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 we’re going to a different approach because the Wanderers worship a host of different spirits and elemental powers that are similar to Gods and Goddesses, but aren’t quite as coherently defined as the other deities we’ve discussed.
Often operating in loose groupings of similarly powered entities, these spirits/elementals/ancients represent differing aspects of the same core concepts. The Archangels from the highest heavens represent different aspects of Goodness while the Elemental Lords and Ladies of Fire and Flame represent different aspects of Elemental Fire. Each of those groups has adherents, and some of them even have personal worshippers of their own. Each of these creatures is immensely powerful, capable of granting divinely inspired spells to clerics as well as empowering pacts with Warlocks. Before i get started on them, 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.
The Ten Thousand Voices
History
Broadly speaking, The Ten Thousand Voices are a combination of powerful other planar creatures that are aspected to a specific plane. Free Willed Angels, Lords of Chaos, Noble Genies, and a host of other powerful creatures all fall into this category. Not powerful enough on their own to challenge the Lords and Ladies of the Divine Court, these beings are immensely powerful and more than capable of destroying a lesser creature with minimal effort.
Each has a greater aspect that determines the allegiance of the being, and then most have specializations of their own. They often group themselves according to their greater aspect, and alliances exist across these lines. The Angelic Concordance, the Bleak Reapers, and the Court of Flickering Fire are examples of groups of these beings categorized by their greater aspect, with Good, Death, and Fire represented in the groups above.
Some of them serve the Lords and Ladies of the Court as their emissaries and servants, while others go their own way. How a given being reacts is going to depend on their specialization as much as their aspect. For example, the Death Spirit Comfort of the Grave is a friendly spirit who represents the peace and calm of the dead. Its counterpart Terror of the Gravecall is a particularly vindictive spirit that latches on to the people who are afraid of dying and death. They exist as a part of the Bleak Reapers, but their relations with others are wildly different.
Relations with Others
Broadly speaking, the Ten Thousand Voices get along with other beings that don’t have diametrically opposed points of view. Earth and Air, Water and Fire, Life and Death all have conflicts based on the inherent opposition of their perspectives. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, and it very much depends on the particulars of the given being in question.
Relations with Servants
Only the most powerful of the Voices have extra planar servants of their own, and most see them as a remarkably rare resources that can be used in cases of dire emergency. They can replace lost minions, but it takes time and energy. They are more likely to try and manipulate others to do their work, and mortals are a favorite catspaw.
Relations with Mortals
Because the Ten Thousand Voices represent such a diverse range of interests and perspectives, tracking their individual interactions with mortals is difficult. There are communities that worship them as a polytheistic pantheon of their own, offering sacrifices and rituals to the whole of the Ten Thousand. These communities are often seen as superstitious by their neighbors, but their faith is a valuable resource to the beings they worship, and they are watched over by them.
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