I was thinking black nothingness, yeah. The idea that past creations would just be floating around isn't a bad one, but most of the world would still be empty. If it were anything but a blank canvas, that'd sort of detract from the idea that this story begins at the start of creation.

The rift I figured was an energy based barrier. Of course, that's just my original thought.

I imagined the god's territory being largely detached from the world. A place at the edge of the universe where the gods "look down" from "above," in a manner of speaking. A gate would serve nicely to stress the point that it's a separate realm.