Before time began, there existed only chaos and a great swirling void of nothingness. Out of this void there came a spark of law and order. As these two forces collided, the Gods and Goddesses of Hyerune were created as beings of pure thought and energy. For eons these great entities existed as mere thought but over time they desired to form a physical body. The greater powers among them used their creative power to cause the essence of the universe to coalesce and so the World of Hyerune was formed and shaped from the Four elements of Air, Earth, Fire and Water.
Upon this world the Powers of Hyerune came together to create a world of great majesty and magic. Thera, the Mother of the Gods, brought into being her three divine children: Endorie, the goddess of nature, Jaro, the god of the wild places and beasts, and Vestra, the goddess of agriculture and domesticated nature. Together, these holy offspring created the flora and fauna that would cover the land. The children of Oldred, the god of air, and Shastra, the god of waters, in turn brought life to the sky and seas. All of the Powers desired to populate their creation with a great race that could appreciate their gifts and worship them and so the race of Dragons was created and the Age of Dragons began. Each of the gods bestowed upon this race a special gift. Thera, the goddess of creation, gave them the basics of life. Anarya, the fire goddess, gave some the gift to breathe gouts of flame. Oldred bestowed the gift of flight and the power of the storm. Shastra gave the ability for some to live and breathe in his underwater domain. Suomi made their skin like the strongest of armor and their claws like spears. Kharon blessed the beings with a long life span while Maya gifted them with great powers of magic. Anu and Zhuran commanded that this race be ordered into distinct colors and categories. Each of the gods in turn bestowed a gift upon this first race and the dragons revered their creators. The greatest of dragons created objects of great beauty in honor of their creators and the gods were pleased. They would become the Great Guardians of Creation and the Lords of Flame and Wind.
So great was the majesty of the dragons that some of the gods created a number of secondary races to aid and serve the Dragonkind. Denethor created the dwarves to fill the dragon lairs with gold and treasures. Gnarda created the gnomes to bring the dragons mirth and to aid in their artifice. Namarie created the elves to bring music, song and counsel. Almadora made the halflings to tend the fields and fill the tables with great abundance. The Dragons viewed these lesser races as their children and taught them great lore and skills of magic. All seemed to be in order.
Some of the Powers despised these creations. Why should the world that they helped to create be given over to these lesser beings? Mordagh gathered a number of powers with similar views and sent avatars and servants to corrupt the dragons and turn them against their creators. Many of the dragons became self-serving and lazy. They enslaved the humanoids and many fled to the regions protected by their patrons. The dwarves delved deep under the mountains. The gnomes saught refuge in the hills. The elves wandered deep into the forests and woods and the halflings burrowed under their fields of plenty.
Mordagh again began to weave her wicked schemes. She convinced some of the powers to create beings of like evil to serve these new fallen Dragons. Ghereg spawned the vile race of orcs. Groalk created the bullywugs. Orgrak made the ogres and trolls. Kra'alc bred the troglodytes. Grimilzad created the goblins and his cousin Noghri the hobgoblins. With these vast armies to command and serve them, the evil Dragons turned from the gods and became greedy and hateful. Some even began to see themselves as gods. The good dragons, who were far outnumbered by their fallen brethren, out of confusion and fear hid deep in their lairs and refused to come out.
Seeing what folly she had inspired, Thera turned to one last act of creation. She deemed that this new race would be less powerful and would therefore never turn their backs on the gods. She called for a council with Anu, Khorda, Oldred, Sharva and Zhuran. Together they created the race of humans. At first the evil Dragons laughed and ignored this ignorant race of man and saw them as afterthoughts, savage and foolish. As the humans began to multiply in numbers, the dragons realized the humans were becoming more than a nuisance. They ordered the humanoids to war against the humans. Humankind began to see the dragons as the true threat that they were and greatly feared them. They also saw Hyerune as their birthrigtht and refused to surrender to these terrible beasts. Each of the six races of humankind sought out the aid of the good demi-humans. Ambassadors were sent out to the mountains, hills, forests and fields. The dwarves, elves, gnomes and halflings finally discovered the power of an alliance and shared the magic and skill they had learned from their draconian masters. Together, they united and lead the Great Revolt against the evil dragons and their monstrous allies. Seeing that the tide of war was changing, the good dragons emerged from their long slumbers and enlisted the aid of Galadine and Galdor to lead the charge against the rebellious dragons. The alliance succeeded in slaying a great number of dragons and driving the remaining, along with the armies of monsters, to the far reaches of the world or into hiding. The power of the Draconians had at last been broken and the dawning of a new age began.
The gods of Hyerune have played a significant role in the lives of mortals dwelling in Hyerune since the dawning of creation. Originally, each separate race of man had its own distinct pantheon of gods. As the races became more intermixed, the pantheons merged until becoming a vast conglomeration as they are known today, worshiped throughout the varied domains. As this mixture of faiths and pantheons occurred, new secrets of the relationships among the powers were revealed (a god of the Zentradi pantheon may have sired a number of Aldari deities, etc.).
The following list of the Powers of Hyerune is by no means exclusive but includes the largest and most popular faiths. The gods of the humans will be listed first, followed by the gods of the humanoids (elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings and orcs) and finally the gods of the "monster" races. Powers are ranked into four distinct categories: High Powers, Intermediate Powers, Lesser Powers and Demi-Powers.
High Powers, sometimes called Greater Powers, are the most powerful of all deities. They are generally the first divine beings to have emerged at the dawn of time and possess vast creative abilities. They are often viewed as the heads of their pantheons and possess millions of worshipers. High Powers have great shaping abilities over their Home Planes and have power of life and death itself. Intermediate Powers are generally considered less powerful then the High Powers yet still possess hundreds of thousands of worshipers. While possessing some creative ability, it is not as vast as that which is possessed by the High Powers. Lesser Powers tend to have more exclusive portfolios with worshipers numbering in the tens of thousands. They often serve as helpers to the High and Intermediate powers and may even have some similarities in the spheres of influence. The Demi-Powers are the least of the Powers, though their might still vastly overshadowes those of mere mortals. A Demi-Power, by definition, is either the result of a union between a mortal and an immortal Power, or they are mortals who have ascended to minor divine status after death. In any case, they have the blood of "mortality" flowing through them. Often this ascension is a result of a gift from a higher ranked Power or from the energy manifested by those few mortals who deem the Demi-Power worthy of worship.
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