User blog comment:Rorek I/Untold Legends/@comment-1705775-20170921223557

also imagine if the Balance-Keepers were the police force / military hybrid for most of the world and ultimately they become the Golden Empire when Voice rises to power within their ranks, thus they become more and more fascist - a more "organic" way for the Golden Empire to emerge.. also a way for Voice to enter without use of supernatural elements : he is a corrupt Balance-Keeper rather than the antichrist, yet obviously he'd be of high rank and eventually a supreme dictator when he reshaped the organization..

would also make Arbiter's hatred for Voice that much more cutting, if Arbiter was a member of the Balance-Keepers.

Misery could be a sealed evil in a can deal, unlike most other villains, since I can't imagine Misery as being anything other than the Devil - Misery could be a "god" in this setting but is usually sealed away (maybe she is sealed within a red beetle gem, a reference to Worry - when it breaks the only way to get her sealed back up is to employ the aid of a "Society of Secrets", who have knowledge of other realms and artefacts - they thus instruct the heroes on several artefacts that must be collected to undo the damage.. the artefacts are based on the Absolutes (the actual entities do not appear, save maybe in tapestries or mosiacs) ).

in that respect deities can exist in this world without disrupting things too much.. may even be ways we can unleash other deity-threats after Misery, if we get that first one to work right.. all about balance.