The birth of the gods -
In the beginning there existed only the great Nothing. A vast emptiness that stretched across the void that would eventually become the universe. Countless eons passed as the Nothing lay dormant in its slumber. As time crept by, the Nothing began to stir; eventually splitting and splitting again and again until there were eight Nothings floating in the vast emptiness. More time passed and self awareness began to flicker to life as each Nothing gradually became aware of their individual consciousness and the seven others around them. They discovered intelligence and began to communicate, eventually giving names to one another in the first steps of individuality that would shape their own personalities. These first beings would mold the world of Orthos where the first races would sprout forth and populate the lands; This was the birth of the gods.
The creation –
Eons passed uneventfully as each god focused on his own individuality. Eventually, the God known as Orthos believed that he had come to understand everything there was to learn. Orthos came to the conclusion that there was nothing left in the vast emptiness and he began to mold and shape himself into a sphere, falling into himself many times over, condensing down into a perfectly round orb. As Orthos floated dormant in the void, his sister god, Celeste, became intrigued at what Orthos had done. Inspired, Celeste came up with an equally radical idea. Celeste rapidly increased her internal temperature, doubling it every second until she exploded herself into a trillion, trillion glowing shards, spreading out indefinitely and filling the entire void with her radiant fragments and creating all of the celestial bodies that can be seen in the night sky, twinkling down on her brother Orthos.
A third god, known as Rylum, having witnessed what her brother and sister had done became the first being to experience the feeling of grief. Rylum’s initial response to the transformation of her two siblings was to let her newly discovered emotions manifest themselves into the form of tears. As her tears streamed down her face and fell from the void they filled the wide basins and crevices on the surface of Orthos; creating the first oceans and seas. After her grieving was over, Rylum made the decision not to let her siblings' experiences go for nothing so she took to tending the spherical orb.
First, Rylum positioned Orthos to reflect the luminous rays from two of the nearest fragmented shards of Celeste and then she sent Orthos into a spinning and looping orbit around the largest of the fragments; creating day and night and seasons. Rylum then shaped the land; creating and nurturing life from the soil and sea as a memorial to her siblings.
Over time, Rylum had created incredible landscapes of greenery, mountain ranges, deserts, and great rock formations; all conceivable landscapes were represented. After countless ages of tending the vast landscapes, Rylum began to realize something was still missing. It was then that Rylum began to create all manner of beasts to roam the land, soar in the sky, and patrol the deep oceans in a precise balance that would keep her carefully tended world prosperous and healthy. A hierarchy of predator and prey was instilled in each and every beast. This was a system that would keep all life in check in a harmonious balance.
The one thing that Rylum and her siblings did not consider or take into account was how the divine essence from Orthos, with no consciousness to control it, would settle over time. They got their answer in the form of dragons. These creatures would manifest from the raw and dormant divine essence that was Orthos and burst forth from the ground with unbridled might and no self control. Their power was immense and wild. The dragon’s would wreak havoc on the planet for centuries; vying for control over one another and all of the lesser creatures before the gods finally stepped in and put a halt to their reign of uncontrolled chaos.
The fall of Dragons –
The dragons were partially divine creatures being born from the dormant divine essence of Orthos. This made them a very powerful and dangerous creatures even for a god. Their reign would last for many centuries. It was not uncommon for violent battles to rage for decades between two equally powerful dragon combatants as they vied for supremacy among one another and the lesser races of Orthos. Eventually their powers began to increase and manifest into more powerful abilities, the gods determined they were simply too dangerous to leave to their own devices. The decision was made to step in and strip them of much of their power. To this day the remaining dragons are a shell of their former selves. However, they are still very powerful, only the gods themselves have more power than a fully developed dragon.
Arom and Gard were the first to move against the dragons and their siblings quickly followed suit as they began to understand the true dangers that a combined force of dragons could have on them if the dragons were ever to take a moment to consider the possibilities of forming an alliance among themselves. The gods would have been hard pressed to fend off the combined might of the dragons if they ever chose to move against them in a well executed coup. With the help of Morsash, Selorna was able to sneak past the dragon’s magical wards and was able to drain much of their magical abilities by absorbing their magic essence into her own being. Without the aid of their formidable magic, the dragons quickly surrendered to avoid being utterly destroyed.
As part of their judgement against the Dragon's, the gods decided to allow them to keep their immortality but without the ability to produce offspring. Essentially making them all infertile. At first the dragons did not fully comprehend the severity of this punishment. They had thought they got off easy but as the lesser races began to expand their population and sphere of influence; this made the dragons reconsider their initial reaction to being made immortal; for although they were immune to death by natural causes, they were not immune to death through more conventional methods such as blades and spells. This made extinction a very real possibility.
Until relatively recently this knowledge has made many of the dragons reclusive and paranoid. Only now have they begun to climb out of their deep holes and hidden lairs to begin exploring the world once again. The existing eggs that had not yet hatched when the gods enacted their judgement would hatch into a new race, the draconids. The draconids are able to breed and produce draconid offspring but never again will a full fledged dragon ever be born.
The rise of mortals –
The Green Elves were the first non-dragon intelligent life to inhabit Orthos. Created by the goddess Rylum, the Green Elves were an amusing curiosity and much attention was given to them. Banach would become jealous of the attention his fellow deities were giving to Rylum’s creations. Banach would taint a group of Rylum’s elves with hatred and loathing thus creating his own race of elves that he would simply call Dark Elves. The Dark Elves would become everything the Green Elves were not. Spiteful and cruel, the Dark Elves would create a society based on fear, hatred, destruction, and suffering.
Unlike the other deities, Banach and Morsash are still connected by a thin and nearly imperceptible divine thread. This connection gives them a deep bond but it also allows the emanations of Banach’s jealous rage and hatred to spread and taint the heart of Morsash. Morsash would open his mind and heart to the darkest and most evil interpretations of emotion. Morsash fully embraced revenge, deceit, and lies. Morsash condones murder and extreme violence, even encourages it among his own followers.
While Banach and Morsash were busy twisting Rylum’s creations and giving rise to races such as Scorpids and Arachnids. Arom was watching this scenario play out with obvious disdain for his two brothers. Arom would go on to preach justice, duty, and loyalty to any and all who would listen. Arom would oppose and fight Banach and Morsash at every turn.
All manner of beings were now sprouting forth and populating the lands. Elves, Dwarves, and Humans were the most populous but others were quickly gaining a hold and building their own realms and kingdoms. The powerful and reclusive Wendengo gathered in small clans and spread to the most remote forested habitats. Scorpids and Arachnids retreated from their battles with the Green Elves and Dwarves to make their home in the harshest climates of the deserts and wastelands.
As the population of the various races began to grow and spread, the gods quickly came to realize they could draw more power based on the number of followers they could gather to their cause. This has created a unique relationship between the gods and the mortals that serve them. It is in the pantheons best interest to maintain and grow their influence to attract more followers to their side. Some may scoff or reject the gods but there is no denying their existence. The gods play a real and active role in the lives of the races that populate Orthos.
Through the ages heroes and villains are born an die, Kingdoms rise and fall but through it all, their stories live on and I am here to tell them.