The Dominions
Theondume
Theondume, alternatively Theondume Aukstoji, Theondume Tevas, Theondume Khurvash, Theondume Demonslayer, and sometimes Teondumis, is the King-Father of the Dievai, Emperor of the Nykstuka, Lord of the Hidden Cities, Sovereign of Starspire, Guardian of the Throne of Heroes, Master of Karo Vadas, and High Emperor of the Jakn. Theondume is a conqueror, and has led vast armies over the course of his life, such as the Scy-Re Legions, the Krathor Horde, and the Battlecult of the Black Rider. Theondume notably subdued the Elemental Spirits of Zemedievai by defeating the Icelord, Stormcrowned, and Ashking in single combat to claim their thrones for his son, The Triglav. Next, Theondume conquered the Nykstuka Kingdom, crushing the dwarven army and declaring himself their Emperor. The Nykstuka who bowed to him built his next army, battalions of warriors made of silver, and those who didn't were exiled to the far reaches of Skhvakveq’niuri. Finally, Theondume turned his gaze to the Velnia race of demons, baiting their invasion of his son's Kingdom so that he may cripple their armies and storm into Hell, massacring the remaining demons and freeing the souls they had taken to torture. In cases such as these, Theondume stole or won the power of others, befitting his status as a god of thrones and kings.
Dievai
The Dievai are the sons of Theondume, the divine court of his dominion. Lerasi is the firstborn, the favored son of Theondume. He acts as a steward and enforcer for his King. Lerasi was once an Emperor of men, leading the Lerasian Empire to glory in the early ages of civilization, but has since returned to his father as the highest ranking of the Dievai. His spear goes by the same name as he, and his other artifacts include the shield Aegis and the helm Argensidr. Temporarily, Lerasi was granted the title of Master of Karo Vadas, but he has since relinquished this title for his father. Dyros the Lawgiver is another Deivos commander, known for his close involvement in mortal affairs. He is seen by mortals as a spirit of truth, justice, honor, and war. He was granted the title of Jarl of Fimbulvetr by Theondume. Veltus is the Deivos of the Earth, but not much is known about him apart from his name, loyalty to his father, and vengeful attitude. Valdovas is a Deivos whose mortal status is as the Harvest God, but he is also the Gatekeeper of the Dievai and their realm, and one of Theondume's top commanders. Prisimines is the Trickster God, a Deivos with secrets and schemes. Despite this characterization in legend, he is staunchly loyal to Theondume. Prisimines was imprisoned in a tree for stealing from Veltus, but was freed by Theondume a thousand years later. Aukletoja was the Keeper of Records for the Dievai, a librarian and historian with a passion for collecting knowledge, especially forbidden knowledge. This path, however, led him to Ezoterika, a path which warped his mind, consumed him, and nearly killed him. Aukletoja secured the help of Paslepta, another Deivos, to create a weapon capable of killing his father. Seeking to overthrow Theondume, he was hunted and killed by an unknown figure, his remains sealed in a magic coffin buried along the shore. Paslepta, meanwhile, was banished to the mortal realm, where she remains in hiding, regarded as the goddess of sin.
Keepers
Keepers are followers of Theondume who hold titles of power on his behalf. They act as wardens of certain realms, keepers of a piece of Theondume's dominion. Often, they guard artifacts as well. Nemirtis is the Keeper of X, who appears in various obscure legends regarding a deal for conditional immortality. Formerly human, their lifeforce is contained solely and completely within their heart, which was surgically removed for protection in Theondume's care. Unless the Heart of Nemirtis is destroyed, Nemirtis cannot be killed or injured. His blood is known to have some magical properties, a fact exploited by Yngvi, a Free Nykstuka. He was gifted the heart by Theondume as a power play to win the alliance of a foreign being. Varessil is the Golden Snake, a lieutenant of Theondume who historically led a division of Scy-Re. His current status is unknown. T. H. Varmo was a mortal prince in Zemedievai who was turned into a powerful Vampire under the blood moon by Sanguis Zzor. Varmo became Theondume's vassal nearly a hundred years later while he was hunting The Triglav. He holds the title of Blood-Prince, and acts as the Keeper of the Sword of Zzor. Tyramin of Gyldenheim is the Count of Gyldenheim, the Hidden County, a very wealthy land that only sometimes exists in the mortal realm. Peryn Eramant is the Steward of the Hidden Cities. Other known Keepers protect the realms of Ghamis Kheoba, Araperi, and Q'elis.
The Darkness
Shadows, stalkers in the night, living and breathing darkness. Erebus is The Darkness Incarnate, the King of Infinite Darkness and Shadow. He is the night and the absence of light, the dark and what lurks within. His avatars are his children in spirit - the spirit of lurking and striking from shadows, champions of night. His manifestations breathe shadow, their very existence feeding their Dark King. His followers thrive in the shadows hiding from the light by embracing the dark. The light is the only thing they have to fear. The Darkness is not always malicious, but it is easily feared. The Dark King is a shadow in shadow, and rules from a realm of pure, blazing, fierce darkness.
Children of Erebus
The Eight Avatars of Erebus are the highest servants of Erebus - his right hand men. Thanatos was the first. His reign was shadowy death, and he sacrificed many to the growing and twisting monsters of the Darkness. He struck from the shadows and created a legacy of fear. Apate was the second, the so-called Specter of Deceit. Apate embraced the darkness as a concealment of her plans. In the shadows she built the Evergloom Cult to follow Erebus and eclipsed the sun before she finally ascended to the right hand of Erebus. Hemera was the third avatar, born of her own fear of the dark. She eventually betrayed Erebus and forfeited her powers, before she was killed by Hypnos, the fourth, whose reign was defined by his rebuilding of the darkness cult. Nemesis was the fifth avatar, whose shadowy reign began a feud with the Werebeasts. Oizys was the sixth avatar of Erebus, but not much is known about his reign. Perhaps this makes him the darkest of them all. Eris was the seventh avatar, and the first to attempt a large scale ritual designed to remake the world in the image of Erebus. She failed. Oneiros is the eighth and current avatar of the Darkness, who seeks to replicate the Eris Ritual with enough alterations to fix her flaws.
Shadows of Erebus
Shadows of Erebus are monsters of darkness, lurking in the darkest darkness. Vague shadows and odd sounds at night are commonly associated with these Shadows, but the Darkness more often manifests in sinister forms. One tale tells of an ashy creature with a dark scar over its heart, dark blood dripping from its black claws that appears in dark smoke on quiet nights. Other legends tell about the Void Spirits, malevolent entities bound to pitch black armor, from which thick tentacles emerge, burrowing into the minds of their victims. Shadows of the Darkness are completely subservient to the Children of Erebus.
Church of the Evergloom
Although there is only one Child of Erebus at a time, embodying the full power of the darkness, there are other mortal followers of the Darkness. The Church of the Evergloom bows to Erebus and his children, reveres the night creatures that stalk mortal prey, and offers their undying loyalty to the King of Infinite Darkness and Shadow. The Church of the Evergloom is the largest organized group of mortals that directly worship a single dominion, and a force to be reckoned with. Their strength is the main cause of the peace treaty with King Theondume.
Ganadgureba
Destruction. Desolation. Devastation. Decimation. Slaughter, chaos, and blood. Unbridled and pure. Ganadgureba is a fluid dominion, thriving on strife and chaos, living for revolution and change, shifting like desert sands. The breathing parts of Ganadgureba live to bleed and kill. There is no King of Ganadgureba, since Magnum Chaos, its first god, was killed by Utsnobi. Magnum Chaos was a wretched figure of scar tissue with an open chest revealing a bleeding heart and cracked ribs. Iron sheets were nailed over its face to protect its followers from death when they looked upon it, and led its followers into battle with a terrible scream which faltered the bravest of warriors. Following its demise, Ganadgureba has simply been a unified purpose to destroy completely. It breathes pain, feeds on suffering. Often, mortals who follow its path have lost everything, and only seek to make others feel the same. They don't just slaughter people, they torture them and destroy their hope. Ganadgureba is true evil, unlike the Darkness.
Princes of Ganadgureba
The Princes of Ganadgureba are often called Demons. They are the greatest princes of Magnum Chaos, second only to their king in its life, but now disorganized masters of their own fates. Laag is a prince that appears as a towering figure with horns, a spiked tail, and a head resembling that of a dragon. He leads armies of monsters made of corpses and blue fire, and fights with cold, iron chains. Wildfire is another prince of fire, a grey figure with a twisted crown which appears beyond the trees before forest fires. Molten flames flow freely from its hands and burn hotter than any normal fire. Voyenachal'nik is a powerful prince which acts as a god for many followers of Ganadgureba. It emphasizes strength, dishonor, and combat above all. Its worshippers are known to fight each other to the death in service of Voyenachal'nik, which rewards the last one standing with great power. This Prince is also known for possessing the corpses of sacrificed innocents, forming a figure locked in a frozen, ugly expression of terror clad in black armor and wielding a double-bladed battleax, but its true form is unknown.
Ku-Vun
Hell, to some. It is a realm of suffering, a shrine to torture and pain, a throne room of Ganadgureba. Kuvunda was its master, the King of the Velnia Demons. Dhaka ruled following Kuvunda's destruction at the hands of Theondume, which sparked a war with Ku-Vun. Korrvod was the second demon to die, a General of the Velnia, who led a flank of Kuvunda's invasion of the mortal plane. The demon army was crushed by the Dievai, but when they fled they were pursued by Theondume, leading his children into battle. They stormed Ku-Vun, slaying the demon assassin Morag, the Prince Riskhva, and the hunter Nadirobis, before reaching the new King and destroying the Velnia race once and for all. After exterminating the Velnia of Ku-Vun, Theondume freed the tortured souls, releasing them into the care of a benevolent spirit.
The Affliction
Sometimes seen as its own power, the Affliction, or sometimes The Plague, is living disease. It has no agenda, no desire but to spread. It is an old god of decay, reviled by all, and defined by that disgust. It cannot be stopped, only spread. Rarely, contained. Hosts of the Affliction are given powers over disease, and often use these powers to infect their victims.
Ezoterika
Ezoterika, alternatively Vyru Sodininkas, Tvali, or the Keeper of Minds, is an old god of knowledge, wisdom, and magic. Depicted as an old, wrinkled figure traveling the halls of the Eternal Library, Ezoterika is also the King of Secrets, but, above all, it rules the inescapable drive to know, to seek and find. It has a dark lure, whispering promises of power and infinite knowledge, but darkest of all are the moments when it delivers on those promises. Ezoterika rules this dominion from the Eternal Library - a realm of infinite rooms with a collected infinity of volumes, containing every combination of letters, symbols, words, and phrases possible. Within the library are the secrets to the universe, every answer to every question, every story ever written and thought of, but infinitely more gibberish and garbage. The more you search, the closer you are to falling under the influence of Ezoterika, and the harder it is to leave. Entrance to the Eternal Library is guarded by Black Books of limitless power that act as the source of magic for Witches and Warlocks. The Watcher's Crown is a twisted silver artifact which grants limited control over the Eternal Library, allowing wearers to shift in and out at will, command the Seekers, and instantly travel to any volume one pleases.
Watchers
Watchers are avatars of Ezoterika that have undergone a special ritual which extends their life and gives them the power to see through any eye as if it was their own, even eyes that aren't real. Watchers embody the sight of Ezoterika that penetrates any wall and shield, that tears into the lives of everyone and exposes their secrets to its hungry eyes. Watchers are the main avatars of Ezoterika, and it is they that keep the Watcher's Library, a constantly evolving supernatural collection of all their knowledge. There is only ever one Watcher, and they maintain the Watcher's Library. It is said that the Watcher's Library not only collects their knowledge, but also scraps of the libraries of previous Watchers, the rest of which is consumed by Ezoterika. In addition to this, there are some primordial texts, rumored to be created by Ezoterika itself, to assist the Watcher in their collection of knowledge. Notably, one such artifact is said to be a complete database on every supernatural entity in the world. Known Watchers include Constantius, who created the ritual, Aukletoja, who betrayed Theondume in order to serve Ezoterika, and Johann Franz von Metternich, who tasked himself with the elimination of all other supernatural entities, oftentimes by subjugating others to assist. Metternich is still watching.
Seers
Seers are avatars of Ezoterika that are marked at birth with strange visions far into the future. If they realize what these dreams are, they can learn to control their visions, eventually learning how to see the future at will, and in extreme cases finding the power to see every possible future at once. Known Seers include Pamphilus, who is prominent because of his assistance with the creation of the Watcher Ritual and the Watcher's Library, and Kastytis, who completely mastered his seer powers and used it to find a path to immortality.
Seekers
Seekers are mortals who find themselves in the Eternal Library. The more they search the library, the more they fall under the influence of Ezoterika. They push on more and more through the nonsense of the library and prove their dedication to the library. After a while, the become lost during their search, becoming phantoms of their former selves, evolving into something else. Seekers. Seekers may enter, exit, and explore the library at will, traveling to and through the otherworld with just a thought, and in proving their dedication to Ezoterika gain the ability to know the location of any piece of knowledge within the library. When searching for an answer, they are pulled towards it, and they find it, and they know it. However, if they search too long in the library, go too deep, or fully devote themselves to Ezoterika, they can no longer leave the library, and are cursed to roam its rooms forever.
March of Wit
The March of Wit is a dominion of Progress. Science, technology, development of any kind. The future of the world and the promise of a hand to control that future. March of Wit is a lesser Dominion, ruled by no King but the promise of one beyond the horizon - a Mechanical God, its gears whirring with power we cannot comprehend yet, but might some day. It rules the hope and drive for the future, all the great things waiting to be revealed and invented. This dominion is unattainable, however, always just beyond reach, always past the horizon and never swift-approaching. It exists only in the mind's eye, its desire and hunger for the future. It exists in the imagination of deluded fools who attempt to build God. Their current progress is a towering construct, covered in scaffolding and machines that are too primitive to build it. The project is pursued by the top engineers and scientists entrapped by the desire to build God. They have been trying forever, and will never finish. They are dragged away from what they can actually do and drawn towards an unattainable desire.
Automatons
Not all March of Wit followers are preoccupied with building their King. Many are tasked with the creation of Automatons, mechanical contraptions built to protect the God of the New World and see its will done. They are bronze monuments to the March. There are two main classes of Automatons. Giants are twice the size of men and act as guardians. Spiders are the size of house cats, and swarm their target, electrocuting them. They act as foot soldiers. There are more experimental classes as well.
Precipice
Precipice is the smothering, vast infinity of an uncaring, possibly malicious universe that you cannot fight or even comprehend. It is far and large, making you feel infinitely small, a cosmic speck of a cosmic speck. Too small and weak, crushed by infinity, paralyzed by existential insignificance and chaos. Its King is the Great Beast, a towering monster that smashes entire worlds like tiny ants. It is the feeling of being overwhelmed by and buried underneath the vast weight of the universe. Its followers are some of the most tame of the supernatural orders, and most are concerned with deep ocean and space expeditions, likely to feel closer to their King. Persecution by Ezoterika has kept them from reaching the level of more major dominions.
Werebeasts
Werebeasts are spirits of the hunt, the chase and sacrifice of beasts and monsters alike. Cursed or, from some perspectives, blessed with the power to transform into a monstrous synthesis of man and beast, they share no unified god or code, and it is not unheard of for some to work for various other orders or against their own kind. The most common Werebeasts are Werewolves, but other documented beast forms are bears, hawks, crocodiles, lions, panthers, rats, sharks, boars, vultures, and elephants. All share a common weakness to silver, salt, and consecrated weaponry, but a common strength in enhanced speed, strength, reflexes, and senses, which they maintain in their human form and is doubled in power by their beast form. Any natural weapons and features of their beast shape are enhanced in their beast form. The process of transformation is very painful, but over time it gets better, and eventually Werebeasts may control their transformations, even without a full moon. Werebeasts have the power to call animals to their aid, but the animals of their beast shape, such as wolves, for example, are bigger, faster, and stronger in their presence. Their King, the so-called Weregod, can transform into any half-beast form at will, but little is known about him. Often, Bonsamu Vampires are mistaken for "werebats," but have no connection to this dominion.