The Godwar

Long ago, the Gods walked among mortals on Alteria. Every race has a different story as to why the Godwar started, and each are skewed in their own beliefs.

The Gods each decided that they should be the ones to decide Alteria’s fate, not just their own Plane. They had waged war with each other out in the Chaos, but Alteria was different – its essence was not as easily manipulated as the Chaos.

So it was that the Gods decided to raise armies of their followers to battle on fronts that they were not. Only Ith’Ir claimed neutrality of the War, allowing talks of territory claims, treatises and the like in the Neutral Plane, deciding it best to wait and see how things played out.

Each God vied for power and as they claimed victories on one front, two Gods would join forces to push them back in an endless, eight-way tug-of-war. To the Gods, it was all in good fun. To their followers, it was life and death.

The Abyssal Plane was heavily damaged in the event of the Godwar, leaving much of its surface to be broken apart. The Edge Sea made of lava became an endless waterfall that surrounded the few remaining bodies of land.

Many came close to claiming victory, but none so close as Quel’Lan. As aloof and lazy as her Dragons were, she had kept secret their mastery of magics and when all the other Gods were busy dealing with another front, she enacted a plan that Dershan was ignorant to and that Sermali had not forseen.

In one massive coup, Quel’Lan claimed conduits across the Planes, each Dragon showing off its mastery by pushing back the power of the followers with such ease that all the other Gods were caught completely flat footed.

Worried that the most eccentric of the Gods would claim victory, three of the Gods conspired in a hurried fashion for if they did not act quickly, they would find themselves beaten by the middle child of the pantheon – something they could not accept.

The three least likely Gods to aid one another moved their plan into motion.

First, Jer’Zail’s Abyssals came in full force, beating back the Dragons that held the Abyssal conduits, lead by the Succubus Harem, they began to draw on the very essence of the Dragons.

Second, the Seraphs of Sermali invaded upon the magical Plane of Quel’Lan, set upon Quel’Lan’s throne of light. Sermali had secretly been creating new conduits to the Planes for her own devices, but now saw that she was too many moves behind her sister.

The Seraphs sudden arrival threw disarray to Quel’Lan’s elite ranks who had not expected an attack so close to their Goddess’ palace. The Dragons rose to the challenge and the death toll continued to grow.

Finally, as Quel’Lan watched the attack from her palace, she was confronted by the third conspirator – none other than Ith’Ir. The two exchanged mockery at one another, the words unimportant when compared to what happened next.

Ith’Ir pierced his barbed sword of war through his sister’s heart and in that instant, the Ninth Plane erupted in an explosive flash. All that remained were floating debris. All life outside, safe for the other Gods, ceased in an instant.

Quel’Lan’s body fell limp in Ith’Ir’s shocked arms. The Gods had killed one another in previous wars in the Chaos, but this was different. Instead of Quel’Lan being simply removed from the Game and having to watch from the sidelines, her Essence was gone.

The Godwar was immediately put to a halt so that the Gods could come to terms with what had happened. Ith’Ir invited the other Gods to the Neutral Plane.

Fingers were pointed, fangs were bared and the Gods each threw accusations across the table as to what happened. In the end, however, the Gods were forced to return to their own Planes and see what their war had done to all they had worked to accomplish.

Where previous times in the Chaos, they had made civilization rise and fall in a breath, upon Alteria, they had watched everything come to fruition. Their worlds were in ruin. Their followers terrified, uncertain whether or not they’d even another cycle.

The Gods reconvened on the Neutral Plane and each agreed that their games were too destructive for mortals. They agreed that together, they would create a new Godplane, where they could continue their games, but under some form of rules.

No longer would they pit living mortals against one another, rather, only those that perished upon Alteria would join their God in the newly created Godplane and partake in the Strife

More stipulations were put forth. Due to their ability to steal essence, the Succubus Harem was not allowed to partake in the combat and was thus instructed to remain upon Alteria in Jer’Zail’s stead.

All those born of a God’s coupling with a mortal would be brought to the strife and made into Generals or Lieutenants, as to ensure the mortals upon Alteria wouldn’t be at their mercy.

Of course, every God believed themselves smarter than the others, and each kept secrets from the others, hoping that their own followers would come out on top during their absence.