The God Before
Mother of Man
-and her blood spilled down to the world. First in rain, then as flood.
Everthing, living and not, both drank and drowned as it came, wreaking both havoc and miracles in equal measure.
The gods that had killed her attempted to cup the blood in their hands, desperate to hold their prize, and yet it slipped from them all the same. It was the final will of the God Before that caused their quarry to dance away and rain down upon man.
And so they came to our world with their legions, reaching through the Firmament with hungry, sharp, fingers.
-Lament for the God Before
Before man ever walked the earth, there was a goddess. Only one, and because she was alone, she felt her solitude keenly. She wished for others, other beings, others to share the experience of existence with. She knew that whatever she made would be different from her, and would not take to the endless sea of gold as well as she could, so she crafted a globe that would serve as her canvas. She spun beautiful landscapes and biomes, all in preparation for her true project. When she was done, she gathered a small bit of clay and gave it a form that mirrored her own. With that, the first of man was born. Her joy was immeasurable, and while she cooed in delight at her creation, she set to work to create more. A little variance her and there, lighter and darker skin, or slightly different proportions and shapes, but all connected by one thread. A golden thread. They were all her creation, and they were human one and all. She crafted crops and herds to feed man and gifted man animals to aid in its daily lives, and in turn it gave a portion of its harvests and its herds back to her. She taught it how to work stone and metal, and in turn man built great temples to her. She inspired art with the beauty of the world, and in turn man crafted her image into paint, and marble, and precious metals. Through these acts man fed the goddess who fed it, and they were happy for a time. Then the other inhabitants of the Empyrean caught the scent of a newformed god. The appeared to the God Before, welcoming her to divinity with knife-sharp smiles. They worked together, they said, and would be willing to induct her and her creations to their order, for a price. "What price?" the God Before asked, already afraid of the answer. "Only that of your first living creation." They responded as if it was no great price. She refused. They killed her for that. Her divine blood, evolved amongst the Empyrean, fell to the surface of Canvas and her flesh and bones followed, all suffusing into the world she had created. The last gift she would be able to give. Or so the story goes. Whatever happened in the millenia before the Ichormachy is, of course, subject to the biases of man as the party who had their god killed by those of the elves, the giants, and the fairies. Not that it takes much work to paint Man as the aggrieved party. The one fact of the matter is, however, that the death of the God Before was what created the environment that allowed for the modern god-industry to form on Canvas, and what allows humanity to continue it's work.
Divine Domains
The whole of the world she created, even if she is dead it is still her domain and no other gods.
All of the natural plants and animals of Canvas are equally her creation, just as Man is, and thus are actually fairly immutable to the powers of other, foreign gods, bar a few that deal directly with the domain of animals.
Artifacts
Many ancient items were crafted by the goddess, or through her guidance, and those items are highly prized by those who hold them. As well as being highly sought after by the Tombguard of the God Before.
While a few weapons exist, it seems that the God Before prefered enchanted intruments and other tools that are needed to pursue the arts. Armor and other methods of protection were also favored as boons and artifacts.
Divine Classification
Primordial Goddess of Mankind
Church/Cult
Children
Technically, the God Before was revived for a short time as the God After. This was an accident on part of Humanity, though it was an accident that sparked the inkling of what would be the eventual god-industry. It left a generational scar on humanity. There is a reason that Man does not revive gods, even with the tools they have at hand, for a god revived is a half-thing. One that does not match with what that god was before, no matter how clear the Godmakers internal plan. It is a puppet, dancing about on strings of faith.
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