Defiled

The Defiled are a race of enslaved entities that were worshipped as gods by humanity.

Biology
The Defiled have no definitive shape and can fluidly change their appearance. They rely on faith to sustain themselves. They are capable of granting powers called Talents to their followers. These are usually contained in the form of talismans which the faithful can activate on cue.

History
Three generations ago humanity had spread across the stars through the use of their science. Man at the time worshiped many gods and they coexisted alongside them. The gods of many religions tended to their faithful and in turned were sustain by their faith.

A minor god however rose to challenge the authority of the other gods. The god grew in power not just by faith, which he gained by using his tricks to awe the masses, but by consuming their souls. Embolden by the souls of mortals the god waged a battle against all other gods. He defeated them one by one.

After the gods were enslaved he eliminated all threats to his rule. To ensure that Humanity would be solely dependent on his power the Lord, destroyed all records of their past, and forbade all science and faiths. Replacing them with commentaries of its ideology and its Talents. The gods that were stripped of their power were made slaves, forced to power the vessels of the humans. Iron chains shackles thanks to the power of the Lord and the faith of his followers. The gods that escape enslavement existed on the fringes of the human space, occasionally raiding the worlds of the Lord for followers. Humanity’s birth place was lost thanks to the censures of the Lord, who made a world known as Bishop’s Calling his place of power. No god dared invade as it was protected by multiple rings of iron that warded their powers.

However the rule of the Lord soon waned as various minor gods began to launch coordinated attacks on his domain. Rather than capturing his followers the gods’ faithful chose to hunt and destroy them, atypically their behavior as killing humans would lessen their potential converts to their faiths. Captain Ean Tephe of the vessel Righteous believed that the gods were being led by a single leader but the Bishop Militant dismissed such claims refusing to admit that their Lord’s power was at risk. The Lord seeing that the faith of those he possessed renewed through generation was declining sought out new sources of faith. To solve this he ordered Tephe via his bishops to journey to nameless world where he had seeded humans for this situation. He was to claim it for the Lord and convert the inhabitants to his faith.

After his task was done Tephe was to be promoted to a Bishop fo his service. Tephe had reservations though, but he could hardly refused. Shortly after he left the audience with the Bishops, Tephe came under attacks by religious followers of the god of the Righteous. The god’s followers attempted to bring a Talent to him but were prevented thanks to Tephe.

The captain wary as why the faithful of his enslaved god would risk everything to deliver a Talent, which was useless to a god that had been enslaved by His Lord. Upon being questioned the god refused to disclose the true purpose of the Talent, instead he made Tephe question his faith in his so-called lord, the true history of his god and how he obtained power and what it cost humanity.

The Righteous eventually arrived to the world where His Lord commanded him to be. The crew came across the village of Cthicx where the Cthicxians lived. The natives initially fought the strangers, however at a parlay the village agreed to convert to the faith of the Lord after seeing the power of the Talents.

The priest of the Bishop committed a ritual who unknown-est to Tephe was responsible for summoning the Lord physically. Tephe witnessed in horror as the god proceeded to devour the villagers to feed his power.

Terrified, the crew of the Righteous fled back into space as ordered by their god. During the journey, the Righteous was attacked by three ships of their own. Shalle, Tephe's lover revealed that the ships were sent to destroy the Righteous to leave no trace of what the Lord committed. Shalle attempted to barter for her lover's life, sacrificing herself to allow the Lord to be made manifest using her own essence. The Defiled, having recovered his Talent that his followers attempted to return to him, used it to summon an entity known as the god of gods via his own form. Seeking justice and retribution the god went to smite the Lord for his heresy. After the Lord was willed out of existence, the bindings powering the Defiled chains became powerless, allowing the gods throughout the empire to be free. The Defiled then turned to taking slow revenge upon the crews that tortured and enslaved them as the former attempted to barricade themselves to buy time and ironically pray for mercy.

Appearances

 * The God Engines, by John Scalzi (2009)