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 serious goddesses for the setting, Asha, the Keeper of the Gates. Before i get started on her, 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.
Asha, Keeper of the Gates
History
Before the Fey War, on a distant world, a brilliant conjurer studied the boundaries between the planes of reality and found cracks in them. Using these cracks, she was able to conjure creatures of great power and use them to her own ends. She also noticed that areas where creatures were frequently summoned weakened the boundary between worlds. Her last quest before she was summoned herself by Grandfather Oak was a powerful ritual that strengthed the boundaries between the worlds and hopefully sealed away these extraplanar interlopers.
During the Fey War, Asha used her command of conjuration and knowledge of the planes to great effect. Summoned creatures fought and died by the hundreds to further the end of the Me’Ah’Chin. Using exotic energy and resources from other worlds, she helped others build powerful weapons and weave potent spells of killing energy to aid the war effort. Her greatest failure during the war was her inability to bring the Elemental Primevals into the war. A few joined the war, but by and large, they refused. The war lasted longer as a result, and Asha blamed the Elementals.
After the war ended, Asha turned her attention back to the Elementals that had abandoned them during the war. With her new abilities, she severed the conduits that kept the Elemental Primevals tied to the world of Lakeport, and offered them a choice: Leave and never return, or stay and fade away. Most left, but some of the Primevals stayed and entered a deep slumber. Asha watches over them, and the Wanderers who draw their power from the conduits they used to be. She watches over the boundaries between the planes, letting the energies work their way through the system she inherited.
Relations with Others
Asha works very closely with Bannock. The two have a shared interest in keeping a ruckus involving Extraplanar creatures from happening. She also maintains a strangely cordial relationship with Hassur, who should be chomping at the bit to get his minions out of Sheogrol to cause mischief in the world. The Elemental Primevals don’t have a representation at court, but each one of these ancient creatures has a varying level of animosity towards her.
Relations with Servants
Asha’s Servants fall into two primary categories. She uses a specific type of extraplanar creature called a Harthkra (that she built for just such a purpose) to watch over the reality pockets of the few remaining Elemental Primevals and gates across the world. They are perfectly attuned to the area they are assigned to watch over and are quite ardent in their pursuits of keeping people from bothering them. She uses a 16 legged spider creature (so far unnamed) to police the boundaries between the planes, and this creature is perfectly capable of sealing cracks in the boundaries. All of these creatures are deeply loyal to her.
Relations with Mortals
Asha really only actively engages with the Wanderers. They form the majority of her church and are the primary mechanism she uses to interact with the world at large. Each one of her temples is a haven for lore about the planes, and the clergy she has teach responsible use of knowledge, especially when interacting with extra planar creatures of all types. She has an order of Paladins devoted to hunting down and banishing extra planar creatures that are running amok in the world.
Unusual Sayings
“All Doorways lead to somewhere” Asha knows that tinkering with the many portals, doorways and gates across the world is usually a bad idea, and even if you know where the doorway goes, it’s a distinct possibility that you don’t know what’s waiting for you on the other side.
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