The God of Man

The first God of Man was Zavan Riva, who later passed on his divinity to the current God King, Jakub Kladivo. Preferring to be addressed by his first name along, Zavan's origin is a murky one. Not much is known about his life before his ascension. When asked about it he would simply deflect the question, preferring to focus on his time as a God. The general consensus would seem that he was a farmer of little reknown before becoming a God.

No one, apparently including Zavan himself, knows why he ascended to godhood. When the one millionth human was born in Ani, divinity was granted through unknown means to Zavan as we was working in his field. With no spouse or children to hamper his progress, Zavan immediately arrived at Ani in full golden armor and declared himself king. Awed by the absolute power a mortal man now wielded, the citizens quickly agreed to the change in leadership. Working at the speed of a mortal man, at least relative to the eons the gods lived through, Zavan made quick work of raising the towering walls of the city. The Tear of Ceto, a gift from the eponymous God, fed enchanted water to the entire city. Humanity prospered under the God of Man's rule, though those living on the mainland feared the discord an empowered mortal would bring.

When done securing Ani, the God of Man set out to end the Hundred Years War. Zavan led a cadre of skilled men into Velend. After convincing the then ruler of the country to grant him the naval supperiority he needed, he entreated the arcane scholars of Baletier to provide the magical support he needed to rout the dwarves back to the mountains of Thol Moldir. Emboldened by an archon of human progress, the nations of Esai banded together and halted the dwarven war machine. The duergar fled from Zavan's divine might and the world was finally at peace. It was at the end of this war, that Zavan met the God who would come to be known as his lover, Mordukai(God of Death).

Little is known about the nature of the relationship between Zavan and Mordukai. They're trysts would never occur on the mortal plane. Instead they most often met in the carefully hidden Plane of the Moon, where Ius would shade them from the harsh inquisitive glare of his brother, the Sun. Indeed it may have been only Ius who knew of their relationship before Death came to defend his lover when Sifor attacked. Their bond was a complex and unique one, but the love the two shared was indisputable. As the Hundred Years War came to a close, it would have appeared their love would be eternal. At least, until Sifor set his eyes on the kingdom of Ani, and the newly empowered God of Man who ruled it.

Sifor, the God of the Sun, had grown jealous and spiteful of humanity's turn from the gods inward towards their own progress. He saw Zavan as the focused totality of this hatred and set out with a cadre of other gods to once again claim their place in mortal's worship. The Choir of Radiance, Sifor's angelic army, descended upon Ani, killing many of its inhabitants in minutes. Seeing the destruction caused by this, Zavan entreated Cenos(God of Speed) to tell the gods of this attack, as Ceto and Mordukai were already rushing to his defense. It was only in this divine confluence that Zavan realized the true magnitude of the confllict that was unfolding, and set to work protecting his city. Gathering the water flowing through the canals, he assembled a dome to shield the city from Sifor's rays. While much of the world would be affected as a side effect of Sifor's attack, the city would be safe. Fighting back to back with his lover Death, Zavan's greatsword dealt several devastating blows to Sifor, though he took many hits himself. Standing on the walls of the city, near death, Zavan thought of his subjects, and as Death and the Sun dealt the killing blow to each other, Zavan willed his divinity into his weapons and armor and sent them out to find the most worthy man in Esai. This duty would quickly be bestowed upon the current God King of Ani, Jakub Cladivo.