Thanks for the replies. This is all very helpful. I think what was confusing me was I was equating the stages of FfH development to the Ages ... for example, I was wondering when the Age of Shadow was.
No, the stages and ages are quite different. There wasn't an Age of Shadow, Age of Fire, or Age of Light.
I just want to clarify two things:
* Of the gods, Bhall, Mulcarn, Sucellus have been "killed" while the whereabouts of Danalin is unknown? The rest reside in their vaults and do have an impact on their followers?
Bhall never died, she only laid in a coma in Agares' hell (where she still dwells) after her fall and awakened (after her form changed from beautiful to ugly) shortly before the end of the Age of Ice. Her heaven was ripped apart by her fall, and some pieces of it fell to earth. I think a small portion of her heavens is largely intact but vacant and could be used by Brigit if she managed to usurp the precept from Bhall, while other uncorrupted parts of her heaven likely merged with that of Lugus. As Empyrean literally means "on fire" I like to think that the word Empyrean was the name of her heaven and religion in the Age of Magic and that the same name was later reapplied to Lugus's despite not being all that similar to Bhall's
Mulcarn was the only god truly killed, soul and all I think. Mulcarn cannot be found anywhere in the worlds the angels made, not even in the underworld. Auric wasn't really his reincarnation, only a new host that his precept sought.
Sucellus left his vault to enter Creation and then had his body broken and his soul sent to the underworld, much like a human soul would be. When the 7 pieces of his body were reunited and his soul rose up to join them he returned to Erebus as the God of Life, but likely soon left to take over Nemed's old vault that had been lying vacant since before the birth of the human race. Nemed never created a single angel, so there are no rue angels of the life sphere. Some angels of other spheres (mostly from Sucelus' old sphere I'd guess) may have joined him, but his army would still be the smallest and would be made mostly of former mortals. It is possible that Sucellus never actually left Erebus after his resurrection but rather chose to dwell here in an incorporeal form, as Arthendain's entry now speaks of his spirit hovering through Prespur and rescuing Arthendain personally rather than Arthendain finding himself if Sucellus's vault as it did a long time ago. Normally I'd think that a god living in Erebus would be a breach of the Compact, but Sucellus was given a special dispensation to enter this plane to fight Mulcarn and may now be the only god allowed here.
I'd pretty sure that Danalin is still in his vault, he is just asleep and having his dreams manipulated (but not fully controlled) by Hastur.
I would guess that all other gods reside in their own vaults, but perhaps they visit other vaults from time to time. Bhall of course visited Nyx (Agares hell) before she fell, and Sucellus briefly entered it to rescue Cernunnos back during the godswar. It has been stated that Agares' respect for Nemed applies to the heir to his sphere as well, so that Sucellus is now the only good god that an visit Nyx peacefully. I believe there used to be a pedia entry describing one such visit (in Agares explained that he made Nyx a world of complete darkness instead of modeling it after the true heaven because any light would only reveal how imperfect the best efforts of the angels to copy heaven always were and would thus mock him for even trying. Sucellus also infuriated Agares by implying that he had helped mortals get a hold of the gems of creation, a charge he vehemently denied.) but that entry is gone now.
Kael has stated that before Trenton Majosi found the ritual that the Illians later used that entering Erebus wasn't thought of as just a breach of the compact, but as a physical impossibility. He seemed to say that no god had ever personally been to Erebus. However, this seems to contradict a lot of other lore so I usually choose to ignore it. The pedia clearly states that the gods sometimes (although rarely) fought face to face in Erebus in the Godswar, that Sucellus personally dwelt with the Elves in the heart of the forest before he got involved in the war, that all the gods met in creation at the Seven Pines, that Agares was in Creation when he captured Gower, that Ceridwen appeared to Kylorin in Erebus to prevent his suicide and corrupt him, and that Sucellus entered creation without the need for that ritual. Kael has also stated that the gods frequently visited Nemed on his farm, at the site where the Seven Pines would later grow. I prefer to think that the only thing keeping the gods out of Erebus was Dagda enforcing the power of Compact. Most of the gods' entries into creation were before that was signed, so there was nothing stopping it then. Mulcarn's entry was a breach of the compact, but enough gods met to approve Sucellus's entry (possibly constituting an amendment to the Compact) that he can be in Erebus legally. That may imply that Ceridwen has broken the compact but been subtle enough about it not to arouse suspicion or maybe that she just sent visions of herself rather than her real presence.
* Bannor, Grigori, Infernal, and Mercurians civilizations were founded by the angels of their patron god? Do we know who the angels of the other gods are?
I'm not really sure that you could say that Hyborem founded the Infernals, as they have existed as the demons of hell since before he was made. Bhall's presence inspired the demons to take on greater action in Creation, which led many demon lords to plot invasion plans. Agares prefers his demons compete for his favor instead of following a strict hierarchy, so his archangel Hyborem is only the leader of the strongest faction of demons seeking to make a home in Erebus. With a little very subtle help from Agares and more direct action by the Ashen Veil he managed to be the first to break into the mortal realm, but demonic rivals may follow.
We don't have many details on most of them, but we do find all their names in the pedia.
[quote='pedia History section]
The archangels were:
Amathaon- Maponos the Young
Sucellus- Cernunnos
Bhall- Brigit the Shining
Kilmorph- Goibniu
Lugus- Baelious ("fortune")
Aeron- Odio (who was imprisoned by Kilmorph during the age of dragons)
Dagda- Cassiel
Mammon- Hastur, Lord of Nightmares
Junil- Sabathiel
Oghma- Embarr ("imagination")
Camulos- The Avatar of Wrath
Nantosuelta- Splendor
Ceridwen- Kanna, Mistress of Pain
Sirona- Pelian the Suffering
Esus- Iaegus
Tali- Leucetious (Bringer of Storms)
Arawn- Gyra and Basium (the twins)
Danalin- Condatis
Mulcarn- Taranis the Unchanging
Agares- None (until the later creation of Hyborem, Lord of the Balors)[/quote]
You know about Cassiel, Sabathiel, Basium, and Hyborem, obviously.
The Avatar of Wrath probably spends most of his time in Camulos's vault trying to kill Camulos and take over his precept. Of course, he also comes to Erebus sometimes, when the AC is turned up high enough.
We know that Taranis entered Creation and fought off Sucellus to a stalemate (because his unchanging nature meant he could not be injured, and since the essence of Nature is gradual instead of instant change Sucellus did not manage to destroy him all at once), and at least when I played AoI was later killed by an Amurite Assassin. Normally when an angel or demon dies its soul returns to its god's vault to regenerate its body and heal over time. Taranis's unchanging nature may however mean that this healing is impossible.
Cernunnos lived with Sucellus and the elves in Erebus during the Age of Dragons, and probably stayed with Sucellus when he left for his vault after signing the compact and when he returned to fight Mulcarn. Cernunnos spent all of the Age of Ice with the Ljosalfar, who would not have survived without him. When he was given the precept of nature and became a god he had to leave Erebus for his newly inherited vault. Neither he nor Sucellus have an archangel now.
We know where Brigit is being held, and how to free her.
Likewise we know where Odio is held, and in my version how to free him.
As a child Ethne the White saw Splendor in the form of a blue and yellow bird.
Hastur dwells in Danalin's vault, whispering in the gods ear.
Condatis came to Falamar and tasked him with stopping Tabryn so that she would have time to fight Hastur in Danalin's vault and hopefully wake her god up.
Gyra may have been trapped by Tabryn's runes, but most likely he just stopped her from emerging from that well in time to stop him from creating the Dead Lands. She is probably now busy in the Underworld trying to fight Laroth, which is hard because Dagda refuses to believe he is a threat and so will not order any of his angels to obey her.
I believe that Kael has stated that Leucetious spends most of his time in Erebus, riding on hurricanes and similar storms. He is not fallen, but I believe he ignores any commands Tali may give him. The Air sphere is mostly about shirking one's responsibilities to have have random fun, so this is one archangel that doesn't have to fall to be able to do whatever the hell he wants. I think Leucetious is a little darker than Tali, but still not truly evil.
I don't think we really know anything more about the rest of them
Edited and fixed, thanks Corlis.
