The Gods Are Dead

(Quick note, don't try and read this one on mobile. Sorry!)

An excerpt from Corvarus I, a popular stage play among the lower-class denizens of Corvarus City.

Hush now, human. I'm telling a story.

---

ACT III

Scene 2

SETTING:                      In the ruins of the old city, at the

                              edge of the Verdant Pit.

AT RISE:                      DUKE CORVARUS lies amid broken 

                              cobblestones, breathing heavily. His 

                              finery is torn and bloodied, and the 

                              stolen witch's sword rests out of 

                              reach. FATHER stalks toward him, 

                              black smoke pouring from his wounds.

FATHER

There, there, good duke. Rest now. All is as it should be.

CORVARUS

             (Crawling toward the sword)

No, as long as the old gods still hold the throne, nothing is--

             (FATHER extends a finger toward CORVARUS,

             who cries out as his arm bends backward 

             and breaks.)

FATHER

I and my pantheon will always rule this city. The witch is dead, and her spells are broken -- you can no more resist my magic than could any of the other so-called revolutionaries.

CORVARUS

             (Struggling to his feet and hefting the 

             sword awkwardly in his off-hand)

And what is left of the pantheon, Father? How many of your kind could stand against the tide of humanity? We will rise again, and we will keep fighting until none of you survive.

FATHER

Well aren't you just delightfully defiant. But I know you, Corvarus. You're no hero, whatever your companions might have thought. You wouldn't even join this fight until we had already taken everything from you. A miscalculation on the part of It That Covets, to be sure. But what does that say about you?

CORVARUS

It says I have nothing to lose.

FATHER

Yes, duke. And is that what a hero is? One who enters the fray only when he must? Your brother has been fighting from the beginning. He gave up his fortune, his family, and eventually his life to stand against us. What have you given?

CORVARUS

Dianne... My children...

FATHER

No. They were taken from you. You were unwilling to make the sacrifice until It That Covets made it for you. And duke, there isn't a thing wrong with that. Some of us just aren't cut out for legends.

CORVARUS

             (Circling around FATHER, away from the 

             Pit)

You're wrong. I took the sword. When everyone else what too scared or too good, I made the hard call and took the sword.

FATHER

And what did that get you? In the end, I'm still standing, and you're running out of blood to shed. Well I'll tell you what, Corvarus. I can give it all back. Calling a mortal back from the void is an easy feat to one such as myself.

CORVARUS

What?

FATHER

Yes. You could have your family again. I could give you your old seat on the council. Come, duke. Let us put an end to this foolishness.

             (FATHER extends an open hand to CORVARUS,

             who takes a few hesitant steps toward him, 

             sword dragging in the dust. Suddenly, 

             CORVARUS lunges forward, swinging wildly 

             with the sword. The blow fails to connect, 

             but FATHER steps backward, stumbling at the 

             lip of the Pit. CORVARUS drops the sword and 

             shoves his foe off balance, and for a moment 

             is holding FATHER over the edge with his 

             good hand.)

CORVARUS

No one gets to cheat death, Father. Not even gods live forever.

             (CORVARUS releases FATHER, who flails  

             into the pit.)

(BLACKOUT)

(END OF SCENE)

If the players ever meet a true god, it should seem like an utterly foreign being.

How it fits into a game

Dead gods are just oh-so good for a tabletop roleplaying game. It leaves  a lot of great questions that could lead to a lot of great adventures. Who or what killed them, and how? Is their killer still around? Are they worshiped or reviled, ruling the world or hiding from it?

Do people still worship the old gods? Was their fall a good thing or a bad thing? Could they be brought back? Do any of their servants still exist?

Here's what I would do (and might, eventually). Most people hate the old gods, though they are at this point a distant memory. But a select few, lead by one of the Stygian beings that still remain in the world, want to call them back from the Verdant Pit, where the divine corpses were flung at the end of the Immortal Age.

Somehow the players find out about this, but can't go to the authorities. They have to find a way to slay the Stygian (which is what I've just decided to call the angels of the old gods) and put an end to the threat. They might seek the hidden knowledge of the truth behind the legend of Emperor Corvarus I, perhaps by tracking down the enigmatic playwright behind Corvarus I. Or maybe they seek the tomb of the emperor to recover the witch's blade, which originally slew the divine patriarch.

Or maybe Corvarus I stopped aging after his final victory. What if he disappeared after half a millennium of rule, never to be seen again? Then the players could head into the wilderness, chasing rumors and legends to find him.

Or maybe the answers to those questions suggest an entirely different adventure. 

In any case, I'll won't advocate a lore handout to the players. They will rarely read it, and it's much more fun for this stuff to come up organically piece-by-piece in play anyway. 

Anything that's common knowledge can come up as a result of whatever skill checks your system of choice employs, anything that isn't common knowledge can be a reward for exploration by players who enjoy that sort of thing. The knowledge could even be the goal of a quest, if it's relevant enough.

If it's super important that the players know a key history fact, the GM can just tell them for free when it comes up, if it's common enough, or hint at it with some foreshadowing, if it isn't.

No, not quite human at all.