Gods End
Celestial / Cosmic
The last four Divines died.
While Aurelia sacrificed herself to protect Etharis the other gods:
Maligant, Ulmyr and Galt slew each other in their madness fueled by the mad king.
In ancient times, the many gods of Etharis
guided their people to prosperity and
enlightenment. That all changed during the
Aetheric War, where the gods took up arms
against a host of cosmic horrors called the Aether
Kindred.
This conflict led to the loss of nearly the
entire pantheon. Many believe that the gods fled
this reality for safer realms. Some scholars claim
the gods were consumed by the very horrors they
sought to destroy.
Those gods that survived returned to rule Etharis.
With their balance disrupted, though, they could
no longer exist at peace with one another. They
made war among themselves over who should
rule above the others. Thus, the last of the gods
extinguished one another.
Etharis has been left a godless plane undergoing
a prolonged dark age. All that remains of the once
almighty pantheon are the lieutenants of these
lost gods, Arch Seraphs and Daemons who have
been left to their own devices. While they wield
enormous power, these beings are far less than
the gods they once served. Some still attempt to
fulfill the functions of their lost masters. Others
have opted to pursue their own agendas
The Bürachs Influence
So great was the impact of Indorius’s rule that the
Bürach instituted what would be known as the
Edict of Eternal Blood. According to this law, only
one of the emperor’s direct descendants could be
raised to the throne.
The Hearthkeepers took great care to preserve
the purity of the imperial family. Cousins and
sometimes siblings were led to marry in order
to maintain the Edict. However, many voices
across the Bürach warned against such acts, but
their words fell on deaf ears. Encouraged by the
priesthood, the people’s faith in the Imperial
family kept the government in power, and for
centuries all was right in the world.
That changed with Emperor Leopold I.
From a young age, it was clear that Leopold
was truly, irrevocably mad. He often spoke to
things that weren’t there and treated people like
they were insects, having servants imprisoned
and flayed for the smallest infractions. Officials
whispered among themselves that they could not
in good conscience put him into power, but to
disobey the Edict was to invite disaster for the
government. Thus, one summer solstice, Leopold
was crowned Emperor of the Bürach.
Possessed by religious fervour, Leopold exhorted
the masses to believe that only one of the four
gods should rule supreme. Why should they each
follow four, when only one--the greatest, most
powerful of all--was deserving of their devotion?
Each sect then began to argue that their god
should be the One True Deity.
Leopold’s madness seeped into the four artifacts
he wore. Worse, as these artifacts carried the
essences of the four gods, his madness fed back
into their minds, driving them insane.
The Four Divines turned on each other, each
believing they should be the One True God. The
gods warred in the heavens, causing calamities
such as storms, flash fires, and earthquakes. Their
hostility quickly spread to their worshippers.
Within a year, the Bürach Empire had descended
into civil war as the four provinces fought among
themselves.
To end the violence, individuals from the four
provinces conspired against the emperor. Their
assassins swept into the imperial palace and
killed Leopold. With his death, the sacred artifacts
disappeared. This caused the Divine Aurelia to
come out of her insanity long enough to see
that the gods’ battles would soon destroy all of
Etharis. She then used all her power to shield the
land from the gods’ war. In so doing, she gave up
her own life. In time the other three—Maligant,
Ulmyr, and Galt—slew each other.
The death of the Four Divines sent a shockwave
of magic throughout the Empire. Divine magic
still exists, but is now believed to radiate from the
remaining Arch Seraphs and Daemons, not from
the dead gods themselves.
The leaders of each province called for a ceasefire,
and each army retreated to their land to heal
and recover from their losses. A new emperor,
Aratron I, was installed and provided counterfeit
sacred artifacts to shore up the people’s faith.
This emperor served only as a figurehead; the
Hearthkeeper ministers of Aurelia were now the
real power behind the throne.
