Great Gods of Oriand

Long ago before the birth of space and time, an awakening came upon the forces of being and non-being; in an explosion of energy, light and darkness were created out of their self-awareness. These primordial twins danced together in exquisite harmony—formless—for countless ages. Eventually the twins began to long for something more, something different, and so decided to invest most of their collective essence into a being of great power: The First Born—a deity that would eventually come to be known as the mother of the Gods.

Arawei —The First Born, came into form as the Goddess of creation; she is the totality of all things created and all possibilities, all things that came into being after her. For a time, she existed alone under the direct tutelage of the primordial twins, until she grew lonely and wanted others like her in the world. So the primordial twins expended the remainder of their energy and gave birth to the remainder of the Original Gods: Aureaon—God of Law and Knowledge; Balinor (The Hunter)—God of the Hunt and of Life; Boldrei—Goddess of the Hearth & Community; Dol Arrah—Goddess of Light and Honor; Kol Korran—God of Communication Commerce and Thievery; Dol Dorrin—God of Strength and The Seas; Ollandra—Goddess of Good Fortune, Healing and Fate; Ontar—God of Craft and the Forge; and The Hermit—a non-gendered deity of Change.

These gods existed in harmony for a very long time. They worked in concert, creating many wonders, including the totality of the known world, the planes of existence and their denizens. Through all of his hard work, one of the gods became weary and began spending time away from the other Children of the Light; slowly distancing himself from the comfort and love closeness he had come to take for granted. In his moments of solitude, Kol-Korran grew dark-in-thought and grew hungry for something more than endless creation and happiness. During one of these moments, Kol-Korran’s feelings turned to anger and then rage—In an instant a deep shift occurred within him and he fell to the ground in anguish. His body began vibrating as dark energy spilled from his eyes and mouth--from his very pores--and started swirling around him, lifting him from the very ground. In an instant, his form was torn in two and transformed into something else entirely. The mass of writhing dark energy fell to the floor as it took the shape of a divine humanoid; from it's center the sound of laughter grew and started to echo throughout the room. Raising from the ground and looking into the mirror across from him, this new being was harsh and menacing: green light flowed from his hands and warped the surface image of the objects near to him. As curiosity melted from his face it was replaced with a wicked grin and a sense of understanding: “I shall call myself Haeren”, he said into the silence of the room. There was a flash of light, and suddenly Haeren--the first Child of Darkness--shifted back into Kol-Korran; the two gods now existing simultaneously within the same entity.

Time passed and Haeren began to grow in power and influence within the body for Kol-Korran, laying seeds of distrust and greed amongst the Original Gods through subtly influencing the words of his other half: Kol-Korran. As tensions among the gods grew to disturbing levels, Kol-Korran/Haeren invited all of the gods to his domain to share in a great feast and make peace with one another. In preparation for the feast, Kol-Korran/Haeren searched the 23 planes of existence to find the components of a master elixir: Kreaoshküll he named it—the Primordial word for separation.

When all of the gods had arrived in his realm, Kol-Korran/Haeren greeted them with joy and merriment, fed them exquisitely and plied them full with delicious wine; wine laced with Kreaoshküll. As the feast proceeded, tensions began to fester among the gods. Small arguments and micro-aggressions based on ego and bitterness became like kindling to the fires of hatred that smoldered in the hearts of the gods. No one knows who acted first, but a great fight broke out that rent Kol-Korran/Haeren’s realm to shreds. On the broken wastes of this realm, the Battle of the Original Gods raged. At the pinnacle of the battle, Kol-Korran’s voice rang out over the battlefield, activating the latent magics of the Kreaoshküll tonic pulsing in the veins of the gods, “KREAOSHK¨ULL!!!”

In an instant, all of the gods (including Kol-Korran/Haeren) lurched and then doubled-over in pain and were ripped in two. In that moment The Children of Darkness were born: from Arawei came The Devourer—God of Destruction; from Aureaon, Selibras—God of Secrets and Magic; From Balinor, Ethraeus—God of Death; from Boldrei, Furiah—Goddess of Vengeance and Tyranny; from Dol-Arrah, Zhentar—hermaphroditic Deity of Darkness and War; from Kol-Korran, Haeren—God of Trickery, Lies, and Deceit; from Dol-Dorrin, Traehaeya—Goddess of Violence and Treachery; From Ollandra, Qash—Goddess of Misfortune and Discord; from Ontar, Therudeen—Goddess of Corruption and Skill; and The Traveler—a non-gendered Deity of Chaos—came from The Hermit.

The Children of Light and The Children of Darkness war on to this very day, rarely choosing to manifest in physical from, and instead acting through those who worship them. There have been times in the history of Oriand that The Gods have manifested in physical form, but most of those are esoteric tales which have become legend.