The Pantheon

In the beginning, there was a perfect being. Their name forever lost to the ages, they traversed the Great Emptiness, leaving great nebulas and stars in their wake. For eons they traveled, creating the universe as we know it, and when they came to gaze upon its wonder and beauty, they thought to themselves that such beauty lacks meaning without others to gaze upon it. So they began to form the World. They formed sweeping plains, sheer cliffs, and boundless oceans. They then formed the skies, ensuring that all could gaze upon their creation. But, for all the natural beauty they made, the world seemed lifeless, and without proper custodians the being knew that all would eventually be rendered into rubble. And so, the perfect being split themselves in twain, creating Ren, the Goddess of Sea and Sky, and Gol, the God of Earth and Flame. The two new gods loved each other dearly, continuing their parent's work of creating wonders both big and small for each other to admire.
Then, when the world was full of life, Gol and Ren diverted their efforts towards their greatest creations. Working in concert, the two gods shaped man, then elf, then dwarf. They bestowed upon their children the gift of free will and sent them to populate the world they created. However, as the races seemed incapable of truly flourishing. It quickly became apparent that the fostering of such life would require more specialized help. Just as that which created them could not bring the spark of life to the oceans and the seas, they were incapable of creating the more complex elements required for these intelligent forms of life to flourish and so, Gol and Ren embraced one last time, before shattering themselves into the mortal gods.
These Gods then walked the world as we do. They traveled, fought, loved, and experienced the world as mortals in order to discern the true nature of their domains. However, as their power approached its zenith, as did their animosity towards one another. The mortal gods were not unlike mortals themselves. There were just gods, cruel gods, harsh gods, lenient gods, gods who sought to create, as well as gods who sought to destroy. Due to their creation stemming from two opposing halves, no god existed without an anthesis to everything that they stood for. Tensions arose, and it was not long before lines were drawn and the gods went to war. For a hundred years, the mortals of the world suffered in a bloody stalemate. Recognizing this, the gods eventually held an assembly in an attempt to reach an accord and safeguard creation. For thirteen days and thirteen nights, each god spoke their piece, seeking to find some compromise that would return balance to the world. No mortal knows who broke the ceasefire, though it hardly matters. Shortly after the last god had finished, the assembly broke out into a grand melee. Each god proceeded to duel their counterpart in single combat, ending in each god striking down their counterpart and absorbing their divine essence. With this, however, came the other god's portfolio and ideals, and soon after the gods found themselves unstable, incapable of maintaining physicality due to the contradiction inherent in their existence. And so, the mortal gods lost their physical forms and vanished into the aether, never to directly contact mortals again.