Skyfathers of the Celestial Realm

A Skyfather or Skymother is a deity that is in charge of a pantheon of gods.

Amaterasu the Shinto Goddess of the Sun and the chief deity of the Shinto Gods. Unlike every other god on this list, she is still revered by many millions of people, especially in Japan. It is said that the Emperor of Japan is descended from her. She rules the heavenly realm known as Takamagahara, though it is said that her presence can be felt at various shrines across Japan, especially the Ise Shrine.

While Amaterasu is seen as a graceful and harmonious goddess, her wrath is absolute, especially when it comes to vampires. In the past when the Vampire Gods were rampaging across the world, Amaterasu used her holy fire to purge them from Japan, and for several thousand years after, she would continue to do this. Just steeping foot on Japanese soil was enough for a vampire to burst into flames.

The Kori-Nikusu Clan of Vampire/Ice Elementals of Northern Japan still fear her name, though Amaterasu has mellowed out over the millennia and no longer incinerates vampires just for existing. It is said that she can still burn the vampirism out of a living individual, leaving them powerless and human.

The Skymother of the Greek Gods. Athena overthrew her father Zeus, who overthrew his father Cronos, who overthrew his father Ouranos. This cycle of hatred and war was foretold in times that were ancient even to the Gods. Athena broke the cycle, or at least believes she has in two ways. First is that she decreed that her pantheon would leave Greece, the land the gods have fought over for many thousands of years. Second is that she stayed a virgin and never had children. With no child there would be no prophecy that she would be overthrown anytime soon.

Athena's mother was the Goddess Metis, who was Zeus's second wife. Zeus, trying to prevent the prophecy from ending his reign as king of heaven, swallowed Metis whole. In the void of Zeus's stomach, Metis gave birth to Athena and when Athena was old enough Metis gave Athena her helmet, shield, and spear. Athena swore she would have her revenge. She cut her way out of Zeus, and on getting to the outside world, it was not what she expected and was different from what her mother told her.

Still she plotted her revenge and a few decades after the Trojan War, she attacked Zeus, cutting him open to rescue her mother. She then led a rebellion and great war against Zeus, ending with Athena's victory. She took Zeus's place on the Celestial Council and now rules the Greek Gods from heaven.

Ra is the Egyptian God of the Sun, and one of the most ancient surviving gods of any pantheon. His primeval enemy was Apophis, an Entity created by Chaos at the beginning of time to extinguish all light in the universe. Apophis only wanted to eat one light however, that of the Sun. Ra was able to fight off this god for most of his life, but as he grew old and his powers waned, he very nearly lost the fight against Apophis several times. At first he enlisted the help of other Egyptian entities such as Sekhmet and the Were-Beetles of Khepri, but they were defeated.

It was then that the other Pantheons of Earth sent their own gods to assist Ra in guiding the Sun. There was a time when Ra's sacred barque in the sky was manned by over a dozen sun gods, each working to contain the chaos snake.This arrangement worked for several thousand years, until Apophis's power proved to be too much. There was a short period in history when there was no Sun. It was in the stomach of the chaos snake. A great war was fought to free the Sun and eventually Apophis was defeated and sealed away.

The sun was now free to move on its own and no longer needed a god to guide it. Ra ascended to the Celestial Realm after this, setting up a modest home in the Egyptian area of the heavens, enjoying his retirement both from Ruling Egypt and guiding the sun for many thousands of years. His peace and quiet only lasted a few thousand years before the rest of the Egyptian Pantheon left Earth for the Celestial Realm because no one was worshipping them anymore.

Odin is the son of Borr and Bestla and the leader of the Aesir. He rules from Asgard, the city of the Gods, or at least the Aesir Gods. Asgard was said to have always existed in the Celestial Realm but like all the many heavens above Earth, it was actually built some time later. While he rules from Asgard, Odin actually spent considerable time wandering the Earth. Many accounts depict him as an old one-eyed man, wearing a cloak and a wide brimmed hat. He has spent countless thousands of years searching for knowledge and the secrets to everything.

Roughly a thousand years ago, Odin banned the Aesir from going back to Earth. He feared that a spiraling chain of events would lead to Ragnarok and Surtr covering everything in flames. His son Thor ignored this ban and went to Earth anyways. A thousand years later, Odin still sits on his throne, looking out from the Celestial Realm at the Earth Below, seeing it change beyond recognition. He still sees the end of everything coming, and is planning for ways to stop it from happening.

Of the four main Aztec Gods, Quetzalcoatl was the most loved by his worshippers, though no particular reason is ever given. Some say it was because he did not require human sacrifices. Legend says that he required sacrifices of butterflies and hummingbirds. Whatever the case, various cities still sacrificed a maiden to him each year by having the girl's blood drained and her heart cut out. Quetzalcoatl was among the most respected and feared of the gods, but even he couldn't stop the flow of human blood coming to him, not unless he brought on the fury of all the other gods of Mexico.

Quetzalcoatl also really got around in that part of the world, inserting himself into as many as twenty other pantheons of gods. He was known in the Yucatan as Kulkulkan and possibly in Peru as Viracocha. He is attributed with creating the world according to some myths and with others he brought knowledge to mortals, gifted them maize, and taught them many things. He is attributed with being a Sun God for an age, bringing light and warmth to Mexico.

When Quetzalcoatl left for the Celestial Realm, it was because he slayed several particularly blood thirsty gods, and threatened to slay the rest if they didn't leave Earth. He promised to return, and on his return, Mexico would enter a new golden age. Instead the Spanish came and conquered Mexico, which stopped the flow of blood sacrifices, which removed all incentive for any of the Aztec gods to leave the Celestial Realm.

More commonly called Zarethil. He is the chief god of the Elven Pantheon. He was the God of Infinity, and like virtually all the Sky Fathers, it said that he shaped the world and created the sun. Like the human gods, his accomplishments are heavily exaggerated. It is known that he protected the Elves from humans and their gods for many thousands of years, which allowed Elven civilization to flourish. Individual Elves reached such heights in magical power and technology that they felt they no longer needed their gods. They stopped worshipping Zarethil and the other Gods.

Because of this, the Elven gods were the first Pantheon to flee to the Celestial Realm, which was created from the remains of the body of Ouranos. Zarethil was sure that the Elves would worship them again in time. Instead, thousands of years passed without a single prayer.

Even as Elven civilization weakened and became irrelevant, they refused to worship Zarethil. Zarethil finally in anger, descended to Earth and started destroying Elven kingdoms. He was defeated and forced back to the Celestial Realm by the human gods. Zarethil watched from his throne in the Celestial Realm as the Elves scattered and their kingdoms became very small. He also watched as many elves turned towards the demon goddess Sylnox for guidance which led to their isolation.