Cannorian Creation Myth

The **Cannorian Creation Myth** details the widely believed creation theory originating within the Cannorian Pantheon/Regent Court religion and Cannor in general, covering topics such as the arrival of the first gods, the creation of the world and the various titanic wars that occured before our time.

## Chronology

### Before Times

The last of their kind, a trio of divine siblings, Castellos, Agrados and their sister Yshtralania wandered the cosmos for millenia looking for a new home. Eventually they found a world wracked in primordial chaos and exploited by four beings of pure elemental power:

* Draxos the Everflame, Primordial of Fire
* Aesanna the Windwalker, Primordial of Air
* Uelos the Storm-king, Primordial of Water
* Halanna the Earth Mother, Primordial of Earth

The four primordials had battled for supremacy for the world for aeons past, but it was only until Halanna pleaded to the three siblings to put the end to it that they acted. Having answered Halanna's call for help, they would later be known as the Clarionate (after the term clarion call).

Book of Creation (Vol I)

Before time was time, and the world was the world, was nothing but the void.

Survivors of an ancient conflict, three divine siblings came across a world in its infancy, wracked in primordial chaos and exploited by four being of pure elemental power.

"Help us, those who wander! Answer mine clarion call!" a womanly voice echoed.

"Who goes there?" returned Castellos, the eldest of the siblings.

"I am Halanna. Mother of this world, before mine own kin came to remove it from me." the voice echoed back.

"Why should we help? We tire from war. We are last of our kind. We are warriors no longer." returned Agrados, the brother of Castellos.

"Do you not tire of wandering? I offer you a new home, a new chance to live. A chance to make something. Restore peace to my lawless realm and you shall have all that and more." the voice echoed back, for the third and final time.

"I shall aid you. I will help you shape your world, and our new home." spoke Yshtralania, the youngest but wisest of the siblings.

"And I. For a new chance to live." spoke Agrados.

"And I. To bring the chaos that is your world to order." spoke Castellos.
Opening excerpt from the Book of Creation (Vol I)

### The Primordial War

It is unknown how long the war lasted, but in the end: the Clarionate emerged victorious, and with that victory came a new world to nurture and the first of the Excusian gods.

Draxos the Everflame, the most ruthless primordial of the four, was felled first. Agrados exploited Draxos' anger and untamed strength and bested the primordial in single combat, with a portion absorbed by Agrados giving him the portfolio over fire, and the rest trapped in what we now called the Sun. Aesanna the Windwalker was second to be felled, her portfolio of air absorbed by Castellos himself. Uelos the Storm-king, the most powerful primordial of the four, was unable to be felled truly, but was instead fell to a ploy of Yshtralania in which his portfolio over storms was stripped and given to Castellos instead. Halanna the Earth Mother, who had aided the Clarionate in combating her siblings, plead for her brother Uelos to be spared and in an act of mercy: he was. For it was Halanna and Uelos' powers that the foundations of the new world would be built.

Many creatures, former soldiers of the primordials, were granted mercy by the victorious Clarionate. The most notable and powerful of them all, the giants and genies, were granted pardon in exchange of aiding the Clarionate in creating and cultivating this new world.

### Creation Myth

Castellos created the skies to protect the world from the void of night, and Halanna nurtured the earth and sprouted life from the flames and destruction that had consumed it in Draxos' reign. Uelos shed tears for this newfound beauty and created the first lakes, rivers and smaller oceans, and Yshtralania oversaw the whole thing as its architect.

The Excusian gods created from the Primordial Wars also found a place in the grand plan that is the world, and used their own expertise and craft to create perfection.

Castellos and Agrados forged new servants of their own, creating dragons - with the breath of wind from Castellos giving them the ability of flight and the flames of Agrados giving them the ability to breathe fire. Yshtralania too aided them in their venture, teaching the dragons the secrets of their powers: magic.

The giants lifted the trees of Halanna's making and populated the land with vast forests, while the genies devoted themselves to the elements and cultivated lands of fertile flame, hardy earth, graceful skies and calm seas.

At the same time, Castellos created the avariel to act as stewards and messengers and Halanna created the first dwarves from stone to help her with the details of the world.

The world was now paradise and the epitome of perfection. Castellos had found love with Halanna in their millenia of craft. And Yshtralania had found solace with Uelos too.

But Agrados found nothing. In fear of his brother's growing jealousy of Halanna, Castellos send Agrados to the void at the very edges of the world - to guard against the darkness of the night.

### The Godswar

Agrados, tired from exile, soon returns and confesses his love for Halanna, who rejects him and in rage: he defiles her. Soon Halanna was said to be with child, but quickly became sickly and died, her corpse becoming the true foundation of the world. From her womb came the bestial dark deities of the Spawns of Agrados, bringing with forth the first gnolls, harpies and all matter of evil things. Even with that Castellos offered his brother forgiveness, a chance to atone for his sins by hunting down his mistakes.

Agrados did not yield, and the Godswar began.

Many gods, tired of Castellos' rule, flocked to Agrados' side. Dragons, giants, genies too flocked to his banners. But the dwarves and avariel stayed loyal to Castellos and his ilk.

Uelos mourned his sister and flooded the beautiful world that he had helped create, and with that he disappeared into the oceans depths forever.

Agrados, needing more allies, created many a beast with the aid of his traitorous followers, with the greatest creation of them all being the epitome of Agrados' ambition and thirst for war: humanity.

In the surface and heavens the gods and their followers warred. Many new gods were born from such magical energies, becoming the Successor Deities.

Eventually Castellos was triumphant and attempts to absorb Agrados' powers into his own, but the dark energies from Agrados' ill ambitions corrupted a part of Castellos and he was forced to banish an accursed amalgamation of himself and his slain brother: Kazraiel.

With the war at end Castellos unveiled his Godly Decrees:

* Agrados' followers, along with Kazraiel were to be imprisoned in a new realm: The Underworld, the most powerful of these prisoners would become the Infernal Court.
* Nerat, a son of Agrados and Halanna becomes their jailer and God of the Underworld.
* Nerat's sister, Falah was entrusted to hunt their her bestial siblings that remained free as her penance for her unholy creation.
* Gods can no longer walk on earth, they must live through avatars which are reborn if they wish.
* Only one god can have a certain portfolio, gods will lose their portfolios or merge if it's their only one.
* Avariels act as messengers and representatives of the gods in their stead.
* Dragons are tasked to rule the world in the gods' stead as their regents.

### The Inheritance War

Malliath, the first dragon, soon grew resentful of his creator's inactivity and silence and saw himself and his draconic ilk as the true inheritors of the realm and challenged the heavens themselves.

The Godly Decrees were broken and Castellos and the gods descended and fought with their upstart creations.

Malliath himself became known as Malliath Godeater, consuming many fallen deities, including Yshtralania herself, who had taught Malliath the very powers he used to destroy her kind.

During battle, Adean attempts to sacrifice himself by charging into one of Malliath's heads with lance and steed. He succeeds, piercing completely through one of Malliath's heads before heading to the next, which was now ready to bite down on Adean. But before Malliath could eat Adean, Adean's father Castellos pushes him out of the way and saves him, losing his left arm and leg in the process.

Castellos, wounded and near-death, retreats to the heavens in a stalemate. Malliath, in confusion with only having one head falls from the sky and dies when he hits the ground, his body becoming the Serpentspine Mountains and his heads divided between the Serpentshead and the Dragon Coast.

With the dragons leaderless and the gods outnumbered and tired the Inheritance War came to an abrupt end, with no true victory on either side. The dragons remained superior in earth and sky, and prevented the gods from returning from the heavens ever since.

The gods unlucky to be trapped in the mortal realm were eaten, and the lesser beings such as giants and dwarves fled and fortified their homes for the upcoming Rule of Dragons.

### The Rule of Dragons

The dragons, despite losing their leader, ruled the earth. They warred against the remaining genie sultanates and imprisoned them. They warred with the giants, pushing them to the northern fringes of the world. They warred against the dwarves and forced them to dig deeper and deeper into their mountain homes. They took pity on one race, however, the descendants of the winged avariel who were left behind: the elves. They, instead, were enslaved.

## List of Deities

Nearly all deities in Cannor have some sort of place or origin in the creation myth.

### Clarionate Siblings

The three siblings were the first three deities of the pantheon. While Castellos is the only one that lives, the others' legacy are carried on by their children.

* Castellos: eldest of the three and god of rule and law
* Agrados: brother of Castellos, and original god of war
* Yshtralania: goddess of knowledge and magic

### Primordials

The primordials were god-like beings of raw elemental powers which the Clarionate came across - apart from Halanna and Uelos, the other two were slain and their powers absorbed by the Clarionate.

* Draxos: primordial of fire, his portfolio over fire would later be taken by Agrados
* Aesanna: primordial of air, her portfolio of air would be taken by Castellos
* Uelos: primordial of water
* Halanna: primordial of earth

### Excusian Gods

These were either created during the Primordial Wars or after as offspring of the Clarionate gods. About half the pantheon betrayed Castellos in favor of his brother Agrados during the Godswar, which resulted in many of the deities to lose their portfolio and become imprisoned in hell.

Part of modern pantheon

* The Dame: Yshtralania and Uelos' daughter, goddess of harvest knowledge/magic (from her mother)
* Sominara
* Tatika

### Infernal Court

The traitorous deities who allied with Agrados during the Godswar were imprisoned in hell, but due to their unforeseen power became lords of their new domain in their own right.

* Mesner: former god of travel and communication, later Lord of Sloth. Mesner fell as he failed to act during the war, helping neither side.
* Hedine: former goddess of joy, Hedine was blamed for encouraging Agrados' lust for Halanna - later became the Mistress of Lust and mother of succubi
* Ildran: former god of construction and great works, later Marquis of Pride. Ildran was Agrados' main lieutenant and persuaded many to join his side.
* Canturian: former god of music and theatre, later Baron of Envy. Canturian was part of Castellos' winning forces but attempted to poison them at a victory feast.
* Ibberal: former god of celeberations. Ibberal was part of Castellos' winning forces but attempted to poison them at a victory feast, he later became the Grand Duke of Gluttony.
* Forsara: former goddess of luck and charity, Forsara was a co-conspirator of Ibberal's and betrayed the others in promise that she would be part of the new Clarionate. She later became the Countess of Greed.
* Kazraiel: created when Castellos was corrupted after attempting to absorb his brother's divine energy - it is said that Castellos threw the corrupted portion of his divine essence down into the underworld which eventually gained sentience and became Kazraiel, the Wroth-Prince.

### Successor Deities

Created during the Godswar and the Inheritance War, these were further deities created by the excess energies of the wars and would replace the forfeit divine domains of the traitorous deities.

* Esmaryal: goddess of hearth and family, she was created by the energies of the war as a mate for Castellos
* Adean: firstborn of Castellos and god of chivalry, knights and bravery
* Ryala: Castellos' daughter and goddess of true love, beauty and chastity

### Spawns of Agrados

Born from Halanna's womb and children of Agrados. Not so much deities but the progenitors of various bestial races in Cannor. Only Falah and Nerat were not bestial, with the former entrusted to hunt down her siblings and the latter to guard the gates of hell.

* Falah: the goddess of the hunt, tasked to hunt down her siblings
* Nerat: the god of judgement and the dead, and warden against the Infernal Court
* Arimar: progenitor of the Harimarian peoples (for the mortal: see Harimar)
* Grilax: progenitor of the gnolls
* Firanya: progenitor of harpies and historically the first queen of the Harpy Queendom. Firanya's ability to fly made hunting her difficult, and was responsible for Falah learning the bow. Was slain by an avatar of Falah.
* Vukar: progenitor of lycanthropes and werecreatures, slain by Falah.
* Siramod: progenitor of minotaurs, also slain by Falah
* Dolumir: progenitor of satyrs, Dolumir was a trickster god known for trapping Falah in the Deepwoods for 100,000 years.
* Rohibos: progenitor of centaurs.
* Nazthi: the unseen god. Allegedly the god of serpentfolk but yet to be seen.

### Ascendant Deities

Ascendants are the deities that came after the gods fled to the heavens. Most of them are former mortals who were uplifted to godhood for performing great works in history, replacing the forfeit divine domains of the traitorous deities of the Godswar.

* Balgar the Builder: the first recorded ascendant, Balgar was a dwarf who served in the Early Castan's Empire and is known for the Castanorian Citadels and White Walls of Castanor
* Ara: the new goddess of fortune, luck and trade (taking it from Forsara). Ara was
* Minara
* Begga Goodfingers
* Munas Moonsinger
* Corin