Chapter 1 – History of the old gods

When the world was young, and the realms were close enough to touch one another, old beings of chaotic and hungering power surveyed all of life. So greedy were these incarnations, and vapid in their certainty, that the lives of the mortals appeared mere playthings to the grandeur that were the old gods. In those days, humans tried to gain favor with the supreme celestials, hoping that they might be spared the tortures dealt with their lives. It was supposed that the humans could make sacrifices of flesh to the almighty powers, and once satiated, the gods would pardon the mortals from suffering… for a time.

For some mortals, merely appeasing these celestial powers was not enough. They needed to prove themselves, to gain some of the extraordinary influence that the old gods held. These mortals dedicated themselves to consuming lords of their pleasure, and brought with them a rolling tide of rituals, sacrifices, and prayers of longing anguish.

Amused were the old powers, that they granted these cultic humans favor, even allowing them to carry out their will. It would be a thrice dark life for any who were not favored by the old gods, for they would first toil with the earth, second with the gods, and third with their own kind who had sold them out.