Djall
Djall is an ancient god. One of the first. Humans know very little about the god, as he largely reigned at
the beginning of the universe, long before the written word. Humans have delineated bits and pieces
about the god from archaeology and the study of linguistics. His (her?) story lives on in the lesser and later
gods that arose in his place.
He is known to have arisen into the collective consciousness of the first humans to roam Kara-Tur, as they began to realize that there is more to the universe than what they could see. That there was plenty more to be afraid of. First, he was their God of the Unknown, the most basic, visceral fear. True fear that is then parsed out to more concrete conspirators, such as lack of food, raging waters, fierce beasts and, of course, death and the afterlife. As human religions, philosophy and culture “grew up” and gained in complexity, Djall took a more precise form in the minds of humans. He was male, malevolent and the father of death, afterlife and dark energy. The first antagonist. The primeval opponent. The father of the Giants in northern mythologies, Titans in Talathesian pantheons. The quiet, uninvolved, brooding master of all things dark. Coincidentally, this is the closest that humans came to the true nature of Djall.
As time went on, the “second generation” gods gave way to the much more refined beings that were needed to attend to the complex societies of humans developing on the common plane. Djall faded into the backround. Dissipating into the night to ignore the insignificant webs of human consciousness, and slumber until he would again arise when needed to lead the forces of darkness. But, demon memories travel much further back in time and can give us a clear picture of the first lord of evil. The personification of chaos, the void. The demonic histories can almost be called diaries as many of the writers of these histories were eye-witnesses and co-conspirators. However, their reports, by nature, are dubious, self-serving and should always be considered to be heavily biased. If one were to visit many different demon ”schools of thought” (a perilous endeavor, to be sure), one could conceivably piece together a reasonably accurate and highly detailed picture of all time. What we can glean from various demonic reportings, about Djall, are similar to what those clever humans came up with.
As the universe came into being, and the various energies and matter swirled around haphazardly, positive and negative split apart and began coalescing. Djall is the later name of the general mass of negative energy at the beginning. The very base of all that is dark and evil in the universe(s). A formless, at first conscious-less, cloud of evil. Chaos, the Void.
As time went on, the first deities were created out of the ether and energies. Djall took a form, a consciousness and a name. Then began creating the first evil gods and armies of demons to carry out his will. He is the first and only adversary, taking on many names and titles: Satan, Ba’al, Shaitan, Shadow King, Kali, etc. Djall was more involved in human affairs than was thought by humans themselves. However, as time went on his interference did wane, as the complexities of demon, angel and human histories intertwined. He receded into the backround and tended to his universal framework of negative energy.
Of late, several lesser demon lords have endeavored to upend the existing demon hierarchy by reviving Djall, bringing him to the fore and gaining control not only of the hellish planes but the planes of reality and good, as well. Ambitious, and likely doomed to failure, even if they can woo Djall to their side. There must always be balance. This cadre, the Covenant of Djall, is particularly evil, but highly organized with specific goals. Making them the bizarro lawful evil beings attempting the control of the personification of chaotic evil.
To help them forward their nefarious desires on the planes of reality, they have devised a covenant of lich-kings and lich-wizards. Besides creating and maintaining conduits between the planes, these nearly godlike undead mages have been instrumental in carrying out the Covenant’s will and building armies of the undead to sweep across the lands and worlds of the living when Djall returns to rule the universe. The Covenant is, by no means, a singular entity. Many of its leaders, in the real world and in the nether world, are enemies. To date, many of the wars have been undead vs undead. And woe to the living that have been innocent bystanders. The hope is that Djall will have the charisma to hold these disparate parts together.