How a society believes in (and fears) a god or group of gods influences how that society develops. We offer a look at two of the Tolmiran pantheon's members--the detached and distant Arithaan, and the nebulous, nefarious Uulix.

ARITHAAN, AND THE ORIGINS OF TIME AND MAGIC: Before Fire and Water departed the world, Arithaan was the God of Knowledge. His interests were in uncovering the secrets of the cosmos left veiled even to the eyes of the Divine, for not even the gods were omniscient. This need to understand the unknown combined with his distaste for the company of the other gods led him to the very edge of creation, the outer boundary of the world. There he hoped to study the nature of the universe--and what might lie beyond it.

Now, it is important to understand that before the Sun and Moon began their chase across the sky, there was no time as we understand it. Things did not age, did not decay, did not change without the action of some outside influence. When the chase began, this all changed, and time ripped outward from the world like a wave.  The other gods were unable to react before time enveloped them, but Arithaan was different. Perched upon the edge of creation, he was able to sense the disturbance that was the origin of time, and ward himself against it, calling up an impenetrable barrier around his realm.

There he remained, for nothing could enter and nothing could leave so long as the barriers remained in place. As time went by on the outside and the other gods received no word from their lost brother, they assumed that he had been annihilated, smashed against the walls of creation by the great wave. From within his shell, Arithaan could not know the same had not happened to the rest of the cosmos. Unable to lower his protections without allowing the corrupting influence of time into his realm, and unable to contact the outside without lowering his protections, Arithaan became restless--and as the god of Knowledge his curiosity would not let him sit and wait forever. Unable to return to creation, he began to look in the other direction: To what lay beyond.

Hoping to find a solution to his dilemma, he broke a hole in the cosmos. The ensuing wave of energy nearly destroyed him, permeating his realm, passing through his protections and into the world beyond. It was only after he recovered that he realized what had happened; the energy had passed through his barriers without destroying them. He had found a way to reach the outside world. With effort, with study, with experimentation, Arithaan learned to manipulate that mysterious energy he had unleashed. He could use it to scry upon the world beyond-- to contact it-- and finally to affect it in a meaningful, tangible manner. He had unleashed magic on the world, and had learned to harness it.

Learning that civilization had arisen on the face of Rhyth, he eventually decided to exert his influence upon it. Unable to ply the fledgling races of the world with gifts or coerce them with his wrath as the other deities could, he found a new way to earn their favor.  In exchange for their devotion, he offered to teach them the secrets he had learned. It was thus that Arithaan trained the first wizards of the world.

In art and legend Arithaan is often depicted as a twisted old man or a youth on the cusp of manhood. Less often--usually in ancient texts and the religious art of Khalem Darr and the Elven Empire--he is portrayed as three figures standing side by side or in a line: the youth, an adult man, and the old man. His worshippers refer to him as the Prince of Eternity, while his detractors name him the Lord of Stagnation.

UULIX, GOD OF UNDEATH AND OUTCASTS: Shortly after the gods were brought into being they were gathered before Fire and Water and asked to select an area of influence, one aspect of the world over which they would have complete dominion. Thieron went first, choosing wisdom, followed by Catho the peacemaker, the healer Lahan, and on and on until all the youngling gods had chosen-- save one. Uulix was last in line, and by the time they got to him there was nothing left to choose-- all that Fire and Water had offered was already taken.

Uulix began to starve for lack of purpose, fading from existence entirely.  Twisted and embittered by the lack of concern the other gods paid him, his resolve hardened.  He would survive.  In his desperation to stay alive, he pulled together all the small parts of the world that no one had ever thought to claim, that no one had thought worth laying claim to--dozens, hundreds of minor patronages, so many that none remain who can guess at the true scope of his domain. But still it was not enough, still he withered away. He would need to lay claim to something of greater power.

So he stepped back and gazed upon creation, all that had been wrought both by his own creators and by his brother gods, for by now the Sun and Moon had left the world, and he laughed. For he saw what no one else had seen, what no one else had looked for-- the holes, the flaws, the places between and unintended consequences of the other gods' creation. These he took and gathered to himself.  Where Thieron had rule over the land of dreams, Uulix wrought nightmares. Where Oron had domain over death and Lahan over life and birth, Uulix saw the middle ground of undeath. And where Lathuz would have domain over the stars of the night sky, Uulix drew power from the dark places between them.

It is often said that each follower of Uulix seems to worship a different deity, a statement that isn't far from the truth. The worship of Uulix is divided amongst hundreds if not thousands of cults each devoted to a different aspect of the god. Casual observers most often associated Uulix with his darker aspects--undeath, nightmares, madness, and chaos--but his worshippers view him as god of change, outcasts, and the lost. These are only his most often acknowledged aspects--there are countless others. A common joke is that Uulix is the god of butterflies, because no one else thought to claim them.