War of Divinity

Events leading up to the War of Divinity.

It is said that Ao left the Gods unchecked for a period of time. During the next period in time, gods could do whatever they wanted. They killed each other, they reproduce with one another, and they raised any mortal they wanted into godhood. They were unchecked in their proliferation and self-destruction. And this lively state of existence allowed for the war between the gods and the primordial's. This war almost destroyed the planet Taurel, the main and most important planet in the solar system.
Ao decided to split the planet in halve, one planet would go to the gods and then one planet would go to the primordial's. The planets didn't exist in the same physical reality, but exist simultaneously in different prime realms. During the separation of the planet for both the primordial's and the gods he created the fabled tablets of fate, the tablets of faith were a very powerful set of artifacts that kept the planets separated. But furthermore, it also denoted the responsibilities and powers that each God and each primordial was supposed to have, a physical representation of the gods duties.
One day Bane, God of tyranny, ambition and control, alongside Myrkul, God of death and decay, stole the tablets of fate, thinking that a modicum of Ao´s power recited within it, power that they wanted for themselves. This showed Ao that the Gods could not be allowed anymore to run rampant without any control. The event that told Ao that gods didn't respect the power that had been bestowed upon them and that they would not be able to use it responsibly. And so he banished every single God from the heavens and forced them to walk the prime material realm in mortal form in order to both teach them humility, force them to get closer to their worshippers and of course, to find the stolen tablets of fate.

The Beginning

When the gods were left to roam the prime material plane among their followers it did not take long for the greed of people to get the better of them and try to become gods themselves. People started to believe that if you killed a god that you would be able to take their place, and this rumor spread like wildfire thought the lands. This is when a mysterious group appeared and declared war on the deities, and hunted them to all corners of the planet. The gods were surprised that people would even try and defy them even in their mortal forms, for they through no one could stand up to the powers of a deity, but soon they saw themselves fighting for their right to exist.

The War of Divinity

The new found rivals of the gods proved to be immensely powerful and forced the deities to work together to stay alive, many battle and many years would pass with no end in sight. Mystra mother of magic was one of the gods that fell and her death caused The Weave to be disrupted and the world was left without magic for a period of time, until her replacement was ascended. This is when on both sides of the war the fighting stopped for their strength came from the use of magic, and without it they were powerless. The deities took refuge with their most loyal followers but this proved to be the end of Breor, the creator god of the Dawngar as he was attacked and killed by his own creation.
When a new Goddess ascended as the new Mother of Magic she materialized in the realm of the gods for it was post banishment, she took to name Mystra in honor of the fallen goddess and restored The Weave and amplified the magic of the gods on the material realm. This gave them the upper hand in the war and allowed them to bring an end to the conflict.
After the war the gods reflected on their status as deities and started appreciating the power they have been granted by Ao and they followers. This prompted Ao to restore the balance and allowed the gods to return to the realm of the gods.

Aftermath

In order to protect their followers they chose nine dragons and made them immortal, charged with protecting the realms of men and to keep the balance and to protect the borders between the realms. These dragons soon where named as the Circle of the Nine, Protectors of the Realm and are revered as Quasi-deity (Hero-deities). Now they are believed to be omnipresent but never seen guardians.

Summary

• The Gods walked The Material Plane.
• They where challenged by mortals.
• The Goddess Mystra, Mother of Magic died.
• The God Breor died.
• The mortals where defeated.
• The nine immortal dragons where created.
• The Gods left The Material Plane.

Historical Basis

The tale of the War of Divinity was found in the great libraries around Ortheos after the ascension of the Gods. No one knows who is the author of the books, but people believe they were made by the Gods themselves.

Spread

The teachings of the War of Divinity are far spread and every person in Ortheos knows their own version of the story.

Date of First Recording

0 AD

Date of Setting

495 BD - 0 AD