Lore
The Defeat of Xumurdad
Hundreds of years ago, Zenderael was ruled by a god called Xumurdad. A being of contrasts, Xumurdad was both life and death. Male and female. Passion and apathy. Compassion and spite. It was at once a loving god and fearsome tyrant.
A team of heroes rose up among the downtrodden of Zenderael, made up of the strongest of those who had suffered under Xumurdad's tyranical rule. Together, the ten of them toppled Xumurdad, ending Its reign and freeing Zenderael from Its grip. But Xumurdad was a god, and the heroes knew that any defeat It suffered would not be permanent. They made an agreement among themselves: each of them would consume one of Xumurdad's organs, taking a piece of the god into themselves, leaving Its body an empty husk. Without the very things that made It function, Xumurdad was suspended into a state where It was both living and dead--a fitting fate.
Along with Its organs, each of the ten heroes gained a portion of Xumurdad's power. They also gained the ability to bestow a share of this power onto others. This led them to establish the ten guilds. Because of the nature of Xumurdad, the guilds naturally organized themselves into complementary pairs: Berserker and Spellsword, Hunter and Druid, Cleric and Mage, Rogue and Alchemist, Assassin and Paladin.
Ever since, the Guild Leader title has been passed down from one to the next only after the new one has consumed the piece of Xumurdad carried by the old. Along with the god's power comes the responsibility to guard that precious organ and prevent it from being stolen and placed back into Xumurdad's empty body, for it is said that if all ten organs are returned, Xumurdad will be resurrected.
The Complements
The complementary pairs of the guilds are as follows:
Berserker and Spellsword
Both classes are focused on combat, but approach it from vastly different directions. Spellswords believe it should be precise and use magic to facilitate their martial arts. They see fighting as a means to an end. Berserkers see combat as a transcendent experience, and believe in fighting for its own sake. They believe that true enlightenment can only come from knowing one's body in combat.
Hunter and Druid
Hunters and Druids have long resented each other for handling nature wrong. Druids see Hunters as interlopers, and Hunters see Druids as abusers and misappropriators. They often find themselves the only two willing to stand for nature in the face of development, however.
Cleric and Mage
Both classes command magic, but clerics use holy magic for healing purposes, and mages use elemental magic for destructive purposes. Clerics are defenders of faith, and mages are keepers of fact.
Rogue and Alchemist
Rogues steal and loot, and sell their spoils for profit. Alchemists need components for their creations, and the rogues are the best place to get them. These two guilds have a symbiotic relationship, rogues selling components to alchemists and alchemists selling finished products back to rogues.
Assassin and Paladin
Since the death of Xumurdad the Assassins and Paladins have hated one another. One's devotion to anti-religion and the other to religion have brought them to fists for years. The Paladins response is to try and disengage, but Assassinations encompass an oddly high amount of Paladin elite.
The Mythology:
The world of Zenderael is host to its own unique mythology, complete with a pantheon of minor gods that Xumurdad was said to rule over.
The Afterlife
The Dark
The Dark is just that: darkness, impenetrable and infinite. It is the final fate of the immoral, the unrighteous, the wicked. For those people, death is simply darkness without end. They will stumble blind for all eternity, with the jeering of demons at their back and the cries of the tormented echoing around them. The Dark is fear, uncertainty, helplessness and hopelessness. For one's soul to end up there upon death is a terrifying prospect, and people will go to incredible lengths to avoid death if they realize the Dark is their fate.
The church of Xumurdad in Bastan possesses the ability to resurrect the dead. To rescue souls from the Dark. The faithful need have no fear of death, because the Vahishta will ensure that they do not suffer long in the Dark.
The Denizen
The keeper of the Dark, the Denizen drags the souls of the dead into the eternal blackness with cracked, dripping claws. No visual accounts of the Denizen exist, because the only people who have encountered it are those rescued from the Dark. They say it drags itself over the rocks, breathing like syrup forced through a bellows. It is preceded by the smell of rancid milk and mold. The hot wetness of its breath touches your ear as it hovers just behind your shoulder. If you attempt to run, you may trip into the soft stickiness of its body as it surrounds you. The slime is frigid, a cold that seeps into your bones, and good luck finding a river in the Dark to wash it away.
The Denizen does not speak in human words, but its teeth clack and its tongue creaks and its vocal cords grind out the sound of bones breaking, of flesh tearing, of blood splattering. It is understood clearly, though its intent is not always clear. Its purpose is torment, and it does not allow souls to forget that.
The Denizen is revered and reviled as both the god of death and the god of fear. It is seen as a necessity, albeit a terrifying one. People pray to the Denizen for mercy on those in its care, and death rites beseech it to ignore a recently passed soul.
Demons
Servants of the Denizen, demons come in all shapes and sizes, though their true forms are always horrific. Demons are shapeshifters, capable of changing themselves into whatever form best suits their purpose.
Their purpose is twofold: to terrify and torment those in the Dark, and to lure the living away from the righteous path. They're known to make deals with mortals, granting them wishes in exchange for the mortal's soul. When the mortal dies, their soul belongs to the demon, becoming the demon's own personal plaything in the Dark. Demons have also been known to possess the soul's empty body as well, sometimes living for years under the pretense to wreak havoc.
Minor Gods
Zenderael hosts a slew of minor gods, with their own distinct mythology.
- Love: Ambirch
- Joy: Erjil
- Harvest: Jerala
- Magic: Keidra
- War: Mezzron
- Nature: Pelusa
- Moon: Sharmoi
- Fortune/Misfortune: Vante/Vepha
Ambirch
The god/dess of love and beauty, Ambirch's appearance varies depending on the viewer. S/he will always appear as what you find most attractive, and so nothing about his/her appearance is set in stone, not even gender. The only constant is that s/he has a small pair of wings instead of ears, which also change in appearance based on the rest of his/her looks. Ambirch is calm and level-headed, but often bored and is said to interfere with mortals' love lives to stave off that boredom.
Erjil
Erjil is the goddess of joy, also known as the goddess of booze, partying, and good times, as well as the goddess of personal freedom. She's full of enthusiasm and a wild love for life, and believes that people should be free to do whatever brings them joy. She has vibrant red hair, tanned skin, and gold eyes, and she always looks unkempt, like she just rolled out of bed after passing out following a long night of partying.
Jerala
The god of the harvest and of fertility, Jerala is a plump, motherly woman with dark, wild curls. The colour of her skin changes with the seasons: white in winter, peach in spring, dark brown in summer, and olive in the fall. She carries a scythe as a symbol of the harvest, and a bag of seeds as a symbol of fertility. She is good-natured, kind, and generous, but bitter and stingy when angered.
Keidra
Also known as the god of the elements, Keidra's form shifts depending on his role. He is tall and wiry in all his forms, and is considered a prankster. He is often blamed for things like kites being blown into trees, and the rain that drips down the back of one's coat.
Mezzron
Lord of blood and god of the battlefield, Mezzron is a wise tactician and a ruthless warrior. He is the one armies pray to before a battle. He is half man and half wolf, with red-stained fur and black eyes, always covered in armour and weilding a giant sword. He is without compassion and aids only the most worthy of warriors.
Pelusa
The god of nature, Pelusa is responsible for the flora and fauna of Zenderael. She appears as a silver unicorn with a golden mane and tail, and a diamond horn. She is gentle and compassionate, but also fierce when angered. She understands that humans and nature must co-exist, but those who take more than they need will find they've attracted her ire.
Sharmoi
The heavens are depicted as a vast ocean above the world, and the stars are the pearls of skyward oysters. The moon is an island so heavy that the only one capable of pulling it across the sky is Sharmoi, the giant whale. The phases of the moon are explained by how much of his tail is blocking the moon as he pulls it, and on new moons he is said to be resting.
Shooting stars happen because Sharmoi bumped into a star on his route and caused it to fall out of the sky-ocean.
Vante and Vepha
Vante and Vepha, twin gods of Fortune and Misfortune, are never far apart. The two are fond of mischief, and often time their involvement in a mortal's life for maximum irony, discomfort, or hilarity. They are the embodiment of Murphy's Law.
The two are a collection of opposites. Vante, Fortune, is male, short, thin, dark-haired, and fair-skinned. Vepha, Misfortune, is female, tall, fat, fair-haired, and dark-skinned.