Maradul is a place both old and young, familiar and foreign. Across its sprawling continents are great cities older than written history, new civilizations of eager and prodigious peoples, and yet more lands unexplored and unconquered that hold great dangers, secrets, and riches. Purported to be crafted by the sleeping god Sevantus long ago, the realm stands as a bastion of law against the wild and never-ending chaos of the Great Mist, which laps hungrily at the edges of the world. The Mist is kept at bay by the light of the starry sky, the written order of Sevantus which dictate the physical rules of the world. However, Maradul is not ruled; Sevantus sleeps eternally, the progenitor Keiva mourns within the sun of Evus, Palthian the Curious waits in self-exile, and the shadow-marked Nothum cares not for lordship; this is to say, that the influence of the greatest deities is now felt only in passing, and the new histories of the world are written by those that might seek to call themselves gods in their place.
Carved from Chaos
It is said that Sevantus carved the land of Maradul out of the chaos of the Great Mist, painstakingly crafting a complex fabric of rules that keep the Mist at bay. Though the Mist has no capacity to feel anger or indignation, it nevertheless rages against this speck within its unfathomable immensity, constantly gnawing at the perimeter of the realm and seeping in through any cracks it can - often at the behest of the mortals that inhabit the world, though they know not what they entreat.
Gods from the Mists
Sevantus was born in the Great Mist by pure circumstance, an occurrence just as impossible as it is common, as is the nature of the Mist. Others born of the mist were drawn to Sevantus's creation; Keiva introduced life to the world, infesting Maradul with a variety of animals, plants, and plagues. Drawn to the abundance created by Keiva, Nothum brought death to the world, offering salvation to those riddled with Keiva's diseases and cancers by devouring them. Keiva, distraught by this development, interred herself within the sun Evus, and began to weep, sending a stream of tears falling from the sun to Maradul. Palthian was the fourth to arrive, and was endlessly curious, eager to emulate Sevantus in the act of establishing law. However, Palthian made a fatal error, and attempted to create from the darkness of Nothum instead of the light of the stars, and created night, sending the world into imbalance. Sevantus attempted to exile Palthian, who created sleep in response, and send Sevantus into a deep slumber. Remorseful, Pathian created the moon Ponorel as a prison, from which she chronicles the history of the world, vowing never to intervene directly.
The Mist Gods are very unlike those within Maradul, a consequence of their chaotic heritage - only by exceptional luck and happenstance were they born with the general consistency and awareness to be able to interact with the world at all. As such, their motivations are personalities are often alien and bizarre to mortals. Others from the Great Mist have been known to interact with Maradul from time to time, though it is rare that they are able to do so with great influence; the more you embody the Mists, the more Maradul rejects you.
Governed by the Stars
It is said that the stars of the sky were the artifice of Sevantus, a complex web of light that defines the order present in Maradul. The light of the stars shines day and night, their constellations shifting and rearranging as the suns and moon pass. When one finds some shelter from this light, be in in the depths of the Umbral Deep or within the arms of the Great Mist, the laws of Maradul begin to fade. This is a fundamental concept behind the magic of the world; more on magic can be found here.
Gods Walk this Earth
While the greatest powers lie dormant or distant, many seek to take the reigns of lordship in their place. The most notable of these might be the Nine Tears, children of Keiva sent down to Maradul following the beginning of Sevantus's slumber. Six of these children began to lead the peoples of Maradul, shaping the six great races. Ynathra, the Queen of Curses, attempts to write her name across the night sky, while the immortal God-King Olregh leads his kingdom of conquest across the lands of Griethe. Tavriel the Nomad, the Lords of Ash, Imigi the Crow - there are many that play god across the realm, but they are none of them infallible. Most tread the same earth as those they would call mortals, and as such, they are definitively of this world - and as demonstrated by the death of Calphost, they can most certainly be killed. Still, many are great leaders and lords, commanding great power and influence that only fools would ignore.