Early Histories

Let’s start at the beginning.

At first, there was nothing – a millisecond later, there was everything. In the great cataclysms of creation, the First Four were born: Ytar, Goddess of Fire. Ather, God of Air. Emitaf, Goddess of Water. And Ogun, God of the Earth. For a thousand years, they would dance across the universe, creating all the cosmic beauty and devastation within it.

As they danced with each other they birthed more Deities. Ytar and Ather had Siforr (God of the Sun), while Ogun and Emitaf brought forth the the trixter Ius (God of the Moon). It was under the spell of the Moon that Emitaf and Ather did meet, creating Yala (Goddess of Life) and Morduki (God of Death). This infidelity shattered their Divine House, and sent the First Four into the corners of the universe, as far from each other as they each could manage. It was here would remain, agreeing only that there were to be no more Gods.

Morduki, the God of Death, was more than happy to oblige this decree – but his sister Life would not be so restrained.

She danced with Siforr and summoned the sisters Ova (Goddess of Beasts), Radia (Goddess of Will) and Wodea (Goddess of Plants). She danced with the Moon and conjured the brothers of Ocarus (God of Dreams), Etos (God of Peace) and Pelios (God of Emotion). Because she was Life, she loved the lives of her children. Because she was their mother, she taught them to love and to dance.

Wodea and Ocarus grew trees so tall that their skin turned hard as iron and divinity was trapped within their branches. The trees filtered this power into their roots, creating Xunos (Goddess of the Wild), who in turn brought forth the Elves to tend her new garden. Radia was seduced by Etos and Pelios, calling forth Lordros (God of Fate) and Voara (Goddess of Force), respectfully. Ova and Ocarus brought forth Vistrix (Goddess of Chaos), Shakti (Goddess of Illusion) and Epona (Goddess of Knowledge).

The Trickster Moon lay with many of his grandchildren. Voara bore him Rapel (God of Magnetism), while his union with Epona summed Kalos (God of Invention). The Gods of Magnetism and Invention would later combine their power and forge Dwarves from stone and magic. Vistrix was Ius’s favorite, and their millenia-long tryst gave birth to Ceto (God of the Sea), Atuna (Goddess of Magic) and Jodar (God of Luck).

Ova was wild, as beasts often are, and the sons of Ius were seduced by her life made flesh. Ova and Etos allowed for Tir (God of Travel), Sah (God of the Astral Plane) and Mivia (Goddess of Time). Ova and Pelios shook the heavens with their love, and called forth seven children: Gaidir (God of Sport), Mightos (Goddess of Strength), Cenos (God of Speed), Udea (Goddess of Vitality), Aurras (Goddess of Sound), Vodon (God of War) and Hilo (God of Flight).

Radia and Etos recoiled in horror at the disorder wrought by their siblings’ children, and lay together to bring about Barros (God of Order).

The families squabbled, as families are wont to do, but the Gods maintained a delicate balance by agreeing to return to the First Law: no more Gods. And for six thousand years, there were none.

Dwarves were the first of men to be given magic, as they were jealous of the Elves and their millennia of life. They became fierce guardians of this new power, which they used to create great feats of architecture and technology in the mountain range of Thol Moldir. And once their towering Dwarves halls could be made no more magnificent, they set about shaping the world.

Centuries of dominance made many of the Dwarves as selfish and petty as the Gods. The Elves eventually grew tired of their constant waring and stole the secrets of magic from them, teaching the knowledge to the others races in order to restore balance. Enraged, the Dwarves declared war on all the races of man, and the Hundred Years War began.

As death and turmoil spread across the land without intervention, mankind grew distant from the Gods. The first human city of Ani rapidly expanded as more and more people fled to the walls of the Capital to seek reprieve from the unending violence. The city prospered, a shining light in the darkness that threatened to consume all. Man began to idolize his own creations over the Divinity of the Gods.

When the millionth person was born inside Ani’s sprawling slums, mankind also birthed its first God – a simple but wise farmer known as Zavan. As he was now an omnipotent being blessed with the practicality and impatience of a mortal, Zavan immediately set about improving Ani, raising towering walls that carried magically purified water along the tops of it’s ivory embattlements. He dug a great canal that brought this water into the heart of the city, blessing its inhabitants with good health and bountiful crops.

With the Capital in order, Zavan set about ending the Hundred Years War and unifying the five kingdoms under his rule. In just over a decade he united the races and cities under a single banner, forging the most powerful kingdom the world had ever seen.

The speed at which the God of Man worked, combined with the ease at which he wielded his powers  within his own realm, terrified the old Gods and goaded them into swift action (swift for immortal beings, at any rate).

At the height of the Hundred Years War, many Gods grew wary of man’s increasing power. A pact was formed from an unlikely cabal of Siforr, Xunos, Vodon, Vistrix, Voara and Barros. On the first day of the second year of Zavan, they attacked all at once, intent on killing the God of Man with a single strike.

What they had not planned on was Death finally taking a lover. They had certainly not planned on how fiercely he would fight to protect him. The titanic conflict that ensued quickly spilled across the entire pantheon as each Deity was forced to chose a side.

The Great Godswar had begun. It would barely last an hour.