Concept Corner #8

Concept Corner #8 - Beckoning
In the time before time, there was only nothing... and the All and One, who reached into the nothing and formed it into reality. From the All and One came gods, who continued their creator's work, coming down from their plane of existence and bringing light and life to a desolate planet. Among this life, standing closer to the gods than any other, were humans. 

But as humanity grew, the gods fell victim to infighting and grudges that escalated into all-out war. This war between the gods touched down onto the humans' soil... and they took up arms as well, to fight among some of the gods against the others. 

Far from being proud, the gods were frightened at what the humans had done, how much they had grown. They feared the humans' capacity for further strength, and abandoned the plane of existence they had inhabited for so long, leaving the humans behind. Over millennia, the existence of the gods was forgotten, and humanity grew into many vast civilizations. 

In the present day, the remnants of the gods have been rediscovered at last, and that discovery became a beacon - a call to the gods to return to the creations they had left long ago. But the old gods are not the only ones to heed the call, as old enemies and new ones emerge from their shadows once again to threaten the ones who locked them away...

This is another old idea I had. It's meant to be a story about a fictional pantheon of gods who come to their earth and form partnerships with humans by granting them some of their power. I was stuck on it for a while, but over spring break I made some great strides on the backstory and setting (it's not on our Earth, but I imagine it's on a planet much like ours in the modern day).

Duality plays a large role in this pantheon, and to that end each god or goddess represents a pair of diametrically opposed or complementary concepts (i.e. Emotions and Stillness, Creation and Sterility, Land and Sea, Sky and Forest, etc.) When coming to their earth, they disguise themselves as humans by granting one of those halves of power to a human, forming a bond with them in the process. The humans teach the gods about their civilization, and the gods act as companions, protectors, and possibly more.

This could open up a large number of possibilities, I imagine. What role would the concepts play in the gods' characters? Would being given these powers affect the humans somehow? How would the gods feel about their creations? What kind of enemies could there be - gods of other, more modern religions? Perhaps other creations of the gods, meant to replace humans but abandoned once the call to return came? It's so wonderful when an idea bears such fruit!