Creators

Faith and Deities
The matter of religion is a varied one among the denizens of the Phoenix Isles. Regardless of the pantheon, gods worshipped by creatures from myriad walks of life make their appearances frequently. Demons are known to have risen from their hellish abyss to terrorize the living on occasion and angels have been seen descending from the heavens to do battle against evil. And yet, there are mortal accounts of Dionysus hosting lavish parties and valkyries are known to collect the fiercest fallen for Valhalla while Herne’s wild hunt sweeps through the forests. What one chooses to put their faith in is no matter of belief in the Phoenix Isles, for there is no denying the existence of the gods, but the multi-cultural lifestyle on the islands sees a great deal of argument over which god or pantheon is most powerful or important and which tales and myths are truth.

The Creators
As of now, this pantheon of mysterious beings are not thought to have any followers in all the Phoenix Isles. Recent archaeological discoveries have unearthed an all-but-certain connection between them and the creation of the planes of existence, which has led to the most learned scholars of the Isles referring to them simply as “the creators”. Previously completely unknown, scraps of information surrounding the creators have begun to surface in congruity with reported sightings of imposing beings striding across the mortal plane “really quite stirring things up, to be honest.”

The most informed scholars record mention of eight individual creators, responsible for eight aspects of existence. These are thought to include, put simply; life, death, substance, magic, good, evil, and innovation. The leading theory suggests that there is an eighth aspect, attributed to the creator referred to as “the lost one”, but no further information appears to exist on the being.

Quite unlike the lost one, there has been comparatively considerable information found on three of the others. This is in thanks to those three creators, though possibly just beings claiming to be them, appearing upon the mortal plane and “quite happily spouting exposition, really.”

Firstmost, Oberon, King of the Fey, has been revealed to be one of the eight creators. Oberon and the denizens of his Feywild have had dealings with the mortal plane for all of recorded history. While Oberon has typically preferred to send fey envoys on his behalf, leading to a scarcity in first-hand account of the being, he has done so with much frequency. As a result, denizens of the Feywild are widely known to be jovial – if occasionally tricky – defenders of nature and caretakers of magic.

Alongside Oberon, the names Viktor and Mirasmus have recently come to light. Viktor, Metal Machination, is a being of machinery who claims credit for the existence of innovation and all beings’ ability to be inventive. The Metal Machination seems to surround itself with other mechanical creatures which have displayed hostility when approached. One witness, however, an artisan from the Artisans Researchers & Engineers Unified, has been able to offer this report: ''Again, apologies for letting the machine go out of control and the testing area. However the understanding that the intelligence was so advance for the simple parameters is pale compared to what we learned since then. We tracked it to the newly established Brokersfield, their engineers were able to inform us of the Automaton’s origin. They claim it was manufactured by a being of legend, the Creator of Invention known as Victor. There is little information about the Creators, but they seem to those responsible for everything in and including this world and apparently disappeared many years ago. Victor is one of the “younger” Creators and the owner of technological advances. So we believe we have a lead to many new discoveries and blueprints that will bring fourth society of the Phoenix Isles to a new age.''

As for Mirasmus, Caretaker of the Dead; simply standing in this being’s presence chills the body to the bone. It claims to have created death and to be the reason things come to an end. It also doesn’t care for being compared to the plentiful gods of death found in the more popular pantheons. Deity, creator or otherwise, Mirasmus is a frightening one. Although, interestingly, there is yet no evidence of it having taken a life.