Chaos

Chaos is a cosmic force and essence that pervades Creation. It is neither good nor evil, being mere, amorphous potential. Chaos proceeds from the Void, the Sea of Chaos, where all anima gathers after being stripped of its shape and form. Chaos then boils up out of the Sea, solidifying within the Abyss, which underlies all Creation, providing a foundation on which the many worlds of Orbis are set. Chaos is the antithesis of Law, pure ideal which imposes itself upon the swirling ferment of Chaos and gives it shape. Law is born within Heaven, and so Chaos and Law are often conceived as enemies, though in truth both are needed for Creation to exist. Law is no more good than Chaos, and while Law can impose an ordered harmony where all life can flourish, it can also obliterate freedom and choice, the very elements that make mortal life unique. Chaos, in turn, is only dangerous when it becomes too powerful, overwhelming Law and returning Creation to its primal state, where no individual life can truly exist. 
The cults of both the Old Ones and the Outsiders present Chaos as a destructive force opposed to Creation and dangerous to life. The Scions are termed Chaos Gods because they seek to overturn the order of Creation, but even the Chaos Gods fear the Beast, which is the devouring, entropic maw of Chaos at is most unformed and elemental. When the faithful speak of Chaos, they speak of cruel forces hostile to existence, eager to tear apart any fragile order for the sheer joy of watching Creation dissolve into swirling madness. A druid of Veres can be just as fulsome in his condemnation of Chaos as a priestess of Sol howling from a pulpit. Few would ever claim to align or sympathize with Chaos, and those who do are branded maniacs or monsters. Demoniacs are so hated because they all bear the mutating mark of Chaos, carrying the taint of corruption wherever they walk. Churches expend significant resources on rooting out and destroying Chaos, and they are aided in this endeavor by organizations like the Lictors. Chaos is said to warp and twist all it touches, and those who invite it into themselves will soon become so corrupted as to no longer resemble anything mortal. The fire and the sword are the only cures for such monstrum. 
The Khanites who follow Muqanna, however, insist that Chaos only reflects, it cannot create, and so it is only hostile and dangerous if one expects it to be. The equanimity granted to Chaos by the Muqannites is one reason why northern clerics deride them as mad blasphemers, and those who espouse similar beliefs in the north can come under some very intense scrutiny.
Category:Cosmology