RPG Series 3.5 Revised - The Graveyard of Dead Gods

The Astral Plane: The Divine, The Fallen, and The Graveyard of the Gods

From Wikipedia

The Astral Plane is the plane of thought, memory, and psychic energy; it is where gods go when they die or are forgotten (or, most likely, both). It is a barren place with only rare bits of solid matter; some creatures, such as the tyrannous githyanki, use the petrified corpses of dead gods as floating fortresses. The Astral Plane is unique in that it is infinitesimal instead of infinite; there is no space or time here, though both catch up with you when you leave. The souls of the newly dead from the Prime Material Plane pass through here on their way to the afterlife or Outer Planes.

The most common feature of the Astral Plane is the silver cords of travelers using an astral projection spell. These cords are the lifelines that keep travelers of the plane from becoming lost, stretching all the way back to the traveler's point of origin.

Note: Anubis remains his vigilant on the Astral Plane and maintains a network or Ur-Priests and Binders across the Prime Material Planes. His followers maintain constant vigilance on the those who would desecrate or exploit lost divinity.

The Harvester in the Sea of Endless Night

A nefarious organization with a secret agenda is harvesting the astral remnants of fallen deities and other discarded quasi-entities for nearly a century. In particular, one fallen and nearly forgotten deity, Erivatius, a long slumbering deity of death, aging, and time, has been "retrofitted" into a war vessel to transverse the vast dark expanse of the Negative Material Plane. Its crew, rumored by Githzerai, is searching for a lost citadel or the shard of a semi-active demi-plane lost in that expanse. It is widely rumored the destination they seek is partially shielded from the life-consuming negativity abundantly encompassing that region of the planar cosmos. What lies at their destination is a matter of speculation. Communiqués intercepted between informants of Graz'zt and the Union of Eclipses say something baleful is in motion. Rumors and fragments of a dark plot sired secretly in Thanatos and the abyssal Court of Orcus has the Prince of Tyrants nervous. Could another war is loom on the abyssal horizon between Orcus and Graz'zt and if so why does all intelligence point towards the advisor-vampire; a druid-heretic and necromancer called Iah-Dabo.

What the sources do not reveal is that the vampire-druid is collecting the remnants of forgotten deities and harnessing their divine energies for his nefarious purposes. His minions are salvaging their remnants, but targeting deities whose portfolios ascertain death, the dead, necromancy or any aspect joined or crosses into the philosophy of death across the astral plane. His minions have retrieved four such deities. They include:

- Amot, a shunned deity of destruction, annihilation, and dissolution, is a raving psychotic who dreams of cataclysms and violent disasters on a planetary scale or greater. Rightfully shunned by denizens of the Astral Plane, the remnant slumbers but more often jolts and shakes itself as if trying to awaken from a horrid nightmare or other sleep-induced prophecy. Even refrained by worshipped, the violent divinity of Amot stirs and awaits release.

- Beararak the Deviser - A lost deity of chronology, lost secrets and hidden knowledge was worshipped in an enchanted realm of sand, wind and natural elementals. He chronicled the histories of all lands and kept vital knowledge hidden until the day it could be utilized safely and wisely. He also archived and secured lore, artifacts, and dark secrets from those who would exploit their potential hazards. Jealousy, then murder at the hands of a rival deity lead to his downfall. Even adrift, he is revered as an oracle by denizens from all planes. Many whom seek out his vast archive of knowledge and lost histories, albeit in direct communion. All attempts to facilitate a dialogue with the fallen Sage-God have failed or produced scant clues to greater treasures. Even comatose in its own demise Beararak seems still guards many secrets.

- Valkiira the Angelic - A once-revered goddess of weaponry, skill, and the collector of the souls now slumbers endlessly on the Astral Plane. From dead warriros, it was her anointed task to act as a collector of souls on the battlefield and it was her task to deliver both the valiant and the cowardly to their final judgements. Courage and valor pleased Valkiira greatly but prolonged periods of peace, her lack of theological imagination ultimately lead to the abandonment of her faith. Her followers simply began to question an unwavering adherence to a simple doctrine. As the decades and centuries progressed, they explored alternatives to different after-lifes. Now regarded as an afterthought, Valkiira dreams of greatness and the fulfillment of otherworldly rewards again in service on a better world.

- Zhakautha the Devouring Maw - An abandoned deity of hunger, starvation, and knowledge via consumption was no more than a lesser power when the forces of light, justice, and law hunted and slaughtered his vampire-priests and cannibalistic followers to the last man. The god of raw flesh and ghouls eventually sought a means to bolster his status and thus battle his enemies as their numbers grew greater. The divine ritual was interrupted and Zhakautha's ascending form was consumed in the fiery cataclysmic finale. His remnants were shunted onto the Astral Plane were his boundless hunger is condemned never to be sated.

Other Remnants adrift on the Astral Plane

- Elif is half-awake on the Astral Plane. This deity did not abandon her loyal adherents nor did her followers abandon her. Elif is in a self-imposed exile after her actions inadvertently resulted in the tragic death of a cherished friend and fellow deity. Her followers lamented her decision and in a yearly ritual observance and devised a psychological strategy to bring her back into her rightful place in the divine fold. Elif is a benign goddess of expression, wilders, good favors, half-breeds, blood-endowed inheritance. Many nobles both mix-blooded and pure seek her blessing in the matters of inheritance and good fortune.

- Gilgeam once a vanquished deity of war, athleticism and urban civilization, was destroyed by his arch-nemesis Tiamat, The Queen of Chromatic Dragons. His destruction brought finality to his mad oppressive rule. It also paved the way and the progressive transformation of his earthly lands and other mortal holdings into a draconic theocracy rule by his adversary. Impotent in his masculinity and adrift in the Astral Plane, he dreams one day of rightful resurrection by his few faithful vanguards and the covert destruction of Tiamat.

- Hemidall was a once-stern deity of chivalry, guardians, defense, and the five senses. He existed as the embodiment of loyal and duty for its own sake. That was until he inflicted with madness from a cabal of entities from the Far Realms. In a state of maddened jealousy, Hemidall murdered his wife Heashera, who in turn was avenged by her follow deities. Captured, they pronounced judgement over Hemidall's actions and executed him. His church and many adherents were purged of any taint they may carry as to not effect the rest of the pantheon.

- Heashera, a goddess of music, romance, love and good health was murdered by her husband in a fit of jealous rage. Unable to accept the reality of his actions, Heashera has resisted any and all attempt to reinvigorate her divine status. Heashera wishes to be forgotten and away from Hemidall, the deity she once married and loved. An aspect of Heashera, worshipped as a wicked deity of sorrow, lost love and betrayal survives, but is a pale broken reflection broken of a once noble goddess. Kalil is wicked and mad but suffers bouts of melancholy depression only to explode in betrayed anger and homicidal rage.

- Ki is an ancient goddess and one of the first know deities to transcend the ethnic barriers separating human and elven folk. One of the first goddess of nature and agriculture, she was also one of the first deities of human civilization and beneficial co-existance with elven-folk. In time, the eventual neglect of the land drove her faithful away into the hands of deities whose influence lay in less empathetic concerns governing nature. With change in politics and theocracy, her worship waned among the internal cultures of human and elven alike.

- Moander was a disgusting god-thing of rot, decay, corruption, and disease. An old antagonist of the ancient elven-folk was the embodiment of corruption, rot, and loss of what the elven-folk hold dear: the abundant grow of nature, the trees, the fauna and all that is green and natural. Its was destroyed through the actions of a heroic warrior-bard who collected some of his divinity for his own transcendence. He released and consecrated tens of thousands of souls from this foul deity who deceived and tortured through the centuries. Lolth kept his cults living but uses the name and their agenda for her own purposes. Talona, Zuggtmoy and Juiblex have all collected pieces of Moander and like-wise use his divine energies to enhance their horrific standings in the lower planes. The remaining mass was disgorged from its profane realm in the Abyss and sent adrift on the Astral Plane. It is an island adrift in a weightless realm, a toxic hazard of filth bringing rot and corruption to githyanki, illithids and unwary astral travelers if there ever was such a thing.

- Ramman was once an ancient deity of war, courage, and self-sacrifice who clashed with Gruumsh and repelled his orcish warriors successfully for centuries. Until Gilgeam, his rival and once ally, in a fit of jealousy betrayed Ramman on the battlefield. Gruumsh seizing a tactical advantage mortally wounded Ramman. The war god never recovered from his grievous injury and in turn slowly wasted away. The numbers his followers dwindled away over the decades. They simply could not compete with the orc's bottomless avarice and higher breeding rates. The lower numbers took its toll, but not before Ramman shattered his enemy's forces single-handed while Gruumsh was occupied elsewhere. The staggering loss forced Gruumsh out of the lands of centuries to come. Ramman is now remembered lore as a heroic legend than a god.

- Sebek the Many Teeth was once a horrific god of consumption, floods, rivers, and reptiles until he was slain by a greater and rival deity of beasts and bloodlust. The rival and his faithful consumed his scaly flesh and meat in less than a day. Its savaged carcass now floats adrift on the Astral Plane as an gruesome yet ironic monument to this own hunger. Its open mouth symbolic is ever hungry for flesh of followers once again, yet it can not consume them.

- Serqet is an ancient progenitor goddess akin to the Sumerian pantheon. She was also associated with knowledge, magic and protection from poison. She was revered as a mother figure and the founder of the Amatat Empires. Her people flourished centuries and warred with horrors of the Far Realms. Their confrontations were successful until their Illithid allies rose from the depths the subterranean realms and blotted out the sun. The end was not swift for they exacted a terrible price. Her people were enslaved and sold as cattle, her empires collapsed economically and divided, scattered to the winds of history. Serqet's faith waned and she degenerated into a profane entity that became associated with demon-worship, scorpions, and other venomous creatures. She is now adrift the Astral Plane, a poisonous hazard dreaming of past glories.

- Tayshara is sad remnant that can befall even the greatest. A benign and near-forgotten goddess of divination, the moon, the stars, and night is tragic case of what happens when a deity places her proverbial eggs in one basket. Her faithful were destroyed in a stellar cataclysm when Atropus the Death-Moon devoured the life-essence of her world. Unable to stop the cataclysm, she gathered as many of her followers as she could and delivered them to another world. Of all the deities of the Astral Plane, Tayshara has the best opportunity of regenerating and shedding off her current existance. It is rumored she has sequestored several favored ones of her faith. If they canbe rejuvinated, she may rise from the enternal slumber.