The Great Symbiosis [Setting]
The gods created us to serve them that they may attend to preserving creation each day against the primordial chaos which surrounds us, always at the edge of creation. This is the Great Symbiosis. In serving them, we partake in the maintaining of order within the universe.
For millennia this was the way of the world and mankind expanded its order upon creation in the name of the gods they diligently served. Whether by the cunning of some god, the cruelty of destiny, or the mistake of man, a plague was unleashed. A great bull, it charged into human history and ravaged the world. Its horns gored king and slave alike. Those left could not satisfy the needs of the gods. The gods grew hungry and thirsty. They put down their weapons, left their thrones, and tended their heavenly fields and crops.
Without their vigilant protection, the seas boiled, white as an old man's head; the deserts spread like a leprosy on land; the night darkened as though black were not enough. These three vomited forth demons of horrible shape and face. These were pure chaos – they had no goal, no purpose, no distinction save for a flitting form which struck terror into the hearts of men. In their seething savagery they killed man, beast, crop, plant, and even their own.
Scorpions, man, dogs, goats, frogs, dragons, serpents, bulls, boars, crocodiles, and unnatural combinations were their shapes. We named their manifestations in the hope we could impose order upon them. It was for naught. They do not recognize name or purpose; they only recognize that which is “Other”, that which is not a part of their swirling, primordial existence, and they hate those who are separate. They especially hated man, for man is the pinnacle of order.
Were it not for the gods hearing our cries, we would have been swallowed in the flood, in the sandstorm, and in the night. Our gods, alongside our champion-kings, crushed the advance of chaos and drove it back, preserving pockets of creation, the four great city-states which still exist. This was achieved at great cost. Champions were slain by Pirig-demons and Usumthan-demons, bulls with strength in their horns and serpents with crushing coils. Gods were slain by Eribara-demons and Dihu-demons, swirling masses of sand and churning waves of water.
Of those gods which survived, there were only two – Asmesh, goddess of the sun, and Miglah, god of the earth. Miglah knew Asmesh and she gave birth to twin daughters – Yarayahk, goddess of the moon, and Namkmah, goddess of wisdom. These are our four great gods, each with a patron city.
The first, greatest in strength, is the southern city Mig-Qaqar, patron city of Miglah. The second, greatest in passion, is the eastern city of Ashamhanu, patron city of Asmesh. The third, greatest in magic, is the western city Eudsakar, patron city of Yarayahk. The fourth, greatest in wisdom, is the northern city Gestunisaba, patron city of Namkmah.
There are other gods and goddesses beyond the reach of the city. Excursions into the encroaching chaos are made to save their icons, symbols, and rituals. Deities saved and returned to the city-states become deities in our heavenly ranks which strengthen our fight for creation. With an ever-increasing pantheon of support, we can restore creation to proper working order.
You and your party are one such excursion team.