Ouros was made in several stages, as shown by the stories of the Gods that rule it.
The Elders: Mother Themis and Father AionIn the beginning there was
the Far Realm, from parts of which were formed fabric of the cosmos,
named Themis, and the passing of time, named Aion. A union of Themis
and Aion meant that matter interacted with time, causing change,
which Aion took for his own. The change, though utterly chaotic at
first, eventually formed patterns, and through these patterns Themis
created order. The planes took their shape during this first union of
the Elders, as everything spun around their tryst in a spiral,
gradually forming itself into the world of Ouros and its
surroundings. Thus, in the infinite loop between matter, time, change
and order, were created the workings of the cosmos and all within it.
These are known as the First Laws. Themis is known to some as The
Mother, and Aion, The Father. Together, they are the Elders.
The splendorous brightness
of the Feywilds and the sinister darkness of the Shadowfell, being
the weightiest of the matter in the cosmos, were flung to the edge of
the cyclone, where they remain even now. The Feywilds is so glorious
it permanently emits the brightest of lights, covering the planes
with light, and with bright magics. The Shadowfell, the darkest of
all places, covered itself in a crystalline skin to reflect the
piercing light of the Feywilds away from it. Thus were made the Sun
and the Moon, though neither moved across the sky until the Twilight
Sisters were born.
The most weightless of
material was not swept into the great maelstrom, but stayed where it
settled, glistening in the darkness, forming the Astral Sea. Here
Themis and Aion reside to this day, along with a number of their
children.
Themis and Aion are widely
accepted as the creators, and are often worshipped alongside other
deities, but few people can relate to them well enough to worship
solely them. Those who practice the arcane arts usually pay homage to
them when casting particularly powerful spells, in the hope the
Mother and Father will not take offence at their breaking of the
First Laws with powers drawn from other sources. In truth, most magic
is perfectly in accordance with the Frist Laws, it is just a
different method of doing things to the norm. In addition, Themis and
Aion do not take much action beyond the granting and withholding of
miracles, since, as the Cataclysms have shown, action by either of
them on Ouros would lead to its utter destruction.
Themis is usually seen as
a comely motherly figure, usually of portly stature, sometimes naked,
sometimes dressed in simple unadorned robes. Depictions nearly always
show her holding a brick or stone, to represent the matter of the
cosmos, and the measuring rod, for order.
Aion, by contrast, is seen
as an old robed man, with a greying beard and, depending on the
culture of the artist, carrying an hourglass or a sundial. The
depiction of change is shown in many different ways, most commonly
with an open palm, showing that change is everywhere, so minute in
its method that it cannot be seen. Another oft-seen variant is that
Aion holds the hourglass or sundial in both hands, to show that time
and change are so closely linked as to be inseparable. CernunnosIn time, Themis gave birth to Cernunnos, who, created life on Ouros. From him came all the beasts, birds, fish and men, less those made by corruption of his original works by other Gods or mortals. He has never revealed how he did this to anyone, and the other gods have always been jealous that he alone among them could recreate the creation of the Elders. Cernunnos resides now inside Ouros itself, causing all things to grow and progress, in accordance with the First Laws, Aion, and as such, rarely interacts with the other Gods.
Though not widely worshipped within civilised lands, Cernunnos is held in great esteem by farmers, hunters, fishers, and others who live on the land, and is the principle deity of druids. Halflings and other nomadic cultures often pay homage to him as well, in thanks for the land they use on their travels, often in conjunction with Bhudevi.
Many view Cernunnos as the antithesis of civilisation, and as such the greatest rival of Hereth. Though in truth Cernunnos wishes to keep civilisation from trampling nature out of existence, he is often viewed as wanting to destroy it utterly. Hereth’s followers often lump him in with the Asura, thinking that the chaotic nature of the wilds makes him conspirators with the Primordial Chaos. Furthermore, some attribute acts of the minions of Varuna and Gharma to him. Both of these are untrue, as Cernunnos is a the giver of life, not undeath, and does not yearn for destruction in the way Varuna or Gharma do. This prejudice is not helped by the existence of Tieflings, who resemble both Cernunnos and Gharma.
Cernunnos is normally seen as a satyr-like being, with the horns of a goat, or more rarely, a stag. His legs bend backwards and in hooves, and he is rarely shown wearing clothes, his body being instead coated in fur, moss and lichen.
The AsuraThe second children of Themis and Aion are the Asura, titans spawned from the Elemental Chaos at the centre of the world, embodiments of the elements themselves. Their number was four: Mayasura, Lord of the Winds; Agni, Champion of the Flame; Varuna, Scholar of the Waves; and Bhudevi, Architectress of the Earth.
Mayasura was a great pale skinned man, riding on a chariot of air, pulled by the wind itself to rule over the lands he claimed for his own, his silver crown glistening in the light of the sky. When enraged, his spears of lightning were flung to the ground, the winds of the world stirred up in great cyclones to punish mortals that refused his rule or otherwise angered him.
Agni strode the world as a figure of fire, coated in sulphur and ash when not actually ablaze, leaving behind him a trail of charred ground and burned vegetation. Agni was always accompanied by his dog, Gharma, a great wolfhound whose skin was composed of molten rock, ever shifting and rolling across itself. Gharma was no ordinary beast, but possessed intelligence at least equal to that of Agni himself, some suggest even as great as that of Varuna.
Varuna, spent much time at sea, or in rivers and lakes, as a blue skinned titan riding in a great conch shell pulled by sharks, whales, kraken, or other great beast of the oceans. He saw the sea as the library of the world’s untold secrets, the knowledge hidden thus far from those who had never looked there.
Bhudevi was a titanic mother figure, caring and helpful to those close to her, but she was also a great architect and builder. Not possessed of great intellect like Varuna, nor the head for rulership like Mayasura, nor the warrior sprit of Agni, she was oppressed by her brothers, not deliberately, but because she spent so much time caring for them and their subjects, that they, much as she, simply overlooked her desires for herself.
The Asura, like the Coatl after them, were amazed by Cernunnos’ creations, and attempted to recreate them after a new fashion. Unfortunately, their efforts never succeeded, and in an effort to find out how Cernunnos did it, Varuna would often go off for years at a time in search of the secret, which he was convinced has to be hidden somewhere on Ouros.
In the end, though Varuna refused to end his search, the others gave up on creating their own life, and the Asura twisted Cernunnos’ original creations into a myriad of other forms, creating all the giantkin on Ouros today: Not only the giants, but the trolls, ogres, formorians, orcs and goblins. The giants built a huge empire on an unknown part of Ouros, beyond the edges of the Western Ocean. Such was the passion with which the Asura created those races, that they formed a mystic bond with them so strong that the giantkin society reflected the roles of their creators. The followers of Mayasura were born leaders, while the disciples of Varuna were great scholars. The troops of Agni were the fiery warrior caste of the Empire, and Bhudevi’s children formed the builder and carers on which the Empire was built.
After a thousand years of expansion across the continent of Rashan, the Asuran Empire spread over an Ocean and onto a second continent, one called Dharmi by the giantkin, or Toicha by the Tieflings, who had built up a sizable empire of their own, which was crushed under the rolling weight of their regime. Meanwhile, Varuna has become so frustrated by his inability to find the secrets of creation, that he looked into the one place he had not yet searched: Everos, where even the Elders do not walk; where neither the Coatl, nor even Cernunnos, most powerful of the younger gods, can safely gaze. Looking into Everos burned his mind, but he forced himself to keep searching, the horrors and oddities of Everos sending him slowly more and more insane. Eventually, desperate, he marched into the heart of the strange realm, where the very essence of it permeated his being and sent him completely mad. It is not known whether Varuna found the secret of life, but he far from capable of using it when he came out. He wandered for a time, crying out mournfully. Then, of a sudden, both he and the elite group of scholars he had created, who had gone mad with him, gave up their quills, and took up axes, swords, spears and any other instruments of death that could be found. Together, they went on a destructive rampage that shattered nations and shook the world. This momentous event is known to most as the Delving.
Mayasura and Agni marched out to restrain their brother, while Bhudevi shivered, fearing another Cataclysm. But, as abruptly as it had begun, the rampage ended, and upon sight of his brothers, Varuna fled into Everos. The scholarly caste of the Empire exiled themselves, and from time to time, one or a group will stride forth from wherever they hide, to wreak havoc on the world. Between these times, no-one knows what happens to the Giants of Death, as they have become known.
The Far Realm, Everos, and the Seven CoatlShortly after the creation of life on Ouros, a bizarre and twisted parody of it formed from the fabric beyond The Creation of the Elders. Into this poured all that remained of the Far Realms, which collapsed themselves in on this new realm. Why this happened is not known, even to the Elders, though its temporal proximity to Cernunos’ creation was not unnoticed. This place was so aberrant that not even the Elders could stride there, and though their gaze pierces the outer layers, they can do little to affect it. This realm became known by many names, but is known to most modern peoples as Everos, due to its strong connection with dreams, particularly those of a twisted nature. Not much is known about it, save that it is a place of extreme madness. The freeborn, who have sheltered there for a thousand years, never ventured out of their shielded home to see what was outside, though the fact that the Coatl neither wished to enter it, nor returned to it after they fled Ouros, suggests it was not so maddening before it collapsed on itself.
As the Far Realms collapsed into Everos, seven serpents, who called themselves the Coatl flew to Nakan Ouros rather than enter Everos. Fascinated by life they found here, they took their own essence and melded it with that of other races, creating the Serpentborn, Kobolds and other draconic creatures.
Wisest among them was Qipacoatl, took as her domain the history and fate of mortal creatures. She saw that the Astral Sea was beautiful, but that from Ouros it wasnot at all visible, so she swept together much of the glistening matter into points of light that can be seen from the world itself. These are the Stars.
Yet Coyocoatl, sworn sister of Qipacoatl, saw that now the sky was too bright from the light of the Feywilds, so the beauty of the stars could not be seen. So, each night, she breathed a great cloud of smoke across the face of the Feywilds, hiding its light from the world. Only upon the insistence of Nexicoatl did she allow the Feywilds to shine brightly during the day.
Nexicoatl great rivalry with Tlalocoatl and Ehecoatl came to a head when he, perceiving the two a threat to the glory of the serpentborn, the prized pets of his lover, Qipacoatl, attempted to slay Ehecoatl and take his powers for himself. When Qipcoatl intervened, the ritual instead destroyed her, releasing energies that nearly destroyed Ouros, in an event known as the First Cataclysm.
After this, the other Coatl left Ouros to reside in the far reaches of the Astral Sea, except Nexicoatl, who, in remorse for the slaying of his lover and queen, stayed behind to guard the Serpentborn library at Xohuitoc, splitting himself into Nix and an enigmatic figure known only as the Black Mage. When the Third Cataclysm occurred, the two halves of his soul were reunited, and he is now worshipped by the new Dragonborn he has created.
The Coatl are not normally depicted at all, and if they are shown there is little to distinguish them from one another, except Nexicoatl, who is always shown wreathed in flame, and Cipacoatl, who is often shown falling from the sky, with a coat of stars falling from her shoulders as she does so.
After the Delving of Varuna, Mayasura declared the waters his domain, becoming the embodiment of the storm. However, after the departure of the Coatl from Ouros, Tlalocoatl decided to returned from the Astral Sea to claim the waters of the world for his own. Mayasura ordered Agni to attack Tlalocoatl on sight. The battle between the two raged for a hundred years, and threatened to tear apart a world that was still recovering from the First Cataclysm and the Delving. Bhudevi fearfully tried to protect the world from the chaos, while Cernunnos often tried to intervene and find a peaceful solution. Unfortunately, the two combatants thrust him aside, and afraid to add his own power to the destruction, he was forced to step aside.
Eventually, Bhudevi could no longer take the pain of having her own brothers destroy the world around her, and she slew herself, infusing her own body into Ouros itself, thus strengthening it against the pandemonium outside. Seeing the extremes to which they had driven their sister, Mayasura felt grief and remorse, and ordered Agni to stop fighting. Mayasura andTlalocoatl eventually compromised that Mayasura would rule over the waves and all the storms that reign there, while Tlalocoatl would guard the waters of the land.
The return of Tlalocoatl is known to very few mortals, and none worship him.
The Twilight SistersThe favoured creation of Cernunnos are his daughters, known as the Twilight Sisters. They saw upon the departure of the Coatl from this world that the occurrence of night and day was a good thing for the world, and that much of the life on the world had adapted to suit one or the other. So, they attempted to continue the tradition of night and day, Brighde taking the Feywilds, Morrighu taking the Shadowfell, and pushing each around Ouros in regular cycles.
Thus, Brighde became the Sister of Dawn, Lady of the Light. She is the bringer of light after darkness, hope after despair, and the embodiment of the healing that takes place after rest. It is from her that healing magic flows, and it is her whose name is invoked to bless the new born.
In contrast, Morrigu became the Sister of Dusk, Mistress of Death and Destiny. She is not evil, though she is seen as slightly sinister and mistrusted by some. She is the personification of death as a natural force, the destruction that must precede new creation, to maintain the balance of the Elders, in accordance with the First Laws. She is associated with despair and depression, but only in as much as they are a natural contrast to hope and happiness.
Brighde and Morrigu are two sides of the same force. Neither is “good” or “evil”: they are both agents of balance, working together to keep Ouros working the way the Mother and Father perceived it, and they are worshipped as such. Rarely is one asked for anything alone. A worshipper asking for hope would pray first to Brighde for the hope itself, and then to Morrigu to relieve them of despair.
Brighde is seen as an elegant white robed lady, with golden hair and the Sun rising behind her head. A yew tree, the symbol of new life, is often woven into the back of her robes, in the same manner as the robes of her priests, or it may be shown growing beside her, her hands grasping the trunk or the roots. She may be shown holding an apple, which is seen in some cultures as a healing fruit.
Morrigu is shown as an equally stately dame, draped in black, with the Moon beside her. Her robe may show a skull to represent death, or an hourglass, to show that death is, or should be, as inescapable as time itself. The skull is more often used as her symbol, since an hourglass is the symbol of Aion. If the hourglass is used, it is normally shown within the moon itself, or infused with the darkness of the Shadowfell.
The Young GodsIn the thousand years since the Second Cataclysm, the Asura have largely kept themselves clear of the world, and Tlalocoatl has gone to sleep somewhere in an inland sea. No-one knows where, though followers of the Asura tend to be wary of all inland waters, expecting them to show hostility toward them.
But the races of Seranta have begun worshipping other gods: Hereth and Rhean. These gods are unknown to the other continents, and never heard of before. Some similarities between the Coatl and these new gods can be seen, so some theorise that these are the cultural memories of the Coatl by races other than the freeborn. Whatever their origins, their followers are granted miracles just as the followers of any other gods, which most take as evidence for their existence. Different cultures place them differently in the pantheon. Given his connection to health, the Cerissian Church of Rhean claims him to be a brother to the Twilight Sisters, long hidden in Lake Vorton, only recently emerged. The Valeni Priesthood of Hereth see their god as a son to Cernunnos, a son who sought to help his father by imposing order on his creations and was rebuked and cast out for doing so. The nature of the Young Gods, however, is fairly constant across the continent.
Hereth is the embodiment of civilisation and all that comes with it. Construction, architecture, science, engineering, ordered magic, tactics, strategy, honour, nobility, strength through teamwork, leadership and government are all part of his mantle. He is worshipped in most civilised areas as the primary deity, with the Twilight Sisters and Réan working in the background to support him. He is normally seen as a robed figure, crowned and holding a measuring rod, much like that of Themis, to show him as the builder, and a shield, to show him as the defender. His colours are yellow and blue.
Rhean is the Keeper of Mysteries, the Unveiler of Truths and the Warden of Still Waters. He holds secrets not meant for mortals, and reveals to his followers truths that will aid them. It is the belief of those that follow Rhean that only the clean may receive his wisdom. As such, all Temple of Rhean offer cleaning facilities, and demand that all visitors that are deemed unclean make use of them. Because of the increased life expectancy of those that cleanse regularly at the temples, Rhean has become popular among the poor and others that would not otherwise be able to keep themselves clean. They do not always know what it keeping them healthy, but they know that if they stop following Rhean’s rituals, their health falls, and so they continue to worship him.
Rhean’s true focus, however, is on the uncovering and guarding of truth. Rituals involving lakes, ponds and other still waters are used both to uncover and recover secrets. In Ceris, Rhean’s priest’s hold much of the legal documentation for nobles and merchants, particularly since Queen Azuri’s rule brought about the destruction of many of noble factions that opposed the Churches. Even in Dar Valen, the Merchant Council will often turn to the Church of Rhean for information in a crisis.
Rhean is usually depicted as a non-descript man, robed in purple smoke, his clear blue eyes piercing the shroud to gaze upon the world. He always carries a book, usually under one arm, to show that while learning is important, knowledge gained from experience is just as valuable.
EphialtesThe realm of Everos has been experienced by few, and those that have have all been driven insane by the experience. But the realm is easily recognisable as the most intense nightmare could imagine. Indeed, on the occaision that lesser emmisaries of Everos have been understood clearly by mortals, they speak of Ephialtes, the Lord of Nightmares, who governs the worst dreams of all mortals, and sends his emmisaries, the Mara, to deliver his completed works to their sleeping minds. It is not clear whether all the horrors of Everos follow Ephialtes, but some suggest that no place so chaotic could be governed by a single creautre.
There are tales in the distant past of times when Everos blends with this world, blotting out the light of Feywild, and plunging the world into darkness for a whole month. During this time, the Gods power does not reach Ouros, and the madness infects the minds of all mortals, everywhere. This is clearly not all of Everos covering the world, or people would never recover, yet it is unclear whether this an inherent part of the realm's nature, or if it is part of some covert plan by Ephialtes.
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