Divine Compromise

The Divine Compromise is an agreement between the gods proposed by Avandra to ensure fairness and compromise between them.

During the Dawn War, after the gods decided to establish portfolios, some fought amongst themselves for dominion over various aspects of the world. Zehir, god of Darkness, contested Pelor, god of the Sun, for the sun banished darkness. Pelor fought with Khala, goddess of winter, whose icy mists blocked the sun.

As alliances formed, two sides eventually emerged in this conflict. Sehanine, goddess of the Moon, allied herself with Zehir, also desiring the darkness of night that would afford the Moon its place in the sky. Corellon, god of Spring, allied himself with Khala to oppose Pelor, who desired perpetual summer. Zehir and Khala allied against their mutual rival, Pelor.

On the other side of the conflict, Erathis, goddess of Civilization, and Melora, goddess of Wilderness, both came to the defense of Pelor, since civilization and nature both suffer greater hardship under wintery conditions. Moradin also came to Pelor's aid, simply because he counted Pelor as an ally and disliked the evil Zehir.

For ages, the two sides argued, before Avandra stepped in to parlay between the two factions and offered a compromise: day and night would be given equal weight, as well as the four seasons. The gods, weary of the quarreling, agreed - though some begrudgingly. To this day, grudges between some of the gods linger.

Pelor abides faithfully to this agreement to this day, though Zehir sometimes breaks his agreement by eclipsing the sun during the day. The Raven Queen - who took on the domain of Winter after Khala's death - mostly honors this pact, though she tests Pelor's resolve, seeking to end summers early and delaying springs as long as she can.