When the gods arrived more than a thousand years ago, they did not attempt to destroy Aedra – contrary to their legendary genocidal behavior. They kept their distance, just beyond the range of the elven barriers of old.
Each god sent an emissary to speak for their behalf. Where these powerful beings went prosperity followed. Cults formed around the emissaries and then religions around the cults. Each emissary had a different message, but a similar theme: the legends are lies; the gods are not the enemy of men.
The emissaries’ time on Aedra were limited; she would not tolerate their presence. A new breed of unreal were born to destroy the emissaries: dragons. Again and again these horrors threw themselves at the otherworldly invaders until the emissaries were no more.
But the religions remain. New emissaries are sent and new dragons rise to to fight them. This cycle of birth and destruction has existed a millennium now, a war of attrition between supernatural beings with mankind in the middle.
The Gods
The gods are not physical beings, existing as distortions in time and space. Infact, to most creatures they are completely invisible, only perceived as an unsettling feeling of being observed from the sky. To those with divine sight, such as clerics and paladins, they appear as pinpoints of blackness distorting the starscape behind them.
Gods appear to be incapable of directly communicating with their followers, due to the alien nature of their minds. Their emissaries attempt to be a medium through which mortal minds can experience the divine, but the visions shared leave room for varying interpretation.
Most gods have several distinct groups of followers, sometimes with radically different ideologies. The battles between these groups tend to be the most unforgiving.
The Emissaries
While their creators are divine, the emissaries are mortal. They do stretch that term, however. Like the unreal, they are artificially created beings without biological limitations. They’ve appeared in forms ranging from titanic humanoids and animals, completely original archetypes, and even complex mathematical shapes of light.
When an emissary appears a dragon is born to destroy it. Often it fails, but it will be replaced by another, and another, until finally one succeeds. An emissary’s one goal is to complete its bloom before then.
Blooms
Emissaries have the ability to connect mortals with their creator god, granting them mystical powers. They can do this only once, but can affect all mortal beings within line of sight. Some of them will choose to link just a few mortals, but most use this power in the presence of hundreds or even thousands of followers.
These newly magically endowed people are called prophets.
As prophets spread out from the epicenter they can literally change a nation overnight. There is a rapid rise in quality of living, improved healthcare, and an abundance of food. This ever increasing circle of miracles is likened to a flower blooming at dawn, and colloquially referred to as such.
Blooms slowly fade over the years as prophets die off, rarely lasting more than a generation, but during that time affected cultures tend to dominate their region.
Prophets
During a bloom, an emissary will grant many of its followers prophethood. These newly anointed prophets become vessels of the divine power above and a gateway for the gods to experience and view the mortal world below.
A faint silver strand, only visible to those with the Sight, protrudes from a prophet’s spine, ascending upwards, and physically connects him or her to their god. It is through this cord gods send their prophet power and dreams to guide their actions.
Generally, emissaries will only give this connection to their followers, but it is not unknown for it be given to the unfaithful. Why emissaries do this is still unknown.
There are rumors certain fey magics can cut a silver cord.
A prophet’s life can be dangerous. Many do not live more than year. They are often driven by their god to perform difficult or even suicidal tasks. As their numbers dwindle, the last prophets will attempt to make sure their cult can live on without them, teaching the proper rituals to others so a new emissary can be summoned again, one day, and start the cycle all over.
Mirrorworld 