I designed Kodu to be a stable planet in an unstable solar system, but more on that later. The history of Kodu was lost or hidden from the residents for thousands of years and by the time of Gods Save the Queen book #3, the history was slowly being uncovered. In the beginning, the only humanoid residents on Kodu were the elves. They built cities of whatever was available locally, but mostly stone and crystal. Their cities were described as the glory of Kodu, and that the Gods looked down on them in envy. Notice I said Gods with a capital G.
The elves had one God and a huge pantheon of saints, powerful beings that assisted the elves. Their God and his saints lived in Taevas, a mythical land of forests, rivers, and silver, three sacred items to elves. Each saint had a specific task they performed to keep Kodu a peaceful and joyful world. The name of their God was Cannan, the God of Gods. He or she (the elves never recorded the gender of Cannan) was the one that the saints turned to for advice and guidance.
Then came the Starfall. Tānlán, a huge iron planet that orbits Thaal once every 60,000 years, entered the picture. Its vast, elliptical orbit usually kept Tānlán out of the way of Kodu and Zigu, but this time it passed close to Zigu. Tānlán's gravitational pull drew Zigu out of its orbit and drew it toward the sun, Thaal. As if to seal the deal, Tānlán's moon Gion struck Zigu, causing untold damage to the massive planet. Luckily, Zigu was not inhabited, however its largest moon Aestea was. The Aesteans were technically advanced and able to use a force of nature that the elves called maagia, which elven high priests were adept at.
The Aesteans knew that their world was doomed and that it was going to strike Kodu's only moon, Hiphus. The Aesteans moved to Kodu and tried to warn the elves of the danger that was coming in mere decades, but the elves refused to listen. That's when the Aesteans discovered the elves' pantheon of the saints, but mistook them for elven gods. The Aesteans, pretending to be gods in points all over Kodu, tried to convince the elves that tragedy was coming, but the high priests of the elves knew these visitors from Aestea were pretenders.
One god, Saehrimnir, chose to turn to elven astronomers and speak with their college. The astronomers made the observations, did the math, saw the calamity coming, and convinced the elven rulers of the coming disaster. With the help of the powerful Aesteans, the elves built underground shelters along with the races that the Aesteans made—the dwarves, demi-giants, and fairies—and thus survived the collision of the moons and the year-long meteor storm that followed.
The elves called the Aesteans Jumaliku Sõbrad, meaning divine friends, which over the centuries became Jumal (Gods), and the original God of the elves was forgotten, but the title of God was always written with a lowercase g when referring to the people of Aestea. Unlike the God of the elven worship, the Aesteans didn't have a singular leader; all gods were equal. However, when the elves emerged from the rubble of their destroyed planet, so did humans.
Nobody knew where they came from, just that they emerged from shelters like the elves did. The humans had a shorter life span than the elves and they multiplied more rapidly, and they spread across the continents of Kodu. They also worshiped the gods, something the elves never did. The Aesteans enjoyed receiving worship and praise and soon a pantheon of gods formed, and the gods that received the most praise became more powerful.
Ten thousand years later, Cannan was completely forgotten, as were the shining crystal cities of the elves. In some areas of Kodu, elves were forgotten as well. The gods remained but their origins were forgotten. The gods loved the praise and adoration so much that they were not going to tell the true story. The gods became withdrawn from Kodu society, and when the gods appeared to people, it was almost always in the temples that humans built for them. The gods had a way to move between temples, and only their chosen people, the temple priests and acolytes, could use it, but that's a different blog entry.
Then, a wizard whose family owned an entire mountain taught himself the language of the ancient elves and began to study the scraps of ancient documents he found scattered across Kodu, and his voice caught the ear of a beautiful queen.
Next week we will continue with the gods, magic and the demons of Kodu.
Gods Save the Queen book #3, The Last Elven King, is available at: Zbookstore & Bookapy