Dorgon Cosmogeny

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[edit] Dorgon Cosmogeny

[edit] Creation Myth

[edit] Gil and Gamus

The great Titan Gil stood astride his steeds of Frost and Flame, Tantus and Phegus, as he pursued his Foe, the Serpent Gamus, across the starry realm.

Gil finally caught up with Gamus on a rocky plain and they engaged in deadly battle. Gamus wrapped his coils around Gil and bit him with his fangs, while Gil rent him with his hands and slashed him with his Spear. At last Gil was able to throw Gamus down and threw his iron Spear at him. The Spear pierced Gamus in the belly and pinned him to the ground.

�Horrah, I have slain thee, my Foe,� cried Gil in exultation.

�Norrah, it is I who have slain thee,� roared Gamus, and spat a gout of venom onto Gil. The venom burnt his skin and poisoned his blood, and soon Gil was in his death throes on the rocky plain.

�You will not yet prevail, Foe, it will be then be my children who slay thee,� and Gil plucked out his own eyes. He crushed the left eye beneath his fist, and it became Dorgon, the man-god. He crushed his right eye beneath his palm, and it became Ravis, the woman-god.

Then with his last dying breath, Gil breathed into the palm of his hand, and there arose the Seven Races of Mankind.

Dorgon looked at the Seven Races and said, �Come Ravis, we must raise them and teach them so that they may destroy our Foe.�

Ravis looked at Gamus and felt pity, �Come Dorgon, we must heal him, he is wounded.�

Dorgon spoke to Ravis, �Do not go to him, he is our Foe. If you do this, you will be mine enemy too, sister.�

Ravis replied, �Then why did father make me to love and care? I feel sorrow for him and I will tend to him. You may do as you will.�

With that Ravis removed the iron Spear from Gamus� belly, and Gamus turned and slid down the hole in the ground the Spear had made, and Ravis followed with him to the Underworld.

Dorgon took up the Spear and spoke to the Seven Races of Mankind, �Come then, I will raise you and teach you to hunt and fight and farm and fish and build and make fire and to make spears,� and he led them off to roam the land.

[edit] Dorgon and Ravis

On the first day, Dorgon and the Seven Races of Mankind came to a place of wide grassy plains, and he taught them to hunt beasts and to catch fish in the river.

At the end of the day, the first Race of Mankind came to Dorgon and said, �You have taught me to hunt, and I feel happy in this place for there are many beasts to hunt and I may live well here. Allow me to settle here and to remain.�

At this Dorgon replied, �You may, but I will come for you.�

So Dorgon and the other Races of Mankind travelled on and rested for the night in a cave.

That night, Ravis came to Dorgon while he slept. �I must be with you, for we are made for each other,� she said, and so they spent the night together, and in the morning Ravis had given birth to twins.

Dorgon said to his daughter, Uel, �You shall be the goddess of the sun,� and he said to his son, Aerl, �Your Dominion shall be the sky,� and so they came to rule the heavens together.

And Dorgon said to Ravis, �You are my wife, but you are with my Foe. Do not come to me again.� Ravis nodded and left, and returned to Gamus in the Underworld.

The next day was the same. They came to some high mountains covered in snow, and Dorgon taught the Races of Man how to build fire and keep warm. And a second race, who was pale of skin and hairy and stout and muscular of body and said, �Allow me to settle here, for I am happy.� And Dorgon said, �You may, but I will come for you.�

And at night Ravis came to Dorgon and said, �I cannot be apart from you, for we are made for each other,� and they slept together, and at dawn there were twins, and Dorgon said to the girl, Hestrin, �You shall have Dominion over the crops and plants,� and said to the boy, Nebus, �You shall have Dominion over the beasts of the land and the birds of the sky.� And he said to Ravis, �Do not come to me again,� and Ravis returned to Gamus in the Underworld by day.

And so it went, each day travelling and teaching and another Race of Man settling in a new place, and each night spent in passion with Ravis, and each morning a new god or goddess was born.

[edit] The Seventh Race of Mankind

Now it so happens that on the seventh day, the Seventh Race of Mankind was not happy. He said, �You have taught me to hunt, to fish, to make fire, to build, to farm, to fight and to make spears. You have taken me to see many parts of the world. Yet, I am not happy, I do not wish to settle as the other Races have. You have taught much, but I believe you may teach more, Lord Dorgon. I will stay with you until you have taught everything.�

To this Dorgon replied, �Very well. I will teach more.�

[edit] Dragon, Child of Gamus, and Torga, God of Vengeance

On the seventh night, Ravis came again and gave birth to twins, and Dorgon said to the girl, Tewm, �You shall have Dominion over all life,� and he said to the boy, �And all life must end, so for this duty I give you Dominion over death.�

But the boy said, �Father, I cannot, for that right of Dominion is taken by somebody else.� And Dorgon was angry, and turned to Ravis and said, �You have shared your belly with Gamus, and given him a child.� And Ravis said, �I have for he was alone, and my child to him, Tanys, is the god of death.�

At this Dorgon struck Ravis in the belly with his Spear, and said, �You are my wife, yet you have slept with my Foe. Do not come to me again.� And he gave the Spear to his son, while it dripped with the blood of Ravis, �I am angry, so I shall give you Dominion over blood and vengeance and war,� and he called him Torga.

From then on Dorgon and the Seventh Race of Mankind continued to roam the world. They visited high places and low, deserts and mountaintops. Dorgon took him to the depths of the bottom of the ocean and to the hidden caverns of the earth and to the bowels of volcanoes, and showed him many things of great wonder.

Dorgon taught the Seventh Race of Mankind many things- to swim, to trap, to run, to climb. Yet the Seventh Race of Mankind was yet to be satisfied. So Dorgon taught him to read, logic, geometry, architecture, astronomy and philosophy. Yet the Seventh Race of Mankind was yet to be satisfied. So then Dorgon taught him great wonders- the hidden speech of animals, the summoning of winds and rain, how to pass through solid rock, how to step on clouds, how to raise the oceans and calm them, how to see beyond the horizon and how to carry lightning in his palm. Yet the Seventh Race of Mankind was yet to be satisfied.

This time was many ages after Dorgon had wounded Ravis, and he regretted his anger and longed to be with her again. It was when his longing was greatest that again Ravis returned to him at night and lay with him. However, Dorgon did not know that this time Ravis carried in her belly the venom of Gamus, for that was how Gamus healed her wound. So when morning came, instead of the birth of beautiful twins that Dorgon could bestow Dominion upon, there was a terrible and awful creature, of great size, with fangs and scales and claws, and it spoke, �I am Dragon, and I claim Dominion of the clouds and rivers and mountaintops. I claim Dominion of the depths of the earth and the bottom of the ocean. I claim Dominion over all who would seek power, and they shall find it through me.� And with these words Dragon flew off into the sky.

Dorgon burst into fire with the strength of the rage that overtook him, and as he had given his iron Spear away to his son Torga he was unable to strike Ravis with it. Instead he clasped his hands around her neck to choke the life from her. The Seventh Race of Mankind had awoken at the spectacle of Dragon, and now watched the battle between Dorgon and Ravis. He spoke to Ravis, �Dorgon has taught me much, but now will not teach me what it is I want to know. Will you teach me these things?�

Ravis spoke to him through the flames that engulfed her from Dorgon�s rage, �Yes, I will teach these things to you.�

So the Seventh Race of Man called upon the powers taught to him by Dorgon. He summoned the wind and the rain to quench the fire of Dorgon�s rage. He brought lightning to his palm and threw it at Dorgon to separate him from Ravis. He called up the birds of the sky and the great beasts of the earth to confuse Dorgon and to carry him away. He gathered the oceans into a monstrous wave and used it to wash Dorgon to the top of a mountain. Then he used his power to pass through stone to entrap Dorgon deep in the mantle of the planet.

The Seventh Race of Man gathered up Ravis in his arms and carried her to the Underworld, to again be healed by Gamus. And there the Seventh Race of Man was taught many things that Dorgon did not dare teach- the ways of magic, the binding of demons, how to visit the dead and how to bring them back, and the nature of the Titans.

[edit] Meaning

This is probably closer to Greek creation myth, with titans producing Zeus and Hera, and them producing the rest of the pantheon. It might be more complicated than originally intended, but I was trying to build in some flexibility, and I also may have gotten carried away with detail while I was actually writing it.

• Gil is a form of demiurge for the human races.
• Gamus is an antagonist figure, still alive in the Underworld. He might be seen as the World Serpent, or can fit other mythic serpent archetypes. His goal is to heal himself enough to escape this realm, and devouring the world will be the final act in breaking the bond.
• Dorgon is father-creator god, and giver-of-knowledge to Mankind. He is still entombed beneath the earth, either physically or in a metaphysical dimension.
  • A type of apocalypse could be associated with his revival, as he gathers the Seven Races of Mankind and leads them to attack Gamus. His subconscious will could be working subtly on the planet to bring this about, seen as the action of fate.
• Ravis is mother-creator goddess, together with Dorgon spawning the pantheon of primal gods. She is also a bringer-of-evil figure, like Eve or Pandora. With Gamus she has created a counter-pantheon of evil gods.
• Dragon is the offspring of Gamus, Dorgon and Ravis, so combines the qualities of all three- creator, leader, powerful diety and incarnation of chaos, both good and evil. He can be considered the creator and King of Dragons for all dragon and reptile races. He is also the source of power for their magics.
• The Seven Races of Mankind are first-man figures, and they are individuals. Later creation myths can explain how they went from individuals to producing each race- they shaped their first wife from mud, a god gave them the gift of a wife, they mated with an animal, etc. Races might see their first-man as the creator, and build their mythology around him, ignorant to the wider cosmology. They could have died long ago or still be extant as immortal minor gods.
  • There are thus six races settled on the earth, but a higher number could be made if necessary. More could also be produced by migration, interbreeding, magical or divine intervention, etc.
• The Seventh Race of Mankind is a mystic seeker of knowledge, perhaps similar to Atlanteans or Drow, but might also be similar to trickster gods like Loki or Coyote. He never settled in one place, and walked the earth seeking knowledge from all manner of gods and supernatural creatures. His race may have founded an Atlantean society which is now gone, but which has left powerful mystic relics in hidden places around the world. He or his race might still be wandering the globe, but would do so as to not draw attention.
  • I also intend the Seventh Race of Man to be the figure who eventually spreads the knowledge of magic and other powers to the other races, either directly or through subtle means.
  • In the Dorgon creation myth he exhibits great powers, but perhaps he has lost these at some point (Gamus sucked them out of him, he traded them away) or they were used allegorically in the myth.
• Primal gods and goddesses- these are the direct offspring of Ravis, either begat by Dorgon or Gamus. They are the essential elemental dieties- sun, sky, crops, animals, life, war, etc. They are not those elements as such, but similar to Greek/Roman myth, they control them and mediate with them for Mankind. The point of the creation myth was that Dorgon was creating �good� dieties until the betrayal by Ravis, and that Torga is the only �bad� one.
• Minor deities- these could be the offspring of primal gods, eg Moon is born of Earth and Sky, and Stars/Heavenly Host of Angels of Sun and Sky.
• Non-human races- Can also be the offspring of primal or minor deities, of either pantheon, creations of Dragon, or interbreeding with Seventh Race of Mankind and any of the above. The creation story says that Gil breathed into his palm and created the Seven Races of Mankind, but it could be that other races were created in the same instant but are not spoken of or known about.
• Each day in the first seven days of the creation cycle is perhaps only a day allegorically, in reality each is a mythological, dreamtime age. This may mean 1000 years, or it may be that time had not yet started to tick over in the regular manner. This means that the First Race of Man had several thousands of years to build up his own civilisation before the Sixth Race actually settled. This also provides a large amount of time for the Races of Mankind to create their own myths and stories of interaction between themselves.

[edit] Discussion

[edit] Humans

This myth puts Mankind in a special position as the first race, and I haven't included any fantasy races yet, such as elves or dwarves. I also haven't stated how the planet actually came into being, or if it was already populated by creatures and fantasy races. It could be that the Titans created it and created elves or dwarves long before Gil and Gamus arrived.

[edit] Integration with existing work

In terms of integrating this with local religions, I tried to make it flexible in that respect, and what I've seen put up so far could easily work into this myth with only a few minor changes.

[edit] Dominion

I don�t have a firm concept for Dominion yet, just a vague one in the sense that each diety rules over a particular Dominion- sun, crops, death, vengeance, etc.- being various solid and abstract concepts.

[edit] Mana

In the Dorgon Cosmological worldview, there are 3 types of mana. (Most of this discussion is expanded upon on the magic page.)

[edit] Gil Mana/Regular Mana

This mana is sourced from the blood of Gil as it splashed out across the rocky plain at his death. It comprises the regular mana field of the world, with mana level varying in zones. It is used by mages with the regular Magery advantage to cast any spells they know.

[edit] Gamus Mana/Dark Mana

This is a uniform mana field which emanates from the body of Gamus in the Underworld. It provides the equivalent of Very High Mana at any point on the globe, but it is only usable by mages who have been introduced to Gamus Magery. Use of Gamus Mana invites his venom into the mage's body and soul, slowly corrupting the mage and turning him into a reptile.

[edit] Dragon Mana/Ley Line Mana

Dragon, being the offspring of both Dorgon and Gamus, has a combination of both their forms of mana. Dragon's descendants have their own mana field and need not rely on the intrinsic mana of their surroundings.

The ley lines covering the world were laid down by Dragon and they benefit users of Gil and Gamus magery equally.

[edit] Metaphysics

When Gil died, his blood, bones and flesh spread out and sunk into the earth, creating fertility which gave birth to the plants and animals of the world.

His spirit dissolved and spread up into the heavens around the world, forming the astral material substance of the higher astral plane. This provides the raw power that the Higher Pantheon gods tap into and they can manipulate it to form new realms and dimensions. Some gods choose to create their own home realm, others inhabit theirs in groups.

Gamus's spirit similarly provides the astral substance of the lower astral, or sub-astral, plane, which empowers the elementals of the Lower Pantheon.

A third realm- the spirit realm or geo-astral plane, is another aspect of the mana field of the world. Spirits are minor astral entities (compared to gods) and draw their power from the creative event of Gil's death. They are therefore probably affected by mana levels, but even in a no-mana zone there would be enough trace astral power for them to survive.

Gods gain power through a few sources. There is their intrinsic power, related to how many generations they are separated by from the creative spark of Gil. Thus Ravis and Dorgon would be 2nd rank, their children, the Primal Gods, 3rd rank, and Minor Gods 4th rank or higher. Gamus is a Titan, so he would be 1st rank, and the Low Gods of the counter pantheon would thus actually be intrinsically more powerful, as they are born of Gamus. This could be tempered by his corruption, or that Gamus is not as strong in Creation as Gil was, or that Ravis mated with him out of pity instead of love. I don�t mean the ranks here to be a game mechanic or anything, just a guideline, although those inclined to stat it out are invited to do so.

Comment: Actually, it occurred to me that tiered cosmic sources from Powers lend themselves well to describing this. Cosmic(Titanic) is Tier 1=+50%, etc. --Daigoro 04:02, 15 June 2007 (EDT)

Another way the gods gain power is through the tried-and-trusted method of belief and worship. The more followers they gain, the more powerful they become and the larger they can make their astral realm. This means the minor gods are going to be big on the converting-of-pagans thing, all in the desperate rush for astral real-estate (as it were) and temporal power.

Comment: I see we are talking about ley lines; what if instead of a god's power being based on the number of "followers" what if a god's power is based on the places of power, great temples, shrines and even churches that are aligned with one another to venerate the god? So you don't need followers, but you need forces on the material plane to build these structures to build the ley lines. In this way magic may very well be a side effect of the divine power developed along these lines...like the static field generated next to televisions and computer monitors. --LemmingLord 03:44, 14 July 2007

Related to the number of believers is the number of souls coming into their realm. Dead spirits �choose� their astral destination based on their earthly belief system, going to the heaven (or otherwise designated afterlife) of their own religion.

Other sources of power could be related to earthly activity related to their Dominion- the god of war relishes war and becomes more powerful from it, and weakens in times of peace; the god of wisdom flourishes when book-learning and technology are practised, etc.

The more powerful a god is, the more astral material he is able to draw on, then the more he will be able to supply his followers with blessings. This makes the astral material the ultimate source of sanctity on the world, channelled through the gods, for use by their priests and followers.

This goes some way to explaining why the Titans aren�t worshipped so much- they don�t seek it as they have a high intrinsic power, and as to why minor gods may be more represented in earthly religions- they are seeking to expand their power base, so have better marketing.

Again, all of these are guidelines, not meant to be interpreted too strictly. I�m a bit concerned that some of this type of metaphysics are well-worn, so if someone can inject a few random creative elements that would also be welcome. There's also the risk that over-analysis and rule-making can make the flavour of the cosmos a bit bland and technical and remove it from the mystery of religion, but that risk comes with the game-based nature of the project.

[edit] Good and Evil

There is no cosmologically defined concept of good and evil. A person may become good or evil through their actions, but they are not predetermined to be as such due to their worship of a particular god.

There may exist religions which have a strict moral worldview, but this is not predetermined in the Dorgon Cosmogeny. The Dorgon Cosmogeny has opposed forces, light and dark, higher and lower gods, astral and sub-astral planes, Dorgon vs Gamus, but they are not a priori defined as good and evil.

Gamus still holds the position of the adversary, and he intends to eat the world when he has regained his strength (through worship?) after another age or two, but his original reason for being the Foe of Gil is unstated.

[edit] Titans

(under construction)

These four are the titanic figures, the precursors to the gods, and probably don't show up much in common religions. They don't participate much in the daily events of the world, and possibly most cultures don't even know of them.

Dark, occult cults with extensive Hidden Lore may worship the Titans, either one or many of them. I�m liking the idea that the dwarves are digging deeper and ever deeper in search of Dorgon, with a bit of influence from the Deep One dwarven priests in Terry Pratchett�s �Thud!�- TMWNMTK in the deep, priests who speak gibberish and rarely come near the surface.

This is a summary of the Titans and their Dominions.

• Why was Gil pursuing Gamus? He'd stolen something? He'd killed someone? It was one battle in a cosmic war?
• Gamus's objective is to escape this world. First he must recover from his wound and regain his strength, then he would have to devour the world to escape its bond. Otherwise, the act of devouring will give him the strength he needs.

Comment: What is he doing to achieve this objective? Possibilities- increasing the use of magic on the world, to make it a richer food source; increasing the number of his worshippers, via the Lower Gods, to give him enough power to heal and break free; others? --Daigoro 12:55, 25 June 2007 (EDT)

• Dorgon wants to destroy Gamus, and somehow the Races of Mankind figure into his plan. First he must be released and raised from his tomb in the earth's mantle.
• Ravis misses her love Dorgon, but still feels pity for Gamus. Receiving his venom in her womb has permanently corrupted her, so she can no longer give birth to the pure forms of gods that she used to, only gross misshapen monsters. This loss and the taint of Gamus's venom have driven her insane. She inhabits her own sub-astral realm, filling it with demons and monsters, hoping that one day she can produce pure children again. Perhaps by bringing back Dorgon this would be possible.

Comment: This idea is quite similar to Echidna of Greek Myth, but I think it follows from the story. Any suggestions on a different logical continuation of Ravis's story would be welcome. --Daigoro 12:55, 25 June 2007 (EDT)

[edit] Primal Gods

(under construction)

• High Gods: These are the offspring of Dorgon and Ravis. Each day of creation shows the female god first, the male god second.

• Low Gods: The offspring of Gamus and Ravis

No specific time of creation is specified, it was generally a continuous process.

[edit] Seven Races of Mankind

See the Seven Races of Mankind page for further description.