Gods

The Gods are an ancient and highly advanced race that once ruled the Known Universe. Born when Celestials from the Highplane incarnated in bodies made from the dust of the Midplane, they fought with the Devils for control and eventually sealed them into Hell. The bodies they crafted for themselves were perfect, possessing super human strength and durability. They possess virtually unlimited psychic powers which enabled them to stretch their consciousness across the cosmos. All this was boosted by their Auras which gave them the power to destroy a planet single handedly.
An untold number of Clans of Gods emerged into the Midplane to battle the Devils, each carving out a large empire for themselves. However, many fell at the hands of the more powerful Devils, and even more were slaughtered by Satan himself shortly before his defeat at the hands of Bahamut. While the Dragon Clan managed to survive and spread out into the former empires of some of these exterminated Clans and become the rulers of the Known Universe, they never truly believed they were the only ones left. Indeed in the furthest reaches of space other Clans still exist, isolated from eachother and ruling their own Kingdoms. Some of these Clans are comprised of the same gods who first emerged in the Midplane, while others have gone through successive generations.
==Physiology==
The Gods are shapeshifters able to assume almost any form they please, though most preferred a humanoid form of some kind. In all forms the gods possessed glowing white eyes. In any form, the gods possessed unrivaled powers of strength, speed and durability, and a regenerative healing factor to quickly recover from any damage they do take. They ceased to age upon reaching adulthood, were immune to disease, did not need to breathe, eat, or rest, and could not be killed through conventional means. The Gods were truly immortal in that, barring accident, they would live forever.
The tissues of all Gods are harder and more resilient than those of a human, granting them superhuman durability. The average God, both male and female, can withstand extreme temperatures and high impacts without sustaining injury. It is possible for them to be injured, but the nature of their bodies will enable them to heal with much greater speed than mortals. The average God can repair injuries that result in severe lacerations and loss of blood within a brief period of time without any scarring. More extensive injuries require a longer healing time. Severe injuries, such as severed limbs, can be magically regenerated if the injured God receives treatment within a short period of time after the injury. However, any God can die if a significant portion of his or her bodily molecules are scattered. Owing to their advanced physiology, gods don't need to eat, drink, or sleep, and often times their Aura recharges quicker than they're able to expend it. However, a god that has suffered an extraordinary amount of damage or has used more power than they were able to quickly recharge would need to take time to recover.
Reproduction among the gods was a bit unique. In most cases the child would gestate inside the mother until it developed enough to be born, but on some occasions the mother would give birth to an egg that would later hatch to reveal the new godling. The Gods could (and did) mate with members of lower races, resulting in many breeds of demi-gods. Depending on the race, the pregnancy period of a baby god could last anywhere from 2 years as one legend suggests, to almost immediate in the case of gods breeding with eachother.
==Powers==
The Gods were among the most powerful races to ever exist.  Even the weakest of them possessed a powerful physiology many times that of even the strongest mortal races. At base level, the average God could lift (press) roughly 100 tons, move roughly 20 times the speed of sound in an Earth like atmosphere, and could withstand a nuclear blast with minimal injuries.  However, the truly fantastic powers attributed to gods are generated by their Divine Essence, or Grace.  Grace is the ultimate manifestation of a developed Aura Network and grants effective omnipotence and omniscience.  Among the many abilities it bestows are virtually unlimited psychic powers of telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation and telekinesis. Their telepathy was finely honed enough to allow them to control entire populations of weak races from across the reaches of space, or in battle to read an opponent to be able to tell what they were going to do. By concentrating on something a god could instantly know all that could be known about it, so long as it was not hidden from his attention. By concentrating on any place, a god could instantly teleport there unless he was otherwise blocked by some other power. Through the use of telekinesis the Gods could animate objects from across vast distances. They are able to rearrange molecules to create objects out of thin air or change the nature of other objects.
Like mortal races, the Gods’ powers were fueled by their Auras but to a far greater degree. Using these, the Gods could amplify their physical or psychic powers many times over, fly, and project energy to a wide variety of effects. Prior to the emergence of the Oversaran, the Gods were the only known race in the Universe to possess SS-Class power. With their Aura at full charge, a god possessed enough power to destroy a medium sized planet.
==Personality==
While the over all personalities of the Gods tended to vary between the different Clans and in many cases from god to god, there were certain unifying traits. They are hyper intelligent beings, and most of them exceedingly so. Some were ambivalent to the fates of mortals and others working to either support them or destroy them. Being stronger, faster, smarter, and possessing longer life than mortal races, gods tended to consider themselves to be superior creatures. For good gods, this could only mean they often considered mortal races as children, trying to take care of them and educate them. For evil gods, at best they considered mortals minions and slaves; at worst they were mere animals or toys to play with.
The longevity of gods was evident in their often lackadaisical attitudes. Benevolent gods, while concerned with defeating evil, were able to see a much broader scope of things, and although certain crises arose that may seem extremely important to mortals, the gods were able to see the event as an unimportant hiccup that would pass in mere centuries. On the occasions when gods would adventure with mortals, they tended show a sense of incredible patience, even in situations where all others felt they didn’t have a second to lose. Similarly, malicious gods that were crossed by belligerent mortals would plot for dozens of generations before exacting revenge on the trespasser’s line. It was not uncommon for those descended from the offender to find themselves the target of a God based simply on their lineage.
Gods were known to have egos proportionate with their power and importance. Few tolerated mere mortals behaving beyond their station, treating gods as equals, or not showing proper respect or reverence. Attempts by mortals to coerce or intimidate a god would nearly always result in some form of divine punishment. Mortals who meddled with the gods were usually dealt with harshly in order to provide examples for others. On the other hand, most gods enjoyed flattery or anything else that complimented their idea of their superiority, but were quick to see through the motives of those attempting to placate them.
==Culture & Society==
The Gods are one of the most ancient and highly advanced races in the entire universe. Immortal beings of supreme power, they also possess arcane technology so advanced its workings are incomprehensible to lesser beings. While particulars of their culture vary from Clan to Clan, the Gods typically live in a pocket dimension from which they can view their dominion. Within this pocket dimension the Gods will live on a constructed world or worlds, typically sprawled with dazzling cities. There the gods themselves will live in palatial estates, with their needs attended by either their automated technology or mortal slaves drawn from their subject worlds, often both.
In most cases the Gods' societies are structured as monarchies where one has managed to achieve dominance over the others through either power or status. This supreme god will usually delegate authority to the others at a rank akin to feudal lords, who will in turn delegate it even more to lower Gods who act as their lieutenants. While attempts to raise in station are expected, and in rare cases even rewarded, by and large a God will not tolerate insubordination by those beneath them and will violently punish those who offend. So large is the power gap between the gods in some groups that in many cases lesser gods will not dare challenge their elders. In most cases a God can do whatever they please anyway, and will not risk this freedom by angering their superiors. Attempts to overthrow the leaders are not unheard of, such as when the Celestial Dragon Adam was slain by his son Obilex, who was in turn overthrown by his son Rao, but these are rarely successful. Rao himself faced a threat to his rule when his sister Shiva lead the other Dragons against him, but he managed to defeat her and hold onto his throne.
Owing to their long lives, most Gods will typically find an ideal and devote themselves to it in order to prevent themselves to prevent them from falling into apathy and stagnation. Indeed almost all gods possess an overriding wish to “change the universe” for either better or worse. This contributes to the Gods leading an energetic existence in comparison to other immortal races such as the Omnians. The overall cultures of the Gods will differ depending on the whims of their leader, but in many cases the Gods themselves are highly hedonistic and debaucherous. Gods are typically highly indulgent and ruled by their passions. They will throw themselves fully into whatever they do, whether it be fighting, loving, creating, destroying, etc. Despite this, the Gods regard themselves and their culture as superior to mortals and will often mock mortals with the same vices as themselves, and will punish entire populations for such behavior. Many mortals have learned to their peril what a great offense it is to a God for a mortal to liken himself to them or infer anything other than the idea that the Gods are superior.
In almost all cases the Gods will rule an interstellar empire, having conquered it when the Universe was young and maintaining control down through the eons. They will generally have some oversight of the mortals in their empires, though the degree to which varies widely between the clan. For instance the Dragons were somewhat absent custodians of their kingdom on most occasions, appearing at times to enforce their tribute or to destroy what they saw as an emerging threat to their rule. The Angels on the other hand maintain a tight grip on their Empire, being a somewhat constant presence to the mortals to enforce devotion to the Source. In other cases, the gods tired of their charge and retreated to their pocket dimension, leaving the mortals to their own devices.
==Religion==
The Gods did not possess anything akin to religion per se, but possessed an awareness of the Highplane and the beings that existed there. The race of Gods had their origin as Celestials, aetherial beings that attended to the Source, which as its name implies is the origin of all that is, was or ever will be. At a time when the fledgling universe was in great danger, the Source charged some of the Celestials with descending to the Material Plane to bring order, and there were many volunteers for this task. They shed their Celestial essences and took on bodies made from the dust of the Midplane. In becoming physical beings, they maintained a degree of their Celestial power, but lost the ability to truly comprehend the ethereal. Successive generations of gods possessed ancestral memory, so they were vaguely aware of their origins and of the reality of the Source, even if they could not truly grasp it in their current state. Many of the Gods treated the Highplane and its denizens as curiosities, but were ultimately uninterested in them because of their inability to directly affect them. Unlike the Celestials and to a degree the First Gods, the successive generations of Gods saw no reason to revere the Source, instead deciding to celebrate their own greatness as the most powerful beings in the Midplane. Their desire to impose order on the Galaxy was more for their own glory than to fulfill the mission given to the first Gods by the Source.
==Clans==
Countless Celestials volunteered to descend to the Midplane and became the first race of Gods.  They first emerged on the Crystal World of Crown at the center of the Sea of Chaos, shaping their bodies based on the Devils they observed. The descended Celestials would not remember this though, coming into consciousness on Crown with no memory of their Etherial origins. As the waking Gods surveyed their homeworld gradually they grouped together into Clans and lived somewhat peacefully for untold ages. This would not last though, and after abandoning Crown following the bloody conflict known as the Feud, the Clans set out into the Sea of Chaos and using the Song of Creation fashioned the first Universes. This act of giving form to the formless made them enemies of the Devils of the Underplane.
Hundreds of thousands of Clans went to war with the Devils and their demon hoards, founding kingdoms of their own and creating gleaming cities from which they would conduct their campaigns.  As the war went on, some Clans were overcome and slaughtered by their Devil enemies, others fought amongst themselves over territory they had seized.  However, their greatest catastrophe came towards the end of the War, when Satan himself, impressed with the Gods' successes against his Devils, decided to find a suitable opponent from among their numbers.  He rampaged across the Universe, butchering all the gods he came across looking for someone who could stand up to him.  It is unknown how many Clans were singlehandedly wiped out by him, but when he was finally defeated and the barrier was raised, the Dragon Clan went looking for other survivors and found only empty palaces and broken corpses.  It would not be until they had ruled the Known Universe for eons that they finally encountered another Clan which had been living out in the Edge.  Today it is unknown how many Clans remain, but they are believed to be few and widely spread out.  Of these, only a handful are known.
===The Dragons===
The Dragon Clan was known to be a short-tempered, lusty, partying lot, more chaotic than any other known Clan of Gods. They were originally lead by a powerful god called Bahamut, who sacrificed his life to seal Satan and passed his authority off on his lieutenant Adam. Adam created a mate named Eve, and with her begat a new generation of Gods. However, Adam was killed by his son Obilex, who was not interested in bringing order to the Universe and instead chose to revel in chaos. With his sister Asura, he sired a third generation of Gods, and fearing they would kill him as he killed his father he swallowed each of them upon their birth. Severely distressed, Asura sought out her mother Eve, who had fled after Obilex killed Adam. She entrusted Eve with her sixth child, a son called Rao, and tricked her husband into consuming a stone instead. Eve raised Rao to be a great warrior, who upon reaching maturity freed his siblings and slew his father. In his zeal to overthrow the Elder Gods, Rao turned his rage on his mother and grandmother. Mortified at the monster her grandson had become, Eve cursed Rao and his siblings to lose control of their power till it destroyed them. As their bodies were twisted into hideous fusions of their dragon and humanoid forms, Rao saved himself and the others by creating a method by which they would seal away 4/5ths of their power. Afterwards Rao, who had by now established himself as the strongest of his siblings, declared himself God King and took his most beautiful sister Shiva as his wife. He divided the Known Universe into 4 Kingdoms, giving the North and South to his brothers Dorn and Graves respectively, and the East and West to his sisters Agni and Rudra. The Dragon Gods ruled the Known Universe for countless eons until they were all but wiped out in an event known as the Cataclysm.
===The Angels===
The Angels were created as a caste of soldiers by the Super God Zeal who was a fusion of a previous Clan called the Elohim, who they refer to as the Lord. Lead by the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael, the Angels took a very aggressive strategy agains the Devils. Fortunately for them, the Demon Lords there were comparatively weak and they had little problem driving them to the Underplane. Their only great trial came when a roving Satan emerged in their midst and wiped out a great number of them. When it became apparent that even the Archangels were powerless against the Devil King, the Lord himself joined the fight and in a flash of light both disappeared. No without their Lord, the Angels set about conquering the mortal life and unifying them into a galaxy spanning empire dedicated to worship of their lost master which has lasted to the present day. Eons ago, the Angels succeeded in making contact with the Dragon Clan. Upon discovering the decadent ways of the Dragons, the Angels attempted to launch a Crusade against them. This Crusade was obliterated upon first contact, and the Angels were forced to retreat when their leader Michael was defeated by the God King Rao.  While the Angels possess the same shape shifting powers as other gods, their preferred form is of that of transcendently beautiful humanoids with mighty feathered wings on their backs.
=== The Titans ===
The Noble Titans of Might are the Gods who rule the 9th
Universe, Neon.  The original patriarch of the clan was a powerful god
called Kirby who was massive of size with many arms.  He and his brethren
were among the original gods who awoke on Crown.  Following the Bitter
Feud, he left with his family and together they created Neon out of
Chaos.  In the War at the Dawn that followed, Kirby and many other Titans
died, and leadership of the Clan fell to another Titan called Tymm who took the
name Archon. Archon's successors were his children Augusta and
Abrasax.  The twins possessed incredible power, but were living
embodiments of the forces of light and darkness.  They  were
diametrically opposed in everything and battled constantly.  Archon
constantly worked to enforce peace between his children.  As Abrasax and
Augusta begat children of their own, Archon was pleased that his Clan was once
again propagating, but still worked to preserve the peace.  The quiet time
was broken when a trio of clan-less gods arrived in Neon.  They were
offered sanctuary on the Titan's world of Argon, and they were in turn
grateful.  However, over time these gods became corrupted by Abrasax and
he used them to assassinate Archon.  With his dying breath Archon cursed
his son, changing his face into a fearsome looking skull.  Appalled by his
actions, all but Abrasax's staunchest followers switched sides to Augusta. Without their father to keep peace between them, the wars
between the Twins reached a fever pitch and split their world in half. 
These worlds reformed as extensions of the respective twins wills. 
Augusta's planet was a beautiful paradise world which became known as
Whitestone.  There she and her followers would live in peace, and she
would be called Highmother by them.  Alternately Abrasax's world became a
reflection of his foul spirit, becoming a foul and polluted hellscape called
Nemesis.  Owing to his fearsome visage, his followers dubbed him
Skullking. In the eons since Archon's death, Highmother has learned to
appreciate the balance which he worked so carefully to maintain.  Ashamed
of her part in his death, she no longer seeks her brother's death. 
Instead she dedicates the forces of Whitestone to containing the evil of
Nemesis, working to curtail her brother's plans when they become too
dangerous.  Outwardly Skullking goes along with the need for balance, but
works to undermine Highmother constantly, always seeking an advantage in their
never-ending stalemate.
===The Djinn===
The Djinn are another Clan which exists out in the Edge of the Universe, and have the appearance of blue skinned humanoids.  The Clan was founded by a god called Ramuh, who fathered two other children Aban and Akasha in a manner similar to how Satan created Sin and Adam created Eve.  These two in turn sired Ifrit and Undine.  Ifrit and Undine's lust for eachother overwhelmed them and they coupled unceasingly until separated by their father.  The products of this union were Oliander, Ariel, Fenrir, and Crysta.  These 9 were referred to as the Great Djinn, or High Djinn, and from them all other Djinn descended.  The Djinn were successful during the War at the Dawn, but when Satan went on his rampage and began culling Gods, Ramuh gathered his Clan and they fled far out into the Edge.  When the barrier was erected and the Devils were exiled, the Djinn once again exerted their influence and built themselves a powerful kingdom where they would rule over mortal races.  They were eventually encountered by the Angels, but managed to strike an uneasy truce with them.
===The Phoenix===
The Phoenix Clan of Gods are a powerful group who are notable in that they are all powerful fire elementals.  Their true form is that of massive birds made of fire, but more often they assume the form of humanoids with birdlike features, orange skin and feathery red hair.  They typically wear magnificent golden armor with red cloaks.  Their leader is the Phoenix Queen Ariella, one of the first Gods.  She emerged into the Universe and took part in the War at the Dawn, but the rest of her Clan was butchered by Satan and she was mortally wounded.  In order to save her life she linked her Grace with a formidable power source called the Sacred Flame and was reborn as the Phoenix Queen.  Using the Flame's powers she animated a new breed of gods. Unlike other God Clans, the Phoenix Gods are entirely female.
=== The Clowns ===
The Clown Gods rule the World of Asher. They were founded by the Laughing King, Swift who rules Asher from his Throne World, Carnival. During the Feud on Crown, Swift had been a low ranked warrior whose Clan was wiped out in the conflict. Committed to ending the conflict, he sought out the Mad Minstrels of Doom, reasoning that if they orchestrated the Feud then they might be the key to ending it. By now though, anger directed at the Minstrels had lead the other Gods to exterminate them, so when Swift found them there were only 6 left. They revealed to Swift that they had been waiting for him, that he was the one fated to end the Feud. To this end, the Minstrels subjected him to a number of trials which forced him to abandon his sanity. When this was done, they sacrificed their lives fusing with him and granting him their powers and visions. Swift emerged from the experience with a vast increase in power but a completely changed personality. He succeeded in bringing about the end of the Feud by unknown means and afterwards went out into the Sea of Chaos. He used the Song of Creation to bring forth a world he called Asher. He was greatly feared by even the Devils during the War at the Dawn and in its aftermath a large number of displaced Gods flocked to him. Unfortunately for his new found followers, they found themselves at the mercy of of a mercurial King. Using the Forbidden Arts, he forced the refugees through the same trials that the Mad Minstrels had put him through. This compromised their sanity and changed their nature, making them like him. Now called the Clown Gods, they reigned supreme over Asher. It's important to note that the Clowns aren't necessarily good or evil. They are all just insane.
=== The Beasts ===
The Beast Gods were one of the more active Clans during the Feud on Crown. Their leader was Brackish Khan, a powerful Turtle God known for his strength and wisdom. It was to him that Diva fled when Alvis's brothers killed her father and destroyed her House as he and her father had been close friends. When the Brackish was mortally wounded in battle, his authority and power were passed to his eldest son Ragna. The newly crowned Ragna Khan alongside his sisters, the twins Set and Horus, withdrew from the War and set out into the Sea of Chaos. Using the Song of Creation developed by the Shapers, Ragna Khan created the world of Guardia. Ragna Khan rules Guardia as God King and faces occasional attempts by Set to depose him. Her plans are usually thwarted by her twin sister Horus and Ragna Khan tends to regard them more as annoyances than anything else. Like other gods the Beasts often assume humanoid forms with animal aspects (Ragna Khan has a lion's head and his body is covered with orange-ish hair, Set looks like a beautiful woman but with green semi-scaly skin). However, their true forms are of massive creatures. Ragna Khan's true form is that of a gigantic lion, Set of a titanic serpant and Horus as an enormous falcon.
===The Elohim===
Predecessors of the Angel Clan, the Elohim is a mysterious group of gods who appeared in the Midplane at the War of the Dawn.  Individually they lacked the power of other Clans like the Dragons or the Djinn, and in desperation merged together into a single, supremely powerful God who called himself Zeal or the Lord.  In this form, the new Elohim rivaled and may have even exceeded the power of the great Bahamut.  The Elohim created lesser gods called Angels to serve as its soldiers and directed them in war against the Devils.  Unfortunately when Satan went on his rampage, the Angels were unable to match him and were being slaughtered.  To save his creations, Elohim fought Satan himself.  The result of the battle has never been completely understood, but afterwards Satan had been driven off and there was no sign of the Elohim.
=== The Watchers ===
Unusual among the Gods in that the Watchers achieved apotheosis into Gods rather than being connected to the ancient race which emerged on Crown. The Watchers were created by the Dragons as the mortal administrators of their Kingdom. For eons they served the Dragons faithfully. When the Cataclysm came, they stood with their master Chrono and attempted to help him defeat the Mad Goddess. In the aftermath, they connected themselves to the power of Chrono's inert corpse and elevated themselves to the status of Gods. In order to restore order they enlisted powerful mortals and infused them with the power of Time, creating the SENTINEL Order. For thousands of years they vied with the sole surviving Dragon God, King Rao for control of Shiva. When Rao was eventually killed by the Dark Prince Cain, the Watchers began moving their operations to Ultima and re-established relations with Sanctuary. After taking over Ultima, they were able to view the totality of Shiva's timeline and dedicated SENTINEL to its maintenance.
==Trivia==
- Following the War at the Dawn, a number of surviving God Clans banded together and created Sanctuary as a common safe-haven for all deities, no matter the realm, acting as neutral ground for any immortals in the universe.  A massive city hidden in a pocket dimension, Sanctuary is a place of "divine fellowship" where Gods can meet to discuss things or air grievances with one another.  While representatives from many clans come and go, Sanctuary serves as the home of various gods whose clans were wiped out during the War who have accepted positions of authority there such as Librarian or Peacekeeper.  Violence is not permitted in Sanctuary.  Following the Angelic Invasion, the Gods of Sanctuary invited the Dragons to have a place there, but they were disregarded by Rao.  When the Watchers took over Ultima, they discovered the portal to Sanctuary and accepted the Dragons' former seat there.  The Angels are also welcome there but rarely show themselves given their view of other gods as inferiors.  Despite this, the Archangel Gabriel occasionally visits Sanctuary.  The Council of Sanctuary observes the goings on of Zion with close scrutiny, since the return of Zeal would throw off the balance of power in the Universe.
- June once asked if a god's power was dependent on the amount of people who worshipped them. Rao told them that was an insultingly stupid question. They had the power to create the Universes before anyone was around to worship them and the amount of people crying out to them never really mattered at all to their strength. In general the reasons the gods enforced their worship was that it made it easier to find their way around the Universes since when alot of people were thinking of them it made them easier for the Gods' psychic powers to perceive.
Category:Races
Category:Deities
Category:Midplane Races
Category:Immortal Races