A Treatise on Theros
A logical look at a plane where belief is tangible
by Morfaren Leafguiler
OOC Foreward
This book is an in-universe account from a Planeswalker named Morfaren Leafguiler. Most of the book is written as if by him, with the exception of blocks such as these. These blocks of text will be used to quickly summarize large sections that would otherwise be too dense to read/write.
I originally created this as a handout for one of my players, but anyone can use this for their campaigns. Please enjoy!
- DemonicOfAngels
Cover Source
Treatise
Summary of Content
Chapter 1: Introduction to Morfaren
Greetings noble Scholar! I am Morfaren Leafguiler, and I shall be your guide to the interesting plane of Theros. Before we begin, I would like to give my brief history. This is so that you may understand my perspective, and where my potential biases may lie. My early life shall be very brief, but I will become more detailed as it becomes relevant to the topic at hand. As is standard for such a book, this is not required reading. If you wish to just skip to the body of my work there is a handy table of contents just one page prior. This is my first examination of a plane, and Theros is most assuredly unique enough to warrant a much deeper analysis. Expect subsequent volumes to be published as I make more discoveries!
Early Life
I was born an a very unremarkable world, one whose name I shall keep secret for now. I spent my early youth playing with others of similar age, until I displayed an aptitude for the magical arts. I was then sent far away to a school for children gifted as I was. Before that time I had met no individuals from outside of my village, and I had a difficult time accepting that there were more than just Elves in the world. It was a very eye opening experience, one which was only rivaled by the ignition of my Spark. I spent a few decades there at the school, quickly ascending up in fame. I showed much talent in many fringe areas, and even helped to expand the field of magical clones and simulacrums. I was even the first (and as of the writing of this passage, only) one to create one of another person. Many of my peers urged me to take advantage of that talent, but I felt that was far beneath me. After all, the thing that was most important to me was gaining more knowledge.
Ignition of the Spark
Every Planeswalker's initial ignition is something they never forget, and mine was no different. While on an expedition into an unexplored dungeon, a younger student accidentally tripped a magical trap. I was able to push her out of the way, but I then became the target of the defenses. Even through the barrier I erected, the trap sought to crumple me into a small point. This trap was genius, and nullified all of the easy counters, leading to panic. As I battled back against this unrelenting force, I began to be overcome by a new feeling: despair. Until this point, I had never known such hardship, my talented nature meant life just worked out for me. Not this time. Nothing I did, none of my vast knowledge, none of my accumulated spells could save me. I began to lament at all the things left undone. All the ways I have yet to benefit the magical world. All the knowledge left unknown, and the power I had yet to attain. This overwhelming sadness welled within me, eroding unknown barriers and releasing my Spark from its prison. I ascended! I fell through the fabric of my world, through the void, and into a new realm. One I came to learn was called Innistrad. This world is vastly different from my home, and extremely disorienting. But, ever the adaptable one, I persevered.
Life as a Planeswalker
After spending a few days surviving in a town in Innistrad, I was discovered by another like myself. I, of course, stood out like a sore digit. He took me in, explained our nature, and instructed me in the ways of a Planeswalker. I went home, showed that I still live, and then took leave to pursue this new avenue of power. I spent the next few years with this Planeswalker, exploring, learning about my abilities, and reveling in the sheer volume of unknown information. THIS had to be my calling. I could feel my burgeoning power expand with each new insight. Eventually I grew beyond his tutelage, and settled down once more, this time here on Archavios. I enrolled in Strixhaven, and sought more knowledge about magic in general.
Discovering Theros
I spent much time meditating. Most of that was attempting to comprehend the Blind Eternities- that non-realm between all planes. To this day I feel I don't have a great grasp on even a fraction of it. It was during one of these ventures, I discovered cracks in what appeared to be a planar barrier. I gently slipped into the opening, and found myself on a truly unique world. It was here that I found one of the first teachings from my Planeswalker mentor to be a great boon. This world is ruled over by immensely powerful Gods, and the mental defenses instilled in me prevented my detection. I was able to freely walk the plane without the deities taking notice of my foreign influence. As I found out later, the God Kruphix is purported to know all that the mortals know, so I would have truly been in danger. I even learned how to install these defenses in my clones and simulacrums. One can't be too careful when treading where Gods do.
Chapter 2: Introduction to Theros
As I have repeatedly mentioned, Theros is a unique plane in the Multiverse. It is my goal here to enlighten you to my reasoning by explaining its layout, its history as I understand it, the makeup of the fabric of the plane, and discussing various theories I have created. At the end of my book, you will see how truly unique this place is, and why its good that it isn't frequently traveled.
The Worlds Within the World
It took me years, but I eventually traveled the entire plane. Such a feat wouldn't be possible on any other world. Most planes seem to be either nearly infinite, or massive beyond what one person can traverse. Theros, on the other hand, is quite finite. Don't get my words twisted, it still is quite large. While being large, there are semi-precise borders within it. These borders divide Theros into three separate worlds, all joined together to form its unique whole. The Gods are the only beings able to access the whole, but not for my Planeswalking ability.
The Mortal Realm
All of the mortals of Theros live in the center world. This place is an almost perfect circle. It has one large continent, with a large island chain and a large ocean. All of this is ringed by a massive river that coils down to the underworld. The continent has pretty much all features you'd expect a world to have, from vast fields and forests to looming mountains. The largest mountain has a temple at the top called Nykthos, and is where the mortal world touches that of the Gods.
The Underworld
This is the afterlife of Theros. All mortals that die end up here, regardless of actions or belief. The underworld is further divided up into numerous mini-afterlife realms, but these are too many to name. The underworld is extremely dangerous, and I could not fully explore it. Its populated my indescribable horrors, monsters, and the dead. Two Gods also claim full-time residence here. Erebos, the God of the Underworld and Klothys, Goddess of Destiny. The river that circles the world is what brings the souls of the dead to their final rest, and the God Athreos guides those travelers.
Nyx
The realm of the Gods. This realm can be seen from the mortal world, and appears as the sky at night. With the setting of the plane's sun, the fabric of Nyx becomes visible, and the constellations of the Gods dance across the sky. This is a nebulous realm, not easily traversed by mortals. It is ever-shifting, and difficult to comprehend. Its populated by pockets devoted to each of the Gods not in the Underworld (twelve in all). I spent much time in quiet contemplation to understand how this realm functions.
The Gods
There are fifteen in total, five main Gods, eight lesser Gods, and two elder Gods. Heliod, God of the Sun is the head of the pantheon. The other four main deities are Thassa, Goddess of the sea; Erebos, God of the Underworld; Purphoros, God of the Forge; and Nylea, Goddess of the Hunt. The eight lesser Gods are Athreos, God of Passage; Ephara, Goddess of the Polis; Iroas, God of Victory; Karametra, Goddess of Harvests; Keranos, God of Storms; Mogis, God of Slaughter; Pharika, Goddess of Affliction; and Phenax, God of Deception. The two elder Gods are Klothys, Goddess of Destiny and Kruphix, God of the Horizon.
Summary of the Planar Layout
As you can see, dear scholar, the layout of the plane is quite unique. One need not even be a Planeswalker to see that. With three separate, yet interconnected worlds wrapped up into one, I have stumbled upon a true oddity. Its marvelous that the Gods can stride the realms more easily than I can walk the planes. I see many parallels between them and myself. Another aspect that I find fascinating, is that the mortals only have a passing knowledge of this. They know Nyx as the heavens above, where the Gods dwell, and the underworld as their final resting place, but that's mostly it. Their world is so dangerous that they can't afford such exploration. I also posit that its in the Gods' best interest to keep the mortals somewhat ignorant of the full scale of the plane. Ignorance keeps people easier to control after all.
Plane Diagram
Figure 1 - A: Nyx, B: Mount Carian and Nykthos, C: Mortal Realm, D: Tartyx River ring, E: Tartyx River spiral, F: Mortal-underworld connection, G: Underworld
While all three of the realms share physical connections, it is clear that the three are dimensionally separated. Perhaps the physical contact is what tethers them together.
Figure 2 - This shows the bridge between the mortal realm and Nyx. The tallest Therosian mountain, Mount Carian, holds a shrine to all Gods. This shrine can act as a gateway to Nyx. Under normal circumstances one must be allowed entry into the divine realm, where the entrant finds themselves in a mirrored shrine on the other side.
Figure 3 - This shows a rudimentary diagram of the complexity of the Tartyx River, also just known as Tartyx by the natives. Tartyx is the only body of water NOT ruled over by Thassa, and is the sole domain of Athreos. This river, defying normal logic, floats off of the edge of the world. The edge of Theros's ocean just falls off into the void. This river spirals downwards in two locations, with both trails meeting once more before the entrance to the underworld. Tartyx is also a river not meant for living beings, as it strips them of their memories if contact is made.
Figure 4 - This shows the physical connection Theros has to its underworld. Interestingly enough, falling off of Theros's edge will never land you in the underworld. You would just fall into a never ending void, where you would eventually die and wake up in the underworld. This shows that the underworld is dimensionally separated, yet still maintains a few physical connecions.
Chapter 3: Theros's History
Time seems to work differently on Theros, and as a result history can become very confused with legend (but as we'll see later, this matters little). I did glean some apparent truths about the past from my travels, and I believe you'll find it to be most interesting. At the very least, you'll be entertained. After all, its not often you encounter creation "myths" that turn out to be true!
The Beginning
No one can agree on a true beginning for the plane. It just WAS as far as anyone is concerned. Most seem to believe there was a great void, and then the Gods birthed it into being. However, other parts of the plane's history directly contradicts this so I believe this to either be a folk tale or Godly propaganda. I do believe that the Gods Kruphix and Klothys originated here. Their spheres of Mystery and Destiny (respectively) would have begun here, thus the designation of Elder Gods.
The Age of Titans
The mortals of early Theros had a very difficult go at life. Little to no godly support, and ten colossal titans walked the lands. These beings were indescribably powerful, and even more so destructive. These giants seemed to be manifestations of primal forces. The only two I could find concrete evidence for were Uro, Nature's Wrath and Kroxa, Death's Hunger. These entities were ultimately defeated once the pantheon of Gods fully formed, and bound in the underworld. Klothys became the seal that held them in place.
The Age of Trax
Some time after the Titans were sealed, the Archons rose to power. They used the mortals as slaves, and ruled with a mighty fist. The most powerful of them being Agnomakhos. He rode into battle on his winged bull, and had no equal in the mortal realm. Eventually Ephara, Goddess of the Polis rose to power, and helped the mortals overthrow their overlords. The mortals then formed three Polis, or city states. These divided up the continent and led the people of Theros into the prosperous age they currently find themselves in.
The Age of Heroes
This is an ill-defined time in Theros. This era is where all of the named heroes of myth and legend come from. All mortal wars also fall within this time frame. The most notable war was the Akroan war. This long siege of the Polis of Akros was due (as silly as it sounds) to the queen of Olantin (a destroyed Polis) abandoning her husband to live with the Akroan king.
Summary of Theros's History
It all sounds like myth, but I assure you, these are the apparent facts. There are, of course, varying accounts, but these are the stories that have the most evidence. I know the titans to be real, for I have seen their prison; The Goddess Klothys resting upon it. I know the Archons' civilization to have been real, I have seen their ruins and found Agnomakhos himself. And, from what I know of mortals, the Akroan War's origin seems too plausible to have been fabricated. You can see that the more I uncovered, the more I fell in love with this strange and dramatic world.
Chapter 4: The Fabric of Belief
We finally arrive at what I consider to be the most fascinating part of Theros. I spent literal years studying this facet. To ease my stay I even magically created a mansion for myself, one safe from all prying eyes. I did my research in every realm. I spoke with many mortals, and watched all of the Gods. I experimented on everything I could. I firmly believe my discovery to be the Gods honest fact that Theros is built from. That fact is that faith has a physical presence in this world. This isn't metaphor. The real is made manifest from enough belief in the unreal.
The Origin of the Titans
The titans were manifestations of mortal fear. The fear of natural disasters birthed Uro, and the fear of death birthed Kroxa. Each of these titans came from some aspect of the infant Theros that seemed so scary to the uneducated masses. It wasn't until the mortals began to understand these things that the titans weakened, and the Gods rose up to end their reign.
The Birth of the Gods
Mortals began to believe in the world held benevolent power. Belief in the mystery beyond the horizon birthed Kruphix and that everything having a proper birthed Klothys. Then when they began to understand the base forces around them, the sun (Heliod), the water (Thassa), the wilds (Nylea), and fire (Purphoros) the five main Gods took shape (Erbos was born when people saw Heliod's light cast the first shadow). Most of the remaining Gods were birthed from the collective belief in something, or a dire need.
The Origin of the Archons
Freshly freed from their horrible fate with the titans, the mortals felt the world to be too chaotic. The Archons took shape from the mortal need for order. These beings were powerful, and with their winged mounts, could enact justice across the land. The main issue here was that they were too strict. People's need for a democratic civilization gave birth to their savior: Ephara.
Gods Shaped by Belief
Major examples of Gods being changed over time by belief exists. There was once but one God of war, who's name is lost to time. The divisive belief in the separate aspects of war let the God to be split in two, birthing Mogis and Iroas. Another God, Phenax, was once mortal. I'm not sure the method that he used, but he escaped the underworld (the first to do so) and somehow ascended to Godhood. Mortals now quite frequently escape the underworld, and I have been trying to get one to bring be the secrets on how that is done.
Summary of Belief in Theros
As wild as it sounds, I know it to be true. I have seen it first hand. Perhaps my status as an outsider gives me the perspective necessary to observe this truth. The evidence for this is that NONE of the inhabitants are aware of this fact. I doubt that the Gods are even aware of this. They seem to understand that more faith is more power, but they don't realize how much power the mortals could have over them. Such a realization would undoubtedly devastate the pantheon. Mortals would never be the same when they realize they could create or destroy anything. The main issue there is that it seems to take a lot of people believing the same thing to make it happen. There is likely some sort of faith-tipping-point. Build enough momentum of faith and anything is possible. There are multi-layered planes, planes with myths and legends, and even planes with other Gods, but none can say that belief has tangible power.
Chapter 5: Therosian Theorycrafting
Finally! We come to my favorite part! I labored the better part of a decade to reach this point. I have come up with multiple ways in which one could manipulate the faith system on Theros. This is all for science, and the advancement of magic as a whole. Under no uncertain terms should anyone attempt these methods without dedicating their lives to memorizing every possible outcome. This is a world populated with various minds, each having their own thoughts and goals. One decision not being fully thought out could be devastating for the people and the user. All of this being said, I do plan on testing one or more of my theories. What is a theory without an experiment? Just a thought. Science needs more than just thoughts to progress. Worry not, noble scholars, I have thought out my plans thoroughly. There is no outcome that I haven't forseen.
!WARNING!
The metaphysical nature of Theros's Gods leaves but one conclusion: if you become a God, there is no going back. You become a part of the fabric of Nyx, and are therefore subject to the whims of everyone on the plane. Therefore, if a Planeswalker were to ascend, then their Spark is forfeit. The wonders of the Multiverse are no longer theirs to behold. This should not be taken lightly. As a God, you may be immortal, but can you spend eternity in one place while knowing the infinite exists just beyond your grasp? I know I could not. It would be best to have a friend ascend in your stead. Being close friends with a deity must be the next best thing to actually being one.
Theory 1: Amassed Belief in an Individual
For someone as long-lived as an Elf, it would be fairly simple to manipulate world events and draw focus to one person. If enough time is spent embedding this person in the collective consciousness of the world then what people believe about that person will be magnified. A perfect example is Phenax. A dead mortal, came back as the first Returned (escapees from the underworld), then ascends to Godhood. How could this happen? Lets examine the spheres Phenax controls:
- Corruption
- Gambling
- Criminal Activity
- The Returned
- Subtlety
- Manipulation
- Subversion
- Temptation
Logically speaking, what must have happened was the people seeing Phenax return and saw this as the greatest theft of all. Before this time, no mortal had ever escaped the underworld. It was inconceivable. This mortal stole his life back from Erebos himself, and the people saw and believed. This belief elevated Phenax to a God of Rogues and Undead. It matters not what beliefs he held before, THIS is Phenax now and he has always been in the eyes of the people. Using a method such as this is imprecise. One must account for ALL of the belief of the people. Enough people believing a rogue thought about the individual will alter the new God's thoughts and perspective in unforeseen ways. It would be best to cultivate this individual to the strictest degree. The people must be unified in the way they view them.
Another factor to consider is the pantheon. You shouldn't attempt to steal a sphere of influence away from another deity. They would assuredly be aware of this, and take up defense. It would be best to find something not truly under the domain of a God and pursue that. Even if you're not encroaching on the domain of a deity directly, the Gods would surely object to a mortal deliberately attempting to become one of them. This would, after all, undermine the pantheon and show how small they truly are. Discretion is advised.
It would probably be more logical to gather belief in an ideal. Enough belief in that ideal will manifest a deity around it. The same principles would apply to its creation, and it would ensure that no individual would be a target for divine wrath.
Theory 2: Harnessing Belief as a Magical Force
Since belief is a tangible force, one could probably find a way to harness that belief in a similar manner as drawing upon mana leylines. This would take considerable study and practice, but a focused mind can feel the swelling of belief in the same way that magic manifests. Its difficult to explain plainly, but it can definitely be felt. It even has a different texture from mana and raw aether.
Lets try a thought experiment. Hypothetically you find yourself with a large number of loyal followers. You organize your followers to repeat a ceremony dedicated to celebrating the rising of the moon every night as the moon rises. They follow through faithfully and do this ceremony every night, and truly believe in it. You can gather up this faith each night and store it away. Eventually you will have amassed enough faith to enact something massive. You could have power on par with that of pre mending Planeswalkers! You might be able to create a second moon, or make night last longer. You could even use this power to turn yourself or another into a Therosian God of the Moon. I only picked the moon as an example because none of the current deities embody that ideal. In this way, you can craft a unique spell using this as fuel.
This, of course isn't without risks. Deities would surely take notice and try to stop you. In our example, Heliod would definitely show up to stop you. Anything strengthening the moon would be seen as a direct attack on his domain of daylight. This is a factor that's even more difficult to account for than not stealing a domain. You have to make sure that whatever domain you empower doesn't interfere with one or more of a God's spheres. Since there are fifteen Gods, each with one to five spheres... it would take a great mind to comprehend them all. One solution would be to ally yourself with one or more Gods. Pick a related domain and work to empower that domain while worshiping your protector deity. Hopefully the God would support you empowering the domain, and may even help. They would protect you from other Gods while you work. The intricate part of the ploy would be using the faith to your own ends instead of empowering your patron. This especially rings true if you plan to ascend. Hopefully you thought it through well enough to account for the various factors in play. The best case is if that deity supports your ascension since you would be more support for their cause.
Here we arrive at the next sticking point: the formula. As I stated, faith-based magic is SIMILAR to mana-based. This modified spell casting needs an alternate framework for your spell. Such differences necessitates a vast and deep understanding of how magic works. The caster would also have to be very skilled, and have a great endurance to handle the flow of powerful magic. It would probably feel like being at the center of a maelstrom comprised of voices and raw energy. Below this passage I have notated what I believe to be an adequate formula to use when harvesting faith on a small scale. Again, this should not be attempted by some rank amateur.
Magical Formula and Graffiti
The remainder of this page has a very complex magical diagram. It is very carefully designed, and extremely intricate. There are many notes and mathematical formulas organized around the diagram.
In the margins in red, there is a note written in a messy script: "He's kinda right here. I've traveled around and learned from many people of the multiverse. The pompous elf has some errors in his math. With these changes, it'll work regardless of scale. I will prove it. -X"
There are several alterations made to the diagram in the same script.
Theory 3: Removing Belief and the Ramifications
Since all of my previous points hit on creations, lets take a detour and learn about the possibility of doing the opposite. Logically speaking things that are made can be unmade, and I theorize that on Theros that even means Gods. What are the Gods but ideas and concepts given a quasi-physical form by magic unique to Theros. It is a similar concept to using illusion magic, but more tangible. More personal agency. What happens if the faith just vanishes? We have seen this is "recent" times. One legend says that Heliod, in an attempt to weaken Thassa, sank an entire island known as Arixmethes. There was supposedly a grand empire dedicated completely to Thassa. There were none of the customary temples to all Gods, making this a very strategic attack on Heliod's part. I did find an island that once held a grand civilization, now ruined and had clearly been under water. Thassa must have brought the island back, hoping her followers would return.
But I digress.
This shows that even the Gods are aware of this fact, even if it might only be on a subconscious level. I have one last piece of evidence if this was not convincing enough. I found a few artifacts, which now lie in my personal collection, that make reference to a God of Love. This God must have existed a long time ago, as there are no other memories of it anywhere else in the plane. The sphere of love seems to now fall partially under three other deities. Heliod seems to preside over the bonds of matrimony and the oath that lovers take to be together, Klothys seems to govern the bonding of souls and the results of intercourse, and Purphoros handles the passion and drive. My theory here is that people became distanced from love as a singular concept, and over time saw individual facets of love in other Gods. This led to the love God fading from everyone's minds and Nyx. These artifacts I have uncovered are the only bits holding on, and eventually they too will fade. The God of Love would never have existed at all.
Can this be manipulated? Absolutely. There are a few methods that I can think of to accomplish this.
- The first being an out-right attack on the believers. One would only have to remove the believers to remove the belief. This can be done with either physical of magical means. The former being obvious, just kill all of the believers (highly unethical by anyone's standards). The latter being much more subtle in approach. Over time, one adept in mental magic could alter the way all of the believers believe enough to change or remove something from the collective conscious. Every deity aware of either of those actions would most assuredly attempt to stop the perpetrator.
- The second method is to, as I have stressed throughout my book, with time and patience. Slowly work over time to alter the way the believers think and you will change the God. Theoretically even removing the God from Nyx or weakening them enough to wrest control of their sphere away. This is no easy task, and even on the grandest timescale unreasonable. I have patience, but not THAT much. Especially since the Gods are an active part of life on Theros, and as consistently endeavoring to perpetuate and expand their existence. They never rest on their laurels, and you would forever have a counter-force to your goal.
- The third, and probably impossible method, would be to become so familiar with the structure of Nyx that you can manipulate it as easily as I can breathe. If one could manage this tremendous feat, then they could just do whatever they wanted on Theros. This person would be above even the Gods. This would take someone with mastery well beyond anything anyone has ever achieved before, so it is probably just an idea that will never be possible.
I do believe this to be possible, even though I have a negative outlook on enacting such an experiment. Maybe something akin to this will happen naturally, and it will confirm my suspicion. As it stands right now, this is just a theory. A thought that shall never be put to the test.
Spheres of the Gods
Now that we have a general idea on how to become a God, let us discuss area to stay away from when deciding on what sort of God to create. As mentioned in my previous theories, you can always co-opt a sphere that is already claimed by serving a deity. This has its own set of challenges and is beyond the scope of my current research. Maybe one day I'll return to that thought and experiment with it. Another way (a considerably difficult, yet fun, one) is to understand what each God represents and find the gaps. I have spent a great deal of time contemplating each deity in turn, and believe that I have done a sufficient job collating their spheres of influence.
Major Gods
Heliod: Light, sun, oaths, bonds, marriage, family, law, morality, honor
Thassa: Oceans, rivers, sea life (especially monsters), tides, ancient knowledge, long-term change, introspection, voyaging, repetitive patterns, the eternal cycle of seasons
Erebos: Underworld, death, fear of death, entropy, darkness, shadows
Purphoros: The forge, creation, fire, creativity, useful chaos, passion, romance, metallurgy, new ideas, cycles
Nylea: Hunting, untamed nature, seasons, predation, archery, metamorphosis, birth
Elder Gods
Klothys: Destiny, cosmic truth, secrets best kept quiet, powers best untouched
Kruphix: Mystery, the horizon, knowledge, time, divine order, divine balance, mediation
Lesser Gods
Athreos: Tartyx River, passage, borders, boundaries, déjà vu, that which is “neither” (things that are between states or defy description)
Ephara: Polis, daytime, community, civilization, scholarship, art (especially poetry, sculpture, and architecture), civic wisdom and justice
Iroas: Glory, victory, honorable combat, physical competition, courage, training, discipline
Karametra: Nature's role in mortal life, domestication, fertility, children, female empowerment
Keranos: Storms, wisdom, unhindered insight, puzzles, artistic inspiration, science
Mogis: Sadism, destruction, slaughter, cruelty, malice, violence, the utter humiliation of the vanquished
Pharika: The duality of life and death, toxins, venom, poisons, diseases, the ravages of time, medicine, alchemy
Phenax: Subtlety, manipulation, subversion, corruption, temptation, gambling, criminal activity, the Returned
Please keep in mind that this list is probably not complete, and given the fluctuating nature of mortal belief, these spheres are likely to shift over time. As one could expect, most aspect to daily life is represented by a God. A fascinating thing to take note of is how specific it can get. Three (possibly up to five) Gods cover some aspect of time. Kruphix handles time in general, while Thassa handles time as it pertains to patterns and long-term change, Pharika covers how time erodes all things, while Erebos perhaps works with the end of all things and Klothys is probably in control of how destiny works with time. They all overlook aspects of time, yet do not really overlap. This goes to show how nuanced belief can get. A well-educated scholar such as yourself can surely see the challenges here. With some creative thought one can fine hyper-specific areas not obviously covered by a preexisting deity. The problem lies in, what if they God does preside over it and it just wasn't readily visible or your interpretation is off. Lots of contemplation and observation is my only advice.
So now you think you have a decent grasp on what IS, now you want to figure out what COULD be. Here are some areas that I feel lack divine coverage. As a reminder, this isn't a complete list, as one of this nature would be nigh impossible (even for one such as myself) to complete.
- Heroism
- Protecting others
- Jubilation
- Celebration
- Hedonism
- Polyamory (unless covered by Purphoros)
- Nightmares
- Dreams
- Poverty
- Wealth
- Cities (unless covered by Ephara)
- Freedom (unless covered by Purphoros)
- Slavery
- Depression
- Addiction
- Alcohol (unless covered by Karametra)
You're probably wondering about a very obvious concept missing from my list, like love. Interestingly enough, I have found some minor references to a God of love existing a very long time ago. My best guess as to what happened is that other Gods started embodying aspects of love, and they got absorbed into them. Klothys governs destiny and therefore soulmates, Heliod has control over the vows of marriage, and Purphoros rules romance and passion. Take this as a warning that your spheres can get absorbed by others if they're too close.
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Dear Scholars, we now arrive at the end of our adventure together. Fear not, I shall publish more works on my future findings. Hopefully I have enlightened you all in some way or another.
We have traveled through my career, and learned about my humble beginnings. Hopefully you have gained an understanding of my headspace, and my volume of knowledge that permits me to speak with such authority on this topic. I led you through an expedition all across the various domains of Theros. There, you got a grasp on the interesting geography, and how it impacts the functionality of the plane as a whole. You bore witness to the summation of Theros's exotic history; all of which leads to a comprehension on how all forces at play brought us where we are. I regaled you with how the metaphysics of the plane weave Theros into a tapestry of idiosyncrasies. I do hope that you were able to grasp how truly wondrous and consequential this revelation is. Of course, there is also the climax of my Treatise on Theros, my theories. I do realize how advanced those concepts are, so please take your time and reread them as needed. Those theories sum up my life's work thus far, and I'm hoping the magical community as a whole benefits from this boon.
As a reminder, it would be ill-advised for anyone to attempt to experiment with my theories without a lifetime of research. This is why I put the warning BEFORE the theories. Take heed of my advice, and take solace in the fact that I plan on conducting experiments myself. I am not so arrogant to believe my theories to be without fault. I expect to fail and falter, but I do this not just for myself, but for all of you. The magic community as a whole. The more we learn about our grand Multiverse, the more everyone benefits. So if you read this book before I publish my other works, do not worry. As I am very long lived, I have a grand amount of patience that I will use to see my experiments through. It will be done to the best of my ability, and if you are still alive to read it you will be all the wiser for it.
CREDITS
Thanks to everyone that has helped me forge this document.
My friends that helped to proofread.
WotC for creating a world so ripe for speculation.
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