Secret

Skarg


Element: Obsidian

Colour: Black

Charge: Gods

School of Magic: Weaving

Chain End: (no chain - Skarg is the Chained God)

Description: Skarg is the Father of the other seven gods, and the most powerful god. After killing Esterana, Skarg was chained to the ground in The Mortal and became the temple Elicyn. Most records of Skarg have been destroyed by the Faith, so it is difficult to obtain an accurate representation of Skarg's appearance. In surviving records, Skarg is generally shown as a four-armed being with an enormous mouth and a skeletal mask. Male.

Magic System: Black priests create scry glasses from obsidian that can be used to view distant locations and people.

Role and Consequences: The Cult of Skarg is based on the school of Skarg. The magic, which was very powerful prior to the god's chaining, is severely dampened due to the god's weakened power. The Cult uses black scry glasses to communicate, and work to free Skarg from his prison.

Esterana
Element: Palladium

Colour: White

Charge: Strangers

School of Magic: Mysticism

Chain End: (no chain)

Description: Esterana is dead - see below. As with Skarg, few depictions of Esterana still exist. However, surviving images show Esterana as an elderly woman with elaborate dress and headgear studying a book. Female.

Magic System: White priests can create portals to the Rue out of palladium.

Role and Consequences: The few white priests in existence are not members of the Faith, but work independently and often live alone due to their blasphemic powers. If they get far enough in their personal research and training to construct portals to the Rue, they may explore the Rue and befriend its inhabitants. Some take magical items or creatures from the Rue and sell them for extremely large prices. Some of Esterana's demigods are still alive, and work to preserve the memory of their dead mother.

Death of Esterana
Esterana interfered with some war in the Mortal, freezing an entire army of hobgoblins in its tracks and turning them to pure white stone. Skarg believed that Esterana had gone too far in interfering with Mortal affairs, and struck her down. The other six gods, in retaliation, restrained Skarg and chained him to the Mortal, forming the temple Elicyn.

Esterana was responsible for transport between the Rue and the Mortal. Mages of Esterana's school of magic were able to communicate with and travel to the Rue, and often lived with faerie familiars. However, when Esterana was killed, this magic ceased to work. This meant that almost all travel and communication between the Rue and the Mortal no longer worked. Some humans were trapped in the Rue, and some faeries were trapped in the Mortal. This has led to several legendary individuals living in each realm, with varying impacts.

The Nexus crystal magic used by the Ashard relied on the movement of the Ishi from the Rue to the Mortal. When this movement stopped, the crystals were no longer able to be produced. Over a few years, this led to the fall of Ashard society and the destruction of the empire.

In Esterana's dying moment, she retrieved an ancient powerful artifact, the Whisper, from deep within the Rue and cast it into the Mortal. She knew that a new stranger god is required to restore the connection between the Rue and the Mortal, and a mortal being can only rise to godhood through the Whisper. The faeries treasured this item and believed it to be stolen by mortals. The First Faerie placed a faerie child's soul into the body of the Astoran king in order to search for the artifact.

The Faith has erased Esterana and Skarg from its teachings, instead teaching that the chains are gifts from the gods that keep the world from splitting.