War of the Gods
| War of the Gods | |||||
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| Information | |||||
| Era | Mending Era | ||||
| Date | 4561 AR | ||||
| Location | Theros | ||||
| Sets | Theros: Beyond Death | ||||
| Characters | Ashiok, Daxos, Elspeth Tirel, Erebos, Heliod | ||||
| Outcome | |||||
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| Timeline | |||||
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The War of the Gods[1] was a divine conflict on the plane of Theros in 4561 AR, ignited by growing tensions among the gods and the return of Elspeth Tirel from the Underworld. Heliod, fearing for his place in the pantheon, sought to erase all opposition, sparking open warfare between the gods. In the chaos, mortal realms suffered monstrous invasions from beyond death, while Elspeth undertook a perilous journey back to life. The war culminated in the defeat of Heliod and Elspeth's escape, reshaping Theros's divine order.
Description
Long before the gods of Theros rose to power, the titans — horrific primal urges made flesh — roamed the mortal realm, sowing death and destruction in their wake. The mortals, powerless to defend themselves, turned to prayer in their hour of need. From this prayer, this concentrated devotion, sprang forth the gods themselves.[2]
Imbued with incredible power by the faith of mortals, the gods sealed the titans away in the Underworld. Klothys, the god of fate, volunteered to act as jailer and sequestered herself in the Underworld for eternity. While Erebos was the appointed ruler of this realm beyond death, it was Klothys who acted as the eternal seal, ensuring the titans remained trapped.[2]
And so, the gods ruled, confident in their position — until the Great Revel and the Deicide in Nyx proved that mortals could both forcefully ascend as new gods, and also that mere mortals could kill gods. By harnessing the power of devotion, Xenagos ascended to godhood and was killed by Elspeth Tirel, revealing a dreadful truth: the gods were replaceable. Heliod realized that if the people of Theros looked up to Elspeth more than Heliod himself, she could take his place in the pantheon. Fearful, he struck her down in her moment of triumph, casting her into the Underworld to be forgotten.[2]
Elspeth was dead, but her story was not yet over. Another Planeswalker lurked in the shadows of Theros — Ashiok, the nightmare mage. Ashiok had spent some time on Theros, sowing seeds of fear that caused the fall of the budding polis of Iretis. The nightmare mage lived for fear, believing it to be the great equalizer of all things. Thus, while Elspeth should have received eternal rest in Ilysia, the Underworld haven of fallen heroes, she was instead visited by constant nightmares from her past. Of Daxos, her former love, whom she was tricked into killing. Of Heliod, striking her down with the spear she had wielded in his name. And of her childhood torment at the hands of the Phyrexians.[2]
Two things came of this. Ashiok's visions are more real than most, and in one of them, Elspeth seized Heliod's spear, Khrusor. When the vision had passed, a twisted version of the spear remained, dripping with darkness and power. Secondly, Ashiok learned of the Phyrexians' existence and promptly planeswalked away to learn more of these true living nightmares.[2]
Meanwhile, the god Heliod contemplated the fragility of his immortality. He would not allow anyone to take his perceived place as the first of the pantheon — not even the other existing gods. To that end, he pulled the soul of the oracle Daxos into his Returned body and transformed him into his new Champion in the mortal realm. Now a demigod, Daxos was instructed to remove all trace of the other gods from the great city of Meletis to ensure Heliod's place as head of the pantheon.[2]
The other gods, refusing to stand for such an affront, called upon their champions from the Underworld, and with this, the gods were at war. And when gods clash, mortals suffer the consequences. One such consequence took the form of rifts to the Underworld, from which countless monsters poured forth. The giant nyxborn hydra Polukranos laid siege to Setessa, which was defended by Haktos.[1] Erebos, the god of the Underworld, and Klothys, guardian of the titans, were consumed by this conflict. Erebos hated Heliod most of all, and in his rage, he neglected to keep a tight grip on the souls under his purview. Meanwhile, Klothys chose to leave the Underworld behind to enforce the threads of destiny, leaving the titans unguarded for the first time in millennia.[2]
News travels fast, even in the afterlife, and Elspeth heard talk of rifts to the mortal realm. Realizing her work in the Multiverse was not yet done, Elspeth pulled Heliod's spear Khrusor from Ashiok's perpetual nightmares, and awoke gripping her new Shadowspear. She headed toward a hidden exit in Erebos's palace — but she wasn't the only one seeking escape. Many others joined Elspeth, and as she lied about the origins of the Shadowspear, claiming hers was real and Heliod's version was a fake, fiction became truth. Her believers gave her weapon power, and simultaneously weakened Heliod.[2]
Klothys was furious at what had happened in the Underworld while she was away. Countless souls dared defy fate to reverse their deaths, and she was livid. She dispatched countless agents of fate to stop these souls from seeking new life. But for Elspeth —a Planeswalker's soul — she needed something special. So Klothys weaved her masterpiece: an agent of fate she called Calix. Created solely to carry out the will of Klothys, Calix pursued Elspeth to preserve that which should be.[2]
As Elspeth headed toward freedom, she kept gathering allies. Along her journey, she faced many battles and powerful foes sent by Klothys, and she fought them all off. After each victory over Klothys's agents, Alspeth raised her spear high and proclaimed: Behold, the true Khrusor! Heliod wields a fake![2]
She also clashed repeatedly with Calix, emerging victorious every time. After all, she was a seasoned warrior, and he was freshly made. But with each battle, Calix did a little better — he was learning his foe as he learned himself. Still, she defeated him one final time as she reached the exit, where the furious Heliod awaited her.[2]
Through Daxos, Elspeth's former love, Heliod had learned of her attempted escape and her usurping of his weapon. Past the point of reason, Heliod stood in Elspeth's way, refusing her and her followers passage out of the Underworld. She could not be allowed to escape. She would be the end of him. She was the cause of all this. Ranting under his breath, he charged Elspeth with his spear Khrusor, which promptly shattered in his hands as she blocked it with the Shadowspear.[2]
For each time Elspeth repeated that her shadowspear was the true Khrusor, the onlookers' souls believed her. And it was the power of that belief, that devotion, that caused her lie to simply become truth. Staring down the point of a spear that was no longer his, Heliod yielded. And Erebos laughed.[2]
In Erebos's centuries of existence, no sound had ever pleased him quite like the sound of Heliod's surrender. And Erebos simply took the defeated sun god and placed him beneath a giant boulder, where he would suffer for all eternity — or until he was forgotten by his worshippers above. As for Elspeth, Erebos gifted her his eternal gratitude — and safe passage back to the mortal realm.[2]
After a brief reunion with Daxos, Elspeth planeswalked away. Calix looked on, his very being in agony. It was his purpose to return Elspeth to where she belonged, and now he could no longer reach her. But in his darkest hour, a strange idea sparked within him — a spark flared inside him, and he planeswalked after her, determined to enforce the threads of destiny even if they brought him across the fabric of the Multiverse.[2]
References
- ↑ a b Wizards RPG Team (2020), D&D Mythic Odysseys of Theros, Wizards of the Coast
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wizards of the Coast (January 10, 2020). "Theros Beyond Death Story Summary". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
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