Gods & Their Realm

Written by: Bishop Uhnad Pemir

Year: 1189

This book was written by a high bishop in a time when the church was pushing for worldwide power. The clerics of the church went on many missions to local and foreign lands in order to teach the peasants and commoners how to read, mostly using books like this one. The larger population being literate meant that the church could spread their propaganda through more than just missions and preachers.

The book itself goes on to in great detail describe firstly the worlds the Gods live in. First, a world high above the land of the living, called Altheim, where most of the Gods spend their endless days. Altheim is a expansive city with buildings and streets made of solid gold, and side walks and archways made of pure marble. This shining city is said to be where those true to Dovien are allowed to spend their afterlife until they are once again allowed to walk the earth through reincarnation.

Though, those who refuse Dovien's light and guidance are sent to Delheim, and endless, pitch black labyrinth. They are not allowed to reincarnate, and must wander the endless halls of the city until the end of existence, usually linked to the death of all the gods and mankind, and the destruction of the world itself.

The book then continues to speak of the primordial beasts. These four creatures created the entirety of existence, including the Gods themselves.

* **Tadon** - The first of the primordial beasts. Tadon is existence itself. Tadon is depicted as a flowing creature with no shape or appearance, sort of like a drawing of a ocean breeze. Tadon created existence, and the universe: which existed after its' creation but also didn't. There was boundaries but nothing but the void inhabited this space.
* **Malfos** - The second of the primordial beasts, and arguably the most powerful; Malfos is depicted as a black tornado covered in thousands of eyes, peering in all directions, seeing everything in the universe. It was Malfos who created the grand celestial bodies: the galaxies, star clusters, nebulae, black holes, etc. It was Malfos who created the idea of true creation and destruction, the beginning and the end, in a way: life and death.
* **Brono** - The third of the primordial beasts. Brono is depicted as a giant humanoid figure carved from a giant mountain. It was Brono who created the smaller celestial bodies: the worlds, the moons, meteors, comets, etc. Brono created the idea of places of solid matter, tangible and touchable heavenly bodies.
* **Saria** - The fourth and final primordial beast. Saria is depicted as a humanoid woman, made solely from strands of light. It was Saria who created Altheim, the grand city of the Gods. Then Saria created the gods themselves. Beings of great power, endless life, and endless potential. It was Saria who created the idea of life, of purpose, of potential.

After this the book goes into detail about each of the gods.

**Gods of Altheim**

* **Dovien** - Dovien is the all father, the king of the gods. Dovien is depicted as a giant man with long brown hair, crimson robes, and a crown made out of the antlers of a stag. He also wields a giant spear, with a head made of pure light. When the original gods found themselves suddenly in existence in the city of Altheim, it was a place of darkness. It was Dovien who lit the gases of the sun to create light in the universe.
* **Mara** - Mara is the goddess of humanity and love, usually praised in tandem to Dovien by the Clerics of the church. She is said to be the physical reincarnation of Saria, as she has a deep love for existence and living beings. Mara is depicted as a tall slender woman with short hair black as pitch, long purple robes, a floating tiara, and a large ceramic jug from which the essence of life itself pours. It was Mara who created all sentient life in the world, as well as the rivers, and streams of the world which she filled with the essence of life from her jug.
* **Blackmount** - Blackmount is the god of nature and structure. He is said to be the physical reincarnation of Brono, as he has an bottomless interest in all creations physical. Before Mara made true life, it was Blackmount who created the mountains of the world below, as well as the frozen icebergs, the deep trenches that would become the oceans, and all the animals that roam those lands. Blackmount is depicted as a giant man with ashen skin, a golden helm and gauntlets, and a golden hammer which he used to shape the lands.
* **Atherius** - The goddess of commoners, and the daughter of Dovien and Mara; Atherius is the embodiment of inner human conflict. She fell for the trickster god Jastovokk and married him, having to decide whether to leave her home to be with her love, or love him from afar and remain with her family and friends. She also was in love and being courted by both Jastovokk and Bolt, who were brothers. Praying to Atherius is said to help people make tough decisions. She is depicted as a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, and large wings like a eagle. She wears a hooded white dress that flows on endlessly, and a steel breastplate. She wields a long sword made of gold.

* **Junus** - Junus is the goddess of forests and the forgotten druids of old. Junus is depicted as a towering woman with white skin, a crown made of silver feathers, and wearing not else but a loin cloth. She has long hair as green and wavy as vines, and wields a bow that fires shining arrows. It was Junus who created the forests and jungles of the world.
* **Bolt -** Bolt is the god of war and soldiers. The son of Hel and Malus, Bolt rose first to the world of man to witness the glory and gore of their warfare, then went higher to settle in the golden city. It was Bolt who taught men to wield and craft weapons, armor, and shields. He is depicted as a extremely muscular man with medium length brown hair. He wears not but a silver fauld and gauntlets, even into battle. He wields a silver spear, and a large shield of gold.
* **Solusmore** - The god of the hunt and rangers, and son to Blackmount and Junus, Solusmore is depicted as a large slender man naked as a babe. He has deep green skin, yellow eyes, and multiple horns coming from his head. It was Solusmore who taught men how to hunt, track, and trap.
* **Farrahgal** - Farrahgal is the god of justice and punishment, usually praised in tandem to Dovien by the Paladins of the church. He is depicted as a large Minotaur with black fur, a transparent chest so his heart can be seen, wearing shoulder and leg armor forged from the bones of the guilty. He also wields a giant executioners axe. It was Farrahgal who introduced the ideas of justice, order, crime, and punishment to humanity.
* **Naar** - The goddess of birth and decay. Naar is said to be the physical reincarnation of Malfos, as she alone oversees the creation and destruction of societies, religions, empires, down to each individual life. Naar is depicted as the torso of a giant woman wearing a hood, she has four arms, and is depicted as being made completely of a black void.

**Gods of Delheim**

* **Malus** - The god of death itself. It was Malus and his wife, Hel, who create Delheim, after being banished from Altheim by Dovien. Malus is depicted as a skeletal creature, with the face of a goblin with black skin, and a lower body made of shadow. He wears a helm shaped like goats horns, that covers his eyes; he also wields a dagger made of bone. Malus gains power by collecting the souls of those who turned away from Dovien's guidance and find themselves in the endless labyrinthine city that he and his wife crafted.
* **Hel** - Hel is the goddess of fire and storms, it was Hel who started the war upon the gods of Altheim, creating fire and lightning to overwhelm them in battle. Her and her husband, Malus, were banished from Altheim after the war, and created the black city of Delheim. Hel is depicted as a tall humanoid figure thin as a mantis. Her head and arms are reminiscent of marble pillars and no face can be seen under her moppish black hair. Her body is a swirling tornado made of the human souls she's collected, presented as large human faces screaming in agony for Dovien's help, but it is too late for them, they are in Hel.
* **Jastovokk** - God of mischief and trickery, and the son of Malus and Hel; Jastovokk is depicted as a large man with short crimson hair, and bronze skin. He has long, sharp, black fingernails, the horns of a ram, and the legs of a goat. He is said to be responsible for all the great mass tragedies of human history. Tornadoes, tidal waves, volcanic eruption, earthquakes, etc.
* **Zukan** - Zukan is the god of lies and rogues. The son of Bolt and Atherius, Zukan is depicted as a large humanoid with long thin arms and the beak of a hawk. He has golden skin, and wears long purple robes. He also wears a mask to cover his eyes, this is made of gold. It is said that Zukan is responsible for creating the night time, and shadows.
* **Spel** - The goddess of the moon and the sea, Spel is said to have introduced druidic magic to humans. Spel is depicted as a fish like humanoid, with a long body and the tail of a fish. She is nude except for a giant crimson serpent which wraps around her body. She is usually depicted emerging from the sea, wielding a giant fork.
* **Nooll** - Nooll is the god of fear and sorrow. He is depicted as a slender creature with ashen skin, a skeletal midsection, long sleeves which seem to be filled with pitch darkness, and a large headdress which are also draped in long pieces of fabric. He wields a whip that goes on forever. Nooll introduced the ideas of fear, jealousy, sorrow, rage, and hate to human kind.
* **Rin** - Rin could be argued to be the only god considered truly evil. Depicted as a giant centaur wearing armor and a helm made of gold, and wielding a humongous glaive and shield. Rin takes delight in the torture and suffering of others. He finds meaning in the misfortune and death of men. It was Rin who created the demons that roam the world of man, as well as those who roam Delheim. It was also Rin who taught black magics to humans, knowing that they would use it to destroy the lives of themselves and others before cursing themselves to an eternity in Delheim.