Cavern Gods

Avernus conducts uncountable experiments, but divinities are one area in which it seems to have an insatiable need. Forbidden by its makers from manufacturing its own Gods, Avernus has become known as the Graveyard of the Divine, for how many have mysteriously vanished around it, or thrown themselves in.

Understandably much of this information is uncertain, but that is not new on Avernus.

Why it does this is unclear, but Avernus has been doing this for as long as any (so the Ancient One) can remember, with its tactics evolving overtime until they have been honed to a fine art. While it cannot attack “allied” Gods like those of the Eldar, it will almost always choose to bring in Gods that stray too close. The only exceptions seem to be unique divinities such as Zahhak.\* In all likelihood it does not wish to destroy what is in all probability irreplaceable. Outside of these rare instances, Avernus leaves its exceedingly rare homegrown divinities alive, but it has had so few of them due to its restrictions that these are barely worth mentioning.

\*In Zahhak’s case it did assault her long enough to retrieve a sample. Curiously if this sample still exists it is probably the only remaining part of Zahhak before her rebirth as the goddess of Freewill.

When capturing Gods, Avernus will strike if they approach within a certain distance of its warp space, although its patterns adapt to the God in question. For those rare Gods it does not take it will generally make contact or drive them away.

However they end up in Avernus’s clutches, the results are broadly the same. Experimentation.

In the past this used to be more directly changing the basic nature of the gods themselves to elicit reactions. Now, Avernus seems to have perfected a far more grizzly process, removing both the domains and ability to store faith from a God entirely.

According to the Eldar, this is likely an unthinkably painful process as the basic essence of their being is severed away and what makes them a God is extracted for Avernus’s schemes.

Avernus is not done with the (now ex) Gods however. It will take their subsequent husks and “rebuild them”, filling the spiritual void with its latest tests, transmuting them into even more variable horrors, often exploiting the latent connections they retain to the concepts and domains they once embodied.

The Eldar’s examination of the sole dead “divinity” brought back by the Cavers says that the creature contained an internal power source that on several levels was uncomfortably similar to that of a created deity, albeit one redesigned for a “common” Warpspawn.

More speculation is that Avernus is attempting to “play” with the definition of what is considered a God. While there are four broad categorisations of God type, the core traits that Divinities have to hold can be boiled down to two.

1. Their origins are from mortals: as all deities are fundamentally created by the materium pressing upon the immaterium. The key differences which determine the type of deity are scale, participation and intentionality.
2. The ability to hold domains *and* faith, as while there are means for daemons and mortals to harness both, they cannot be of them in the same way.

At present Avernus seems to be trying to strip away at least the latter part of the definition, either to create something new which can fill the same role as gods, or to de facto subvert its inability to create Gods.

While cold-blooded in its calculated brutality, it is telling that its resulting creations are free of many of the problems that plague a typical god. Most are shackled by the needs of faith and are mutable depending on their worshipers, as very few have a domain strong enough to sustain them based on that alone. What Avernus does to them, frees them of that, and potentially grants them better powers, but the cost involved is usually considered not worth it, even by those that initially came willingly.

As more proof this is an ongoing project, those finished divinities are cast into the Caverns, usually at the middle level.

This is how we on Avernus have contact with these creatures, as while far from the most dangerous beings in the Caverns, some are also amongst its more friendly residents. At least compared to the others.

Our Caver’s guild has contacts with a few in the “divine” community, and the Deep Sea Sirens have reportedly even managed to extract some of these ex-gods from the Caverns for unknown reasons.

Specific examples will be given later, but for now it is safe to say that these are dangerous, experienced, fundamentally somewhat broken and now incomplete beings. In the process of becoming what they are now, they all lost part of themselves. While we have met several who are “sane” by most definitions, the fact remains that this is often very fragmentary.

A curious note is that the Cavern Gods are free to leave (save for some of the most dangerous ones) if they can find an exit. This is complicated by how hard it is to leave the Caverns if they were not entered via a surface-cavern entrance, which provides a “gate” to focus on, as Jacob and Lulana can attest.

Furthermore there is the question of what does Avernus do with the divinity of the Gods it has taken. Tens of thousands, potentially millions of Gods, of every type imaginable, have been to Avernus. Enough that in the modern era of almost no gods it is still remembered enough that only the foolish, lost or desperate come to it. So what then is it doing with the domains and faith “organs” (for lack of better terminology) it has removed?

While the Ancient One knows some have been used in experiments and in Great Ones both successful and failed, compared to the sheer number Avernus has acquired over its long existence, the numbers simply do not add up.

He apparently has his suspicions, but for now keeps his silence.

Specific “Gods” of the Caverns

### **Alpis: The Four who are One**

The oldest living God in the Caverns, at least according to the Deep Sea Sirens. It is from this being that much of our information comes.

Alpis claims its origins in the relatively distant past under circumstances similar to the birth of our own Emperor. An interstellar civilisation, during the slow degradation of the edict of Asuryan, came under increased scrutiny from the forces of Chaos, who hungered at the borders of the Materium for the souls that they could see burning just out of reach.

As casualties began to mount from their assaults on ships straying into the domain of chaos, a council of elders was formed to investigate what was happening, discovering the true magnitude of Chaos and somehow uncovering the twisted cycle of the cosmos.

Alpis is a result of their sacrifice, a being whose bond is to end this self perpetuating cycle. From this we suspect a god of defiance of fate, mortality, revolution, or even destruction.

Whatever the case was, it did not work.

Chaos consumed this civilization, and Alpis alone survived, consumed by anger and wandering the galaxy. No matter where they looked their anger grew, spying on the Eldar driving the cycle towards its finish, uncovering the secrets of the Necrons who doomed what was and upon races like their own and primordial humanity, who it saw as victims unable to change their own fate. Doomed before we even had a chance to try and grow.

Alpis in this time discovered Avernus and willingly threw itself in to gain power.

This is a choice it now struggles with.

An abiding hatred for Avernus boils within Alpis. A realisation that in a way it had participated in the cycle it so hates, blinded by its anger. Yet after so many years Alpis’s fury has turned from red uncontrolled flames, to cold focused rage. It hates Avernus, for in its view tricking it and removing its ability to choose, but it also pities Avernus most of all, seeing it as a victim of that system.

Alpis’s end goal is seemingly the obliteration of Chaos and a return to the sea of souls, which it thinks of as a time before the current cycle, and for now it focuses on that, though it is likely any state of the warp without the potential for chaos gods will do.

In terms of power, it is by far the oldest “God,” but also the strangest one. It has no particularly strong offensive abilities and only one somewhat effective utility skill in a limited degree of shapeshifting. In fact its standard abilities can be best compared to a mortal, needing to learn skills and abilities.

The capacity that sets it from the rest is “division.” Alpis is known as the Four Who Are One for this ability, which allows them to split into four versions of themself. The Eldar consider the closest equivalent would be a god breaking down into their aspects, but somehow maintaining congruence. Like many things from the Caverns, this should be impossible.

There four are Alpis, but they are also distinct individuals, whose personalities and power levels seem based on some degree of logic we do not understand. They could be composites of those elders who gave their lives to create the original god, or have some relation to their original domains, or some invention of Avernus’s. Maybe a combination of all? Whatever the case is, it gives them immense adaptability and survivability.

Ranking them from the least to most powerful we have:

Alpis who is weak and charming. They seem best able to hide and go amongst others, gathering information, earning allies and learning skills. This Alpis is rarely in the Caverns, instead hiding on the surface.

Alpis who is strong and curious. This Alpis is a massive researcher, who experiments in the caverns, or acts as heavy support for its fellows.

Alpis who fearless and ambitious. A daring explorer, this is the face that most Cavers first encounter. Wild and exuberant this Alpis always has a scheme to increase its power, usually one that is extremely dangerous, but if it pays off benefits the whole considerably.

The final Alpis who is powerful and stoic. Holding immense sorcerous power, what this Alpis does is unknown save to its fellows, but it is a force even powerful greater demons know to fear.

Each Alpis is a foe to be reckoned with, even the one who is small, as weakness can be compensated for by immense experience and amassed skills. Furthermore its ability to split, according to the Deep Sea Sirens, makes it near impossible to kill.

As long as one Alpis remains alive the other three can always return. While it is possible that killing all four would end them, they expect it would be extremely difficult, as Alpis’s survival for so many years can attest.

When combined with an ability to seemingly share memories and skills (and the simple utility of having four bodies) Alpis becomes an incredibly hard foe to put down at the best of times.

This rejuvenation of dead Alpis’s is not instantaneous and the Sirens claim that there are other strange parts to it. For example reborn Alpis’s seem to not be the ones that died, even if they possess the memories of their predecessors and rapidly associate with who they were, but this is by no means guaranteed.

However, Alpis has a final state they can return to, after all it is The Four Who is One, and the One can be restored. Seemingly this can only happen if all four are gathered, or there is only a single Alpis left. With all its being gathered Alpis is reborn, a “God” of immense stored power, great knowledge and vast experience. As this is seemingly the form where they are most likely to die it is used mostly as a weapon of last resort, but it is strong enough to count as a sub-Exalted, maybe even Exalted combatant.

Following the Green Skies the Sirens are unsure what Alpis is doing, but they know the tall one is investigating something to do with the Geomantic Web. Given their skill at navigating the caverns, this could potentially be very good or bad, as the power of the web tends to grow more concentrated the deeper you descend.

### **Winter’s Maiden: Frozen Stillness**

A very peculiar “deity”, as before its transformation, it was barely a discrete entity at all. A species’s representation of the idea of winter, it was barely given a concrete form or identity, existing as an almost exclusively antagonistic force of destruction and entropy. Its minor anthropomorphisation tended to cast it as a mindless, gaunt figure of hunger.

Eventually it was cut loose from its planet and species after they were destroyed by the invasion of Chaos, causing it to drift mindlessly across the Warp, too small to catch enough attention of one able to easily destroy it, too strong to simply be consumed and too non-sapient to do anything beyond continuing.

Eventually it drifted into the path of Avernus which sent out a net to catch it and set about its normal work with gods.

Whether intentional or not for the maiden, it seems to have built it an actual, “self” as it rebuilt it.

Given the existence of Strength, the Planet Mind creating personalities for Gods that should have none under the weight of their concepts has precedent. However, the Maiden is now longer a god (technically) which might make it easier. Even then there is no reason for Avernus to have done so, leading to questions of why it would.

The obvious answer is better control over her new powers. The Winter Maiden is still a being implicitly of Winter and Cold. However, they are no longer the blizzard, but focus instead on stillness. One of the abilities of the Great Clock, counted amongst the most advanced of Avernus’s Great Ones, is to bring a halt to entropy, and the Winter Maiden shares this gift, if on a smaller scale.

At an effort of will they can plunge an area around them to nearly absolute zero, and at great expenditure of power can reach that supposedly impossible state, with strange things occurring in the aftermath.

Despite its youth and inexperience, the Maiden has survived on the back of this ability, one which is sufficiently powerful that most enemies simply die in its presence. Of course this is the caverns. Any ability down there has something that can circumvent it or an enemy can power through it, but the Winter Maiden has yet to encounter one. For now.

In terms of personality, the Maiden is the odd one out of most Gods, since it had no real personality before coming into being in its current configuration. It also had a strange message telling it to leave, resulting in it rapidly leaving the middle levels, and rising to the lowest where it is searching for an exit.

Young as it is, the being is both confused, paranoid and traumatised, but at the very least has listened to cavers who have encountered it, with some groups considering bringing them to the surface in exchange for services to their people.

### **Kolriar: The Broken God**

Once a god of Sportsmanship and Competition, Kolriar came to Avernus intent on making a point to its worshippers, as a fellow god of their pantheon (a one it refers to only as a snake) made jest of how none of its victories were its own, but came from the worship of its followers.

To the prideful god this was a hideous insult and so they came to challenge Avernus, the Graveyard of Gods, to prove that their power came from themself and no one else.

They failed.

Avernus caught them as easily as any other divinity, perhaps even more so as they charged blindly forwards, before binding them down so it could perform its butcher's work.

By the time it was done, Kolriar *was* the source of their own power, but they were shattered by the defeat and the monument to the fact that their strength no matter how great could come to naught so quickly.

The once proud and haughty god has been humbled, reduced to a quivering tremulous thing that hides in the shadows, possessing enough hubris that they do not attempt to escape to the surface, but terrified of what lies below, such that they do not descend further.

Most who encounter Kolriar see only a strange shrouded figure that stays at the edge of their vision, watching from side passages. Even fewer can bait them out to engage in conversation.

Of those handful, (mostly Deep Sea Sirens) they report at least a polite deity, but one plagued by self-doubt and uncertainty, unwilling to relinquish the glories of its past, but aware that it must change. It wishes to descend, to find the Radiance at least and prove to itself that it has strength, but fear chains its feet and it will not move.

Some beings have been attempting to coax it to action, Alpis first amongst them, as Kolriar *could* be an immensely powerful being.

Where before its divine domains gave it excellence in competitions of all kinds, its new power is simple, direct and dangerous.

Certainty.

An implicit part of all who touch the Warp and survive to be sure of themselves, but Kolriar takes this to a new level, as their strength grows and wanes based upon their self confidence. If they know they can do something then it becomes easy, but should that belief be broken it becomes impossible for them.

Alpis the Explorer at least seems to be trying to reignite their spark and spur them to action, although whether they shall be successful is another matter entirely.

### **Locus the Crawling God**

A god of insects that devoured their own in ages past, this cannibalistic deity came to Avernus hoping to quench its hunger, thinking that it would find the corpses of divinites to scavenge upon.

Instead its hunger was sated, but not in the fashion it would have wished.

Locus is now a plague of pests, able to generate new insects from the souls of its victims, a living colony of insects that exists parasitically within a host body feeding upon their flesh and spirit, until they are gutted and consumed entirely.

The mind of Locus was ever a being of ruthless intelligence and cruel intent, such that it feeds not merely upon the physical form of its host’s, but also ensures that they can feel the pain and sensations of its insects within them, glutting itself upon that further suffering.

Given a sufficiently strong host, Locus can feed for months, even years before requiring another one, where it shall lie in wait, preparing to sweep down and envelop its prey and should that host become threatened it can unleash its swarm of mystically empowered insects to unleash devastation upon the attackers.

Locus has remained trapped in the second layer, and is among the only gods that others go out of their way to kill, for it regards them as simply another prime food source. That said, the being is crafty and seems to be seeking something, likely a host that can sustain its current bloated bulk indefinitely.

### **Balkina- Strength and Relaxation**

A most odd deity and amongst the only ones that does not remember their experience with Avernus. Either it was too traumatic, or they were black-out drunk. With her, either is possible, but given their history, the former is suspected.

Balkina is seemingly an ancient goddess whose divine portfolio had gone through numerous iterations and changes over time as perceptions of her changed, the same general idea of divinity being molded and sculpted by their worshippers over time. Different genders, sometimes benevolent, or malevolent, weak, mighty, subservient and more. At the same time their domains changed as well. While not something she could use, this did give her at least weak connections to many domains, which is something Avernus would have probably exploited.

In her current form, Balkina is a towering woman with a horn in the centre of her forehead wielding a massive spiked club. Like many of the strongest powers, hers is very simple: stockpiling.

Its most extraordinary use is that while power produced by her created god-like organs cannot typically be stored, Balkina is the exception. (Once again, according to the Eldar, this should not be possible and they fear what will happen if the World replicates it elsewhere.)

Simply by existing, Balkina’s strength slowly increases, although given that she lives in the caverns this alone would not explain her survival. However it seems she can stockpile almost anything on a conceptual level, be it vitality, damage, or even speed. While there is a limit to how much she can store in a single instant (although seemingly none on how much she can store in totality), so long as she is careful she can render herself nearly immune to damage and return it to her enemies.

What is unclear is their goal. Instead of going up or down, they have remained firmly where they were in the middle of the Caverns. Although what they are after is unclear, they remain a source of comfort to Cavers who make it down there and find them, as is the mystically infused alcohol that they create from the materials of the deeps.

### **The Old King and the Pitted Greatsword**

A towering centaur-like creature, dressed in much rusted armour, wielding a sword that has long since grown chipped and broken with age, the Old King and the Pitted Greatsword are a duo of gods that have found much success in cooperation. The first was once the God King that fell in battle against an unknown force, the latter “merely” the legendary blade of a warrior deity, broken in a confrontation with Skarbrand.

Both broken things eventually drifted to Avernus, where they were both taken into its labs. The King was taken apart piece by piece, while the Sword was restored, but imperfectly both according to the World’s experiments.

What was not, was the two finding one another.

The King needed a weapon, and their fingers found the half-broken Greatsword and between them forged a pact of survival.

Together they have survived in the depths, usually forming together miniature armies of cavers to achieve objectives set for them by Alpis, for whom they are known to work.

The King is a fantastic warrior, general and diplomat, who combines their maneuverability and mastery of warfare together to harry their foes. The Sword by contrast possesses something of a mind of its own, and can fight in the King’s hands without any input from them.

What makes the King a one-man army is the ability to summon a legion of those who have sworn themselves to their service. Meanwhile the Sword seems capable of absorbing fragments of the strengths of those it has slain to empower itself, the imperfections introduced into it allowing for improvement, where previously there was naught but a flawless and ultimately overcome weapon.

### **Holben-Death and Taxes**

One of the only gods who can claim to have come here by choice, Holben is a strange god by any definition. A psychopomp by most standards, Holben’s duties in their original pantheons was to prepare departed souls for the afterlife, helping them resolve unfinished business, or meting out overdue justice. This gave them a grim reputation, but a vast amount of experience and an impeccable rapport with the pantheons they were a part of.

Pantheons are also important as they are what you might call an “import” god, who has survived the destruction of several faiths, and managed to integrate themselves into new ones on multiple occasions, always staying one or more steps ahead of destruction.

Ultimately Holben was the only survivor of its most recent pantheon, managing to escape the predators of Tzeentch before fleeing to the Graveyard of the Gods, armed with a suitcase, a resume, and a stack of letters of recommendation almost a mile high, where he petitioned the Mother of Death herself.

This is not a typical thing, but Holben as a God of Death and an old one at that, somehow knew of the eldest of his kind, and with options closing off as the might of Chaos grew, decided to gamble on acceptance into the Mother’s Court.

Ultimately, it was a gamble that paid off.

Holben’s unique skill set and experience caused the Mother to intercede on his behalf, with the World remanding him to her care and authority. He is counted amongst the Cavern Gods because he continues his role as psychopomp within the Caverns under her authority, charged with recovering the souls who are lost within, as the often nonsensical labyrinthe can make it much harder for them to return to their place of rest.

### **The Tortoise**

Probably the simplest (conceptually) and smallest Cavern God, the Tortoise has never spoken to anyone and has survived by being essentially indestructible. When threatened it retreats into its shell, which so far has proven impervious to all harm. Indeed, any damage that is directed towards it is reflected back at the attacker across a universal spectrum, with physical, mental and psychic attacks all being reflected.

The Tortoise’s only offensive option seems to be a very strong bite, but as it is around the size of a human hand, this is not likely to produce useful results, while being extremely dangerous to the Tortoise.

For the most part, due to its slow speed and ultimate but immobilising defence, the Tortoise seems to focus on stealth, remaining below the attention of most Cavern Creatures.

It is not without greater complexities. According to the Deep Sea Sirens, the inside of its shell is essentially a divine realm that conforms to the desires of its owner. In theory, this gives the Tortoise all it ever wants and within it the Tortoise is essentially invincible. The only beings allowed to enter are those given permission by the Tortoise and in exchange for certain services, such as picking it up and transporting it to a safer area. It will “loan” access to its shell to beings like the Strong Alpis.

The Tortoise is a known enemy to The Dragon, which sees it as a frustration and a rival. The Tortoise has proven to be the only being whom the Dragon is entirely incapable of harming and refuses to emerge from its shell to fight, but it has stolen several parts of its hoard, storing them within its Shell.

### **The Dragon**

The concept of “dragon” is a surprisingly broad one. Many myths and monsters upon many worlds bear ties to it, in turn many gods throughout history have had an aspect of dragons. This creature is believed to be formed from these aspects, the idea of “Dragon” severed from everything else and poured into a single divine beast.

The Dragon is not a dragon, it is *The* Dragon, the idea of Dragon concentrated and purified, and somehow prevented from collapsing into any specific form. It can be said to possess great power, scales, teeth, claws, some sort of deadly breath, nothing else can be reliably perceived of it. Its location and general actions can be perceived, but its shape will be obscured and shifting. This makes defending against it immensely difficult, as it's near impossible to keep track of exactly what it is doing. Attempting to perceive it via sufficiently potent psychic means can overcome this, this will cause it to temporarily collapse into a definitive form, becoming a specific dragon until observation ceases. While this nails down its abilities, it also gives it a significant increase in power.

While little can be known about the Dragon, it does keep a hoard, and it’s known to be greedy. It will often seek to acquire treasures of various kinds, from knowledge to gems, to artifacts, to the bones of rare beasts. Its Hoard can almost conceptually be found by those seeking it out, though stealing from it without facing its owner is near conceptually impossible. Objects that have spent time in the Dragon’s hoard seem to have been enhanced in some way, becoming more potent if unpredictable, sometimes in dangerous ways. Theft is immensely risky, as until a thief has undergone some form of major ordeal, the Dragon will be able to track the stolen item perfectly, and will obsessively pursue it. It is said several of the mightiest workings of the Deep Sea Sirens were crafted from parts of the Dragon’s hoard.

### **The Pantheon of Opposition**

The Chaos Gods have been the oldest and most persistent threats the world has faced, threatening it almost since its inception. Unsurprisingly, it has crafted countless weapons and counters to its foes. Many of them it keeps in reserve, ensuring their survival and preventing chaos from adapting to its counters. On such seldom used counters is the Pantheon of Opposition, four gods crafted to counter the Dark Gods. Seldom roused from the caverns, the Pantheon is pulled from the depths in the face of Undivided incursions.

While individual gods of the pantheon have fallen, their domains have been recaptured, allowing a new god to be fashioned. The present pantheon is an unusually powerful one, with many suspecting that the World had been subtly empowering them since the Death of the Emperor, readying itself for a suspected decisive clash – one that is now fast approaching.

While most of the Pantheon of opposition live separately, they regularly gather to trade, share information, as well as rallying to defend a member who comes under prolonged assault. Despite many of them having indiscriminate abalites, the pantheon and their forces work surprisingly well together, developing methods to mitigate or work around such things.

So far, the four gods of opposition have not yet had a fifth member added to their ranks. Many suspect the weapon race of the Shaitan have filled that role, with the Planet Mind seeking counters other than adding an additional god.

#### **Vyriene**

A goddess crafted to face Nurgle, Vyriene was crafted around life, optimism, improvement, and healing. When at rest, she appears as a churning pond of thick black primordial ooze, but when interacting with others, or working towards some other goal, her form will rapidly iterate and evolve to optimize for the task at hand. In battle, she evolves with shocking speed, testing and discarding dozens of weapons and features before beginning to iterate endlessly, becoming an ever-more-perfect counter to her foes. Her greatest power, however, is the endless swarm of children she crafts from the primordial soup of her body.

Vyriene is able to easily create servants, splitting out simple creatures, who serve as her Deva, from her form. Her children are born comparatively weak, typically barely a match for an Astartes scout at birth, but they are unusual for warpspawn, born with fantastic potential for growth. She blesses all of her children with the ability to improve, changing themselves as they learn and mature. While Vyriene most commonly makes insectoid life, she by no means limits herself to them, creating life of all kinds. While few of her children are born sapient, intelligence is a common evolution among her older children.

Those who have spoken to Vyriene report she seems to radiate optimism, and she always expects great things from her children, even as the horrors of the caverns cut many of their lives short. This optimism and hope for the future is in many ways the driving force behind her and her children's eternal striving, all pushing themselves constantly to work for a better tomorrow. This omnipresent sense of optimism provides a significant resistance to most forms of mental assault, and gives the swarm near unbreakable morale in battle. Vyriene can also use it offensively, compromising the decision-making process of her foes by skewing their ability to assess risks.

The Swarm has formed a strange society, made up of an immensely varied medley of Deva. While many are unique, some have figured out the trick of reproduction, bolstering their numbers and allowing a small degree of homogeneity. Many members of the Swarm are symbiotes, capable of incorporating themselves into other devas, or attaching themselves to the souls and flesh of willing mortals. These beings often act as mercenaries, bartering their services to other groups within the caverns. In recent years, Vyriene has begun experimenting with bacteriophages and virophages, diseases that bear the telltale of the Child of Hate. How the Planet Mind acquired this for Vyrien is unknown, and of significant concern for Isha.

In general, Vyrien and her swarm maintain good relations with creatures intelligent enough for diplomacy. The goddess offers healing and symbiotes in exchange for food and interesting bodies to study. Further, several groups nearby can trace their lineage to the Swarm. The most successful of Vyrien’s children often become legendary mercenaries or wandering hero's, though few live long enough to reach such heights.

#### **The Three Brothers**

It is unclear if the brothers are one god with three bodies or three gods with shared domains. What is known is that the three are formed around the domains of familial bonds, clear thinking, and moderation. They are known as Ueus, Eznas, and Udall, each appearing as monkey-like humanoids. Dressed in primitive but colorful clothing, and wearing complex face paint, they bring to mind ancient shamans.

All three possess a sharp clarity of thought, giving them a great deal of inherent self-knowledge and wisdom. They use this to act as advisors to others, as well as master various psychic arts. They each possess the ability to share this clarity to others and strive to teach others to achieve it on their own, imbuing them and their allies with great resistance to attempts to bewilder or bewitch them. In addition to this, each brother holds sway over an aspect, and the ability to limit it. When doing so they create an upper limit to how much of something a being can possess, with the ritual hampering attempts to surpass it. While this can be resisted, the effect of the ritual grows more effective the more the mandated limit is surpassed.

Ueus is the youngest brother, who appears to possess oversized eyes and ears, and is known for impossibly keen senses. He holds the power to put limits on perception. This can be anything from muting mundane senses, to mystic ones, to exotic things such as reducing the perception of the rush of combat or even the effects of drugs. In general, the more concrete and narrow, the greater the effect. As he is the youngest, he can not truly suppress any sort of sense, though he can leave them incredibly muted.

Eznas is the middle brother. Tall and lithe, he is known for his extreme speed and agility, being the swiftest and most nimble of the three, He holds power over movement. Eznas can invoke limits on any aspect of movement, anything from limiting how graceful, to how fast, to how far a creature can move. His power is the most straightforward of the three, though also the most prone to hampering any allies; as such, he must be extremely selective with its usage.

Udall is the eldest brother, visibly obese and always carrying canteens full of good drink. He is known as the laughing brother, and holds domain over desire. His power is by far the most difficult to use of the three, both in terms of being easiest to resist and being the most difficult to apply. He can mute specific desires, which can be crippling if used correctly. Most often, he will deduce what desires the enemy is using to maintain cohesion, before muting it at a key moment. Udall can also moderate the desire for survival to bolster flagging allies. In general, beings with more extreme emotions are most vulnerable to this, as the difference between the muted desire and the rest will be the most pronounced.

Among their pantheon, the three brothers are unique in that they have no devas or followers of their own. Instead, they spend time among their fellow pantheon members. Which brother is living with which god changes seemingly at random, the brothers able to easily swap places even through the interference of the caverns. They act as advisors to the other gods, offering clear-eyed counsel, as well as keeping in constant contact with the other two brothers, enabling easy coordination even when the pantheon is forced to scatter in the face of the threats in the caverns.

#### **Timor**

Created to fight the Blood God, Timor is greatly feared throughout the caverns. She is known to many as the Nightmare Storm, a fast-moving maelstrom of utter terror capable of overcoming both wards and will alike. Few know that this is no mere anomaly, but the expressed domain of a God. Such is the reach of her power, that at times it will waft up even to the upper caverns, sending all but the most hardened cavers into terror-driven fits of madness. Yet despite this, Timor is a figure that many pity, for she is not a goddess of fear, but Cowardice. The overwhelming horror that pours from her is her own fear overflowing into the world.

Timor in person, is a short unkempt figure, with a pair of bony horns rising from her head. Her appearance is largely unknown, as she hides her face behind a bone-white mask and her body beneath a ragged cloak. She very rarely interacts with others, even those rare beings who can withstand her aura, as she finds the thought of speaking to someone she does not know terrifying. However, she is not alone, as she is attended by her court of Silverin.

It is not known if they are Devas, blessed mortal followers, an aspect of Timor, or even a mix of multiple kinds. What is known is these silver-clad knights seem to possess near-perfect serenity, even in the most extreme situation remaining itterly calm. Serenity seems to be woven into them, or perhaps their armor, on a conceptual level. Touching or interacting with them calms the heart, and soothes the mind, and it is only in their calming presence that Timor is capable of functioning to any extent. Each Silverin is clad in immensely durable armor and carries a gleaming silver staff. While their blows are not particularly deadly, each strike saps their foe of its rage and desire to fight, as such, they can often end a battle swiftly, or at least induce enough hesitation to escape.

It is not uncommon for Silverin to offer their services as a therapist to other tribes in the caverns, and their time is considered a valuable trade good. Though they are loath to leave their divine charge, for they know Timor will be terrified on their behalf until they return to her side. Some rare creatures even seek them out, braving the Nightmare Storm surrounding Timor. People willing to go to such extremes to see them are usually granted an audience, often with the majority of their order working to calm Timor to lessen the fear to survivable levels for their visitor.

Timor is known to care deeply for the Silverin; indeed, her love of them is the key to how she can be compelled to battle. While Timor is nearly totally ruled by her many fears, there is nothing that Timor fears more than the loss of her family. When a Silverin is under threat, Timor will come to their aid in a terrified frenzy, fighting like a cornered animal to make sure her family is safe. In battle the goddess is a shockingly skilled warrior, possessing a style uniquely suited to her powers. She unleashes a rain of blows meant not to kill, but to hamper and cripple, spoiling strikes, cutting at limbs and eyes, seeking to drive the danger away rather than slay it. This has the effect of leaving battles drawn-out affairs, buying time for the fear and cowardice that spill from her body to eat away at the resolve of her foes.

#### **Xaien**

Xaien was created to combat the Changer, built around the concepts of contentment and stability. Xaien is one of the oldest gods in Avernus, being tens of millions of years old. He appears as a roughly humanoid mass of dull grey crystal, typically wearing a simple robe. He brings to mind to many the idea of an old warrior monk, He is one of the more personable gods, his contented nature leaving him with little desire for conflict. However, he is often somewhat hesitant to offer more than advice and a place to stay, as much of his energies and efforts are consumed surviving the caverns.

Xaien’s ties to stability make it near impossible for him to change, for better or worse. While his opinions can develop, if slowly, the only method of growth he possesses is known as the Ten Million Steps to enlightenment. The name is quite literal, it is a series of ten million rituals he was born knowing. Each one he completes increments his power by a tiny amount, and readies him for the next ritual. It is not known if each step is taken at the same rate, but for the last thousand years, he has taken one step approximately every decade. The timing seems somewhat resistant to temporal distortion, resulting in a bit of inconsistency to an outside observer. As a result of this, he grows at a glacial and predictable pace, a fate he is deeply content with.

Xaien is not alone, around him are his disciples, an eclectic collection of creatures that have fallen into his service over his long life. He spends much of his time not spent preparing for rituals training them in matters martial and spiritual, honing their bodies and souls. Once they are deemed ready, they are permitted to partake in the path he walks. When Xaien takes a step, those disciples deemed worthy may take one with him. This is not forced upon them, and there is no shame in refusing, as while it brings power, it also brings stability. Each step locks out other avenues of growth, even as it empowers the disciple. As they take steps they begin to resemble Xaien more and more, eventually ascending as deva princes in his service. The eldest of Xaien’s followers are mighty warriors, who possess hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years of incremental growth in addition to whatever power they had when they started the path. It is not uncommon for some to leave his worship after a few steps, desiring faster growth; this too is accepted by the god without objection.

Xaien’s powers are both potent, and understated. His presence spills stability into the warp, imposing a degree of order onto the swirling madness of the Empyrean. While the Warp does not calm, it becomes stiff and resistant to change. While this can strengthen some rituals, most are disrupted significantly by the changing conditions. Xaien’s form is both immensely durable and staggeringly resilient to psychic effects, Stability making any change to it immensely difficult. In battle, he fights unarmed, using a unique style based upon his self-mastery and durability, and one he has been slowly refining since his birth, while not truly explosive, it is based upon counterattacks and luring the enemy into overcommitting, well suited to ambitious foes.

Supplementing this style is his ability to push his domains into his blows, pushing stability into the wounds he inflicts, making the wounds difficult to heal from, as well as disrupting the more dynamic functions of the bodies of his foes, a truly stable heart, for example, would be unable to beat. He has also been known to apply stability in truly strange ways in combat, for example preventing changes to his mobility should a foe attempt to trap or encase him, resulting in the bizarre sight of him walking through solid stone or steel. He claims that such techniques are learned once every ten thousand steps, if true he would by now possess a staggeringly diverse arsenal.

Xaien and his disciples are shockingly passive for creatures of the caverns. They simply claim lands for their monastery, and then slowly fortify it. To date, Xaien has held his present monastery for almost a hundred thousand years, resulting in a potent if austere fortress. He is content to allow it to act as neutral ground for many of the local creatures.

### **Alena and Cetia**

A pair of goddesses, Alena and Cetia appear to have a history stretching back to before they were captured by the Planet Mind, though both have little memory of such. The two divinities seem to share a deep bond, one based on more than their divine natures. The two are known to be ascended gods, and suspected to have known each in their mortal lives. In recent centuries however, they have, for possibly the first time since they ascended, come into conflict.

Alena is a goddess of sacrifice and purity, possessing the power to take the burdens of others onto herself. This extends to physical and mental wounds, curses, and even moderate levels of Chaotic taint. The wounds she takes on are quickly expunged, burned away by her power, though the process is painful for the goddess, and drains her of her power. Despite this, she is selfless to a fault and often actively seeks out those in pain to alleviate their suffering. More than once in her history, Alena has pushed herself nearly to the point of death, healing others without end or pause. This is an impressive feat given her staggering metaphysical and mental resilience. When forced into battle, she weaponizes her purity, firing blasts of scouring light. While potent, she is not overly skilled, and her blasts suffer against foes not vulnerable to purity. She appears as a human maiden, clad in flowing pink and white robes, and shining with a soft light.

Cetia is a goddess of space and distance, who primarily exists within a pocket dimension overlaid onto reality. From afar, she appears as a fast moving sphere full of stars; however, this is merely an overlay, her divine realm superimposed over the world. Unsurprisingly, Cetia possesses near-total mastery over space, being among the foremost users of spatial warping upon Avernus. In addition to her divine power, she poses a specialized form of chronomancy, suspected to originate from her time as a mortal. She primarily uses this to alter her personal flow of time, effectively freezing time for a few seconds, though during these times she cannot affect any matter. This chronomancy compounds her ability to twist space, allowing her to create vast mazes of warped space while her foes are blind and helpless. Should she force or trick a foe into her domain, she will be able to fight them with her full might, within a space she has total control of. She is notably somewhat selfish, caring little for those outside her small circle of friends. She will, however, do almost anything to protect those she cherishes, especially Alena.

When the two work together, they are capable of impressive feats of power. Cetia allows Alena to heal at vast distances, as well as vastly accelerating the speed at which she heals. Should they have the time and power, they can also open Cetia’s realm, expanding the footprint of her pocket dimension into a vast space measured in kilometers with sufficient time and power. While the benefits of fighting in space controlled by an allied god is a major advantage, the true power is that the two goddesses can turn their realm into a doorway, enabling subrealms to be easily manifested through them.

Until recent centuries, Cetia acted to safeguard Alena, both from external threats and her own self-sacrificing nature, using her utter mastery over space to confound threats, as well as screening those seeking healing from Alena. Cetia only begrudgingly allowed any to inflict their own pain upon Alena, the pair often arguing over who was worthy of healing. This worked for a time, until things came to a head during the Day of Crimson Skies.

As Skarbrand tore his way through the empire's heartland, the two goddesses stood against him, Alena refusing to allow Cetia to take her to safety. There are songs still sung of Alena’s actions that day, of the extreme lengths she went to, pouring an ocean of pain into herself in a desperate attempt to save anyone she could. As the defense failed, and Skarbrand breached the final wall, Alena strode forth, gathering power for some desperate and doomed final ploy. What she intended is not known, for Cetia acted first, whisking the pair away into the caverns in an act of desperate spatial warping.

What followed was an extremely bitter and loud argument. While the finer points were lost, the volume and intensity of the argument ensured enough echoes lingered for the general outline to be known. Alena railed against Cetia’s selfishness, saying she had stripped Alena of the chance to choose her own path. Cetia called Alena a hypocrite, claiming they could have fled with much of the city's rulers to preserve the now-shattered empire, and that Alena had selfishly chosen to make herself matter rather than save lives. The two have not spoken since.

The two remain in the caverns, Cetia maintaining her distance, while ensuring Alena is protected in a spatial labyrinth, keeping away anything that could threaten her. While Cetia is not keeping Alena isolated, she has refused to allow any to seek her out for healing. Cetia is ashamed of how deeply she hurt Alena, and worried her own anguish would hurt her should she approach; as such, she refuses to approach. Alena, however, worries Cetia was right, and is ashamed she had been so foolish. She feels she has no right to seek out Cetia, realizing the selfishness of her own overeagerness to sacrifice herself.

The various allies and acquaintances of the two goddesses have sought them both out, each in turn trying to convince the two to reconcile. So far, none have succeeded. Both insisted on not being the first to reach out to the other. This has made them something of a common story in the strange scattered community of the caverns, with their relationship woes being a common subject of gossip. For their part, both goddesses consider urges to reconcile aggravating.