Cosmology
From Enlil
| The following information comes from Solomon Knotbeard. |
| The following notes come from several pages in Solomon's books, gathered from various texts. This is decidedly Solomon's take on the way things happened, and does not represent a consensus view within all of society, but mostly within arcane academic thought. |
Contents |
[edit] Gods and the Cosmos
Aside from Enlil, there are many other gods worshipped throughout the lands. Others are only spoke of in ancient texts, or are altogether forgotten.
[edit] Creator Gods
The creator gods are the greatest and furthest removed gods known. They do not have any organized known followers, though followers of other gods sometimes believe their deity to be the current form of one or the other. Many aspects of the Creator Gods is unclear, and beliefs differ by region. The people of Kadaras who speak of the creator gods, generally see Uli as male and lawful, and Serri as female and chaotic. The elves generally agree on the traditional genders, but see them both as neutral. Many scholars discount any gender or dispositions ascribed to the gods as purely fanciful and irrelavent, seeing the Creator Gods above such concerns and constraints.
Generally, knowledge and discussion of these gods is a purely academic persuit, or else simply the subject of creation stories.
[edit] Uli
Uli is known as the Thread Spinner, the creator of the positive and negative energy planes from the void. Some believe Uli to have the male aspect, while others consider the creator gods to be genderless.
From the void, Uli spun two threads, in balance: the positive and the negative energy planes. Each one flowed out, unimaginable distances into space, separate and perfect.
[edit] Serri
Serri is the Weaver, the creator of magic and all major planes besides the energy planes. In the same way that some ascribe masculine traits to Uli, Serri is often associated with female aspects, and similarly, this is a point of contention amongst academics.
Serri took the raw energy planes and tangled them into great knots and tapestries. In each place that the threads touched, a new plane sprung into existence. The first and most powerful such meeting became the Prime Material Plane. Within each plane, the threads fray into nearly infinite gossamer threads that twist and turn in directions unimaginable, throughout the space of the plane. Their existence and interactions give way to life and death, and magic, and they anchor the energy planes in place.
[edit] Queh Gods
After the planes were created, another set of gods came into being to transform and populate them. How they came about is unclear. Some believe them to be the offspring of Uli and Serri, though this is largely used metaphorically. More common is the belief that, for whatever reason, the Creator Gods divided themselves into a larger pantheon. Alternatively, some say that Serri simply wove these gods into being either from the energy planes or from a new thread spun by Uli. These ideas are not thought to be mutually exclusive, but there is no dominant theory on the matter.
"Queh" comes from an elvish word for the basic elements. These gods transformed the materials of the planes to create livable worlds.
[edit] Rwon Queh
Rwon Queh (pronounced "Ron Kway"), God of the Plow, God of the Earth, toiled for untold eons, smashing entire lands of solid rock into mountains, hills, boulders, pebbles, and sand. He walked each land with measured stride, swinging his hammer, Keshik-Re until everything was transformed. He then constructed the first plow from stone and the handle of his hammer, and proceded to till the earth to make it arrable.
[edit] Hashim Queh
Hashim Queh (pronounced "Ha-sheem Kway"), God of the Air, God of Knowledge, created the stars to light the land. In his great design, he used them to encode knowledge, to guide, and to impart a sense of scale to the creatures who would some be roaming the earth.
[edit] Gorum Queh
Gorum Queh (pronounced "Gor-um Kway"), God of Water, was a jealous god. He desired to encroach upon his brothers' work. He created springs of water in Rwon's mountains, to wear the rock down, and filled the sky with clouds to block out the stars. Where he could, he created great bodies of water, vast and still.
[edit] Ji Queh
Ji Queh (pronounced "Jee Kway"), God of Life, simply observed, learning from her brothers' work, biding her time. Though Gorum had no intentions of doing so, his meddling allowed Ji to begin the greatest work of all.
Rwon was not bothered by Gorum's weathering of his stone, knowing that it would wash the salt from the land, making it fertile, and poisoning the waters, but Hashim fought back more directly. He created the sun, which even on the cloudiest day, illuminated the land. He created the night as a time when the sun would not block out his stars, and the moon to illuminate the night and to cause tides in the waters. Finally, he created wind to take control of the clouds.
The new tide and waves and rivers and tributaries caused beaches to form from warn rock and sand flowing downstream. The rain from the clouds soaked the earth, and soon, the sun shone on the first sprout to break the earth's surface. Ji's work had begun.
[edit] Ji's Work
Ji's plants soon covered the world, breathing life from her brothers' works. She had imbued them with such vibrance that they multiplied and spread on their own, across the lands and into the waters. She then created insects and small creatures, to pollinate flowers, and to spread their seeds across the land. For a long time, life grew across the world, covering the landscape, and during this time, her brothers rested, tired from their great works.
After centuries had past, the plants had spread over almost the entire surface of the world, leaving only the most inhospitable areas devoid of life. Even in the hottest deserts and the coldest reaches of the world, insects and small creatures learned to live, and after a time, there was no place for new life to take hold. Although benevolent, Ji could not abide a world without change, and so, she secretly set plans in motion to ensure that change would always come.
[edit] Hashim's Last Creations
Ji convinced her brother Hashim that just as the cycle of day and night brings differences each day, and just as they had made some places warm and others cool, each year he must bring hot and cold and rainy and dry seasons to the lands. Hashim, seeing nothing wrong with this, decided to make a deal. In exchange for the changing of seasons, Ji would create creatures that could travel through the air, and he would have domain over them. Ji gladly created creatures with wings, which Hashim could fill with air to lift them up into the sky. As long as they flew, Hashim would bring the seasons to the land. And with that, Hashim created the seasons.
When the first Winter struck, Ji's brothers were not prepared for what became of her works. Trees lost their leaves, and stopped bearing fruit. Many of the animals and insects that survived the cold weather, only did so to starve after weeks of useless foraging. Ji had brought death to the land, at the hands of her brother.
Gorum and Rwon, not understanding Ji's intent, turned on their brother, and intended to destroy him. Hashim, distraught with his own actions and in the face of his brothers' wrath, crafted two avatars, Naresh, the god of the seasons, to continue his obligation to Ji, and Enlil , god of travel, to shepherd living things from harm's way. With all his energy, he brought these avatars into being, and with that, he ceased to exist.
Gorum and Rwon were eventually able to seek out Naresh, but Naresh convinced them to let him bring Spring to the land, to undo the damage. When Spring arrived, they saw something that they had not for centuries: new life taking root. The survivors flourished, and grew stronger than their predecessors. They would remember for all time that they must prepare for Winter. Some would horde food, some would hibernate, others would follow Enlil to seek out places they would be safe. But each Winter allows Spring to come, bringing with it new life, and each Winter also brings a rightful end to many.
[edit] The First Races
All this while, Ji worked on her great creation. She sought to recreate godliness, so that the living creatures could manage themselves and bring their own change. Knowing that her brothers would not stand for such a challenge to their power, she sought to blind them with flattery. Beliefs on the subject are varied, but it is said that she created a common ancestor to men, halflings, and in some accounts, elves for herself, a race that would become gnomes and dwarves for Rwon, and a race that would become merfolk and in other accounts, elves, for Gorum. Secretly, she saved her greatest work for her brother Hashim, possibly out of a sense of guilt for her actions. For Hashim, she created the first dragons, much more powerful than any of the rest of her creations, and with the power and ferocity to keep all others in check, and to exist without the stewardship of Hashim.
She presented each of her brothers with her gifts. Rwon was pleased, and set about teaching the first dwarves to carve into the earth, where they would be safe from the elements, and where they could find minerals to make their own creations. Gorum was much more skeptical. He allowed the creatures to make use of his domain, but treated them harshly. Those who believe his creatures eventually became elves say that they turned their backs on him, instead heading inland, to the forests, to find their own ways. Ji showed her own creatures how to forage, and created beasts of burden for them to utilize. She also created animals that they could slaughter, and eat during the winter months. All this time, the dragons watched from hiding, learning from what each of the gods taught their people.
Ji's power was significantly diminished by her creations. Although she kept it secret from her brothers, she had given them free will, and abilities far beyond her other creations. This left her drained, and she knew then that she had forever lost a great part of herself.
To Be Continued
[edit] Present Day Deities
| Name and title | Domains | Alignment | Typical localities | Weapon | Symbol | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branimir, The Protector | Protection, Good, Law, Sun | Lawful Good | Garany, Kadaras, Salinor | Guisarme | An inverted triangle circumscribed by a circle | |
| Calra, Goddess of the Hearth | Protection, Earth, Healing, Knowledge | Lawful Good | Garany, Kadaras | Heavy pick | A hearth with fire and a kettle | Dwarven god |
| Jesus Beardblade - God of War | Protection, Good, Strength, War | Lawful Good | Garany, Kadaras | Dwarven war axe | An iron beard | Dwarven demigod, and servant of Branimir |
| Spyridon, The Ever-suffering | Protection, Good, Healing, Love | Neutral Good | Garany, Kadaras, Salinor | Sling | Broken manacles | Demigod to the God of Protection. Followers comprised of slaves and the oppressed. Popular with gnomes in Garany. |
| Enlil, The Wanderer | Air, Magic, Travel | Neutral Good | Garany, Kadaras, Salinor | Quarterstaff | The Tern | |
| Goddess of Halflings | Luck, Good, Fertility, Protection | Neutral Good | Garany | Sling | A dandelion | |
| Sol Ackervater, God of the Farm, The Field-Father | Plant, Animal, Sun, Fertility | Neutral Good | Garany, Kadaras | Sickle | A beast of burden with a plow | Counterpart to Lun Musemutter |
| Lun Musemutter, Goddess of the Arts, The Muse-Mother, Lady of the Moon | Music, Luck, Moon, Fertility | Chaotic Good | Garany, Salinor | Bolas | Counterpart to the Sol Ackervater | |
| Lyohtar ("Our Warrior"), God of the Elves | Magic, Good, War | Chaotic Good | Salinor | Longsword | ||
| Naresh, God of the Seasons | Air, Law, Time | Lawful Neutral | Garany, South and east of Kadaras, | A distant second amongst farmers, as compared to the Sol Ackervater. | ||
| Danal, The Judge | Law, Good, Evil | Lawful Neutral | Garany, Kadaras, Salinor | Warhammer | A circle, bisected into white and black | Not worshiped in great numbers. |
| Arum Eras, The Scholar | Knowledge, Magic, Law | Lawful Neutral | Kadaras, Salinor | Heavy crossbow | An open book | God of wizards and learning. Followers are almost always in the minority in a given region. |
| Jorris, God of Merchants | Luck, Law, Travel | Lawful Neutral | Garany, Kadaras | Spear | A pair of shaking hands | |
| Ladno, God of Crafts | Strength, Knowledge, Crafting | Lawful Neutral | Garany, Kadaras, Salinor | Light hammer | Image of a pair of open, upturned hands | Demigod to Jorris. Worship of Ladno has dwindled to tiny numbers, with very few of his followers receiving any divine gifts any more. His church is gone, and most of his followers are craftspeople from a family of his followers. He is sometimes associated with Lun Musemutter in stories. |
| God of Warriors, The Mercenary | War, Destruction, Strength | True Neutral | Kadaras, small enclaves all over | Heavy flail | ||
| God of Conspiracy and Subterfuge, The Trickster | Trickery, Knowledge, Night | True Neutral | Unknown | Dagger | Unknown | Demigod to the God of Hidden Things. Known to be popular amongst doppelgangers. |
| Lohmot, God of Portals and Death | Travel, Magic, Death | True Neutral | North-west Garany, South Kadaras | Scythe | A figure standing in an open doorway | |
| Hyris, God of the Seas | Water, Travel, Moon | Chaotic Neutral | Sailors in all regions, port towns | Trident | A moon partially obscured by a great wave inscribed in an astrolabe | |
| Vol Horrok, God of Hidden Things, Keeper of Lost things | Protection, Luck, Trickery, Night | Chaotic Neutral | South Kadaras, sparsely elsewhere | Hand crossbow | Unknown | Worshiped by rogues and protectors of hidden things |
| Pok-Pok, the Beast-God | Animal, Fertility, Chaos | Chaotic Neutral | Outer Lands, followers are also occasionally found in the wilderness | Great club | A bit of a beast's hair bound in leather | Worshiped by some some intelligent beasts and druids |
| Goddess of Power | Strength, Evil, War | Lawful Evil | Kadaras | Greatsword | ||
| Khulgo, God of Pain, The Poisoner | Evil, Destruction, Death | Neutral Evil | Garany, Kadaras | Spiked chain | ||
| Liseria, The Temptress | Trickery, Luck, Love | Neutral Evil | Not found in great numbers | Whip | A gold coin with parallel grooves scratched into it | Demigod to Goddess of Power |
| God of Terror | Evil, Destruction, Chaos, Fire | Chaotic Evil | Not found in great numbers | Two-bladed sword | ||
| Tok Tunnok, God of the Orcs, Father of the Tribes | Strength, Fertility, War, Chaos | Chaotic Evil | West of Garany, orc lands, Outer Lands | Orc double-axe | Popular among orcs as well some goblinoids who believe he is actually a goblin himself | |
| Enroch | Travel, Knowledge, Evil | Unknown Evil | Kadaras | Light crossbow | Demigod to Enlil |
