Death simply wakes up in the body of a mortal, unaware of her prior existence as Death until the day has passed and then is either doomed to meet an untimely end or compelled to end herself to preserve the Axiom, at which time she steps out of the mortal's body along with their soul and takes them to wherever it is their soul is expected.
 * Dream can never take the life of a mortal except in the instance of a dream vortex.
 * Destruction's restriction is unknown.
 * Desire cannot transgress an oath sworn by the First Circle, which goes something like "I swear by the First Circle, and the other side of the sky, and the sword, and..." You get the idea. There is no penalty to breaking this oath, it's simply metaphysically impossible for Desire to violate such an oath.
 * Despair's restriction is also unknown.
 * Delirium's restriction is another unknown part of the Axiom.

Powers and Abilities

 * Immortality: The Endless are ageless and nigh-indestructible.
 * Metamorphosis: The Endless are able to change their appearance and clothing at will.
 * Nigh-Omnipotence: They are some of the most powerful beings in the multiverse. In fact, the only known beings to rival them are angels and the only known beings to surpass them are archangels and The Presence.
 * Sorcery: All of the Endless are naturally exceptional sorcerers. It is quite possible that they are the wellsprings from which all magical knowledge originates. When using sorcery which aligns with their personal purview of power, these personages find there is no need for sacrifice other than the release of the required essence to shape the effect. When performing feats outside their purview, the Endless must perform the required rituals, spells, or other magical requirements to fulfill the effect.
 * Teleportation: The Endless can move from one pocket of reality to another without impediment, provided they have not violated the third rule of the Axiom.