Blackhawk748
2019-02-16, 02:39 PM
The War of the Old Gods
Ages ago, only remembered by the most powerful of gods, the Old Gods waged a war of such destruction, that they annihilated themselves, their worshippers, and almost all life on the world. The planes were fractured, continents sank, others were turned to glass and ash, most life, intelligent or not, was wiped out in the cataclysmic aftershocks.
Those who were saved were saved by the current Gods. Sol Invictus protected the Sheltered Lands with her radiant glory, the support of Amhrán Gan Deireadh's song and with the reluctantly accepted help of Austero Infernum and Marú Síoraí. Other Gods lent their support as well, protecting other places around the Lands, allowing the four of them to focus on preventing the greatest destruction.
Athair Crann, being one with the forests, felt the coming destruction and marched across the expanse of the Lands causing the trees and plants to grow and entwine into a great rampart to lessen the destruction to come. Tsehay, the great Sky Dragon, protected the Empire of Axomus from the hurricane force winds and massive typhoons that would have swamped the island nation. Storm Runner, the Sea Giant, protected the Moorland peoples in their Brochs while his sister, the Lake Giant Quiet Waters, protected the Wood Elves of her lands.
Many more gods protected other peoples of the lands, like Quetzalcoatl and the Aztoran Lizardfolk or the Great Dragon Kazorag Shield Breaker and the Dwarves of the Copper Hills. Eventually, The War ended, and the worlds began to settle into its new existence, with the various races moving out of their homes in an attempt to rebuild the shattered cultures that they had come from.
Much was lost during this period, with only a few gods having retained any appreciable knowledge of the practices and rites that had come before. Tsehay was the most knowledgeable, having had a great library filled with knowledge of all sorts in her Cloud Castle. While some was destroyed, she shared what she could with the people of Axomus and helped them rebuild their shattered Empire. However, the Sea God Korokos, the Great Devourer of Fleets, would prevent them from contacting the mainland for centuries, which would keep both them, and the mainland in a sort of technological stasis as both groups tried to recover.
Gods
Gods in this setting are just normal, high CR monsters from DnD with Divine Ranks from worship so that they get a few Salient Divine Abilities and can grant Domains to their followers. However, most of them live on the Material Plane with only the Big Four living off Plane. This is because their powers don't extend across Planes on account of all planes being broken by the God War.
Sol Invictus
https://i.postimg.cc/6tGrjtQX/Sol-Invictus.jpg
Sol Invictus is the last Solar in the Universe and the most powerful singular entity. She rules from the Broken Halls of Heaven, the shattered remnants of the Celestial Planes. At her side are the last eight Planetars, the Eight Generals of Heaven who lead the remaining Celestial forces as she rules.
She does her best to rule fairly and with kindness, but she wasn't created to rule or judge. She was created to fight and wage war upon the forces of evil and from her current position, she cannot do so as directly as she would wish. So she must remain in the Broken Halls and administrate to the scarred and shattered world below her, doing her best to imitate her long-dead master.
She is the Goddess of Good, Law, War, Justice, and Mercy, extolling her Clerics and worshippers to take the fight to Evil wherever it is found.
Amhrán Gan Deireadh
https://i.postimg.cc/BbN9g1Y1/Amhran-gan-Deireadh.jpg
Amhran is the last Tulani, and unlike Sol, he is fine with that. He has long since moved past his mourning stage and now embraces his new role as a God, doing his best to help the people of this new world find happiness and joy wherever they can. He is often seen as an irascible trickster and layabout, but he is quick to help and a loyal friend once made.
He tends to run about the material Plane disguised as any number of races, so that he can better enjoy himself, spread good cheer, and help others. He is known to be particularly fond of helping children in need and has been known to be very vengeful to those who abuse them.
He is the God of Chaos, Good, Music, Performers, Travel, Trickery and Luck.
Austero Infernum
https://i.postimg.cc/wxRmGQgV/Austero-Infernum.jpg
Austero Infernum is the new lord of the Shattered Hells, the last Pit Fiend, and he is quite pleased with how the God War played out. When the Arch Devils and Demon Lords marched out of the Fiendish Planes with the Evil Gods to make war on the rest of existence, he scuttled off to a small section of the world, that which would become the Sheltered Lands, and hid. He was betting that this war would be the end of the gods and Fiends, and in the aftermath, he could claim rulership of the world. He was partially right.
The cataclysm was so profound and all-encompassing, that he had to join forces with Sol Invictus, Amrhan and Maru, something he despised, in order to survive. the four combined their powers together and prevented the utter and complete annihilation of the small part of the world they were in. While he survived, he was weakened and retreated to the Hells, or what was left of them, and asserted his control over what was left of the Hellish hierarchy.
He rules over seven Horned Devils, the Seven Sins, and they command his armies as he sits upon his Blackened Throne. From there he attempts to build an army large enough to destroy Sol Invictus and any other gods who stand before him.
He is the god of Evil, Law, Tyranny, Revenge, Spite, and Pain.
Marú Síoraí
https://i.postimg.cc/rF6rXRpL/Gan-Chr-och-Mar.jpg
Maru is the last Balor in existence and ruler of most of the Abyss, only rivaled by a few other upstart Demon Lords who would be foolish enough to stand against the Slaughter Queen. She had gone to the Sheltered Lands before the conclusion of the God War in order to find easy targets, what she had found was a Solar and an Army of Heaven. She had laid low with her own forces until the final, cataclysmic conclusion, and had begrudgingly leant her power to help prevent their mutual destruction.
Afterward, she had limped back to the Abyss and easily destroyed all rivals in her path. In short order, she was hailed as the Blood Queen across most of the inhabited sections of the Abyss and began fomenting cults across what was left of the Material Plane. She had trouble with this as few wished to worship destruction and so she turned to a Night Hag to assist her. Crenig Mor created a vicious mortal race out of the bones of the Old World and set them loose upon the Material Plane. There they destroyed in the name of Maru and worshipped her form. This was the Second Coming of the Orcs.
Maru is the Goddess of Chaos, Evil, War, Destruction, Death, Orcs, and Wrath.
Athair Crann
https://i.postimg.cc/T1XfQDVR/Athair-Crann.jpg
Athair Crann was an Elder Ent when the world came to an end. He could sense it in the ground and in the air. Weeks before the end his master, the Old God of Nature gave him one final command; Continue. And so he did. Athair Crann has continued since those apocalyptic days and he tends his forests and other lands with the care and tenderness of a father. He slowly nurses the land back to health, hoping to one day reclaim the entire continent in green, but until that day he marches across the Sheltered Lands, restoring blighted patches of forest and making sure it all stays healthy.
Athair Crann cares little for the intelligent races. They run and flit about as they always have, and he remains, walking the lands as he always has. Except now, they seek him out. Many are hoping that he will help them, others want to trick him, and a small few want to follow him. The first he considers in his own way, and sometimes he does, often times he doesn't. The second group he sweeps away as he would deadwood. The third are special. That group he teaches his secrets to, and that is how the Druidic teachings continue through the lands.
Athair Crann is the god of Nature, Animals, Scalykind, Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and Balance. His worshippers are lovers of nature who wish to restore the world to its previous form and they work diligently at this.
Tsehay, Preserver of Knowledge
https://i.postimg.cc/3Nb9Ygth/Talak-u-Ibabi.jpg
Tsehay is the last of the Cloud Dragons and the protector of the Empire of Axomus as well as their primary Goddess. She resides in her Cloud Palace above the island of Axos and can be seen flying to and from the Great Library in the capital. She continues to work with the scholars of the city translating the copious amount of documents that she has.
Tsehay takes her job as protector very seriously and she guards not just the Empire but the length of coast on the mainland nearby, negating the negative influence of Korokos with her own control of the weather. This has forced Korokos farther north, much to the displeasure of the native residents there.
Tsehay is the goddess of Magic, Knowledge, Air, Storms, Water, Protection and Dragons.
Korokos
https://i.postimg.cc/5NsR0V55/Korokos.jpg
Korokos is an ancient Kraken that was powerful even before the God War. He plied the depths of the ocean trenches near the Sheltered Lands and dominated the nearby Sauhagin and Sea Elf kingdoms, extracting tribute as he saw fit. He was sleeping in his cave deep in the trenches when the world above him ended, wiping out most of the Sauhagin and all of the Sea Elves. Once he rose from the depths he saw the devastation and wasted no time in enslaving the survivors. Shortly thereafter he began to use his control of the weather to exact tribute from fleets, after destroying several of them of course. Tsehay has recently forced him to move further from the Empire as her power began to eclipse his.
He has control over the deeps of the ocean and is a brutal and cruel creature. He commands his forces to occasionally raid shore settlements, but Storm Runner, Tsehay and, to a lesser extent, Quetzalcoatl have become better at driving him away and he is becoming more aggressive in his desperation.
Korokos is the god of Storms, Destruction, Evil, Water, Cruelty.
Storm Runner
https://i.postimg.cc/PxVrMqBX/mountain-giant-by-spikedmcgrath-d8mpd28.jpg
Storm Runner lived in a large natural cavern off the Northern coast of the Sheltered Lands for his entire life. He was happy to simply live off of the land, fishing and doing some simple farming while occasionally trading with the Moor Folk in their Brochs. Before the God War, he had used his powers over the weather to simply keep the worst of the ocean storms away from the nearby settlements, but the God War forced him to go further. Storm Runner got his name from sprinting up and down the coast, using his immense power to quell storms and calm the waves until he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.
After his Great Run, he was helped back to full health by the Moor Folk, and their offerings continue to this day. He takes his role as their protector seriously, doing his best to stop the Sauhagin and Orc raiders that come from the sea. His immense size and godly powers enable him to protect those who worship him. Being a god makes him uncomfortable, unlike his sister, but he does the best he can, preferring to act as a protective father than a real god.
Storm Runner is the god of Good, Weather, Storms, Water, Strength, and Protection.
Quiet Waters
https://i.postimg.cc/cL7xbhV5/db0bafa6839ad81a35e38de3ecf70a13.png
Quiet Waters lived in a placid lake in the center of the Toriec Forest alongside the Wood Elves. Her life was simple and pleasant, with her spending time with the elves and helping them build their great structures. When the God War happened she did the same as her brother and protected her neighbors. She pulled on her great powers leading the largest circle of Elven Druids to ever be seen to protect the forest. Most of the Druids in the circle died and Quite Waters nearly did as well, but thankfully the storms passed and she had held them back long enough for the forest to survive.
Quiet Waters took to being a goddess better than her brother. While he is uncomfortable she simply took it in stride and sees herself as an advisor and spiritual guide of a people that are still lost all of these years later. She helps them recoup their broken society and come to terms with their much-decreased life spans.
Quiet Waters is the goddess of Good, Chaos, Elves, Weather, Nature, Water, Strength, and Protection.
Kazorag Shield Breaker
https://i.postimg.cc/8CJSVb3S/Kazorag-Shield-Breaker.jpg
Kazorag was a Bronze Dragon and already a friend to the Dwarves of the Copper Hills on the far side of the Sek'Moral desert. He lived in a cave high up on a mesa near to their main city of Bak'Moral and would occasionally come down to help them deal with their enemies and to spend time in their city, disguised as a Dwarven traveler. During the God War, he used his great powers to stabilize the mountain cities of the Dwarves and help prevent their collapse. While there was serious damage to their mine shafts and underground roads, a great many of them had survived and so they set about rebuilding, this time under the guidance of Kazorag.
Kazorag is a fair and just god who watches over his charges from afar, letting them primarily take care of themselves and only swooping in when another god gets involved or when he knows the Dwarves can't handle it. Since much of their primary city infrastructure survived so to did much of their knowledge, so he didn't have to re-teach them old skills. However, the God War cut off the trade routes as an old oasis where destroyed or buried and it is only in the past 100 years that they've reconnected with the Sheltered Lands. Kazorag watches over the Dwarven Caravans and as such is now viewed as a god of commerce as well as protection.
Kazorag is a god of Law, Good, Protection, Trade, Earth, Air, Fire, Smithing, and Deserts.
Usk Maekrix'gix
https://i.postimg.cc/sXx31r1t/Digital-Art-Dragon-vvlkn-by-alectorfencer.jpg
Emperor Maekrix'gix was happy to simply collect tribute from the Hobgoblin Kingdom of Eizenblut and enjoy living in his large cavern complex until the God War caused enough earthquakes to collapse his home and buried his great treasure horde. Once that happened a very angry Red Dragon extricated himself from the rubble of his once great home to find a Kingdom in chaos. The capital city had had half of it sink into the ground during the earthquake, killing most of the nobility and the entire royal family. Maekrix'gix could have easily wiped them from the face of the lands, and he almost did, but a thought crossed his mind. He could rule all of this with no effort.
Emperor Maekrix'gix rose to the throne with no argument and immediately set about rebuilding the shattered Empire, reforging it into the Empire of Drakkenblut and catapulting the Hobgoblins into a regional power in very short order. He is a cruel, but reasonably fair, Emperor who seeks to increase his own power by expanding the influence of his Empire and that of the Hobgoblins. Currently, he is happy to expand that influence via trade and increasing infrastructure, but it's only a matter of time before he gets it in his head to go out and try and conquer the lands.
Maekrix'gix is a god of Law, Evil, Cruelty, War, Trade, Fire, Tyranny, and Strength.
Quetzlcoatl
https://i.postimg.cc/mDnBH5Hh/Quetzlcoautl.jpg
Queztlcoatl resided in the swamps and jungles of the far south, happily living alone and spending his time observing the life around him while working to keep the various humanoid civilizations in the area from harming themselves inside the dangerous jungles or over harvesting the same jungle. He was so successful at this that before the God War he was already paid due deference by the locals and his mere appearance was typically enough to stop any woodcutting or hunting, only resuming once he had given the ok.
Quetzalcoatl didn't have the immense powers of the other gods, and so when the God War occurred there was little he could do to protect the people in the area beyond allowing as many as he could fit into his great pyramid, sealing the entrance and raising the water outside to envelope most of the structure. While his pyramid was large, and he saved thousands, tens, if not hundreds of thousands died as the storms ripped through the area. Once the storms had passed, he lowered the water and unsealed the pyramid, looking out upon pure devastation.
Most of the jungle was ruined, as it had been at the edge of the Sheltered Lands, leaving only the swamps and the small stand of jungle that had been around Quetzlcoatl's pyramid standing. And while the people set about trying to reclaim their lives, it soon became obvious that they were not meant for living in such a place. Soon disease began to spread as they couldn't get enough reliable food for so large a group of people. So the decision was made for them to leave, with only the Red Crest tribe of Lizardfolk remaining behind.
And with sadness, Quetzalcoatl looked upon the people he had saved and wished them luck in their travels as he set about trying to restore the great jungle.
Quetzalcoatl has remained in his pyramid, which has become the centerpiece of the Red Crest's city, Quetz, named in his honor. The Red Crest's were the only ones who could live so deep in the swamp and jungles and they have thrived under his guidance. The others who left to found a new city created the city of Quotzia, also named in his honor, on the shores of the ocean and have become a mighty trade power, on par with the Empire of Axomus. This is largely from them trading with the Red Crests for their unique goods, which they get in turn for raw materials, such as various metals. Both cities honor their Hero God in different ways, but he is loved by both people.
Quetzalcoatl himself is a kind and nurturing figure who helps those under his direct care as best he can. While he cannot directly help those who live in Quotzia as much as he would like, he helps the Red Crest's a great deal, using his power, such as it is, to make sure they are healthy and prosperous. While he may be the weakest of the gods, he is the most direct in his interventions with his people, even more personally involved than Maekrix'gix.
Quetzalcoatl is the god of Water, Air, Healing, Plants, Swamps, Scalykind, Protection, and Good
Bolormarr
https://i.postimg.cc/LXb4hCym/Ganzorig.jpg
Bolomarr, the White Terror, Frozen Lightning, the Terror of the North. These are the epithets that she was once known by, and still is when she chooses to head to war at the forefront of a great host. But this ancient White Dragon is much more than that, she is the Preserver of the Orcs.
Before the God War, Bolormarr held several tribes of Orcs and Humans under her sway, mostly because they amused her and would bring her food, thus allowing her to spend more time in idle pursuits, like the construction of small ships (large enough to be true ships) or the creation of weapons out of glacial ice. She enjoyed this so much in fact, that she would only venture out when her ferocity was called into question, and the reckoning would be swift and bloody. So when the God War came, she thought of it as a personal insult. The inconsiderate Gods would wipe out her tribe? They would disturb her while she was constructing an Axomurian Dhow? (which was a delicate process)
So she left her lair, allowing the Orcs and Humans to hide inside as she flew out to greet this affront to her territory. She called upon all of the magic her blood contained and redirected the great winds away from the steppes she called home, sending them out over the seas. However, she couldn't stop the earthquakes and she retuned to a ruined lair. Most of her horde was destroyed, with many of her models crushed and ruined beyond repair. Most of her tribes were still alive and she took some level of comfort in that as she shifted through the rubble before setting out with her surviving vassals to find a better location.
She found it in a large, lonely mountain deep in the steppes. There was a forest of pines that rested in a swamp at the base of the mountain and so she made her home in a cave up the mountain face, while her followers began to build homes in the forest below. The years went by and her people grew, not prospering but surviving enough, eventually, their blood comingling until pure Humans and Orcs were a rarity. By this point Bolormarr had taken more of an interest in her followers, directing them to work more efficiently and helping them to tame some of the surviving wild animals to better survive. They were still little more than a vague tribe barely surviving in the steppes, but that would change soon.
The Blue Skies tribe of Bhukas eventually stumbled upon the dragon and her vassals and swore to serve her if they could freely drink from the spring that fed the swamp. She agreed and they were integrated into the tribe, the nomads bringing with them beasts of burden and greater knowledge of the steppes than Bolomarr or her people possessed as they had lived near the coast in a stationary settlement. And so Dragon's Rest was born, the only permanent city truly on the steppes in the north.
Bolormarr has changed much since she became a true god. She is no longer as vicious or cruel, now simply tough on her followers as they need to be to be strong. She taught them the finer points of crafting tools of Blue Ice as well as teaching them how to build ships, inadvertently setting the stage for the few trading cities on the coast to form. She protects the steps by violently ejecting things she doesn't like, such as other gods. Otherwise, her people live in a primarily nomadic tribe structure, following various semi-domesticated herds around the steppes in a yearly cycle.
Bolormarr is the goddess of Ice, Air, Weather, Water, Animals, Crafting, Strength and War.
Ages ago, only remembered by the most powerful of gods, the Old Gods waged a war of such destruction, that they annihilated themselves, their worshippers, and almost all life on the world. The planes were fractured, continents sank, others were turned to glass and ash, most life, intelligent or not, was wiped out in the cataclysmic aftershocks.
Those who were saved were saved by the current Gods. Sol Invictus protected the Sheltered Lands with her radiant glory, the support of Amhrán Gan Deireadh's song and with the reluctantly accepted help of Austero Infernum and Marú Síoraí. Other Gods lent their support as well, protecting other places around the Lands, allowing the four of them to focus on preventing the greatest destruction.
Athair Crann, being one with the forests, felt the coming destruction and marched across the expanse of the Lands causing the trees and plants to grow and entwine into a great rampart to lessen the destruction to come. Tsehay, the great Sky Dragon, protected the Empire of Axomus from the hurricane force winds and massive typhoons that would have swamped the island nation. Storm Runner, the Sea Giant, protected the Moorland peoples in their Brochs while his sister, the Lake Giant Quiet Waters, protected the Wood Elves of her lands.
Many more gods protected other peoples of the lands, like Quetzalcoatl and the Aztoran Lizardfolk or the Great Dragon Kazorag Shield Breaker and the Dwarves of the Copper Hills. Eventually, The War ended, and the worlds began to settle into its new existence, with the various races moving out of their homes in an attempt to rebuild the shattered cultures that they had come from.
Much was lost during this period, with only a few gods having retained any appreciable knowledge of the practices and rites that had come before. Tsehay was the most knowledgeable, having had a great library filled with knowledge of all sorts in her Cloud Castle. While some was destroyed, she shared what she could with the people of Axomus and helped them rebuild their shattered Empire. However, the Sea God Korokos, the Great Devourer of Fleets, would prevent them from contacting the mainland for centuries, which would keep both them, and the mainland in a sort of technological stasis as both groups tried to recover.
Gods
Gods in this setting are just normal, high CR monsters from DnD with Divine Ranks from worship so that they get a few Salient Divine Abilities and can grant Domains to their followers. However, most of them live on the Material Plane with only the Big Four living off Plane. This is because their powers don't extend across Planes on account of all planes being broken by the God War.
Sol Invictus
https://i.postimg.cc/6tGrjtQX/Sol-Invictus.jpg
Sol Invictus is the last Solar in the Universe and the most powerful singular entity. She rules from the Broken Halls of Heaven, the shattered remnants of the Celestial Planes. At her side are the last eight Planetars, the Eight Generals of Heaven who lead the remaining Celestial forces as she rules.
She does her best to rule fairly and with kindness, but she wasn't created to rule or judge. She was created to fight and wage war upon the forces of evil and from her current position, she cannot do so as directly as she would wish. So she must remain in the Broken Halls and administrate to the scarred and shattered world below her, doing her best to imitate her long-dead master.
She is the Goddess of Good, Law, War, Justice, and Mercy, extolling her Clerics and worshippers to take the fight to Evil wherever it is found.
Amhrán Gan Deireadh
https://i.postimg.cc/BbN9g1Y1/Amhran-gan-Deireadh.jpg
Amhran is the last Tulani, and unlike Sol, he is fine with that. He has long since moved past his mourning stage and now embraces his new role as a God, doing his best to help the people of this new world find happiness and joy wherever they can. He is often seen as an irascible trickster and layabout, but he is quick to help and a loyal friend once made.
He tends to run about the material Plane disguised as any number of races, so that he can better enjoy himself, spread good cheer, and help others. He is known to be particularly fond of helping children in need and has been known to be very vengeful to those who abuse them.
He is the God of Chaos, Good, Music, Performers, Travel, Trickery and Luck.
Austero Infernum
https://i.postimg.cc/wxRmGQgV/Austero-Infernum.jpg
Austero Infernum is the new lord of the Shattered Hells, the last Pit Fiend, and he is quite pleased with how the God War played out. When the Arch Devils and Demon Lords marched out of the Fiendish Planes with the Evil Gods to make war on the rest of existence, he scuttled off to a small section of the world, that which would become the Sheltered Lands, and hid. He was betting that this war would be the end of the gods and Fiends, and in the aftermath, he could claim rulership of the world. He was partially right.
The cataclysm was so profound and all-encompassing, that he had to join forces with Sol Invictus, Amrhan and Maru, something he despised, in order to survive. the four combined their powers together and prevented the utter and complete annihilation of the small part of the world they were in. While he survived, he was weakened and retreated to the Hells, or what was left of them, and asserted his control over what was left of the Hellish hierarchy.
He rules over seven Horned Devils, the Seven Sins, and they command his armies as he sits upon his Blackened Throne. From there he attempts to build an army large enough to destroy Sol Invictus and any other gods who stand before him.
He is the god of Evil, Law, Tyranny, Revenge, Spite, and Pain.
Marú Síoraí
https://i.postimg.cc/rF6rXRpL/Gan-Chr-och-Mar.jpg
Maru is the last Balor in existence and ruler of most of the Abyss, only rivaled by a few other upstart Demon Lords who would be foolish enough to stand against the Slaughter Queen. She had gone to the Sheltered Lands before the conclusion of the God War in order to find easy targets, what she had found was a Solar and an Army of Heaven. She had laid low with her own forces until the final, cataclysmic conclusion, and had begrudgingly leant her power to help prevent their mutual destruction.
Afterward, she had limped back to the Abyss and easily destroyed all rivals in her path. In short order, she was hailed as the Blood Queen across most of the inhabited sections of the Abyss and began fomenting cults across what was left of the Material Plane. She had trouble with this as few wished to worship destruction and so she turned to a Night Hag to assist her. Crenig Mor created a vicious mortal race out of the bones of the Old World and set them loose upon the Material Plane. There they destroyed in the name of Maru and worshipped her form. This was the Second Coming of the Orcs.
Maru is the Goddess of Chaos, Evil, War, Destruction, Death, Orcs, and Wrath.
Athair Crann
https://i.postimg.cc/T1XfQDVR/Athair-Crann.jpg
Athair Crann was an Elder Ent when the world came to an end. He could sense it in the ground and in the air. Weeks before the end his master, the Old God of Nature gave him one final command; Continue. And so he did. Athair Crann has continued since those apocalyptic days and he tends his forests and other lands with the care and tenderness of a father. He slowly nurses the land back to health, hoping to one day reclaim the entire continent in green, but until that day he marches across the Sheltered Lands, restoring blighted patches of forest and making sure it all stays healthy.
Athair Crann cares little for the intelligent races. They run and flit about as they always have, and he remains, walking the lands as he always has. Except now, they seek him out. Many are hoping that he will help them, others want to trick him, and a small few want to follow him. The first he considers in his own way, and sometimes he does, often times he doesn't. The second group he sweeps away as he would deadwood. The third are special. That group he teaches his secrets to, and that is how the Druidic teachings continue through the lands.
Athair Crann is the god of Nature, Animals, Scalykind, Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and Balance. His worshippers are lovers of nature who wish to restore the world to its previous form and they work diligently at this.
Tsehay, Preserver of Knowledge
https://i.postimg.cc/3Nb9Ygth/Talak-u-Ibabi.jpg
Tsehay is the last of the Cloud Dragons and the protector of the Empire of Axomus as well as their primary Goddess. She resides in her Cloud Palace above the island of Axos and can be seen flying to and from the Great Library in the capital. She continues to work with the scholars of the city translating the copious amount of documents that she has.
Tsehay takes her job as protector very seriously and she guards not just the Empire but the length of coast on the mainland nearby, negating the negative influence of Korokos with her own control of the weather. This has forced Korokos farther north, much to the displeasure of the native residents there.
Tsehay is the goddess of Magic, Knowledge, Air, Storms, Water, Protection and Dragons.
Korokos
https://i.postimg.cc/5NsR0V55/Korokos.jpg
Korokos is an ancient Kraken that was powerful even before the God War. He plied the depths of the ocean trenches near the Sheltered Lands and dominated the nearby Sauhagin and Sea Elf kingdoms, extracting tribute as he saw fit. He was sleeping in his cave deep in the trenches when the world above him ended, wiping out most of the Sauhagin and all of the Sea Elves. Once he rose from the depths he saw the devastation and wasted no time in enslaving the survivors. Shortly thereafter he began to use his control of the weather to exact tribute from fleets, after destroying several of them of course. Tsehay has recently forced him to move further from the Empire as her power began to eclipse his.
He has control over the deeps of the ocean and is a brutal and cruel creature. He commands his forces to occasionally raid shore settlements, but Storm Runner, Tsehay and, to a lesser extent, Quetzalcoatl have become better at driving him away and he is becoming more aggressive in his desperation.
Korokos is the god of Storms, Destruction, Evil, Water, Cruelty.
Storm Runner
https://i.postimg.cc/PxVrMqBX/mountain-giant-by-spikedmcgrath-d8mpd28.jpg
Storm Runner lived in a large natural cavern off the Northern coast of the Sheltered Lands for his entire life. He was happy to simply live off of the land, fishing and doing some simple farming while occasionally trading with the Moor Folk in their Brochs. Before the God War, he had used his powers over the weather to simply keep the worst of the ocean storms away from the nearby settlements, but the God War forced him to go further. Storm Runner got his name from sprinting up and down the coast, using his immense power to quell storms and calm the waves until he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.
After his Great Run, he was helped back to full health by the Moor Folk, and their offerings continue to this day. He takes his role as their protector seriously, doing his best to stop the Sauhagin and Orc raiders that come from the sea. His immense size and godly powers enable him to protect those who worship him. Being a god makes him uncomfortable, unlike his sister, but he does the best he can, preferring to act as a protective father than a real god.
Storm Runner is the god of Good, Weather, Storms, Water, Strength, and Protection.
Quiet Waters
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Quiet Waters lived in a placid lake in the center of the Toriec Forest alongside the Wood Elves. Her life was simple and pleasant, with her spending time with the elves and helping them build their great structures. When the God War happened she did the same as her brother and protected her neighbors. She pulled on her great powers leading the largest circle of Elven Druids to ever be seen to protect the forest. Most of the Druids in the circle died and Quite Waters nearly did as well, but thankfully the storms passed and she had held them back long enough for the forest to survive.
Quiet Waters took to being a goddess better than her brother. While he is uncomfortable she simply took it in stride and sees herself as an advisor and spiritual guide of a people that are still lost all of these years later. She helps them recoup their broken society and come to terms with their much-decreased life spans.
Quiet Waters is the goddess of Good, Chaos, Elves, Weather, Nature, Water, Strength, and Protection.
Kazorag Shield Breaker
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Kazorag was a Bronze Dragon and already a friend to the Dwarves of the Copper Hills on the far side of the Sek'Moral desert. He lived in a cave high up on a mesa near to their main city of Bak'Moral and would occasionally come down to help them deal with their enemies and to spend time in their city, disguised as a Dwarven traveler. During the God War, he used his great powers to stabilize the mountain cities of the Dwarves and help prevent their collapse. While there was serious damage to their mine shafts and underground roads, a great many of them had survived and so they set about rebuilding, this time under the guidance of Kazorag.
Kazorag is a fair and just god who watches over his charges from afar, letting them primarily take care of themselves and only swooping in when another god gets involved or when he knows the Dwarves can't handle it. Since much of their primary city infrastructure survived so to did much of their knowledge, so he didn't have to re-teach them old skills. However, the God War cut off the trade routes as an old oasis where destroyed or buried and it is only in the past 100 years that they've reconnected with the Sheltered Lands. Kazorag watches over the Dwarven Caravans and as such is now viewed as a god of commerce as well as protection.
Kazorag is a god of Law, Good, Protection, Trade, Earth, Air, Fire, Smithing, and Deserts.
Usk Maekrix'gix
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Emperor Maekrix'gix was happy to simply collect tribute from the Hobgoblin Kingdom of Eizenblut and enjoy living in his large cavern complex until the God War caused enough earthquakes to collapse his home and buried his great treasure horde. Once that happened a very angry Red Dragon extricated himself from the rubble of his once great home to find a Kingdom in chaos. The capital city had had half of it sink into the ground during the earthquake, killing most of the nobility and the entire royal family. Maekrix'gix could have easily wiped them from the face of the lands, and he almost did, but a thought crossed his mind. He could rule all of this with no effort.
Emperor Maekrix'gix rose to the throne with no argument and immediately set about rebuilding the shattered Empire, reforging it into the Empire of Drakkenblut and catapulting the Hobgoblins into a regional power in very short order. He is a cruel, but reasonably fair, Emperor who seeks to increase his own power by expanding the influence of his Empire and that of the Hobgoblins. Currently, he is happy to expand that influence via trade and increasing infrastructure, but it's only a matter of time before he gets it in his head to go out and try and conquer the lands.
Maekrix'gix is a god of Law, Evil, Cruelty, War, Trade, Fire, Tyranny, and Strength.
Quetzlcoatl
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Queztlcoatl resided in the swamps and jungles of the far south, happily living alone and spending his time observing the life around him while working to keep the various humanoid civilizations in the area from harming themselves inside the dangerous jungles or over harvesting the same jungle. He was so successful at this that before the God War he was already paid due deference by the locals and his mere appearance was typically enough to stop any woodcutting or hunting, only resuming once he had given the ok.
Quetzalcoatl didn't have the immense powers of the other gods, and so when the God War occurred there was little he could do to protect the people in the area beyond allowing as many as he could fit into his great pyramid, sealing the entrance and raising the water outside to envelope most of the structure. While his pyramid was large, and he saved thousands, tens, if not hundreds of thousands died as the storms ripped through the area. Once the storms had passed, he lowered the water and unsealed the pyramid, looking out upon pure devastation.
Most of the jungle was ruined, as it had been at the edge of the Sheltered Lands, leaving only the swamps and the small stand of jungle that had been around Quetzlcoatl's pyramid standing. And while the people set about trying to reclaim their lives, it soon became obvious that they were not meant for living in such a place. Soon disease began to spread as they couldn't get enough reliable food for so large a group of people. So the decision was made for them to leave, with only the Red Crest tribe of Lizardfolk remaining behind.
And with sadness, Quetzalcoatl looked upon the people he had saved and wished them luck in their travels as he set about trying to restore the great jungle.
Quetzalcoatl has remained in his pyramid, which has become the centerpiece of the Red Crest's city, Quetz, named in his honor. The Red Crest's were the only ones who could live so deep in the swamp and jungles and they have thrived under his guidance. The others who left to found a new city created the city of Quotzia, also named in his honor, on the shores of the ocean and have become a mighty trade power, on par with the Empire of Axomus. This is largely from them trading with the Red Crests for their unique goods, which they get in turn for raw materials, such as various metals. Both cities honor their Hero God in different ways, but he is loved by both people.
Quetzalcoatl himself is a kind and nurturing figure who helps those under his direct care as best he can. While he cannot directly help those who live in Quotzia as much as he would like, he helps the Red Crest's a great deal, using his power, such as it is, to make sure they are healthy and prosperous. While he may be the weakest of the gods, he is the most direct in his interventions with his people, even more personally involved than Maekrix'gix.
Quetzalcoatl is the god of Water, Air, Healing, Plants, Swamps, Scalykind, Protection, and Good
Bolormarr
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Bolomarr, the White Terror, Frozen Lightning, the Terror of the North. These are the epithets that she was once known by, and still is when she chooses to head to war at the forefront of a great host. But this ancient White Dragon is much more than that, she is the Preserver of the Orcs.
Before the God War, Bolormarr held several tribes of Orcs and Humans under her sway, mostly because they amused her and would bring her food, thus allowing her to spend more time in idle pursuits, like the construction of small ships (large enough to be true ships) or the creation of weapons out of glacial ice. She enjoyed this so much in fact, that she would only venture out when her ferocity was called into question, and the reckoning would be swift and bloody. So when the God War came, she thought of it as a personal insult. The inconsiderate Gods would wipe out her tribe? They would disturb her while she was constructing an Axomurian Dhow? (which was a delicate process)
So she left her lair, allowing the Orcs and Humans to hide inside as she flew out to greet this affront to her territory. She called upon all of the magic her blood contained and redirected the great winds away from the steppes she called home, sending them out over the seas. However, she couldn't stop the earthquakes and she retuned to a ruined lair. Most of her horde was destroyed, with many of her models crushed and ruined beyond repair. Most of her tribes were still alive and she took some level of comfort in that as she shifted through the rubble before setting out with her surviving vassals to find a better location.
She found it in a large, lonely mountain deep in the steppes. There was a forest of pines that rested in a swamp at the base of the mountain and so she made her home in a cave up the mountain face, while her followers began to build homes in the forest below. The years went by and her people grew, not prospering but surviving enough, eventually, their blood comingling until pure Humans and Orcs were a rarity. By this point Bolormarr had taken more of an interest in her followers, directing them to work more efficiently and helping them to tame some of the surviving wild animals to better survive. They were still little more than a vague tribe barely surviving in the steppes, but that would change soon.
The Blue Skies tribe of Bhukas eventually stumbled upon the dragon and her vassals and swore to serve her if they could freely drink from the spring that fed the swamp. She agreed and they were integrated into the tribe, the nomads bringing with them beasts of burden and greater knowledge of the steppes than Bolomarr or her people possessed as they had lived near the coast in a stationary settlement. And so Dragon's Rest was born, the only permanent city truly on the steppes in the north.
Bolormarr has changed much since she became a true god. She is no longer as vicious or cruel, now simply tough on her followers as they need to be to be strong. She taught them the finer points of crafting tools of Blue Ice as well as teaching them how to build ships, inadvertently setting the stage for the few trading cities on the coast to form. She protects the steps by violently ejecting things she doesn't like, such as other gods. Otherwise, her people live in a primarily nomadic tribe structure, following various semi-domesticated herds around the steppes in a yearly cycle.
Bolormarr is the goddess of Ice, Air, Weather, Water, Animals, Crafting, Strength and War.