The Canon

Although the RoS is a community where we emphasise freedom of worldbuilding in the fictional world of Nomos, there is a certain official Canon with which no player's lore must conflict. **The Canon** is meant to serve as a basis for official events and timeline.

It is intentionally constructed as a very loose and distant set of facts which are unlikely to impair anyone's writing.

**There aren't many strict restrictions when it comes to the Canon:**

1. Don't make your worldbuilding conflict with the Canon too much. Your nation, people or certain cults can believe that their gods created the Universe and everything. But insisting outside of roleplay that those are certain and undeniable facts is not allowed.
2. Your prophets, scholars or priests may know about the nature of Tohre, Nomosverse, Pantokrators and Shards to any degree (preferably a very fuzzy one). It is advised to come up with your own national names instead of using Talensi names.

## Tohre

**Tohre** is the name for the *Magical Multiverse* — an uncountable group of various universes (or dimensions) where magic is prevalent. One of them is the universe with the planet of Nomos *(unofficially referred to as the Nomosverse)*. Other universes exist too, and it is possible, through the use of powerful magic, to travel between them.

There are at least three known alien universes, certain inhabitants of which exercised dimensional travel: the Cerxai realm, the Faewilds and Sabrim.

These dimensions may differ greatly from each other. A common theme in the history of universes is the emergence of magical beings so powerful that they could bend Magic itself to their will and desire, thus setting up their own universal rules that would last for billions of years.

## Nomosverse

Though many scholars from various nations attempted to study the nature of our world, it is the Talensi Professors who got the furthest. They are by no means the first to extensively study the Nomosverse, but they did make remarkable breakthroughs in the Imperial universities by applying their advanced scientific theories and methods. This knowledge has now reached the continent of Nomos through Janiko.

Billions of years ago the Nomosverse used to be different. Talensi scholars don't know how much different, but it is a fact discovered (or, rather, scientifically described) by them. What is known for certain is that there used to be a group of beings so mighty that any god described by any faith pales in comparison. Those were the four Pantokrators - Gods of Gods, entities of indescribable size and power, forces of cosmic nature. And they were the overseers of the Whirlpool of Fate — a strange, complex magical concept which acted as the instrument of universal Cycle.

### The Four Pantokrators

* **Magnin, the Change —** the one who begins and moves the Cycle
* **Planin, the Life** — the one who upholds the Cycle
* **Wranin, the Decline** — the one who finalises the Cycle
* **Bahnin, the Stagnation** — the one who slows down the Cycle

### The Whirlpool of Fate

The Whirlpool of Fate is a concept of immense importance to all life, a "thing" or an "instrument" which ensured the Cycle of life. The Pantokrators were meant to keep it in a balanced state with all their powers, since it required constant oversight. Such state of affairs seems to have been unique to the Nomosverse, and Talensi scholars speculate that something of even greater power might had had established that order for an unknown purpose. Could it be that the Conflict that followed was forseen by the possible engineers of the old Nomosverse?

### The Conflict

After unknown time of stability, the Cycle was undone by the rebellion of Bahnin, the Pantokrator of Stagnation. For he desired the "final fate" of the Cycle - a total stop, a world without change. It is unknown why he wanted it, but in pursuit of his goal he went deviant and attempted to undermine his fellow overseers.

In response, the three Pantokrators showed a swift reaction. A heavenly struggle must've taken place, which resulted in the trio tearing Bahnin down. Defeated and mutilated, two thirds of his being were shattered into millions of shards. What remained of him was put into chains.

### The Shattering

However, just as the Pantokrators were about to banish Bahnin from the Whirlpool of Fate, the latter erupted. They realised too late that their powerstruggle and the restraining of Bahnin were enough to upset the balance and break the Cycle.

Through unknown magical processes the Whirlpool of Fate had absorbed the three Pantokrators, including the shards torn from Bahnin, and then exploded in what Talensi would call **the Shattering** or **the Big Bang**, giving birth to the Nomosverse we know and live in today.

Through that act the Whirlpool of Fate stabilised itself, became balanced once more. The Cycle was restored, albeit in a different fashion and form. Why or how it happened is a point of hot contention, and some suggest that it was a safety mechanism of sorts, designed by whoever established the old order of things in the first place.

The Pantokrators were broken into millions of shards and particles, their essence mixed up and scattered across the vast cosmos. That essence, stored in shards and dust, soon became part of the fresh galaxy. Out of them were born new Gods, far smaller and punier than Pantokrators, but still capable of great deeds. Later on, some of the shards would wound up on habitable planets, where living beings would stumble upon them and become Gods too.

## The Nature of Gods

**Shard** — a piece of a Pantokrator which contains huge power. Its properties depend on the nature of the Pantokrator it used to be part of, as well as the size and the amount of essence stored inside. If one manages to devour Shard's power, he would gain god-like magical abilities. As such, both mortals and deities seek these for the sake of acquiring more power.

**Dust** — a Pantokratorian essence which got scattered and mixed up across the universe, forming up certain cosmic objects and Gods. It is the reason how first Gods came to be. Dust can be collected and it's powers can also be devoured, albeit with more difficulty.

**Elder God** — a very powerful god with the capability of creating entire planets/worlds. Elder Gods are usually very old beings formed out of Dust, most of whom used to exist during the universe's infancy. In their domains they are also able to bend laws of magic and create magic systems of their own, which can last for millennia.

**God** — weaker than the Elder God, but still magically strong enough to change and create. Practically every nation on Nomos has or used to have one or several, who are now part of their mythologies. It is up to the writer whether his nation's gods still exist and help their subjects OR they are dead/never existed.

**Demigod** — a mighty mortal who acquired his powers by using a small shard through a complex ritual. They are strong magical beings, but not deities. A close real-world equivalent would be "demon" or "angel".

*Note: these descriptions are only related to Pantokrator lore. It is allowed to worldbuild other plausible ways of how deities and demigods come to be. The most obvious way is through the union of two gods or of a god and a mortal.*

## The Aftermath

It would take billions of years for the Nomosverse to take its present shape. So much time had passed and so many Gods came and went that it is impossible to imagine a clear timeline for our universe. But it is at least a reason why Nomos has such a great variety of nations, faiths and pasts. Most of them do have knowledge of certain events or facts, usually vague and distorted by time, likely relayed to them by long-dead gods or prophets of old, who had some understanding of the cosmic past.

### The Now

A major fact realised by some Talensi professors is that Bahnin, the rebellious Pantokrator of Stagnation, was not shattered completely. He avoided the fate of his rivals and remained incapacitated in his chains, likely still conscientious.

It is yet to be confirmed whether this revelation has huge ramifications for our universe. As far as everyone is concerned, Bahnin is barely alive. He is restrained and unable to influence the Whirlpool of Fate. Some scholars try to sound the alarm, as they suggest that the surviving Pantokrator may be more capable than it is presumed. They are in the minority though, and Talensi scientific establishments are in consensus that Bahnin's role in our universe is unremarkable and unnoticeable.

### The Possible

All Pantokrators have been shattered for billions of years. But a magical being theoretically can be restored by picking up the pieces of its essence and putting it back together.

It is proposed that if a third of all the shards belonging to a Pantokrator are gathered in one place and united through magic, it would prompt the rebirth of said Pantokrator and his swift regeneration. But as far as the Scientist Guild is concerned, the task of collecting all the essence scattered across the many worlds and galaxies in our universe would be beyond monumental.

It would simply require ungodly power and patience. The possibility of Pantokratorian restoration is absolutely negligible and there is nothing to worry about.