Dungeon Fantasy Cosmology

[b-dog]

Dungeon Fantasy Cosmology

The gods created the universe and all of the creatures residing in it, from servents to faery to life in the mortal realm. Yet before the gods lived, there were elder gods that existed in the chaos before time. The gods banished the elder gods from their creation as their mere presence would destroy the order of the universe. Most of the elder gods cared little for the universe with the exception of a few.

The gods created servants to serve them, from sidhe to angels to djinn to spirits. They also created a universe that was pristine and full of magic. Many of the gods created separate realities in which to reside and and admire their creation, these were known as god realms. Then the gods created life in the universe. Life was created in stages, with more primitive life created first. Animals and plants and were created and placed in the world and the gods sent spirits to guide their development. These spirits bonded with their animal or plant or even place.

The spirit realm was a realm that the gods created as a magical reflection to the world the gods created. The spirit realm contained many other realms from the faery realm to the elemental to the dream realm. The universe was a place of magnificant beauty. The spirit realm had highly magical version of it's mundane counterpart of tremendous beauty. The faery realm had the sidhe and their lesser faeries the elves, dwarves, gnomes, brownies, giants, leprechauns, mermen, nixies, ogres, halflings, centaurs, fauns, dryads, sprites, ellyllon, pixies, and creatures of magic such as unicorns, dragons and pegasi. The faery were often sent to the mortal world by the gods and often they came to the mortal realm of their own volition. Sometimes they had children who became mortal and developed societies there. In the dream realm there were beings and magic of boundless wonder.

The elder gods were banished from the universe but not completely. There were always cracks through which the elder gods could enter the universe. Some of their lesser servents have entered the universe. Most of the elder gods had no concern or knowledge of the universe but there were exceptions known as merely the "destroyers." Influencing the universe from a distance they began to appeal to the vanities and pride of the gods and their servants. Most of the gods were strong and easily and unknowingly resisted the elder gods. But a few began to become proud and disobediant. They began to challenge the order of the gods.This created wars in the god realm, the gods became divided between good and the evil. Eventually the evil lost and was banished to imprisonment realms sometime called Hell or the Abyss. There the disobediant gods and servants plotted revenge. The evil gods could not escape but they could influence the mortal realm. They were able to tempt the mortal realm and make it fall from the good gods favor.

In the faery realm the influence of evil transformed sidhe into fomor and the lesser faeries into the orcs, trolls, goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, boggarts, kobolds, sluaghs, redcaps, nighthags, annises, and evil giants. These beings began to war with the good faeries and they were sentenced to live underground. These beings used faery hedges in caves to come to the mortal realm to wage war in the mortal realms. They developed extensive warrens throughout the under world. The good faeries who lived in the mortal realm also became influenced by the evil and their societies too began to fight and fracture, creating the shadow elves, dark dwarves and other evil beings.

In the spirit realm the influence of evil created wicked spirits who transformed animals into creatures of montrous sizes and ferocity, plants of hideous dispostion and places of true horror.

The mortal realm experienced tremendous horrors and mankind suffered greatly. Endless wars were fought and monsters of all sort plagued them. Mankind began to disavow the good gods and sought power instead from the evil gods. Mankind and others began to worship these beings and these beings offered great powers for their service. By worshipping these beings, it allowed the imprisonment realms to be weakened and man could bring forth these beings magically. The evil gods created demons and all sorts of horrors in hopes that they would be released to wage war against the good gods.

The good gods made covenants with man to stop the spread of evil so that the evil gods would not be able to destroy all of creation. They sent angels and weapons of tremendous power to thwart the forces of evil. The forces of light and darkness wage endless epic battles and while they battle, it distracts the good gods and allows the elder gods time to open cracks to enter the universe.

[b-dog]

The Elder Gods

From within the chaos the gods were born and with this chaos the gods created the universe, the faery realm, the spirit realm and the dream realm. But within the chaos lurked the elder gods sleeping in the void and dreaming dreams of destruction. The gods had to protect their creation so they banished the elder gods from entering, creating a wall that the elder gods could not penetrate. Unfortunately this awoke some of the elder gods and they were determined to enter the creation and destroy it. Still the wall held firm and the elder gods were denied entry. Most elder gods cared little if at all, yet some were very determined to enter. The elder gods who desired to destroy creation were called the destroyers. The elder gods visited the the gods through the dream realm and corrupted some of them. They chose the weakest among the gods, especially the servents of the gods like the angels and djinn and polluted them with pride. Soon the god realms were at war and chaos ensued. The pride filled gods and servants were defeated and then sent to Hell where they regrouped and created legions of demon armies.

During this time while the gods were warring, the elder gods were able to break into the mortal realm through small cracks in the wall. In the universe the elder gods decided to ruin creation. They were able to contact creatures in the mortal realm through dreams. Some of the beings contacted at first were the fishmen, dinosaurmen and snakemen. Soon these creatures began to worship them and this gave the elder gods power on the mortal realm. The fishmen, dinosaurmen and snakemen became strong and learned great magic from the elder gods. They built great societies and impossible kingdoms. Eventually the gods repaired the wall and the elder gods lost influence and as a result the societies of the fishmen, dinosaurmen and snakemen began to decline.

In the faery realm the elder gods were able to transform some of the sidhe living in remote areas into hideous fomor. While the sidhe created the elves and dwarves, the fomor created the orcs and trolls. Eventually the faery realm was at war. The fomor and their evil lesser faeries were driven underground. After the war drove the ugly, evil faeries underground the faery realm seemed to be at peace. That was an illusion, many of the beautiful faeries were tempted by evil as well and they began to wage war again, uniting with the ugly, evil faeries. Eventually the faery realm was torn assunder and then the evil faeries and their part of the faery realm was cast into Hell. Once the faery realm was cast into Hell it created an opportunity for the evil gods, demons and evil faery to escape through faery gates. This allowed many evil and wicked beings into the world. The evil gods made pacts with sentient beings in the mortal realm. Through worship, the evil gods gained power and the sentient creatures gained power as well. The worshippers could also bring the demons and evil gods into the mortal realm through gate spells.

The elder gods polluted the dream realm creating a realm of nighmares and the polluted the spirit realm creating terrifying spirits. The elder gods also sent less minions to the universe such as the mind warpers. Eventually, the gods repaired all of the walls and the elder gods were kept out of the universe. At least so it seems...

[b-dog]

The Cosmic Wall

The gods created a wall to keep out the elder gods from destroying their universe, faery realms, spirit realms, god realms and dream realms; which is collectively as the multiverse. The elder gods very presence in the multiverse will cause destruction and decay. The gods formed the wall out of cosmic energy which almost completely keeps the elder gods out. There is always a probability of the elder gods getting through however. These probabilities are amplified when the multiverse moves into certain positions which creates resonance that weakens the cosmic wall. Sometimes when the stars are aligned just right the elder gods can come through the cracks in the cosmic wall. Other times the elder gods enter dreams of bards and allow them to write haunting melodies which weaken the cosmic wall allowing the elder things to pass. Certain wild rituals, drug use and dancing can do likewise. Insanity, depression and hopelessness allow the elder gods to enter the minds of the living. Often those selected are the abused, outcasted and suicidal. The elder gods grant great powers to these individuals to destroy the universe and themselves in the process. Evil gods and demons often unwittingly weaken the cosmic wall through the great suffering they cause. Evil gods and demons often try to use the elder gods to their advantage but eventually they learn they are the ones who suffer. For this reason even evil gods and demons will reject the elder gods as they know that to allow them into the multiverse will mean their end.

[b-dog]

The Dvergar (The Dark Dwarves) [31 points]

These are the dark dwarves. Their skin is corpse white and their hair jet black. They freely associate with the shadow elves, dokkalfar, trolls and other subterranean races. They are known for selfishness and greed as well as great cruelty when they are crossed. Their nature is disciplined and controlled. They appreciate fine quality craftsmanship, especially forging and mining. They are known to create great magical weapons and wickly cruel traps in their underground lairs. Often they use other races such as orcs, trolls and ogres to raid castles and keeps to aquire the treasures they desire. Their split with their cousin's the dwarves happened when they sided with the fomor in an epic battle with dark forces losing and being banished underground.

Attribute Modifiers: ST+1 [10], HT+1 [10].

Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: FP+3 [9]; Basic Move-1
[-5]; Will+1 [5];

Advantages: Alcohol Tolerance [1]; Damage Resistance 1 (Tough Skin, -40%) [3]; Lifting ST 2 [6]; Infravision [10]; Pickaxe Penchant 1* [5]; Resistant to Poison (+3) [5]. Perks: Dvergar Gear† [1]; Silence 1 [5].

Disadvantages: Bloodlust [-10]; Greed (12) [-15]; Callous [-5]; Selfish (12) [-3].

Quirks: Dislikes bright light [-1].

Features: Armor isn’t interchangeable with human armor. It is interchangeabble with dwarven however.
* Pickaxe Penchant: You’re a natural at fighting, bashing, and
mining with axes and picks. This Talent adds to Axe/Mace,
Forced Entry, Prospecting, Thrown Weapon (Axe/Mace), and
Two-Handed Axe/Mace. Only dwarves can have it, and may buy
up to three more levels at character creation.

† Dvergar Gear: 10% off the final price of gear qualified as
“dvergar” – armor, rations, shields, weapons, whetstones, etc. Note:This only applies to underground campaigns or starting characters as most places on the surface world will not carry dvergar gear.

[b-dog]

Dokkalfar ( The Black Elves ) [44 points]

These are the elves of nightmares. They are completely jet black in both skin and hair color. Their eyes are often red but occasionally they are orange, gold or even violet. They usually wear black cloaks and hide easily in the shadows. They are hideously cruel and treacherous. Some become the greatest of assassins while others are mages practicing black magic or unholy clerics. Their societies would seem to be psychopathic by human stadards yet they are able to maintain order through fear as the dokkalfar are far too selfish to risk their lives needlesly. Their nature is very secretive, they plan and scheme to create the most cruelty possible, for they delight in the suffering of others. They form loose alliances with the dvergar and other intelligent evil races. They have little respect for unintelligent brutes such as the goblin-kin, trolls and ogres except as servants and slaves.

Attribute Modifiers: ST-1 [-10]; IQ+1 [20]; DX+1 [20].

Advantages: Appearance (Attractive) [4];Infravision [10]; Magery 1 [15]; Magic Resistance (Improved) [5]; Perks: Dokkalvan Gear† [1]; Silence 2 [10] ; Talent ( Darkness (Spell), Occultism, Poisons, Shadowing, Stealth, Thaumatology ) 1 [5]

Disadvantages: Callous [-5]; Reputation (Evil) (-2) [-10]; Sadism [-15]; Selfish [-5]

Quirks: Dislikes bright light [-1].

Features: Jet black hair and skin. Physique is slim.

† Dokkalvan Gear: 10% off the final price of gear qualified as “dokkalvan”
– armor, rations, weapons, cloaks etc.

[b-dog]

The Demon Wars

After the faeryland was cast into Hell, the gates to the faeryland opened and ghastly horrors from Hell appeared across the mortal realm. Demons, evil faeries, fomor, devil, dragons and undead of all sorts formed great kingdoms and empires. Mankind seemed to be doomed. The demon lords and princes warred among themselves and mankind creating a mockery of creation. Unspeakable cruelty and wickedness controlled the mortal realm. In response, the gods of light made covenants with the mortals; protecting the mortals from the legions of Hell in return for their faith. This gave mankind hope and during this time great heroes arose helping to conquer the forces of evil. The forces of evil were pushed back but not defeated. They were at a disadvantage due to their fractious nature but they managed to retain their territories and this resulted in the Demon Wars, a long, seemingly endless war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness.
Good eventually won the upper hand and slowly the forces of evil were in retreat. The forces of evil had to both fight off the forces of evil and wage war against other rival forces of evil. The power of evil was in decline.
One day a hero of evil arose, known only as the Faceless Lord. This hero untited the forces of evil and they quickly overpowered the forces of good. Cities and kingdoms fell their by their hands. The Faceless Lord created a temple in honor of all of the great demon lords, princes, fomor and dragons. This temple was called the Fane of Exaltant Evil and it forced all those captured to worship at it's altar. The forces of evil grew in power and soon the mortal realm was on the verge of destruction. The only free beings were those hidden in great secrecy. All hope seemed lost, the gods were powerless and no heroes arose to defeat the forces of evil.
Just as the mortal realm seemed to be destroyed, the temple began to collapse. The demon lords and princes cursed the name of the Faceless Lord and then united to defeat him. The gods used this opportunity to defeat the demons after they were weakened from fighting the Faceless Lord. Most of the demons were expelled back to Hell and the whereabouts of the Faceless Lord are unknown. There are rumors that in the Fane of Exaltant Evil great treasures await the adventurous but so far none has located it.

[b-dog]

The Greek Pantheon: For Dungeon Fantasy
Note: These gods are loosely based on greek myth.

Out of the primordial chaos arose the earth goddess and her partner god of the sky uranus. The children of these gods were the nature gods Cronus and Rhea, the sea gods Oceanus and Tethys, and a sun god Hyperion as well as many others. It was told to Cronus in strange dreams that his child would overthrow him, so Cronus devoured his children; Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia and Hera. One child escaped, his name was Zeus and he was able to free his brothers and sisters and then overthrew Cronus, casting him and the other titans to Tartarus.

Zeus created the realm of Olympus where he ruled from a mountaintop. The gods interfered little in the mortal realm. During this time other more ancient races lived and prospered; the fishmen, the dinosaurmen and the snakemen. These beings ruled supremely and worshipped strange elder gods that lived long before the gods of Olympus came into being. The gods grew jealous and began to strengthen the cosmic wall separating the raw choas from the universe and Olympus. The ancient races declined in power often leaving great ruins of their ancient civilization. Humans arose and the gods grew interested in the mortal realm, Promethius even helped to give fire to mankind. Many of the gods had children with the mortals creating great heroes, gods and sometimes great monsters.

In Tartarus the ancient titans began dreaming terrible dreams that promised to exact great revenge on Zeus and his pantheon. The titans waited impatiently for their chance to escape. During this time there was a great war in the faery realm and part of it was cast into Hell. Eventually the gates to the faery realm opened releasing all of the punished gods and other wicked beings. As Tartarus was connected to Hell it allowed the ancient titans to escape into the mortal realm. The titans decided to destroy the kingdoms of men and rule in their stead. At first there was only conquest and the titans and other evil creatures easily defeated the kingdoms of men. This period of time was known as the Demon Wars where evil gods and creatures from Hell walked the earth. Unfortunately, all wanted to rule and none wanted to serve so there was great warfare among the titans and other evil entities. The god Zeus ordered all of his pantheon to defeat the great forces of evil. Eventually the forces of evil were in defeat. The ancient titans were terrified about losing to Zeus as they knew they would be imprisoned again. They fought desparately to escape the wrath Zeus.

Strange visions came to the titans of a savior who promised that they would never be imprisoned again. These visions came to the goddess Hecate as well but these visions promised to teach the greatest of magics. Sometime later the savior came, he was called the Faceless One. He organized the titans against the gods and so powerful was his command that the gods were defeated and forced back to Olympus. Soon great temples were built forcing all in the mortal realm to kneel at the altars. The mortal realm was under control of the powers of evil and the gods were powerless to stop it.

Then the temples came crashing down, the titans and Hecate turned on the Faceless One. There was a great war between them eventually the Faceless One disappeared. The gods of Olympus used this time to defeat the wounded titans and send them back to Tartarus. The gods returned to Olympus and carefully watch creation from then on.

[Captain-Captain]

Originally Posted by b-dog

The Greek Pantheon: For Dungeon Fantasy
Note: These gods are loosely based on greek myth.

Out of the primordial chaos arose the earth goddess and her partner god of the sky uranus. The children of these gods were the nature gods Cronus and Rhea, the sea gods Oceanus and Tethys, and a sun god Hyperion as well as many others. It was told to Cronus in strange dreams that his child would overthrow him, so Cronus devoured his children; Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia and Hera. One child escaped, his name was Zeus and he was able to free his brothers and sisters and then overthrew Cronus, casting him and the other titans to Tartarus.

Zeus created the realm of Olympus where he ruled from a mountaintop. The gods interfered little in the mortal realm. During this time other more ancient races lived and prospered; the fishmen, the dinosaurmen and the snakemen. These beings ruled supremely and worshipped strange elder gods that lived long before the gods of Olympus came into being. The gods grew jealous and began to strengthen the cosmic wall separating the raw choas from the universe and Olympus. The ancient races declined in power often leaving great ruins of their ancient civilization. Humans arose and the gods grew interested in the mortal realm, Promethius even helped to give fire to mankind. Many of the gods had children with the mortals creating great heroes, gods and sometimes great monsters.

In Tartarus the ancient titans began dreaming terrible dreams that promised to exact great revenge on Zeus and his pantheon. The titans waited impatiently for their chance to escape. During this time there was a great war in the faery realm and part of it was cast into Hell. Eventually the gates to the faery realm opened releasing all of the punished gods and other wicked beings. As Tartarus was connected to Hell it allowed the ancient titans to escape into the mortal realm. The titans decided to destroy the kingdoms of men and rule in their stead. At first there was only conquest and the titans and other evil creatures easily defeated the kingdoms of men. This period of time was known as the Demon Wars where evil gods and creatures from Hell walked the earth. Unfortunately, all wanted to rule and none wanted to serve so there was great warfare among the titans and other evil entities. The god Zeus ordered all of his pantheon to defeat the great forces of evil. Eventually the forces of evil were in defeat. The ancient titans were terrified about losing to Zeus as they knew they would be imprisoned again. They fought desparately to escape the wrath Zeus.

Strange visions came to the titans of a savior who promised that they would never be imprisoned again. These visions came to the goddess Hecate as well but these visions promised to teach the greatest of magics. Sometime later the savior came, he was called the Faceless One. He organized the titans against the gods and so powerful was his command that the gods were defeated and forced back to Olympus. Soon great temples were built forcing all in the mortal realm to kneel at the altars. The mortal realm was under control of the powers of evil and the gods were powerless to stop it.

Then the temples came crashing down, the titans and Hecate turned on the Faceless One. There was a great war between them eventually the Faceless One disappeared. The gods of Olympus used this time to defeat the wounded titans and send them back to Tartarus. The gods returned to Olympus and carefully watch creation from then on.

Make them more loosely associated with the Greek Pantheon. Zeus had a variety of second names, Horkios, Aegiduchos and Plousios, for instance. Homer tended to use a lot of substitute names for gods if only to fit his poem's meters. You can EASILY have a set of names that will impress Mythology buff players and be 'not' the Olympic pantheon where and when you don't want it to be.

And play around with their histories. For example add a touch of Thor to your not Zeus: Plousious (wealth bringer always good for DF player characters). Early after the wall, with the First Gods dead or spent making the wall, the Great Dragons were unleashed. Servants of the Elder things brought into existence to topple the Godlings before they could assert the control over existence their parents had. Thor fights the great wyrm at the end of time, Plousious does so at the beginning. He slays the dragon of Storms and acuqires the power of weather and thunderbolts.

Athena (Tritogeneia) is a daughter of the First Sea God. None of this springing out of Zeus' head and we mix her up with Artemis a lot! She is raped by Pyrhhideon (Hesphasteus and Anateus) bypassing the nonsense of the failed rape by Hesphasteus that still results in a child she has to raise) and becomes the warrior goddess of female defense, chief goddess of the amazons

And so on.

[b-dog]

Aesaron: an Elder Evil God

This deity is composed of a mass of pure evil energy. It has always existed and it is sometimes called The Eternal Evil. It has been expelled from the world of Dungeon Fantasy because it is a force of pure destructive evil. Both gods and demons will fight against this being. Aesaron has no description but it can take many guises. Those who worship this being are insane and often suicidal yet fanatically devoted to it. They view all of existance with loathing and wish nothing more than to destroy existance and for this reason they are often associated with demons and other malign creatures in order to further thier goals of destruction. The worshippers were often good and moral persons before their fall. These worshippers often endured soul wrenching tragedies such as deaths of loved ones, guilt, humiliation, isolation, and alienation. They curse the very fabric of existance and wish all to be destroyed for they believe if they can release Aesaron, he will destroy all of creation including their souls so that they will suffer no longer. They know that if they fail, they will be cast into Hell for eternity, so they are absolutely ruthless in their goals.

The temples of the worshippers often reflect the nihlism of the Aesaron's followers, it is often horrific with depictions of endless carnage, leering demonic faces and undead motifs. The Elder Evil often relieves the pain of the worshippers while they commit great acts of mindless evil. It is often said that lone archers who shoot down innocents in public squares are under the influence of the Elder Evil.

Fortunately, the cult members of this god are small in number as Aesaron is truely, utterly and insanely evil. Sometimes however, cult members of this god will secretly ally with demon worshippers in order to wage hideously evil acts on society.

Aesaron's aspects are evil, insanity, hopelessness, despair, depression, isolation, destruction, entropy, decay and nihlism. The followers hope that by releasing this god and allowing it to destroy creation their souls will be anihilated freeing them from the suffering of existance.