Hey Game Fans, we’re taking a look at some world building ideas and concepts for the home setting i run. If you’ve checked out my other world building articles, this is the setting that focuses on Lakeport and the larger world around it. Today i’m going to take a look at one of the more curious goddesses for the setting, Gemera, The Lady of Life. Before i get started on Gemera herself, let me give you a little background for the gods of this world.
Broadly speaking, the gods divide themselves into a variety of groupings and factions, but the grouping i am concerned about today is the old gods and the new gods. The Old gods predate one of the most important conflicts of the setting, the Fey War. These are the gods that originally found this world and shaped it to their designs and interests. They shaped the great forests and mountains, and populated the world with creatures in their own image. The first Gods to walk the world were the gods of Giantkind, the Fey themselves, and the three Elder Wyrms. A few other gods would appear after this first establishment, most notably Ahrimaius, the God of Creation. These are the Gods of antiquity, and they made the world the way it was, for good or for ill.
The Fey War began as internal issue between a small fey enclave and their neighbors. It spiraled out of control to a level of violence and bloodshed that would haunt the old places of the world forever. At the darkest point of the war, when the Me’Ah’Chin hordes looked ready to take the fight to the Gods themselves, the eldest of the Fey Gods, Grandfather Oak, cast the most powerful magic anyone had ever seen. He summoned heroes and champions from across time and space to the Garden where Oak had planted his first seeds. He made them a simple offer. If they would turn back the tide of darkness and save the world, he would bestow upon the seeds of godhood, and make them the new gods of the world.
Heroes to the end, most of these people died during the war to liberate the world. Heroes from thousands of worlds and cultures fought, bled, and died in a distant land to save it from the most terrible monsters they had ever encountered. When the last battle had been fought, and the dead tallied, less than fifty of the thousands of heroes and champions were still standing. A few would succumb to lingering injuries sustained in the war, and their number would be diminished even further by a tragic incident.
The survivors returned to the Garden, and Grandfather Oak kept his word. Each hero or champion became the living embodiment of an idea or a race. One by one, the new Gods and Goddesses organized themselves, and set about the work of trying to heal the lingering damage the war had caused. Some places were never completely healed, and there are distant parts of the world that still think that ancient war rages….but that’s a story for another time.
Gemera, The Wellspring
History
Before the War, Gemera was a scientist working in a distant plane of existence. Her life was a dreary one, studying tiny organisms in a lab, watching what they did, and recording every observable aspect of their lives. During one of her experimentations, she was overcome by a toxin that no one had previously encountered, and she would have died had it not been for the intervention of one of the Watchers. Strange, enigmatic beings, the Watchers have been observing the world of Lakeport for a very long time. This is one of the few times they’ve been known to intercede for anyone. She healed very quickly, and developed unusual abilities. Her call from Grandfather Oak came swiftly and soon she was among many heroes and heroines who’d been called.
During the War, She spent her days studying the Me’Ah’Chin to see how they functioned and to find a way to end them. Her less natural abilities gave her the power to heal grievous wounds and create new allies for the battlefields. She spent many years developing the perfect hunters of the Me’Ah’Chin, and they were responsible for destroying many of the outlying Foundries in strange environments. Her minions could develop the abilities to survive strange, terrible environments by being exposed to them.
After the War, Gemera turned her attentions to healing the devastation that had covered the world. Life forms had been damaged by the Me’Ah’Chin, degrading their very essences. She and her servants have spent the balance of their time in the world repairing the damage they could and encouraging new life to grow.
Relations with Others
Gemmera is popular among the rest of the pantheon, and her ability to give the animating energy to new plants and animals is an amazing currency to trade amongst the others. She gives freely of this currency to most, but she does reserve judgment on the creations of Courvail, the goddess of time. The two have a long simmering dispute about the potency of life, and it usually drags Oskar into the middle (A role he doesn’t enjoy, as both goddesses claim him as a husband).
Relations with Servants
Gemera’s servants are typically sent on errands to ensure that life is working the way it’s supposed to: creatures are born, grow to maturity, and die. A few are tasked with developing new and more interesting forms of life, and seeing how they survive in unusual environments. A very select few are responsible for watching over the life forms that Gemera deemed too dangerous to have loose in the world.
Relations with Mortals
Gemera is typically aloof towards mortals. She doesn’t particularly care about sentient creatures as they represent a portion of her chosen domain. The few mortals that follow her study strange and unusual wild animals and plants, and are often experts in both. They also show a tendency towards mercy and compassion, serving as healers and doctors to some communities.
Unusual Sayings
“Life is more than just plants and animals...it’s the driving force that reshapes the world around us” Gemera still clings to her roots as a scientist, and spends as much time exploring the origins and fundamental truths of how life works in order to unlock even more complex mysteries.
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