The Empty God is a diety in ancient Anurian culture and the crux of many doomsday preachers in the modern age. Echoes of the concept are found across various unrelated cultures in the universe. As the characteristics of this deity vary greatly based on the specific culture describing it, this page will be divided on that basis.
This page is Amanda's entry for the 2023 Spring Fanon Con Character Creation Contest.
The Empty God[]
The first and most famous iteration of the Empty God, and the namesake for the concept, is that held by the ancient Anurian elites of Anur Vladias.
Appearance[]
Surviving samples of Vladat artistry depict the Empty God as little more than a skeleton covered in thin, tightly-bound, skin. It has no eyes or organs of any sort, but still retains a generally humanoid form albeit with four arms. Its eye sockets and mouth are always totally empty- as pure black as the materials available to the artist would allow.
Its bone structure gives it sharp spines and crests about its body, often in the shape of wings. These features were often seen in the clothing of priests and lords of the Vladat monoculture.
History[]
see Anur System (Earth-1010) for additional historical context
Worship of the Empty God began in the latter years of the Fourth Meme and before the Age of Hunger- it is believed that worship of this deity ultimately led to the evolution of the Vladat species.
Within the context of scripture, the Empty God was born in the aftermath of the Great Beginning. This deity is the remainder of an original creator, who destroyed themself to incite the birth of the universe. Now a husk capable of little more than witnessing its own eternal pain, the Empty God slumbers through the early aeons of the universe. Later texts, written with greater scientific knowledge, predicted that as the fires of the Big Bang settled the Empty God would awaken to restore itself. The discovery of Black Holes was seen as proof of this. It is told that the universe will end to sustain the Empty God's lifespan- and that in the last day of eternity the Empty God shall be empty no more.
This god became lost in the general conscience of the Anur races during the Age of Martyrs, when worship of higher powers fell out of fashion during the rebellion against the Vladats and was replaced with the worship of great heroes.
The Husk That Remains[]
Existing as little more than a cultural reference to most modern citizens of the Anur worlds, The Husk That Remains is the present-day understanding of the Empty God and is not worshipped openly on any of the liberated Anur planets. However, it seems to have acted as a rallying concept to the hungering wraiths of the Anur Vladias.
Appearance[]
The Husk is depicted in most media forms as the torn and shredded exoskin of an Ectonurite draped over the burnt skeleton of a Vladat soldier.
In the caves and the darkness far beneath the eternal winter of Anur Vladias, exist cults and cultures growing and evolving from the ashes. To these newborn civilisations, the Husk That Remains is a fantastic vision of the beauty of the Necroterran form. They see it as the ultimate and original Necroterran, the first and the final. Their statues and carvings, crude as they may be, often show the Husk as a gargantuan Necroterran, towering over the shard mountains and reaching out to devour the poison sun.
History[]
Mostly forgotten to time, the Empty God is remembered now as The Husk That Hungers in modern story telling.
Typically it is treated as a cosmic antagonist, not unlike Death or the Devil on your shoulder, in the modern stories that feature it. The closest Earthly comparison in terms of the evolution of how the Empty God exists now would be Thor going from a Norse deity to a Marvel comic book character. Similarly, these tales often forget the mythological origins of the character as well as the culture that birthed it.
It is unknown how The Husk That Hungers became known to the Necroterrans. It is only known to the wider universe that the Necroterrans hold these beliefs thanks to those who abandoned their cults when they left Anur Vladias. Doctor Osiris, who runs the Hospital of Good Faith on Anur G'rrnay, once spoke to a Thep Khufan archaeologist about her own experiences. She told the professor about the Cult of the Forging Fires, who believed they could build a body to vessel the Husk and give it agency in our universe. It was being built in a mighty chasm that faces the Anur star during the summer solstice, and would be powered with the souls of the dead. While the Khufan would publish that these efforts had been fruitless, she had told him explicitly that they had barely begun.
The Sky Hunter[]
The Pturbosapien and Vaxasaurian cultures of Terradino iterated between one another of an ancient warrior who rides across the skies, hunting the stars.
Appearance[]
The Sky Hunter is the most unique of the Empty God concepts- being one of the only ones not born directly of images of death. He is a mighty Pturbosapien Beastmaster, commanding his army of Stegahounds across the fields of stars to hunt the light and feast upon it. He is often shown as wearing fancy alien pelts and ornate jewellery.
History[]
Although this version of the Empty God was never worshipped, and existed as one among many in the pantheons of Terradino, stories and depictions of The Sky Hunter date back nearly fifteen thousand years. It is thought that primitive astrologists, astronomers, and shamans of Terradino noticed stars disappearing from their night skies- likely as a result of the Heaven Wars- and created this myth as an explanation. The oldest known depiction of The Sky Hunter is on a tapestry made by the Fourth River Pturbosapien tribe however it is not clear whether the myth was created by the Pturbosapiens, given to them by the Vaxasaurians, or born through a common mythology.
The Bloody Schism[]
see Heaven Wars for additional historical context About twelve thousand years ago a great war began between the Pturbosapiens and the Vaxasaurian populations. The war continued for many generations but ultimately resulted in a truce between the species. Great and bloody, the Pturbosapiens retreated to the forest canopies to survive. Though the Vaxasaurians hunted them with fire, the fires refused to take in the mighty rainforests.
Newer understandings of the contexts of this schism have revealed a probable cause for the bloodshed; the destruction of the Teslavorr star. The Teslavorr system sits relatively close to the Terradino system, and therefore would have been the brightest star in the night sky and was essential for nighttime and overseas navigation. The death of Teslavorr would have been devastating to these early civilisations who relied on its light, and naturally the blame would fall upon the Sky Hunter. Since the Sky Hunter was a Pturbosapien, the blame then fell upon the species as a whole. This would further explain the defensive stance that the Pturbosapiens took during the war as well.
The Hunger[]
The Fracturemen and Sentientsapiens of the Milky Way Galaxy share an alarmingly similar concept of the Empty God, far more similar to one another than any other two concepts for the deity. It is one of the most recent echoes of the Empty God parallels.
Appearance[]
The Hunger takes the form of a bloodied humanoid, flensed of skin and without eyes. While the Fracturemen depict the Hunger as a lone figure, the Sentientsapiens describe it as a multitude; appearing as multiple figures simultaneously.
History[]
Both species describe The Hunger as the end of days. When The Hunger or one of its great beasts arrives, you must escape or perish. Anything organic will be consumed, and anything else will be broken down into something more useful. It is said that the Hunger consumes whole worlds in its wake, but often begins by confronting its great heroes. Unfortunately little else is known of this deity. The Fracturemen are famously difficult to extract information from and the Sentientsapiens- typically an atheistic people- take offence at the notion of this deity being fictional.
What is most concerning however is that neither race seems willing to produce an origin for this myth- either in a historical or fictional context. They will not say why they hold these beliefs, only that they are true. They will not state, theorise, or invent an origin for The Hunger. The end result is a myth shared by two typically grounded races that do not partake in religions, a myth with no origin or reason for invention. It is not a story that fills a gap in their knowledge, understanding, or experience, nor is it one that they enjoy recalling or sharing. There is no point to the Hunger or its story. No one knows why they believe this.