Elder Gods

## Further Description

The Elder Gods are foundational forces of creation in reality. Life, time, possibility, knowledge, each of these and far more exist solely because of these incorporeal and incomprehensibly powerful and intelligent beings.

All Elder Gods were created directly by Elu, the foremost among them. Though Elu is vastly more powerful than any other Elder God, they still dwelled among the ranks of the rest of their children.

### Names of the Elder Gods

To invoke the name of an Elder God is to call its attention to you. To have the attention of an Elder God is to see reality sputter and cave in on itself, crushing the caller until their souls are ejected from their body like juice from a grape. There are exceptions, of course, as some gods are either too omnipresent for their attention to have its standard effect (Dienna) or too weak to smite a caller by accident (Morpheus in his current state, Morgan).

[[AN: From a gameplay standpoint, saying the name of those specific Elder Gods, even by accident, causes the speaker to instantly take a Nirvana Death, or possible Perma-Death. Before Spring 2019, this expanded to the speaker *and all who heard it*. The names, and this note, are included for the sake of completion]]

### Creations of Elder Gods

Elder Gods can create gods less than themselves, who may view their creator as a parental figure. These beings are created with a clear intent and purpose, though that purpose may be incomprehensible to mortal minds. Examples of such beings include Death, Polaris, Velka, and Emlek.

Conversely, the power of an Elder God's undirected thoughts can create a life of their own. These beings, called Unseen, are fully sapient, and can interact with the world in small ways akin to those open to average mortals, but are completely invisible to all but the most intensive means of detection. Their inherent connection to divinity gives them a very high power ceiling, as well as the capacity to latch onto the beliefs of mortals to transform themselves into a Progenitor deity.

Through a mixture of directed and aimless thoughts, an Elder God can create a "child" not built for any specific purpose. These children are totally independent of their divine parentage, and their power can vary widely from child to child. As technical demigods, these children inhabit powerful, ageless bodies that are otherwise mortal, and as a result they can have their own offspring (though this rarely occurs). Such children include William Willson, Samuel Slater, and the Timekeeper's mother.

Elder Gods also have the ability to create entirely new species of creatures, with or without a specific purpose. Examples include, but are likely not limited to: Pioni; Celestial Dragons; Fae; Elementals; Demons; Ents; Dryads; and Giants.

### Lack of Influence on the Material Plane

Following the creation of The Beast Below, most Elder Gods departed to their own planes, both to recover from any emotions that the “loss” of their parent may have caused, and to ensure that Elu’s new form had no effects on them. In the millennia that followed, the Elder Gods swayed things as they saw fit.

In 10,017, a ritual conducted by William Willson and the Binturian party, with the assistance of Oslana and Wilkennis, created an impenetrable barrier around the Material Plane, preventing any Elder God from influencing anything on the opposite side. This prevented Lollakas from reviving their catastrophically dangerous Fateweaver Belladonna, and kept him from causing further harm. This initial ritual was shoddy, and incomplete, however, and was refined by a subsequent ritual conducted by Aukeraz and the Binturian party, with the assistance of Lollakas, Oslana, and Death’s children.

Since then, Wilkennis, Lollakas, and Oslana have little to no influence over the Material Plane (save for their Fateweavers).

## Members

### Elu, the Elder God of Life

The oldest living thing in existence, with neither start nor end. Can a thing truly be “oldest” if it predates time itself? Suffice to say Elu simply Is. Elu is a creator without limit, a power beyond measure, a mind without boundary. Elu created the other Elder Gods as their children (they each decided their title on their own), as well as the Material Plane, Temporis, all life that exists, and specifically the Pionus, the first sapient species.

Elu also created the Soul Plane (called at various times the Life/Death Plane, the Animancy Plane, etc.), to house new and old souls alike, and was responsible for the creation of and machinations behind the Afterlife. They are also the sole source of magic that would later be called Soul Magic. Even though they no longer reside within the Soul Plane, their lingering power within it is enough to sustain the magic for an impossibly long time, perhaps even forever.

Elu shared some kind of special relationship with the last Pionus kingdom, known as Binturia (or Old Binturia, as it’s called now). Binturian scholars were keenly aware of the Elder Gods’ existence, and in some spells even invoked them by name. This culminated in the fall of the Old Binturian Kingdom, where Elu offered their assistance to King Binturong and the two fused to become The Beast Below, who even today slumbers ever still.

Imprisoned and adrift in sleep, Elu unconsciously wields much of their power without their mind. The snores of the Beast kept the planes from colliding for much of history, and those same snores could kill people by the thousands if they grew too strong.

### Dienna, the Elder Goddess of Time

Elu’s first creation, who embodies the existence and passage of time. Time cannot be directly influenced without her knowledge, and prevents attempts at actual time travel unless she deems them to be absolutely necessary. Her influence flows through all planes, so she has no plane to call her own (that anyone knows of). Dienna takes a hands-off approach to her governance, as time ought to pass with no bias to speed or location based on favoritism.

The closest she often comes with direct interaction with mortals, or even beings of power, are through her single Fateweaver, a Pionus named Jonathan Wells who was trapped in a temporal loop until 10,018.

She also has a granddaughter, who goes by the name the Timekeeper.

### Wilkennis, the Elder God of Knowledge

Elu’s second creation, who embodies the collection and search for knowledge. Wilkennis is, for all intents and purposes, omniscient. He knows all, sees all, comprehends all, ad nauseum. He also created Death, the god of death, as a gift to his parent Elu (something about death making life worthwhile? Idk man it’s probably symbolism), then the creatures known as Celestial Dragons to take after himself as collectors and users of knowledge.

Wilkennis created and resides within the Celestial Plane, a domain of information and order and the home to Celestial Dragons. He is also the sole source of magic that is now called Celestial Magic.

Wilkennis has seven Fateweavers who influence the world on his behalf, as well as a recently-disowned son, named William Willson.

### Lollakas, the Elder God of Madness

Elu’s third creation, who embodies mayhem, mischief, chaos, and madness. Very nearly as powerful and intelligent as his older brother, Lollakas is unparalleled in creativity and manipulation. He also created Polaris, god of Everlife and king of the constellations, to mock the inherent order of Temporis' natural night sky and Wilkennis’ creation Death, and then created the creatures known as the Fae to sow and spread chaos in all places.

Lollakas created and resides within the Phantasmal Plane, a chaotic and ever-shifting realm which the Fae call home. He is also the sole source of magic now called Phantasmal Magic.

Lollakas has been directly responsible for many events which have jeopardized the lives of mortals, one of the most egregious being implanting a seed of madness deep in the mind of his younger brother Morpheus. As the seed matured, Morpheus became crueler, inflicting misery upon the sleeping mortals of Temporis for nearly two thousand years until his defeat by the Dreamwalkers in 5,890 AB, and then again when he returned in 10,017.

For many years, Lollakas had but one fateweaver, a newt-folk named Belladonna. Given her status as Lollakas' sole fateweaver, Belladonna wielded nearly unrivaled power, killed tens of thousands of innocents, tormented countless more, and truly embodied Madness. Her status also prevented her from dying, as Lollakas had marked her as being outside the influence of Death or their Reapers. In 10,017, through the valiant efforts of the Binturian Party, William Wilson, and Samuel Slater, Belladonna was permanently killed.

In 10,019, seven people who will become fateweavers of Madness were born, but as infants they wield no power as of yet. Lollakas also has a son, named Samuel Slater, who was made through much a similar process as Wilkennis created William Wilson.

### Oslana, the Elder Goddess of Protection

Elu’s fourth creation, who embodies nature and the elements. Oslana takes a more passive role to her two older siblings, almost to a fault. She created Velka, goddess of sin, as well as the creatures called demons, elementals, ents, dryads, and giants. Though she did not create them intentionally, she does still consider the spirits to be her children.

Oslana created and resides within the Elemental Plane, and is the sole source of what is now called Elemental Magic. Oslana also created the Abyss, a demiplane specifically for Velka and the demons to live.

Oslana has only one fateweaver, a human she cares for and loves deeply named Aquano Silfedis. Through this connection, Oslana maintains an enchantment over the capital of Aquano's nation, the United Sanctuaries of Orelisle, that ensures that no living being may ever come to harm there.

One of Oslana’s Unseen, Lusaris, was elevated to the status of a Progenitor and became the Goddess of Serenity.

### Aukeraz, the Elder Goddess of Possibility

Elu’s fifth creation, who embodies agency and choice. Aukeraz dwells in the Material Plane, and though she is not personally responsible for the creation of Essence, she has strong ties to it and is the major force answering queries Essence-users send into it. Unlike many of the other Elder Gods, Aukeraz prefers to act as an observer, rarely if ever intervening. She can see the trajectory of all actions taken by all creatures on the Plane, and as such can predict many events even without physically being there.

Aukeraz has no known fateweavers, instead choosing to occupy a mortal body to engage with the world. Through these vessels, she has witnessed many major events in Temporis' history, such as the discovery of the Penskruingman Archipelago and the Deathless Days. Aukeraz's current vessel is a young woman named Pam.

### Morpheus, the Elder God of Dreams

Elu’s sixth creation, who embodies the unconscious mind. Morpheus created Emlek, goddess of memory, as well as the Dream World, a realm connecting all subconscious minds, and Thymisi, a demiplane of the Dream World guarded and maintained by Emlek that houses the memories of all creatures.

In the age of the Old Kingdom, his brother Lollakas implanted deep within him a seed of madness that would corrupt his consciousness, which would slowly make him more violent and chaotic over the thousands of years it would need to take root. This culminated around the year 4,000 AB, when Morpheus ruled over the Dream World like a tyrant and trapped people in their nightmares for his own amusement. His reign of terror was ended by the Dreamwalkers, a group of powerful mages who siphoned off parts of Morpheus’ power and used their demigod status in the Dream World to kill him in 5,889 AB. Through a failsafe of his own design, a part of Morpheus’ being survived his demise and returned in 10,017 AB, but the Binturian Party defeated him and excised the seed from his mind. He now wanders the Dream World on his own, searching for a new purpose.

Morpheus has no fateweavers, but the Dreamwalkers are a close second.

### Morgan, the Elder God of Compassion

A creation of Elu, though which one by number is unclear, who embodies and exudes compassion. The newest, and by and large the weakest, of the Elder Gods, Morgan was born from the Greatest Naiad Nanami, and lived most of his life as a mortal.

Raised by monastic humans in Dilghao, Morgan developed a love of helping others, and preferred not to engage in violence unless absolutely necessary. He joined the Binturian Party, where he developed into an immensely powerful animus. Some of his major accomplishments include successfully dethroning the Hierophant Xaoc, defeating Sol Invictus in combat, slaying Belladonna, and others.

During the preparations for William Wilson's ritual to banish the Elder Gods, Morgan took on the mantle of the Prophet of Elu, which functioned in some ways similarly to being Elu's fateweaver. He could discern universal truths, affect reality in unusual ways, and exchange his life for the life of another. These powers were, in many ways, the beginning of the end for the life Morgan was accustomed to.

Elu appeared to Morgan in the form of a goddess of life he knew as a child, and subtly manipulated him into accepting his true power. As he travelled a bubble of Void seeping into the Material Plane, the binds imprisoning Morgan gave way and broke. His true form as a Greater Naiad emerged, and shortly thereafter he was thrust into his full power as an Elder God. The bubble then disappeared.

As an Elder God, Morgan tries to promote kindness amongst people, and sometimes intervenes to aid them or protect them from hostile gods.

## History

* Origin/group formation
	+ Always Existed/Created by Elu
* Dealings with Mortals
	+ Beast Below
	+ Fae Clothespin/Glorybringer
		- At some point, Lollakas and Wilkennis created the artifacts called the Fae Clothespin and Glorybringer, respectively
	+ Nightmare-Locks and Dreamwalkers (5000s)
	+ The Binturian Party
		- Binturian Nirvanas are (presumably) a product of Elu’s influence
	+ Belladonna
	+ Aquano Silfedis
	+ Morgan
	+ Deathless Days
* People/places that worship them and why
	+ Old Binturia
		- Familiar with the Elder Gods, possibly worshipped them
	+ Aquano Silfedis
		- In a sort-of relationship with Oslana
	+ New Jericho
		- Morgan protected them from a violent plague deity and its followers.
* Involvement in Pan-Orelisle events
	+ Planar War
	+ Return of Morpheus
	+ Sealing of the Elder Gods
	+ Deathless Days
* Current residence/plane
	+ See above
* Meetings with the Binturian Party (do not include Tavern Times or other inconsequential meetings)
	+ Elu
		- Met with Morgan during his time as a mortal
		- Seen in fused form as Beast Below
	+ Dienna
		- None
	+ Wilkennis
		- Agreed to leave Material Plane to exile Lollakas
		- Opposed to and actively hindered end of Deathless Days
	+ Lollakas
		- Belladonna. Just. Belladonna.
		- Exiled from Material Plane
		- Negotiated for Fateweavers to end Deathless Days
	+ Oslana
		- Agreed to leave Material Plane to exile Lollakas
		- Blessed the USO constitution
		- Agreed to help end Deathless Days
	+ Aukeraz
		- While in the form of a sailor named Jim, carried away and eaten shortly after stepping foot onto Pennskruingman Archipelago. Binturians saw the danger and largely chose to stand by and watch Jim die.
		- Helped Binturians undo Deathless Days.
	+ Morpheus
		- Attacked the Binturians in the form of Lord Nocturne, but was defeated
		- Attacked the Binturians directly in the Dream World, but was defeated
		- Cured of Seed of Madness by Binturian intervention
	+ Morgan
		- Former Binturian

## Further Information

* The Abyss
* Azarath
* Belladonna
* Binturia
* The Binturian Party
* Celestial Dragon
* Constellations
* Death
* Deathless Days
* Demons
* Dreamwalkers
* Dryads
* Elemental
* Elu
* Ent
* Essence
* Fae
* Giants
* Jericho
* Magic
* Metrion
* Morpheus
* Old Binturia
* Pionus
* Sol Invictus
* Spirits
* United Sanctuaries of Orelisle
* Xaoc
* Zinthos