Creation
According to myth, in the beginning there were threee beings who together
created the cosmos.  First was Kari, who was the creator, attempting to
fit all existence into a single ordered whole, and Dardarath, the
destroyer, who attempted to create chaos and reduce everything to its
basest form.  To balance the two was Gaea, the one who weaved the
creation of Kari into a myriad of forms, and ensured that destruction and
chaos did not engulf all.  Through the interaction of the three, the
cosmos was created and maintained.  Also created at this time were the
gods, who numbered nine, and each represented a smaller facet of the
great whole.  Trying to emulate their forebears, the gods tried to create
other beings who would be their offspring and serve them.  They wrought
too well, and the first ones rose up to challenge the gods and tried to
overthrow them as they had overthrown the Trinity.  During the course of
this war, the very heavens were shattered, creating the moons and stars,
and the great continent that once existed was torn asunder.  Great magics
were unleashed, and each side created mighty creatures to fight for them
(some of which still exist today).  In the end the gods were triumphant,
and sealed the first ones away in an otherdimensional prison.    Learning
from their failure, the gods created lesser races each of which had only
an aspect of the first ones, and so the many races were created....

RELIGION

Worship is confined primarily to the nine main gods.  The trinity is
acknowledged and revered, but are seen (rightly so) as forces of the
universe rather that (limited) beings with mortal sensibilities.  There
are some cults that worship them, and attribute some human(oid)
characteristics to them, but these are few.  Their roles have become
blurred over time, originally representing creation/order(Kari), balance
and the great cycle(Gaea), and chaos and destruction(Dardarath), Kari and
Dardarath are seen more as good and evil respectively, whil Gaea is seen
as an earth mother and represents the cycle of life and death and
rebirth.

There are numerous demigods, both the offspring of the nine, and heroes
of myth and legend who were granted divine status by the nine for their
value.  The nine are divided into three "factions" based on their
supposed affiliation to one of the trinity, but in reality they each
serve their own interests and work alone.


The gods of  "Light" (afiliated with Kari)
    Ki- Goddess of life, mercy, and kindness.
    Amber- Goddess of love and beauty.
    Proteus- God of creation and inspiration, the artisan and blacksmith of
             the gods.
The "Neutral" gods (afiliated with Gaea)
    Shari- Goddess of Fate and Destiny.
    Zaros- God of knowledge.
    Tyre- God of justice and balance.
The gods of "Darkness" (Affiliated with Dardarath)
    Takesis- Queen of Darkness.
    Jara- Lady of the dead.
    Discord- Goddess of lies, treachery, and hate.
Tao- A truly neutral god, worshipped (primarily) by Druids as a god of
             Nature.

This "Elder Pantheon' is worshipped more by the elder races of the
continent. They are much less active than the newer gods, tending to 
let their followers act in their names.  They are unconcerned with 
good or evil, they merely see to their appointed tasks.  Which is not 
to say they are pareticularly lazy or mature.  They have the same 
emotions and drives as mortals, but their long lives have made them 
less prone to simply act out on their whims, while the newer gods still
remember much of their human past, and still enjoy interacting with
mortals.  (Amber and Discord are the two main exceptions, they tend 
to interact much more with the younger gods, their followers, and 
mortals in general.)

The New Pantheon

At the end of the first Great War, the gods decided that in order to limit
the possible destruction the Elder Races could cause, they would trap the
magic of the world in the "Source", a gigantic crystal deep within the
earth.  But while they had contained magic for a time, it soon leaked 
out into the earth, eventually finding it's way to all corners of the 
globe, and magic came once again, though in amore dilute and weaker form.
At the end of the second war, a great battle was fought for control of the
SOurce, since it could grant extraordinary power when tapped directly.
During the final battle, the SOurce was shattered it's peices flying to the
far corners of the earth,magic slowly fading from the land except for the
Spellstones, fragments of the Source that provided the magicla energy to
fuel spellcasters.
But this in itself caused problems, as magic was concentrated in the hands
of a few powerful individuals, and there was war, murder, and treachery
for control of the Spellstones.  At this time a group of heroes appeared,
weilding 9 of the 10 Great Stones (the greatest and most powerful
fragments of the Source).  Finding each other from the far corners of the
land, they set out to the Home, where the souce had once lain, in hopes
of repairing the Source and restoring the old order.  Unfortuantely the
Tenth Great stone was in the hands of an evil sorcerer, who wished to 
preserve his power by stopping the heroes and taking the other stones 
for himself. They had theri final battle at the Home, and the heroes 
sacrificed their lives to repair the source, killing themselves and 
the evil wizard and his lackeys.
 But in dying they became on with the source and the world, becoming the
second pantheon of gods.  But the evil wizard and his lackeys also became
one with the source, and setting out to collect all the most vile and evil
mosters and demons, he created his own evil pantheon.

The Second Pantheon.

    Lyta- Goddess of Luck and Chance, patron of thieves.
    Shalofi- God of Magic
    Ulroni- Mother of Wolves, Goddess of Bravery and Honor.
    Myriad- Goddess of Change and Rebirth.
    Kiroc- God of War.
    Boros- The Storm God.
    Anai- God of the hunt.
    Crisa- Goddess of Healing.
    Stanar- God of the Sea.

The Evil Pantheon

    Malanger- The Dark One.
    Karesia- Goddess of Blood.
    Selene- Mother of Nightmares, Goddess of Insanity.
    Numerous demons and monsters....


This Evil Pantheon is the only truly evil faction of the gods.  Even the
Dark Gods of the Elder Pantheon are only forces of Chaos, seeing their
role as preserving the balance.  Malanger's dark pantheon loves to 
spread evil, pain, and suffering forn nothing more than their own 
amusement.  Collectively they are known as the "Dark Ones".