gods

From Radakan

Contents 1 General 2 Magic 3 History 3.1 The Age of Miracles 3.2 The Age of Magic 3.3 Dai’nos the Wise 4 Subpages

General

They...

• are immortal.
• are preternatural.
• have significant power.
• are worshiped by humanoids. The rituals & prayers depend on the god.
• can assume a variety of forms, but are frequently depicted as having humanoid or animal form.
• don't have a personality and don't possess consciousness, intellect, desires, and emotions, like a humanoid. Godly incarnations do have these characteristics though.
• are responsible for lightning, floods, storms, other 'acts of gods' and miracles.
• control every aspect of life.
• give humanoids law and (contradicting) morality.
• are the ultimate judges of human worth and behavior.
• are the designers and creators of Radakan.
• are very unreliable.

Magic

Magic is costly and very difficult to perform. Few individuals in the history of Radakan have ever been able to use this power. Magic is essentially what the gods use for their miracles and what they used to create the world. Only one who is in high favor with the Gods may use magic with permission and even then, the Gods can be deceitful because they despise mortals who wish for their power.

History

The Age of Miracles

Long ago, shortly after the Gods had created the world and many of its inhabitants, the world was teeming with life (even intelligent humanoids who are extinct today). The Gods were proud of their creations and were more willing to help the land. In fact, you could call them generous. They performed miracles, even when they received no cries for help from the land or its creatures.

In the days of generosity, as they were called, the gods treated the world like a child, in need of constant attention and, at times, punishment. They demonstrated their generosity by giving to the land, and then their might, by taking things away and destroying entire civilizations.

Soon the gods began focusing their attention on the creatures of the land. Many of these creatures pleaded and begged for help. The gods, glad to see that they were needed, answered many of these pleads and offered the creatures gifts. These gifts, which the animals of the land called miracles, ranged from helping their kith and kin to killing them.

The Age of Magic

The Gods, who loved their creations dearly, offered the greatest gift of all. The gift of magic. They allowed their creations each a small portion of the vast power that the gods used to perform miracles. The gods hoped that the creatures would now be able to solve their own problems and help themselves without the need to call on them for every little thing that needed to be done. Unfortunately, this came with many problems that the gods had not foreseen.

Corruption was one of the weaknesses that was always present in living beings, somewhere within. The gods had not considered this weakness. Nor had they considered that a living being could become as powerful as a god using the insignificant portion of magic they had given him.

A young man, of a race now extinct, wanted more than the gods had given him. He had had a taste of the power and he wanted it all. The man's intelligence was his greatest gift, and he used it to find a way to use the greater power of the gods. By using this power, he shielded himself against the gods and claimed his own empire. None could get near enough to kill him and none could oppose him or his demands.

Soon distant lands were left in ruins. The creatures of the land worshiped him or they were killed. He and his worshippers ravaged the lands. He hoped to claim the world as his own and defy the Gods. Many innocents were killed under his reign and everyone feared him and his followers. But soon, after he had power, he began to grow paranoid. He worried that even his followers were spies of the gods and that he was going to be murdered by one he trusted. For the next few years of his rule, he always wore dark, impenetrable armor he had created himself, even when he was in his own home with his most trusted followers. He was known in the land by several names such as the Manipulator, the Grey Tyrant and the God of Evil. The latter name angered the true Gods greatly. They knew they needed to do something about the Grey Tyrant before more aspired to his level of power. They needed to make an example out of him.

The Gods were unable to kill him directly because the shield he had placed around himself could not be destroyed by them because it had been created using the same power they used. But they knew that they had to kill him quickly, before he actually became a God. They created armies of new, powerful creatures for the purpose of killing the Grey Tyrant.

The battle that ensued was one of the longest and most gruesome in the history of Radakan. Not only that, but it was between two nearly omnipotent powers. After a long battle between the army of the Gods and the followers of the Grey Tyrant, the worshippers were destroyed. But the Grey Tyrant would not fall so easily. He destroyed many of the Gods' creatures, howling wildly, filled with power. When it seemed like the Grey Tyrant was going to win the battle one of the Gods, Thardenaar who felt a much deeper love for the creatures who had been destroyed by the Grey Tyrant, assumed a form and battled the Grey Tyrant. The duel lasted a long time, but in the end the Grey Tyrant, who was still somewhat mortal, was destroyed by Thardenaar.

The Gods punished all of the Grey Tyrant's followers by destroying them all. They did the same to the Grey Tyrant's race of creatures, though it was not their fault. The Gods also took away the gift of magic from the creatures. Finally, they had learned from the Grey Tyrant and now they too demanded that they be worshiped just like the Grey Tyrant had been. The days of miracles were long gone. No longer would the gods help the creatures of the lands by performing miracles. Now, they expected to be worshiped and they performed few miracles. The days of worship and punishment had begun.

Dai’nos the Wise

After the Age of Magic, Dai'nos the wise, a dedicated follower of the Gods, had been chosen to build a great library dedicated to the gods. The library was to be the greatest and largest the world had ever seen. Dai'nos, after speaking to the Gods in his dreams, set to work. He entered his farmhouse and was not seen again for ten years.

In his house, he compiled all of the knowledge the Gods had given him and wrote it down in large tomes and scrolls. Nightly, he was given more tasks by the Gods and it took him ten whole years to finish his collection, though he had been writing steadily every day, with the speed of the Gods to aid him.

Finally he emerged from his house with hundreds of scrolls and tomes. Each one detailed certain quests, tasks that needed to be done and forms of worship that would please the Gods. Finally, Dai'nos set aboout building the great library. This library constantly expanded until it was many stories high. It was an impressive feat of architecture.

However, corruption and evil had not been eliminated in the world, even with the defeat of the Grey Tyrant. Journals and notebooks the Tyrant had left behind were found detailing different rituals and ways magic could be obtained, even by mortals. Evil men and women followed and worshiped the Grey Tyrant even after his death, studying his notes and performing his rituals.

One of these dark worshipers who hated Dai'nos greatly, snuck to the library and used Dai'nos himself as a sacrifice to the Grey Tyrant who, according to the journals, would never truly die. Dai’nos was kidnapped and placed over a burning fire. The dark worshiper and several others performed a terrible, gruesome ritual, killing and torturing Dai'nos the Wise.

When Dai’Nos died on that flaming pit, his entire library mysteriously went up in flames. The townspeople tried to save as many pages and books from the library as they could, but most were lost. The worshipers who had killed Dai'nos went mad, claiming that they had seen the spirit of the Grey Tyrant. After those rumors began to spread, the town was abandoned, and the ruins of the library still remain, with few people brave enough to go near it.

The pages from the tomes in the library had scattered throughout Radakan. The few people who found the pages did not say so, lest they be murdered for them. It is thought that most of the remaining pages are still out somewhere, waiting to be found.

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