Forgotten Gods

The Nature of Forgotten Gods: The Forgotten Gods were more than just divine entities. They were the creators of Aeinia and bonded to it physically and psychically. In addition to the divine power they received from worship, the Forgotten Gods were also linked to the primal power source of their world, making them more than gods, they were forces of nature, easily the match of any Primordial. Because the Forgotten Gods did not require sustaining worship to retain their influence over the world, they were indifferent to the mortal races. Every 500 years or so, the Forgotten Gods would release a cataclysmic event (the Purging) to wipe out the mortal races and begin the cycle of life anew.

Their Servants: To carry out their will, the Forgotten Gods created 10 servitors to carry out their will among the mortal races. Foolishly, they molded each after the Primordials they had fought during the Dawn War, designed to be powerful, stupid, and loyal. Over time, the Forces entrusted more and more of the world’s care to the 10 Servitors, but their servants grew arrogant and too powerful. The Servitors were pitting the races in competitions and wars rather than teaching them to coexist. The Forces empowered their faithful to drain the Servitors of power and imprison them within Aeinia itself.

The Faithful: Unwilling to share their divine power, the Forgotten Gods trained up druids and shamans, allowing them to access their primal power. They taught reference of the gods and harmony with nature. The druids and shamans were also responsible for keeping peace between the races and seeing that each race respected its divinely appointed individual role. For this obedience, the faithful were reincarnated continuously or granted immortality. The damned (those who disrupted the natural order) were consigned to the Makra’Marosh, a prison realm of madness within the Far Realm where nothing is constant.

Their Heralds: Other than the 10 Servitors, the Forgotten Gods used heralds to convey their messages. Their heralds were always beasts of mixed heritage such as chimeras and sphinxes.

Magic: The Forces passed the arcane power source on to man through a number of sentient artifacts known as the Foundation Relics. Each was given to the noble rulers of a different race and each was capable of performing magic and teaching others to wield magic through sorcery, music, witchcraft, or some other medium.

Their Fate: Because of their sins, Infinity allowed the Outer Gods to trap the forces outside the planes of reality within the Nether, a “realm” of empty nothingness, the absence of creation itself. The Forgotten Gods sins were as follows:

Sloth: They allowed their Servitors to sow strife between the races
Avarice: They turned on their fellows, banishing three of their number from the pantheon
Abomination: They allowed natural laws to fray and collapse
Indifference: They abandoned Aeinia to explore the Cosmos
Arrogance: They believed the mortal races insignificant

Ballifure, the End

Was responsible for entropy and the breaking down of all things. He ended all seasons, lives, and lands. Responsible for aging process. Harvests would kill themselves by growing too quickly, people would live radically different age spans. Elves would live shorter lives than humans. Some children never grew in body while growing in mind. The seas heaved themselves over the land.

Pherekas, The Bestower

Allows mortals to have magic, talents, arts, knowledge, etc. When his gifts ended the humans could no longer cope with new crisis or new experiences. They had used old solutions on new problems.

Zhjand, The Watcher

Guardian of borders, places of power and The Stream. When he left, people from other worlds crossed over into our dimension. Mortals began to use magic to affect the stream, and secrets were learned by men that should not have been, and that knowledge was abused.

Gazriel, The Maker

Creates new lives, new continents, new ideas. Birth was rampant, as was death. Some nations had no new children while others would glut with newborns and not have the resources to provide for them. There was widespread euthanasia and abortion. Many mothers died in childbirth.

Gatropsis, The Changer

Responsible for the evolution of all things. Growth was stifled as chance became the determiner for which species and races evolved. Many were driven into a primitive state, losing all social ability. Some became so advanced that they destroyed themselves.

Spectre

Responsible for keeping magic and the Spirit World in balance. When he left magic was severed and broken by man into many different forms, levels of power, etc. Modern day magic manipulates the Spectrum that he created and ordered into Hues. As he was a formless entity, the Spectrum could be considered his corpse.

Shykroz, The Passion

Controlled human emotions, especially their intensity. Without her, reactions became unstable, as humans became more and more controlled by their hearts than not. Wild love, wild rage, total indifference, and worse were experienced.

Evandeliaz, The Guide

Responsible for ordering men’s souls after they died, and enforcing the destiny of each man. He was one of the last to leave, but when he did many people lived on in agony that should have died. Many people died and their spirits never left the world, but haunted. Some didn’t even know they had died and went mad.