The Nature of Gods[]
Gods are immortal entities possessed of exceptional amounts of divine power. There are countless gods extant within the Cosmos. The most powerful of them can do almost anything they will; the least powerful are minor spirits or demons, weaker than the mightiest mortals. But not even the mightiest gods are all-knowing, all-powerful, or all-wise. The gods aren’t even sure what their purpose in the Cosmos is.
Creator's Note[]
Despite believing in a creator god, Stoicism (and its contemporary rival Neo-Platonism) were polytheistic; these beliefs serve as the foundation for the cosmogony of ACKS. Both philosophies taught that the world was peopled with divine agencies who possessed souls even more rarified and pure than that of man.
The Factions of the Gods[]
After aeons spent pondering the higher mysteries, the gods have broken into three different theological factions, each with a unique view as to the intended function of the Cosmos.
The first faction of gods believes that the Cosmarch sought to rid itself of evil – “to separate the light from the darkness,” according to the Seven Radiant Scrolls. They divide the Cosmos into good and evil, order and entropy, life and unlife. Acknowledging that all things came from the Cosmarch, they are moved by their shards of the world-soul to struggle on behalf of good, order, and life to purge evil, entropy, and unlife. The Empyrean gods of the Auran Empire belong to this faction. They are associated with the Lawful alignment.
The second faction of gods believe that the Cosmarch sought to rid itself, not of evil, but of weakness – “to separate the wheat from the chaff.” They divide the Cosmos into strong and weak, powerful and servile, free willed and enslaved. Their shards of the worldsoul imbue them with a will to power and conquest. The Chthonic gods of the Zaharans belong to this faction. They are associated with the Chaotic alignment.
The third faction of gods believe that the Cosmarch sought to experience a richness of existence denied it as an Unmoved Mover. Love, hate, pleasure, pain, birth, death, all of these were contained within the Cosmarch but could not be perceived as such unless the Cosmarch became Many from One. The shamans of Skysostan, Jutland, and the Ivory Kingdom hold views similar to these. They are associated with the Neutral alignment. They believe that the other two factions, while necessary, simply misunderstand the role they are intended to play.