The Old gods of Ocwus

## Overview

The old gods of Ocwus was the dominant religion on Ocwus prior to the the discovery of the Shield in 0 DoS. It focusses on 6 major gods that influence nature and the natural balance of the world of Ocwus. This would sit along side the path of the spirits as the two didn't conflict, however after the discovery of Ifirithism the old gods rapidly vanished. All that really remains in the current culture is their names and popular iconography depicted in modern media.

## History

### Early history

The gods that would eventually make up the 6 of the pantheon of the old gods come from various different groups so it is hard to determine when the pantheon of the old gods began. The version that most resembles how the old gods appeared dates back to 4200 BDoS, but the earliest version of the gods dates back to 15,000 BDoS with a depiction of a male figure standing atop the volcano Everest.

### Formation of the 6

In the late 2000 BDoS came the formation of the six tenets on citadel island in the center of the Iven continent. The church of the six pillars began to put together there first temple under the supervision of king Emenium. King Emenium would implement this religion over his surrounding territories of humans and forcefully converting whoever was unwilling to accept the conversion. This would lead to friction as human missionaries began to encounter the farthest south tribes of Orc's (Elions). This would lead to a number of skirmishes as king Emenium's line attempted to expand the human empires influence. However in 1743 BDoS king Julius Emenium IVX was killed in battle and his son, prince Euses Emenium the III was assassinated. This would be blamed on the Acar and lead to hostilities for several years as the Emenium empire fragmented.

### Formation

In 1401 BDoS the Cidel family had reformed and lead an invasion of citadel island, retaking the first church and the seat of power of the Emenium empire. The Cidel family was devout followers of the six tenets and used it as a central pillar to collect people under their banner. By 1253 BDoS Iven Cidel was crowned emperor of humanity and would open more lenient policies to the none believers that would allow for his union with Empress Elion just a year later. Together they would defat the Queens of Acar, once the Acar population was under the thumb of the Cidel empire they introduced the 6 tenets to them and begin establishing churches in former temples.

### The Rebellion of shadows

After 58 years of rising tensions from the six tenets being forced upon them many Acar sought to rebel against it and burned multiple churches. Thus began the rebellion of shadows, named for how the rebels would strike at night. This butting of heads bleed back to citadel island and reformers and opposition alike joined forces to protest the overstretching of the six tenets over Iven and the Cidel empire. This was farther complicated by the death of Empress Elion in 1195 BDoS and the proclaiming of many Elion that she should become the seventh god. These rebellion's threatened to rip the Cidel empire apart. Until Empress Freeda Cidel took power in 1163 BDoS after a length war of succession following the death of Emperor Iven Cidel and Empress Elion known as the war of the princesses.

### Freeda reformation

After a lengthy campaign to bring the rebellion dissidence to order Freeda Cidel returned to citadel island and penned the six pillars reformation. She'd end up disavowing the six tenets church as the main religion of the empire and would rename the empire from Cidel to Ocwus, as the empire stretched from ocean to ocean. Among her many changes to keep the empire from fracturing again she allowed the formation of churches of the seven and the return of temples to the Acar. However by this time many of the original doctrines of those worships were lost. This reformation was able to save the empire from ripping itself apart and later changes would reform the empire into a republic.

### Modern history

In 0 DoS groups from Ocwus discovered the Shield setting a new date for the calendar. This also lead to the discovery of Ifirithism, as this new ideology spread the old gods was completely destroyed. As the six tenets reflected Ifirith's six arms, and the six arms of the Shield, many converted to Ifirithism out of a sense of it being more true. The easier doctrine of Ifirithism made conversions easy and the worship of the six pillars, six tenets, 7 gods and all other forms of the old gods vanish nearly overnight. All that remains of them now is their names being used for the six wings of the Shield, use of their names for products or projects and popular media using them; such as video games using them for major enemies.

## Gods

### Atronoc god of fire

Atronoc is depicted as a being made of pure fire and often depicted as either male or female depending on the artists preference. The earliest depiction of Atronoc is from a cave painting on the northern region of the Calama province on Iven dating back to 15,000 BDoS. This shows Atronoc standing atop Everest throwing fire at fleeing people, believed to be an early interpretation of an eruption of the volcaon. Though Atronoc is the god of fire, they are also known as the god of lust and passions among other things commonly associated with heat.

### Gali'ish goddess of water

Gali'ish is the goddess of sailors and farmers who often pray to her for safety or bountiful harvests. She's often given a more feminine expression and often times depicted as a motherly woman. However in recent history she was shown to be a voluminous woman made of pure water by Monogan artists.

### Socan god of secrets

Seen as the god of states, Socan was given the title of the god of secrets he is shown mostly as an elderly man in an endless library. Well the god of secrets now evokes a negative connotation at the time of his canonization it was seen as a necessity to the ruling kings courts. As time went on Socan took on a more devious form as secrets were considered something wrong. As morals changed Socan became less of a scholarly icon and more of a devious almost trickster god. The Mass Alliance's Office of Strategic Naval Intelligence once used his image as their logo.

### Froal keeper of the gate

Froal was a curios god as they were largely inactive in all aspects. Their one eternal task was to guard the gate between the living and the dead. Shown as a giant armored figure standing alone over a field of battle, sometimes harvesting the souls towards the open gate, Froal's image has hardly changed over the centuries. They're said to have a calming aura to those who are approaching deaths door and an imposing one to those who still cling to life; Froal is one of the few gods to not be depicted as good or evil.

### Sendros god of loyalty

Sendros was the god of loyalty and duty and in no surprise was favored as the primary god by both the Emenium empire and the Cidel empire, warship of him above all was thrust upon citizens. This made him both the most beloved god and the god with the most different depictions. Early paintings showed Sendros as a knight or hero warrior who guided the people to salvation he would later be better made to resemble Emperor Iven Cidel more after his passing to keep the loyalty of the empire. Empress Freeda Cidel despised this depiction and banned the church from using it till her own passing, however following her death the six pillars continued to use this version of Sendors.

### Moshona goddess of nightmares

Moshona was early on intended to be the evil of the world personified, however as time went on Moshona became less of an evil and more of a darker version a long lost god of visions. Some time after the fall of the Emenium empire Moshona became less "evil" and more teaching people to be good or humble through dark methods such as tormenting them through their dreams. Early versions of Moshona was simply a dark haired woman, but a cult of worship began to form around her she got more and more elaborate depictions. By the time of the 1000 BDoS she had a particular version of her set in stone with purple skin, yellow eyes, long flowing dark hair and a dress that had no real beginning or end. She's most famously seen as the final boss to many modern video games and her name is used for things that many want to seem dark and edgy.