Janus

Janus is the God of Doorways, Entrances and Exits, Beginnings and Endings, and a member of the Engelite Pantheon. Janus dwells within the Halls of Time, a realm which isn't constrained by the flow of time, where he serves as its guardian. Janus is widely regarded as being the subservient of Tyrrus, the view most popularly held by the Tyrannian Church- that Janus had been created by Tyrrus for the sole purpose of guarding the Halls of Time from outside abuse. The newer Church of Engelain however states that Janus is the head of the Engelite Pantheon, and appointed Tyrrus to earth. There are still others that say Janus is the physical personification of the Halls of Time.

In the Church of Engelain, Janus is believed to have banished both Tyrrus and Soahc from the world, locking them behind new doors within the Halls of Janus where they would form the new realms of Heaven and Hell. However, the Tyrannian Church asserts that Tyrrus banished Soahc and left willingly, so that the world could heal. It is known that after the wars of Tyrrus and Soahc, all gods were magically banned from ever physically setting foot on Engelain, and that this magical protection is referred to as the Girdle of Janus. It is of the belief in the Tyrannian Church that Tyrrus asked Janus to perform this task, as he had begun the creation of Heaven, and also wished to no longer interfere in the lives of mortals, for fear of inadvertently bringing doom upon them.

Sometime in the past century or so, a being by the name of Acoxyle managed to enter the Halls of Janus and travel back in time without Janus being able to prevent it. Stranded in the past, this Acoxyle started a cult about himself, using future knowledge to suppress and supplant various leaders and deities, powered by his collective worship until he ascended to godhood and rechristened himself the Dread Lord. Unable to enter the present and defeat the Dread Lord, for doing so would have meant abandoning the Halls of Janus and therefore leaving it susceptible to more intrusions, Janus sat by and watched as a group of adventurers eventually managed to slay the Dread Lord.

Bringing the adventurers to his Halls, Janus told them the history of their Dread Lord, and of their purpose- that one day he would call upon them again, for some greater purpose. With the present Dread Lord vanquished and therefore presenting no danger, Janus could return to the past and remove Acoxyle before he gained power, thereby rewriting history so that the blight of the Dread Lord never existed. It was to this new world that Janus sent the heroes, though the poison of the Dread Lord ran deeper than was first thought...