Old Gods

"Fragments of reality from when the Realms were young. Trifle with them at your peril."

— Canoth, Lich of Eifera

Description

The old gods, also sometimes called the Old Ones are ancient, powerful forces from when the Brass realms were still young. During these times when energies were still running rampant, when there were not yet any mortals and the worlds were yet unformed, these creatures and forces were trapped inside as the borders were created.

Many of the old ones were later integrated into the structure of the Brass Realms, becoming part of the mosaic of reality. The influence of order moderates these beings and keeps them in balance. If the order of the Brass Realms was ever disrupted, many of these beings would return to their primordial nature and become far more alien.

The remaining old gods that weren't fully integrated don't quite fit the more refined and modern form the realms have come to be. They are not bound to the spirit world as other gods are and follow their own strange set of rules. Mortals struggle to truly comprehend an old one, and the same goes in the other direction; the old god cannot ever truly comprehend mortals.
Still, the power of the old gods is undeniable and so mortals sometimes try to gain access to their power by worshiping them or by conducting rituals that draw their attention.

Notable Old ones

Ceeyr, The Lost Star
Ceeyr is a floating, bright and hot sphere of fire. It communicates telepathically with those that meet it, though no mortal is able to comprehend its words. Ceeyr used to wander the planes and do various random acts of good, such as enhancing crop yields, burning undead and healing the sick, until it was captured by Lucifer, lord of the fifth layer of Hades and imprisoned. Ever since, it's followers have been trying to free it from the Arch-Devil's grasp.

Jormungandr, The World Serpent
Jormungandr is a world-sized snake with scales the color of the blackest pitch. Its maw is large enough that it can swallow the night-sky. Jormungandr is said to swim directly through the Astral Sea, eternally hunting for worthy prey. Some scholars claim that it is indeed imprisoned there, by a long-forgotten adversary. Jormungandr is known to actively 'seed' cults, pushing its influence further across the realms as it does so. Its goals are unknown, though many scholars suspect it seeks to devour the worlds it infests with its cults.

Nindros, The Grasping Dark
Nindros does not have many followers, for it is a very simple entity. It consumes everything it touches, including matter, energy, light, even space and time. To prevent its gaping maw from continuing to annihilate the energy destined for the divine machine, It has at some point in the distant past been imprisoned withing a specially constructed prison floating somewhere in the astral. The location of this construct is not very well known, but due to Nindros constantly eating at the barriers of its prisons, it is unusually simple to create a weak passageway there. Creating minute passages to within Nindros' prison has thus favored tactic of some battle-mages. How smart it is to open up a passage, however small, to an entity that would not hesitate for a second to consume the entire world the mage in question occupies, is left up to debate.

The Devouring Mother
The Devouring Mother is the source to which all life yearns to return to. She loved all her children and would protect them, never allowing them to be hurt. However she also denied them free will and the ability to choose their own destinies. If her children ever attempted to escape, she would devour them in a furious rage, leaving her in solitude until her nature would cause her to beget more of them. Even those of her children that managed to escape her she would beckon back towards her, yearning to be with them again.
The Devouring Mother was integrated into the larger structure of the Brass realms as Tiamat but now holds a pathological opposition to the order of the realms and opposes it wherever she can. She hates that she is banished to the spirit world and less able to protect her children. She remembers how she was prevented from protecting the Firstborn.

The Scarlet King
Also known as the Nightmare King, this ancient Evil is the creator of all Nightmares.
Where Demons feed on evil, the scarlet king feeds on fear and pain. It is what he desires to spread. He cares not for souls or eternity, blood and bones and pain and screaming is what he and his children bring to the world. He was briefly a Demon Lord in Hades but was too disruptive and eventually left again for the mortal realms.
Fortunately for the mortal races, the scarlet King has been imprisoned by The Jailer after its rampage on haven during Old Sun.

The Unceasing Striving
The Unceasing Striving is a force of improvement and struggle, hate and love. It improves everything it touches without end. It improves creatures to become stronger, faster, tougher, machines to become more efficient and powerful and even the laws of reality to become ever more complex and extreme.
It was integrated into the larger structure of the Brass realms as Vulcan and now has become a force of evolution and gradual improvement, refinement and change. It is placid, but its former nature is still acessible by those that know how to look.

The Ice of Ages
The ice of Ages is a force of quiet, cold, endings and remembrance. When it speaks it brings undending silence to all that listen, a beautiful cold stasis to last eternal.
It was integrated into the larger structure of the Brass realms as Erra and has now become a force of controlled death and new beginnings. It is placid, but its former nature is still acessible by those that know how to look.