War of a Thousand Stars
ToC
The War of a Thousand Stars is such a contradiction in terms, scale, time and participants. The One stands alone, while the Many oppose him, and the Few sleep their way to victory while Prize decides the outcome.
While the War of a Thousand Stars is not a war in a any traditional sense it could be the most important war every fought. This is the war where gods vie for mortal faith. The most immediate battle is between the many and the one. For over 10,000 years the Gods now known as the Old Gods, had carved up the faith of mortals throughout the world struggling against each other. Then in 477 BE the traveling saint of justice named Lothian was martyred which propelled him into godhood based on the strength of his works and his destiny or so say the history books. The Church of Lothian would go on to become the official religion of the Tarsi's empire forever entertwining them together.
“History is Written by Victors.”
The Elder Gods
Within the learned halls of academics, circles of the wise, and most notably the long-lived elven sages they understand many things of an age forgotten to even the New Gods. They understand that the Elder Gods are the children of the Creator God that crafted the World of Praemal. It is also widely understood that the elder Gods now slumber, weary of their involvement in worldly affairs. Yet, this belief only scratches the surface of the truth. While these scholars have identified the right deities, they have attributed them to the wrong world. In reality, the Elder Gods predate the creation of Praemal by an unfathomable stretche of time. Contrary to popular belief that this world was created intentionally, the construction of Praemal was an unintended consequence of the cataclysmic event known as the Shattering & Sundering. This tumultuous clash was the culmination of the epic battle between the One and the Void.The New Gods
There is a god for that! Stags, streams, song, sex, spring and silk - yup there are gods for that. The multitude of gods that have cornered their niche of the world is absolutely staggering. Some have been holding on with their slice of the faith pie for a 1000 years without waning. Others, well no one will remember the name or what they offered, not even the history books. The challenge when weighing the strength of the New Gods is that they are not united. The Ptolus Pantheon is no Pantheon but merely names of gods on a list, so even the most powerful New Gods stand alone. Sure they have alliances and will gather together for goals but largely their efforts are singular.So I will give you 10,000 reasons why this Lothian fellow is already finished and washed away with the ebb of time. Wait for it, wait for it ... yes that is right 10,000 years I say. Thousands of gods across 10,000 years have risen and fallen and so will this upstart. Now bring me that drink you promised, "saging" is a thirsty work.
Lothian
The Church of Lothian is the official religion of the empire and has been since its rise to power simultaneous with the Empire of Tarsis. To highlight this fact alongside the Emperor of Tarsis there is also the Emperor of the Chruch. While Lothian is known to embody justice and purity that is only the beginning. Unlike the multitude of gods Lothian and The Church of Lothian have a place for almost every one under his light, offering an aspect of life for the masses. The Church of Lothian and its following has grown to be the largest in the world, their size being magnitudes larger than the next closest religion.The Sisters of Death
An interesting set of enigmas and rumors revolve around Death. Many suspect that the Sisters of Death are actually the elder god of Death or some splintered aspect of the elder god. The common elements discovered and translated from many ancient texts is, "Death Never Sleeps". One unique piece of myth and lore places Lothian as a chosen of the sisters, caught at birth between their age-old conflict. Named a Knight of Death on the path of The Sisters, his choices throughout life fall to one or the other of the Sisters’ sides. Ultimately, when crucified, his soul swayed to Heiran and the natural order of death. So is it possible that the Elder God of Death has created the greatest adversary to the New Gods they have every faced or is this yet one more mixed up fact that falls short?Death never sleeps.
The Prize
How odd is it that mortals and their faith are both the prize for the gods and the deciding vote on their survival. As the pendulum of faith in god or a god swings to one side a god like Lothian is thrust into a great power while the cruel whims of mortal cause Castain once a god of life to become lost and forgotten. Within mortals there exists a special spark, maybe their soul or something even more enigmatic that allows the least of the world to have great impact on it. Maybe this spark or radiance that burns with them is the true gift granted to them by Valdris - The One the Creator of all things a portion of his personal light that creates a divine ecosystem to power all of creation.Scale & Scope
As of now Lothian is the single most powerful God of the current age and posses the greatest threat to any of the New Gods as the great Church of Lothian converts more and more follower to their cause. The next most powerful New God is not even close in power, however now dozens of New Gods allied together would change the landscape in a major way. Some say a war of the gods is all but inevitable while others say that it is far too late. Rumors leak out about consolidating the two emperors under the single emperor of the Church to rule all the empire.There is one religion,
and there are a thousand.
War of 1000 Stars 01 by Graylion on MidJourneyAI
War of a Thousand Stars Timeline
BE = Before EmpireIA = Imperial Age
Well done, Graylion! I love the ambitious scope of this article - and if military conflicts can also include political debates, I'm sure religious cold wars also are valid :)
Thank you so much, it would fun to start down this path.