Ygg & Drasil

God of Life & Death

The god Yggdrasil is an oddity among the Pantheons of Isekai, this entity is almost never referred to by its conjoined name save for some druidic and Treefolk societies. Yggdrasil has a split personality or rather it is two gods that inhabit the same form and have incredibly different standards and personalities, often inhabiting both ends of a volatile spectrum when they interact with the other gods. For this reason, they are always referred to by one personality or the other with Ygg being known as the more proactive and kind personality and Drasil being known as the more passive and sinister personality. Ygg belongs to three separate Pantheons due to its extensive power and connection to the natural world, these are known as the Pantheon of Life, the Pantheon of Nature, and the Pantheon of Death. Drasil belongs to three separate Pantheons due to its extensive power and connection to the life cycle of mortals, these are known as the Pantheon of Death, the Pantheon of Order, and the Pantheon of Life.
Ygg is considered to be the pinnacle of the Pantheon of Life because it is said that this god sustains the life force of all creatures, their will to live, and the spark that lets them experience emotion. While Drasil is considered to be the pinnacle of the Pantheon of Death because it imposes the restriction of a life span on all but the most powerful of creatures and even they only cast off the shackles of age, all creatures can experience death because of the influence of this god without regard to how powerful they may become or how long they may try to cheat it. Ygg and Drasil are depicted together in all instances, with the referenced personality being the focus of the depiction through a contrast of light and color with Ygg inhabiting the brighter incarnation and Drasil inhabiting the darker incarnation. Ygg is depicted as a golden tree under a bright sun with a harsh shadow that has creeping tendrils of darkness reaching into the areas that the sunlight touches while Drasil is depicted as a black tree under a full moon with a shadow that seems to be made of light that scorches the ground nearby with fire. The true form of this entity is understood to be a colossal tree, the likes of which have roots growing through all realms and places where life can be sustained including the bottom of the sea, Káto, the Wandering Forest and even the personal realms of other gods.
The tenets and standards of Ygg involve courage, the will to survive, and a love for the natural world with an emphasis on the freedom of creatures to forge their own destiny against all odds. Drasil instead cares for order, reverence, and an understanding of one's place in the natural cycle of life and death while those who would seek to usurp the natural order are marked as distinct enemies of this god. The attitude of these gods is almost never in accordance with each other, it is said that they wield extreme power when a topic comes about once every million years when they settle a dispute between them and can act on one impulse. Those that seek to worship one of these gods will often pick based upon where they fall on the spectrum of Life and Freedom versus Order and Death, regardless of which you decide to follow explicitly, you are considered a branch of the great world tree to the one that you worship and you are considered a fallen branch to the one that you do not.

Divine Domains

Ygg is involved in three separate domains due to its connection to nature and to the inherent life force of all living creatures. In order of relevance, it is associated with the Pantheons of Life, Nature, and Death. Drasil is involved in three separate domains as well but this is because of its adherence to an order of the natural world and for being the driving force behind a cycle of both life and death. In order of relevance, it is associated with the Pantheons of Death, Order, and Life. Clerics, Druids, and Paladins of Ygg or Drasil are not uncommon in the world because these gods will accept almost any that wish to call upon them because they are connected to all life on Isekai. The only societies that refer to them as a single entity are those of druidic disciplines or from the Treefolk race.

Life

Ygg is considered the pinnacle of the Pantheon of Life, it is the driving force behind all living creatures and gives them the ability to experience emotions as well as manifest the will to survive. As the pinnacle deity, it wields the most power and is called upon for all manners of healing rituals, resurrection spells, and even blessings upon children so that they may live a lifelong life full of both talent and abundance. All other gods of life are considered either more specialized or weaker when it comes to healing and dealing with the spark of life that permeates all living creatures, while gods that create races have an innate connection to those races Ygg has a connection to all living creatures. When it comes to life its focus is on the vibrancy and strength of the spark that drives all living creatures, giving them both emotions and free will that Ygg wishes to cultivate so that they can reach full stature throughout the journey called life.
Drasil is considered to be a god within the Pantheon of Life because all things that live must eventually die. When it comes to aspects of the Pantheon of Life its influence extends to all creatures that are on the verge of death or the threshold that can be marked as neither completely alive nor completely dead, Drasil is considered to be a specialized deity that few call out to for the purpose of the Pantheon of Life. When it comes to life its focus is on creatures that should rightfully live because they have been wronged by an event or a creature that does not belong to Isekai.

Death

Ygg is considered to be a god within the Pantheon of Death because all things that live must eventually die. When it comes to aspects of the Pantheon of Death its influence extends to all creatures that are on the verge of death or the threshold that can be marked as neither completely alive nor completely dead, Ygg is considered to be a specialized deity that creatures call out to when they fear the looming shadow of the afterlife. When it comes to death its focus is on creatures that still have the will to fight, struggle, and survive despite enormous odds whether it be motivated by a task that they must complete or simply by an immense fear of passing into the unknown waters of death.
Drasil is considered the pinnacle of the Pantheon of Death, it is the being that dictates all living creatures must eventually come to an end whether it be through long years or through the destruction of their body. As the pinnacle diety, it wields the most power and is invoked when someone wants to send a message beyond the grave or to conscript willing souls into service as powerful Undead. This entity also safeguards the souls of those that have passed on and do wish to return to their bodies via resurrection magic of any kind. All other gods of death are considered either more specialized or weaker when it comes to safeguarding the dead, instilling the idea of mortality in the races of the world, and wielding power that can bring an end to the life of even the most seemingly unkillable creatures in Isekai. When it comes to death its focus is on the aspect of mortality, putting a stop to those that would cheat death and the rightful passage of the soul from the material realm to the afterlife though where the soul passes over to after that will be the concern of the deity that they worship.

Nature

Ygg is considered to be a god within the Pantheon of Nature because of its connection to all living things, through the vast root systems of the tree this deity experiences the emotions of all realms that exist. When it comes to aspects of the Pantheon of Nature its influence is wide-reaching but this deity takes the role of an observer in most cases and connects with the plant life of Isekai in addition to the creatures that live within it, seeing them as no different because they are all life forms. When it comes to nature its focus is on maintaining the spark in all life and urging creatures to live, move, and pursue an enduring life without giving up and succumbing to death without running, fighting, or trying everything possible to live.

Order

Drasil is considered to be a god within the Pantheon of Order because of its regulation of the cycle of life and death as a natural law that mortals and celestial beings alike must abide by. When it comes to aspects of the Pantheon of Order its influence extends to all mortals in the form of aging, growing weaker, and eventually dying but its influence touches all creatures that are alive because they have the ability to be killed and have their soul pass over into an afterlife. When it comes to order, its focus is on ensuring that no one can truly cheat death forever, all things that live will one day die and everything shall return to dust whether by age or through conflict and once their souls pass to their rightful place in the afterlife they receive both respect and protection against things that would tether them to the material realm through unnatural means.

Holy Books & Codes

There is a holy book attributed to Ygg that is called the Book of Life and the holy book attributed to Drasil is called the Book of the Dead.
The Book of Life fell out of history and use long before the formation of kingdoms and countries ruled by the Elder Races but its teachings and copied pages live on as texts that Clerics and Paladins learn from. This book contains all knowledge of healing magic that exists in the world from the power of healing words to the ritual of true resurrection and beyond. It is said that all magic centered around restoring life to a creature, curing disease, and trumping the power of death was derived from the Book of Life. This book is rumored to be written in the Celestial language with pages made from the leaves of the great tree itself but the contents are far beyond mere magic and rituals. Legend says that the secrets to complete immortality lie within the pages of the book, the ability to unlock the full potential of even a mortal soul and in the process gain eternal youth that is enjoyed by only a few creatures in the material realm. Such knowledge and more was considered to be too important to be left in the hands of mortals and Varell decided that it must be banished and hidden away though he could not destroy the book and Ygg would not allow it to leave the material realm of Isekai for a reason that is lost to history.
The Book of the Dead was a relic that appeared in both legend and history on the Southern Continent of Isekai. It is said that the ancient pyramids were built as centers for rituals described within the pages which contained all manner of magic for necromancy and life after death. This book was said to contain the intricate secrets of mortality, death, and vast knowledge of the afterlife. This book dealt with the nature of the soul and the connection that is held to the magic of Isekai, how the soul was incredibly hard to destroy and could be tethered willingly to the material realm through the use of dangerous rituals and sacrifice of an unknown value. Legend says that the secrets to manipulate souls and inflict the idea of mortality upon even a Djinn or a Deity lie within the pages of this book, making it one of the most dangerous texts to ever exist because it affirms the absolute concepts of death and tells of how all life will eventually come to an end when ten events have been completed. Early in the history of the Elder Races, the location of this text was lost, it is said that it now resides within the hands of a Deity but the name of that being has never been given to mortals nor recorded in a place that their eyes may happen upon it so that they may not know the absolute end of all life.

Divine Classification

Deity

Religions

• Knights of Yggdrasil
• Order of the Ashen Tree

Realm

The Root

Ruled Locations

• Celestial Realms

Divine Symbols & Sigils

The primary symbol of Ygg and Drasil is a large tree, with branches full of leaves with a circle drawn about it to symbolize the world. The color of this tree is either golden to emphasize the personality of Ygg or black to emphasize the personality of Drasil, only in rare cases will the symbol be silver to emphasize harmony between the two personalities and invoke the full name of Yggdrasil which symbolizes harmony between life and death as a cycle. Other symbols include a large leaf with five points that has a circle drawn about it, the leaf will be colored gold for Ygg or black for Drasil but quite strangely a silver leaf is not used to denote Yggdrasil as a singular entity, there are no secondary symbols to denote the idea of a harmonized existence between the two personalities.

Tenets of Faith

To be considered among the Branches of Ygg or Drasil requires a commitment to one idea or the other. To life or to death, to freedom or to acceptance of order, to struggle for life or seek protection after death. Because of this contrast between the two, it is said that Ygg and Drasil are in constant opposition, pulling and seeking to become the dominant personality but with neither able to gain the upper hand over the other so they spend their existence in eternal discourse and conflict.
To be a branch of Ygg one must regard all life as precious, worth saving, and in need of nurturing. Shelter it against the shadow of death and do not let it be consumed by fear, rather instill hope in it and regard it as your greatest treasure.
To be a branch of Drasil one must regard order and the cycle of death as law, souls that pass shall be sent to their afterlife in reverence regardless of the destination that they arrive at and even the animated bodies of the dead shall be used with the utmost respect. Do not fear death as the end of life but see it as the eventual end that all creatures must face, united and without regard to station or wealth, all things die and all things shall cease to live.

Holidays

Neither Ygg nor Drasil has any holidays given to them. Rather Ygg is often associated with the birth of a child, where it is worshipped rituals of long life and good luck will be conducted so that the child may be filled with the spark of life from the World Tree. Drasil is often associated with the funeral of a person, rituals to ensure that a creature cannot be resurrected as Undead are conducted and according to the culture and faith of the deceased, there are ceremonies observed that are meant to send them peacefully to the realm of their god or to plead on their behalf if they lived without dedication to their faith.