Sparks of Divinity
Born from the veneration of the flame as a vessel for security, society and survival by the primitive tribes of the Plains of Sursrinth in ages long past, the Firekeeper has existed for a great deal longer than her extant worshippers understand.
Her long life and centricity of security and social order have helped to shape grand aspirations of a perfect order in which the worship of mortals was guaranteed and eternal if envisioned and implemented correctly.
Followed by the Starweaver, born from the fears and hopes of ill-fated tribes, and predated by the Hollow One, born from the fear, dread and uncertainty of the short-lived mortal tribes that drew near to death, the early societies that looked to Her were frightening by the standards of today, and it was the annihilation of such primitives that gave Her cause to find an accord with her Divine peers in order to preserve the people that looked to Them for guidance and protection.
A Game Without Victors
As the Starweaver grew strong with the fears of men, and the Hollow One grew strong with the grief of their families, the FIrekeeper drew strength from their hope, and it is that hope that compelled Her to recast the mold of savagery and desperation that mankind was trapped within.
The Starweaver was content with guiding mortals to weal, or more often than not, to woe. The Hollow One was content with taking his due from the inevitability of death. The Firekeeper had to prove to them both that there was more to gain from working together, and much at risk should they allow the vulnerable tribes to live and die as they had been, while being careful not to spark conflict between the forces of death and fate and risk the extinction of viable worshippers.
Extinction Event
With the coming of the Age of Agonies and the Doom of Abishal levied upon Mundus, many of the peoples that provided the deities with faith were wiped out in an instant, so many at once that the Hollow One Itself was moved to alarm, for though It may have been glutted on the drowned dead, so few yet lived that It was in danger of losing a foothold altogether. Starweaver likewise felt the thinning of the times, with most survivors abandoning their interest in prophecy for basic survival.
Srithal, Suranil and Auregil tribes survived the calamity, forming a desperate need for safe travel, and later, to wreak harm unto one another for the sake of survival, giving rise to the Wayfinder, who acted according to His nature in His infancy, using the insurmountable geographic isolation of the survivors to capitalise on the limited number of mortals by preventing interaction and dialogue between them. In this way, the Srithals were lost to the beleaguered triumvirate, and they were never able to be reunited to the other tribes again.
As the desperate need for social order became more apparent to the survivors, the influence of the Firekeeper grew significantly, until She was the dominant force among the Suranil and Auregil tribes, who sought new lands to call their own. With the neophyte Wayfinder set against Her, the fading tribes of mortals were at risk of complete extinction, so the Firekeeper struck a deal - She would not interfere with the developing society on Srithanon, and in exchange, the Wayfinder would join the triumvirate in accord, and work together to create a more stable society that would flourish across the ages.
As the Starweaver, Hollow One and Firekeeper withdrew from the lost Srithals, the Wayfinder joined the still-developing pantheon of gods, for better or worse.
The Pact Inferos
Upon death, the souls of fearful mortals were given to the Hollow One, as they believed that they would go to the land of the dead, where they would sleep, or suffer, or quest, or feast as the local custom would have them believe, and this fate was inescapable. All men died, any more quickly than others. This arrangement was satisfactory to the Hollow One, but starved the others of their most ardent worshippers, and, in the Firekeeper's eyes, prevented Them from truly working with and for their people to achieve great deeds.
At first, the Hollow One permitted the daemons of Its realm to respond to the deities they had served in life, but daemons, devoid of emotion or impetus, are poor leaders of reform and poor champions of divine sanctions. Still, this was enough for the Firekeeper to direct the growth of social reconstruction - by placing a greater value on the words, deeds and counsel of ancestors, and then having those ancestors deliver portents or chastisements, it was possible to interact quite personally with mortalkind. As daemons bear the shrouds of the Hollow One, Its influence was fortified with each manifestation, cementing Itself in the developing culture that the Firekeeper was so carefully nurturing.
After some time, after being so enshrined in the growing culture of the Suranils and Auregils, and seeing the progress being made by the Firekeeper and Starweaver, the Hollow One agreed to what the pantheon refers to as the Pact Inferos, whereby the angelic servants of the Firekeeper, as agents of order, would be authorised to redistribute the souls of any who pledged themselves to another deity in life. This offer came with several conditions, namely that the departed had to have been dedicated to the deity in life, that they demonstrate their dedication, that they must give their consent, and that they may only be removed immediately following their demonstration, which normally takes the form of voluntary immolation.
These conditions being met, the soul of the worshipper would be removed from the sway of the Hollow One and delivered to the deity of their life's dedication. This Pact Inferos, the Infernal Pact, enabled the other gods to deepen their religious cults and followings, lending additional stability to each deity and furthering mutual survival. Mortals that had offended the Hollow One in life are expected to make amends before embracing their chosen deity, often by serving the god of death for a time, or in extreme cases, are required to be obliviated before being delivered to their afterlives.
Daughters of Order
As the peoples of Suranil and Auregil began to thrive and develop, the progress of civilisation became an important preoccupation of chieftans, thanes and other leaders of the people, birthing the Architect. As knowledge, skill, learning and contest became ingrained in society, the pursuit of such birthed the Ardent. As social and cultural mores become more important, and conflicting dialogues surrounding arts, beauty and romance became more prominent, the Androgyne was birthed from the desires of the people. As the mysteries of the natural, metaphysical and spiritual worlds stretched on into infinity, the ways of the world became a puzzle and an ambition to the people, and from this sense of wonder, the Axis was born.
Being part of the needs of civilised peoples, these new divinities, though distinct entities of their own, were already inclined towards the cause of order, and as such, considered the Firekeeper to be a fortifying and unifying force for good, and as such, they rallied around Her. With new allies, the pantheon began to favour the Firekeeper, providing Her the support and longevity than the gods of death and fate had enjoyed for many centuries.
The Celestial Sphere
With the rise of new divinities with the good of the pantheon at the core of their interests, the Firekeeper began to plot and prepare, projecting a grand plan of achievement for the pantheon in the long term, discussing parts of her ambition with other divinities, and trying to discern how the plan will work out by interrogating the Starweaver.
The Celestial Sphere, the full details of which are known only to the Firekeeper, is a blueprint for the ideal, self-supporting pantheon.
Part of Her design was to raise the god Aurelius Primus to take the sphere of War, which She saw as the most important for the continued survival of their worship. She intends to see four more divine aspects to stabilize a balanced pantheon and society, requiring a god of servitude, a god of wealth and a god of great purpose before the inclusion of an opponent divinity to unite them against a common enemy.
Though it is impossible to predict the way and time for each of these to manifest, the Firekeeper works to kindle the flames of each of these divinities in due course, often working with the Starweaver to forge prophecy and omen to bring about Her intent, and sometimes battling against Him as He destroys Her efforts with His chaos.
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