War of the Gods

Surprise! You remember this: The God Wars?

That was one of my first maps! It's been over a year since I made it and I grew and changed since. As such, I remade the map with hopefully better colors and information. Much of the info-dump is largely the same, just with some different lore and quirks to better reflect what I learned. Enjoy!

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December 21, 2012 was the date that everything changed. Some predicted the end of the world while others were skeptical. Nobody knew what would happen. When midnight struck on the Winter Solstice, everyone suddenly became filled with a sense of uneasiness.  Many people collapsed and found their minds overwhelmed. The atmosphere was thick with pressure and survivors described the sky being filled with a massive array of light that shattered, like a broken shield or a tattered illusion…

When the people woke up, they saw powerful figures. They heard booming commands in their native tongue... words of encouragement and might. Words that struck to their heart and commanded they kneel in worship and in awe. All over the world, the pagan gods returned. The Age of Man has reached the twilight... the Age of the Gods began anew. They overwhelmed the people with their words and their power. For the first time, modern humanity felt overwhelmed by the power the deities and the entities possessed and they felt compelled to kneel to them. Some didn’t and instead were filled with fright or excitement. Some went into denial or claimed they were merely super-advanced aliens. The Gods came to rule over them and they were eager to reclaim their domains. But they then turned…

They saw how much technology has advanced, farther than some of their own legendary powers. They saw how united people were… and most of all, they saw each other. For the first time ever, the pantheons saw one another and realized they were not alone.

And they grew afraid. They grew fearful and suspicious. And so they gathered their subjects and the world became embroiled in a massive war never before seen.

The Pantheon War.

Minor deities of minor cultures found themselves either consumed by the stronger gods to gain power and the loyalty of their former followers, banded together to form coalitions or surrendered and became vassals of stronger god. With the multitude of advancements in technology combined with the might of the gods, the world become engrossed in chaos as governments fell like dominos and new governments rose in the name of their old gods. Aboriginals that were long oppressed were granted the power from their beliefs to strike back and form their own states. The world was changing and at the whim of the pantheons.

The knowledge and gifts of the gods allowed humanity to create all sorts of wonderweapons that were used around one another. Grand temples were rebuilt in their honor as they used their might to shake the world. All sorts of supernatural horrors returned and the people got their hands on the forgotten arts allowing them to go further than they ever thought possible. Future science and ancient magic fused to create new miracles and people fought so their gods could become recognized as the one true pantheon while others did whatever they could to survive. Centuries went by and while the war went through periods of ceasefires, proxy wars,

The world is a radically different and wilder place in the year 2238.

The Pantheon War rages on. By a few decades into the war, it was no longer a massive mess of unknown sides and murky alliances. The alliances and pacts that were forged centuries ago continue to fight one another to this day while other groups try to survive in the new world or make some new states.

First and foremost of the Pantheon War is the Roman Alliance, headed by the reborn Roman Empire or the Neo Imperium Romanum. The Greeks embraced their old gods and rose from their depression. However, the gods are more often seen in their Roman guise than their Greek guise and sometimes you can even see them in their Etruscan form. The Catholic Church fell in Rome when it was destroyed by Zeus/Jupiter himself. Returning to their seat of power on Mt Olympus, it was a return of the old ways. The people provide great and constant respect toward the Olympians. Many of the gods and goddesses took to taking these new human lovers and a new generation of demigods were born, training to become powerful soldiers for the Roman Empire. In fact, some of the gods would even mate with entities of other pantheons. It is common to see a fresh new maiden be offered to any temple of Zeus in exchange for potential benefits. As a result of the war and technology, several new advancements have been made and several of the deities have changed due to the different pantheons, the actions of the war, the progressions in perspectives since the old days and in fighting between the pantheons. One incident occurred when Hera/Juno succumbed to a love arrow from Eros and ended up with a mortal and giving birth to a demigod. Due to the idea of open marriages, she found herself surprisingly unbothered by this. Occasionally, she would take the guise of a mortal woman and marry a mortal, being with him until his death or if he found someone else before she returned to Zeus. One rumor even was that someone stole the arrows and shot the Olympians multiple times to have them lie with one another and create a new generation of gods from pairings such as Ares/Athena, Hephaestus/Aphrodite and even Artemis/Apollo.  The supposed next-generation is hidden away, being trained by a secret order to overtake their parents.

Knowledge from the New Enlightenment, advancements in alchemy allowed for the better transfusions of elements and a better understanding of the world, resulting in enchanted melee weapons. Most of all, the constant battle that the gods have under been going not just against monsters, but also other gods meant there was a rich supply of ichor, blood of the gods. By transfusing it with worthy soldiers, a artificial demigods were born for the purpose of being supersoldiers. The ichor of Hecate became especially available as it granted the chosen the ability to perform more god-like magic. The Neo Imperium Romanum spread far and wide, only countered by several other deities of other lands. Technology has not advanced since modern times, but the panacea is almost here and at the least, the culture grows ever greater with the muses back. By modern standards, still not a good place as the Olympians were not the nicest bunch, barring a few, like Hercules. Beyond that, the Imperium is much like the old Roman Empire though with more technology and some more civil rights. Some historians having jokingly claimed it’s somewhat reminiscent of the old series Spartacus.

Rome’s ancient allies, the Egyptians, remain close to them as in days of old when the ancient gods returned. The rise of the Kemet Empire came as a surprise to no one. The revival of Heka gave the people here powerful advantages as all the hexes, curses and jinxes were at their fingertips once more. Magical amulets protected the soldiers from most harm as they began conquering the deserts and using their newfound magic to create diamonds out of the rough. Furthermore, they took inspiration from many of the movies derived from their culture. The fallen peasantry and enemies were turned into mummies to fight on behalf of the pharaoh. With special masks, priests could channel the power of their gods to commit terrifying acts of magic such as raising the dead, unleashing plagues or storms of fire upon the enemy. The Pharaoh himself would use beams of light to destroy entire armies from afar. Pyramids functioned as holy burial sites as well as power plants. The almighty Thoth granted the priests wisdom and knowledge to create new technologies to make building pyramids and weapons easier.  The Egyptian deities are a mixed bunch in terms of getting along though Bastet is popular even outside of Kemet. The Kemet Empire was the shining jewel of Africa as life revolved around their god-king and helping their Roman allies against the other so-called heathens of the world.

Beyond the Egyptians, there are the Canaanites. The people who pre-occupied the Holy Land before the followers of Yahweh took over, the other gods weren’t too happy with the Israelis and a large war occurred between the Israelis and the new followers.  A lot of people got the shock when it was revealed that Yahweh a.k.a. Jehovah a.k.a Allah, was a former Canaanite god, indeed the War God. However, he usurped the position of the whole pantheon and took their power before over-taking the rest of the pantheons and sealing them away. While this discouraged some and broke most of the Christian community, others held strong in the belief he will still come to save them. In fairness, the Canaan deities aren’t bad and joined with the Romans for protection. The Romans accepted their presence due to the fact that the Canann deities managed to steal the Arc of the Covenant away from the Jews, which was another big blow. Regarding culture, they are not different than the city-states below them. The people live in modern buildings while worshipping the Canaan deities, who interact with their followers in a council. However, relationships with their allies have been souring and Anat and Asherah have expressed some desire for Yahweh to return. Their supreme creator and rule, El, has not been seen, leading few to believe that his power is still under the domain of Yahweh.

The greatest rival of the Roman Empire has also returned, the Persian Empire.  The Persians have created their own alliance to challenge the Romans once more. Having re-embraced Zoroastrian beliefs, they are aided by the powers of the Amesha Spenta, led by Ahura Mazda. By using state-of-the-art nuclear fusion facilities and combining them with their fire cleansing rituals in order to create powerful people born of the fires of nuclear fusion. They possess the fire and light of the sun and through the use of nuclear transmutation, they can convert the elements. Furthermore, the most powerful priests have begun to tame the almighty giant flying creatures, the simurgh. Furthermore, by modifying their rituals, they were able to call the guardian spirits of people, their fravashi and use it to help boost the power of the warriors. Yazatas often lead the warriors into battle and unleash their array of powers against their enemies. They primarily rely on enchanted nuclear weaponry because of their belief in the purification through fire and through water. In fact, the threat of the other pantheons is so strong, the daevas and the amesha have called a truce, the daevas fighting alongside of the amesha. They turn a blind eye whenever the daevas take on human brides, but the demigod children are taken in by the human governments and raised as powerful warriors and heroes. Society in the Persian Empire was much like the days of old, every day is filled with battle and the best positions were the classic farmers, shepherds or warriors. However, because of the reliance on the sciences, scientists, especially physicists are revered as well.  The Empire appears to be based off of the old Sasanian Empire and to a lesser extent, the Achaemenid Empire. They are considered the underdog in this war; they are currently attempting to annex some of the northern territories that are under the control of the Turkic deities while also attempting to take the Roman state of Anatolia.

Their ally in reclaiming Anatolia and against the Canaans and the Jews is New Mesopotamia. Drawing on the power of the oldest known gods of human history, the people here united under their control. The Sumerian deities’ first act was to vaporize the opposition, including the would-be group known as ISIS. They also helped bring prosperity to the land so the people were happy to reaccept their old gods. The region has stabilized and is prosperous; they are also prideful on being among the oldest gods and have even begun rebuilding the Tower of Babel to show off their power and glory. Rather than use humans though, the New Babylonians enslaved many of the demon race known as asakku in order to build the tower. Furthermore, they would capture the corpses of the enemy's fallen and wait for the edimmui to come out when they failed to bury the dead properly. The edimmui are captured and then undergone arcane experimentation to be sealed into bombs and launched in order to cause corruption and disease on the opposition. Most of all though, came the discovery of two important beings. First was the almighty hero known as Gilgamesh, his corpse in a mummified state. The second was the snake who ate the legendary "Plant of Heartbeat." By synthesizing both, they were able to reactivate the cells within the bones of Gilgamesh and able to inject them into their warriors, granting the strength of the mightiest man of their land along with the power of regeneration. Furthermore, scientist-priests have been slowly regrowing the plant for additional usage and study. New Mesopotamian society is still somewhat reminiscent to modern times, albeit surrounded the devotion to their deities. The shedu also bolster the ranks of the armies of New Mesopotamia. The primordials were worshipped by the powerful ones ruled on a council. The Annunaki were seen walking the streets and served as nobles.

Beyond them lie the various Arabian Kingdoms to the south. A loose confederacy of sorts, nearly the entire region erupted into a massive civil war. The lower class people aligned themselves with the Arabian pagan deities and with their help, they overtook nearly the entire Arabian Peninsula. Most of the Muslims were either expelled or converted when they established the Arabian rule. However, rather than doing this as a unified force, it was done by the various regions so Saudi Arabia and its surrounding neighbors ended up becoming a bunch of separated kingdoms with localized cultures. Beyond this however, they are actually pretty fair places to live. With oil becoming somewhat obsolete, solar power is very utilized here. The djinn, ifrit and the marid were also discovered here along with within the Jewish city-states. The djinn were granted citizenship and allowed to interact and even marry with humans. Some have even left the nation, migrating to places like the NAU. The ifrit and especially the marids were much more resistant in integrating into society however The ifrit were eventually convinced and became powerful allies, although some were bad and needed to be imprisoned. The marid were defiant to the end save a few and they were sealed, imprisoned or enslaved.

To the north of the Imperium, lies the Germania Alliance. The return of the Norse Gods were also a great change. Establishing their realm of Midgard, the deity race of warriors were eager to challenge their might against these foreigners. The Germanic lands were granted the power of their runes and returned to their warrior ways against this new onslaught. Research in the runes allowed for weapons to be enchanted in wild new ways, drawing on the realm of fire or ice. Speaking of realms, the return of the Asgardians meant the return of the other races like the Light Elves, Dark Elves, and Dwarves. They aided mankind in forging new weapons against these otherwordly deities as well as their old enemies, the Frost Giants and other malevolent presences. German engineering ensured top notch quality as new advances in technologies such as wonderarmor were being developed.

Furthermore, the deities also take on different forms when in the Scandinavian lands, which are a bit closer to the ore traditional ways. The people lived by a bit more old-styled laws and the warrior way is encouraged. Other fields like engineering were also held in high value. It's a rough and tumble society. The cold is annoying and Loki often goes around to cause mischief wherever he pleases. Sorcery is practiced in its different forms and some of the other races adapted well to modern life, even unions between humans and elves or dwarves becoming more accepted, although some don’t put up with the intolerance and they head over to the NAU or any of the Humanist alliance states. However, recently, there has been talk of Ragnarok. They have called the Cold War a modern interpretation of Fimbulwinter and that Ragnarok of a grand and unpredictable scale was coming. Heimr Diutisc is a mix of the old tribal Germanic ways mixed with the modern German efficiency. While some have embraced the old ways and live a simpler life style, others maintain German engineering and have helped create powerful armors and weapons. Unfortunately, this also led to the revival of some Nazi fringe groups, but nobody likes them at all. Back in the Jarldoms though, they are somewhat more peaceful and while the entities may be similar, the cultural differences are pretty strong enough that they gain different forms. The Jarldoms are still very good places to live, just like pre-2012 Scandinavia.

Speaking of cold, the Slavic gods returning were an unusual, but welcomed surprise to the Holy Russian Republic, the last major ally of the Germania alliance. They as well as some of the lesser known gods worked hard at ensuring a bigger and more famous domain in Earth. Believing in a world tree like the Norse, there are many powerful and strange figures here. The legendary Baba Yaga is often seen around and considered a general nuisance, but also a reliable ally. Many of the gods follow the same sort of pattern as the others, but certain members stick out. One is Zinitra, the dragon god of sorcery. Others include Svarog and Perun. Furthermore, many rituals have become instutionalized, such as the acquiration of the cikavacs. Spirits and demons are viewed as pests here in Slavic life. Rules similar to the Soviet Union were instituted and research into the sciences accelerated. Combining their old research from the Soviet years, they instituted a super-solider program to militarize and weaponize vampir and vucari. These monsterous warriors helped fend off attacks and weapons carrying mischievous spirits were delivered to foreign lands to cause trouble and most dangerously was the Dragon Man program, producing the almighty zduhać. It’s a brutal place, but the people are very friendly and the culture has been compared to a more justified and more tolerant version of the USSR in execution, despite being more of a traditional republic.  However, they don’t like talking about the fact they lose a serious amount of land and have come into conflict with the NAU due to the Ural Republic.

Lastly, lies none other than the Middle Kingdom itself. Zhongguo remains as arrogant and tall as it ever has. The return of the gods has led to an embracement for the traditional ways they love so much while combining with the new. Qi has become studied extensively alongside Chinese alchemy and the result were powerful weapons and machinery run by qi. In addition, martial arts became even more dangerous with the application of this life-force technique. Taoism has also become strong and powerful and research has been done in order to modify the pills of longevity. The results have led to super soldiers capable of supernatural strength and techniques while regenerating from wounds. Despite these and other many advancements through the help of their research, they are often plagued with demons and some of the most talented Taoists and spiritualists find themselves unable to contribute to this global holy war so they go into hiding and practice their crafts in peace. The Middle Kingdom has several large pockets of natural areas, closed off for meditation and hospitality, but the research in the usage of qi and Chinese alchemy has led to several dangerous experiments, such as augmenting soldiers with the power of the Four Beasts from the Heavenly Constellations. Furthermore, the powerful celestial forces themselves have been augmenting their celestial tech to match the might of the other pantheons and the best warriors have been inventing new magic for the sole purpose of taking them on. Zhongguo is much like pre-Communist China, albeit with better technology and happier peasants. The current sciences are attempting to recreate massive terracotta armies, attempting in trying to make a hyper computer through the usage of artificial hakutakus while searching for legendary figures such as the mythical Sun Wukong. The Middle Kingdom is not without their allies however.

Their closest ally being Ganarajya. The Indians embraced the return of their old gods and many of their practioners found themselves filled with power. Seeing that the current incarnation was Shiva, this made the land realized that they needed to prepare themselves for the end and they needed to fight. And so the people of India proceeded to annex the lands around them and made a powerful alliance between the followers of the Hindi faith, the Buddhists, the Sikhs and the Jainists. The gods united with the greatest scientific and technological minds to help create almighty technology such as thunderbolt cannons and for worthy warriors, they were granted unique weapons on their own. Every warrior was also a monk and spirituality was a greater part of life. Most of the early years were spent cleaning up the lean until it was pristine and worthy of the Devas present. Furthermore, the situation has escalated to where the Asuras and the Devas have settled a truce in order to deal with the other gods. The Vidyadharas perform their powerful magic on those in their way and are willing to teach humanity their secrets. Beyond them, the naga have also appeared with their underground cities and the yakshas protect the country sides. The Rishis remain on guard as the use their seer abilities to remain vigilant of not only the danger, but also the destruction. While all the traditional ceremonies are present, prisoners are often used for the darker ceremonies. Spirituality is a powerful high here and more than almost anywhere else. Furthermore, Buddhist monks help keep away the negative energy while helping the tired and weary souls of any nation prepare for nirvana. The Jainists and the Sikhs are also here, providing assistance in exchange for practicing their faith in peace. Because of their faith, they possess special neutrality rights, even for prisoners of participants of the Pantheon War.

Their other major ally lies off the coast, the islands of Maidh. The people of the Philippines received a massive boon when their gods returned, the Tagalog being the most prominent deities of power. Protected by the mighty Bathala and his fellow tribesman, Maidh was safe. Furthermore, the only threat to them, the Huaxians, are too busy dealing with their other rivals to pay attention to them. Despite this, there are still dangers that can be preventable here. Agimats are vastly produced in order for the people to remain safe against the supernatrual creatures. Furthermore, the people have made alliances with the diwata and enkanto of the islands. However, the malevolent enkanto, the Dalaketnons, were believed to be widespread and some elite beautiful people may in fact be these mysterious beings. The magical arts of the kulam also serve to protect, but also as trouble for the people here, especially by the mambabarang.  They are the most advanced of the nations, namely when they are able to get technology from the black market of the NAU, with whom they share a complicated relationship with nowadays.

The Pantheon War between the major powers carry on like it has for more than a century. However, independent states of Gods remain, either competition against one another or dealing with more localized problems.

The largest one would be the powerful people of the Turkic Empire. The ancient Mongol Horde reunited under their gods united under the return of their gods and the return to the practice of Tengrism and decided it was time to take back what was theirs. After a long war, they united Mongolia and the rest of the lands and established a powerful domain and an eternal war against the Middle Kingdom. The mother of their land, the holy Grey Wolf Asena. The people's belief has made her grow strong and mighty and she protects the legendary Tree of Life over. Furthermore, the Altaic pantheon has been kind to them and have been able to conquer their lands fairly easily. The people here have embraced their nomadic sides and wander from place to place. The power of their gods have only advanced the powers of their archery and they are not above stealing the secrets of Chinese alchemy for their purposes. The elite usually partner with the Evren, better known as the dragons. Armies of the undead orek are called by many groups uylak and cadi. However, their most terrifying weapons lie in the Gobi Desert. In the barren and unexplored reaches, a strange surge of electromagnetic energy has keep the area hidden from the satellites for years, but the Mongolians found what laid there, tamed them and have unleashed them onto their enemies, the Mongolian Death Worms. They monstrosities can be as tall as a man and are a terrifying sight as they devour soldiers, unleash divesting toxins and even emit bursts of electricity to slay people from afar. They could easily join the Pantheon War and be able to cope with it, but are content with developing their nation. Their neutrality and acting as a buffer state is why the others leave them alone most of the time. Their technological progress is still far behind and they have even working on balancing a nomadic lifestyle to practically suit the new technologies and managing the logistics of a large empire

Trying their best to live with their Germanic Alliance neighbors is none other than Kalevala, formerly Finland has managed to remain strong and independent because of its distinct deities and its power. Bears are held in high esteem and the people live out their lives comfortably. The luonto of their soliders are increased to superhuman levels through the use of rituals and magic. Above all else though, the land was protected by its mightiest artifact, crafted by the gods themselves, the Sampo. This mill of fortune is the primary reason why these people have not been taken over. Furthermore, the noaidi of the Sami tribes help maintain the balance between life and death. With the Sampo, they are able to do many miraculous things, including replicating the technologies of the Slavs for their own use. They keep mainly to themselves and practice their religion peacefully. The Germanic Alliance doesn’t pressure them to join as much as they used to nowadays.

To the west of them lies the powerful Avalon Confederacy. The return of King Arthur, Merlin and the rest of the people of Arthurian legend allowed them to take control of Great Britain. Rather than risk going to war with the resurrected Celtic deities as well as the fairy folk of Ireland, they settled on a pact and the Confederacy was born. Great Britain has embraced their past, as King Arthur Pendragon rules just like in days of old. His Knights of the Round Table have grown larger while held to higher standards while Merlin now runs a school of witchcraft and wizardry. The Knights wear powerful armor and have learned how to master the land, sea and sky while also learning magic from some of the magical people around the area. They also act civilly with the Celtic deities, who run amok on Ireland although they are better behaved due to the Irish folk having better technology to match them with. The Morrigan has her eye on King Arthur, making his Queen jealous, despite her famous trysts with Lancelot. The Tuatha De Danann live in relative peace with the people of the Avalon Confederacy. In fact, some of the new and even old fairy folk settle down and have children with humans. They were able to drive away the Fomorians thanks to the technologies. Iceland is a bit of an odd example as they too are part of the Confederacy, but maintain some Norse traditions, confusing them all a bit. Despite the small size of the Confederacy, many of the empires know what Britain can do and with some of the old powers returning, they do not underestimate the Avalon Confederacy. Classical monsters like the dragons live here and magicks inspired by pop culture make them a powerful force to reckon with and their navies make them as mighty as ever. They are also pretty welcome to the believers in them. They have been making sure no one messes with their fleet while attempting to negotiate a deal with the NAU for part of Greenland for settlers.

Across the sea lay the reborn Aztec Empire (occasionally called Aztlan) has become a bloody and complicated place. The return of the Aztec pantheon led by Quetzacoatl signified the return of good days for Mexico. The crime from the drug lords and the massive divide between rich and poor was shattered easily when the true believers came and restored order to Mexico. With Mexico cleansed of it, the gods went to work. While sacrifices were no longer needed to maintain the cosmic balance, due to the reveal of the other pantheons, that same reveal has made them nervous and the sacrificing tributes now serve to empower to fight against their main rival and the occasional attack from across the sea. Massive mega-cities of Mesoamerican architecture decorate the land along with the pyramids. While the people of Aztlan had no real need to weaponized compared to the participants of the Pantheon Wars, they still have updated with the modern times. Aztec shamans have grown stronger and nahuatl roam the streets. The large issue is in whether to become more peaceful or to become more involved in the fighting. Beyond that, the people reverse-engineer whatever they can get from the black market of the NAU for new technologies. The various monsters tend to be captured and their DNA extracted to make human/monster hybrid super-soldier or monster-hybrid chimeras. There have also been investigations for any potential alien artifacts. Ever since the NAU and Brazil found theirs, Aztlan has been looking for anything. Besides the Aztecs, the various other tribes of Mesoamerica live under their rule. While the Mayans are the closest to them, others like the Mixtecas live well under them. Their deities can occasionally be seen with some thinking they may be alternate forms of the Aztec gods. Sacrifice and struggle was a daily part of life in Mexico add it was embraced. Plentiful harvests were brought by the right sacrifices. The slums turned into either rich fields for shamans or tall stone buildings. They often play the old and new sports while seeing strange visions through the use of peyote, mushrooms and cannabis, while chocolate has become a good commodity. A beautiful place filled with warm-hearted people. However, just be wary of the monsters that live in the wild and some of the maltampered deities like Tezcatlipoca. A lovely place when you go past the ritualistic sacrifice, usually drugged food and the casual manner of death.

Their main competitors to the Aztecs and their allies are the Incan Empire and their allies, the Guarani and Mapuche. With the return of the Incan gods, the Andean people quickly rose and began uniting people. Not comfortable with merely the mountains, they began to expand and country after country fell to them. Much like the Aztecs, there was a mass revival of the old ways while also incorporating the new technologies, though they steal theirs from Brazil. The Incans called on the belief of the Guarani and Mapuche and in exchange for their loyalties, they were granted their lands back as the old order was thrown off. By using the power of the apu, the spirits of the mountains, resistance was crushed. Human sacrifice was also the norm for the gods. Sun worship returned and was probably only matched by those of the Egyptians. Much of the land is powered by solar farms all over the sides, also functioning as huacas to the god Inti. Furthermore, fire and light based weapons were commonly seen here and implemented against their enemies. However, the Guarani mythology's Seven Legendary Monsters serve as the source for many and I mean many genetic experiments for creating bio-monsters against the Aztecs’ own army of strange being, though the gods themselves fight alongside humans against their rivals and any potential uprisings by would-be dictators. Some have compared the Incans to the Roman Empire of the West while Aztec Empire is the New World counterpart to the Germanic Alliance.

Further out is the mysterious Terra Australis. With the return of the Australian Aboriginal deities, the already pretty dangerous land of Australia became even more dangerous and is probably the strangest place in the entire world to be, except potentially Antarctica. The Dreamtime is a strange dangerous realm here that the people here interact with every day. It more or less hasn’t changed in terms of society, but the Dreamtime has absorbed much of the other cultures, especially pop culture, making the strange place even stranger. Few people truly know what goes on here, but the place is considered a place to go to if you have nowhere else or if one is looking for a different way to enlightenment. They do maintain some level of tech; namely environmental tech. The massive deserts of the heartland have become fertile and now settled while also providing a lot of solar power.

Speaking of lesser known deities, two powerful empires compete with one another while working together in the heartland of Africa. The Yoruba Republic has risen from its humble roots to become a powerful nation in its own right. They draw their power from the gods of Yoruba or as some know it by its related name, Vodou. By channeling the powers of the Orisha, they have risen to form a powerful nation in their own right to stop the expasion of the Kemetians. The powerful god of trickery and protector of travelers, he helped the people seek deeper into the arts needed to protect themselves from the desert folk and the other invaders. Grand ceremonies are provided and fortune is provided by these mysterious magical warriors. Very secretive of their trade, the arts they perform are kept mainly to themselves. Babalawo undergo intense and secret training to receive the magical arts. There’s a lot of mixed-race people here as many people fled here to try and escape the madness of the Pantheon War.

The Igbo Republic serves as the vitriolic best friend of the Yoruba Republic. Following the Odinani, these people are just as mysterious if not more so than the Yoruba. Following the Alusi, they provide reinforcements to their allies, but seem content in avoiding as much trouble with the Kemetians as possible. However, with the painful memories of coloinzation, the people could not help but grow their domain and ensure its protection from outsiders. The deities of these people often do a great deal of battling while life is a matter of survival. However, the enrichment of spirituality has given them inspiration. Furthermore, much like the Yoruba, many people from around the world, mainly Europe, fled here to escape the madness of their gods and settled here. The home field advantage meant they adapted to their culture. They also helped restore honor to them both.

With the rise of the pagan gods, the Muslims, the Christians and the Jews found themselves in an awkward position. As the lands around them fell, they turned to one another. What started as a desperate and teeth-clenched alliance ended up becoming a close and powerful union between the various lands, creating the Semitic Alliance.

The city-states of Judah and Israel stand with the Arabian Sultanate and Ethiopia. Taking advantage of their modern technologies, they fight back against Egypt, Arabia, the Romans and whoever else has their eyes on the Holy lands. However, with modern technology only able to do so much, both of them turned to their scriptures and apocrypha for anything that may help. Losing the Arc of the Covenant and the Ring of Solomon to the people of Canaan pissed the Jewish nation off, which led to the split into the Israel City-State and the Judah City-State. A large megapolis with several parks and wild parks, they are all connected together via train and so on, the two small nations stand against their former deities.  The Jews rediscovered their secret to making golems and modified them, making golems out of not just clay, but of molten and cooled stone, steel and even out of nuclear waste, which augmented their armory. They have also began researching the Kabbalah for anything they could use for their skirmishes. There is some strife within, namely in how to deal with the Canaanites and some have been refusing to accept their fault in it all.

The Muslims managed to keep their holy cities thanks to the Jews and they got a small nation left. Considering how worse things could’ve been, they’re not complaining. Like in Arabia, they also have their fair share of djinns and other mystic folk, though they follow the traditions as set. They had to be a bit more adaptive with what they could do, especially since most of their supernatural help comes from the djinn and the golems from their Jewish allies. Nonetheless, they are dedicated in protecting the holy cities in the name of Allah.  They have modernized a fair bit with a lot of the extremists dying in blood-shed leaving the reasonable ones in power. They have also become a lot closer to their Jewish neighbors.

The Christians fell apart due to the revelation of God and few branches survived. The largest surviving branch turned out to be Quakers, due to their interpretation. They were taken in by Ethiopia and their influence along with the remaining influence of Christianity led to the rise of the Aksumite Empire. A new form of Christianity, they are most influenced by the Quakers along with native beliefs. They also venerate the Queen of Sheba as a saint and they have been working with the Jews behind any secrets that King Solomon may have told her. Beyond that, they rely on blessed weapons and some of the old pagan secrets they may have had, but they’ve Christianized them as to bother their more pious members.

However, the other power force is the Humanist Alliance, who stand for the name of humanity, regardless of entity or human with them.  Leading them is the North American Union. After the resurrection of the pagan gods, it was total anarchy in North America as some of the more bitter Native Americans had vengeance toward their oppressors while also dealing with the world going mad. Of course, the loads of in-fighting meant they couldn’t stand against the US for long. With the return of the Gods and magic, certain fringe sciences returned. The President began a massive project to reverse-engineer all of the wreckage from UFOs, especially the Roswell wreckage as well as the rebirth of the psychic programs during the Cold War. This allowed them to create technology to match the Amerindian deities and the remnants of US, Canada and the new states merged to become the North American Union. In addition, with the massive baby boom amongst the tribes and revival of their culture, the United States forged a unity between the deities of each tribe such as the Inuit, Hawaiian and the spirits all around.

The NAU consists of large mega-cities surrounded by force-fields and connected via magnet trains and anti-gravity transportation in beautiful large greenlands and plenty of areas reclaimed by nature, as part of the pact between the spirits and the humans. Anti-gravity technology has allowed for the use of easier transportation. Nuclear fusion, hydrogen and more exotic forms of energy production power the NAU up and keep all the places running. The culture has changed, moving toward more a democratic socialist state with an emphasis on learning, spirituality and maintain order in the world. They are also the land of refugees once more as plenty of supernatural creatures apply for citizenship if they cannot bear the war or wish to see the world.  The military complex is still as strong as ever. Super-solider and ESPer programs allowed for powerful soldiers to defend the land from the malevolent deities. With the DNA of legendary creatures grafted onto them along with augmenting armor, they were able to keep at bay many of the newly unleashed monsters in the wilds of the states while psychics grow stronger. Other fields like alchemy are becoming popular as immigrants who escape their lands come here, with welcoming arms and ears listening for secrets of the other pantheons. They promote humanism while living in relative peace with the deities and living a pleasant existence. However, their tech means eventually everyone else will copy and or steal their innovations so they always have to keep inventing.

East of them lies New Japan. Much like the Middle Kingdom, New Japan received many rewards for the return of its yokai. Traditions have been followed more strictly than ever and the yokai are embraced into modern society with some heading to war to assist. Beyond that, the art of onmyodo has returned, allowing for the rise of the onmyoji in the war against the Middle Kingdom. Furthermore, they too have delved into qi and have discovered that yokai also possess it. As such, many troublesome yokai are sentenced to have their qi squeezed out of them. Advancing on the work the Huaxians have done and combining them with the research their Western allies have shared, advanced machines running on qi have been made. From powered armor allowing one to wield a myraid of abilities to the plans for building giant robots in the events of great disaster, such as the attack by the monsterous daidarabotchi. Onmyoji often cast powerful spells, enhanced by using the qi of yokai that have been concentrated into bottles and capsules. Unfortunately, some of the older unpleasant aspects of Japanese culture returned along with the mythos.  The importance of honor has not been stressed out more and several issues have arisen to the extent of how yokai should be treated and overall having installed a modern shogunate system. However, they still maintain their advantage toward technology and their cities are a mix of classic Japanese cyberpunk of cinema and ancient styles. Nonetheless, they remain devoted to the humanist cause and have become open toward outsiders, retaining their close bonds with the NAU and Brazil. Some of the more intelligent yokai often head over to the country to escape the chaos.

Much like the US, Brazil did not have much help from the heavens and suffered many losses of land and people. However, they too turned to UFO craftery. Recalling the Varginha UFO incident of 1996, they unfroze the corpses of the aliens and animals found and began reverse-engineering the technology. Eventually, there were able to fight back to a standstill. However, the country continously searches for something strong enough for a better chance. Meanwhile, they remain under problems such as the Encantado. Terrifying and unknown monsters lurk in the Amazon and the government has been getting their new divistion to be captured and see if their DNA can be grafted onto those of people to create supersoliders. They have a strong bond with Japan and the NAU, and some of the Japanese yokai go to Brazil. The newest member of the Humanist alliance is Greater Kolyma. The Russian Far East was claimed by plenty of American, Canadian, Japanese and even Brazilian emigrants. They ended up mixing with the natives to promote their culture and the result is a new nation. They have a young culture and there’s plenty of land left to conquer. Some have compared it to the new Wild West though with a lot more magic and it being pretty cold. New magics are being created here and even the obscure entities and deities here help out. The most well-known would be the Ainu people, who’s deities help represent the place and promote their culture.

The Pantheon War goes on and no power has gained an advantage. Research is done to make an ultimate weapon and the fusion of nuclear weapons and forbidden magic is being studied. The Humanist Alliance are making plans to head into space, sneaking machines to terraform Mars and Venus in the event it is needed. For the Semitic alliance though, their hope is coming. The Jews are aware of the year and that by next year... it will be the year 6000 of the Hebrew Calendar. The beginning of the Messianic Age. However, to some, this meant that a great and terrible battle will follow. The weapons are being forged, the bunkers have been prepared and the wind blows toward Megiddo. The Holy Selpulchure has been glowing brighter each passing day. Will Ragnarok come? Will the Messiah come? Or will something new arrive... the same unspeakable horrors that were the inspiration of those of Lovecraft or one of the internet religions like Xenu, the FSM, J.R. Bob Dobbs or whatever other strange things may exist in the aether. All the people can do now is prepare, pray and hope.