Scandiaca Mythology - Pantheon

Scandiaca has a large number of mythologies which cover everything from the foundation of mankind to the creation of the universe. Numerous cultures have their own beliefs and many mythologies have intertwined into a generally unified system. During the Halcyon era, there was a heightened appetite for discovering mankind's role in the universe, and scholars from all over were able to go through the various traditions and rituals to combine them into a singular, connected mythos.

Generally, the mythology of Scandiaca can be seen through four aspects: the Ancients, the Celestials, the Kaezo, and the Umbra.

The Ancients (as they are referred), are the ones who created the universe, the world, and everything in it. The creation myth involves pulling the world from an endless ocean and forming the land from their own physical forms. Epos-Goth is but one of many worlds created by the Ancients (other worlds do exist on other material planes of existence). It is unknown how many Ancients there were, exactly; though the common belief is that there were eight. While the Ancients occupied our plane of existence, light permeated throughout; no shadows existed anywhere in the universe. Once the world was created, the Ancients filled it with life and beauty. They maintained control over their creation for countless years; however, for unknown reasons (there are many theories), they removed themselves from this plane. They retreated behind the sun (believed to be the doorway to Heathandrus, the Ancients' native home and a demi-plane discreetly connected to the world of Epos-Goth), and now only can see us through that portal.

After the Ancients left, they took their omnipresent light with them. The light we see from the sun is the light with which they had filled this plane. Now that it comes into our world only through the sun, shadows now exist where none existed before. This shadow became known as the Umbra. This darkness is where the creatures of the night were born. It is believed that the Umbra was an accident by the Ancients; some people believe it was an intentional oversight which could be used to destroy their creation so that the Ancients could start again. Scholars believe the concepts of jealousy, anger, and malice (among others) were born from the shadows where the Ancients could no longer have dominion.

Without the Ancients to provide for the plane, powerful, out-planar creatures assumed the care taking of this world. They are know by most as the Celestials, though many refer to them as the "new gods". These Celestials are worshiped because of the power they wield - which appears god-like, though it is not decided by all whether they are true gods. Almost all accept that the Celestials are certainly less powerful versions of the Ancients.

(Note: the "new gods" for game purposes are the gods in the Pathfinder RPG universe.)

The Kaezo (usually referred to as "spirits") are everything else in between. Kaezo are generally spirits of other animals, the forces of nature, or the ghosts of sentient beings. Kaezo can be thought of as an embodiment of some aspect of the known world, or the beings within it.They can be seen as spirits of wind, wolves, rivers, honor, fertility, storms, or any other concept. The broad nature of the Kaezo make them hard to classify and difficult to understand. Kaezo are not unified under a specific pantheon, nor are Kaezo even aware of others of their nature. Kaezo even appear differently depending on who sees them. If the Kaezo represents an aspect which is unknown to a creature, then that creature cannot even visually see a Kaezo spirit (though they may be aware of their existence). For example, a Kaezo spirit of honor may be seen differently depending on alignment of a sentient being, or completely invisible to a creature that cannot understand the concept of honor (such as a creature with animal only intelligence).