We live in an Age of Mortals. The world of TERA belongs to the humans, high elves, amani, baraka, castanics, elins, and poporis—though their civilization is a tenuous thing. The time of the gods has passed, but some still walk the world in a diminished state. A few gods—Velik, Kaia, and Mystel, for example—still aid the races they’ve adopted, despite having only a fraction of their former power. Others, like Thulsa, Akasha, and Ishara, scheme from the world’s secret places, trying to regain the divine majesty that was once theirs.
Most gods are dead, however—casualties of the Divine War that pitted brother against sister, parent against child. Some gods died nobly, while others were victims of circumstance or targets of sinister plots from those they trusted. While the following gods no longer influence mortal affairs directly, they cast a great shadow across the world of TERA.
And if the entire world is a dream, who is to say that these gods will never return?
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Gidd
One of the original twelve gods dreamed into existence by the titans, Gidd created the human race. But he found his creations troublesome and rebellious, so he cursed them to live a nomadic existence for centuries—a curse the humans overcame only recently.
Gidd’s dalliances with the goddess Zuras resulted in many divine children, including the prophetic goddess Mystel and the sinister god Thulsa. Gidd led the gods of Arun into battle during the Divine War, but the goddess Akasha lured him away from the battle, then killed him. After Gidd’s death, the goddess Velik adopted the human race and remains their patron to this day.
Zuras
The most seductive of the original twelve gods, Zuras created the many clans of devas, including the clan that would eventually become the castanics. Whether through disguise or her natural allure, Zuras bore children from three different fathers. Her children range from the benevolent (Mystel, Velik, and Kaia) to the malicious (notably Thulsa, who still plots to regain his divine power).
Zuras disappeared near the start of the Divine War and hasn’t reappeared despite entreaties from the devas she created.
Amarun
Creator of the amani, Amarun was one of the first gods to take up arms against another deity: Zuras. Amarun and the amani fared poorly in their war against Zuras and the devas, and a string of defeats resulted in the enslavement of the amani people by the giants.
A battlefield casualty in the final days of the Divine War, Amarun never lived to see his “grandchildren” freed. After his death, the goddess Kaia adopted the amani and built them a city, Kaiator, that bears her name.
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Tithus
One of the most trusted of the original twelve gods, Tithus created the giants (including the scholar caste that became the barakas). Tithus tried to act as a peacemaker among the gods, but his efforts were increasingly heavy-handed. Thulsa led a group of rebellious gods into battle against Tithus and killed him, widening the Divine War.
Isren
Goddess of the Faeries, Isren was another victim of Thulsa and the other rebellious gods. Like Tithus, Isren attempted to remain neutral among the contentious gods, but unlike Tithus, she merely tried to stay out of conflicts rather than mediate them. When Thulsa and Gluda’s children turned on Isren and killed her, all the gods realized that there could be no bystanders in the Divine War.
Gluda
Gluda created two races at the dawn of history: the gulas and vampirs. A born schemer, Gluda insisted that her two creations battle each other for her favor.
Jealousy of Zuras consumed Gluda, and many suspect that she or her daughter, Akasha, quietly murdered Zuras as the Divine War began. Perhaps fittingly, it was betrayal and intrigue that resulted in Gluda’s death. Thulsa had allied with Gluda and her children in battles against Tithus and Isren, but Thulsa coveted the power of the gulas and vampirs. Thulsa led a strike force that fought through armies of gulas and vampirs to slay Gluda in one of the largest battles of the Divine War.
Elinu
Elinu, creator of the elins, was the first god to die—in childbirth long before the Divine War, bringing the twins Balder and Ishara to life. Her death was a crushing blow to all the gods, but especially her husband, Karas.
Karas
Karas, creator of the elves, was the de facto leader of the twelve original gods. He took an active hand in raising his son Lok, but became mournful and bitter with grief after Elinu’s death. Karas cursed the world with perpetual twilight, then departed the elven homeland. He hasn’t been seen since. The elves never sought another god, instead choosing to mourn and honor Karas’s grief.
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Balder
Even as a child, Balder was held in high regard by all the other gods, who saw a lot of his mother, Elinu, when they looked at him. After Tithus’s death, Balder stepped into the peacekeeper role among the gods. Despite deep divisions and bitter rivalries among the gods, almost everyone respected Balder, who was entrusted with the keys to the heavenly abode where the gods were at their strongest.
Karas’s curse of darkness came to an end when Balder sacrificed his sight so that others in the world could see. Balder tore out his own eyes and hurled them into the sky, where they became the twin suns that give the world light to this day.
Yet even the wisdom of Balder could not keep the gods at peace forever. Balder’s twin sister, Ishara, sought Balder’s power and convinced their older brother Lok that Balder was descending into madness. Lok killed Balder and stole the keys to the gods’ heavenly abode.
Lok
Lok inherited his father Karas’s cleverness and quickly became renowned as an inventor. He fashioned the magic device that freed the amani people from their magical enslavement by the giants. But his intellect was greater than his wisdom, and he believed Ishara’s lies about Balder’s insanity. Lok created a device that would steal the gods’ collective power from Balder, but he didn’t realize the device would kill Balder—until he used it.
Lok channeled the divine power away for later use and stranded most of the gods away from their heavenly abodes, but Balder’s friend and bodyguard, Shakan, killed Lok before Lok revealed how or where he hid that power.
Thus the gods have only a fraction of the might they possessed before Balder’s death and cannot ascend beyond the mortal world. Most act as advisors to the mortal races they favor, or they fear reprisal from their fellow gods and remain in seclusion. Gods have long memories, however. The Divine War ended, but it never reached a conclusion.
