Nuclear Beasts

Gods and Realms

There's no such thing as a "good" or "evil" realm. The realms are shifted and shaped (and sometimes created outright) by the gods that inhabit them. Those gods create Avatars and Planesfolk to populate their realm.

An Avatar is a being empowered by the deity and granted innate access to a portion of its might. They can be cast in whatever form the god prefers... generally they're referred to as angels, demons, devils or more specific names but they all share some common traits. Avatars are more powerful than regular planesfolk, but the god has more influence over their thoughts and activities. While a few go rogue and "fall from grace", breaking the connection with their deity, this cuts them off from their ready resupply of mana and makes them a horde of enemies... all of the deity's remaining servants will look on them as traitors deserving extermination.

Planesfolk are just mortals of one sort or another. Most are fairly human-looking, having been created from human template (or even expendable humans), but it varies. It's difficult to create a new species and not have it immediately die out, so most gods just copy one of a few established designs, such as humanity.

Deities use their powers to slowly transform their planes into a form that they like and to fill them with whatever minions they prefer. A given deity can only have a limited number of Avatars at once, because each one is a major drain on its divine resources, but planesfolk can breed on their own and require less attention to keep them going.

One unfortunate fact, however, is that gods tend to go mad over time. All of the relatively benign deities are young ones. Old gods tend to turn into demon-gods... they grow bitter and capricious or filled with scorn and paranoia. They transform their home plane into a hellish landscape to match their inner torment and mold their Avatars into cruel and monstrous forms. Their own worshippers may become their victims over time, tortured and tormented whenever they can't capture enough outsiders to sacrifice in their stead.

At least one major deity is in decline currently. I see a bit of flavor-fiction, where one angel discusses with another...

"Think! When I left, we still wore plain, sky-blue robes, never stained with blood or dirt. Two hundred years ago, he garbed you in armor, like warriors, but at least it was still simple and unadorned. Now look at you... armored like a crab, decorated with spikes and runes. Can't you see? He is descending into madness J'horle... and he'll take you with him."

"It may be that you are right," the other angel whispered, pain in his eyes.

I thought for a moment that I had reached him.

But then a strange glow appeared in his eyes, and his features twisted cruelly. "But if this be madness," he cried, "then it will be a glorious madness."

And he raised his flaming sword once more.

Creating a new pocket universe from scratch is extremely debilitating and often leaves the deity weak and crippled for centuries. As such, they don't like to do it. They'd rather take over an existing realm or steal parts of another one. Great wars are fought over the borderlands between realms, where the victorious deity can shift the border so that more territory falls under his own control.

Pacifistic deities have only a few choices. Hide away in an existing realm, attempt to create a new one from scratch (and risk dissollution if a more aggressive deity catches them in this vulnerable state), or join a pantheon of more aggressive deities and rely on their protection.

Posted by Kiz at November 4, 2004 09:20 PM