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The Rise and Fall of The Old Gods

The Rise and Fall of The Old Gods

In the beginning there was nothing, only the endless and unfathomable void. From this nothingness came The Demiurge, without gender, form, or even true consciousness. The Demiurge claimed a portion of the void as its own, and within this domain it created Time and Space, and this domain became its own universe. Immediately afterwards, The Demiurge created The Three Fates to give direction to its new universe, and they guided the Past, Present, and Future.

With the Fates to aid it, The Demiurge created Nature and Conflict. With Nature, stars were born, planets were formed, mountains rose, oceans filled, and living things grew. With Conflict, stars burned, planets collided, mountains fell, oceans crashed, and living things evolved. Without Nature, there was nothing to experience Conflict, but without Conflict, there was nothing to shape Nature.

Under the influence of Nature and Conflict, The Demiurge created Instinct, to drive the earliest beings created by the pair. When they reached the limits of Instinct, Emotion came next. And when Emotion could take them no further, Reason was brought into being. Only then were truly intelligent beings possible, and all of the Gods gained consciousness and thought, save for The Demiurge itself, which is forever beyond its creations.

As sapient beings evolved from the creations of Nature and Conflict, the Gods themselves fell into chaos, unable to properly manage their new intelligence and feelings. New creatures were created by the Gods, powerful beings that mixed with the races already present in the universe, and introduced magic to the intelligent species. As the chaos subsided, some of the greater children and creations of the Gods joined together. The first of these were known as the angels, who worked in service to the Gods, seeking to aid them in matters that did not need the full attention of a divine and to prevent them from falling into chaos again. The second were known as the demons, who worked to oppose the Gods and their angels, seeking vengeance for the chaos the Gods caused and angry at the angels for joining them.

As the universe came back to balance the Gods turned their attention to the sapient races. They sought to aid their creations, and though they did not demand it, the people began to worship them. Through the power of worship the Gods gained strength, and their identities became both more developed and more stable. Time and Space became known as brothers called The Twin Serpents, and came to represent balance as well. The Three Fates became sisters, one each for Past, Present, and Future. Nature and Conflict became known as The Mother and The Father respectively, for their unique bond and their part in the creation of all the living creatures that exist because of them. Instinct remained genderless, but became known as The First Child. Emotion and Reason took on no gender for any definite amount of time, and became known as The Second and The Third Children.

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As the people of the universe prospered under the Gods’ unconditional aid and guidance, they began to turn their worship elsewhere. The Gods were weakened by this, but since it was never the primary reason for the help they provided, their generosity did not end, and they did nothing to prevent it. The people began to worship that which they wanted more of, like light, daytime, health, and prosperity, as well as what they feared or wanted greater control over, like darkness, war, death, and laws.

Over time, the power of worship brought what objects of devotion the people had chosen to life. No longer were they simply imagined personifications, they had become Gods in their own right. These deities became called the New Gods, and unlike the other gods, they were dependent entirely on worship. At first, The New Gods fought each other for power, but learned to come together and form pantheons before they grew strong enough to wage true war, and started to work alongside each other to share power and worship so that they could gain more than they would on their own. The greatest of these were called the Light and the Dark Pantheons, and very few New Gods had not joined one of the two.

With the creation of the New Gods, those that had come before them became known as the Old Gods. The Old Gods were initially unaffected by the New, and left them be. But as the New Gods gathered worshippers and grew more powerful, they became envious of the Old. In secret, they made plans of war and conquest. Very few of the New Gods were opposed to this, and even fewer dared to speak up.

Though none of them could match the Old in power, the New Gods outnumbered them greatly. The New Gods could not kill the Old Gods, as they were tied far too closely to the universe itself, but they could weaken them greatly. The New Gods were not without casualties, and many of the weaker Gods were slaughtered, and only those less complicit in the war were spared. Yet in the end, the New Gods were victorious.

The Old Gods were weakened significantly, and held little more power than many mortals did. The angels and demons were divided once again, as many angels turned to demons in defiance of the New Gods, while just as many simply changed their allegiance from the Old to the New. Similarly, many demons were pleased with the New Gods because of what they did to the Old and chose to become angels in service to them, while others stayed demons in opposition of any Gods, New or Old. Some of the angels went into hiding, unwilling to join the demons or to serve the New Gods, and some demons who wouldn’t work for the New Gods but held no hatred for them either did the same. Regardless of their origins, all of those who went into hiding became known as nephilim.

Over time, nearly all memory and worship of the Old Gods was erased, and they were forgotten to history. However, they still remained present in the universe. They were far from what they once were, but they were not gone. They faded in and out of existence, sometimes present enough to become powerful heroes or beasts in the world so they could influence it as they once did, and sometimes so gone that they would lose all contact with the world or even temporarily lose the ability of conscious thought. Many nephilim seek them out, hoping either to restore them or to hurt them further, but none have succeeded. The fate of the Old Gods is unknown, but if they can survive what they have already faced, then it may be that they can return as well. Perhaps it will be eons before they are recovered enough to interact with the universe as more than particularly powerful mortals and spirits, but perhaps there are great plans in motion already, and it is only a matter of time before they take their rightful place.

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