The Central Pantheon

The Central Pantheon are the gods upon which all other pantheons revolve.  While specific races will have gods that they pray to that represent them, the central pantheon is universal.  The original gods were created by Karnak, the High God of Chaos that was forged with the world.

Originally, he crafted six gods.  With the exception of the Dragon Gods Tiamat & Bahamut, these are considered to be the very first gods in existence.

Ashar - the god of the sky
Ninsara - the goddess of the earth
Karnos - the god of war
Naium - the goddess of water
Ishara - the goddess of sex
Ogun - the god of fire

These six deities are given such a wide domain of power that soon they were collectively stronger even than Karnak.  Ashar, their leader and the strongest of them, led them against their patriarch and Karnak was destroyed.  While the chaos sewn by Karnak into the fabric of reality is felt even to this day, These six deities became the center of all worship in the world.  Ashar ruled over them, dedicating them to protecting his seat of power.

The first new god to join them was Neela, a single elf who discovered how to manipulate the raw, powerful magic that permeated the early world, becoming the first spellcaster.  So strong was her ability that she became the goddess of magic.  As an elevated mortal, she was technically the first demigod, but in truth her power was so great that she even rivaled Ashar.  She became the consort of Obin, the strongest of the Feylords, and their children became the Elven Gods.

The gods began to have children themselves.  Ashar was intensely watchful of the birth of their children, not wanting anything to dilute his own godhead.  He allowed almost no children except his own with the goddess Ninsara.  Their four children were Stratonus, Necronus, Oceadon & Onuva.  The only other new god he allowed to exist was Neires, the daughter of Karnos & Naium, who was meant to be a consort to Stratonus, thereby maintaining Ashar’s line.  All these gods were denied power, as Ashar feared his own downfall. This continued even as Neries bore the children of Stratonus; Kor Anar, Tarrok, Solos, Aluna and Nelem.

When Oceadon and Ishara had a child, Ashar viewed it as a pollution of his godhead and punished them by destroying Ishara and elevating their daughter Valena to become the new goddess of sex.  The understanding that Ashar would destroy the gods if they had children outside his plan for his own children became truly problematic when Stratonus, his oldest and the father of his grandchildren, fathered a daughter with Neela, consort of Obin of the feylords and mother goddess to the elven pantheon.  For Ashar to attempt to punish Neela for this perceived slight against his godhead would be to challenge Neela, who's expansive power had never been gauged, but also the elven gods and the feylords. Creation couldn't possibly survive such a conflict, and yet Ashar prepared to act.

Instead,  Stratonus led the gods against his father.  Ashar and his brother Karnos were both destroyed, while their wives Ninsara & Naium were permitted to abandon their godheads and become mortal. Ogun chose to abandon his domain and be reborn as Argus, the god of crafting.

Thus, the Central Pantheon came to power:

Stratonus - God of the Heavens
Necronus - God of the Dead & of the Earth
Oceadon - God of the Seas
Onuva - Goddess of Fertility
Argus - God of Crafting
Neela - Goddess of Magic

Neries, the Goddess of Motherhood, notably declined a seat at the Pantheon, choosing to defer to her husband.  Also, the younger gods, having fought alongside their progenitors, also took places within the pantheon.

Valena - Goddess of Sex
Tarrok - God of War
Solos - God of Light
Aluna - Goddess of the Moon
Nelem - God of Youth

Helante, the child of Stratonus and Neela, also took a place as the Goddess of Wisdom.  Only Kor Anar, the God of Storms and the oldest of the children of Stratonus and Neries declined a place.

Interestingly, even though the twelve person counsel of the pantheon seems to have been created haphazardly with Neries & Kor Anar declining seats, that number quickly became fixed.  The pantheon MUST have twelve members on it's counsel. Never more and never less.

The great conflict between the gods that destroyed Ashar and his host that brought about the Pantheon had many names.  It was marked by a series of wars and disasters among the mortals that very nearly destroyed the world.  The gods may never have met victory, had Stratonus not been assisted by the Dwarven Gods.  Fel Dwarf, Barek Undermountain, Bardurn Fel, Arkun Stonehammer, Surdek Brightbeard & Tordurn Stoutforge all came to the aid of the younger gods.

The elven gods had a far greater stake in the outcome of the conflict because Neela was threatened by Ashar, but played a smaller role. Parax of the high elven remained neutral while Kapun of the wood elves fought alongside the younger gods.