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The Dark Ages (Post-Creation)
The battle was fought long and hard, and several of the minor gods on both sides perished. Even great Titan was wounded in the chest by the perilous scythe wielded by Nagharos, Lord of Death, and struck back in return with his blazing warhammer. Neither side could gain a significant advantage, for while the majority of the gods fought under Titan’s banner, the half-insane Nagharos and his lieutenants had travelled to other realms, other planes, to find minions to serve and die in his armies. And so for many years, perhaps even decades as mortals reckon time the battle raged on, neither side tiring nor relenting.
It continued until at last four of the more powerful gods, of the Old Pantheon, twice the size of the current Pantheon, became mortally wounded in battle. Deciding on a brave course of action, they combined their divine essences and constructed a huge ball of golden, pulsating energy, and cast it at Nagharos. Not living long enough to see the results of their handiwork, the four Higher Gods dissipated into clouds of smoke.
Their efforts were not in vain, however. The ball of golden fire blew a path through the vast armies of Nagharos, destroying whole races in the process, and struck the God of the Underworld full in the chest, even as Nagharos attempted to raise his fell scythe to block in some manner. He was thrown backwards and mortally wounded. Near to death, Nagharos was forced to take refuge in the Underworld, where all men are judged after their own demises. Demoralised by the lack of their leader, most of the mortal forces of Nagharos fled in disarray, but they were caught by a cunning ambush of aridherin, ancient ancestors of the elves, led by ?, who was later rewarded for his services by elevation to the ranks of the deities of Telandron. Many were slain, although it has to be admitted that the majority probably escaped judging by the sheer number of evil and semi-evil creatures in abundance today.
While the hordes of Nagharos and his fellow Gods were defeated, it came at a heavy price to those who had remained loyal to the leadership of Titan. Many lawful races perished on the battlefields, remembered only in the memories of those deities that survived. Many minor deities shared the same fate. Shocked by the insurrection and stunned by the loss of many companions and creations, the deities that remained in the Celestial Court were effectively paralysed.
This was a dark period of perhaps twenty years, only rarely recorded. This group of scholars reckon that it occurred perhaps five thousand years ago. Very little therefore is known therefore of this time, but it is a certainty that man and his fellow creations turned away from their creators. It was apparently a time of almost unbroken winter, with cold and starvation in many cases finishing off what the War of the Gods had started. Bitterness was rife.
After a couple of decades the gods rose from their self-imposed exile and returned to the mortal realms and the cycle of seasons began anew. But it was plain that if they continued to dominate the world of Telandron themselves jealousy and envy would soon rise up once more, and with a second Godswar perhaps nothing would survive. The Celestial Court therefore decided that they would withdraw from Telandron in their earthly forms, and refrain from personally ruling the world themselves. But this was not their previous abandonment of their creations. Prayers were still answered, advice was still given, and in rare cases of great danger and need avatar forms were assumed. However, for the most part the leadership of the races was designated to rulers chosen by the departing gods themselves, chosen for their courage, strength, and leadership skills.
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