#akanu

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Deities With a Difference - Gilgeam

Gilgeam was the defining deity and indeed the defining characteristic of Unther. When someone thinks of Unther, their next thought is invariably Gilgeam.

He ruled Unther for thousands of years with a tyrannical fist, imposing his cruel whims on the poor populace.

Every aspect of Unther has been shaped by Gilgeam in some way, either by his life or by his death. Even the death-throes of Unther, which start with the invasion by Mulhorand are sparked by Gilgeam's destruction.

I felt that someone so iconic for a region should be given a chance at survival in one form or another.

My idea for Gilgeam's survival first came from a discussion about avatars and what happened to them when a god died. For any of you that have played the Baldur's Gate computer games, the encounter with Kozah suggests that some can survive.

Gilgeam was a mad, paranoid, control freak. He thought he and Unther would be eternal, but it would be foolish for a being of near unlimited power not to prepare for the event of his demise. So I came up with the idea of the Aspects of Gilgeam, weakened versions of avatars that survived his destruction and were locked away from the world in secret prisons.

All I needed then was a means of escape and thanks to a novel (The Alabaster Staff) that had Gilgeam resurrected with an artefact, I decided to use Gilgeam himself as the mechanism of escape. His undead avatar stalking the lands formerly owned by Unther and killing off his own aspects to return him to divinity, a bit like Highlander but with godhood. 

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Old Empires - A History of Akanu

The whole reason for a third pantheon of Mulan gods came from a single passage in Powers and Pantheons that stated Ramman arrived in the Untheric pantheon in 108 DR from another pantheon.

After doing a bit of research I found that the Untheric pantheon was made up of gods from the Sumerian and Babylonian pantheon which had significant crossover in real world history anyway.

Then after finding reference to Gilgeam changing history to portray him in a better light I started working on an alternate history with an entire previously unknown pantheon and people.

I had a start date for the new nation beginning in -1771 DR, and a few other dates that were attributed to Unther but could easily have been this third nation. Anything involving Unther and the Wizard's Reach was liable to be performed by the third nation because of geography.

Then I needed to work on the actual gods of the new pantheon. I had a head of the pantheon called Anu and a number of other gods but I needed to decide to which group Gilgeam belonged. After deciding on Gilgeam's descent into madness it seemed fitting for Gilgeam to rise through the ranks of the new pantheon before merging with Unther and ensuring the history of the Realms remained unchanged.

Finally all that was needed was a name. Many of the geographic features in Chessenta contain the word Akanu which when used with the god Anu provides the perfect name, Akanu, land of Anu.

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Deities With a Difference: Gilgeam

Article 6 of Forgotten Realms Alternate Dimensions Issue IV is an alternate take on the God-King of Unther; Gilgeam.

Official sources portray Gilgeam as a mad, tyrannical despot that persecutes the people of Unther whenever the mood takes him.

This alternate take on Gilgeam delves into his past and what made him the monster he was before his death in 1358 DR.

The Orcgate wars is the major event in Gilgeam's descent, his battles with members of the orc pantheon poisoned his heart and led to his poisoned personality.

Next he began plotting and murdering his way to the top of the Akanic pantheon before using the Imaskari Planar Barrier to trap Enlil in an extra dimensional prison forever and usurp the rule of the Untheric pantheon. Then he began centuries of misrule and tyranny and systematically eliminated all rivals to his rule.

Unther was finally freed when his ancient nemesis, Tiamat the Dark Lady, returned to finish the job she began many years before in the Orcgate Wars.

This alternate version draws heavily on the alternate history of Akanu as well as the alternate histories of Tiamat and Bahamut.

However as with many gods Gilgeam's death does not have to be final. Following the alternate history of the Old Empires is an alternate future, when Mulhorand invades Unther this begins a chain reaction of events that results in the restoration of Unther's gods and then a merger between the Mulhorandi and Untheric pantheons. One of these events is the return of Gilgeam as an insane, undead tyrant.

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Old Empires: History of Akanu

Article 5 of Forgotten Realms Alternate Dimensions Issue IV gives an alternate take upon the history of Unther.

For this article I created the entire history of an ancient empire that existed in the lands that Chessenta now occupies. The name for this empire came from the mountain range and lake in Chessenta; Akanu, as well as the head of the Babylonian pantheon; Anu.

When the Mulan gods came to Toril there were originally three pantheons comprising the Egyptian, Sumerian, and Babylonian gods and the peoples they rescued from the Imaskari.

These three peoples were led by their gods to the lands that would become Mulhorand, Unther, and Akanu where each pantheon established their own empires.

Akanu was ruled by Anu and the pantheon of god kings that lived their included among their number a god named Gilgeam.

The Orcgate Wars shattered the Akanic and Untheric pantheons, and Gilgeam finished off a few more of the Akanic gods, including the greater god Anu using Entropy.

Gilgeam then assumed the head of the Akanic pantheon and approached Enlil of the nearby Untheric pantheon to propose an alliance. On that fateful day, Gilgeam eliminated Enlil and walked into Unthalass declaring himself Enlil's named heir and now head of Akanu and Unther.

After that history continues as normal and any differences between official realms history and this alternate version are down to Gilgeam rewriting the history books.