The concept dubbing itself "Ourma" (pronounced oar•ma), often referred to as the High Vicepter by "Ourmaists" (pronounced oar•may•ists), is the (former) Embodiment of Creation, an Inscrutable Something, and a Universe producer, which abandoned its "post" (partly) due to apathy (according to the Syklerians), causing an unfathomable amount of Universes' failure to exist.
Expectedly, this concept has a multitude of interpretations; this can be attributed to the flexible nature of "Ourmaism."
Existence/Nature[]
Its "Post"[]
The way in which "Ourma" would function is perplexing. But to put it simply, Universes exist within what could be called "Time Cycles," periods of time where entities are allowed to exist. And whenever one of these "Time Cycles" would end, Reality would go through a cooling down period where nothing's created, destroyed, nor allowed to exist, until "Ourma" would reintroduce itself into the cosmic order and amalgamate elements from previous "Time Cycles"/Universes in order to create "a new [Universe] unique enough to be considered its own."
It's worth noting that once the Vicepter would complete a Universe, it'd be "forgotten" by Reality itself, rendering the Concept "nonexistent" until needed once again, according to "Ourmaists."
Besides its duties of producing Universes, "Ourma" was also responsible for anything/anyone's ability to (also) create anything/anyone, due to it being the Embodiment of (the Concept of) Creation itself. Additionally, it's said that if, by any chance, the Vicepter were to (inexplicably) "pop out of existence," nothing would exist or have been created at all, due to the Concept of Creation (technically) never being "conceptualized."
Dereliction of Its Duties[]
In "Ourmaist" Belief[]
"Ourma," despite being the literal Embodiment of (the Concept of) Creation, was not safe from desire, the desire to be free. You see, the High Vicepter realized that if it were to continue producing Universes for Reality, it'd never experience free will, after all, the Vicepter's entire existence revolved around its duties of "World Creation," and once it'd complete the process of creating a Universe, Reality would just throw the Embodiment of Creation out like a piece of trash, or at least that's what "Ourmaists" claim would happen.
In the Syklerian Account[]
However, an alternate version of this story is told in the Syklerian Account, one that's a lot less sympathetic towards "Ourma's" "condemnation" of its duties. The account claims that "Ourma's" dereliction of its duties was a result of its selfish and apathetic nature, as it "left its post" without considering the state that the Universes it was supposed to "create" would be left in. Unlike "Ourmaist" belief, the account portrays "Ourma" to be an uncaring creature rather than a victim of mistreatment, which "Ourmaists" see it as.
The account goes on to explain that if something exists (or will exist), it always did and always will. The account's message, in short, is: "Ourma," by selfishly "leaving its post," indirectly caused an unfathomable amount of Universes to cease existing, even if they (supposedly) weren't "created" yet, by virtue of Universes being cosmic constructs that only need to be possibilities or probabilities in order to exist.
The Syklerian Account also claims that Reality's treatment of "Ourma" wasn't as unfair as "Ourmaists" claim, insisting that they're not to be trusted as credible sources of information. Nevertheless, the Syklerians' strong "anti-Ourma" sentiment makes their statement's validity unclear.
The Reality of What It "Did"[]
In "Ourmaist" Belief[]
By abandoning its post, "Ourma" altered the state of Reality and time itself, changing it so that all of the Universes it already and would've created never were.
The reason as to why Reality and time reacted this way to "Ourma's" "resignation" could be explained away as "Ourma" being the only entity "reminding" Reality of these Universes' existence, meaning that once the Embodiment of Creation left, Reality itself "forgot" that these Universes existed, thus resulting in their disappearances.
Origin of the Name "Ourma"[]
In "Ourmaist" Belief[]
After the Vicepter's abandonment of its post, Reality got a new Universe producer, which "Ourmaists" refuse to utter the name of, despite it being the one responsible for their existence.
Now, the (former?) Embodiment of Creation knew that it had to make disciples who would dedicate their lives to "remembering" it, since Reality no longer had its (figurative) back. A name comprehensible to mortalkind was needed for this, though, so the Vicepter proclaimed itself "Ourma," "a seemingly nonsense word that embodies the concept of creation just as much as 'Ourma' itself does."
Portrayal in Syklerian Education[]
The Syklerian government's "grade school" education unit, Syklerian Learning Institutions for Children, is known for their strong "anti-Ourma" sentiment, much like the political party controlling them. This is why "Ourma" tends to have a negative reputation among Syklerian children, who see it as "evil incarnate." Either that or they think it's cool, kids'll be kids.
In Syklerian grade school textbooks, "Ourma's" generally described to be a greyish serpent/monster who, due to its own arrogance and pride, is locked in eternal combat with Reality. From a young age, Syklerian children are taught that the Embodiment of Creation is an evil being who regularly attempts to drag all of mortalkind into a state of true freedom, rife with constant chaos, in addition to being the Creator of Strife and Inconvenience(s). I've no idea why the Syklerian Holt chooses to shove this down their throats, sure, it's an attempt at indoctrination, but what do they get out of it?
It's safe to say that this portrayal of "Ourma" is far from accurate, and is a result of the Syklerian government's "anti-Ourma" propaganda efforts. Keep in mind that the Syklerians being unreliable narrators doesn't make the "Ourmaists" any more trustworthy.
In Nightmarish Dreams...[]
"Ourmaists" have reported experiencing odd, and quite frankly, nightmarish dreams, where they interact with their deity at night (or at least in an environment seemingly cloaked in the darkness of night), albeit briefly. "Ourma's" described to be a mass of brown dust and yellow tentacles/long appendages in the shape of coil springs in these dreams.
Accounts of "Ourma's" behavior in these nocturnal visions vary, some report witnessing it chanting incomprehensible mantras at them, while others outline a terrifying scenario where they catch sight of their deity propelling itself towards their direction, revealing its octopus-like mouth, presumably with the intent of devouring the dreamer.
Nevertheless, "Ourmaists" stay faithful to their deity, despite some of them experiencing nightmarish dreams featuring it, which rock the minds of even the most doubtful. They chalk these dreams up to being visions given to them by Reality in order to shake their faith in the Vicepter.
...and Dreamish Nightmares[]
The Ithkorites, a people known for their skepticism and self-reliance, once reported instances of their (formerly) peaceful slumbers being plagued by a slew of mind-bending nightmares, often prophetic in nature.
Syklerians were quick to blame "Ourma" for these nightmares, justifiable this time considering that they'd commonly feature an entity claiming to be the High Vicepter telling the Ikorithite people to seek "deliverance" from their unbelief in order to save themselves from destruction at the hands of one of his "children," Khlohidar. "Ourmaists" find this doubtful, though, as they don't recognize Khlohidar as a "child" of "Ourma." As for "Ourma's" appearance, it was usually described to be a mass of some unknown reddish material in the shape of an exceedingly large, peculiarly shaped Pinus longaeva bristlecone pine. It's worth noting that the Concept would (seemingly) speak to the dreamer(s) telepathically, due to its lack of a mouth in these nightmares.