The+Deaths+of+Tuonetar+and+Inanna

**__ and the Split of the Gods __**
 * __ The Deaths of Tuonetar and Inanna __**

As one of the very few mortal witnesses of these historic and universe-changing events, I hereby verify the accuracy of this account. --- Gilgamesh

In the early times, the four deities worked together, each specializing in their own areas and loves. While they were very different, they worked harmoniously to create this universe, Sun and Sky, Earth and Stone, and each added a part to the surface of the world. As the ages passed, Sun and Sky had children, as did Earth and Stone. Each grew and came to take up their own specialties, adding to the complexity and richness of creation.

The deities of Sun and Sky and their children were different from those of Earth and Stone. Life on the surface of the Earth was easy and peaceful. Food grew abundantly, and there was room for all to live. Life in the Underdark was never so easy. It was colder and less food grew. Cavern walls limited space, and there were only so many caverns to live in. Races struggled against each other, and the cultures were more competitive, sometimes violent. The deities’ personalities reflected those of their environments, or probably vice versa.

Frictions arose between them over these basic philosophies and outlooks on life. The strife was spreading over the earth, and people fought people and races fought races. Love devised a solution. A marriage between factions would mend the rift temporarily and create long-term mixing and bridges of understanding. She went to meet with Earth and Stone and Ambition and Trickery to propose her solution. Love would marry Ambition, and thus would the families be united. Grandchildren would learn to share the loves and views of each family, and understanding would follow, ensuring peace.

Sun and Sky learned of their daughter's plan, and sought to stop her from her self-sacrifice and such an eternity, for they saw it as a great sacrifice on her part. They and their children set out to stop the marriage, and the families confronted each other by the River Styx, in the land of the dead. At first the parents talked, but emotions ran hot and Ambition insisted on the marriage.

How the violence started is somewhat conjecture, for what mortal truly understands the motives of the eternal? I believe the following to be as much of the truth as will ever be known: Feeling outnumbered and vulnerable, Trickery struck first against Life, rendering her powerless and all beings vulnerable. Justice saw her and sprang forward to attack Trickery while Ambition attempted to escape with Love. Freedom caught hold of his sister, Love, and tried to pull her back. Magic faced off against Stone, and Sun and Song sought to aid Life. Earth placed herself in front of Trickery and sought to defend her from Justice. Sky shouted for calm and reason.

It was over in seconds. Earth was dead at Justice's hand as he stepped back in shock at what he had done. Trickery had fled. Ambition had killed Love, his betrothed, while seeking to defend himself from Justice, or perhaps Freedom killed her as he sought to hold her back.. All were silent and still for a moment, absorbing the enormity of what had happened. If not for the leadership of Sky at that moment, perhaps the fight would have continued, but each side collected their dead and backed off.

Despite attempts at reconciliation by Sun and Sky, the three remaining gods of the Underdark had lost too much. They felt they had lost not only a wife and mother, but also a bride and all possibility of equality and a future. With little to no interaction between the two groups now, the differences have widened and a state of war has come to exist. Strife became War, Trickery now Treachery, and Stone’s heart grew yet harder. Likewise, Justice lost much of his mercy, Freedom blamed himself and all others, too, and has become estranged from both sides. Finally both Sun and Sky no longer reach all the peoples of the surface, and very few beneath it. The world has become a poorer place for this tragic event.

Anyone reading this before next session may add +1 to Knowledge: Religion on your character sheets.