Mithra – Deities and Creation

Gods and Goddesses

Hydran’thi (Chaos)

He reigns over death and chaos, spending his spare time fueling dissension and conflict in the world of Mithra. His true name is rarely spoken for fear of bringing down his attentions. A common adage is that of the Hand of Chaos, referring to either the judgment in the underworld or something terrible being wrought in the world.

Malcon’ait

He is the god of craftsmen, a master of every craft himself. He is the patron god of the dwarven people and loves them above all other races. The dwarves believe his forge rests in the deepest roots of the Corwaen Mountains. He rarely has contact with the mortal races, however, there have been instances of very gifted young dwarves disappearing, only to reappear years later with incredible skills that they claim to have learned from the god himself.

Keshen’ka

She is the goddess of life and order, balancing Chaos’s destructive power with the power to create. All races honor her, if only to stave off the hand of chaos. She has withdrawn from contact with the mortal world, and watches from her home in the heavens, interfering only when Chaos upsets the balance she has established.

Devron’era

He is the god of knowledge and wisdom, of all learning, including that of magic. He is the most powerful wizard that has ever existed on Mithra, and his magic stands above even that of the other gods. Elves pay him respect, but it is wizards who follow his teachings most closely. He refrains from contact with the mortal realm, preferring to study in isolation. The wizards don’t mind, as it means he doesn’t demand much from them (actually he doesn’t even care if they worship him or not) and they can concentrate more on their own studies.

Bremas’ina

She is the goddess of the harvest and of nature and fertility. She still wanders Mithra, helping where she can and accepting the simple offerings the common people give her in return. Most who encounter her do not even realize they have come face to face with a goddess.

Teroc’thi

He is the fickle god of chance. Most people pay respect to his name at some point in their lives. He brings not only good luck, but bad, delighting in turning the tables on people when they least expect it. There is some relationship between him and Chaos, but it isn’t spoken of by mortal or god. He also walks the world frequently, but his passing is less desirable than that of the goddess.

Creation of the Races

Mithra was created ages ago, molded throughout the eons until one of the Six, Teroc’thi, the God of Chance, created a sentient being that he called a Fairie. The other gods and goddesses admired his creation and many attempted to create sentients of their own. This is how many of the monster races came to be in Mithra. They created Reptilemen, Merpeople, Orcs, Goblins, Kobold, Felinians, Gnomes, and Ogres, populating the world with these violent and animalistic peoples.

Of all these races, only the Fairie were intelligent enough to entertain the gods for long. After a time, the gods abandoned their first creations and it was Devron’era who used the Fairie as a template to create the Elves. The Elves were more intelligent than the Fairie, larger and stronger, and they were more adapted to the mundane world of Mithra. For many centuries the elves served the gods and goddesses in all aspects, providing entertainment to the immortals.

Eventually, desiring a servant more suited to the heavy tasks of a craftsman, Malcon’ait asked his brother’s assistance in creating the Dwarves. For many more centuries these two races served the gods and goddesses and the Fairie slowly disappeared from the world of Mithra.

At some point Bremas’ina, the Goddess of Nature and Fertility, joined with her brother Devron’era to create the Halflings, which were to become the Traders. These Halflings were created to bridge the gap between the elves and the dwarves, having qualities of both races. She instilled in them an urge to travel and trade, ensuring that the races of Mithra would grow and not stagnate in their isolated homes.

More centuries went by and the world assumed an ordered rhythm. This grated upon the God of Chaos, Hydran’thi, so that he worked in secret to create a race of his own. What he made he called Humans. They were short-lived compared to the Elves and Dwarves, and even the Halflings, and they lived that short time with passion and ever-changing moods. It was Hyrdar’thi’s intention that they spread chaos through the ranks of the other races, scattering them like hens from the coop.

Keshen’ka saw this and created in the newly made Humans a heart full of compassion and the need to have family and friends. She gave her brother’s creation a sense of order, foiling his plans of ruin and chaos. Angry with their brother, Devron’era and Malcon’ait retreated from the world. Keshen’ka drew back as well, keeping one eye on the workings of Hydran’thi and the other on her own pursuits. The races of the world were left to do as they pleased.

Aeri – A Creation Myth

Before everything, there was only energy. This energy of the universe was unformed, seething through space and time with no direction and no conscience. As time went on some of this energy gathered together and became darkness, and the mind behind the darkness was that of Niesh. For a long time there was only Niesh, and she spread throughout the universe and covered everything in night.

But the night was lonely, and dull. So Niesh gathered some of it close to her, squeezing it tighter and tighter until it hardened beneath her touch and began to glow with a cold, white light through the darkness. And she breathed a name upon the light, and called it Oumi, and she cast it into the darkness so that it hung as a point of light against the black. It pleased her, and she created more lights, millions of tiny points in the darkness. Each of them bowed to her and worshiped her in twinkling voices. And so it was for many eons.

But even the beautiful songs of the Oumi were not enough to bring Niesh joy. She pondered what was missing from the universe and decided that it needed balance. She drew the energy of the universe to her once more and brought together everything that was not night. Then she breathed upon the warm and golden light and gave it life, and he was called Rases.

But Rases was not content to dwell beside Niesh and be her creation, and he decided to create something for himself. He gathered the dust that was left from his own creation and formed it into an orb and set it spinning about himself, and named it Aeri. But this orb was lifeless dust, because Rases didn’t have the power to breathe life into it.

Niesh watched the effort of her son, and was moved by his labor. Tears fell from her eyes and she gathered them up and flung them upon the orb Aeri. Wherever these tears landed they created salty oceans. Rases rejoiced, shining even brighter in the night, and nurtured his creation so that life was brought from the water. To give thanks to his mother, Rases only shone upon Aeri half of each day, giving the night to Niesh.

And so life thrived on Aeri, and creatures came up out of the waters to walk upon the dust of the land. Rases watched his creation with pride, encouraging growth and passion among the creatures that developed there. All lived in balance with each of the others, and when the creatures looked to the heavens they saw Rases and they worshiped him. Rases enjoyed this attention more and more, and so he gave to the people of Aeri a part of himself that they could keep during the times when Niesh ruled the skies. Thus fire was introduced to the people.

The people of Aeri took fire and used it to shape their world to their own will. With the captured piece of Rases they no longer felt they needed to worship the god. Instead they worshiped things of their own creation, seeking to enslave one another for their own amusement, warring with each other for entertainment.

Rases was embarrassed at the corruption of Aeri and cried out to his sisters, the Oumi, to help him punish the people there. The Oumi threw their cold fire upon the land and waters of Aeri, trying to purge the evil, but the people took shelter and survived. Then Rases, desperate to set Aeri in balance again, blasted the orb with all his fury, scorching the land. But the people again took shelter and were spared.

Finally Rases turned to his mother Niesh, and pleaded with her to do something to make Aeri the beautiful place it once was. Niesh held the orb in her hands and thought. Night descended on Aeri as Rases left the orb to his mother’s care. She contemplated the creation and began again to weep. The tears fell upon the orb and smothered all the land, drowning all the cruelty and arrogance that Rases’s gift had brought out in the people. When the orb was cleansed, Niesh gave it back to Rases, who set it again around him, warming it so that the waters receded and land was again ready for creatures to dwell upon it.