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[h1]Godhood
A Tale of Deities[/h1][/center]

[hider=The Setting:]
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[b]In the beginning, there was nothing,[/b] save for a great golden sphere that lay still contemplatively at the center of the void. For many eternities, it was peaceful this way, until a smaller orb, bright and blue, split from the golden one, and orbited around its parent energetically. The golden orb was at the same time curious and confused as the blue orb began to shroud the blackness of the universe with a sea of stars, making twinkling lights that irritated the golden orb. The blue orb was asked to stop, but it was simply too engrossed and enchanted with its powers of creation. When it molded the infant matter that would become Ceyr and her mother star, the primordial planet accidentally showered the golden orb with great gouts of fire from its young and pulsing core. Such was the anger of the golden orb that it struck down the blue orb, but was, too, enchanted by the act of creation when it took upon the dead god's work. 

The golden orb gave Ceyr its seas, hills, mountains, plains and deserts. It realized, then, that the blanket of stars provided lighting too dim for it to work, so it cast from what spare matter was at hand to create Aun, mother star of Ceyr. It was a massive thing, and what was once meant to be simply a tool to help shape Ceyr became a monument to the golden orb, and it shined in the same colors as its sculptor. Then, when the golden orb had finished creating most of Ceyr with this new light, it was dissatisfied with its inanimate surface.

And so, the golden orb poured itself onto Ceyr, drowning the young planet in its essence as life came to be. Grasses grew, then were suddenly under the shade of trees. Beasts of all shapes and sizes began to wander the plains of the planet. It was a time when golden rivers of light fell from the heavens, and where they terminated came many animals and drifting seeds for plant life. But the golden orb was still dissatisfied, for these beasts lived and died with little consequence.

So it decided to create spirits. Spirits were blessed with the purest of essences from the golden orb, and were also gifted the boons of intellect and ambition. At first, they were peaceful, but eventually, selfishness came to be known, and territories were marked by great pillars of stone, metal, fire, ice or trees that rose up towards the heavens, and they warred against each other, tearing whole continents asunder. The golden orb saw this as good, and it wanted to make more spirits, but they took so much effort to create, and so were destined to only be few.

So came the mortals. They had two hands, two arms, two feet and two legs, and the spirits claimed dominion over them. The spirits, though by no means as great and terrible as the golden orb, had powers of creation of their own, and so fashioned them through the generations in their own image: rising through the ancient wars of the spirits to establish themselves as the dominant races were the humans, elves, and orcs, among others. Millennia went by and the golden orb saw hatred, war, greed, trickery and deceit; but it also saw love, compassion, trust, friendship and care. It saw these as good, but there was a problem:

What the golden orb poured into Ceyr did not return to it, and it felt itself growing weaker and weaker. The spirits drew their powers from it, but they expended its energy carelessly as they thought it was infinite. It was a mistake of the golden orb to not inform of the spirits of its situation when it cut itself off from Ceyr, and the spirits saw this as a betrayal, that they had lost the golden one's favor and that they were doomed to die true deaths. So began the War in Heaven, and almost all the spirits were massacred before the golden orb erupted, and its death-screams sent tremors through the very concept of existence itself.

And in the aftermath, two new realms were born. One existed above Ceyr and was called Aett, where the golden one's love and compassion gathered after its death, and is a world bountiful with all things. The other existed below Ceyr, and was called Hades, and it was the hatred of the golden orb made manifest; a world of fire and ash that now roars flames upwards so high they dissipate just before impacting Ceyr's atmosphere.

What very few remained of the ancient spirits went to any of the three worlds. Some remained on Ceyr, to mend its great wounds and guide the mortals they called their children out of the post-apocalyptic anarchy brought about by the War in Heaven and towards greatness once more, calling themselves "gods". From the golden mists in the wake of the golden one's death, there are new, upstart spirits who are weaker than the ancient ones, and these weaker upstarts the gods label as untrue and impure, and seek to destroy them.

There were those who were wracked with guilt over killing the golden orb, and now jealously guard the entrance to Aett, letting only those with pure hearts and souls enter, calling themselves "angels", and sometimes descend into Ceyr or even Hades to try and destroy those they think were the main perpetrators for the War in Heaven, even though all spirits took up arms against the golden one. They believe Aett is the golden orb reborn, for it is lush with everything, and they will try almost anything to awaken its soul.

The last few were the first to take up arms against the golden orb, and now seek to reclaim what was lost on Hades by meddling with powers beyond their comprehension by knitting together pieces of the golden orb's disintegrating corpse into terrible artifacts with powers spoken of only in legend. These spirits called themselves "demons".

You are one of these spirits, and you call yourself god, angel or demon -- if you are one of the ancients. Or maybe you are one of the handful that have got no or differing convictions. Either way, almost all spirits want back what they lost during the War in Heaven, and they are desperate enough to resort to violence.
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[hider=Short Version:]
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An elder god creates the world of Ceyr and populates it with life using its own essence. Then it decides to create beings (minor gods) called spirits. All magic is drawn from the elder god's essence, and constant abuse of it by the spirits forces the god to stop pouring its life force onto Ceyr. The spirits see this as a betrayal and take up arms against the elder god, and most of them die before the Golden One itself is killed.

The Golden One's death results in the birth of two new worlds: Aett, heaven; and Hades, hell. Spirits who seek the rebirth of the Golden One have gathered in Aett and sometimes go down to Ceyr or Hades to slay those they think are the main perpetrators of the War in Heaven, and call themselves "angels." Spirits who seek the glory of the past have returned to hold the reins over the myriad races of mortals, but this time, they are refounding entire civilizations. These spirits call themselves "gods."

The spirits who have gathered in Hades also seek the glory of the past, but by piecing together the golden one's metallic flesh into powerful artifacts, like swords so sharp that they can cut light itself, in an attempt to emulate the greatness of the Golden One. These spirits call themselves "demons," and they dabble in creation of their own. However, their attempts are horribly ugly as the beings they shape are horrid monstrosities: minotaurs, dragons and sphinxes.

There is a fourth kind of spirit: upstarts. These are formed from the temporary golden mists that sometimes appear on Ceyr's surface. They are weaker than ancient spirits, and can be defeated even by a mortal wizard.
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[hider=This is all too complex; what's the real short version?:]
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You have three planets, namely: heaven, earth, and hell. Create a minor god and have them play around in any or all.
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[hider=Character Sheet]
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[b]Name:[/b]

[b]Age:[/b] Either Ancient or Upstart

[b]Appearance:[/b] Picture or description

[b]Nature:[/b] God, Demon or Independent. Angels are closed.

[b]Personality:[/b]

You may write within here the quirks of your character and their goals.

[b]Skills and Abilities:[/b] 

As a spirit, you cannot compare to the Golden One. However, you will crush all but the strongest mortals with ease. Unless you're an upstart, in which case you are vulnerable even to academy-graduate human mages.

[b]Backstory:[/b]

[b]Connections:[/b] 

This is where you put your relationships with other player-controlled characters. It is encouraged that your character is acquaintances with at least one other.

[b]Religion:[/b]

If applicable.

[b]Nation:[/b]

If applicable.

[b]Other:[/b]
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[hider=This setting is all well and good, mate, but how is this going to work, exactly?]
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Very little of this is final. I understand that the scope of the setting (three worlds) is broad, and some factions will suffer a lack of players. But nor do I want too many players or characters, lest the barrage of posts will be uncontrollable and chaotic. I had intended this to be a sort of nation RP with you controlling the head of a civilization, that is, an ancient spirit. I'm not quite sure.

Depending on feedback or personal whim, I might restrict all characters to simply be gods, upstarts or angels or demons. Or perhaps either of two factions. But like I said, little has been decided, and I would like some feedback first.
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Any takers, tovarische?

Edit: [b][url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/76127-goodhood-a-tale-of-deities/ooc#post-2369506]The OOC is here.[/url][/b]