The Divine War

A war that has waged across all of the planes of existence that make up the Sundered Shores for centuries, the Divine War is a cataclysmic conflict between the gods and goddesses of the world as individual deities and factions that have formed vie with one another for supremacy.
During the course of this conflict many lives have been lost and forces have been drawn in from across the other planes of existence, from the material plane to the hellish plane, to fight for one side or another. To this day, the Divine War looks as if it will be a conflict without end as the gods and goddesses increasingly fight themselves into a stalemate centuries in the making.

The Conflict

Prelude

The Divine War began shortly after the Slaying of Prota. With the first divine being dead, a power vacuum quickly emerged amongst the various deities, as they tried to work out who was responsible for Prota's death, and who should take his place as the ruler of the other Divines and through this become the de facto ruler of the world.
What began as a peaceful and reasoned discussion quickly descended into anarchy as it became apparent that the deities were split as to which of the two most senior of their number and younger brothers of Prota, Astartes or Polephemon should succeed to the Divine Throne.
Eventually, it was decided that the two should fight to see which was superior and Astartes, as the divine personification of war, felt that his place was assured, given the nature of his divine domain. Sure enough, when the two came to blows, though it was a hard fought battle and Polephemon fought bravely and savagely, it was clear that Astartes was close to winning.
However, before either Polephemon could concede, or the winning blow could be struck, Astartes was struck on the back of the head and knocked senseless by a rock thrown by the god of Mischief and Trickery Lormaniss. Lormaniss deftly and swiftly made his escape and with his disappearance arguing broke out amongst the other deities. Some argued that Astartes had been about to win, and should therefore be crowned the victor, whilst others argued that this was not fair as Polephemon had not conceded and the fight had not been declared as over.
A mass brawl broke out amongst the assembled deities, which sparked the increasingly aggressive confrontations that spiralled out of control into the Divine War.

Deployment

Initially, the deities formed into two distinct groups, the Astartians, who supported the cause of Astartes, and the Polephemites, who supported the claim of Polephemon. These two sides retreated to the palaces of their leaders on the Celestial Plane and led their armies of Celestials into battle against one another.
However, it did not take long for Divines on both sides to start trying to cultivate favour amongst the denizens of the lower planes, the Material Plane in particular. Sadly, this quickly morphed into the deities starting to punish communities that would not side with them, often with withdrawal of favour, or worse violence and destruction.
In the over eight hundred years that the war has raged on, all of the planes of existence have felt its deprivation and suffering as the sides involved continue to try and claim the upper hand, by claiming that they have the loyalty, or fealty of an entire plane of existence to strengthen their claim to rule - something that no side has yet achieved.

Emergence of New Factions

Whilst the initial stages of the war had been between two sides, the Astartians and the Polephemites, that fact that the conflict began to drag on for so long, naturally drew some of the other deities into thinking that they would be able to succeed, where Astartes and Polephemon could not.
Just over three hundred years into the war, with no end in sight, and both sides equally matched, a third faction emerged, known as the Siblings, which was a coalition of the sons and daughters of both Astartes and Polephemon, who abandoned their respective paternal sides, hoping to forge a middle road and break the deadlock, as well as claiming for themselves the power that otherwise seemed unreachable to any of them, lesser deities.
The appearance of the Siblings; a group made up of the children of Astartes - Jore and Hvanmara and the children of Polephemon - Malfrost and Samenta did little to change the course of the war, other than deepen the divides and spark new grudges and vendettas that made the prospect of peace even more remote.
Over two hundred years later, in year 569 of the Divine War, another faction emerged, the Dark Pact, an alliance between Venstariss, the god of lies and deceit and Fokrella, the goddess of pain and suffering, both minor deities, who had grown weary of fighting for another's cause and wished to seize power for themselves. Whilst their appearance too, did little to bring the war to a conclusion, it did introduce another, more malevolent edge to the conflict. Though it has not been confirmed, nor denied, it is though that Venstariss and Fokella also included denizens from the Hellish Plane in their pact, to bolster their forces and help bring them victory, in exchange for new rights on the Material Plane.

Onlookers

Not all of the gods and goddesses have been drawn into the Divine War. Some have chosen to watch from the sidelines, refusing to fight because they believe that the conflict is ill advised, against their nature or simply foolish. Some however, choose to not participate in the fighting because they wish to use the war to advance their own causes throughout the planes of existence, using the fighting as a cover to enact their own plans and schemes apart from the other deities.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

Year 0 of the Divine War

Conflict Result

Ongoing

Repercussions

As the Divine War is still being fought without an end in sight, it is still impossible to state what outcomes or results there will be from the conflict, but as the war has raged on for so long, it is possible to note the effects that is has had on the world, and the Material Plane in particular.
Initially, the various factions, hoped that they would be able to gain the upper hand by swaying the minds of the nations and empires of the Material Plane to support them, the idea being that a majority vote of confidence in either Astartes or Polephemon from the denizens of the Material Plane would break the deadlock. However, all it did was draw the ire of whichever side a particular place chose, or the ire of both if no choice was forthcoming.
As a result the mighty nations and empires that were in existence on the Material Plane at the time of Prota's death have now been destroyed and their people's scattered. In their place are vast stretches of wilderness, some completely devastated due to being used as battlegrounds for the gods, and a hodgepodge of city-states and surviving outposts that once belonged to mighty empires.

Belligerents

The Astartians

• The Astartians

Led by

• Astartes

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

To see the god of War Astartes placed on the Divine Throne.

The Polephemites

• The Polephemites

Led by

• Polephemon

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

To see the god of the Sea and Storms Polephemon placed on the Divine Throne.

The Siblings

• The Siblings

Led by

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

To see power shared between the god of Strength & Vitality, Jore, the goddess of the Forge and Craft Hvanmara, Malfrost the god of Winter and Hardship and the goddess of Wisdom Samenta and the conflict brought to an end.

The Dark Pact

• The Dark Pact

Led by

• Fokrella
• Venstariss

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

To see power shared between the god of Lies and Deceit Venstariss and the goddess of Pain and Suffering Fokrella