Council of Godheads

The **Council of Godheads**, also called the **Divine Council** or the **Council of Skyfathers**, is a loose committee of the leaders of the Earth's pantheons of gods, created with the intent of gathering information and allegiance against menaces or threats which no single pantheon of gods could handle alone.

## Overview

It is believed that the first iteration of the Council of Godheads included only the leaders of a few pantheons, and created during a time of great turmoil and tribulation due to powerful forces threatening to tear the world asunder. Soon after this original struggle was overcome, the Council quickly decided that all the gods who are associated with said leaders should also attend the council as member of the allegiance.

At first, many of the gods treated each other with distrust and animosity, mostly due to innate trait of arrogance and sense of grandeur. Eventually though, through the sharing of sacred knowledge and cunning strategies, they realized that together they could formulate plans of attack against the forces of chaos and evil. These plans were specifically made to combat threats which not only threatened the Earth, but also them in general seeing despite their tremendous power, a single pantheon would be unable to combat these great threats alone.

## Description

The Council was led by the Head God King, chosen by popular vote by the seven chief gods, each god hailing from a different region spread across the Earth. This system of election was known to be flawed at times, as the gods would commonly vote for themselves, making a decision difficult. The title was non-gender specific, though Athena was believed to be the first female Head God Queen. The gods were required to each carry a divine piece, signifying their status as a member of the Council of Godheads. It was initially suggested that the gods carry coins associated with the country or land that they rule over. However, they soon opted for holding various items and trinkets that would be instantly recognizable and linked to the individual god.

## History

### Arrival of the Old Ones

The Council was first formed when the threat of the Ogdru Hem, ancient alien beings of inconceivable power, reemerged on Earth and began influencing the evolution of various creatures of Earth including the human race. The gods were charged to protect the Earth from the Ogdru Hem and rid the planet of their darkness to pave way for coming of man. While the angels dealt with the Ogdru Hem in the regions of the space, those that escaped their wrath found refuge on Earth only to war with the deities who were allowed to claim the planet but would protect it from darkness.

It is believed that Odin is the one who first sought out and contacted Zeus, ruler of the Olympian gods, foreseeing with his all seeing eye that he would require the aid of other pantheons in order to protect his own. This would be the first of such great gathering of the gods, with Odin, Zeus, Ra, and Indra being the first to together confront the Old Ones that arose from their respective abyssal lairs hidden within the Earth.

In the midst of combat, the Old Ones offered the deities a dark deal that if accepted, would grant the gods unimaginable power, but prevent them from interacting with the mortal plane and their worshippers for all eternity. However, the gods did not waver and fought back relentlessly against the Ogdru Hem, offended by the audacity of the dark bargain. Eventually, the first wave of Old Ones began to fall one by one until the last of them were forced to retreat back into their dimensional prisons and tombs.

### Future Threats

Though the gods had succeeded this time against the tides of abominations, those among the council fear that the coming arrival of the Old One known as Cthulhu, who shall soon rise from his watery grave in the depths of the Pacific, will bring about the second army of the Ogdru Hem, who have laid hidden in obscurity just waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

The gods were also informed of the activities concerning several lesser Old Ones that were associated with Cthulhu, among whom was Dagon, where they were building a massive yet terrible and hideous stronghold which held ancient unspeakable power that ravaged the weaves of creation. This stronghold was known as R'lyeh, and would act as a conduit that manipulates the Earth's star system, distorting the alignment of the nearby stars and cause them to release vibrational waves that will resemble a song in the language of the Ogdru Hem. This song will in turn allow Cthulhu to safely traverse this temporal tunnel, and awaken the second host of Old Ones.

At first, Zeus opted to keep the stars from aligning in order to ensure that the Slumbering Gods would not awaken, but he was quickly stopped by Ra, who informed him that should the stars be forcefully put in disarray it would upset the balance of the wheel of the cosmos and thus sparking chaos and mayhem. Another idea that was abandoned was to sink the ancient supercontinent that R'lyeh was built upon, but they would only bring further ruin to Earth. With no other alternatives, they decided to prepare themselves for the eventual arrival of Cthulhu.

### Battle of the Powers

After a millennium, R'lyeh used the powers of the star system that held the Earth, and with it came the arrival of Cthulhu and his ilk through the nightmarish citadel. The mere appearance of the Great Dreamer and the second host of Old Ones plunged the Earth into chaos, with powerful maelstroms and hurricanes ravaging massive sections of the planet. The gods were quick to act, and with their preparation for the Old One's awakening, did battle with Cthulhu and the second host of Ogdru Hem.

It was a mighty and terrible fight, the likes of which would quite easily reduce the entire Earth into shambles. The battle between Cthulhu, his army, against the Sky-Fathers lasted for roughly about a month or so. While the Great Dreamer would constantly take unthinkable damage from the gods, he would regenerate each time he suffers an injury like no other. It was not until that the gods would receive aid from an unlikely ally in the form of Kthanid. While they were wary of him at first, Kthanid's knowledge concerning the Old Ones proved more than advantageous to the gods resulting in the tides being turned in their favor over the Old Ones.

Eventually, the gods were able to achieve victory when the stars became in disarray which greatly weakened Cthulhu and forced him to return to his grave whilst the several or more of the second host of Old Ones perished or were sealed off once more due to Kthanid's aid. However, the battle between the gods and the Old Ones only resulted in what would be called the great marring of the Earth, where supercontinents were splintered into what would be known as the continents we know today.