Reclusive Pantheons

In the mysterious East, in the steamy jungles and open plains, the forgotten temples crumble under the weight of vines and lurking creatures, and civilization flourishes in the crowded cities. Here is the Orient, the land of ancient secrets. Three pantheons hold sway - the Chinese, Indian, and Japanese - and they've managed to work their way to a powerful spot in the multiverse, with worshippers spread across hundreds of crystal spheres.

Lately, though, the powers keep themselves shrouded from mortal eyes, withdrawing more and more with every passing eon. Their ways have become subtle and unknown even to the faithful, and they've begun to retreat from the minds of other deities as well. Why? Nobody really knows, but bloods put forth a few different reasons.

First and most important: the powers choose to isolate themselves from the never pantheons. See, with the thunderous arrival of the gods of crass western cultures, the refined deities of the Chinese, Indian, and Japanese pantheons wanted to put some distance between themselves and the upstarts. They pulled away from planar politics, as did their worshippers, and the powers now watch over isolated cultures on the Prime. That alone is enough to color their thinking.

Second, it's possible that the powers didn't so much withdraw as move on. Perhaps they discovered a new plateau of might, a level above that exercised by the gods so predominantly on the planes these days. If that's true, then the Chinese, Indian, and Japanese powers'd apparently be ready to make the jump to a realm beyond that understood by mortals.

See two things and look for a third. Well, a final theory about these powers is that they're simply conceited bloods who've pulled away to regroup, find strength in unity, and prepare themselves for a strong comeback. That explanation's as likely as any other; the pantheons have kept so much about themselves dark that it's difficult to tell where the truth ends and the lies begin. And that's probably just the way they like it.

'Course, all this speculation ignores one fact: The powers ain't gone yet, They still exist in the cosmos, and a devout planewalker can reach their realms as easily as he can any other. for some reason, though, these gods like to cloud the minds of other mortals, to keep their realms pristine and clear of the taint of other cultures. That's not to say they don't need an infusion of new ideas every so often, but the truth is that they'd rather leak their ideas into the surrounding cultures than allow such a leak into their own.

Still, the Chinese, Indian, and Japanese pantheons each have a few members who commune with other powers, and the more open high-ups must bring back different ideas now and then. Who knows? Perhaps the isolationists'll come back someday, or maybe they'll gradually integrate themselves into the structure of the multiverse.