This page is all about magic in the realm of From Gods to Gold. It is named after the word that means covenant in the old tongue of the High Mountain Men. Paklish (say Pahk-lish) was the thing that changed the land, it was the deal that was struck between the First Ones and the High Mountain Men in the time before time. After that, most all magic has been shaped by it.
In the time before time the High Mountain Men and the First Ones lived together on the sacred mountain. Little in known about the First Ones, but they are often called beings of light in the ancient texts. What is known is that the few that remained communed with the land and were the progenitors of the five fantastic races. The first men in this time, those we know more about. They can from another land from far beyond this realm and settled in on the mountain, but most died during those first days. The remaining men were saved by the First Ones and for a time they lived together in peace. As the numbers of men bloomed into multitudes, the First Ones waned in number. It was apparent then that both could not exist in number, and a choice had to be made. It was at this time that the elders of each group made the Paklish.
To summarize, the Paklish was a covenant of the two peoples. The First Ones would leave the land, and in return the men would carry on the spirit of the First Ones into eternity. The covenant was sealed at the ritual time dusk - called Kasus, the dimming of the light. The impact of the Paklish was poorly understood by both sides, and to this day it has reminded the people to be wary of deals they do not understand.
The result of this covenant was that the bond between the First Ones and the land was broke, and some of it was taken in by the High Mountain Men. However, they could not take it all. The rest of this bond spilled across the land, its untapped energy waiting to be harnessed by those that first encountered it.
It also resulted in the shadows of the first ones being born, parts of these beings that could not leave the land with the rest of them. Each first one left a shadow in the realm, the parts of it that could not leave. Most of these Shadows have become something else, but still others remain and those have been gathered by the descendants of the High Mountain Men and sealed within the earth.
Some Shadows quickly found the energy spilled out from the bond because of the Paklish and thought they could regain their wholeness. They scrambled for power in desperation but could not repair what was lost. Instead they became something else entirely: Gods of the realm. The Gods are all connected to some natural force, which was tied to the energy they took that spilled from the bond.
Each of these beings exists in three forms, though only one at any given time: Vapor, Beast, and Man.
When a God is vapor, they exist solely as the energy they collected in an attempt to become whole again. In this form they can wield their true power, dominating the natural resource that is connected to the energy of the bond which they took. However they lack a human intellect in this form, and instead have an alien intelligence unlike any we have encountered. As such they can never remember anything from this state, and rarely remain it in for whatever reason. Its more likely you will encounter a God in their Beast or Man state.
When a God is beast, they exist as some huge form of an animal or other impressive natural living form. While in this state they have a heightened animal intelligence, though not quite human. In Beast form they can vaguely remember their actions in Beast form, and vice-versa but its more like they are two sides of a coin than truly unified.
When a God is man, they exist as a human but retain hints of their beastly shape. A God that is a Large Wolf when a Beast might retain the ears and the tail for instance. While in this form they have a truly human intelligence and can easily relate with other men and the races of the land. However, they have only a blurry connection to their Beast state, and no real connection to their Vapor state. Often a God in human form might state that they become something else when they transform, as they lose their human intelligence and perspective.