Elder Gods
The origin of Traykon is tied up in a unique concept for the creation of the universe. Although each culture, race, and religion has it's own view of the creation of the universe (some confined to their own realm) Traykon was created within the specific creation structure that gives the world of Traykon a unique and specific purpose in the cosmos. Only a handful of people who were originally helpful in creating the basis that became Traykon know much of the information that will be presented here. In general, player characters should be unaware of the specific nature of the true origins of the universe. Only the most learned sages and scholars should even have a glimpse of the truth behind the realms. High priests of the Elder Gods have some knowledge of the true nature as their creation myths are nearly consistent with the actual origin of the Traykon universe.
The Omega
In the beginning of all, there was the One. A perfect entity that existed as the sum of all things. An entity as permanent and infallible as existence could contain. Nothing else existed in the universe except the One. In a moment of awareness, the One contemplated the possibility of something outside of itself and the universe was created from The Void.
Evolution
Once the universe came into being, The One could no longer exist. The nature of the One prevented the existence of anything other than the One. Reality fractured and the One became more. Three beings sprang into existence to contain the essence of the One and allow it to exist in the Universe.
The One became personified in the forms of the concepts Gholma, Delmina, and Shuranal. Each of the concepts represented a force within the universe. Gholma represented the forces of Creation, of Elemental Forces. Delmina represented change and chaos at it's most basic forms. Shuranal was the representation of destruction, the forces that End all things. These forces were not sentient in that they were aware of their existence but not conscious of the existence of anything beyond themselves.
At some point in their existence, the three forces of existence collided and became aware of each other. At this point two more forms sprang into existence. Valishu was the embodiment of Time which had not existed before consciousness invaded the concepts born from the One. Iichiachi embodied structure and order, allowing the universe to take a form independent from The Void. With the rise of the 5 elements of The One ascending to consciousness, the universe sprang fully formed into an evolving structure.
The Beginning
With the existence of the 5 major forces of existence personified within the universe, the cycle of creation and destruction began. With Time, Change, and Structure, what would be known as the universe began to Expand and Become. The interaction of these primal forces descended from The One began spawning new concepts and entities.
During the co-mingling of forces, new entities began to appear. The first to form in the primordial soup was the embodiment of Life, known as Shramnaik which forever changed the nature of the Universe. Entities began to take shape in the universe, these entities at first are just motes of life that exist for moments before they are reclaimed and destroyed. This intermittent existence continued for an indeterminable amount of time before things changed in a noticeable way.
First Gods
When the universe had grown to a certain size, an event happened that forever changed the nature of reality. Some of those random motes of life did not die, instead they seemed to siphon energy from the major forces and begun to wield divine powers of their own. These first entities who defied the cycle of life would become the first gods, primal entities who absorbed and wielded the powers descended from The One separate from the component forces of existence. Although separate from the cycles of life and change, these new gods were still vulnerable to the forces of The Void and non-being. Despite the forces of the One being dispersed throughout existence, nothing was immune to being reclaimed by the primal energies that formed the basis for reality. This was the First Age of existence.
Infinity Crisis
As reality grew, the gods multiplied. Worlds were created and destroyed. Races rose and went extinct. Evolution, in it's purest form was but a blink of the eye to the major forces of existence.
New gods drew power from the remnants of The One. Another source of their power was the other forms of life that sprang into being. The dynamic of gods developing worshipers for power and influence began. During this epoch, the three original forms of the One who existed grew stronger, all other divine entities born after the beginning became lesser with each birth of a new deity.
The entity known as Iichiarchi, the embodiment of structure, saw the chaos which was overwhelming existence and made a plan. With the aid of Valishu and many lesser gods, the nature of reality and the universe was changed. By pouring their essence through a crucible of power The Void was banished from existence and reality was crystallized into the multiple planes of existence. With an explosion of power and possibility, existence was separated into a spherical ball of power and matter. The planes of existences formed; The Material Plane, home of moral beings; The Outer Plane, home of the gods and souls; The Inner Planes, also known as the elemental planes provided the energy and matter that fueled all other realms; and the Transient Planes which served as a conduit connecting all planes together.
The Betrayal
During the formation of the new multiverse, there was an event which placed a dark stain on reality and doomed all existence. The gods formed after the existence of the five major forces conspired to steal the power from the remnants of The One. Since the apotheosis of Order and Time were involved with the formation of the multiverse, the gods tricked them into pouring the essence of their beings into the creation process. These two entities bound themselves into the creation of the multiverse and their very substance drained away into the reformation of reality. Time became a defining feature of the multiverse and the entity who was the essence of time lost form and conscience in the creation. Structure and Order formed the multiverse and the younger gods bound the entity into the structure of the realm, stealing his power to augment their own form and stature.
The three remaining remnants of The One were too powerful to drain away and their strength was undiminished by the new deities. Instead, the gods used the remaining power of Order and isolated the three remaining elder entities into an isolated pocket of the original universe. This pocket was then hidden within a prison dimension without an exit and hidden further by isolating it on a level of the largest of the Outer Planes of existence. The gods then invested one of the remaining primal gods with power and form to guard over this realm to watch over the prison of the Elder Gods.
Awakening
After eons of existence and a near eternity of imprisonment, the Elder Gods finally broke out of their prison. Due to the confinement of the personifications of creation, destruction, and chaos in a confined space for a near infinite time, the entities who emerged were much changed from those who were confined within. The three eldritch entities who went in escaped in the form of gods, much weaker than when they were first imprisoned.
The Lost God was what remained of the force of creation in the multiverse. Driven insane by the inability to exercise its primary reason for existence finally broke the consciousness of the entity and sent him into an oblivion of insanity. Used by the other gods within the prison, The Lost Gods power was focused to a point where even the magic of the combined gods could not retain the integrity of their prison.
Aragon was the remnants of the forces of chaos and change. Weakened from his long imprisonment, he allowed his essence to flow over the multiverse as an insubstantial force and begun to observe the new reality without allowing himself to be observed. After a millennia of watching, Aragon posed as a new god arisen in the realms. He took the form of a God of War, choosing the most effective method of change in the mortal world as his method of infiltrating this strange reality.
The Unnamed One was the personification of Destruction which had been trapped. Untold eons of imprisonment turned the outlook of the god bitter. Its only source of activity was to destroy the nascent creations of The Lost God, perhaps being the impetus for that deity's insanity. Upon release from its prison, The Unnamed One sought to reconnect with The Void. It took an untold amount of time for the ancient deity to find The Void, hidden away deep in the back of the Negative Energy Plane. As the deity reestablished it's connection with The Void, it saw that the new reality was separated by life and death with the prism of undeath being an anathema to the rest of the realms. After exploring this new reality, The Unnamed One established itself as an entity deeply connected with the undead which was both a patron deity for the living dead and a conduit for entropy.
Recovery
Due to the near eternity of their imprisonment, the Elder Gods were able to emerge back into the worlds without drawing the ire of the collective deities who once imprisoned them. In fact, the majority of deities who were alive when the Elder Gods were banished had long ago disappeared into antiquity. The ancient guardian who had been empowered to watch over the prison was wounded by the destruction of the physical structure that served as their house of banishment. Once they had emerged, the deities took revenge upon him by binding him within the confines of the prison itself with their magic. The guardian was unable to warn the multiverse of their escape and thus the elder gods went unheralded into the universe.
Time worked differently on various worlds but the Elder Gods took their time exploring the new realms and understanding the nature of this new reality. Only The Lost God seemed to forget his imprisonment and simply reveled in elemental power unleashed. The other two Elder Gods however never forgot the betrayal of their imprisonment and began to formulate their revenge. Claiming worshipers and powerful champions on many worlds and planes of existence, the Elder Gods consolidated their power and began to be noticed as major forces by the lesser beings who were known as the common gods of the realms.
It took untold centuries, but powerful beings finally took notice of the Elder God's powers and nature and began to look deeper. By the time a powerful deity chose to challenge them, they were individually stronger than any group of deities who could be arranged against them. A few gods went to the old prison to confirm the nature of their new challenge and found the blasted remains of the prison and the guardian bound within. With dawning horror, worry began to spread throughout the divine realms. Some deities discounted the threat of the Elder Gods. Older deities however feared the wrath of the Elder Gods and were on constant watch against their incursions.
Vengeance
Both The Unnamed One and Aragon cultivated champions and underlings to aid in their plans. Most of the champions failed or were simply unfit as instruments of vengeance. A few chosen minions however stuck out as valid tools in the planned vengeance against the gods of the multiverse.
Morval was one such champion. As a mortal follower, he distinguished himself by completing epic tasks set forth by Aragon. To create Traykon, Morval had to gain the assistance of all three Elder Gods as well as the last remnant of the forces of creation personified in Yggdrasil, the physical representation of the essence of life and a God in it's own right. Yggdrasils reasons for helping create Traykon is something that has baffled other deities as well as his own followers. Traykon was created as the forge of Morval but was ultimately the crucible through which the Elder Gods would gain their vengeance.
Due to the powers used in the formation of Traykon, the material weave of the world diverges from the rest of the Multiverse. As a pocket dimension separate from the rules of the Material Planes, Traykon was formed from energies and matter touched by The Void. Deities who extend their power into Traykon find that they become anchored to the realm. The pathways for energy and souls through Traykon is limited and tightly controlled within the Shadowlands. This isolated nature of Traykon has allowed it to trap the energies of untold deities who have found themselves unable to remove themselves from the threat of the realm.
The Trap
The true horror of Traykon is that any deity, no matter their power or position within the multiverse, when their form dies in Traykon their divine energies are drawn through the energies of the realm and siphoned into The Void. Deities who die in this manner cease to exist, truly and irretrievably destroyed. This seems to be the intended purpose for the Elder Gods to aid Morval in creating Traykon.
It appears the plan for Traykon is to be a vessel through which all the divine energies return to The Void. The power and opportunities available for divine entities within Traykon serve as a draw which traps the greedy and will eventually lead to confrontations which cull the gods from the multiverse. Since the multiverse was created to power divine entities with worshipers, the worshipers create the links to the deities from a realm. Traykon uses this mechanic by randomly drawing in living entities from the Material Plane, importing their worship and deities into Traykon.
The Draw
Traykon sucks in entities from other realms through a mechanic build into the creation of Traykon itself. Due to the way Traykon was created, it rubs against the Material Plane but doesn't actually connect to it. At points of cosmic confluence, the material of Traykon aligns with a random Material Plane and any living entities caught within the area are transported to the material part of Traykon. The area effected by this displacement effect can be anywhere from a simple circular area of 10 meters diameter to a 100 meter sphere. Living entities transported to Traykon or regularly deposited in an area fairly removed from any living entity.
Strange cultures and technologies have come to Traykon through the translocation method. The energies of Traykon however deteriorates any advanced technologies and somehow the Horticultural, Agricultural, and Feudal societal norms remains dominant. There have been a few instances of Industrial societies which have arisen through Traykon's history but they seem always to collapse and are unable to flourish.
The Goal
Although the ultimate goal of the Elder Gods is a mystery, it is genuinely believed that they plan to drain the divine energies from the multiverse in order to ultimately cause its collapse. Theory exists that once the divine energies drain to a point where the Elder Gods can overwhelm the magics used to create the structure of the Multiverse, they will collapse reality and free the other two parts of The One. Once that is done, scholars believe that the multiverse will be collapsed back into The Void and known reality will cease to exist.
The goal of The Unnamed One is more obvious, the goal is to simply return all to The Void. Yggdrasil's goal is even more of a mystery since he was not involved with the creation of the multiverse but assisted in the creation of Traykon. Since the Yggdrasil is an inhuman entity who is older than any other known god with the exception of the 3 Elder Gods, it is anyone's guess what its motivations are. Since The Lost God is insane, nobody can even pretend to guess at motivations at the depths of the madness. Careful watchers suspect that there is a method behind the madness and The Lost God is perhaps playing a deep game. In the guise of a God of War, Aragon is obviously using the portfolio of war to spread chaos wherever he goes. Scholars believe that once the multiverse collapses, Aragon will capitalize on the chaos created to regain his full powers and simply use war as a tool to further weaken his opponents and spread his dominion.
There is a final theory on the overall goal of the Elder Gods. This theory is quite terrifying in its entirety. The theory posits that the Elder Gods intend to collapse everything back into The Void so that they can reform and return to the One. If they are successful in this endeavor, nothing else will exist in the universe except the One. Existence will cease to be. This theory only works if the Elder Gods can reclaim their power that was expended during the creation of Time and Order. This theory is reinforced because the Elder Gods could theoretically unite by building up their power but to reconstitute the powers of the 2 dispersed Elder Gods, the multiverse must be destroyed. Since Traykon seems to have been built for the purpose of eventually stripping the multiverse of it's power and therefore allowing the reconstruction of the other 2 Elder Gods, the theory that they intend to reform into the One and destroy all existence is a terrifying possibility.