[center]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/CHqSeqn.png[/img]
[h1]Godhood
A Tale of Deities[/h1][/center]

[hider=The Setting:]
­
[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.
­
[/hider]

[hider=The Plot:]
­­
[b]Centuries have passed[/b] since the War in Heaven, and Ceyr's wounds have only begun to close and scar. Great canyons forcibly gouged out by powers incomprehensible still crisscross the planet as it tries to get rid of them, but that would take many millennia. Mortal civilizations were utterly destroyed during the climactic battle between the Golden One and its great and terrible children, and even under the wisdom of gods they still cannot compare to the greatness of their ancestors. Where are the skyships they used to conquer the very skies? Where are the great arcologies, with societies where one might live amongst millions but still find genuine fulfillment of self? They are gone, and some for good. Humans, dwarves, orcs and elves and other races have meekly crawled back to the surface from the deepest caves, holding only scraps of the legacy of their great grandparents. In their desperation, they scurry around the ruins of once-great cities, finding ancient knowledge to rediscover and remaster as they begin to reforge what was lost.

But it is not only the mortals who have suffered from the death of their creator, the Golden One. The ancient spirits used to be able to crack whole continents, but now can only destroy cities -- and even that takes whole minutes to complete; for all magic was and still is tied to the essence of the Creator. What few are left of the great body count the Golden One's scythe reaped from their numbers during the War in Heaven feel regret, from killing their Mother and Father; remorse, from their inaction when their brothers and sisters took up arms; or sorrow, from not having done enough to protect the Golden One.

No mortal inhabits the new realms of Aett, Realm of Love, and Hades, Realm of Hatred, for these are the domains of the spirits. Angels in the former want to see the Golden One live again, but neither the gods nor the demons believe it can be done. The gods of Ceyr, Realm of Life, have decided that they cannot dwell in the past, and must forge on to a new future, however bleak it is; but the angels and demons believe this to be foolish, for what are they without the Golden One? And the demons create the most terrible of artifacts and dabble in creation -- something which only the Golden One could do -- in an attempt to emulate their Creator, and perform the most gruesome and disgusting of magics to meet their goals, arguing that the end justifies the means; but the angels and the gods believe this to be blasphemy, in addition to simply being repulsive, arrogant and insufferably pretentious.

But for all their conflicts, the ancient spirits have one clear desire in mind: a return to the glory they once knew, when the land wasn't cracked and rivers of light still flowed from their benevolent Creator onto Ceyr.

Only five dozen ancient spirits remain, out of many thousands, and they are all so weak. Survivors of a conflict that should not have been. Doomed to a forsaken future, haunted by a happy past, and living in a depressing present.

But there is hope.

There is a summons to the Tower of Broken Dreams, a gargantuan, ancient structure of glass, marble and sapphire on Ceyr once utilized by a close group of ancient spirits in an age long forgotten. Who they were and how they used the place is irrelevant, but it is remarkable that the building still stands, given the War in Heaven, and the tithes demanded by time as it goes by. The message, conveyed by Thirianna, figurehead of the angels, invites all the children of the Golden One -- her fellow angels, the gods, the demons and even the upstarts -- to discuss the future.

She claims the dismembered corpse of the Golden One stirs in the void between the three worlds of Aett, Ceyr and Hades; she claims that the Origin's magnificent soul is reforming. She speaks of the impossible, that the Creator is rising from its grave. Indeed, this is something to bring the fractious natures of angel, god, demon and upstart together as simply Spirits united under Its All-knowing Gaze. 

As a spirit, a direct child of the Golden One, it is imperative that you attend. Journey to the Ullanor Wastelands, enter the Tower of Broken Dreams, and take a seat. Fate needs to be discussed.

[/hider]

[hider=Character Sheet]
­
This RP is closed to new players. Any more participants, and it would be chaotic.

[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]

Do note that you are able to add to the lore. Feel free to set loose your creativity.

[b]Connections:[/b] 

This is where you put your relationships with other player-controlled characters, including friendships and rivalries. 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]
­
[/hider]

[b]Roleplay Rules - Please Read:[/b]
­
1. Post your character sheets in the OOC, and move them to the Character tab only when I approve of them.

2. You are allowed only one character, but this can be negotiated.

3. Fun is mandatory on pain of death.

4. As the RP's scope is broad, featuring three worlds to play with, your IC posts must have a preposition, telling of where they are. For example:

[quote=@SillyGoy]
[b]Tower of Broken Dreams, Ceyr[/b]

The loose desert sands gave way as Chalcedon and his honor guard...

[/quote]

[b][url=http://us20.chatzy.com/27194128506234][b]Chatroom[/b][/url][/b]
 ——————