The Origin of the Young Gods

Generations have passed since the end of the Hominid War and the rise of the Twelve Gods of Man. The Aether, while no longer torn by the raw conflict of human and Gorin imagining, remains a fluctuating sea of the permanent and the impermanent—a mirror to humanity’s own restless evolution. In this sea, stories speak of new gods arising, though their nature is as mysterious as the depths of the Aether itself. Belief, rumour, and philosophy describe these newer gods in three archetypal forms: the Descendants, the Ascendants, and the Transcendents.

The Descendants: Children of Divinity

From the tides of the Aether, some gods are believed to arise as extensions of the archetypes that came before them—Descendants, born not directly of human imagining but as the offspring of Elder and New gods. They are said to emerge as a response to shifts in humanity’s collective understanding of the domains of their parents. Where the Elder and New gods embody broad, unyielding archetypes, Descendants are more specific, nuanced reflections of human change.

It is whispered, for instance, that Death, the shadowy reaper, has birthed quiet gods of mourning and remembrance in certain cultures. These children are not gods of death itself but of the moments surrounding it—the final breath, the ritual of farewell, the memory of those who have passed. Similarly, the Trickster is said to have sired a child of luck and fortune, a capricious figure who determines the fate of gamblers and wanderers.

Yet these Descendants, if they exist, are shrouded in mystery. Their presence is fleeting, their domains limited, and their permanence uncertain. Some scholars of the Aether speculate that they are but temporary manifestations—ripples rather than currents—destined to fade unless their domains solidify within the collective consciousness of humanity. Others argue that they represent a natural evolution of the divine, fractals breaking off from the grander archetypes to reflect humanity’s growing complexity.

The Ascendants: Legends Made Divine

The Ascendants are a subject of fierce debate among theologians and scholars. These are believed to be mortals—heroes, saints, or figures of immense importance—whose deeds and memory have transcended death itself. So potent is the collective pretending surrounding their stories that they are said to rise into the Aether, becoming entities of divine stature.

The Ascendants occupy a unique space within the pantheon of gods. Unlike the Elder and New gods, they are tied to specific tales and histories, their domains deeply personal rather than universal. A hero who died protecting their people may ascend as a god of guardianship and sacrifice. A sage who unlocked forbidden knowledge might linger as a god of forbidden secrets.

Ascendants often blur the line between myth and reality. Some are revered by specific cultures, their worship regional and their influence limited to a particular people or land. Others are said to fade over time as their stories are forgotten, their divinity as ephemeral as the collective memory that sustains them.

Critics of the Ascendant theory claim that such beings are not gods at all but remnants of humanity’s inability to let go of its legends. Yet among the faithful, the Ascendants are a testament to the potential of mortal life, proof that even the smallest of us can leave an eternal mark on the Aether.

The Transcendents: Flesh Made Divine

The Transcendents are the most enigmatic of all. Where the Descendants and Ascendants are forged in the Aether through imagining and memory, the Transcendents are believed to ascend fully formed, their very essence carried from the material plane into the Aetheric realm.

Stories of the Transcendents speak of individuals who, through sheer will, ritual, or perhaps divine favour, bypass death entirely. Their bodies dissolve into energy, their mortal forms transforming into permanence within the Aether. Unlike the Ascendants, who are remembered into divinity, the Transcendents are said to actively achieve it, stepping from the realm of flesh into the realm of gods.

Some say the Transcendents are chosen by the gods themselves, plucked from the material plane as exemplars of humanity’s greatest virtues—or its greatest flaws. Others argue that the Transcendents achieve divinity through their own mastery, bending the rules of existence to join the divine on their own terms.

Whatever the truth, the Transcendents represent the ultimate mystery of the divine. Their stories often carry a sense of awe and unease, for they suggest that the boundary between mortal and god is not as firm as it seems. They are not just gods created by humanity’s imagining—they are humanity, risen to the divine.

The Mystery of the Demi-Gods

Are the Descendants, the Ascendants, and the Transcendents truly gods? Or are they illusions born of belief, fleeting patterns in the ever-shifting tapestry of the Aether? The scholars of Aradest have no definitive answer, and perhaps none will ever emerge. Yet the stories persist, whispered in temples, scrawled in ancient texts, and carried on the lips of the faithful.

In the end, the newer gods may not matter as entities unto themselves. Whether they exist as permanences within the Aether or as myths that never quite take shape, they serve a purpose. They reflect humanity’s growth, its struggles, its fears, and its aspirations. They remind us that the divine is not static, that it evolves as we do, and that the line between mortal and god is one we are constantly redrawing.

In the swirling depths of the Aether, permanence and impermanence dance together, shaping the world of Fanterath and the stories it holds. Whether we walk among gods or carry them within us, one truth remains: the divine is, and always will be, a reflection of ourselves.