The Gaal - the old gods

The “Creator” is a force incomprehensible to men. Is it a being? Sentient energy? A supernatural force? It is unknown and unknowable. The world is born when the creator fuses the elements and essences of the fabric of the universe to create Faelon. The forces do not naturally merge; it is the power of the creator that brings them together.   Faelon is born of this fusion and all things are the result of it, including Ta’ar – men. The unfathomable complexity of the creator confuses men and leads to strife among them as they dispute their origins, their purpose and the nature of their world. To make itself more understandable to its sentient creations, the creator divided itself into nine “aspects” – the Gaal. The Gaal are separate manifestations of the whole that is the creator, each an important component in the all, but individually more understandable. Each of the Gaal represents itself to men as an iconic symbol, a physical object representative of its role in the totality of the creator.   Men view the Gaal in a number of ways and over the centuries many religions have developed to explain the relationship of man to the Gaal. They are not much more understandable than the creator itself, and men attempt their limited understanding through the lens of their own culture.   The Kehinnin
At the birth of the world, the forces that brought it about formed a unified whole. Organic and inorganic substances, and the energies that combined and linked them, were simply all faces of the same singular totality. Unfortunately for peace and stability, by partitioning itself, the all that is the creator removed the bonds that kept its varied nature in balance. Three of the Gaal – the Shroud, the Cage and the Monolith - embody the negative aspects of the all. No longer forced to exist as a cohesive essence, they rebelled against their fellow aspects. The Revolt of the Kehinnin (“the separate ones”) tore at the very fabric of reality and pulled the world into its four domains – Faelon, Karelon (the Spirit World), Varan (heaven) and Kashorm (hell). The war ended in exhaustion on both sides, with the Gaal unable to destroy the Kehinnin and the Kehinnin severely limited in their ability to move beyond the limits of their realm without help from men twisted to their purposes.   The Sundering
In order to further limit the rebels’ power, the Gaal sundered magic in twain to make it more difficult for man to assist the Kehinnin in moving beyond their eternal prison. A balance was struck that kept any mortal from assimilating the whole of magic back into him or herself. Casters are divided between spells that influence the inorganic and inanimate (“energy” magic, that of the five elements: fire, ice, air, earth, water) and those that influence creatures both living and recently alive (“spirit” magic). Only an immortal may learn the secrets of both, leading some to seek immortality through pacts with abominations such as the Kehinnin and their minions.  

• The Lamp. The sun, power, energy and truth
• The Eyes. The moons, wisdom, vision and detection
• The Hammer. One of the constellations, protection, shaping, and strength
• The Ship. Constellation, motion, gathering and transport
• The Portal. Constellation, deception, chance and destiny
• The Hearth. Constellation, creation, healing and change
• The Shroud. Starless night, darkness, death and secrets
• The Cage. Constellation, crime, greed and imprisonment
• The Monolith. Constellation, toil, hunger and desolation