Ye Are Gods (Sign-up and OOC)

First idea I had, we have Grandfather Vaad, a miserable giant Octopus who has retreated into his thoughts after losing his child and non godly "Kin" in the war. His worshipers run the gamut from literal psychic tentacle monsters to vaguely celtic innsmouth folk. The "mortals" are grouped in two categories: Nobles (Perhaps "Gentry", I'll think on it) and Lessers. The "Nobles" are not Nobility in the traditional sense, this class encompasses the smattering of Lovecraftian monsters hanging around the society, which are generally fairly "hands off" with how the insignificant subcreatures run their lives, but often demand tribute and hand out boons to the groups they associate with.
Basically imagine that instead of a village of peasants bringing their tithe of grain to a castle and lord, they dump a sacrifice off a cliff for the magical squid living nearby and he generally doesnt eat them and at least takes a vested interest in preventing them from being eaten, if they scream loud enough.

I dont intend for the "Nobility" to break either the power scale or the number of "fantastical monsters" per kingdom, I can set their numbers and "powers" accordingly to fit the scale of the setting. The most important thing is that they're impressive compared to the peasants they rule.


Vaad is a god of Psychic power, and his associated imagery involves the wind, the sea, the forrest, and eyes. His lore holds that Trees, with their twisting tendrils, are themselves an image of Vaad, and there are Tree-like creatures among the Nobility.

There are no casters of traditional magic among these people, but there are Psychics that fulfill a similar role. They distrust or despise other forms of magic, wether from the gods or achieved through other means, and their lore holds that all spells must perish under the gaze of the Eye.


(what's below is just a basic outline to get your thoughts)


God

God Name: Grandfather Vaad
Title: God of Psychics, The Great Eye, The Maelstrom
Gender: Masculine
Alignment: Broadly Neutral, tends towards Evil when roused to action.
God Appearance: Vaguely Cephalopodic, central body dominated by a single eye. When wrathful, his appearance is like that of a hurricane, with spiraling conduits of wind around a titanic nucleus.
Personality: Melancholic, glacially slow to act or respond to stimuli. In the infrequent case of a state of heightened activity, prone to titanic and nearly indiscriminate rages.
Opinion of mortals: Passively grants boons to his people, showing only a distant and vague affection for them. Mortals are broadly an unwelcome burden on his thoughts, and are only to be acknowledged if ignoring or silencing them would be more troublesome than taking heed. To a certain extent the worship of him equates to pestering him relentlessly and hoping he doesnt squash you in frustration.
God’s Domain: An endless black sea and sky in which Vaad drifts in endless semi-concious meditation.

Avatar Name: Lady Annvn
Avatar Appearance: A huge figure of glistening alien marine life, replete with tentacles hiding much of her form, but at the same time with certain features that are distinctly feminine and humanoid. She has a human-like face, with her eyes and brow hidden.
Personality: Contemplative and graceful, slow to speak, but still far more active than her Lord. She is gentle and kind to living things, but like her God she is capable of being lost in terrible rages beyond consolation.
Magic Abilities: She is perhaps unmatched in her psychic abilities, and particularly skilled in unmaking the magic of other casters. Aside from this she is quite large, compared to a human, and could crush one easily.


Hero(es): Decapitator Kyur
Rank/Reason: An angry floating octopus who's straightforward psychic powers increase his melee abilities and insulate him from magic as appropriate to his level.
Of the Nobles, Kyur is singular among the warrior caste known as a Decapitator. For a people devoted to a psychic god, the mind is the source of power, and so the taking of heads is held in sacred respect. While his powers pale before the Avatar, he is feared among peers and lessers for the psionic slash of his tendrils.
Personality: Driven, focused, and practical for one of his kin, Kyur is serious and aggressive. Wether bidden by a fellow Noble, or called to action by the Lesser creatures, he pursues his given tasks unflinchingly, though he is not averse to subtle means of achieving victory. There is something of the Samurai in his demeanor.


Terrain Preference: The sea, seashore, and forests.


Name of Kingdom/Empire: The Hold of the Mighty
Capital: Angwyn
Major Cities: Shoal, Dwyfn, Bertilyk
Society:
[People] The mortal folk of the Deep Blood are suspicious and hostile, a hard people, often fanatical in their traditions and intolerant of outsiders. They respect strength alone, and only strength superior to their own. They take well to farming, for their lore holds that all useful plants are gifts from their god, outgrowths of his very blood. They are at home in ancient forests, which they tend to carefully, as well as coastal environments. Some (perhaps a large portion) of the "Peasantry" live entirely under the waves, tending crops of sea life in a strange mirror of the surface peoples.
The Nobility of the sea go where they please, though most maintain a lair of some kind near enough to their lessers to extract tribute. In exchange, the nobility offer protection, permit the peasantry to gather food from the sea, and in the worst case, simply to abate their wrath, though abusive Nobles tend to find themselves outpositioned by their peers as much as in the human world. The Nobility of the land are more sedentary, taking the form of great trees and offering bounty to the peasantry in exchange for tending and tribute. There are a few great forts and cities of the small-folk ruled by chieftans and clergy of the deep faith, but most live in spread out villages.
[Economy] Xenophobic and isolationist, the Folk do not conduct much trade with outsiders. Their almost endless bountiful harvests of land and sea provide well for them, and so despite their gloomy and fatalistic appearance, they are a prosperous race. The Nobility hoard resources and treasures, which they trade to each other as favors and barter. The lands and sea are rich in Copper, both mundane and with supernatural qualities, which legends say comes from the blue blood of the Nobles, and the Grandfather himself.
[Politics] The Nobles maintain loose ties, most acting independently, Though there is a general understanding of who is superior to whom, and loyalties exist based on both favors and fear. Generally a Noble is only responsible for his own claimed area, and left to his own devices, though they may be called upon by an ally or superior for assistance. Nobles tend towards slothfulness and contemplation, in short they prefer to do as little as possible, they are lazy in the extreme.
Decapitators are the "Knights" or "assassins" of the nobility. Though there are very few of them, those that can call upon their service are the most feared among the Nobility.

The politics of the lesser folk are more clear cut. The lands of the Mighty are divided into given areas, ruled over ostensibly by chieftains who ensure that the villagers stay protected and any nobles remain appeased. The chieftains themselves owe fealty to the church, which dominates the few cities of the land, but are rarely called upon.


Other:
The men of these lands are in some ways primative, comparable to bronze age Celts, but in other ways peculiarly advanced. The firearm is not unknown to them, Forrest Nobles have in the past grown hollow shoots of strengthened wood, preloaded with propellant and bullet, to pass amongst their vassals. The little folk have themselves experimented with re-creating this weapon on their own.

The direct light of the sun is painful to those not of the Forrests, Noble and Lesser alike. While this light will not kill them by any means, they distain it for it's discomfort, and mercifully their lands are often cloaked in perpetual cloud cover.

Ave and the Lower Court. Almost vampires with a bit of a dark souls flair to them, lead by a psychotic comet cheerleader.


God Name: Ave
Title: God of purity, the glorious, the Exalter
Gender: feminine
Alignment: evil
Appearance: while she sometimes takes the form of a beautiful angelic statue, her true form is that of a spherical celestial body (of whatever size is appropriate for a physically large god). In any form, her appearance is marked with a large gouge or crack, filled in with gold.
Personality: Seeming peaceful and kind only at first glance, Ave is vain to an extreme only a god is capable of, and has possibly the strongest disgust response in all the cosmos. She would scour a continent of life for offending her in the slightest, if She did not fear the other gods. She wishes at all times to bathe in pure light, sunlight above all, and this thought gnaws at her in her exile to the godly realm. Despite her wickedness, there is a weakness in her heart, she is in fact a creature of strange sympathies, and cannot stand to be confronted with sufferings she herself did not cause. She would burn a city from the sky in a tantrum if she could, but find herself overcome with pity if presented with a weeping human.
Opinion of Mortals: Ave's mortals are almost exclusively undead free of all flesh and rot, creatures of bone or ash or calcified flesh. In this way they are "clean" and do not disgust their mistress, but nearly every other form of life does so. Breathing, sweating, reeking creatures crawling and wriggling at the cellular level, Ave can barely, if ever, disguise her revulsion for mortal life. Nevertheless, Ave craves flattery and adores tribute, and even an insignificant bauble of gold might make her forget her disgust for a brief time. She is fond of music, and so generally sets aside her distaste for any creature that makes it.
God's domain: a Grecian style palace constructed upon her true body serves well enough as a place to meet with others in humanoid form and enjoy her small scale treasures. The rest of the domain is An expanse of clouds and soft light, though despite appearances there is no air in this place, unless she wills it into being (she takes no small pleasure in taking her time creating air while a lower creature struggles, even if she herself brought them to her domain)

Avatar Name: The Most Exalted
Avatar appearance: A large winged humanoid form made of thousands of crystallized bones fused together topped with a halo of floating teeth, and shrouds of spectral forms swirling around his body.
Personality: A philosopher and Lawkeeper, the most exalted serves as the highest judge of Ave's mortal realm. While far less frivolous than his fellows and his goddess, the Most Exaulted nevertheless Carries out Ave's will no matter how deranged it might seem, and cares little for the monstrous excesses of his society. He believes that all life, no matter how lowly and diseased, can achieve the apotheosis of undeath and exaltation, just as he has. He is not instantly murderous to any living creature he encounters, however much it would be for their own good, he is quite restrained, when he has reason to be.
Besides the whole "confidently believes you would be happier as a skeleton" thing he's quite charming and affable when not carrying out his duties.
Magic abilities: the Most Exalted is as skilled a Necromancer as one might expect of a god's greatest servant, and armed with magical items to enhance his spellcasting. His body is harder than stone, and the wraiths that surround him serve as a kind of "living" armor, interceding between himself and incoming magic. He is difficult to dispatch with any kind of finality, for his ghost clings to the world and will seek to slowly reform his body like a Lich or haunt. However, any serious defeat, especially if his head and "heart" (a massive gemstone in his chest) are destroyed, will leave him disfigured in spirit, weaker and possibly damaged in mind. His soul might be trapped, or further disfigured by sorcery, as well.
He wields a blade of strange stone supposedly taken from the wound of Ave herself, and it is a potent weapon, especially against living things.


Hero: Dame Allandra
Rank: A powerful Courtier who's estate lies far from the capital. She arranges trade and keeps a stock of live beasts and men for a steady supply.
Personality: cunning and ruthless, she nevertheless enjoys her distance from the squabbles of the state (and the cold disapproval of the clergy), and her importance as a supplier of blood. She stays beautiful and strong, and rules her land like a queen. Somewhat ironically despite her direct predation, she has grown more accustomed to the presence of humans than her peers, and is in some ways more comfortable interacting with them than her own kind.
This queer fondness does not extend to mercy, however.

Name of kingdom: The Lower Court
Capital: Astodan
Major cities: none at the moment, I'll think about it.
Society
-people
It is said that the Undead of the Lower Court are invincible in spirit. That they have passed beyond death, and always return into the world. They are lingering ghosts, and their "bodies" are little more than puppets. This may be true in a sense, but the trauma of the body being destroyed is sufficient that the point is moot, whatever rises again from the lingering energy of a slain Courtier is almost certainly a completely new individual. Still, the Courtiers are difficult to kill, and a lack of "thoroughness" by their adversaries lends them an illusion of invincibility.
Virtually mindless skeletal undead wander the lands and perform any labor needed by the Courtiers, who vary somewhat in bodily composition. The simplest are mere bones, though they wrap themselves in layers of fabric and mask themselves for appearances. Commonly, an ashen substance fills their frame like flesh, giving them a crudely humanoid appearance. Some Courtiers, interred in beautiful statues, have fused into their rocky tombs, half garment, half body.

The courtiers are obsessed, from lowly skeleton donning a ceramic mask, to withered ashen revenant, to graceful living stone, with their appearances, and despise the imperfections of their forms. Their religion insists that in time, through loyal service and personal growth, they will be "exalted" to forms of pure beauty, but few among them can stand to wait. By consuming the blood of the living, they can temporarily relieve the ache of their self loathing, and wash away the imperfections that plague them. While the religious authorities do not condone such behavior officially, it is practiced by almost everyone besides the clergy themselves. Cracked bone seals and hardens, skin of packed ash becomes smooth and soft, unyielding stone gains flexible nature.

It is for this reason, that the Courtiers endlessly raid those living peoples they can reach.


-economics
The Courtiers need neither food nor warmth, somewhat easing the logistical constraints of their lives. However, their addiction to Blood, particularly that of Men, drives them to whatever lengths necessary. They will buy living slaves from any source, and have their numberless skeletons work ceaselessly in mines or fields to pay. Aside from blood, they are vain creatures and enjoy finery and jewelry of all kinds.

-politics
Because of the endless labor of lesser undead and their lack of needs, virtually all Courtiers enjoy at least some level of what could be called nobility and the governance of their lands are a tangled web of loyalties and authorities. Aside from the aristocratic scramble is the Circle of Judges. Never directly challenged, this religious organization is headed by The Most Exalted, and responsible for maintaining the legal system of the Court, as well as interpreting the will of the Goddess.

This last one is the Remnant of a vile being still clinging to life. The creature is only semi conscious at best, but her people are active and aggressive. Her people range from mostly human (perhaps with some horrific features, huge jaw, snakes for hair, etc) to chronenburgian and nightmarish in their anatomy. They also take well to magic by nature, and devote themselves to it. The children of the Heart are pained by the sun, and cannot bear it's light, thus they live mostly underground.

Going for a kind of... Pillar Men Lite with a greek flair here. Their Avatar stands out as an Arthurian Dark souls-y kind of dark knight on an insane quest.


God Name: The Heart
Title: The Heart of Want, The Mother, Ambition, Hunger
Gender: Feminine
Alignment: Neutral (despite appearances), formerly Evil
God Appearance: An enormous heart pulsing with light.
Personality: The Heart is only a remainder of it's former self, literally the heart of a particularly tenacious God killed in the war. While her previous form was monstrous in it's envy, she destroyed anything she could not possess, and feared and despised the touch of the sun. Now, the Heart is bereft of much of it's personality, all that remains is the drive to go on, to thrive, and this urge filters down into her children. The Heart can speak, but her thoughts are slow and clouded, like a man in a dream.
Opinion of mortals: The Heart feels an unfocused but powerful love for it's "children" in general, their pain wounds her, and their triumph pleases her. For others, she has very little thought whatsoever, not out of cruelty, but out of a lack of connection.
God’s Domain: The Heart's domain is nothing more than a gigantic underground cavern suffused with glowing veins.

Avatar Name: Tourum of the Grail
Avatar Appearance: A giant Knight in crumpled armor of dark metal and stone with a cloak of simple leather about him. Wielding a blade of silver metal and a broad shield.
Personality: Once a noble and honorable man, filled with compassion and mercy, Now all that remains is the quest. The ancient knight's mind is bent to a single purpose, to find and kill Avatars, to claim their hearts, in the hope that these sacrifices will restore the goddess to life, that the sacrifice of enough portions of godly power will bring completeness to her. Wether this quest is futile or may succeed would be entirely up to the GMs. Tourum retains his ability to reason, and can be conversed with, further he can pursue actions that do not directly lead to a confrontation with an avatar, but he is unyielding in the extreme. Unlike some Avatars, Tourum has no place in his god's society, though certainly none among them would stand in his way.
Magic Abilities: While in his mortal youth he was a mere swordsman, in his service to the heart he has become suffused with the sorcerous energies of that god, and now wields magic as potent as any mage. However, his thinking is straightforeward, and much of his magic is brought to bear to do little other than protect himself and ensure the stroke of his sword, though he may throw the occasional blast of lava or thunderbolt. His body is boiling hot in combat, and there is little distinction between his ancient flesh and his armor. He is resistant to temperature extremes, and the stroke of lightning, and needs neither air nor food. The Sorcery soaking his form heals his body slowly of it's wounds. Despite his transformed state, he is not himself, by blood, a child of the Heart, and thus fears nothing of sunlight. In Battle, Tourum's sword shines so brightly that it becomes physically difficult to look at him, making effective swordplay a challenge for anyone without a secondary way to gauge his movements.


Hero(es): Gorgo the Witch
Rank/Reason: A weaver of spells and brewer of potions, Gorgo is more resistant to sunlight than most of her fellows, and lacks any obvious horrific features. She lives on the surface, and may be called upon by either the children of the heart or surface dwellers as a messenger or guide to each other's "world".
Personality: Mischievous and morbid, her seeming wickedness is largely an affectation, she is not malicious at heart, and treats with others fairly. However, she is not without darker aspect, if impugned she will take cruel revenge.

Terrain Preference: Underground, presumably mountains.

Name of Kingdom/Empire: The land of the Sacred Blood
Capital: Hecatomb
Major Cities: (I'll think of names)
Society: (what is it like to live amongst your people? Are they friendly? Hostile? (Give at least 1 paragraph worth of description) you can use the titles below for guidance).
[People]
The Children of the Heart are a people of aggressive pride. Their desires run strongly, they want what they want and don't like to be told no. Among them are many mages; they take to the arcane arts naturally, for there is no greater expression of making one's wishes reality than the use of Magic. While the children of the Heart vary across shapes and sizes, the "Common" form is not so much different than a man, though odd features are to be expected, such as a forrest of snakes for hair. The flesh of the children of the Heart is more mutable than that of normal men, and they can contort themselves bizarrely with ease. They heal better than humans, and are extremely resistant to disease, though they can (and commonly do) infect others. The humanoids of this culture are known as "Furies", a name that suits their demeanor and terrible reputation as man eating monsters and harbingers of pestilence.

They are not a particularly cruel people, but neither are their interactions with outsiders generally positive.
[Economy]
Despite being violent, disease carrying, flesh warping monsters, the Children of the Heart eagerly engage in trade with anyone who will reciprocate. They are rich in coal and metals, and are poor in just about everything that cannot be found underground. Some enterprising Furies have attempted to establish surface farms or herds of animals, tended at night or through the use of surface dwelling vassals, though they gain far less nutrients from vegetation than humans do, being almost entirely Carnivorous.

[Politics]
The strictures of underground dwelling force a situation of strong, central government on the very individualistic Children of the heart, and their society is organized somewhat along the lines of the city-state, with each city governing itself, and even having separate forms of government.

The one who flowers dreams.

She was once nothing more than the fifth princess in one of Nekhen’s city-states, leaving no prospect for real power.

After a prophecy given by Zia ul Qamar, Qades set off to gather a foretold force to oppose Azahiel’s designs. Though they had no ability beyond her mind and words she carried a great magical potential within.

After many adventures, she would go on to become the powerless hero who brought together the Neternautans- together stopping the Demon King and his First Scarlet Reclamation.

Despite being the weakest member, she desired peace and a better future for everyone.

Even with such limitations, overwhelming charisma and almost supernatural force of will helped her lead the diverse group. Her leadership qualities and tactical acumen were decisive for the groups success.

After the Demon King’s defeat, they leveraged the weight of their success to usurp her incompetent siblings. Within a few years Nekhen was fully unified and more secure than it had ever been.

With some early consolidations and sweeping reforms to the nation, invasions into other lands began. In those early days, the heavenly council was still slowly removing themselves from the World as a whole. By the time some Gods who cared noticed, the entire continent was coming close to being unified under a single banner.

It was then that certain Gods unleashed plague, pestilence, and various forms of divine retribution to stymie this. The Great Conquerors armies were crushed, her cities devastated, and countless lay dead.

During a decisive battle against a coalition force pushing into the Nekhen Heartlands, her ‘final’ defeat came. It had been the first loss in their life, and the end of her rule- or so it would’ve been. So it should’ve been.

It was when her Honorguard literally refused to die that everything changed. With their incorporeal spirits passing through the lines of the enemy- harvesting souls like a farmer does wheat- the battle was completely decided.

This victory delayed the enemy for quite some time, Leaving Qades to retreat deep within her own realm to contemplate the latest change of events. Through their own research and experimentation, she invented the process of ‘Necromancy’ and reversed the fortunes of war.

Fighting defensively and with this new power at her beck and call, the enemy was forced into utter stalemate- and then harsh defeats. The region between the Inner Sea and Heartlands was utterly devastated, becoming a no mans land devoid of civilized life and even most vegetation.

Once more she began to expand her influence and the necromantic kingdom began to threaten the greater world. Those Gods who opposed her had their temples destroyed mercilessly. Their priests were either put to the blade or converted to the necromantic Artes.

No mercy was shown in response to the divine vengeance that had been so unfairly brought against her. Any obstacle would be removed, God or not.

For this, she earned the epitaph of ‘Harlot-Empress’.

On the eve of the wars final ending the God of Death returned; claiming her as Avatar for this mortal plane. A mixture of guilt toward the Dead God and desire for peace allowed the conflict to be settled there and then. The conflict ended practically overnight, deflated by simply giving their former enemy a job.

Though the lands of Nekhan were a shadow of their former strength, the Heartlands were still intact.

And so was their immortal sovereign.

The charisma and willpower of the Harlot-Empress has surpassed the limits of what one would consider magic. She tamed Death itself through sheer force of will, and exerted that willpower on the world to tame it. Despite not being a warrior, she invented Necromancy and became the First Liche. This feat alone was enough for her to be counted among the absolute strongest Archwizards of the world. Beyond Necromancy itself, she also has general mastery over the various Black Artes. Qades is especially talented in ritual-type Magicks.

One reality hasn’t changed; she cannot fight alone.

The Harlot-Empress’ capabilities as a fighter have never increased over the long years. However when fighting Qades, you are not fighting merely just an enemy soldier.

Instead, you are facing a general leading their army.

Though these conscripts may take the form of equipment or tools, she is never fighting alone. The Liche Priestess wields soul shaped equipment, integrating the conscripted souls and shades of all Dead things. To face her is to fight an army in the form of a single warrior. It is a terrifying prospect.

The shade of a legendary castle wall may well be forged into her armor; her keen blade tempered by the soul of an ancient sword saint. The quality of her items and weapons varies greatly on who constructed them and of what. The greatest among those incorporate blackened shades and the impossible resources of the Dreamlands in their construction. The very best are said to come from Lady Death herself.

It’s no exaggeration to call Qades the best equipped Avatar on the mortal plane, a walking fortress prepared for practically any enemy.