Aelianna Amarigen Celeste Dalanthar
Tavren Thandres Zelek Zaro
Historians still debate the length of the epoch known as the Dark Times. Some claim that it lasted a millenia, others several. Regardless of it’s duration, it reduced the world to ashes. Books were used as kindling. Scholars were murdered for their boots. What knowledge was passed on was recorded through oral traditions in the primitive tribes that survived the aftermath of the godswar.
All of that changed with the arrival of the Stewards. The Stewards are a group of eight godtouched who were gathered by what may have been the only survivor of the godswar, a younger god named Rei.
Rei told the Stewards that they’d been gathered to help heal the world, for one day it would be threatened by the might of the elder gods. Only by uniting could they hope to defend against such power.
Each Steward was gifted with a Relic predating the godswar. These Relics were far more potent than any eldimagus, and allowed the Stewards to receive power through the prayers of their followers. This gave them abilties far beyond any mortal, which grew stronger as they gained more followers.
Rei bade them to weld their new charges into a powerful empire. They were return the light of civilization. Each was chosen because they possessed specific skills, the combination of which would allow them to forge a new world from the ashes of the old.
Rei knew that concentrating so much power in the hands of a single individual would pave the way for corruption, but by dividing it among eight competing individuals it ensured that they would serve as a check against each other.
He elevated them to near godhood as a group, knowing that they were far more powerful than the sum of their parts. The Stewards were forbidden from open warfare amongst each other, with a stern warning that if they ever broke this prohibition they’d be stripped of their powers and replaced.
This was all the encouragment the Stewards needed to work together, and after the Rei departed they met to discuss how best to fulfill their mandate. Each had their own ideas and their first meeting lasted several months as they argued bitterly about the best course of action.
Each Steward had been a power in their own right prior to being elevated (6th level in game terms), so all had the self assured confidence of those accumstomed to ruling. Compromise was unfamiliar to them. In the end they decided to create a continent spanning empire, as this would benefit them all.
Such an empire would grant them the largest number of followers, which would drastically increase their strength. This was something all could agree on, even if they didn’t see eye to eye on the exact form this empire should take.
To prevent future disputes each Steward was given undisputed dominion over certain things. They would have the final word on all matters pertaining to their domain, and the other Stewards would have to support them in that area. Anything outside of those domains would require a vote.
None of the Stewards was overjoyed about this arrangement, but it was a a compromise all could live with. Once they’d ratified the agreement they put their plan in motion to create an empire greater than any that had been seen since before the godswar.
Thus was born the Elentian Empire.
