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Age of Death & Birth of Magick

Cosmology & The Gods of Ayotha

Terminology & Additional Information

Age of Death

Six-hundred years ago the necropolis fell from the sky; debris rained down and devastated entire cities, kingdoms and nations. War between these feeble rogue states erupted, and the people suffered for it. Uncaring, alien elves, enslaved all who crossed their path, forced to work at their pleasure palaces and to serve the whims of their new masters. The dwarves hid from conflict, content to toil away in their great underground cities. Their knowledge gave birth to iron-monstrosities that whined and spewed smoke and steam, fire blazing in their eyes. Humans did as they always had; they fought and killed each other over land, resources, religion, and the right to call themselves lords or kings.

The ancient necropolis, meanwhile, sat dormant, until a band of would-be robbers entered its corrupted halls. Inside they found the Slender Crown, the rotting god from another world. As the adventurer's screams echoed through the chambers of the ancient palace of death, droves of demons, undead, and things far too horrible to name spewed forth into the world.

Now, in the Age of Death, a cold mist dominates Ayo'tha. Entire cities wall themselves off within their borders to hide from the terrors that lurk outside once the burning light of Aith'na sinks and darkness consumes the countryside. You are a foolhardy adventurer, you seek your fortunes outside the cities walls. Searching ancient ruins, seeking out artifacts and relics of powers long forgotten. You'll either live long enough to reap the benefits of your exploits and claim power, or die alone in some dark corner of the world. Either way, this is your story.

Birth of Magick

RUINATION OF MAGICK AND RELIGION:

The world is a fragmented, ruined shell of what it once was, and magic is what ensures it stays that way. In Ages past, before the Night of the Vacant Throne -- when mankind and the other races of Ayotha were given the chance to meet a sliver of what it was that they had foolishly called their Gods -- the world followed the rules set out for it at its creation. Arcanery, in a very generous sense of implying it existed at all, was only a theoretical, philosophical exercise, conducted in meeting halls and lounges by societies that simply enjoyed dressing their social circles in a different kind of trapping. It did not exist; not merely as the world sees it now, in this broken age of horrors, but at all, and when it did arrive, it did so on the wings of nightmares.

Magic is not some mystical recipe its practitioners follow on a day-to-day basis to casually manipulate the world around them; while it affects very real results in the world around it, these results are consequences of another reality being imposed upon ours and causing the one we live in to shatter, albeit in -- at least hopefully -- a controlled fashion. As far as scattered records can ascertain, the application of this knowledge came at the hands of the humans of Ayotha first, as most of their peers and the other races struggled not just to rebuild but to survive in the lloigor-wracked wasteland that was once a comparatively peaceful, fertile world. After the Night of the Vacant Throne, rumors of uncovered writings which allowed real magic, real power, to be channeled through a dedicated practitioner and out into the world. These writings were collected in an utterly forbidden grimoire that came to be known as the Black Book, a tome with many speculated origins. Some say the Book is a legitimately living, sentient other, alien and conscious entity with unknown and sinister purposes. Others say that it exists simultaneously in other times, other places, other worlds, and exists conterminously to spread its influence in the past, present, and future all.

What is incontrovertible, however, is that the following of parsed and translated rituals found in this book or copies of it has wrought unmistakable horror upon the world and those in it. While the Night of the Vacant Throne was responsible for the destruction of cities, towns, and life, the magic found in the Black Book is responsible for the corruption of what remains and what has been built to try and effect repairs upon those shattered remnants. While there is real power to be found in the practice of these rituals, the overwhelming vast majority that even know of the existence of the Black Book are far from willing to pay the cost of not just their own sanity, but that of their friends, loved ones, and fellow men. Every so-called spell cast brings Ayotha closer to a tremulous reality merged with that of wherever the grimoire truly came from, and even amongst the universally loathed practitioners, all but the maddest can recognize that that would bode very, very poorly for our world and those living in it.

Most do not know of the intricacies of magic, of course, but they know enough and have heard enough of rumors to wish to stamp it out where it exists. People have been strung up, burned, tied, and quartered, even tortured to death over days over mere mention of witchcraft, and this is the case through almost all true civilization. There exist, of course, esoteric societies, occasional outposts, even whole races of people who feel differently, but these people are outside of their own universally reviled as destroyers and corruptors of the highest order, and they are ruthlessly hunted and slain by those who catch wind of them. Only in the vast, far reaches of the untamed world is this viewpoint ever relaxed, and even then, it would still be a poor idea to reveal oneself -- fear is the most powerful motivator of violence.

"What I know of divinity is not much at all. I know that there are many beings that might be considered gods, but in reality are just as mortal as you or I. Old spirits, ancestors long dead, demon lords, queens, kings, alien horrors, and rarely, true gods. I know that the gods are cruel and uncaring; that they all display very little regard for humanity and are worshiped mainly to be placated rather than adored. I know the gods have little power to force their wills upon this world and that they are dependent upon their chosen worshipers to further their unfathomable agendas... I also know that many despise us, hate us, and wish to see us return to a silent age of death while they laugh into the void."

Cosmology of Ayotha

The endless void was incomprehensibly dark and vast and time itself had not yet existed before the light of consciousness illuminated the darkness.

The Keeper was the First; the one above all. She weaved the beginnings of fate and celestial bodies into one. Stars, planets, and the very fabric of reality itself was her doing. With each new star or planet, she gave the void a part of herself. Eventually, her form was spent and the Keeper was gone, but her presence would always be felt in the tapestry of time.

The Second was Kor'nu, a brilliant mind who sought to explore the cosmos that his sister had created. He was amazed at all the things he saw, but so terribly alone. His contribution to the void was the divine syllables. These words, the sublime commands, began to further shape and mold the immense space around them. Nu was volatile and expansive. Ohm was subtle and unifying. From these words, matter was created, condensed and re-forged for an unknowable, fluid amount of time. In this age of dreams, time did not yet exist, and its constraints and laws had no bearing on the creation of worlds. New syllables of reality emerged in the complexity; new words gave form to sentences and stories.

In this newly lit cosmos, physical laws began to structure and solidify. Events became predictable and somewhat linear, lending time to reality. Kor'nu, the only mind in a vast, lonely, captivating universe, began to explore the galaxies and stars. He lit suns and molded plants as his sister before him. He spoke new commands of even greater complexities and seeded life throughout the galaxy, but Kor'nu was never truly satisfied. As the eons passed, and his nexus grew, he desired a creation of his own; and others of his kind to share it with. Kor'nu called out into the void, his voice carrying into the blackness of the cosmos. It was here he found Shaldrot.

Shaldrot, chaotic, blind, and stupid, was the Third. Both male and female. Kor'nu was appalled at the sight of his sibling, a sad and terrible creature, and he attempted to banish the monstrosity back to the void but it proved to be impossible. Shaldrot became consumed in a masturbatory self-impregnation cycle which birthed terrible things into the vastness of the void. Destructive and terrible gods that still linger outside of reality. Kor'nu retreated from his grotesque sibling and attempted to escape the loneliness of the void a final time. When he uttered this bizarre word of creation, Kor'nu lost his material form and was cast among the stars in a destructive display. This sundering created an unfathomable number of individual consciousnesses that spread throughout the universe and were bound to biotic forms; separate, but still connected by origin and essence. Many lifeforms look to the stars and dream of what must be waiting there, never knowing it is themselves. This divine spark brought sentience to life on an unknowable number of worlds. One such world was Ayotha.

Gods of Mortis

The Ogdoad | Petty Kingdom Gods

"We are to love them-worship them in their absence. But where were they during the Long Dread, when we had to shield our young from death's icy breath? Only Wenafar showed her wrinkled face when it came time to claim our dead. The Gods have their own intentions concerning Ayotha, and what those are, we do not know. Our prayers go unanswered, and yet still we pray."

Kythra - Mother of Gods, Bringer of Bounties. Kythra is widely worshiped across Ohr as head of the Pantheon of gods, and seems to take particular interest in promoting bountiful harvests. Kythra takes on the form of a human woman, clothed in sheer silks with white lilies in the plaits of her dark, braided hair. This is similarly reflected in her chosen symbol: a stark-white lily surrounded by a laurel crown.

Nythura - The Pale Lady, Watcher of the Stars. Nythura is responsible for setting in motion the current lights that orbit Ohr. She is closely related to Kythra as her twin sister, and is thought to have given her the sun so that the crops would have the warmth they needed to grow. She is the patron of the Luminous and favors warriors who exhibit selflessness above all things. Her symbol is a silver orb, surrounded by a ray of white light.

Kyrenos - Field Father, The Great Hunter. Kyrenos watched the wildlife graze in his fields and surmised that by the time Nythura turned her gaze westward, at least half of Kythra's hard work would have been undone. He took aside one of the wild stallions and blessed it; imprinting upon it his will. These beings would become the first centaurs. Kyrenos favors order and tradition, expecting his followers to hold themselves to a higher standard. His symbol is depicted as a bow and arrow, with antlers as the handles and the arrow knocked and pointing downwards.

Gaelyn - The Swift, The Trickster, Betrayer of Man. Gaelyn imparts his good will to adventurers who pray faithfully to the gods. He strongly dislikes arrogance, and often sends egotistical adventurers to the edge of death to learn their lesson the hard way. Gaelyn assumes the form of a shorter human male, shrouded in a navy blue cloak that is trimmed with silver. His symbol is a silver compass pointing to the East.

Wenafar - The Two-Faced Crone. Wenafar ushers lost souls to their rightful places and claims the lives of those who are suffering. She has been seen in two forms: that of a beautiful, pale-skinned woman, or a wrinkled hag with bandages over her eyes. Her symbol is a weeping willow tree whose roots stretch down and around to form a circle around the emblem.

Uthra - Flame drinker, Mother of Swords. Uthra is the stoic goddess of war and strategy. In one hand she wields a golden chalice that constantly spills molten lava, and in the other she brandishes a simple long sword with an ornate hilt. Her eyes are pits that hold flames burning as brightly as the dawn soul. Her symbol is a golden chalice bearing the "ever-lasting flame" respectively.

Balaam - The Prismatic King, The Mauve Augur. Balaam manifests as a whirling zephyr, weaving the residual energies leftover from Kor'nu in an attempt to bandage the World Wound, left over from Kor'nu's death. He is worshiped in the highest halls as a deity of self-preservation and knowledge. His symbol is a purple nine-pointed star.

Harmok - The First & The Last, The Watcher. Harmok takes the form of a massive silver wolf and is thought to be the progenitor of night stalkers. Little is known of his motives, but he does keep a silent vigil over the lands of the Forbidden East. His symbol is a fang, with the point facing down.

Shaldrot's Children | Dark Gods of Eld

"If we know very little of the Gods, we know next to nothing of Shaldrot's children. Abominations birthed from their progenitor, they linger in the void and have vanished from most written records. Still, many cults have appeared around Ayotha after discovering the 'divine truth' that is hidden in the Black Books. Many of these cults have dedicated themselves to fulfilling their patron god's wishes and seeking a path towards materializing the eldritch gods within the Waking World. Gods save us, if they were to succeed."

Mordiggian - The Ghoul, Light Eater, The Burning Cold, Frostdeath. A void like body that consumes all heat and light in its wake. Mordiggian is capable of consuming entire worlds in days as the temperatures drop and the surface freezes over. Enemy of life.

Isthalilog - The Widow in the Woods, The Brood Mother, Spider Queen. The mother of spiders is a planet sized spider with sixteen legs. Very little is known of Isthalilog, but all intelligent evil spiders in the world are bound to her and serve her nefarious plots.

Baur - Strife Lord, Fate Thief, Burning Hatred. Baur stands at the center of battlefields unseen. His worship hardens the hearts of even the most kindly folk. The thought of mercy leaves the minds of those who follow his teachings. Baur is often depicted as a massive demonic warrior, three times the size of a normal man. Six horns protruding from his head with a reptilian face.

Gwaed - Blood King, The First, The Eternal. Gwaed is a gaunt and monstrous figure with two pairs of bat-like wings, long claws and fangs that are six inches long. Gwaed is the lord of all vampires, bats and ahools. His most notable servants are members of the ancient house 'Gravenwolf'.

Arathag - The Hunger, Cannibal God, Feaster in the Dark. Arathag is generally depicted as a grotesque and monstrous figure, thin and in the throes of starvation with a distended belly. Arathag grew addicted to the flesh of Shaldrot and now hungers for his sibling's flesh. His most ardent worshipers are the cannibal tribes of the north.

Zalnaroth - God of Bleeding Flames, The Dual-Eyed Serpent, Shadow Taker. Zalnaroth has few worshipers, but they are often devious and work against civilization and law.

THE ARKKADIAN FIRE GODS | IMPERIAL GODS

"These Arkkadians believe that the gods blessed them with fire, the first to tame the flame. They see themselves as above all others, worthy of rulership over all men. I would have laughed at that, had they not proven themselves. Though the Empire has fallen, I write these texts remembering the immediate aftermath of Emperor Minas' death. It was chaos, the world collapsed around us. We now live in the shadow of the once was, the ruins of a past that we might very well never be able to reclaim."

Aodh - Saint Aodh of the Arkkadian Empire, skilled alchemist and champion of the gods. His sacred anointed oils have been utilized in Arkkadian rituals since the Empire's inception.

Asherat - The Mother Goddess of Fire and Sacrifice, the prime fire goddess of the pantheon. Mother of men, breathed life into the clay bodies of men molded by the god Atar.

Atar - The Shaper God, Lord of Fire. Used red clay to mold and shape the bodies of men. Used his eternal flame to bake their bodies, hardening their shape. Father of the Arkkadians.

Oggun - The fire god of war and dance, the original teacher of the mad war dances that the Arkkadian people practice before, during and after warfare.

Azhathas - The Burning One, an entity of flame and light, his followers claim that Azhathas lassoed Aith'na herself and pulled her free from the iron grip of Svarog, thawing the chill of the first ice age. He is portrayed as a living conflagration, wicker effigies are often doused in fragrant oils and burned in reverence to his image.

Ishum - The True God of War, represents the intensity of battle in the fires lit by the Arkkadian warriors before going into battle. The flickering flame that moves in silence before destruction and the screams of dying men ensue

regional | city | lesser gods (not a definitive list!)

Aamuzid - God of grain, milk, and animals. Worshiped locally in some regions of the Petty Kingdoms and Gharan Steppes.

Atenar - God of Civility and Fortune.

Bagotz - God of War and Diseases.

Baron of Glass - A god capable of stepping through the world, traveling to different places and times. He cuts through the dreams of those who seek power in its purest form and wish to manipulate their enemies into inadvertently sealing their own fates.

Boltog - God of War and Strength.

Crell - God of Craftsmanship and Metallurgy.

Dagon - God of Fertility and Sea, worshiped primarily in port towns and cities. The most notable being Daggermark, a great city from the foreign nation of Ainlore.

Draanaa - Goddess of mystics and fortunes. Worshiped in the desert cities of Ahnki and Ocileb.

Ohrros- The Endless One, the Infinite. The emanator of the great Sefirot, primarily worshiped in the lands of the Drawn Sun, the island of Sollan. Squall's End and numerous Free Cities also have temples dedicated to Ohrros.

Etar - God of Logic and Stars, one of the trio of brother-gods including Yros and Avtix, worshiped by the Gear Cultists of the Narris Republic.

Forsoi - Goddess of Stone and Minerals.

Gru'thul - God of Slaughter and Battle. Wilds god.

Hegyn - Goddess of Nature and Beasts.

Lillith/Kishari - Goddesses of Deception, Mothers of Demons and Devils.

Namuzn - Goddess of love, sexuality, prostitution, and war. Depending on the texts, sometimes is the sister, mother, or rival of Shana.

Ninsar - God of Freshwater, male fertility and knowledge. Worshiped by the nobility of Ocileb.

Ninurta - God of War, Agriculture, and Wind.

Noulbor - God of Tyranny and Fire.

Oricin - God of the NIght and Beasts. Wilds god.

Otyx - God of Boars and Coyotes.

Qemera - Goddess of Destruction and Rebrith.

Sefnir - God of Wolves and Bears.

Seluna - Goddess of the Sky and Earth, primarily worshiped by the Selha.

Shana - The Harlot Queen, the patron Goddess of the Assai and Hwnish people. Pleasure cults and carnal houses line their ivory and silvered streets, courtesans swaying seductively in an attempt to lure both men and women into their temples of faith.

Shaurash'Ho - The Prowler Among the Tombs, Father of All Ghouls. A putrid and decadent god, worshiped in the shadowed jungle kingdoms of Ghawe and Ixindar.

The Dream Witch - Devourer of Worlds and Man, and everything in between. Under the guise of a beautiful, pale, raven-haired woman, she lures those unfortunate enough to heed her call to an untimely death.

The Flayed Hand - A skinless Demon Lord, worshiped by the mad cultists of Gravehold. Suffering and malice are required of his followers.

The Horned God - Keeper of the Forest, Guardian of the Passage into Winter, the Allfather. A deity of balance mostly associated with ensuring the stability of nature. Closely associated with the Oronok and Thorimund peoples.

The Mist of Enlil - A formless mist, a primordial force that is capable of driving anyone who enters into it mad. Creatures of unknown eldritch origin are drawn from the mists and enter into the waking world freely.

Tros - God of Monsters and Slaughter.

Udall - God of Swords and Warriors.

Vaalar - God of Good Fortunes and Luck.

Yaris - Goddess of Homes and Civilization.

Zahir - Once bound by chains and locked eternally in ice, he was freed by a group of naive, adventuring mortals, and is said to dwell within the flame-spire peaks of Rhuneland. A giant of molten rock and lava, Zahir's temper is legendary and is quick to anger and rarely forgiving. Worshiped by half-giants and numerous Northmen tribes in Rhuneland.

The Lady of Wolves - Could be termed a minor deity, inasmuch as such things exist -- rumors of her passing are spread from village to village all throughout the continent itself, though it is hard to find real, concrete evidence of her existence.

Terminology & Additional Information

Time of Madness - 'The Mist', an unexplained eldritch phenomenon that caused the minds of many of the mortal races to become crazed. The years after the mists arrived are referred to as the 'Time of Madness' and is defined by wars across the many nations and the arrival of the Elder Spawn, horrible monstrosities not natural to the material plane (waking world).

World Heart - The World Heart (Heart of Kor'nu) is one of the most powerful sources of Aether in the known world, found at the heart of the Adamantine Mountain it is believed to be the very thing that allowed the champions of the Exodus to become the first divine powers of Ainerth.

Aether - Aether is the essence of Kor'nu the Second Light manifested in a metaphysical plane of existence that allows the use of divine magics on Ohr. To put it simply, Aether is what allows divine magic to be used.

World Wound - When Kor'nu destroyed himself in his last failed attempt to create beings such as himself, he seeded the galaxy with life but also destroyed the boundaries of reality constructed by the First Light (The Keeper). This caused the World Wound and it is from here that the elder spawn of the dreamer Azathoth are able to enter the waking world.

Waking World - The physical realm with binding laws of physics, time, reality, etc. The Waking World is home to all mortal races and can be used interchangeably with Ohr or Materiel plane.

Hebsed Ritual - A ritual used by the people's of the Four Kings to determine who best to lead them into each new age. It is a trial of the body, mind and soul. Only the strongest of the dynasty may reign as the leader, for he or she should be able to lead from the front during confrontations. They must prove their intelligence by undergoing numerous tests and must excel in all things related to strategy and leadership. Finally the chosen primarch must be able to understand that they are part of a divine plan. They must show a willingness to pursue the interests of Andminas above all else while upholding the vision of Menos through ritual and sacrifice.

Exodial Magic - Exodial magic is the proper term for ‘Eld’ magic. Elden magic is born from Aith’na and nature itself. Druids, rangers and some divine casters use Exodial magic. It should also be noted that they can train humans to use the art of Exodial magic to become an ‘Exodai’ mage, cleric, paladin, druid, or otherwise. However, they may never join one of the Exodial Colleges and cannot hold a position of authority within the power structure of the Fae courts no matter how skilled they might be.

Maelstrom Ward - The Maelstrom ward was a powerful ritual used to combat The Mist that was infecting the minds of the mortal races and causing them to go mad. Powerful Exodai mages performed the ritual as the Assai Empire defended them while at the epicenter of a brewing storm in the ocean aptly named "Black Waters" between Ohrros and the Forbidden East.

Morga - The Orkon lands of old, now known as the Mercenary Republic. The Orkon are close allies to the Thanasi and Trollkin.

Elder Magic - Elder Magic is what allows sorcerers, wizards, warlocks and all other arcane magics to function on the world of Ohr. Elder Magic is not some mystical recipe or secreted words in a dusty spell book its practitioners follow on a day-to-day basis to casually manipulate the world around them; while it effects very real results in the world around it, these results are consequences of another reality being imposed upon ours and causing the one we live into shatter, albeit in -- at least hopefully -- a controlled fashion.

Aith'na - The Sun of Ayotha, often times called Dawn Soul.

Thieves of Light - The three moons of Ayotha. Somnus, Shal, Tzem.

The Vault of Mirrors - Space, stars, celestial bodies. When one of the mortal races of Ayotha looks to the skies they are looking at the 'Vault of Mirrors'.

Dreamer's Realm - The realm outside of reality itself where Azathoth dwells. If this elder creature were ever to be summoned to the waking world, all life would instantaneously end.

The Long Dread - The Black Age, an age where Aith'na vanished from the sky and left the world in perpetual darkness. This event marked the rise of the Slender Crown.

Ohr - Ohr and Ayotha can be used interchangably to describe the land or the planet. Ohr means 'light' and is the Elden term for the planet.