The God-Hunters

The gods have abandoned us. They hide, while the world drowns in darkness.
But we will find them, and we will drag them back into the light, even if its the last thing we ever do.

Prior to the shattering, when the sun broke and tore open the sky, there were many gods in the world. Pantheons of divine creatures ruled the world, basking in the prayer and adoration of their mortal charges. The contract was simple: the mortals worshipped and toiled, raised monuments to the glory of the gods, sacrificed and bled and gave their souls to immortal masters. In turn, the gods made sure the seasons changed, that tides turned, that crops grew, and all things followed their natural course.

by Midjourney by Q

All of this was exposed as a lie when the Hungry Dark awoke. While mankind engaged in a desperate struggle for survival, the gods abandoned their charges and fled. They hoped to either outrun the darkness or find a place beyond its reach instead of fight. Death had come to the immortal for the first time, and the shock sent them to flight.
Humanity begged and prayed at first, in those first terrible years. When they realized what had happened, fear turned to anger. Temples and shrines were razed, statues torn down, holy relics melted down to make weapons for mankind's defense. A few gods attempted to reclaim their place as mankinds masters soon after the first age of darkness but found that humans no longer welcomed them.

Kill the gods! Topple their thrones! Seize the divine with your own bloody hands

But this is not a story about the gods and their betrayal, but about those who now hunt them. The God-Hunters are a secretive order of slayers and scholars, sworn to vows of retribution and ascension. If the gods won't use their power to save the world, the order states, they are unworthy of it. By any means, it will become a weapon in the hands of mankind, no matter how bloodied. To others, it is a matter of vengeance, and some slayers would happily see the world drown if only they can first squeeze the life out of the last divine throat.

by Midjourney by Q

In the current age, the Order is spread across the nations that remain. They are respected, but feared, obeying no authority outside their own council. Nobles and warlords often resent the open challenge to their claims, but often join the order in a black hatred of the gods. They remember the whip swung by immortal task-masters, blood and sweat spilled to raise their monuments, and the despair when they were all but abandoned to be consumed. Such resentment burns bright enough to drive away the devour darkness, at least for a time.
With each god dragged back to order strongholds and ritually murdered, the order gains power. Their champions are cursed and ascended both, gaining a fraction of divine power at the expense of the death-curse of the dying divinities. Only when there are no more gods, no more masters, will the Order be satisfied.

Death to the divine tyrants!