Old Gods
Before the Third Wish, there were no gods as we know them. There were powerful beings, but those beings were indifferent to our worship and our faith. They only responded to bargains, bargains for anima, knowledge, or other bits of Mortal life. They were angels, devils, and elemental spirits, as well as those who had transcended mortality to become one of those beings.
After the Wish, those beings scrambled to form bonds with mortals, for faith brings power not just to mortals but to the denizens of the astral plane as well. And in return, those beings, now called "gods", granted mortals a taste of their power. They gained power from the Great Mechanism in proportion to their worship (unlike modern ascended, who gain power directly from faith but do not have the connection to the mechanism). And there were many such. Hundreds upon hundreds, squabbling for influence in the astral. They ranged in power from the greater gods, worshiped across the continents, to the local deities of a village or household. And even mortals joined their ranks--the God Emperors of Quan Pei and those worshiped by the Imperial Cult among them.
Known Old Gods
This page describes the deities that existed before the Cataclysm. This is not a complete list.
Name | Domain | Alignment | Symbol | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nocthis | Night, Mystery | Lawful Neutral | Two crescent moons, one red, one white | Intermediate |
Culann | Weaponry, Honorable combat | Lawful Neutral | Sword and axe, crossed, points downward. | Minor |
Pealar | Sun, Light, Law | Lawful Good | An 8-rayed sunburst | Major |
Golden Aspects | Creation, Preservation, Fate, Destruction | Neutral | A crossed circle | Major |
Maelek | Redemption, Atonement, Rebirth | Lawful Good | A face, one side smiling and the other frowning with a tear | Minor |
Rainbow Serpent | Cycle of life, Eternity | Neutral Evil | A serpent in rainbow colors, eating its tail | Intermediate |
Sera'is | Song, music, harmony | Neutral Good | A harp, with a woman's body for a column or pillar | Minor |