top of page
Domina Terra, the Lady of the Earth
She goes by many names. To the Benelim, she is the Great Mother. To some, she's known as The Goddess in Black. To the Twisted Gods, she is Gaia. The angyls call her The Vengeful One and daemons call her Daemonslayer. But her preferred name and title is Domina Terra, the Lady of the Earth. While it is not her truest name, which like all deities is in a language unpronounceable to mortal tongues, it defines her nature, her purpose and her greatest deed. The binding of her being to the very earth, stabilizing it after the disaster of Godfall. At the present, she is the most powerful extant deity in the Godshards universe, even after being weakened from the binding.
A Goddess of Loss and Power
Her true origins are a mystery, just like other deities. She came from the heavens. She was part of the Celestial Host of Gods and Angyls. She was tied with the God Tenebrous for second place leadership. They both followed the lead of Omnitus, who was also Terra's husband, lover and best friend. Rare among Gods they had a child, The Only Son, whom She loved dearly.
Terra, despite her power, wasn't involved in the fighting during the First War of the Heavens. She was more interested in keeping her Son safe. After the war however, Terra was instrumental in the mending of the Mortal Realms. The specifics are unknown but she was the same caliber as Omnitus and Tenebrous, so anything is possible. She was also the one who broke the tie in a pivotal debate between Omnitus and Tenebrous. The Brother-Gods argued over the strange race known as Humanity.
Barely sentient after centuries of daemonic slavery, Tenebrous wanted to mercy kill them, citing them as weak in mind and fickle. He wanted to replace them with their Novalim project, which was to repopulate the Nephilim race. Omnitus on the other hand saw potential in humanity. Their souls were unique among all others in the Mortal Realm, for it had an inherent independence, an essence that was strong and couldn't be altered magically like the Nephilim.
It reminded Omnitus of themselves.
Terra broke the tie, siding with Omnitus, agreeing with Him on the potential of humanity. Incensed, Tenebrous left the group, frustrated and dejected. He wouldn't return for several years, before returning, slinging accusations at his brother. He claimed that he'd been to the Underworld, that the Mortal Realm ad always belonged to the daemons. That helping humanity was wrong, and many other grievances. The Celestial Host was split, with half the deities joining Tenebrous. Terra remained loyal to Omnitus and just like during the first war, Terra would spend the bulk of the war out of the fight, focusing more on keeping her Son safe. The situation growing more and more perilous as Omnitus' forces were driven back into the heavens.
And then the Soul River was rerouted, that great celestial construct that took souls from both the heavens and the earth to the true afterlife was sabotaged. The river now flowed directly into the Underworld, empowering all daemonkind. The Celestial Host made a mad charge to the banks of the river to reverse the effects. While the rest of the forces tried to hold off the daemons, Terra and the sea God Aquarius tried to reverse the damage, but to no avail. It wasn't til the Only Son waded into the river that the the construct began to reconstitute itself, reorienting. Terra was horrified, going into the river while alive was dangerous, even for them! She pleaded for him to get out before it was too late.
But the Only Son remained. Terra's worst fear came true, when just as the Soul River was halfway out of the Underworld, the Only Son slipped beneath the currents, his being gone within moments. Terra wailed in despair. Her dress and robes, once white as snow, turned black and red. As for what happened next, the records don't say. The accounts of the Wars in the Heavens comes from the Gods themselves, and according to the scribe, the future Benelim High King Ioannis, Terra refused to say. The Angyls claim Terra went on a rampage that caused further damage to the heavens and earth alike, but the Angyls have good reason to lie.
All we know for sure is Terra bound herself to the earth following Godfall.
She took charge of what was left of the Celestial Host. She nullified the agreement with the Angyls. Despite their assistance, Terra never liked them, their ways too bloodthirsty. She gave them an offer, renounce their violent ways and stay, or go home. The angyls were furious but with many of them taking the deal and the rest heavily injured, they had no choice and left. Some of these newly dubbed Fallen Angyls would bind themselves to Terra, and became the Fayphirm. Chief among them was the Arch-Angyl Metatrel, who would become her herald.
Regarding the deities that had joined Tenebrous, Mendax had fled, taking Amare with him. Tempestia and Marius had surrendered. Terra took pity on Tempestia as Tenebrous' wife, and merely banished her. As for Marius, he was a God of War who gained power from his armor. As such he was forbidden to wear it and out of respect for both her and her Son, Marius agreed.
Terra and Aquarius rushed to complete the Novalim project, worried the formless spirits had been destroyed by Godfall. The results were mixed. Some were able to be restored and these became the Benelim. For many however, the corruption was too severe and these unfortunate souls became the first Maelim. While some didn't show it at first, the damage was done. Attempts to fix it only lead to further abomination. As for the Benelim, they were bound to Terra, and their sea-born counterparts bound to Aquarius.
Terra bestowed a final gift to the Benelim; Lifesongs. A magical form of verse tied to each and every Benelim, that chronicles their deeds and exploits, automatically adding verses as the Benelim lives. That done, she created her own domain, secluded and powerful. A magical forest for herself and her allies.
A Goddess' Arrogance
Several years after the war ended, Amare would at last leave her wicked husband. After a fierce clash of gods, Mendax was defeated by Caelus, God of the Heavens in his giant bird-like Rukh form. An eager Terra arrived and quickly passed judgment. Amare was given amnesty, since she had no agency in her actions on whose side she was on.
As for Mendax, Terra gazed upon him in his serpent form, wiggling in the dirt under the talons of the King of Rukhs and a sadistic vindictiveness entered her heart. "That's a good look for you." said Terra, "Let us keep it that way." With but a thought, Mendax's limbs fell off, turning him into the first snake. Even when shapeshifting back into humanoid form, his lower body remained as a snake.
Mendax growled in anger before a mocking smirk plastered his face. "Very well, but I won't suffer alone." With a gesture, all the serpents of the world lost their limbs. Angered, Terra sought to punish Mendax further but without limbs, Mendax broke free of his captors grip and slithered away.
The other Gods were aggravated with Terra over her carelessness but she paid them no mind. She was the greatest deity in the Mortal Realms, no one could dare stand against her.
This arrogance would soon cost her dearly.
For centuries there was peace and prosperity. Several powerful Benelim kingdoms were born and they spread themselves to the ends of the earth. While there were conflicts between the Benelim and Maelim, known as the First Novalim Wars, the Benelim would prevail. While Terra didn't approve these wars, she respected the Benelim's choices, at least within reason. Humans also grew in numbers and also spread everywhere just like their Benelim counterparts.
Terra would gift them the Saga of the Gods, an account of creation and the wars of the heavens. Temples would be created to honor the Gods, these buildings were blessed with a magical connection to her realm. A conduit for which she could see what the mortal races were doing and for her to guide them. At the height of the Golden Age, five hundred years after the Wars in the Heavens, Terra was at her height of power. The world was at peace, her enemies few and powerless. Yet Terra would forever mourn the loss of her Son, the pain lingered. But Terra would comfort herself by wandering the lands, often in human form, and the goodness and virtue she saw helped heal her. Even her black dress started to lighten. But the good times would not last forever.
It began six hundred years after Godfall. A kingdom of humanity known as the Realm of the Northern Spire collapsed within a few decades abruptly. Rumors grew of newcomers, a pair of deities meddling in Terra's world. The rumors were confirmed when monsters assailed the northernmost kingdom of Benelim; The Realm of the White Birches. These were no Maelim, but mutated abominations, larger, stronger and insane. They were guided into battle by tiny celestial humanoid creatures. Leading the attack were two abominations calling themselves deities; The Twisted Gods. The attacks were massive and the White Birches were overrun. The lands behind them becoming warped and mutated in their wake.
The king, Aloysius desperately reached out to Terra for help and she obliged. She parlayed with the Twisted Gods, believing herself to be beyond their power and wanted to give them a chance to back down. They met outside the capital of the Realm. The Twisted Gods explained that they were from another part of the heavens, another place in that infinite realm. They were among many deities and creatures drawn to the Mortal Realms by Godfall.
When Terra asked what happened to the others they replied, "We were the strongest."
Terra declared the Mortal Realms under her protection and thus they had to depart back to the Heavens, never to return. If they stayed, they would face her wrath. The Twisted Gods were unimpressed, proclaiming the Mortal Realm theirs to play with, a boundless canvas for their 'fleshcrafting.' A fight broke between the Gods. Terra found herself overpowered, while she could take on one of them with ease, working together they were unstoppable. Terra was heavily injured, only the intervention of the Venatus, God of the Hunt and Metatrel did Terra escape her doom.
Terra was carried back to her realm, clutching at life. Only by the efforts of Amare was Terra healed. Yet the greatest wound was not physical but the blow to Terra's pride. She had gotten too arrogant, and powerful as she was, she wasn't omnipotent. As Terra healed Second Novalim War raged, Novalim of all kinds were destroyed and mutated. The White Birches fell and the Golden Wood was under siege. The western realms of humanity were nearly wiped out entirely. Worse still was her other enemies were emboldened. Tempestia, encouraged by the honeyed words of Mendax, blew up the volcano Mt. Ignis, creating a wasteland in the far corner of the world. The planet cooled greatly for a time, throwing Terra's world off balance.
The Second Novalim War would end at the base of the Northern Spire. High King Ioannis lead a grand alliance of Novalim and they took the fight to the heart of the Twisted God's domain. But when those twisted monsters took to the field, all seemed lost. Yet just as they were about to get their mangled limbs on the first of the Benelim, Terra entered the fray, rescuing him. Terra fought smarter this time, keeping the two deities separated and gravely injured both. They fled the field, victory was Terra's.
Yet the world saw that Terra was not invulnerable. Never again would she have the same aura of invincibility.
The Rise of the Godshards to the Present Day
Terra grew more and more morose. Humanity would pick up the pieces of their civilizations, yet they didn't maintain Terra's values and lessons. While their destruction of the forests wasn't as harmful as she thought, the struggle to maintain balance worsened the more humans altered her domain. Their disrespect for the Benelim didn't help either.
Deep down, Terra wondered if Tenebrous was right after all.
But an interesting development would give Terra pause. A mysterious human arrived at her realm, desiring an audience. This human had a strange essence she had never seen before. While she rarely let humans into her domain anymore, she allowed him to meet her. What was said between the two none can say, but what is known is the state of affairs between Terra and humanity was largely unchanged. There were more pressing concerns for a time, the Daemon Wars saw Terra mobilize her forces but it would prove to be for naught. The Benelim and humans would mostly prevail in their battles, even if they were costly.
The only region that needed her help was Secundus. Yet by the time her forces arrived, the daemons had retreated from there as well. With the Daemon Wars over, Terra once again grew resentment toward humanity. She was supremely tempted to intervene and force her will upon the upstart humans. But she ultimately decided to let humanity stew in their wrongs. She did not wish to be a tyrant. Instead humanity was banned from her realm all together. Much to the dismay of her fellow Gods.
The state of affairs would remain so for centuries. Yet she was not inactive. She watched the rise of fall of the nations of the world, When Maelim attacked the Realm of the Golden Wood, she was begrudgingly grateful for the assistance of Ruth the Uniter and the legions of Primus. The Twisted War many centuries later saw her forces mobilize, leading an alliance of Benelim armies against the Twisted Gods once more. Greatly weakened by failed assaults against humanity, the Twisted Gods had no choice but to retreat.
Yet a conflict eighteen centuries after Godfall at last nearly caused Terra to intervene. The genocide of the Dogheads was bad enough but then the legions attacked the Golden Wood in a pervasion of their deeds centuries prior. The humans dared to attack the greatest of her Benelim kingdoms!? Only the advice of High King Ioannis and Amare stayed her hand long enough for the humans and Benelim to sort out the conflict on their own. The Imperium of Primus collapsed, and the city itself wiped out by Angyls.
Terra hated such an extreme action and chided the humans for their ignorance. To Terra's surprise, a letter from the upstart Sacerdozio arrived, begging for forgiveness and asking for her help. Reluctantly, Terra give humanity one last chance and sent her reply. When no further correspondence came, Terra's resentment returned.
And thus the current state of affairs persists, even to the present. Terra's realm remains banned from humans. Never has Terra been so bitter and disheartened. The weight from two millennia of woes, pain and grief has taken their toll on the Earth Goddess. Even now she still mourns her son, for she has never had closure nor does she have the time. As such the wound remains open. Part of Terra wishes to retreat into the heavens forevermore. Yet as long as she remained bound to the Earth and the Benelim remain bound to her, she is forced to stay, guarding the Mortal Realm.
But a crisis looms and when Godshards start going missing, Terra is slowly learning the true scope of the peril. She finds herself contemplating desperate actions to save her domain and to keep the last remnants of her husband safe...
bottom of page