K
Khorudan
Guest
Original poster
Just checking for interest in an idea I tried to get started on another site I was on a while ago. It generally revolves around the collection and transport of a group of young demigods to the ruined temples of their divine parents, whereupon they will be empowered to...well, being children of Dark Gods one would assume there may be a massive war in the offing. Now, that said, an Unholy War would probably be in a separate thread, seeing as how this one has more to do with the introduction of the demigod characters and the realization of their powers.
Well, I guess I could just throw up this introduction and let the what exists of the universe to speak for itself.
The Gods
In the beginning, Nara, the Spirit of the Void, was alone. Centuries passed, then centuries turned to eons, and eons turned to time without end in an emptiness that existed without time. Then, for a reason even the one who watched the universe begin couldn't begin to understand, a light burst into being, and she was no longer alone.
Naru, spirit of the First Light, brought the rest of the universe into being with him, existence burning it's way across the void in a never-ending instant, and Nara, rather than being outraged by this sudden explosion of matter into her domain, was curious. She watched him as he worked to spread his light across the nothingness, pausing occasionally to inquire about his work, and the way he went about it. At first Naru was a bit standoffish, instinctively recoiling from what he perceived to be his opposite. But then, over the passing millenia, the pair grew more accustomed to one another, and frequently met at the center of the universe to discuss the exciting goings on around them.
In time, one of the worlds that had formed around the light that had given Naru form, developed life, many forms of life that oddly, the pair of spirits began to treasure as they stopped in now and again to see how the creatures were fairing. When they began to walk and speak, however, importuning the heavens for some kind of help, some kind of guidance, the First Two were confused.
The idea that this new life was weaker than them was uncomfortable, for surely they were responsible for it's creation, if only because it was an accident. Did that mean that they themselves were weak? Were they somehow unfit to create new life. The decision was made to try and create something new, to make new life that was more like them, yet also similar to the thinking creatures of the new world.
So the new Gods were made, the First Two combining, then shaping fragments of themselves into new beings. These new beings, like their creators, were imperfect, though close to the ideals of the First Two. Half of them were too similar to the Progenitors, standoffish and slightly unsure as to what it was these new creatures needed. The other half were a bit too close to the mortals, curious and ready to work their will on a universe they did not understand. Oddly, instead of finding polar opposites, the New Gods seemed to simply be odd reflections of each other. The former half, similar in being to Nara, called themselves the Shadows, whilst the latter named themselves the Light.
The Light immediately went down into the world and began to try and improve upon what nature had wrought, raising mountains and widening seas to try and improve the lot of the not so environmentally fortunate Southern Continent. Unfortunately, their meddling sank two of the newly formed continents, leaving only the two upon which life had formed. The Shadows chastised their brethren, reaching out to show them how the work was done, and in so doing sank the majority of the Northern continent, leaving only a small fragment which began to slowly sink. Worried for the lives of the creatures on the fragment, the Progenitors quickly shouldered their children aside and reached out, forming bridges to connect the fragment to the Southern Continent. Oddly, the bridges kept the fragment afloat, and the pair became known by the mortals as Maera.
Magic
Outside of the abilities and various mystic rituals gifted to to humanity by the Gods, magic is not useable by the various races of Maera. That is not to say that there are not individuals gifted with magic, just no mortal can wield it.
Some rare individuals have made contact with Deep Spirits, unholy, primordial spirits that grew to exist in the more overgrown, isolated parts of Maera. Usually hermits, these people have, in their isolation, befriended these odd beings, the Deep Spirits more for the novelty of sentient companionship, the mortals because the Deep Spirits will lend them their admittedly limited mystical power. Some of these beings can start fires, some can move lighter objects, none come even close to approaching the level of power of a God.
As a rule, Deep Spirits seem to be able to sense the Divine nature of a demigod and keep away from them. No Deep Spirit will befriend a God's Child.
Maera
The continent of Maera is large, large enough for any number of peoples, or at least that was what the Gods hoped when it was shaped. The warm, nearly sub-tropical northern subcontinent arches up over the larger main continent, a stark counterpoint to lands that are at best tundra, and at worst perpetually frozen wastelands. A series of three land bridges connect the two, allowing travel between the two. To the east is the Godspine, an impassable range of mountains inhabited by the coldly indifferent dragons.
Northern Maera, The Holy Compact
The lush, bountiful land of the smaller northern subcontinent is home to humanity and the Holy Compact. An ancient coaltion of nations that formed partly in response from the threat of invasion from without, and partly from the Divine Will of the Gods themselves, the Holy Compact has guarded humanity from the depredations of the mainland for centuries. Over the years they have worked together, many of the smaller nations that had been part of the Holy Compact blended into the larger ones, their royalty so interbred with the other royals that one family can hardly be distinguished from the others. Most of society has been homogenized by the remaining nations, technology and styles spreading across the Compact as people sample, then adopt regional customs that appeal either to them or to the nobility they take their leads from.
The nobility, in their turn, follow the lead of the Priesthood, though most of the "suggestions" they receive come from the various heads of the High Cathedral, the complex of temples at the top of Mount Ahwin.
Southern Maera, The Lands in Shade
According to legend, the harsh mainland of Maera was once as beautiful and fertile as the northern subcontinent. The humans hold tight to this belief, holding it up as proof that the entire continent should belong to them. Now, however, the the South is populated by the Darkling Races, dozens of separate races that have over the years formed just as many loose alliances to raid up into the north in search of food and warmer climates.
To be fair, the Darklings themselves believe that they are destined to rule in the North, that the future of their various races may in fact hinge on the food they could grow in the North, as a recent population explosion is quickly depleting the game to be found in cold, dark forests of the South.
Each of the races has their own system, their own set of traditions on who rules what and how. That hasn't stopped them from collaborating in the past though, nor will it keep them from doing so in the future. At the moment, though, there is little likelyhood that the Darkling Races will be able to form a new band of raiders.
Once, the Darkling Races were lead by the Union of Shadows, a small council made up of a leaders or appointed representatives from each of the Races of the South. The Union supervised all combined efforts in the South, from making war to attempting larger scale construction projects than say, building small villages for expansion. The Union even gave it's name to the collective armies of the South, making it easy for the humans to know who it was that was leading the assault on their civilization.
Now the Union is shattered, the Darkling Races scattered to their respective corners of the Mainland as they try to rebuild their shattered strength after the utter defeat suffered at the hands of the Army of Light.
World History
Originally, the progenitors of the Light and Shadows, reluctant to see any of their creations dispossessed or destroyed, organized a system for the creation of demigods, lest one side grow too numerous and crush the other with an army of demigods. This was the First Treaty. All Deities were prohibited from touching the world directly outside of creating the allowed amount of children, and each side was allowed an equal amount of demigods, a child for each Deity. Not to say that any of the Gods were that big on following the rules, which is why a pair of militant organizations were created to regulate the births of any new demigods. The Black Brotherhood scourged the North for prohibited births and executed any second child born to the Light they could find. The White Legion scoured the South in similar fashion, destroying any second children born to the Shadows. No mortal was happy with this arrangement, but Holy Decree protected each group, provided no innocent blood was spilled without reason. And this was the undoing of the First Treaty.
Surprisingly, it was the North that schemed it's way past the Treaty, probably because the Light tend to be a bit more forgiving than the Shadows when it comes to sinning against the Gods. Some decidedly unscrupulous Priests, no one is sure whose, decided to substitute an average mortal child, manufacturing the signs and portents required to mark the infant as a Child of the Light. The Black Brotherhood did it's duty and ended the child, thus providing an excuse for the members of the Holy Compact to begin an all out war against the regulatory body. Having been alerted to the situation, the various armies of the Compact were quick to find and crush the Black Brotherhood. Years passed as the Gods quarreled about the situation, years in which the Light was quick to birth it's army, even as the Union of Shadows was held at bay by the regular armies, though the fighting was fierce. The White Legion continued it's duties in the South, destroying any children they found, as the South was slow to attack, unsure of their Gods intentions while the arguments of the deities consumed most of their attention.
Twenty-five years after the breaking of the First Treaty, the Army of the Light swept down in the Lands in Shade, a whole host of demigods quickly slaughtering the remainders of the armies protecting the Land in Shade and striking deep into enemy territory in a lightning campaign to end the war. Almost before the Dark Gods could take notice, the entire Army of the Light was in the Cavern, the underground temple complex of the Shadows, slaughtering various priests and toppling individual temples with ease.
Nara, Dark Matron, Spirit of the Void before Existence, and Naru, the Holy Father, Spirit of the Spark of Creation, were horrified at what their children had wrought. Nara because of the injustice done to the children that took after her, The Shadows, and Naru because the Light had not taken steps to rectify the situation before it had gotten so far out of hand. As one, the two Progenitors reached out and collapsed the Cavern, sinking the mountain foot after foot into the ground until it was half as tall as it had been. The Army of Light was crushed. Across the world, demigods simply stopped living, falling to the ground as dead as if they had been murdered.
The Progenitors forbade the creation of any more demigods, and forbade any other excursions into the South for a century, hoping that would be enough time for the various races to repopulate, as neither wanted to see the extinction of a sentient race. The penalty for breaking this order, they said, would be the destruction of the Gods in question, as well as the world they had all made. If they could not obey the rules, the need for the rules would be removed.
And so the Gods went apart from the world, simply watching and occasionally offering advice, though even that became seldom, and then the Gods grew silent as they become involved in other pursuits. No one wanted to be the reason for the Death of the World. Eventually the Gods grew tired, and finally decided to sleep for a time, just to be on the safe side, millenia of creating children was tiring. Naru left to supervise the stars as they expanded ever outward, making sure their light was cast evenly about in the darkness. Leaving Nara, the Void, watching the world.
Nara had a plan, though. When they had touched Maera, she had also touched the rulers of the Holy Compact, planting in them the seeds for new demigods, though not of the Light. Somewhere down the line, new Children would be born to the Shadows, but they would need guidance, and so she herself seeded a ruler, ensuring that her Child would be born first, then fashioned a bit of the void into living creatures, creating a handful of Void Wraiths to guide her future child to her destiny.
So then, that's the introduction. Now then, as for the other Light and Dark Gods, that would be up to the people making their characters, as would the nations those people come from. Any questions? Any interest? Oh, before I forget, that first child will be more an NPC to help collect the characters into a cohesive group. But yeah, questions, interest?
Well, I guess I could just throw up this introduction and let the what exists of the universe to speak for itself.
The Gods
In the beginning, Nara, the Spirit of the Void, was alone. Centuries passed, then centuries turned to eons, and eons turned to time without end in an emptiness that existed without time. Then, for a reason even the one who watched the universe begin couldn't begin to understand, a light burst into being, and she was no longer alone.
Naru, spirit of the First Light, brought the rest of the universe into being with him, existence burning it's way across the void in a never-ending instant, and Nara, rather than being outraged by this sudden explosion of matter into her domain, was curious. She watched him as he worked to spread his light across the nothingness, pausing occasionally to inquire about his work, and the way he went about it. At first Naru was a bit standoffish, instinctively recoiling from what he perceived to be his opposite. But then, over the passing millenia, the pair grew more accustomed to one another, and frequently met at the center of the universe to discuss the exciting goings on around them.
In time, one of the worlds that had formed around the light that had given Naru form, developed life, many forms of life that oddly, the pair of spirits began to treasure as they stopped in now and again to see how the creatures were fairing. When they began to walk and speak, however, importuning the heavens for some kind of help, some kind of guidance, the First Two were confused.
The idea that this new life was weaker than them was uncomfortable, for surely they were responsible for it's creation, if only because it was an accident. Did that mean that they themselves were weak? Were they somehow unfit to create new life. The decision was made to try and create something new, to make new life that was more like them, yet also similar to the thinking creatures of the new world.
So the new Gods were made, the First Two combining, then shaping fragments of themselves into new beings. These new beings, like their creators, were imperfect, though close to the ideals of the First Two. Half of them were too similar to the Progenitors, standoffish and slightly unsure as to what it was these new creatures needed. The other half were a bit too close to the mortals, curious and ready to work their will on a universe they did not understand. Oddly, instead of finding polar opposites, the New Gods seemed to simply be odd reflections of each other. The former half, similar in being to Nara, called themselves the Shadows, whilst the latter named themselves the Light.
The Light immediately went down into the world and began to try and improve upon what nature had wrought, raising mountains and widening seas to try and improve the lot of the not so environmentally fortunate Southern Continent. Unfortunately, their meddling sank two of the newly formed continents, leaving only the two upon which life had formed. The Shadows chastised their brethren, reaching out to show them how the work was done, and in so doing sank the majority of the Northern continent, leaving only a small fragment which began to slowly sink. Worried for the lives of the creatures on the fragment, the Progenitors quickly shouldered their children aside and reached out, forming bridges to connect the fragment to the Southern Continent. Oddly, the bridges kept the fragment afloat, and the pair became known by the mortals as Maera.
Magic
Outside of the abilities and various mystic rituals gifted to to humanity by the Gods, magic is not useable by the various races of Maera. That is not to say that there are not individuals gifted with magic, just no mortal can wield it.
Some rare individuals have made contact with Deep Spirits, unholy, primordial spirits that grew to exist in the more overgrown, isolated parts of Maera. Usually hermits, these people have, in their isolation, befriended these odd beings, the Deep Spirits more for the novelty of sentient companionship, the mortals because the Deep Spirits will lend them their admittedly limited mystical power. Some of these beings can start fires, some can move lighter objects, none come even close to approaching the level of power of a God.
As a rule, Deep Spirits seem to be able to sense the Divine nature of a demigod and keep away from them. No Deep Spirit will befriend a God's Child.
Maera
The continent of Maera is large, large enough for any number of peoples, or at least that was what the Gods hoped when it was shaped. The warm, nearly sub-tropical northern subcontinent arches up over the larger main continent, a stark counterpoint to lands that are at best tundra, and at worst perpetually frozen wastelands. A series of three land bridges connect the two, allowing travel between the two. To the east is the Godspine, an impassable range of mountains inhabited by the coldly indifferent dragons.
Northern Maera, The Holy Compact
The lush, bountiful land of the smaller northern subcontinent is home to humanity and the Holy Compact. An ancient coaltion of nations that formed partly in response from the threat of invasion from without, and partly from the Divine Will of the Gods themselves, the Holy Compact has guarded humanity from the depredations of the mainland for centuries. Over the years they have worked together, many of the smaller nations that had been part of the Holy Compact blended into the larger ones, their royalty so interbred with the other royals that one family can hardly be distinguished from the others. Most of society has been homogenized by the remaining nations, technology and styles spreading across the Compact as people sample, then adopt regional customs that appeal either to them or to the nobility they take their leads from.
The nobility, in their turn, follow the lead of the Priesthood, though most of the "suggestions" they receive come from the various heads of the High Cathedral, the complex of temples at the top of Mount Ahwin.
Southern Maera, The Lands in Shade
According to legend, the harsh mainland of Maera was once as beautiful and fertile as the northern subcontinent. The humans hold tight to this belief, holding it up as proof that the entire continent should belong to them. Now, however, the the South is populated by the Darkling Races, dozens of separate races that have over the years formed just as many loose alliances to raid up into the north in search of food and warmer climates.
To be fair, the Darklings themselves believe that they are destined to rule in the North, that the future of their various races may in fact hinge on the food they could grow in the North, as a recent population explosion is quickly depleting the game to be found in cold, dark forests of the South.
Each of the races has their own system, their own set of traditions on who rules what and how. That hasn't stopped them from collaborating in the past though, nor will it keep them from doing so in the future. At the moment, though, there is little likelyhood that the Darkling Races will be able to form a new band of raiders.
Once, the Darkling Races were lead by the Union of Shadows, a small council made up of a leaders or appointed representatives from each of the Races of the South. The Union supervised all combined efforts in the South, from making war to attempting larger scale construction projects than say, building small villages for expansion. The Union even gave it's name to the collective armies of the South, making it easy for the humans to know who it was that was leading the assault on their civilization.
Now the Union is shattered, the Darkling Races scattered to their respective corners of the Mainland as they try to rebuild their shattered strength after the utter defeat suffered at the hands of the Army of Light.
World History
Originally, the progenitors of the Light and Shadows, reluctant to see any of their creations dispossessed or destroyed, organized a system for the creation of demigods, lest one side grow too numerous and crush the other with an army of demigods. This was the First Treaty. All Deities were prohibited from touching the world directly outside of creating the allowed amount of children, and each side was allowed an equal amount of demigods, a child for each Deity. Not to say that any of the Gods were that big on following the rules, which is why a pair of militant organizations were created to regulate the births of any new demigods. The Black Brotherhood scourged the North for prohibited births and executed any second child born to the Light they could find. The White Legion scoured the South in similar fashion, destroying any second children born to the Shadows. No mortal was happy with this arrangement, but Holy Decree protected each group, provided no innocent blood was spilled without reason. And this was the undoing of the First Treaty.
Surprisingly, it was the North that schemed it's way past the Treaty, probably because the Light tend to be a bit more forgiving than the Shadows when it comes to sinning against the Gods. Some decidedly unscrupulous Priests, no one is sure whose, decided to substitute an average mortal child, manufacturing the signs and portents required to mark the infant as a Child of the Light. The Black Brotherhood did it's duty and ended the child, thus providing an excuse for the members of the Holy Compact to begin an all out war against the regulatory body. Having been alerted to the situation, the various armies of the Compact were quick to find and crush the Black Brotherhood. Years passed as the Gods quarreled about the situation, years in which the Light was quick to birth it's army, even as the Union of Shadows was held at bay by the regular armies, though the fighting was fierce. The White Legion continued it's duties in the South, destroying any children they found, as the South was slow to attack, unsure of their Gods intentions while the arguments of the deities consumed most of their attention.
Twenty-five years after the breaking of the First Treaty, the Army of the Light swept down in the Lands in Shade, a whole host of demigods quickly slaughtering the remainders of the armies protecting the Land in Shade and striking deep into enemy territory in a lightning campaign to end the war. Almost before the Dark Gods could take notice, the entire Army of the Light was in the Cavern, the underground temple complex of the Shadows, slaughtering various priests and toppling individual temples with ease.
Nara, Dark Matron, Spirit of the Void before Existence, and Naru, the Holy Father, Spirit of the Spark of Creation, were horrified at what their children had wrought. Nara because of the injustice done to the children that took after her, The Shadows, and Naru because the Light had not taken steps to rectify the situation before it had gotten so far out of hand. As one, the two Progenitors reached out and collapsed the Cavern, sinking the mountain foot after foot into the ground until it was half as tall as it had been. The Army of Light was crushed. Across the world, demigods simply stopped living, falling to the ground as dead as if they had been murdered.
The Progenitors forbade the creation of any more demigods, and forbade any other excursions into the South for a century, hoping that would be enough time for the various races to repopulate, as neither wanted to see the extinction of a sentient race. The penalty for breaking this order, they said, would be the destruction of the Gods in question, as well as the world they had all made. If they could not obey the rules, the need for the rules would be removed.
And so the Gods went apart from the world, simply watching and occasionally offering advice, though even that became seldom, and then the Gods grew silent as they become involved in other pursuits. No one wanted to be the reason for the Death of the World. Eventually the Gods grew tired, and finally decided to sleep for a time, just to be on the safe side, millenia of creating children was tiring. Naru left to supervise the stars as they expanded ever outward, making sure their light was cast evenly about in the darkness. Leaving Nara, the Void, watching the world.
Nara had a plan, though. When they had touched Maera, she had also touched the rulers of the Holy Compact, planting in them the seeds for new demigods, though not of the Light. Somewhere down the line, new Children would be born to the Shadows, but they would need guidance, and so she herself seeded a ruler, ensuring that her Child would be born first, then fashioned a bit of the void into living creatures, creating a handful of Void Wraiths to guide her future child to her destiny.
So then, that's the introduction. Now then, as for the other Light and Dark Gods, that would be up to the people making their characters, as would the nations those people come from. Any questions? Any interest? Oh, before I forget, that first child will be more an NPC to help collect the characters into a cohesive group. But yeah, questions, interest?