Ionad - Overgods

They need no worship, because they do not require it. They run the world in ways you and I cannot comprehend. When they speak, the gods listen. To mortals like us, we can only comprehend it as an earthquake....

The Ionad are, in the simplest terms possible, the highest peek of gods within the setting. While many were created during the creation of the world by the Forge Lords themselves, some Ionad came into creation later via other means, or ascended to the position from a lesser rank of divinity within the cosmos. The duties of the Ionad are often times as simplistic to mortals as they are complex, as they are in charge of, and continue to run, the fundamental components of the cosmos. While some functions of the world are universal, or require lesser gods to oversee them, the Ionad's duties are sweeping and require diligence in their duty to prevent the material plane from breaking down.
The Ionad are not like normal gods. While all gods have a fraction of innate power that gets stronger with the worship mortals provide, the Ionad sit in a place beyond this. While the Ionad can take on worshipers, their position as fundamental concepts prevents them from gaining any further power from the worship. While an Ionad might be aware of your prayers as any god is, they have no obligation to grant spells or claim territory to oversee in the mortal realms. Any attention they grant to a mortal is due to their own wants, needs or oversight, which can be seen as a good, and bad thing depending on the tasks required.
Much like the other gods however, the Ionad are still subject to the Divine Law, though in much of the later writings, they are given far more voting rights and management in cosmological affairs of the lesser gods. Their word is often seen as law to the other gods, if only for the continued stability of reality. While they cannot strike other gods directly, they can and will inflict magical curses, blights, plagues without obligation to obey territorial restrictions. Sending heralds, messages, and influencing mortals is also within their preview, even without the knowledge of the other gods in which the territory they are operating within.

Iya, Overgod of Reincarnation

Alignment: True Neutral
Symbol: White Ring
Gender: Neuter (Often depicted and manifests as female)
Plane of Operations: The Ring of Souls
Domain: Reincarnation, Afterlife, Cycles, Fate, Souls
Were their any of the Ionad that are considered to be their leader, Iya is likely the only one who would would fit this distinction. Iya was one of the earliest creation of the Forge Lords, and is considered to be the Eldest of the the Gods still remaining. Iya is considered to be the mother of gods, her "Parents" being the Primordial Flame itself, and the Forge Lords themselves. It is her that perhaps knows the greatest secrets of their original designs, as it is from her that the souls of the Elemental Lords and the Gods themselves were able to take form.
Iya's role in the cosmos is considered to be one of the most vital, as it is her that maintains the guidance and creation of souls. It is only with her blessing can special souls be created by gods for specific purposes, a process she rarely approves of, as she weighs the soul of an ant as much as that of a giant. Iya as a result, very rarely favors one mortal over another, and it is only with great deeds or dire need does she take attention...or when a truely horrific crime of the destruction of souls occurs. Yet, Iya knows EVERY mortal, every action they have taken, every moment of their lives. She recalls everything about all creatures that possess a soul.
Her hair encicles the material universe, appearing as a great nebula that colors the backdrop of the night sky. Her hair serves two purposes: Firstly as a guide for souls that have passed, guiding them towards their respective afterlives according to their worship. The other, is to record the fate of reality. Iya's hair ties directly into a multi dimensional space known as The Loom, a space that records all actions ever taken and weaves them into the tapestry of fate. Every single one of Iya's hairs represents a single mortal life, no matter how big or small. When her hair snaps, it signals the end of a life, and the thread is fully woven into the tapestry of fate. The hair can be reattached via spells that revive the dead, but the nature as the governor of all souls allows her to choose if a mortal can return to life or not, and no god has higher vito power then she. Her power over the loom is paramount, and only Lhaksharut was said to hold greater power over time itself. These factors combined make her among the most dangerous enemies to have within the Mastracosm, and very few gods choose to invite her wrath.
While Iya cares for all souls that enter her domain, there is one however, she holds her heart truly for. Ithax, the Elemental Lord of Fire, won her heart by being the only of the elemental lords to protect her father, the Primordial flame, from the bickering of the other Elemental Lords of her age. This action of selflessness garnered her attention, and his boundless creativity and drive won her love above all others. When he was slain, his flame scattered to her hair, giving mortals the gift of creation, but also sending his spirit into the stream of souls, reincarnating him into the world. She waits for him to return, knowing who in his many lives he has become, but never able to touch or guide him till the day he returns to his full greatness again.

Aima, Overgod of Blood

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Symbol:Red Drop
Race: Divine/Unfixed
Gender: Neuter (Depicted as both depending on sect)
Plane of Operations: Material Plane/Well of Blood
Domain: Blood, Bloodlines, Family, Clans, Sorcerers
Said to be the crafter of life as the mortal coil knows it, Aima was one of the oldest born gods from the forge lords, and is said to have an immense amount of creativity. It is said that they are responsible for the bulk of non plant life on the planet, that which holds no other god as an origin is their creation and design.
They were the mentor of two of their other creations, the lesser gods Emfytos and Nospheratu. Both gods however, used their teachings of their mentor and went in bizarre and unnatural directions, Nospheratu using the potential of blood to extend life with his own creations, the Vampire, and Emfytos twisting the blood and lineages of their creations into horrific abominations. Of the former, they consider vampires a blasphemy of life itself, and seek their unending destruction as an affront to life, and to the other, theyviews them as a horrible corruption of all she taught. To that end, they have vowed to be the eternal enemy of both, so vengeful was their teacher.
They are the principle protector and god of Magnon, then their descendants, the humans of Érimos téfras, the principal empire of the southern continent. They are the highest worshiped god of their pantheon, to which blood sacrifices and tithes are prepared for the god weekly. Aima’s teachings are complex, but predominantly the god favors strong bloodlines and clans. Incest of any kind is considered the highest blasphemy, as not only does it add nothing to ones line, but it damages the good that a bloodline may possess. As such, while the god might on the surface appear to support a strong aristocracy, in reality they prefer that the gene pool on average remain strong and healthy. The god dislikes most forms of live sacrifice, as culling the “Weak” in the population does not impress it, viewing it as a waste of life’s potential gift that they have given to the world, rather then letting it grow and strengthen.

Zinat, Overgod of Death

Alignment: Neutral
Symbol: Black Circle
Race: Divine/Unfixed
Gender: Neuter (Often depicted as Female)
Plane of Operations: Throne of the Black Moon
Domain: Death, as Inevitability
Zinat is an enigma. Something that was thought to not meant to exist, yet exists by the approval of the Forge Lords. Her very creation is a paradox itself, for she is the daughter of the one being that, by her nature, cannot create: Shaddi, Ionad of destruction. When Shadi was sent to slay the first true abomination, in the aftermath, she heard a small cry, for as the first ending was completed, death was birthed from it. In a universe that had no death, and all things lived forever, this creation was an anomaly.
Zinat was originally a tiny thing, barely a spec within Shaadi’s palm. As the gods viewed the small, alien creature, they dismissed it, calling it worthless and an aberration. Yet….the forge lords permitted it, and Shaadi, calling the small creature her daughter, carried her wherever she went, holding her in a tiny green gem that hung by her ear.
The more Shaadi worked, the more Zinat grew. When she was large enough, she followed Shaadi around like her shadow, watching her work, taking power from the acts. Yet…she barely ever spoke, and even if she did, only to Shaddi, and the forge lords.
This changed during Shaadi’s rebellion. She did not raise arms to help her mother, who bared her from acting in battle. As the gods clashed with the abominations of the universe, they felt something whisper in their ears, a voice that none had ever heard before. It grew louder and louder as the grim work was done.
When the forge lords had bound Shaadi, and the gods threw her allies within her prison, they soon learned the source. Looking upon the great cage upon which her mother was bound, they found Zinat. In their actions, in their clash, they realized Zinat was no longer a small, dark shadow of Shaadi. Now she was a tall, looming entity, larger and wielding a power that even the gods could barely match. She opened her maw, and from her throat a mournful cry screeched across creation. Every god felt it in their core, shaking them. And in that they realized the true power of this thing that stood before them. She was the end of Immortality, a thing that could kill gods.
As the gods martialed their weapons, the Ionad of Reincarnation appeared. Whisking her up in her hair, she vanished with the great shadow, departing like a comet towards the palace of the forge lords. There, for seven years they remained, till finally Zinat returned. She emerged from a palace crafted from materials that had never seen the twilight of creation.
She then only appeared sporadically…and only then to reap the grimmest of harvests: The souls of gods as they lay slain. Though many tried to slay her, to end the curse on immortality, none could manage it. At the end of the Divine war, she departed, only a few, brave guards departing with her to her castle beyond the horizon: Her Disciples of Death.
There, she remains, sitting within her palace. She waits now, gazing ever outwards to a distant point in the heavens: Her mothers prison.
It is rumored among the gods, that Zinat did what none other could. When Shaddi’s prison was created, she screamed, but that scream was not directed to the forge lords, nor the gods themselves. It was directed to the prison. And in it, she has created the only flaw in a perfect design: Entropy. Shaadi can sense her daughters hand in this, and it is only because of this single flaw she can influence the world at all.
It said she now gains power from all death, and that she channels this into maintaining the flaw in the great prison, slowly eating away at it to allow her mothers freedom. Yet…she herself barely moves. Barely skeem. She has launched no effort great or minor to reclaim the prison, or to break her mother free. She merely waits, patiently, for her mother to return.
This has lead the gods to theorize there is another, grimmer purpose to her: That she represents the end of ALL things, a fact that is made all the more crushingly real as her palace slowly rises in the sky. It is said, that should her palace rise to eclypse the sun, she will finally rise from her throne, walk to the material world, and begin the final end of all things.

Lexaiam, Overgod of Divine Law

God Shall Not Kill God -First words on the Lawstone

Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Symbol: Twin Gavels
Race: Magnon/Human
Gender: Male
Plane of Operations: Conclave of Commandments
Domain: Divine Law, Order
Lexaiam, also known as Lex, or as his original Magnon name, Tömörbaatar, is a rare case within the Ionad, as he was not a god at all. Instead, Lexaiam was a mortal elevated to the position threw deed and divine appointment. Lexaiam was part of one of the first adventuring groups, formed to find a way to end the Divine War before it brought ruin to all of creation. Threw their actions, The Lawstone was located. Using a chizzle of Etherium and his own great strength, Lexaiam was able to carve the first command into the law stone, halting the war in its entirety and forcing the gods to negotiate for ownership of the stone. Lexaiam, threw his part in the and exposure to the Etherium now in his flesh from the olympic effort, was elevated to the much needed position of Arbitor of the Divine council, becoming the Ionad of Divine Law and Order.
Lexaiam is viewed in the world as the absolute judge of law, but his domain is DIVINE law, not mortal law. Lexaiam keeps stable order within the unvierse, keeping the unbound creative forces that the gods possess in check, or kept outside of the universe or in their private demi planes where they cannot damage reality. Lexaiam respects mortal laws, but dislikes many of them due to the corruptability of them. Lexaiam has had to struggle in his position to keep the gods from making the same mistake, and implementing divine laws that will cause an inbalance of power to one side. He is the ultimate mediator and the god of judges for a reason, and does impower those that do seek the same ends. As such, many mortals, particularly Humans and Magnon, include him as their pantheons God of Law.
Lexaiam commands the Inevitables, creations of pure law, as his servants and angels to help maintain the needed facets of reality.

Javano, Overgod of Chaos

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Symbol: Bursting head
Race: Divine?
Gender: Neutor (Often manifests as male)
Plane of Operations: Cold Beyond?
Domain: Chaos, Creativity, Madness, Change
Javano is another unique case for the Ionad, as he is currently dead. Javano was among the first creations of the Forge Lords, and was built to be a source of infinite creative ideas, a muse to assist them. Javano however, proved to be too good at his job, and his recklessness and eagerness to experiment produced the first Aberrations from the primordial chaos. The Forge Lords had to take action against him after failing to keep his worst inpulses contained. His younger sister, Shaddi, was sent to destroy him. Their battle lasted for years, but Shaddi eventually came out victorious. But at his end, Javano only laughed, as he had spoken with Shaddi threw the fight, and had planted the first seeds of doubt within her mind.
While Javano was destroyed, his soul was certainly not. It is unknown how he survived his annilation, though the more chaotic creatures of reality enjoy saying he was so brilliant he was unable to be contained by the concept of death itself. Others say that Iya, or even Zinat, still very young at this time, spared him. In any case, Javano remained, but as a distant, fundamental force of reality. Javano became the concept of chaos and change within the Mastracosm, and as a creature now with no fixed form, he represents the concept greater then anyone. While Javano does still exist, his nature as a pure chaotic force makes him a blind, idiot god as he is now. Those that worship him do so at their own parrel, as the chaotic forces of the universal aspect they call upon may well end their existance . It is said, however, that Javano may one day return, recombining into a singular shape to let him advise those of the universe once more. Others say that Javano has already done this...and keeps himself in this nebulus state willingly to most represent what he is: Pure Chaos.

Shaadi, Overgod of Destruction (Deposed)

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral/Evil
Symbol: Ashes, deconstructed masonry
Gender: Neuter (Often depicted and manifests as female)
Plane of Operations: Prison of the Aborent
Domain: Destruction, Oblivion, Uncreation
Shaadi's purpose is a contridiction within the Ideology of the Forge Lords. The Forge Lords, in their quest to create the world of the Mastracosm, found that even with their endlessly skilled hands, problems and flaws still began to emerge in their work. Flaws that, in spite of their best efforts, could not be fully remade. Their first attempt to cercomvent this, using the Loom to rewind time, was a failure as it undid any correct work they had managed, and removed the possiblities of all things that existed in that period would have done. Shaadi was created as their second attempt at recrtifying this issue.
In spite of Shaadi's designation as the goddess of destruction, her duties were not to destroy for destructions sake. She was tasked with returning the things that were destroyed to a state of free floating cosmic matter, purified of any abnormalities, which would then be used by the Forge Lords to create anew. And for some time, this balance worked, Shaadi was more then happy to carry out the tasks given to her by her creators. This changed, however, with the wild machninations of Javano. Javano no longer heeded the Forge Lords commands to stop his reckless creations, which now were spilling out and threatening their designs. Now beyond reason, Shaadi was sent to unmake the Ionad of Chaos, a task she set about to with singleminded determination.
The battle with the Chaos god was the hardest task set about to the Goddess, waging a battle that took untold time before she landed the final blow. During the battle however, Javano spoke and questioned Shaadi's resolve, questioning her absolute beliefs in the Forge Lords, and planting seeds of doubt. When the final blow came down, and Javano's form scattered, in her palm she heard a cry. Opening it, in this first act of absolute destruction of another living being, came forth the only thing Shaadi would ever create: Her daughter Zinat.
The tasks Shaadi were then given became equally harrowing afterwords. The more the Forge Lords created, the more other things began to notice from the Cold Beyond. Most of these entities were horrific monsters, creatures without any mortal comparison for anatomy or mentality. But some, such as the Yith, came for other reasons. The Yith were a race of creatures from a different world, an pleeded for help and sanctuary. Shaadi hesitated with them, but the Forge Lords refused, stating that the Yith were dangerious creatures that flee threw time to escape their own destruction, and would not fit easily into the world that was being built. Furious, Shaadi obeyed, but the Yith did as the Forge Lords feared, and slipped their souls away from the grasp of the destroyer.
The tasks only grew in difficulty and weighed hard on the soul of Shaadi, and during the age of life, things came to a head. The Wild Magic of creation twisted and warped the souls of many lifeforms as they were being made by the Forge Lords and the Gods. One of these insidents was the Nakahi, a group of humanoids that had been warped by the wild magic, but in so doing, had been granted Sappience, and the ability to wield the wild magic to their own ends. Shaadi went to investigate the oddity, and found the Nakahi's had invented angriculture, hunting techniques, yet were being consumed by the wild magic which warped their souls. Shaadi's heart, so heavy with her sins, instead of destroying them, used her powers to "Smooth" their souls, cutting away the impurities and reducing them to a more stable state. In this, the animal parts of them vanished, and the Nakahi became truely aware.
And the Nakahi began to worship her as a response, something Shaadi, nor many other gods, had truely experenced. Absolute devotion and love.
When Aima came to investigate what had happened, and found now a thriving society with wicker statues to Shaadi risen, the Blood God was curious. A vishious debate occured between the two gods, but when Aima said he would bring the matter to the Forge Lords, Shaadi took her final step. Reaching out her hand, she slew Aima, destroying his form entirely and unteathering their soul. Shaadi stood horrified that she had killed her younger brother, but knew now there was no going back.
Shaadi began then the first rebellion, gathering to her the Abberations of the Material Realm, seaking out Gods that felt the same as her. Her actions, however, only produced a partial army, and even with her great power, she knew this would not be enough to face the Forge Lords. Desperate, she instead fled out into the Cold Beyond, vanishing for years, before breaching back into the realm, dragging behind her a legion of horrors unseen by reality. With all of this, she assaulted the Forge Lords and their Allies.
While Shaadi herself possessed great and horrific power, and few gods at all could stop her, Shaadi herself was no match for the Forge Lords. Shaadi's power met its match when battling her creators. It is difficult to determine what happened. Some accounts say that she did no damage to the great entities. Others says he struck at one with all her might, and left but a small wound. But all accounts say that the battle against her makers was not a long one. Shaadi was bested in their next blow, binding her as her allies and the horrors around them were subdued.
The Forge Lords created onto the unvierse the Prison of the Aborent, a perfect prison that Shaadi could not destroy, and built so durable that no other creature could do so as well. Shaadi and her allies were locked away, sealed from the rest of the Mastracosm. But as she was locked away, her child Zinat let out, for the first time, a grant, waling cry, which shook the very foundations of the realm. In this act, the perfect, unescapable prison developed a single crack, a flaw in which, could be exploited.
Shaadi remains now in her prison, ruling the demi plane as the highest god in the realm. While in this realm, Shaadi has all the things she quested for, love and adderation from those she protected, she is all to aware of the shackles on her. Shaadi seeks to return to reality, return and give to those trapped within the freedom to live without restriction. And as Zinat herself has said: It is only a matter of time before she is free.