Elder Gods

Nobody knows how the most ancient gods came into being. They simply always have been, a primordial constant compared to which all else is merely a sorry shade. They are that from which the entire universe is derived.

Each and every one is a pillar of power, beyond the narrow limits of the domains so beloved by the lesser gods. Merely speaking their monikers aloud can level mountains. The runes bound to their essences held so much potency they redefined the laws of physics when first set to use.

Even the other gods cannot hold a candle to these elder beings. The most powerful god now worshipped by mortals is as mighty to them as a lowly honeybee to a human. Noticeable, yes, and they may provide a valuable service, yet the original gods could crush them between finger and thumb without a second thought. Truly, words cannot even brush the surface of their existence.

— the Opening Narrative

The elder gods of Deus are the first beings to have existed in the world. It's unclear from where they emerged, or if anything existed prior to their creation, but if they have predecessors, any trace of such a thing is long gone.

While lesser gods have a single form which is known to their worshippers, elder gods are formless. Even those lesser gods fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to have an encounter with an elder god find themselves unable to describe the form with which they met. Likewise, an elder god's power is absolute—they are not restricted to the domains of the lesser gods, and their power is not limited by their worshippers. In fact, it's likely that an elder god would not even care about being forgotten by mortals entirely.

The Elder script and modern Dean script each have a character to represent every elder god. These characters are used in lieu of names, as due to the great power held by the true names of the elder gods, each one has been lost to time. The mortal-created Full Feledar script also recognizes each god in its characters, though Feledar runes are more often used in their Basic Feledar form, which cuts out several gods to limit its character set. All other scripts, save Yvelse, draw their characters from a small set of the elder gods' runes.

Each elder god has a quality or character trait ascribed to them. These traits are not prescriptive, as they would be for a lesser god, but are rather immutable facts of the elder gods. An incomplete list, in modern Dean alphabetical order, is as follows:

• SH, of Wisdom
• A, of Courage
• X, of Anger
• ZH, of Hatred
• C, of Mystery
• OU, of Speed
• θ, of Intelligence
• N, of Strength
• V, of Reflection
• R, of Steadfastness
• DZ, of Recklessness
• M, of Generosity
• T, of Curiosity
• Z, of Treachery
• P, of Softness
• S, of Cheer
• K, of Kindness