Tamir

I have nothing interesting I can think of to say, and today I've decided not to say it.

The three gods of Tamir have been, since before the world is made, locked in an unending cold war. Each god hates the others, but no god dares move against any of the others, for fear of the damage that would be done to all of reality.
This, in itself, is not anything particularly unusual. It is in the nature of beings such as gods that any conflict which cannot be resolved almost instantly in a display of incomprehensible might, is probably impossible to resolve directly at all. There are a thousand worlds where the relations between deities are governed by a complex system of rules and treaties each enforced by the threat of mutually assured destruction. What makes the gods of Tamir unique is what they decided to do about it.
The three of them agreed amongst themselves to make a world. Each would invest in that world all but a fraction of their power. And, over time, that power would grow, and it would change, until on the final day, the three would reclaim their power from the world, and see who it had come to belong to.
The first, mighty Primus fashioned th entire physical world in a single instant. He made everything, from the mountains and the seas, down to the smallest pebble. And too, he made all living things - which are, after all, also physical. All things, he thought, which walked upon the world must be molded by the form that he had given it, and so all things would ultimately come to be his.
Then the second, wise Dhaila looked at this world which Primus had made, and picked out humans, and gave to them minds, and the power of reason, by which they might turn Primus’ world to their own ends. All things, she thought, however mighty they might seem, would come to be shaped by human minds. And so, the world would come to be hers.
But the third, Regal, tricked his siblings. For he had been to create culture for the humans, the social context in which they would swim. And he had agreed with the others to pour his power into the world.
And he did both those things - he created for himself a mortal body, and walked the world as a living god. He taught the humans writing, and metalcraft, and all the other tools of civilization. But too, he made himself their king, ruling over them, commanding them, making all things his not by the indirect means the other two had used, but by force of arms.
Now, in many ways, Regal does not resemble what one might expect of a living god. It was not given to him to create the physical world, and so, he is barred from interfering with it directly. He cannot smite his enemies, nor reshape the world to his will. Nor was it given to him to create the minds of humanity, and so he cannot interfere in these things, either. He cannot control someone against their will, or force them to obey. Nor, indeed, is he permitted to kill.
But he has been the ruler of all of humanity since the beginning of time, and few rulers indeed can do any of those things. His enemies are defeated not by any show of godly force, but by those who serve him. The law is his to write and rewrite as he chooses. Armies march at his command, and to most of humanity, he is simply the rightful king - for that is what he taught them.
Still, Primus and Dhaila were not fools. Primus’s world is unkind to empires - it shifts and changes as though it were alive, shaking and splitting, making travel impossible, and leaving parts of humanity cut off from Regal for years or decades at a time.
And Dhaila did not make human minds to be humble and obedient, to simply bow to the whim of those above them. She made them to be independent, and willful, to rebel against any thing which might seek to constrain them. From birth, every human belongs to Regal, to shape as he sees fit. But he finds them a particularly stubborn material to work with, unwilling to bend as he would wish, struggling against him at every step. Although Regal has retained his position, barely a year goes by in which there is not some kind of rebellion against his rule. And the tighter he grips his subjects, the more they struggle against him. Though worship of Regal is the only official religion, both Primus and Dhaila are worshiped in many places, particularly further from the capital. And towards the outskirts of the empire, in places which have been cut off from direct contact, it often seems that Regal’s control is entirely nominal.