The Cenotaph has mostly inherited Centheosia's numerological interpretations. Each of the so-called "portentous numbers" (zero through ten) has their own readings, but can also take on a combination of meanings from the numbers which can be added, subtracted or multiplied together to make them.

One: The number of essence, keys, and secrets. Those singular elements which make or break a situation. Usually auspicious, but when inverted, considered ominous.

Two: Duality, pairs, mirrors, conflict, paradox, contradictions, truth and lies, trust and deceit. As life is full of conflict, two is "a small slice of life." Ominous and auspicious in equal measure. In a few extremely fanatical Centheosian territories, twins are often taught to act, think and dress independently of one another. Families which have two children will often strive to have more, or to be rid of one as soon as possible. Similar rituals are performed for any such "two of a kind" relationships.

Three: The number of artistry in all its myriad forms -- in Centheosian culture, the term "art" also refers to sports and to tradecraft, owing to the importance of pleasing aesthetics, and especially religious imagery, in those skills. Most religious art incorporates sets of three. Almost always auspicious. Sometimes, sets of three in this case are split into a group of two, and a single outlier. In this case, it usually indicates a conflict between these elements, and takes an ominous atmosphere.

Four: Two multiplied by two; two plus two; two squared; simultaneously ominous and auspicious, like two, but amplified. Esoteric use cases include splitting four into "three and one." This can suggest either an ominous appearance, but with auspicious undertones; or, an auspicious appearance, with ominous undertones. Readers in another world might think of Pyrrhic victories. Because five minus one is four, four is often taken as "everything, but something irreplaceable is missing."

Five: The number of totality, completeness, "all the good and all the bad." More specific connotations are indicated by the imagistic subdivision of the number; splitting five into "four and one" is read differently than "three and two," and both are different from "two, one and two." These divisions may represent leanings toward auspicious or ominous, but each are tainted by the other. However, a "uniform five" suggests the absence of auspiciousness and ominousness; "existence is what existence is."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Six: The number of synchronicity, omens, parallelism, and change. Six can be auspicious or ominous, depending on the cult connotations of that which is grouped in six -- ie, six carrion birds will be seen ominous, and six eggs laid by a chicken will be seen auspicious, and so on. Art, in all its forms, is believed symbiotic with reality; to depict in art a group of six is, in some views, a deliberate attempt at manifesting that which is grouped in six. The appearance of the number six in nature is believed to signal the proximity of a major change, most often in the personal affairs of the one who witnessed the six.

Seven: An extremely discomforting number in Centheosian reckoning; this is but one reason the Cenotaph chooses to organize each team of a Deicidal raid in groups of seven. Seven represents impermanence, thanks to many long, heated debates among the most influential Centheosian numerologists at the conclusion of the eighth century EG. The mid-to-late eighth century saw an unexpected outbreak of natural disasters in Centheosian territories, despite a general piety among the population. Meanwhile, colonies where religious fervor was rare, saw few to no disasters. This in turn led to a general superstition around the number seven. The church-state numerologists drew up interpretations and approved ritual for the number seven to quell this superstition, but it has remained an ominous number in popular thought, adding to the melancholy of the fifteenth century EG.

Eight: The number associated with the passage of time, represented in pictograms of the seasons, agriculture and animal husbandry. Although there are four seasons in the year, each season is split into its "waking" and "resting" periods, with the latter being when a season gives way to the following season. Thus, the seasons are associated more with the number eight. In accordance with the connotations of the number two (and with seven and one), the number eight is both auspicious and ominous, with the connotation leaning one way or another based on crop output and the birth rates of farm animals.

Nine: The number of prosperity, symbolized by beauty and wealth. Three times three; three plus three plus three; it is a highly auspicious number. It is a number also of cycles, owing to its association with the number six, and with five and four. The fact that nine can also be comprised of "seven and two" ("impermanence" plus "conflict") is quite troubling for some, though this is often strategically re-read as meaning "conquest (of Centheosia's foes)."

Zero / Ten: The number of beginnings (when just a zero), and the number of church-statecraft, dominion, conquest, and authority in general (when a multiple of ten). The "zero" is read as the void, in which the church-state revivified and conquered the world, following the departure of the Tyrants of Old. Neither ominous nor auspicious; the gods and the church-state are considered beyond, and in fact, holding dominion over, such concepts.