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There are many gods in the Istarian Pantheon, but there are others who exist beyond the Pantheon... Some you know, such as Varrantoth. Others, you do not. Some are ancient and many predate members of the current Pantheon. These gods are from the Outer Realms and may not be as powerful as members of the Pantheon, such as Alyssa or Brobbet. But, they are very powerful indeed when compared to the Gifted or to the non-Gifted.
Goddess of the Sun and of Wrath, Scorpus was forgotten millennia ago. She has long harbored an ancient hatred for the deities of the Pantheon. Scraps of legend are all that remain to remind scholars of her existence, but in recent months she has since begun to reassert herself in the deserts southwest of Tazoon.
Legends speak of a malevolent deity, one who took the shape of a Scorpion in order to inspire fear in her followers. It is said that they lived within the deserts of Western Aradoth and that they constructed great pyramids in her name. Atop these structures legends claim that they offered sacrifices of animal, human and even other living races races in her name.
The deities of the Pantheon found the practice of sacrifice distasteful and openly shunned her and her followers. Enraged, she gathered her priests and began attacking settlements to the east of her lands; the lands claimed by the Dwarves, Gnomes and even the Elves. Emboldened by success and by the lack of intervention from the other deities, she sent her priests north to capture and sacrifice dragons.
She miscalculated, for the Dragons responded to the sacrifice of one of their elders with a terrible ferocity. An army of flying Dragons bore down upon the pyramids of Scorpus, engulfing them in flame. The Dragons, however, did not stop at the pyramids. They continued on, attacking larger settlements of humans throughout the deserts and lands to the south, burning many, and eventually conquering and subjugating the rest.
With her followers scattered or dead, her places of worship destroyed, Scorpus fled the lands of the living races and was soon forgotten. Somewhere, deep beneath the earth, perhaps even beneath her ancient temples, she lay asleep for millennia, waiting for the Day of Return when she could once again come to the surface, gather her priests, and collect sacrificial bounties.
God of technology and of the moon, Telak is said to resemble a large automaton. Long before the Lamentation the Gnomes had abandoned Telak in favor of Istara, to pursue peace as well as knowledge. Recently, the Gnomes have begun returning to the ancient one in large numbers seeking much of what was lost when they abandoned Rachival and hoping, perhaps, to reclaim some of their lost glory.
Many of the legends surrounding Telak are unclear about the god’s origins and appearance. None agree upon whether it was the Gnomes who built their automatons in Telak’s image, or if the deity took a form pleasing to the Gnomes. Debate on the topic has raged for decades, perhaps even longer, amongst the wide and learned.
Darker legends speak of the deity’s role in the downfall of Rachival itself. Some whisper that Versanto and his disgraced master, Gangaf, may have acquired their knowledge of automatons from Telak though neither has ever claimed any association with the deity. Neither has denied any association either, a note that some conspiracy theorists have made public note of.
Nevertheless, the rumors persist and the facts are incontrovertible that the automatons played a clear role in the Fall of Rachival and the exile of the Gnomian people. Automatons, even simple ones, were unknown even fifty years before the Fall and it is as if advanced knowledge of their construction was discovered overnight, a fact that some believe lends credence to the conspiracies and the involvement of Telak itself.
In the end, the truth may never be known. Telak, however, continues to gain followers and grow in power amongst the Gnomes.