TwoHeadsBarking
First Post
Zal'Ekthees is Orcus. Spoilers, I guess.
I confess that the Adversary's origin is not as strong as I'd like, mostly for reasons Tomalak just pointed out. The gods as they are already have several beings working in opposition to them: the other gods. If the Adversary is too evil, then the gods become too good. I was trying to make the reasons for his fall morally vague. I think cov and Antithetist did a much better job of describing things than I did.
Man, did you know L4W has a creation myth? I had mostly forgotten.
Anyway, as a mythology, I don't think we need the Adversary. But as an all-encompassing D&D setting, we really ought to have an Asmodeus-type guy.
I confess that the Adversary's origin is not as strong as I'd like, mostly for reasons Tomalak just pointed out. The gods as they are already have several beings working in opposition to them: the other gods. If the Adversary is too evil, then the gods become too good. I was trying to make the reasons for his fall morally vague. I think cov and Antithetist did a much better job of describing things than I did.
Man, did you know L4W has a creation myth? I had mostly forgotten.
The Wiki said:The first Aeon was Darkness.
The second Aeon, Light blossomed out in darkness, and Light outlined the Chaos from the Dark, and Chaos was all, and all was in Chaos.
The third Aeon, love was born, and separation was born. For from Chaos, Ge, the Mother, and Ouranos the Shining too, and one laid herself under all things, and the other embraced her lovingly. And the Chaos that remained was alone and furious, and stabbed Ge, and shattered her. And Ouranos embraced her and soaked in her blood and they were closer and farther than before.
The fourth Aeon, children were born from Ge and Ouranos, and they were mighty and beautiful, and walked on the womb of their mother and looked up at their father. But Chaos was cast aside and jealous and also gave birth, but though mighty his children were, ugly and angry they were, too. And while the children of Ge and Ouranos gave life and beauty to the soil that was their Mother, the children of Chaos brought darkness, and sharp mountains, and scorching fires, and chilling cold, and they excavated the interior of Ge with caves and rifts. And the Mother was in pain and cried and shook, and remembered whe she was one. And from her memory a light was born that was fair and full of life and her children called it Elysium and inhabited it, but then it cast a long shadow on the opposite side, and the children looked at it and it was gloomy and deserted, and they called it Herebos, and few of them ever walked on it. And then Ge was tired and fell asleep, and sad was Ouranos and followed her in her slumber to dream outside all that was, and they have not awakened since. And from their stillness the Cosmos was born, and the shifting Seas. Some say their dreams gave birth to another reality entirely, for which no name was found, sometimes simply called "That Which is Far".
Then came the first age of Mortals, first of many to come. The world was blossoming with life, and the young Gods helped it grow, each in its way. The dragons were the first to awaken in the Cosmos, and they grew great and mighty, closest to gods than any other mortal being. The Elysium shone like a glowing star, and its children soon walked the world, and even the darkes corners of the world were stirring, and the gods walked on the same grounds of mortals. But again, the Primordials, children of chaos, were jealous and moved to the Cosmos to bring ruin with them, and built fortresses and created servants to kill and imprison mortals, made of raw matter and pure life force. They dared not enter Elysium and Herebos, for mysterious were their lands, but Titans, and Giants their children, and Archons and Elementals were in Cosmos. At first, the Gods were pushed away, for no army they had, nor had they battled before, save for play. They established fortresses too, in Ouranos, Elysium, in the Shifting Seas, and even in Herebos. They started to gather allies among the most powerful mortal creatures, and even powerful immortal spirits. They eternal forged bonds of loyalty with Angels, and created fearsome Abominations to send against those spawned by the Primordials, desperate to take back the Cosmos. The war was the longest the World has since seen, and forever will be. In the end, the gods prevailed as the majority of the Primordials were destroyed, or retired in the eternal elemental storms of Chaos. The most powerful of the Primordials and their rulers, Arges, Gya, Kotto, Bryareus, Stheropes and Bronthes were cast down with all the divine might to the deepest abyss of Chaos, and there chained and sealed. There, their malice corrupted all around them and made their own prison far worse than ever would it had been. That was called Thartharus.
Anyway, as a mythology, I don't think we need the Adversary. But as an all-encompassing D&D setting, we really ought to have an Asmodeus-type guy.