Chaos

**Chaos** is the primordial antithesis of all things. It is the wild and negative energy to everything positive in the universe and the extended multiverse. Everything that is, Chaos is not. It is a gestalt force that has existed since the birth of existence itself. This wildly dangerous energy primarily resides in its dimension of origin, the **Planes of Chaos**. This realm is home to every horror and nightmare that has ever been thought of and ever will be thought of, but above all, it is the home of the God of Chaos, **Nathwin**. Chaos, at its core, is unrelenting disorder brought to catastrophic proportions. Most know it as the power behind all the greatest evils throughout history, but there are some who recognize it as a necessary counterweight to balance out the entire universe as we understand it and that without it, there would be no universe to begin with.

## **Description**

All that is and ever was is ultimately an extension of otherworldly, incomprehensible forces. Those that inhabit the planet of Elura know the common forces of power: Light, responsible for the energies of the cosmos and the creation of magic; Divinity, the power that separates immortality from mortality; and Nature, the power that innately resides in the primordials and by extension, all living things. The fourth universal force, and the one dreaded by most, is **Chaos**. Chaos is a force that resides in the background of the universe. Whereas most of the known universes must abide by the laws of physics and magic, Chaos represents everything outside of said laws. It can take anything from emotion, reality, feeling, or imagination and twist it to destructive proportions.

### **Corruption**

Unlike any other force in the universe, Chaos is highly reactive to anything outside of itself. When in contact with another realm, the energies of Chaos will spread and alter the landscape much like a cancer or a plague. What it does to living things, however, is far worse. Chaos will seep into the darkest corners of the mind and radicalize thoughts in the most horrific ways imaginable. It will turn anger into mindless savagery, sadness into abhorrent despair, and greed into murderous envy. This is the corruption of Chaos. It can turn even the purest of souls into monsters both figuratively and literally. The closer an individual gets to the source of a Chaotic infestation, the more powerful the corruption. The person is almost never to blame for what they will inevitably become, however, corruption does not lie. The thoughts and feelings behind one's fall to Chaos are real, just grossly exacerbated. The power of its touch is unnaturally addictive as it preys on one's deepest desires and is extremely difficult to resist. Such is the goal of the Dark God, Nathwin. It is his soul purpose to consume everything in existence. He cannot simply spread to the other realms as he pleases, so he whispers across space and time to any and all who would listen in hopes of luring them right to him.

### **History**

At the dawn of time, the universal forces of the cosmos came together to create the gods and deities that would eventually forge the universe. Outside the void of the realms, unbeknownst to the gods, there was darkness and the wild energies of Chaos. Constant accumulation of that force over millions of years inevitably gave birth to the God of Chaos, **Nathwin**. To this day, this being lives with a single purpose: to consume. The newly formed god spread outside of conventional time and space like a cancer that eventually began bleeding into the multiverse, drastically tipping the great balance. The deities of nearly every realm came together to fight back against the disease that was plaguing their dimensions. With the combination of their divine might they battered Nathwin into submission. Knowing that they could not destroy him without reality coming undone, the other deities created a new realm to imprison Nathwin forever. From then on, that realm would be known as the **Planes of Chaos**.

Eons after his banishment, Nathwin molded his plane in his own image and made a netherverse of demonic creatures all while his hunger grew more and more ravenous. With his imprisonment, Nathwin knew he would need to rely on other methods to satiate is need for consumption. The Dark God realized he would have to be patient and cunning. Rather than bring his corruption to the unsuspecting people of the multiverse, he would make them come to him. And so, for tens of thousands of years he whispered in the hearts and minds of innocent souls across the multiverse. Slowly, but steadily, he spread his influence across the stars once more. Nathwin's spun his web of deceit around anyone who would listen to the silver tongued god. He promised them power, he promised them wealth, he promised them immortality; anything that was desired, he could provide at the cost of one's immortal soul. It is unknown just how many worlds were touched by his influence, but eventually, it made its way to Elura.

Before the time of the Titans, the people that inhabited the planet of Elura had no knowledge of the dangers of Chaos. Corruption spread to all corners of the world as more and more fell victim to Nathwin's influence. Having no name for the sickness that was ravaging their world, those that lived at the time simply referred to places most afflicted as the Cursed Lands. Elura had very few planetary defenders outside of the ancient Druidic circles and were thus, fighting a losing battle. Just when the world was nearing death, the Titans arrived on sky-faring vessels the likes of which, no one had ever seen. Noros and his kind spent 100 years cleansing the planet of all corruption. These celestial beings gave the mortals of Elura technology thousands of years ahead of their time. They expended their knowledge of magic and the cosmos, rebuilt their civilization, and entered a thousand year long Golden Age. It seemed as though Nathwin's influence had been permanently expunged from the world. If only that were the truth.

#### The Cataclysm

Over the centuries of the Golden Age, Nathwin set in motion a grand plan to turn Elura on itself. He knew that if he would ever have a chance to defeat Noros, he would have no choice but to corrupt the Titans. The God of Chaos sought out the one celestial to ever have any interest in researching the fundamentals of Chaos itself, Val the Titan of Change. Nathwin spent years grooming the Titan by abusing his desire for knowledge. Eventually, the temptation became too great and the first ever Dark Titan was born. Val worked with Nathwin to slowly and quietly bring other Titans over to darkness by preying on their inner most wishes, tarnishing their once pure immortals souls. The silent corruption spread not only to the Titans, but their Archon, their Chosen, and countless mortals vulnerable to the promises of a Dark God. Chaos had claimed soldiers, statesmen, judiciaries, people of faith, and everyone in between. Nathwin's plan took decades to fulfil, and when he was finally satisfied, Elura was plunged into a Cataclysmic War.

In a single day, Val and countless others openly renounced Noros and declared his new allegiance to the Dark God. Cities burned, thousands had died, and chaos ensued. Soon after the first attack, cultists had opened tears in reality to the Planes of Chaos, unleashing legions of demons upon the planet. Elura was under siege. The war raged on for 10 years until it was finally brought to the capital of the planet. Noros along with the other Priarchs goaded the God of Chaos. It did not take long before arrogance took over and Nathwin himself descended on the land. All fought in what many believe to be the most legendary battle of all time. When all seemed to be lost, the Priarchs used the last of their strength to sacrifice themselves and seal Nathwin away forever. The backlash of this extraordinary set of circumstances enacted the Cataclysm; an apocalyptic event that altered the course of the planet. In its wake, the followers of Nathwin were banished to the Planes of Chaos and the Golden Age came to an end.

#### The Modern Era

While much of Elura was destroyed and Nathwin once again imprisoned, Chaos is a threat that comes and goes like the tides. Titans both light and dark are gone, but