Ionthas (Dragonlance) - Chaos and The High God

Chaos and The High God

Chaos and the High God are the highest beings in the cosmology of Krynn. They are mysterious but widely credited with a role in the creation of the world. Chaos, originally known as Ionthas, was once the most powerful of the pantheon, second only to the High God, although the High God claimed to be further above the gods than the gods were above the mortals. Ionthas tried to corrupt and control the world, and when the gods created the mortal races, Chaos created the animals and as a joke, and endowed them with superior attributes than the mortals had: among them long sight, long life, exceptional hearing, powerful magic. The dragons in particular inherited almost all of these traits. Ionthas was eventually banished from Krynn by the High God, where he spent time in his own company and deluded himself into thinking that he was the true High God, that the world should be his. When the god Reorx came looking for a sliver of Chaos to put into the Gray Gem—the equivalent of the clipping of a toenail or a few strands of hair, in Reorx's words—Chaos leapt at the chance and willingly put all of himself into the gem.

The High God created the twenty-one lesser gods to be its servants in the plan for Krynn. When the mortals were created, Ionthas tried to take control of the world and its fate, beginning the All-Saints War as the gods wrestled for the fate of the mortals. One camp, led by Takhisis, held that mortals should be the slaves of the gods and tried to exert her influence to control them. The opposing camp, led by Paladine, said they should do as the High God instructed and guide the mortals, and realize that the mortals were gifted with the potential to grow, change and eventually become better and brighter than the gods themselves. This faction wrestled with the evil gods to stop them from gaining control of the mortals. The gods of neutrality took neither side, and did nothing more than tend their responsible areas. Eventually, the High God intervened and declared thus: It is the High God, and they were all nothing compared to it the High God. It was pleased with Paladine and his fellows, for they adhered to the spirit as well as the letter of the High God's instructions. It was displeased with Gilean and his camp, for they adhered only to the letter, but it would permit them their seeming neutrality, even though all they did would be to the High God's purpose. And it was mightily displeased with the gods of Evil, who sought to rise above themselves. However, it would permit them their efforts, for they made a balance with the other two, a balance that anchored the world—and the balanced could be changed, but the change must come from within, from the mortals themselves and not be forced upon it by the gods. It stated that the gods of Evil would ignore this and strive to enslave the world anyway, but it warned them that though they would try their mightiest to disrupt the High God's plan, all their efforts would only further it. The High God is virtually unknown to the mortals of Krynn, but Paladine says that the effects of its will are felt throughout the world, in the form of luck, to steer the world in the chosen direction. The High God is feared among all the gods. It seems that to say the High God's name in an oath is the most powerful oath a god could make. After Huma defeated Takhisis he made her swear by that which the Queen held highest, and she swore on the High God. This suggests that even though the evil Gods work against the High God's plan, they fear it and respect it.