The Divine Decree, the Decree of Godhood
Purpose
The Divine Decree was delivered from Krathum the Defiler, after he had conquered the entire continent of Aitreas in the mid-third century AT and held it for three full decades. It was an act of such blasphemy and heresy that it would, in a way, lead to his downfall. In it, he claimed that he would subsume the pantheon and become the one true God on Emaxus. He proclaimed the founding of his Eternal Empire and the beginning of his work towards ascension. It was his Decree of Godhood.
Historical Details
Background
Krathum the Defiler was once a Sorcerer-King known as Riktor, who had built a prosperous and beautiful kingdom that spanned the modern-day continent of Aitreas. But in the annihilation of the Reckoning, his kingdom crumbled and he was believed dead. In truth, he had taken his capital city and desperately shunted it out of Emaxus, where it landed in the Shadowfell, land of darkness and nightmares. There, he went mad, blaming his old friends in the Pantheon for abandoning him to ruin, believing that they had purposefully not come to his aid when their divine enemies laid waste to his people and his lands.
Over centuries, he became Krathum the Defiler, a powerful lich who experimented in the foundations of artificy, creating a form of magic known as necroficy, which combined necromancy and arcane technology to create unimaginable horrors. On 350 AT, he had prepared for long enough, having rebuilt his capital into Zanizer, the Buried City, and filled it with an undead army of technological horrors. He brought Zanizer back to Emaxus, and began conquering the disparate peoples and kingdoms that had risen among the ashes of his ancient kingdom.
All of Aitreas fell within the decade, and a long, cruel night began. He suppressed the worship of the Pantheon, and actively sought out and destroyed pre-Reckoning relics and holy sites. After 30 years, he began the final stage of his plan: to fully wipe the Pantheon from history by replacing them. And so, on 389 AT, he proclaimed the Divine Decree, the Decree of Godhood.
History
The blasphemy and audacity of the Divine Decree at last roused the followers of the gods on other continents, who, though they had long been watching Krathum's rise, had never had the numbers or the fire to bring the fight to him. On the continent of Iotura, Ralla Kindguard would rally an army that would be engraved in the annals of history. The Divine Decree would rouse so much opposition to Krathum that Ralla arrived with an army large enough to begin a continent-wide war, dubbed the Fragmented War. The Fragmented War began in 390 AT, and lasted six long years as Ralla and her followers pushed Krathum's forces back and laid waste to his empire of desolate lands and enslaved villages, liberating all they found. In 396 AT, they defeated Krathum atop his Blighted Throne in Zanizer, and the city was destroyed in a massive arcane explosion that annihilated northeastern Aitreas, creating the Fragmented Isles.
Public Reaction
The arrogance and heresy of Krathum was on full display in his Divine Decree, and the public outcry it caused inadvertently caused his downfall.
Legacy
The Divine Decree has largely been forced from public memory since the Fragmented War and Krathum's defeat, but its legacy rests in every ancient battlefield, every desecrated temple, and the Fragmented Isles themselves. Recently, it has been brought back to the attention of scholars and the greater world, as Archmage Aramoira of the Arcanul Ordinate included its full transcript in her book: The Complete History of Emaxus. She believes that to avoid a repeat of history and to remain truly vigilant of old threats, all must understand them.
Type
Decree, Religious
Medium
Psionic
Authoring Date
389 AT
I don't know about everyone else but, I think he was making a whole lotta sense.