Overview to the Pantheon of the FOrsaken Isles
Alerius has divided up the history of the universe as follows:
As the Eldar interacted with each other, linear consequences lingered. Tiamat had a time before and after she named herself Tiamat. There was a time before Set's binding and after. As the Eldar multiplied and challenged each other, the same linearity began to exist... a time before and after Tiamat fought and defeated Alerius. Through this linearity, Time began to flow... and it brought permanency and lasting consequences to the Will-based reality of the Eldar.
Alerius was one of the first to recognize Time's impact to the dragons and sought out alliances. This alliance created the Dragon Wars, which marked the beginning of Time's flow.
Alerius marked almost 5000 years from the Dragon Wars' outcome to when Fallen Humans and other races began to use magic. In the Tanian calendar, Alerius now refers to this first magic user as -10,000 DAR. In the world of Tehra, civilization began to grow... and every once in a while, a sentient being would gather the hope, faith, and dreams of its own kind and Ascend to one of the Gates. Before -10,000 DAR, Tehra was not interesting enough for Alerius to remember it, though other avatars do. These new Gods lacked the Eldar's indomitable will but possessed a passion and focus missing in the Eldar. He studied it and named it: Ascension.
With this as a spectrum, Alerius then put out a theoretical framework...
There are many gods. To the world of Tehra, they matter only insomuch as they interact with the world. Many gods do not. For those active in Tehra, that are organized, they have their own Genesis Story. Their Consecration practices vary but are all aimed at securing Tehran worshippers. Some embrace Ascension. Others rail against it.
The presence of Magic confuses some and Alerius made this distinction...
- Eldar - the period before Time where Intelligences spawned dynamically because of the interactions between Creation, Chaos, and Warp. There were 5 who first named themselves: Pha Rann/Creation, Asmodeus/Warp, and 3 fought over Chaos: Demos, Gorgos, and Set. Asmodeus manipulated Demos and Gorgos into an alliance and then the 3 banished Set to slumber... as anything touched by Set became so ruinous that it threatened to undo all that had already been created, including the Gates and the identities of these Eldar.
As the Eldar interacted with each other, linear consequences lingered. Tiamat had a time before and after she named herself Tiamat. There was a time before Set's binding and after. As the Eldar multiplied and challenged each other, the same linearity began to exist... a time before and after Tiamat fought and defeated Alerius. Through this linearity, Time began to flow... and it brought permanency and lasting consequences to the Will-based reality of the Eldar.
Alerius was one of the first to recognize Time's impact to the dragons and sought out alliances. This alliance created the Dragon Wars, which marked the beginning of Time's flow.
- Dragon Wars - the period of mostly-linear combat where Eldar sought out alliances or to defeat those aligning with opposed groups. Pha Rann retreated to the space around the Gate of Creation, and named it Heaven. The All Father of Metallic Dragons took those loyal to Heaven. Demos-Gorgos realized that, though none could challenge him, he did not want to be near Set or the other Chaos Eldar and blasted the space around the Gate of Chaos with distance. This created the Abyssal Realms. Asmodeus did a similar thing but with a more deliberate approach. The outcome of the Dragon Wars was a separation of Eldar into: Those Who Left Tehra, Those Who Stayed in Tehra but Fell, and Those Who Lingered in Tehra with Divine Aid and Remained Eldar.
Alerius marked almost 5000 years from the Dragon Wars' outcome to when Fallen Humans and other races began to use magic. In the Tanian calendar, Alerius now refers to this first magic user as -10,000 DAR. In the world of Tehra, civilization began to grow... and every once in a while, a sentient being would gather the hope, faith, and dreams of its own kind and Ascend to one of the Gates. Before -10,000 DAR, Tehra was not interesting enough for Alerius to remember it, though other avatars do. These new Gods lacked the Eldar's indomitable will but possessed a passion and focus missing in the Eldar. He studied it and named it: Ascension.
With this as a spectrum, Alerius then put out a theoretical framework...
- Creatures born in Time's flow but who will not die unless killed, are Immortals Type 1. Elves and undead are like this. Humans who use magic to eternally prolong their lives are like this.
- Same creatures but who use Magic to access the Ascension rites, in whole or in part, are Type 2. This would include liches and lesser gods, as well as the Eldar Who Lingered. While they can be killed, they can return through an act of will or by Ascending.
- Any Eldar or mortal able to access the flow of Time and harness its power, can become a Type 3 in Ascension. However, the defining attribute of Type 3 is a dominion of worship whereby the Type 3 accesses and continues to benefit from Tehran energy. This is through worship, like a religion, or by exerting control of a sentient race that is then Consecrated into that being's Ascension. Dragons worshipping Tiamat, the people of Ori worshipping Imperius, or the thri-keen race worshipping Krentismar are examples of this. Because Type 3 beings originated in and continue to derive power from Tehra, they are most powerful and active in the world today. Cuthbert and Kargoth are examples of Type 3 Deities.
- Type 4 is marked by a powerful dominion that grants the being power whether they are worshipped or not. This is most of the major Eldar Who Left. Tiamat is Tiamat after all whether or not the dragons worship Her. There is a cross-over between Type 3 and 4 defined by "how powerful" the dominion is. The God of Magic, where Magic is the Dominion, will always be more powerful than the God of Fireball Magic... because Fireball Magic is so specific that the dominion would only be accessed during the casting of a fireball spell or by some chance if a group of mages began worshipping Fireball Magic, as an example. Because Type 4 beings have a dominion, they almost always have a throne plane that is their own. Tiamat rules the 1st Plane of Hell. Lolth rules the 444th of the Abyss. Heaven is shared amongst its pantheon without level or physical separation, though there are ideological ones.
- Type 5 beings are those who control the 3 Gates. They will exist so long as the Gate exists. Should the Gate fall, the universe ends. This does not stop Pha Rann from wishing to reclaim Chaos and Warp into Creation, or Asmodeus from coveting Creation, or Demos-Gorgos from wishing to cast Creation into Chaos.
There are many gods. To the world of Tehra, they matter only insomuch as they interact with the world. Many gods do not. For those active in Tehra, that are organized, they have their own Genesis Story. Their Consecration practices vary but are all aimed at securing Tehran worshippers. Some embrace Ascension. Others rail against it.
The presence of Magic confuses some and Alerius made this distinction...
- If your power derives from a God's Dominion, it is divine even if it looks magical.
- If you can study, learn, and shape the energy of Time's flow, without any reliance on a God, it is magic.