Pantheon (IC || [STAGE FOUR])

[Fowlick]

At Arx's command Omega went to her realm and took some of the magic that had been left in the waters and made fish. They had scales in respect of her father and they could breath under the water. There were two fish that came out of this. They were the first two that multiplied by the second till a fourth the oceans and rivers were full of these lifeforms. As the fish multiplied they changed. Some became meat eaters, some were bottomfeeders, and some were so far in the dark zone that not even Omega Rex could see what they were now.

[Len Hyet]

And Ajax heard the call of his father, and saw it was good. And so Ajax breathed in and created a realm of his own. The Realm of the Dead. A place of extremes and balance. A great pit of eternal torment, for those who squandered their lives and rallied against the commandments of the good gods. A place of rest and peace for those who lived their lives well, and a place of eternal joy and happiness for those who championed the cause of good in the world they had lived in. Ajax breathed out, and created life. Great warriors to defend his realm and to keep the spirits of the damned in their place. These he called the Sangheili, and they were good.

With the last vestige of his breath Ajax turned to the mortal world, and breathed out once more, creating a shadow of the Sangheili on their own world, a world of lush forests and beautiful landscapes, as well as rich deposits of minerals. Perfect for a race destined to sail the stars. These Sangheili were not the immortal warriors he'd created to guard his realm, but mere shadows. Their prowess in battle was extraordinary, but nothing compared to his own Guardians of the Dead.

Ajax turned to the rest of the universe, and clapped his hands. From which came the ability to wage war, and the concepts of honor and duty.

[Jolleus]

To beautify and diversify the barren new world, and to provide basic life that future creatures would thrive upon, Rosseth made trees and grasses and shrubberies. He held them in his hands, and from his home deep beneath the surface of the earth, he pushed them up through the soil. They sprouted up from the ground, making green the world. It would be said that Rosseth made these plants in his own image, for truly they were wild and junglesome, but at the same time they were the basic foundation of life. Perhaps one day Ebernessein, god of Cultivation and Progress, would tame these children of Rosseth, but now in the earliest days of the earth, they were wild and overgrown, and Rosseth reveled in their beauty.

[Aldares]

In the creation of land, Ivellios looked to his fellow God and proclaimed,
"With the earth, there must be laws to govern it and it's populace. I give the mountains strength, trees the color of green, and the water it's flow; I am Law." And so Ivellios created a large stone in a corner of the world, untouched by the hands of the other Gods, and struck rules into it. These were the tenets of Order, and with it spawned the Plains of Law, land of Ivellios and his creatures, which undoubtedly follow his every command.

[Qwanch]

The tower was complete.
Arx decided he wouldn't stop there. He had created a flying race of creatures already, but they where just wings and mouths. They only ate meat, and lacked beauty. Arx created a race that looked like him. He didn't give them his mind, however. Like himself, they where dragon-like creatures that had webbed hands with opposable thumbs on the end of each wing. Like himself, they where bipedal. He webbed their feet like his were. He gave them graceful tails, the first creature to have them. He also made them reproduce differently. Unlike the animals made already, these creatures laid eggs and their gender was determined by the temperature the eggs are incubated. Arx preferred this over the "game of chance" he saw in other animals where gender is pretty much random.

Unlike the Barsoon, (which intellegent races would later reguard as hideous creatures) these flyers where designed for beauty. Arx would like this so much that he would later grant them the ability to reason and love.

He called them Dracovians.

http://www.thekiteshoppe.com/product_im ... 4_zoom.jpg
Closest thing I could find to what I was imagining. The colors are spot on. Read the description above to see what is different.

(PS: Barsoon look just like fruitbats.)

[The Just and the Corrupt]

Merva did not wish to be the only god left without a 'realm' of his own, and so he retreated into illusions, into the knowledge of his considerable mind. This realm was a reflection of the god's mind itself, a mass cathedral of books and tomes, piled high to create elaborate structures, centered by a throne made of the most pivotal pieces of knowledge. On the walls he took a pen and began to write, scribing the contents of his mind further, the most terrible knowledge and the most terrible lies covered by layers of physical illusions- symbols that made them appear what they were not, tricking the eye into believing they were mad scrawls and nonsense.

To the new world, he gave the creatures that did and were to reside there knowledge of varying levels, but gave them lies to blemish it and illusions to decieve those who seeked it out. He grinned at his work, but decided to go a step further.

Out of the fundamental knowledges of the world, of the elements, he created beings to do his bidding, though of a lower intelligence that they may be tricked into doing so. Stepping back, he acknowledges his work with a nod of the head, smiling.
"...I have an army..." He giggles, nonchalantly.

[KFC Chicken Bucket]

Ebernessein set forth in creation of the world along with other gods. However, in pondering of all beauties he would unleash, other gods already have created much of the world. However, Ebernessein saw oppertunity to polish and refine the virtues of the world. He tamed wildscapes of Rosseth and introduce rolling grassplaines and variety of edible beings. Despite making the changes, Ebernessein left much of wilderness as it held its own value and beauty. Ebernessein worked in grooming the world and some of other gods' work before turning his focus on his own realm.

Sun gently shined down upon vast rolling plaines that stretched endlessly. Golden shimmer of fields of grain and lushious fruits riping upon trees contrasted against clear blue sky. In midst the plaine stood great castle, the Ebernessein's hall. Within the hall, red ember of furnaces glowed hot and sounds of hammer meeting anvil rang out. Beneath ground, tunnels sprawled out, leading to great subterrenean caverns, lakes and veins of minerals.

Ebernessein was content with his realm, now he pondered upon which creatures would fill his realm.

[Qwanch]

And it came to be that Arx loved the Dracovian so much he gave them the ability to Love and Reason. He taught them to build, and they built a city surrounding his tower. Arx reserved the highest room in the tower for himself, the lowest room for his common Dracovians, and the middle rooms he gave to Wizards. Each Wizard class was an understudy of one of Arx's Children. There were Seventeen rooms in all.
(One for wizards of each god, including Arx, and a city hall room on the base floor.)

[Jolleus]

In the course of creation, Rosseth gave life to a new species. They were short and broad-shouldered creatures. True children of Rosseth, they were strong and sturdy, loved the earth, shunned the sky, and had impulsive personalities. They would grow in knowledge and wisdom, and would soon rule the subterranean world as master tunnelers and miners. They set about building cities above and below the surface of the earth, putting their grand architectural talent to use. They were the Dwarves.

The Dwarves drew power directly from Rosseth. Several remarkable individuals among them became clerics, forming divine links with the spirit of the earth, and they could work miracles. They drew upon the favor of their god to aid them in their constant goal to build ever grander structures... and also in their constant warfare.

Dwarves, being impulsive, hot-tempered creatures, loved warfare. Often, different nations of Dwarves would fight for supremacy, and Rosseth encouraged this. Rosseth loved how battle strengthened his sons and daughters, and how through natural selection, it ensured that the strongest, most fit survived. But even more frequent than the Dwarves' wars against each other was their wars against other creatures. The Dwarves especially hated the Dracovians, winged creatures who could take to the skies. They were unnatural monstrosities, the Dwarves believed, who drew their divine power from a strange, mystical, unearthly god. The Dwarves partly feared them, for people were not meant to fly, only animals; and yet, there was no denying that Dracovians were people. Therefore, the only option, through the stubborn and impassioned eyes of the Dwarves, was the eradication of the winged mongrels. The only Dwarves who would maintain open relations with the Dracovians were the representative clerics (or "Wizards, as many called them) of Rosseth in Arx's tower, and even then, Rosseth's room in the tower sometimes went unused for years at a time due to the hostilities that the Dwarven people caused.

Throughout the rise of this species, Rosseth gradually grew more silent and communed with the other gods less. He became reclusive, rarely ever leaving his mortal home in the core of the earth. Rosseth saw the affairs of earth as being more important than the divine fellowship that he shared with other gods, and so he never visited or spoke to them unless they summoned him with good reason.

[Kershya]

Kerath look at the land he created and saw that it was good. Then the creation of the two races has begun. The Jai-self created the Shapeshifters, beings of chaos and change. The Min-self created the Fae, beings of order and stasis. The Sho-self, seeing the imbalance, would slowly balance the Jai and the Min in every being.

- From the Jai-Min Analects, The Creation

Unlike the others, there are at least three wizards, a shapeshifter, a fae, and one that is seen as blessed by the Sho-self. A fae that can shapeshift or a shapeshifter that has a default form. Because of the emphasis on balance, those blessed by the Sho-self ended up having many people asking for their children.

- Ja-Ne-Ka, Sonoran historian and commentator

There are many foreigners that come to Jakora Island. One of them are the Dracovians, winged beings that can fly. Another are the Dwarves. There is an enmity between the Dwarves and the Dracovians, simply because of the fact that the Dracovians can fly. Wingless fae and Sho-self shapeshifters must be the emissaries to the Dwarves to prevent an increase in tensions.

- Te-Sho-Ma, From his book, From Jakora Island.

[The Just and the Corrupt]

Merva's wizards, or sorcerors, he preferred to call them, were elemental golems, one from each of the four elements- earth, fire, water, air- that he had blessed to assume the facade of a more humanoid creature like himself, constructs that showed similar appearances- skin, hair, eyes, limbs- as himself.

As a reward for their service, he enhanced their knowledge, and allowed them the ability to decieve others, a luxury not provided to the rest of the golems, and disobey anyone's orders, as long as they strictly followed his own. They were happy to agree, and lo and behold, Merva's army now had commanding officers.

[Asterdan]

Demibull glanced at the world for all of the Gods to enjoy. He smirked and sent forth anger and rage from his realm. The God of Anger, Hate and Rage laughed evilly as a species of his own creation bounded across the earth.

They were similar to Demibull in many ways, except full flesh with the head of bulls. Their fur was redish in color, their horns a crimson. They ate nothing but flesh and thought of nothing more than violence.

Most wore no clothes, but were kept modest by fur, which also kept them worm. There WERE a few that had the ability to create red robes and other things, mostly weapons, out of pure rage and violence.

The strongest could induce a blind rage in their enemies, but only one this strong could exist in the world at a time. They were often called the Avatars of Demibull, and could be distinguished by a birthmark in the shape of the Crest of Demibull.

[Firstaria]

Life. The Oblivion, the void needed lives to be completed, souls corrupted by the touch of darkness.

But balance had also to be mantained, as chaos in creation would induce rebuilding... pain for him. And so Daniel discended between the races and tempted them, offered them what they could not have. He would not create luck however, it would stole it; 'your gain will be the suffering of the people who care about you' .

And so the first accepted. And any soul who did this will fall into Oblivion 10 years after the contract, when the stolen luck would be over.

[Qwanch]

Arx named the city surrounding his tower, Arxillia. Arx was the god of Magic. Magic literally means "Divine Blood." By transferrence, Arx was often named "God of the Gods" by his people. Wizards of Arx, also known as priests, where extremly pious followers of Arx. They payed their respect to all of his children, seeing good in all of them. In return, Arx blessed them by making them extremely fertile.

(OOC: If things seem like they are slowing down a little, let me know via telegram. I may be inactive a while.)

[Krugmar]

That-Called-the-Mantik watched with distaste as the foolish other Gods wasted their energies on simple, useless things. On this Earth, he saw chaos, anarchy, it needed true order, his order. The other Gods called it Arbitrariness, but it was the only law and order he was willing to follow.

A simple life form popped itself into his head, a creature that could place it's own order on the Earth. The laws stopped him from making this creature, so he drained the power of it, made it tiny and send it to Earth. This creature would become known as the first insect, the first queen.

That-Called-The-Mantik retired to a dimension of his own making, an endless Hive filled with his originals designs, known as the Mantrid's. They would help me create his order on this Earth, at any cost.

[Jolleus]

"...and thus, we celebrate another long season of mining and prosperity. Our passionate battles on the Arxillian front continue, and our cities descend ever deeper and closer to our Creator. We offer these ornate gemstones, born of Rosseth and carefully shaped by Dwarven hands, to our spiritual guardian, Oth Dwarr."

The priest lay down a bundle of finely crafted minerals at the feet of the granite statue that watched the gates of the Dwarven palace. No sooner than the gems touched the feet of the stone warrior, than they disintegrated in a flash of bright light... and the statue breathed!

"I am Oth Dwarr, protector and servant of Dwarves. As the last great gift of Rosseth to his children, I draw breath and live as though made of flesh, that I may serve Dwarves both spiritually and physically. I shall hold my post, guarding this great castle, until the days shall come when my sword or hammer is needed. Praise Rosseth, and long live the Dwarves!"

[Aldares]

And as he watched in disgust as the other deities chaotically created a new form of life on this plane, Ivellios brought down his perfect, shining sword into the earth, cracking it and spilling forth a great shadow.

That shadow, born from both the earth and the essence of law, stood moving motionless and cold, awaiting the orders from its creator. With the command of His immaterial tongue, the shadow made itself unto a form like Ivellios; pure, pale, and beautiful. Their skin was white, their hair silvery and their eyes like the fire of the forge. They spoke in unison, their voices running together effortlessly in the language of the Lord of Order.

Thus, He wept for them. He wept for their purity, their perfection. No other beings we're so orderly, knowing immediately their place and their time.

"Solaath vir, my children. You have no homes. With my tears, build yourselves a tower. With my love, forge yourselves a city. It is my command."

Ivellios' tears spilled forth unto the earth, the first molten obsidian. It sparkled true, but absorbed all the light that ran close to it. The Tears formed a massive spire on the Plains of Law, which the Children of Order named Vir Irileth, meaning Home of the Pure.

But the beings, known now as vampires, grew hungry. There was no food on the plains worthy of the ingestion by the Children, so Ivellios created again another race of beings. This time, from the corruption leftover from the creation of his vampires, he built another form. They were unlike his Chosen in that their skins held color, their hair varied in hue and their bodies were just as diverse.

"Drink forth, my children. These are your servants, your livestock. You are their masters as I am yours. Thus is my Command."

These people were thrown into great pens and cages of stone, but the ferocious independence and curiosity of the lot kept them from staying long. A few of the naked beasts escaped their captors and fled into the daylight and over the hills to found new settlements on their own. These became humans. And though they did not appreciate the Will of Ivellios having kept them down, they did so remember him as their creator and honor him to this day.

[The Just and the Corrupt]

Water dripped from the gates of the Dwarven palace, watching, waiting. Spying, observing. The water had been given sentience, a name, it had taken an appearance from its master, tinted with the blue of water, infused with magic.

Fluidity. Water could get everywhere. Anywhere. Myrddin was made of water, embodied it. That's why the unfortunate, nervous demi-god-golem was Merva's head spy. Or, well, his only intelligent spy, but it was close enough.

So, dripping down from the gates, Myrddin gives a shrill giggle, watching over these Dwarves.
'Myrddin, dear. Someone's made other sentients. Go and have a look for me, will you?'
'Of course, Master.' Trickling away, Myrddin headed towards where his all-knowing Master would direct him, singing softly as he went.

[Qwanch]

Arx channels his energy into a Dracovian woman, impregnating her.
She lays an egg that will soon bear the demigod, Altroose.
"Now, you must keep this egg warm, for as you know... males of your species tend to be more physically powerful and better at combat..."
The woman dutifully guards the egg, making sure that the demigod becomes male. If anyone cools the egg, it will become a female...