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 oldest gods for the setting, Haderack. Before i get started on him, 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.
Haderack, The Wyrm that Shakes the World
History
When the Fey shaped the world, they were swiftly visited by other beings of cosmic importance. The oldest of these beings was Haderack, an ancient dragon from beyond the horizon of known worlds. In his company were two younger Wyrms, his charges during a time of fostering. Haderack spent most of his time exploring this new world and studying it for his own inscrutable ends. He trafficked in knowledge and ideas with other Gods and set about an arcane ritual of unknown intent. When he came to collect his charges to help him finish the ritual, he found them together with clutches of eggs they’d birthed together. They had broken the most sacred laws of their kind, and Haderack fell upon them with terrible rage.
That battle was terribly fought and in his arrogance, Haderack assumed he was capable of handling the young Wyrms. They defeated him, and left his broken body on the summit of the mountain where they had made their nest. Sustained by his rage, Haderack’s spirit transcended his body and his lifeless form rose again. Chased by the rays of the Sun, Haderack dug deep beneath the land and fostered his rage in the dark places of the world.
Haderack avoided the Fey War (and during it’s climactic battles, most of the few remaining worshippers were destroyed by the violence). In its aftermath, he revealed himself to a few sects of kobolds and dragonborn. He fostered them in the darkness below, and soon his church began to grow. HIs influence started to spread slowly, but in darkened caves and places where sunlight never falls, his church can be found.
Relations with Others
Haderack has many enemies and few allies among the Gods. Only the god of Giant kind is sympathetic to his situation, and his churches offer refuges to Haderack’s worshippers. These warrens are often extremely violent, bloody places where Ogres and Dragonborn tear into one another with the ferocity of their makers.
Relations with Servants
Haderack has spent most of his time and energy conjuring servants from the distant realm he came from. These bizarre spirit dragons take many forms and myriad abilities. He keeps them extremely close, and never sends more than one to handle a task at a time.
Relations with Mortals
Haderack is precisely focused on a few mortal groups. Dragons are the primary target of his wrath, and his minions are always tracking the lairs of dragons and seeking out the hiding places of Dragon nobles. He uses both Kobolds and Dragonborn as his primary minions in these hunts, and he has an active church that is slowly spreading across the world. Anytime he can hurt the churches of the Mother of Dragons and the Lord of Dragonkind he sends his best agents to the task.
Unusual Sayings
“The first betrayal is the greatest revelation. Embrace your bitterness and draw strength from it” Haderack has never forgiven the young Wyrms for their betrayal. Eons of planning were destroyed in that moment and Haderack has spent the balance of his time planning an exquisite and final resolution.
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