Godspouts

Paradoxes, they are. Symbols of the folly of the gods, and yet crucial to our continued survival. See them, then, and respect the lesson they stand to teach us. Actions have consequences. Those undertaken in haste, the most lasting consequences of all.

— Father Ingram, Priest of the Cathedral of Vulkram, on the Godspouts

When the earthen god Malephesh split the world in two, he expended much of his power in repairing the damage he'd done. The planet was kept from drifting further apart, and great walls were erected to held the seas in, but these were imperfect solutions. Ocean waters are not a still thing, and even a divine wall can not keep them in entirely. Millions upon millions of gallons of water are still constantly sloshing over the sides to this day, to the point that they are able to consistently feed a second ocean a whole world away. Malephesh chose, in his final fleeting moments and with what power remained within him, to solve this problem in an oddly circuitous fashion. Rather than further containing the water, he set up a means of replacing it.

The Godspouts, as his answer to this problem came to be called, are enormous geysers of water that seem to manifest out of nothing from somewhere high in Teicna's atmosphere. They pour continuously down onto the surface, generally into oceans and seas, but in rare cases they've been placed inland instead. A number of small ones even managed to be misplaced over the Tear itself, causing them to counteract their very purpose by dumping directly down into the chasm along with the oceans they're meant to replace. It's an incredibly impractical system by nearly every measure, frequently seen as the delusional imaginings of a dying god, but it's difficult to say they don't do the job they were made for.

Interestingly, the water of the Godspouts is fresh, rather than salt water. While this has been a literal godsend in the regions where they've appeared over land - as they provide clean drinking water in a few places that otherwise lacked it - it's steadily begun to lower the salinity of the world's oceans. The process is slow enough that most sea life has been able to adapt over time, but it's led to some rather strange encounters as normally ocean-bound creatures have grown acclimated enough to fresh water to begin creeping up into rivers and lakes.

Notable Godspouts

While all of the Godspouts attract attention in some form or another purely by being what they are, a number of them have become particularly ingrained into the cultures of the species surrounding them, becoming far more than simple object lessons and sources of water.

• Lebenregen

A relatively small spout pouring into a major lake in central Duwallen, Lebenregen quickly turned that lake into a full-blown inland sea, now known as the Lebensee. In the process, it also flooded a significant number of Menschen cities, though thankfully slowly enough for the inhabitants to evacuate with minimal casualties. With the sea's average depth now normalized, cities have once again sprung up along its coast, including the Menschen capital of Sturmstadt. Expeditions are frequently sent down into the depths of the sea in hopes of salvaging art, history, and knowledge for the old towns that were lost.

• The Lifeblood of Sharast

Spawned in the deserts of northern Sur'Dhanza, a pillar of fresh water was accepted eagerly as a life-giving miracle by the then-nomadic Kiarren. With the help of a number of gods who ascended in the wake of Malephesh's passing, the lizard-folk founded the city of Sharast around the small lake that the Godspout created, even building a few of their most important structures directly within its spray. The city now serves as a center of commerce and political power in Sur'Dhanza.

• Dalensh's Curse

This Godspout appeared within the sheltered cove of central Tirpazk and was immediately seen as a sign of the wretched Water god, Dalensh, intruding on the sacred lands of the Alfilant's one and only god, Malephesh. Their ancient religion poisoned by the lies of the the False Elemental, Evarsti, they see the thing as both a blight upon their world and an indirect means of supporting the endless war they now believe is taking place between the two ancient elemental gods. Condemned criminals and heretics are offered the opportunity to throw themselves from Tirpazk's mountain walls and into the Godspout, with the belief that it will take them to Dalensh's domain, and from there offer them a chance to redeem themselves by hindering the watery god's plans.