Ashra

One of the three Primal Deities. A crude translation of this God's name is Light of the World. Seen as the brother of Life (Vuh). This is thought to represent the fact that these two ancient deities combined to create life and oppose Elim rather than an actual fraternal relationship. It is thought that Ashra and Vuh created the first families of the Younger Gods.

The Staff of Ashra is an ancient artefact. Its power manifests itself when it strikes a follower of Elim. It results in their immediate destruction.

The peoples of northern Allansia once worshipped Ashra and Vuh in abundance before the War of the Wizards. Now their worship is limited to a few isolated settlements in the very far north.

Apocrapha
OF ASHRA, ELIM and VUH A PROLOGUE TO THE CREATION OF TITAN AND THEIR LATER WORSHIP

In the beginning there were Arn, and Arn was the beginning.

From Arn sprang the Three. They had an aim, a combined purpose, to create the Planes of Existence and they were joined in that aim. Through their creation they wished to achieve perfection.

After a time, the length of which we could not comprehend, they approached the final stages of their endeavour and the three stood back and looked at what they had made. One of the three was not happy. He was far from convinced that perfection could be achieved through their design. He believed that it sullied the very idea of purity and wished to return all to the Primal State and begin again. His name was Elim.

But one stood against him for he was convinced that the design would achieve perfection through the purity of light within it, and we name him Ashra.

Vuh stood back from the conflict. Neither Ashra or Elim’s argument had convinced him but he wished for the creation to continue for he was interested in its outcome. He wished to see whether his concept of `life' would hold the key. Thus, for now, he sided with Ashra that creation should continue.

Elim, being outnumbered acceded but warned that creation was flawed. He made it his aim to prove its imperfections and strengthen his case for a return to the Primal State.

Vuh was intent that neither Elim nor Ashra would unduly influence the creation. Without light there is no dark and without dark there can be no comprehension of light. If either filled creation in its entirety then the universe would be as nothing. Thus it was that he determined to ensure the neither overwhelmed the other.

So the three agreed to complete their endeavour by creating the first beings of the Planes of Existence, and once done they would no longer directly influence the affairs of creation so that its merits could be judged. Thus, it was decided that those who we now refer to as the Gods and the Root Elemental and Root Ethereal Forces should be created.

So that these younger gods would be able to preside over creation it was decided that they should not age. Thus it was that the power of aging was stripped from the fabric of the planes of existence by Ashra. But Ashra was not convinced that Elim would allow creation to continue despite his previous accession. The greatest threat to creation was its destruction at its conception, its very beginning. He knew that Elim, Vuh and himself had the power to travel through what we call Time. Thus it was that he stripped out the power of time travel from the fabric of the universe.

But these two facets of the universe could not simply be consigned to nothingness. Thus, he had to condense them and hide them. To this end he created a new god with little power but in this god he invested all the powers of aging and time travel. But so that this god could not use these forces he took from this god the power to use them and set around him powerful shields to prevent others from usurping what he contained. This god we name Time. For although he was not time as in the passing of the hours, in him were invested powers of time i.e. aging, and the ability to travel through time and influence the past.

He then swept this being away and hid him in a far corner of an outer plane, away from the eyes of other gods. But unknown to Ashra, Vuh had seen this take place and watched where Ashra hid the cowering being.

Between them Ashra and Vuh created the Gods for the purpose of entrusting them with the guardianship of creation.

Ashra created the Senior gods of Light: The Sun, The Moon and The Fire Gods.

Vuh created the Gods of the waters and of the winds to bring the potential of life.

Ashra wished to make the gods of Light the dominant gods of the new Pantheon but Vuh resisted. Thus it was that the Gods of Wisdom, Luck and Fate were created by both Vuh and Ashra combined (Titan and Sindla).

Elim knew the wisdom in creating new gods but refused to create gods as guardians of what he perceived as a flawed universe. Thus it was that he created gods whose aim was to uncover and expose the imperfection of creation. To bring out the worst in nature, to highlight the existence of what we call evil. Thus it was that the High Lords of Evil and Chaos were created, those who we now call Death and his brothers Disease and Decay. But let it be known that before Titan was created the concepts of death, disease and decay were not known. We, the mortals of Titan, perceive these three things as the most evil curses in our world. Thus it was that we gave these names to the chief evil gods, who are also called Demon Gods.

Vuh looked on and decided that he should create a god with no reliance on any other, which would represent his interests of ensuring neither side should prevail too early. Thus it was that he gave life to Logaan. To accompany Logaan he took a deity of Ashra's creation and a deity of Elim's creation, and making them faceless so none would know the purpose they originally served, he bound them to accompany Logaan. We name these two Kata and Petros.

Vuh planned for the existence of an arena within the Corporeal Plane to demonstrate whether creation in the form of life could lead to perfection. But he had elected to cease to directly interfere with creation. To this end he created a source of life and hid this in a plane where he knew it would one day be found by the gods. This source of life is what we now call the Original Clay or Clay of Life, which was eventually found by Throff and Galana so ending the Great Monotony of the younger gods. Thus began the story of the creation of our world of Titan (world)Titan, as told in the tome ‘Titan’.

Vuh knew that if those beings made by the younger gods on Titan remained immortal then the essence of the source would be diluted as they procreated and multiplied. Thus, Vuh knew that what had been invested in Time would one day have to be released. To this end he had planted in Logaan’s mind the seed of curiosity, knowing one day that it would lead to the discovery of Time.

As the priests tell us, and as is written in ‘Titan’, Logaan’s discovery of Time began a chain of events culminating in the Godswar, otherwise known as the First Battle, ending the Godtime and bringing mortality to the races of Titan.

What followed the destruction of that war was an Age of Shadows for the races of Titan, particularly Men and Giants, whose homes and peoples had been decimated. The Time of Heroes that followed the Age of Shadows is what we learn more about when young, and for many it is that time which we associate as following directly on from the First Battle. The main reason is that the invention of writing was in its infancy after the First Battle and in those first years after the War there was little longevity in the settlements of Men as they led a nomadic life competing with Orcs, Trolls and Goblins.

In those Shadowy Years the worship of the Primal Deities first arose. Little if anything had been known of these beings before the War, for the Gods had not imparted this knowledge on their creations. The beings of Titan were to be answerable to the younger gods, as had been the decree of the Primals.

But Elim looked upon the Planes of existence and on Titan at their centre, and saw the folk of the world abandoned by their gods. Within him was a rage, which he concealed from Ashra and Vuh. The rage was not due to the abandonment of the world, for he had no love for Titan. The anger was because Elim’s chief Gods had been imprisoned. It was ironic that these gods would be named after afflictions caused by Vuh and Ashra’s handling of Time. The power of death lay in the mortality conveyed by Time but Elim saw that the full power of his gods could not be exerted on the mortal plane. Convincing himself that he alone of the Primal Deities had been faithful to their pact - for Ashra had created the being Time with the power of time travel, and Vuh had influenced events with the planting of the seed of curiosity within Logaan’s mind – Elim created the Finger of Elim and planted it on Titan. This Finger would tell anyone who found it of the existence of the Primal Beings and lead them to the worship of Elim.

And thus he created a loophole to allow him to act in the world, and the Finger was soon found. People were unhappy at their meagre existence, and at their apparent abandonment by the gods, and it was not hard for Elim to create a following for himself upon the face of Titan. His power worked in the form of a thousand whispers such that his influence went unnoticed for decades among the gods. But all too soon Elim’s following had grown powerful and the means they employed to satisfy their god became more obvious.

Elim swayed not all men and some saw the destructive nature of his cause. Through the Finger of Elim they had also been made aware of the existence of Ashra and Vuh. They had in common with the followers of Elim a feeling of betrayal by the gods who had left after the war, but they had not abandoned the love of light and of life in their hearts. Thus, they called upon on Ashra and Vuh. Reluctantly, these deities spoke back to them for they could now see Elim’s betrayal of the pact, but still wished to remain removed from the workings of the world. But this world of Men was split asunder by the worship of these deities. People encamped themselves on one side of the line or the other, and fierce battles broke out within the world of Men itself, as had never happened before.

The Younger Gods saw the conflict on Titan and were sad that having won the First Battle they now appeared to be losing the war on Titan, even in the absence of the High Lords of Evil and Chaos. Long had the Gods been absent and they were aware that this very absence had allowed the cult of Elim to grow and flourish. They therefore resolved to make their presence felt once more on Titan, and in so doing would initially aid the cults of Ashra and Vuh in defeating Elim’s worship.

However, Titan, wisest of the Younger Gods, realised that even if Elim’s cult were destroyed, the continued worship of Ashra and Vuh would lead some to discover Elim, for so intertwined were these Three Beings that the worship of Ashra and Vuh would have to mean acknowledging the existence of Elim. This would keep the name of Elim strong. Further, even if Ashra and Vuh’s worshippers were victorious the position of the Younger Gods, creators of Titan, would be undermined. Thus, it was decreed that the worship of Ashra and Vuh should also be ended on Titan, just as the Three had determined countless centuries before.

This decree was disseminated amongst the worshippers of the Younger Gods. But those who worshipped the Primal Deities were not so easily convinced. The sense that the Gods had abandoned them was not one so easily remedied. It seemed to them merely that the jealousy of the Younger Gods was being made manifest in a desire to stamp out knowledge of Ashra and Vuh. However, fanatical worshippers of the Gods of the Celestial Court wanted change over night. This sad period led to conflict between people whom would otherwise have fought on the same side.

Conflict lasted for decades, between the Cult of Elim against the followers of Ashra, Vuh and the Younger Gods, and then also between the followers of Ashra and Vuh against the worshippers of the Younger Gods. This conflict manifested itself in many battles and even wars between cities.

Eventually, the worship of the Younger Gods retained its dominance. However, once aired, the names of Elim, Ashra and Vuh would never be totally forgotten. On a number of occasions has the worship of Elim emerged, like the eruption of an unpredictable dormant volcano, short-lived but devastating in its consequences. In some places, the worship of Ashra, Vuh and Elim continued even after the Splitting of the Continents, and sadly for the most part the persecution continued. Even today, there are still those that worship Ashra and Vuh, quietly and peacefully, happy to aid in the prevention of the rise of Elim. However, there are also still those that harbour a love for Elim, a devotion whose ambitions go far beyond the quiet and the peaceful and into a realm where we do not wish to venture.