The Pantheon War (Project 2)

Sphere-specific: In many cases, including Oerth and Toril, powers from both warring sides are present among the gods unique to that sphere. The presense of enough warring powers can force the single-sphere powers to choose sides in the conflict. The more that are already involved, the greater the number of single-sphere gods that are dragged in. A few sphere-by-sphere examples will be given later on.

Vecna: The god of secrets plays his cards cautiously in this epoch. Compared to other deities, he lacks both raw power and trusted allies. Knowing the secrets of both sides makes him an obvious threat to both, and he can't expect either group to defend him should he give his support to one of them. Nevertheless, he does subtley influence the conflict at important moments.

If fact, I may even give him a part in the opening battle of the war: The Battle of Clangeddin Fields.

EDIT: I should have asked this earlier: to keep clutter on this thread down, please post all comments and criticism on the main Project 2 thread. Thank you.

For some reason I thought you wrote 'Oerth'! I'll give it a read.

Meanwhile, lets wrap up this battle...

Abbathor's Betrayal: The Silverbeard failed to realize was that the battle outside of his realm was a diversion from the real mission. Using a portal revealed by Abbathor, the Children of Helen infiltrated Mount Clangeddin, now almost completely deserted. Heracles and his companions moved quickly through the networks of tunnels and found several of Clangeddin's proxies maintaining the divine connection with his army in the Outlands. They were quickly subdued, at which point the enchantress Circe bound them within specially prepared soul crystals.

The disruption in the connection made Clangeddin aware of the ruse he fell for. Knowing what was at stake, he personally went to stop the Children of Helen from escaping. With his focus turned away from the battle, the dwarven armies faltered. Vandria knew that was her signal-with a divine blast, the war goddess blew a gaping hole into the mountain-side. Heracles held back Clangeddin long enough for the rest of the Grecians to escape from his realm and teleport to safety. The elven army retreated back into the forests of Abellio just as a vanguard of Eqyptian chariots arrived to reinforce their allies. Despite the capture of Heracles, the battle was an important victory for the Greeks and Elves.

The Children of Helen wasted no time in returning to Olympus. Zeus stripped the Word right from the minds of the captive proxies and revealed it to each Greek and Elf power. Meanwhile, Clangeddin felt his proxy's minds being violated and knew that he had no choice but to reveal the Word to Moradin. The Dwarf-father in turn shared it with Daghda and Ra, for he had lost all hope that violence could be avoided.

Massacre of the Emissary: Garl Glittergold still believed that war could be avoided, and sent an emisarry lead by his lead proxy, Keeten Gearfinger, to the Dwarven realm of Erackinor. Unfortunately an contingency measure taken by Hera, Queen of Olympus, doomed the effort. Anticipating that one of the heroes being sent to Mount Clangeddin might be captured, Hera suggested that they be given the impression that the intelligence on the realm came not from Abbathor, but from the gnomes. Not only would they protect a potentially valuable mole, but the animosity generated between the dwarves and gnomes could be enough to secure an alliance with Garl.

Clangeddin sent Heracles to Erackinor for interrogation. When he gave the identity of the 'traitors', the dwarven powers were stunned. The gnomes had been as close to kin as non-dwarves come. And yet it made all too much sense, for Garl had sided with Zeus and Corellon at the Divine Gathering. At the same time, Abbathor had done too good a job at covering his treachery. When word that a "peace emissary" was coming to Erackinor, Moradin ordered that no chances were to be taken. As soon as the emissary entered the halls of Erackinor, they were surrounded by a company of Einheriar, lead by a proxy who was clansmen of one of the proxies captured by the Greeks. Caught off guard by the accusations of treason, Keeten's attempt to defuse the situation only angered the dwarven proxy further. Unwilling to suffer the gnome's "lies" any further, he ordered that the entire emisarry be dispatched for espionage.

The proxy was heavily rebuked for his handling of the situation, but the damage had been done. Garl Glittergold made an alliance with the Elves and Greeks, resigned to the fact that a horrific era was about to begin for the multiverse.

To answer your question-most of the fighting was done between the armies of petitioners that could now march across the planes without risk of being lost forever. The Blood War doesn't consist of Asmodeus and Demogorgon slugging in out, does it? Same principle here-in every war, there are leaders and there are commanders*. These einheriar sought to establish shrines to their deities in close proximity to their opponent's Realms. This usually entailed laying siege to their realm. If the shrines can be established, then a power begins to lose control of their own Divine Realm. Enough shrines open him or her up to a fight with a rival power that has none of the benefits of fighting on home turf, but all its risks. In practice, this "Shrine Siege" was typically executed on solitary divine realms, not the "mega realms" like Mt. Olympus or Heliopolis.

*cookie for anyone who guesses correctly which book I lifted that quote from.

Here's some more vocabulary to keep in mind:

The Divine Triumvirate: The name of the alliance between the Elven, Gnomish, and Greek Pantheons. Also called 'The Triumvirate' for short. The name also refers to the others powers that sided with the Divine Triumvirate. These powers include the Fey, Centaur, and Finnish pantheons.

The Blessed Alliance: The name of the alliance between the Celtic, Dwarven, and Egyptian Pantheons, as well as the other powers that would join their cause. Also called 'The Alliance' for short. The Babylonian, Kobold, and Mongolian pantheons, among others, are also a part of this alliance.

Next post, I'll try to get more specific on the major 'fronts' of the war.

'Bob the Efreet' wrote:

It's Ragnarok. Just to clarify

"you say po-tA-to, I say po-tah-to..." I'm not going to worry about spelling just yet.

CRITICAL BATTLES
"Not all battles are created equal." -Athena.

Toward the end of the early period of the war, it looked as though the Triumvirate had the upper hand. They appeared to be in firm control of 4 of the Outer Planes (Arborea, Beastlands, Bytopia, and the Grey Wastes), and were preparing to march on Erackinor. Two battles changed the momemtum of the war, while simultaneously expanding its scope.

The Battle of the Silver Sea: With the aid of reinforcements from the Greeks and Elves, the Gnomish pantheon finally succeeded in driving the Dwarves from Dothion. Looking to take the fight to the enemy, the Gnomes built a fleet of Gadget-ships to establish a beach-head on the shores of Lunia. Assisted by Hoplites commanded by Menelaus, the Fleet believed it stood a good chance of victory.

The Dwarves, seeing the growing fleet, brought the matter to the Archons. While the Archons did not want to get involved in the conflict, they knew it was their responsibility to protect Mount Celestia from "all hostile attacks." Bound to this responsibility, the Archons pledge to aid in the defense of Lunia. Not sure this would be enough, however, the Dwarves also invoked the Heavenly Agreement, an agreement between the powers of Celestia calling on them assist each other from outside attacks. Their call was answered by the Oerthian power Heironious, the Japanese sun-goddess Amaterasu, and the Draconic power Bahamut.

When the Gnomish armada appeared on the Silver Sea, they were greeted by a diverse fleet of ships backed by Archons and Dragons. Within a few hours, every Gadget-Ship had been blasted apart by holy light. Menelaus was killed in the battle. Sailors and hoplites that survived onslaught washed up on the shore of Lunia, where they were quickly captured by the Archons.

The battle halted the Triumvirate's march across the Upper Planes. Powers that were not initially a part of the conflict, especially single-sphere powers, began entering the fray. It also opened the gates to the involvement of Exemplar races. Through diplomacy, intrigue, sorcery, or plain whimsy, the races of the Outer Planes were drawn into the War of the Gods.

Battle of Gilded Hall: When Ragnorak ended, the Dwarven and Egyptian powers that dwelled in Ysgard were eager to contribute to the war. Because fighting was concentrated in the Outlands, Eronia, and the Bytopia/Celestia border, the Alliance gods in Ysgard saw this as an opportunity for them to rush into Olympus and win the war. The Triumvirate was warned of their intentions thanks to the observations of the Fairy Court. The war powers Athena and Corellon led the Triumvirate's auxillary forces against the Alliance army, which included the powers Amon, Bast, Hanseath, Kek, and Marthamor Duin. The armies met at the Sensate fortress of Gilded Hall.

Unlike the Battle of the Silver Sea, the Eladrians refused to involve themselves in the battle-they had no legal bound to defend Arborea. The Oerthian powers Trithereon and Olidammara did join the Triumvirate, as did the Sensates. After a weeklong battle, the Alliance was driven out of Arborea. It was a costly victory-Athena was sorely wounded-and Olidammara took the opportunity to peel the Sensates and the Olympians.

The battle opened up a new front for the Triumvirate. The factions, once only minimally involved, now began to take sides. Only the Athar, who were still hiding the dark of the War's beginnings, stayed out. It also generated serious dissapointment towards the Eladrins from the Triumvirate. If the Alliance can have an exemplar ally, they felt, so should they. This feeling would lead to the War's most momentous development.

The Exemplar Races and the Pantheon War

"O, divine arrogance! As you make the stars dim,
so will you set forests ablaze and tear mountains apart!
May the Wife embrace her Husband anew,
and May the Son follow his Father's trail."
-Morwel's Death-curse

"I miss the Blood War..."
-Overheard at the Stygian Oarsman

It's important not to confuse the exemplar races with Cosmic Entities. Exemplars-which include the Archons, Baatezu, Eladrin, Guardinals, Modron, Rimilani, Slaadi, Tanar'ri, and Yugoloths-are the physical manifestation of universal ideals as a group of individuals. While a single Exemplar is powerful compared to your average mortal, their real strength comes when acting as a group, whether consiously (lawful), subconsiously (neutral) or unconsiously (chaotic). This also includes paragon members of each race, like Talisid's Companions, the Dark Eight, and the Court of Stars. While they had unusual abilities, their influence came more from their social status than raw power. (other Exemplars, such as the Asura and Night Hags, won't be explored unless there is interest expressed)

Cosmic Entities, also called Planar Lords, represent a universal ideal manifested in a single being. The power of such beings rivals that of deities. The most powerful Cosmic Entities are broken into 9 groups:

-The Stewards of Balance (N)
-The Scions of Anarchy (CN)
-The Demiurges (CE)
-The Nether Fiends (NE)
-The Lords of the Nine (LE)
-The Axioms of Law (LN)
-The Virtues of Celestia (LG)
-The Heralds of Holiness (NG)
-The Defenders of Freedom (CG)

In most of Planar history, the Exemplar were guided, commanded, and/or strongarmed by the Cosmic Entities. During the Pantheon War, the gods of the Alliance and Triumvirate grew in power relative to the Planar Lords, and one way or another forced the Exemplar races to march to their tune-or be destroyed.

In the War's early period, each Exemplar Race had a its own agenda with regards to the conflict. The Archons and Guardinals tried to halt the fighting. The Baatezu found ways to exploit the conflict without actually becoming involved. The Eladrin wanted nothing to do with the fighting. The Modron were mostly concerned with completing their Great March across an Outer Planes that was more hostile than previous Marches took account for. The Rimilani intervened on occasion in order to ensure the War stood at a stalemate. Finally, the Slaadi, Tanar'ri, and Yugoloths were all happy to become involved in the Pantheon War...as soon as they were done with Ragnorak.

This all changed after the Battle of the Silver Sea. With the Archons no longer a neutral party in the War, each side quickly sought to secure the loyalties of as many Exemplars as they could manage. They accomplished this through a combination of divine force and political maneuvering. The most revealing example is how the Eladrin were forced to join sides with the Triumvirate, as it clearly demonstrates the new division of power in the Multiverse. Using both treachery and powerful divine magic, the Elven and Greek Gods destroyed the Court of Stars and magically bound the Eladrin to their will, both directly and via their Priests. Even though this action was nakedly tyrannical, the fever-pitched belief being generated on the Primes meant that the Defenders of Freedom could not oust the offending pantheons from Arborea.

Similar stories played out across the Planes. On Baator, political divisions amongst the Baatezu were being exploited by the warring sides. Minaurous and Stygia became just more contested ground for the Alliance and Triumvirate. Well-laid plots were compromised as the Devils devoted their energies towards doing the dirty work of the two sides while still trying to preserve Baator's sovereignty. The Yugoloths found their penchant for treachery actually strengthening the position of their targets. Anthraxus, for example, abandoned Hades and took over Hel's recently-abandoned Underworld in Nifleheim. The 'loth generals who were returning from Ragnorak, though, were furious-Hel's Underworld was the price of their participation in that conflict! As a result, Anthraxus was besieged almost immediately, while his former patron was left with a free hand in the Grey Wastes. Meanwhile, the Gehennan 'loths were forced to make an alliance of necessity with the Celtic God Math Mathonwy. In the Abyss, the gods Ares and Morrigan established secondary realms. Both sides also seized a couple of the Ships of Chaos (destroying Twelvetrees in the process). Tanar'ri flocked to their banners as the Pantheon War eclipsed every other division on the Plane. Some of these Demons continued the fighting in the Abyss, while others were sent to fight throughout the Multiverse.

The Modron (as well as other Exemplar of Mechanus) had their missions tampered with by mechanically-inclined deities (the Gnomes in particular). As a result, their patrons did not realize they 'went rouge' even as they served new masters. On the Outlands, the Rimilani increasingly began to accept the Celtic interpretation of where "balance" ought to be. Obviously, it was the Triumvirate that overstepped its bounds; shouldn't they be the ones that need to be contained? Meanwhile, chaotic deities on both sides rounded up powerful Death Slaadi and made them proxies. These Slaadi in turn creating marauding war-bands that raided across the Multiverse.

The Guardinals were the only race that did not take sides, and even continued to press for peace. They paid dearly for their neutrality however. Both Alliance and Triumvirate forces in Elysium attacked Guardinals on sight. On the Prime, the summoning or calling of Guardinals was widely outlawed as they were branded as 'troublemakers' and 'ill-wishers' by the embattled faiths. Facing unprecedented hostility, the Guardinals were forced to retreat to the remote corners of their home plane.

The Exemplar bore the brunt of the shock in adjusting to the new reality of the Pantheon War. In addition, a few of the Planar Lords got caught up in the conflict as well. Cosmic Entities that strove to create their personal followings on the Prime found their noteriety coming back to haunt them. This included 6 of the 9 Lords of Baator, as well as several Demiurges and Abyssmal Lords. Some Planar lords, including Grazz't and Mammon, tried to play both sides. Others, such as Dispater and Baphomet, joined one side or another. These beings eventually found their participation to be costly.

Most of Cosmic Entities were not pulled into the War. Instead, they patiently watched the conflict unfold while remaining hidden from view. They were either too obscure or careful to operate behind careful disguises. Much more ancient than the gods, they realized that the War was being driven not by any fundamental change in the reality of the Cosmos. Instead it was fueled by deities encouraging zealotry and fanaticism amongst their followers. While the belief generated in the short-term was tremendous, it could not be sustained. It was only a matter of time before the power of the Alliance and Triumvirate faltered. When it did, the Planar Lords would be ready.

Earth is not officially included in UPS. Please see the F.A.Q. for more information. There will be plenty of planets similar to Earth (limited magic that only recently became available, information age, mix of monotheistic and polytheistic faiths). But not Earth itself. Officially.

As for the Astral War (with Ortho now fighting the Githyanki), that occurs long after the dust of this conflict settles.

Also, the Pantheon War is the catalyst for the blossuming of monotheism in the Prime Material Plane. Thanks to the trauma of the War, quite a few of these faiths are even more hostile towards the 'old gods' than even the Athar.

The End...For Now

Editor's note: In order to focus better on the setting that the PCs will be inhabitting, I'm going to jump right to the aftermath of the Pantheon War. One day, hopefully, I will lay out what happened during this tumultuous time period. For now, though, I'll just give a summary of what changed

WINNERS: Ironically, the "winners" tended to be groups or individuals that remained neutral in the conflict. That said, there are relatively few winners of the Pantheon War
--The Planar Lords: At the War's end, the Cosmic Entities, from Chronais to the Gaping Maw, established their primacy over Creation.
--The Chinese Pantheon: By remaining totally uninvolved in the War, the Celestial Empire was more powerful than any other Pantheon.
--The Baltic and Slavic Pantheons: Relatively unknown before the war, the two pantheons played the politics of the conflict brilliantly, and eventually merged to form the 'Russian' pantheon.
--Anthraxus: Holding off his rivals, the Altroloth succeeded in solidifying his grip on the realm of Hel, and he became the new Norse god of the underworld.
--The Veterans of Ragnorak: This motley gang of Norse proxies earned enough renown during the Pantheon War to ultimately replace their deceased masters in the new Asgard.
--Cyric: The Prince of Lies' mastery of the conflict on Toril made him a lengend among planewalkers interested in a power of chaos and evil. His Shattered Castle relocated to the Abyss, where he could better promote the dogma of strife.
--The Athar: The Defilers succeeded in getting the most for their secret chronicle of the War's beginnings. The 'gods' had been discredited, and on hundreds of Primes, the Athar's beliefs on divinity had taken root-paving the way for a theological revolution.
--The Githyanki: Thanks to the large numbers of powers placed in the Dead Book during this time, there was a massive increase in livable areas on the Astral Plane. The Githyanki populations boomed, and the Witch Queen's power grew along with it.

Losers-Displaced: The list below is of powers (and other groups) that were driven from the kip they had at the beginning of the war or a shift in alignment. The "home front" strategy of emboldening their followers allowed the gods to avoid for a time the ideological consequences of the conflict. As the war drew to a close, however, the time came for even the gods to pay the music. (format=name(new home/new alignment)) Please note that this list is not meant to be official, but some decisions are fixed.
--Abbathor (Canceri/CE)
--Ares (--/NE)
--Artemis (Beastlands/--)
--Bast (Arborea/--) eventually shifted back into Ysgard
--Bargrivyek (Mechanus/LN)
--Celtic Pantheon (Abyss; Arborea; Bytopia; Elysium; Outlands; Ysgard/--)-Most of Tir Na Og destroyed or transported elsewhere
--Clangeddin Silverbeard (--/LN)
--Deep Duerra (--/LN)
--Demeter (Elysium/NG)
--Elven Pantheon (Beastlans; Limbo; Ysgard/var)-Arvandor is destroyed
--Fiernna (Outlands/N)
--Grazz't (Pandemonium/--)-The Dark Prince would eventually reclaim most of his realm
--Hachiman (--/CN)
--Hades (--/NE)
--Halfling Pantheon (Abyss; Elysium/var)-though the halflings never picked sides in the conflicts, they were persecuted throughout on both the Prime and the Great Wheel as potential enemies and spies.
--Hecate (Grey Wastes/--)-lost secondary realm in Baator
--Hephaestus (Elysium/--)
--Hermopolis (Egyptian) (Pandemonium/--)
--Imhotep (Baator/LE)-Destroyed, then restored by Set
--Ishtar (Outlands/N)
--Joramy (Outlands/--)
--Mammon (Gehenna/--)-Replaced by Geryon as Archduke of Minarous
--Nola (Celestia/LG)
--Pholtus (--/LN)
--Raiden (Ysgard/CN)
--Ralishaz (Pandemonium/CE)
--Soma (Limbo/CN)
--Zeus (Gehenna/LE)

Losers-Deaders: The gods listed below were writen into the dead book at some point during the conflict.
--Baphomet (Replaced by Posiedon's proxy Minos)
--CELTIC: Arwan; Ceridwen; Cian; Diancecht; Math Mathonwy; Nemhain;
--The Court of Stars
--Druaga
--DWARVEN: Berronar Truesilver; Gorm Gulthryn; Hanseath; Rokar; Tharmekhul
--EGYPTIAN: Amon; Hathor; Horus (Ra later absorbed his essence, becoming Horus-Ra); Nephystus; Tefnut
--ELVEN: Alobar Lorfiril; Alathrien Druanna; Corellon Larethian; Kirith Sotheril; Mythrien Sarath; Rillifane Rallathil; Vandria Gilmadrith; Ye'Cind
--GNOMISH: Callarduran Smoothhands; Gelf Darkhearth; The Glutton; Rill Cleverthrush
--GREEK: Ananke; Astraea; Epimetheus; Hebe; Heracles; Hestia; Prometheus; Rhea;
--Kereska
--Lakshmi
--Lolth
--OERTH: Beltar; Boccob; Fortubo; Phyton; Ralishaz; Rao; Syrul; Vara; Zilchus; Zodal
--Semuanya
--the Sons of Mercy
--the Sumerian Pantheon
--TORIL: Azuth; Deneir; Finder Wyvernspur; Gond; Mask; Gwaeron Windstrom; Malyk; the Red Knight; Sarvas; Talona; Teylas; Velsharoon;
--Yondalla

Number 1 rule of writing background: Don't let mechanics get in the way of a good story.

Also, what I failed to mention was that magic became very limited during this time period, so by the end of it, magic was at best reduced to a max of 5th level.

More on this later.