Divine Origins • Racial War Saga Codex

Lore excerpted from the Annals of Stragos – compiled by scholars who have survived the age of walking gods.

In the Beginning, there was only the Greatest Open Realm. From the formless void rose Balance, and when Balance split, it bled into equal parts Order and Anarchy. Their unrest birthed the paired forces: Life and Death, Light and Dark, Purity and Pestilence, Peace and War, Love and Hate.

The first mind to surface from this storm of concepts was Ravina Estarra, the Timewarden. She cupped existence in a vast ring called Stragos, where time could hold still long enough for other beings to awaken.

There, the second god opened his eyes: Elavarion, the Creator. From his form he sculpted a world he named Bastion, and later a twin, Citadel, to keep his more troublesome children far from his beloved firstborn.

According to the Elder Codices, “Balance” is not a person but a primordial state of tension. Order and Anarchy are treated as its first derivatives, with the dualities (Life/Death, Light/Dark, etc.) classified as secondary emergent forces.

Ravina Estarra is consistently named as the first conscious entity. The realm of Stragos is recorded as a stabilizing ring enabling linear time. All later deities appear to require Stragos to interact with creation in a coherent way.

Elavarion is mapped as the first Architect Deity. Bastion and Citadel are catalogued as “paired spheres,” designed to separate his favored creations from those he feared would overrun them.

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Creation Timeline

The First Stirring

Balance arises within the Greatest Open Realm and fractures into Order and Anarchy.

Birth of the Dualities

Life/Death, Light/Dark, Purity/Pestilence, Peace/War, Love/Hate condense into being.

Ravina Awakens

Ravina Estarra becomes self-aware and forges Stragos, the temporal ring.

Elavarion’s Vision

Elavarion coalesces and shapes Bastion from his own body; the sun, moon, land and sea flow from him.

The First Children

Elves and merloch arise from his blood and sweat. Shamanism begins as they sing and dance in his honor.

The Human Problem

Humans and their sub-races breed beyond design. Citadel is created to house them apart from Bastion.

The Age of Walking Gods

Other deities demand entry to Bastion. Their arrival ignites an era of miracles, monsters, and wars.

The Greater Realms

Scholars describe reality as a cluster of “bubbles” suspended in the Greatest Open Realm. The sketch to the right is a simplified chart used in Academy lectures.

  • GOR – The Greatest Open Realm (raw chaos).
  • Stragos – Ravina’s temporal ring around all lesser realms.
  • Greater Realm of Preservation – Shared seat of Elavarion and D’Aryasia.
  • Bastion – Elavarion’s first world, home of elves and merloch.
  • Citadel – Twin world, given to humans and their offshoots.
  • Deimah – Seetchricht’s hidden realm of copied creations.

You can later replace the diagram with painted art or a star-map styled image while keeping this text.

GOR – Greatest Open Realm └──◯ Stragos (Time Ring) ├──◎ Bastion │ └─ “Favored races” ├──◎ Citadel │ └─ “Unruly children” ├──◎ Deimah │ └─ “Stolen patterns” └──◎ Preservation └─ “Seat of the Ailing Creator”
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Divine Entities

The following entries summarize the principal powers most often cited in accounts of the early Racial Wars. Each can be read as myth, commentary, or both—depending on which mode you’ve chosen above.

Elavarion
The Creator
Dominion
Creation, Worlds, Vision
Alignment
Order-leaning Balance
Realm
Greater Realm of Preservation
Favored Races
Humans (hidden), Elves, Merloch
Myth Rating
★★★★★ Primordial
From his body he birthed Bastion and its twin Citadel. When humans multiplied beyond his design, he hid them away on Citadel, then opened Bastion to the other gods. Now, in Preservation, even a Creator can fall ill—and entire worlds hold their breath.
Elavarion is catalogued as an Architect Deity whose “sickness” coincides with measurable instability in the arcane flows of both Bastion and Citadel. His preferential protection of humans is a late scholarly consensus, drawn from sealed Preservation-era texts.
When the first human begged not to be parted from Bastion, Elavarion answered, “I hide you so the others may feast on my garden, not on you.” The human never forgave him—and built a faith around it.
Rydenna
The Unmaker
Dominion
Anarchy, Decay, Endings
Alignment
Pure Anarchy
Realm
Frayed edges of all realms
Favored Races
Outcasts, Warlocks, Ruin-priests
Myth Rating
★★★★ Ancient
Where Rydenna looks, existence wilts. Stone crumbles, memories blur, oaths unravel. Empires fear her not because she ends them—but because she shows them how eager they are to end themselves.
Rydenna symbolizes institutional collapse. Records of her cults spike shortly before major civil wars, suggesting that belief in her may be both symptom and cause of societal decay.
A city once carved her sigil into every sewer grate “to drain her away.” When it finally fell, only the grates remained, standing in midair over nothing.
Seetchricht
The Twisted
Dominion
Truth, Lies, Reflection
Alignment
Chaotic Balance
Realm
Deimah, the Mirrored Vault
Favored Races
Oracles, Tricksters, Spy-guilds
Myth Rating
★★★ Very Old
He coaxed Elisomeed into copying Elavarion’s creations, then locked the copies in Deimah, where no truth stands alone and every lie has a twin.
Scholars argue that Deimah is less a location and more a metaphysical “backup” of reality, constantly edited by Seetchricht to test alternate outcomes.
An assassin once prayed to him for a perfect disguise and awoke with a stranger’s face—his own, pulled from a life he never lived.
Breykelis’Thash
The Split Flame
Dominion
Fire, Ice, Extremes
Alignment
Unstable Balance
Realm
Forges of Stragos, Polar Veils
Favored Races
Smiths, Frost-clans, Battle-mages
Myth Rating
★★★ Very Old
He breathes in fire and exhales ice. Where his twin tempers meet, steel and souls learn whether they will bend—or shatter.
Cults of Breykelis’Thash cluster around fault lines and glaciers. Their teachings emphasize embracing extremes to reveal a thing’s true nature.
During a winter siege, a smith prayed over a dying forge. By dawn the walls glittered with ice-hard chains, and every assault ladder broke like glass.
Viktor
Voice of Purity
Dominion
Language, Honor, Valor
Alignment
Order & Purity
Realm
Hall of Oaths, within Preservation
Favored Races
Dwarves, Knightly Orders
Myth Rating
★★★★ Ancient
Viktor gifted words to mortals, then chained those words into Oaths. Every true promise rings like a hammer-strike in his halls; every broken one, like a sword snapping.
His influence is visible in nearly every legal tradition. Judges, scribes and oath-bound warriors invoke him before verdicts or vows.
When a conscript swore never to abandon his post, the line broke around him. In the morning they found the gate re-forged and the enemy dead, but no footprints in the snow—not even his.
Ravina Estarra
The Timewarden
Dominion
Time, Continuity, Memory
Alignment
True Balance
Realm
Stragos, the Temporal Ring
Favored Races
Chronomancers, Archivists
Myth Rating
★★★★★ First Awakening
She was the first to wake. With one slow breath she looped reality into Stragos so that moments would stop slipping away before they could mean anything.
Ravina is the only deity all major traditions agree must exist. Without her, causality itself fails, and even the gods lose the thread of their own stories.
A dying historian begged her for “one more day” to finish his work. The next morning he was found still writing, surrounded by nine identical copies—each ending differently.
D’Aryasia
Shield of Order
Dominion
Protection, Order, Boundaries
Alignment
Pure Order
Realm
Greater Realm of Preservation
Favored Races
Guardians, Wardens, City-walls
Myth Rating
★★★★ Ancient
She lay with Elavarion and birthed Herteus’Celeres, the Divine Warrior. When Preservation was raised, she set her shield around it, swearing that nothing would touch her sick Creator without passing through her first.
Many defensive wards draw their structure from D’Aryasian geometry—nested circles and intersecting triangles meant to “catch” chaotic energies before they breach a boundary.
In an ancient siege, every arrow fired at the city’s last gate turned aside a finger’s width and fell, as if hitting an invisible shield. The defenders later found her sigil etched on the hinges.
Barimauler
The Brutish
Dominion
War, Fury, Triumph
Alignment
Chaotic War
Realm
Bastion’s Warfronts
Favored Races
Soldiers, Berserkers, Champions
Myth Rating
★★★ Very Old
The first god to walk Bastion in full, Barimauler turned every argument into a battlefield and every battlefield into a hymn singing his name.
Military chronicles claim that armies invoking Barimauler win more often—but at higher cost. His favor is measured in casualties, not clean victories.
Two generals once prayed to him on opposite sides of the same war. He answered both and called it “a fair fight.”
Kargonis
The Beastborn
Dominion
Predation, Wilds, Monsters
Alignment
Ferocious Neutral
Realm
Untamed Bastion & Citadel
Favored Races
Beast-kin, Hunters, Monsters
Myth Rating
★★★ Very Old
Born from Elavarion’s fear, Kargonis shook himself and monsters fell from his mane. Where he prowls, instincts rule, and civilization walks only as prey.
Bestiaries often open with a dedication to Kargonis, not out of reverence but respect; naming him is considered the scholarly equivalent of checking for teeth before entering a dark cave.
A ranger once swore to hunt down every beast that threatened her village. Kargonis appeared, smiled, and asked, “And when you are the last savage thing left, who will hunt you?”
Hacto’Fel
The Glorious Rider
Dominion
Light, Victory, Revelation
Alignment
Radiant Order
Realm
High Roads of Stragos
Favored Races
Banner-knights, Heralds, Messengers
Myth Rating
★★★ Very Old
Descended from pure Light, he rides between realms on roads only he can see, arriving at the exact moment a charge either breaks or becomes legend.
Hacto’Fel’s appearances often align with rare celestial events. Some theorize his “roads” are just predictable paths through the weave of magic, learned long before mortals began to measure them.
A routed army once saw a lone rider crest the hill behind them, cloak blazing like sunrise. No one remembers his face; they only remember that no one ran after that.
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How Mortals Speak of Them

Elves

Call Elavarion “First Light” and insist he still hears their oldest songs. Rydenna is a shadow they refuse to name aloud.

Merloch

Honor Elavarion as the Warm Current and whisper to Seetchricht before treaties, believing he can twist enemy tongues.

Humans

Split over him: some adore their “Sculptor,” others blame him for their chains. Many bargain with Rydenna when empires crumble.

Dwarves

Swear most often by Viktor, whose runes frame their law-stones. Breykelis’Thash is their patron at the forge and the battlefield.

Gnomes & Halfmen

Favor Seetchricht’s riddles and Viktor’s clever wording, crafting contracts that glimmer with loopholes only they seem to notice.

Whispers of the Gods

ELAVARION: “Every world begins as a question. I am the one who dares to answer.”
RYDENNA: “Nothing is truly broken. It is only freeing itself from what you wanted it to be.”
SEETCHRICHT: “Truth is a mirror. Smash it, and you finally have enough pieces to see yourself.”
BREYKELIS’THASH: “Steel and souls are tested the same way—through heat, and through cold.”
VIKTOR: “A vow is a blade. Wield it carefully—or fall on it.”
Picture
Fuming with rage and bitterness six friends band together to avenge the destruction of a small human settlement. Through sheer determination and stoic resolve they succeed, though at what cost? Because of their actions, one of them will fall to the enemy and Velthanjantle, the demonic avatar of Kargonis is resurrected. Though weak, the demon breaks free to reign havoc once again upon the world. Fifteen years later, the demon is fully healed and searching for the mysterious Three Chains of Gold; three relics from the War of the Gods which when united will bring about new balance among the Greater Realms. If Velthanjantle is able to find the chains the dark god could be free once more to walk among mortals and foil the decree set in place at the culmination of the War of the Gods by Ravina Estarra, the Goddess of Time. It falls on those who released the demon to gather their forces and train their armies and guilds to stop the end of the world. Together or separated, six mortals must set in motion the events necessary to save Reality from ultimate doom. From demonic plots and greedy dragons to hardened assassins and pious priests, the demon Velthanjantle quickly becomes the least of their problems.
©2025, AJO Presents. All rights reserved.
A Brief History of Reality
In the Beginning
Nothing existed but the Greatest Open Realm. Balance found presence, then spilled into equal parts Order and Anarchy. From these three twisting fates came Life and Death, Light and Dark, Purity and Pestilence, Peace and War, Love and Hate. The first entity to coalesce into consciousness was Ravina Estarra, the Timewarden. She fashioned Stragos, the Greater Realm that encircled time and space within her protective grip, isolated away from the Greater Open Realm. There she encouraged the acceleration of consciousness into other entities. The first of whom was Elavarion, the Creator. His passion led him to the creation of a planet he called Bastion and from his right leg, the planet formed. He envisioned life and so he opened his eyes and provided the sun and moon. He opened his belly and provided the water and lands to give space for his vision. From his blood he created elves, the perfect conduits for his power. Delicate but replete with magic and creativity and longevity. The spurred on the growth of his lands. From his sweat he created the Merloch. They were lovely creatures crafted to equal the elves in their underwater environs. For millenia, the elves and merloch shared the world. As they grew to sentience, they learned to sing for Elavarion's pleasure, and when they danced he felt their gentle feet throughout his being. Shamanism was born of the love for Elavarion. When they sang, he responded, when they danced, he provided. When they prayed for helpers Elavarion created humans - lesser elves - to aid the elves and provide for them while in the throws of their impassioned lives. As thralls to the elves, he made humans more basic. They would die of old age, so they could serve only long enough to be of use to their elven lords. However, humans became a force unto their own. Their natural inclination became focused on learning, rapid growth and immediacy. They were quick to consume and bred ravenously, creating the unforeseen sub races: dwarves, gnomes and halfmen, all of whom were destined to be slaves. They quickly spread like weeds in his beautiful garden, so from his left leg Elavarion built a new planet, the twin of Bastion - for just the humans and their offspring - and called it Citadel. There, he could watch them far away from his precious elves and merloch.

Divine Entities
Among the gods was Rydenna, an agent of Anarchy. Where she cast her gaze, existence wilted away. There was Hacto'Fel, the Glorious Rider, descended from the essence of Light. Seetchricht the Twisted bore the weight of lies and truth as the son of Balance. He coerced Elisomeed into copying Elavarion's creations. When she did, he hid them away in his own Greater Realm: Deimah. Breykelis'Thash, another descendant of Balance, crafted the elements of fire and ice. Barimauler the Brutish, represented war and was the first to enter Bastion as a divine being walking the land.   D'Aryasia the Shield of Order laid with Elavarion and offered the beings on Bastion her protection. From their union was born Herteus'Celeres, the Divine Warrior. Animalistic Kargonis grew from Elavarion's fear and monsters were born unto the worlds. Viktor awakened as a son of Purity. He crafted language and birthed values such as Honor and Valor. Of the gods there were thousands. Of the Greater Realms were 

and encapsulated the Greater Realms into cohesive bubbles in which each new god (newly coalesced entities) could incubate and grow. 
As the other gods came into their roles, they pleaded with him to experience these two wonders. In response he opened one, Bastion, to their machinations. The gods went wild. Beings of terrible might and beings of love and tenderness were unleashed unto Bastion. The mortals that lived there grew in numbers as the races were born of many gods’ interventions. It came to be known that as the mortal creations became aware, they worshipped the gods that gave them life, the gods that roamed the world. When those mortal lives ended, the essence that had formed of their experiences, the soul, entered the god of whom was worshipped and empowered them. The more followers that worshipped a living god, the more power the god possessed. Thusly, the gods shared miniscule powers to their most devoted encouraging more worship. Angels, demons and denizens of all ilk were crafted with the souls of the fallen and then sent around the globe recruiting more mortals’ worship in a cycle of godly empowerment. Some forced followers and others coerced followers into their hungry, waiting arms. Those that forced found that raw quantities were comparable to that of the coerced followers who made their gods stronger with fewer, yet willing souls. Both factions fell into powerfully frenzied soul-eating drug addictions.
©2025, AJO Presents. All rights reserved.