Empire Of Souls - Chapter 154

The Heavenly Plane is a separate space that is connected with the God Nexus. The God Nexus itself is a collection of worlds which have been conquered and assimilated. These worlds are known as continents, and each continent was once a world of its own.

However, in the process of assimilation, not all of the assimilated worlds become part of the continents which make up the God Nexus. Pieces of these worlds also become part of the surrounding planes that are connected with the Nexus. These planes include the Heavenly Plane, the Elemental Plane, and others.

Every Nexus have their own Planes that are attached to them, and they are usually formed by the most supreme of deities, the Elder gods. This is in collaboration with the spirit of the core world of their Nexus. These planes were created from the very essence, or soul, of these worlds and that was one of the reasons for the conquest of new worlds. In assimilating other worlds and gaining their essence, each Nexus would grow stronger and their gods more powerful as new souls became part of the Nexus. Each world was limited in the amount of souls which would form, but merging new worlds increased this limit. It was part of the system known as Life which encompassed the soul, reincarnation, living beings and even the formation of worlds.

Dimensions like the Nine Hells, The Abyss, Abaddon, and Paradise were on a completely different level from the God Nexus and were not part of it. The Nine Hells could be reached from the God Nexus, but those were doorways opened by powerful beings belonging to the Nexus. They were not natural connections, but connections created through cooperation between mighty beings on both sides. They were made possible because the Nine Hells was the very epitome of sin and where all sin originated from. Since mortals sinned, the Nine Hells would always have a presence wherever mortals were. Although the gods fought against devils, they weren’t actually that opposed in secret and only superficially hunted them down.

In reality, only the Angels who still served the Guardians of Law were diametrically opposed to the devils. Those known as the Guardians of Law were the four most powerful Archangels who served the creator and governed the Origin of Law. They are Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel. These are the Angels who retain and manage the Law and are in constant war with the Devils of the Nine Hells.

The Devils strive to uproot the Angels and control the Origin of Law and so they will never know peace with each other. It is this conflict which has given rise to the gods and allowed them to find their place among divine beings. As such, they are happy to see the Angels who refuse to serve them, and the Devils fight among themselves.

In the God Nexus, the largest and most influential of the planes connected with it is the Heavenly Plane. It is here that the gods reside. Each god has their own space within the Heavenly Plane and the Heavenly Plane is not one place, but a collection of godly domains which are separated across the void. They are both a part of the void and separated from it.

They aren’t places like the continents within the Nexus, but instead are their own small worlds made up of divinity and the essence of laws. It is the Origin of Law, which governs these existences and these domains and it is where their power originates from. Within their domain, a god has absolute power and it is within their domain that they allow their most devout followers to live eternally in service to them. Every aspect of their domain is under their control and within their domain, their will is law.

Somewhere in the heavenly plane is an enormous palace the size of an entire city. This palace is where the gods meet in council and discuss issues of importance. It is not the domain of any particular god and is instead a gathering place for all gods. It is also where all decisions are made in accordance with the decisions of the gods themselves. Every divine being in the God Nexus is given a place on the council when ascending. Everything about the God Nexus as well as the rules which govern the society of gods is decided in this very place.

There is a strict hierarchy in place, but this is only what is shown in public. In private, the gods constantly scheme against one another. In essence, it is both a feudal society and something of a bureaucracy. Each god can be considered a lord of their own fief, as well as a representative of their own interests. Nonetheless, they must be careful not to transgress the laws decided upon in the council. The consequences for breaking the god laws depends on the law broken, the benefits involved, and the influence of the gods who are affected. Just as with the mortal world, power is everything. If you are strong enough, the rules don’t necessarily apply.

Within this city sized palace were many rooms, halls, offices, ballrooms, and of course the council hall itself. Each new god would be provided a room within the palace for an avatar to take residence in to handle important council matters. It was also a place for the gods to socialize and network. It was here that alliances were made, and broken. All gods were skilled in these things, they had to be. Otherwise they would never have reached their level of power. They would either have never ascended to begin with, or long been consigned to oblivion.

A heated debate was currently taking place in this same council hall between several pantheons. The issue, the failed conquest of the Steppes.

A large burly man with long wild hair, and a braided beard that stretched down towards his chest, stood up from his throne in anger. There was an eye patch over one eye and next to his throne were two wolves of similar features. On each shoulder was a silent raven that eyed all those gathered and cawed randomly. This was the god Woden and his familiars who were all powerful beings in their own right.

“Are you to have us believe that you are not responsible for anything that transpired on the Steppes, Tihr?” Woden shouted from a higher position in the council hall.

There were layers of thrones which circled the hall and each layer were seated the avatars of many gods. The higher the position in the council hall, the more powerful the god.

Another god across from Woden and at the same level as him stood up and smiled, “Woden, it is beneath your status to argue with a god beneath your rank, don’t you think?”

Woden stared at the figure opposite of him with his one open eye. It was a fearsome gaze and expressed his might, but the figure opposite him was not intimidated in the least.

“Are you determined to stand in my way Peleor? Have you forgotten already the last time we fought? I don’t mind teaching you another lesson!”

Peleor snickered, “This and that are separate things. Tihr is an important member of my pantheon and it is not your place to demand he take responsibility for your church’s failure.”

Many other gods began grumbling and some even shouted, of course those gods who were not at the same level wouldn’t dare shout to a god higher than them. Nonetheless, they had no qualms about shouting at those at the same, or on a lower level. Peleor and Woden were both High gods and leaders of their pantheons.

Since the Elder gods hadn’t shown themselves in over a hundred thousand years, the council was basically run by the High gods who ruled over their own pantheons. There were much fewer High gods than those of a lower rank and most pantheons only had one or two at most. Only the most powerful and influential of pantheons might have more.