WaRP
WIP
Am I really doing this?!!! (pulls out own hair)
THE REALM OF AGUILON
HISTORY
In an age long ago - before the dawn of man - a lone god ruled over a vast wasteland. The rule of The First lasted for a millennia before he decided to expand his creation to a much larger universe. Fearing that he could not do so alone, The First split himself into three gods based on the fundamental principles of life. The first god, Thauliaes, represented growth, decay, life, and death. The second god, Visuvius, represented matter, structure, and physicality. The third god, Rhaynora, represented thought, consciousness, and awareness.
The Originals began to create the realm that would be known as Aguilon. As they began to expand, they created another level of gods that would be known as The Powers and The Powers created the remainder of the pantheon. The pantheon, together, created mankind.
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Certain gods show favoritism? to certain humans, calling them the chosen and blessing them with supernatural abilities. The higher in the hierarchy the god, the more powerful the power of the chosen. The chosen are marked by the god (tattoo or change in eye color? or both).
Why the god chooses to bless the human is up to the god. Some gods have taken a romantic liking to certain humans and have blessed them with new abilities to show their affection. Other gods are impressed with the work the humans have done to serve them and have blessed them with abilities. Others do it to spite other gods and their chosen.
The powers are maintained at the discretion of the god that granted them. They can be taken away by said god and can also be taken by a higher level god.
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THE PANTHEON
The Originals - Level 1 (3 gods)
Based on fundamental principles (growth/decay/life/death, matter/structure/physicality, thought/consciousness/awareness)
The Powers - Level 2 (9 gods)
Based on abstract concepts (i.e. time, space, energy, logic, luck, creativity)
Zaiman - God of Time
The Lower Powers - Level 3 (27 gods)
Based on fundamental elements (i.e. darkness, light, metals, weather)
The Psychological? - Level 4 (81 gods)
Based on human emotions/actions (i.e. ambition, courage, lust, anger, discord, war)
The Physical - Level 5 (243 gods)
Based on broad physical concepts (i.e. rocks, trees, water, clouds, animals)
The Lower - Level 6 (729 gods)
Based on subsets of the physical concepts (i.e. spiders, roses, rubies)
Madach - God of mushrooms
Total : 1092
POLITICAL/SOCIO-ECONOMIC
Essentially it works like a series of interconnected circles, building up into a single government. You have local bureaucrats who are responsible for maintaining a city or town, and they report to bureaucrats responsible for maintaining about the equivalent of a state. Those guys report to people in charge of a region, and those guys report to someone responsible for the country. That guy then reports to the emperor. This creates a very strict hierarchy in who can actually talk to who. So, someone in a normal village won't be able to talk to the emperor. But they can talk to their local bureaucrat, who will then talk to their superior, etc. etc.
It also sets the grounds for tons of... well, we'd call it corruption in the US. People giving bribes to other people to make sure that they are listened to.
Chosen are higher in the hierarchy! I do think there's a bit of a thing that most high level people have some connection to the gods, but it isn't anywhere near as direct a connection as the Chosen. Even a very high level official (although maybe not the emperor himself and his direct subordinates) would have to be respectful to the Chosen of even one of the Lower gods. After all, the Chosen are able to channel the power of the gods. Normal human armies don't stand much of a chance against them, let alone a single person.
Although, now that I think of it, there is a bit of a separation between church and state. Because most of the chosen don't govern... anything. They are busy serving their gods, and don't have the time (or desire) to deal with the meaningless tasks that come with maintaining a civilization.
So in a way, the two hierarchies are separate. It's just that the government hierarchy has to listen to a large, large majority of the Chosen hierarchy.
King Titus of Morella??
THE LAND
I have this idea that this world is, like, really,
really big, so there's always unclaimed land and stuff and such, but the further you get from the "center" the more dangerous everything is, so there's this series of giant empires that's sprawled outwards. But they always collapse after they get to a certain size, and the whole thing starts all over again.
...Point being, war is essentially a constant thing, and it's often the chosen participating in that since there's no people to get in the way of whatever it is their gods want them to do.
Giants in the mountains
PLOT
Some of the gods have grown weary of the world they helped create. They tire of mankind and seek to start over, destroying the current world and making it a new. Man can be too predictable. Now that the world's entered a mostly modern stage, the average person is going to do the same thing every day, over and over. Even wars are always provoked for the same reason. The gods have simply lost interest.
However, there are some gods that like the world just the way it is and do not wish to destroy it or the men within it. The gods are in a sort of civil war if you will and it is up to the chosen to help set the world back in order and appease the gods. Some of the gods are trying to maintain the world using their powers, but they just can't keep up and the world is slowly deteriorating.
So the job of our chosen is to find a way to help the gods regain interest in the world as it is. Sometimes that can involve the chosen of the gods, but I don't think it always has to. :D Of course, the more powerful the god the more troublesome it's going to be to regain their interest.
RULES
1.
CHARACTER SHEETS