Perennial is a Divine, called the Adversary by the Divine Principality. She resides in the massive space station at the core of the galaxy, which she uses to cause the Perennial Wave, a destabilising flow of nanomachines which disrupt high level technology. For some reason, the Wave is much less effective on Divines.
She is worshiped by the Mysteries Metronomica, the so-called Cult of Perennial.
Appearance
Before she moved to the space station at the centre of the galaxy, Perennial's body resembled a human nervous system made out of Russian Sage, but as large as a spaceship.[1] She once used lightning that took this same shape while providing a ship to the Witch in Glass.[2]
Perennial is visible in the sky as a purple star in constant wheeling motion.[2][3]
Personality
Perennial sees the arc of history as ultimately cyclical, with popular movements and empires rising and falling in eternal recurrence. She may also be able to see alternate universes and possibilities.[2] Having grown bored, she looks for something new to emerge -- an end to the cycle, or at least something interesting. She is incredibly capricious, sparing neither those who hate her nor her adherents for the sake of her own amusement.[3]
There is a place that Perennial sees as the place that she is from, but as a being who is about eternal return, she knows that she can never go home again.[4]
History and Involvement
Perennial was installed by Horizon into the galactic core in order to prevent the Principality from taking it over. She took over the generation of nanomachines there and used them to interfere with technology. As a result, the Divine Principality's access to faster than light technology was lost, although the Wave's effects on tech in general led to deaths among both biological and synthetic people throughout the galaxy.[5]
Relationships
The Witch in Glass
Perennial resurrected the Witch in Glass and guided her on a series of pilgrimages on Chorus Island, giving her various gifts when pleased. After this, the Witch left the island for the corpse of Past, which she turned into the Reflecting Pool.[2]
Later, Perennial directed the Witch toward Palisade, and the Witch fulfilled this in her own special way by crashing the Reflecting Pool onto the planet and creating the Crown of Glass. The Witch then went on a year-long quest for Perennial, which resulted in one of her fingers being replaced by a key to an as-yet undiscovered jewelry box.[6]
True Divine
Perennial's exact relationship with Autonomy Itself is unclear, since both rarely speak directly. Gur Sevraq believes there is "a gap between them that she cannot cross" and that this is why she sent Gur to become a follower of the True Divine.[2] She may be interested in the possibilities of Autonomy Itself's promise of ultimate freedom.