I had a great deal of fun coming up with a cosmology for Duir’Aion. I had basic ideas of gods, but as I started coming up with quick backstories for them, they evolved. I started by modeling the gods of the Forgotten Realms, but man do they have a ton of gods. I didn’t want my cosmology that muddled up. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Realms, and the gods, and am very particular to the bad ones, like Bane and Cyric, as well as the Lolth, my all time favorite chaotic evil deity.
For my world though a basic divine hierarchy would suffice. So we have the gods of stuff. And the elemental princes who can and do gift their faithful with powers. There’s a friendly (and some not so) friendly rivalry there. Opposing both are the forces of Chaos and Evil. When the Prime Chaos was struck down into the Pit, it shattered and splintered. It’s splinters eventually gained sentience and became the first demons of the Pit. Later on, daemons and devils evolved. More on those later, likely in a post dedicated to the Pit.
When designing a hierarchy it’s always best to start basic, what gods do you need? God of Light (and/or Good), Evil, Death, Magic, Life are all basic necessary. You can always break up the portfolio with lesser gods and aspects. For example there can be a greater god of Life, served by intermediate gods of the sea, desert, woods and mountains. Those could be served by lesser gods of the various races, and sentient monsters. So you’d have 3 tiers of godhood: greater god, intermediate god, lesser god.
So for Duir’Aion, here’s a quick look at some of the gods.
Aeruus – Greater God; god of the sun and light, god of fire, god of paladins, patron god of humans.
- Formerly an elemental prince of fire, Aeruus left the Plane of Fire at the request of the goddess of dragons and lover, the Titan Kor’tuni , during the Primal Wars. Together they were able to destroy Obraxus, the king of the Elemental Overlords. The two absorbed Obraxus’s divine energy and Aeruus was elevated to the status of Intermediate God. When Ixan, the god of the sun went insane and began destroying all gods with even a passing link to fire and light, Aeruus was forced to battle him. On defeating him, with Kor’Tuni’s help he absorbed much of Ixan’s energy, Aeruus became not only a greater god, but assumed leadership of the pantheon with Kor’tuni’s endorsement.
Kor’tuni – Greater Goddess; goddess of magic, dragons
- One of the last Titans, Kor’tuni is the wife of Aeruus, leader of the divine pantheon of Duir’Aion. Once a lesser goddess of arcane magic, she assumed the portfolio of all all magic with the deaths of the gods of divine and psionic magic. When she and Aeruss absorbed the energy of Obraxus, king of the Elemental Overlords, Kor’tuni became a greater goddess. She lost the portfolio of fate to Neissithaar when she lost a wager to the lesser goddess. A rift formed between Kor’tuni and Aeruus when the latter allowed the knowledge of dragon slaying to return to Duir’Aion. In retaliation, she withheld the power of the paladins until demons returned. Her ire didn’t not keep her from endorsing her husband for the position of head of the pantheon. Though what price Aeruus will pay for that endorsement has yet to be seen.
Ixan – Demon Prince, aspect of Pride
- The former head of the divine pantheon, Ixan was god of the sun. He was always an arrogant god, which made him an easy target for the Devil Queen Vash, aspect of Envy. Whispering in his ear, Ixan became paranoid, convinced the other gods were trying to usurp him. Losing his sanity, Ixan attacked and destroyed his subordinates, the god of light, and the goddess of fire. When he turned his gaze upon the god of paladins Aeruus, a fierce battle ensued. During the battle, Aeruus erected a zone of truth, and for a moment Ixan realized his folly. It was during this moment that Aeruus saw the sun god had been corrupted by the evil of pride. Aeruus realizing the portfolio of the sun was vacant tapped into it, and all but obliterated Ixan. Ixan however, didn’t die. The corrupted god fled eventually settling in the Pit. When he recovered, there was little left of the former sun god. Ixan had become a Demon Prince, one of the rulers of the Pit, with Vash as his bride.
A Darkness Rising 