The Heibai Wuchang, or Black and White Impermanence, are gods who were tasked with escorting the souls of the dead to Diyu before they were turned into swords.
Description[]
White Impermanence is said to represent mercy—"be at peace, all those who atone"—while Black is judgment—"there is no salvation for evildoers". While some may believe that these ideals contradict one another, they actually work together to bring balance and have been occasionally referred to as one being.
As a sword, Black Impermanence has a blade made of black obsidian and a hilt of white metal. White Impermanence is identical but inversed in its colors. When combined, their blade is of long smooth bone and the hilt a bright black horn with a cross guard of twisting shapes.[1]
History[]
Long ago, Fan Wujiu and Xie Bi'an—the Black and White Guard[2] respectively—were responsible for guiding the souls of the dead to Diyu. The fey claim that the Heibai Wuchang grew tired of being sought after by mortals asking them for their wishes to be granted so they retreated into longswords.
In 2010, the swords were given to Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood by the faerie smiths Mo Ye and Gan Jiang to use on their trip to Diyu—calling them keys and that they would be needed to enter and leave the realm. When Alec was handed Black Impermanence, he was tested to see if he would truly be able to make the judgment of killing Magnus, should he be overtaken by Sammael. He passed.
While in the Hell dimension, Magnus and Alec wielded the blades when battling demons and Magnus even used Master Xie to channel his magic through. During the night, Magnus stole Master Fan from Alec's keeping, acting on a hunch that they could be used to save his friend Ragnor Fell from the effects of the Svefnthorn. Magnus called upon the deities to free Ragnor of the thorn in exchange for their release from the blades. The swords combined into one and glowed with light before ramming through the warlock. In their pass through Ragnor, they seemingly deemed him worthy to survive and atone, and then disappeared.
They are expected to eventually reform in Diyu.[1]
Trivia[]
- Mo Ye and Gan Jiang like to claim that they are the ones who captured and turned them into blades.[1]
- According to Ke Yi Tian, Ragnor Fell might be the only person alive who has survived being stabbed by Heibai Wuchang. He speculated that there may be some interesting side effects.[1]