Divine Ascendancy

During the creation of the other races of the world of Aspenta, the angels had retreated to their own palaces and cities. They spent most of their time contemplating and amusing the deities. Some spent time with the dragons, learning about the Weave that had created them. They sought answers to divine questions concerning the existence of life and the meaning itself. Those that amused the deities were happy to do so and yet were annoyed with the fact that they had to spend time with the deities, time that they could spend on answering divine questions. Those that entertained the deities started to discuss their contemplation with their creators. The deities were annoyed since they didn�t have any answers and only wanted to be entertained. They avoided the questions and contemplations and the angels were left empty handed. Then a time came where the angels were forced into the earth again. The Grey Dwarves were the first sign of true evil in the world and the angels feared the worse. They stopped contemplating and asking questions to the stars. They left their cities to take care of the immediate issues at hand. They ventured into the mines where Moradin had first laid eyes upon the gems that had given them the ability to infuse the dwarves with life. Here they relieved the Grey Dwarves of their dwarf heritage and changed them to Duergars.

Once this was done, most of them returned to their former occupation. A few remained with Moradin in the mines of the world. Moradin had come to the conclusion that the mines were the only safe haven from the deities, the only quiet place where they could avoid entertaining the gods. Most of the angels enjoyed spending time with their creators and believed that one day they would give them the answers they sought. The few that remained in the mines not only contemplated but also researched the powers of the gems. These angels became known as the Moradinsamman, the followers of Moradin. As they encountered dwarves, they gained power through mortal worship.

As the first religion of the world spread, the sundered dwarves and the Gully started to envy their brethrens. They sought their own religion on the surface and spread the stories of the angels to the elves and the halflings. Together they found their way to the cities of the angels and found them in contemplation and asking divine questions to the stars. The surface races devoted their worship to the angels of these cities. Although all the angels were worshipped, they did not wish for it but did not punish it either. They continuously sought the answers they looked for, and grew in power as they gained more worshippers.

To find the answer to the question concerning the meaning of life and existence, the angels had to ask the right question. Moradin was the first to understand this and spread this new philosophy to the other angels. He returned to the city of the angels with the rest of the Moradinsamman where they all continued their contemplation. The Moradinsamman was called to entertain the gods. They had learned much from their dwarven worshippers and were thus able to amuse the gods more than the other angels. This pleased the gods to such an extent that when Moradin finally asked the right question, the gods answered and thus revealed the existence of Retam.

This knowledge was passed on to the other angels as the Moradinsamman returned to the city of the angels. As they were all contemplating on this answer, while the races of the world worshipped them, Retam revealed himself. He granted the angels ascendancy and answers under the condition that they did not reveal his existence to any inferior beings, not even the dragons. Most of the angels ascended into divinity and created pantheons. Some of them, including the Moradinsamman, changed their appearance and revealed their new found powers to their worshippers without revealing too much to them, as Retam has requested.