Azaria

In the old days, Gods ruled over Azaria and people worshipped them in both love and fear. Temples sprawled across the continent and if anything of importance was to be done, one would pray to their gods for guidance and assistance, and should their god show favor, it would be done. But in the same ways as men, the gods wrestled against each other for power, striving to expand their influence, or protect the worshippers they'd gathered. This lead to many skirmishes, strange dealings, and plots by the gods to deal with one another, and to the deaths of many as they were overpowered or their worshippers were subsumed.   Eventually, there came a time when people came to the continent from other parts of the world, where these gods had not yet touched or spread their influence and brought with them new gods, eager to grow their own power. In the face of so much sudden change, and at risk of being pushed aside, many of the gods banded together and a war began.   The fighting was subtle at first, with the most fervent followers of the angry gods striking back against these "usurper gods", and the new people's gods doing their best to enact change on the land to aid their own. But steadily it became more direct, with gods themselves doing battle, the aftermath changing the land in other ways, and laying waste to both sides. Finally, a realization was made by one of the gods, who only wanted to prevent more loss by both man and god alike. A treaty was brokered, that the gods would cease their fighting and maintain the territories they currently had until such time as the worship of them spread or shrank on its own.   Those times were known as The Rift Wars, when the land was warped by rifts from which devils and demons spilled forth to join in the carnage and battle man and god alike. It is thought that during this time the gods suffered the death of the goddess Mystra, before her resurrection around the war's conclusion.   The deal that the gods brokered was considered a significant treaty and altered much of how mortals interacted with their deities. This deal marked the time of The Accordance.   Since then, the gods remain at hand, but ever wary of breaking the treaty, their influence has become much less direct. In this time, the various races have grown and changed, creating lasting empires and civilizations, expanding their knowledge of magic and science, and at times allowing their worship to change or fade away...