Dio, the god of Earth, Nature, and law, is probably the most patient and humble of all the gods. Calm, thoughtful, and sometimes even kind, he occasionally does a good job of keeping a family of quarreling deities from fighting too seriously. However, he can be sometimes thoughtless and rude without even knowing it, and when his anger DOES erupt, woe to those who have crossed him. He rarely forgets a grudge, and is probably second to only his brother Mercu in his aptitude for military affairs.
Known also as "Axebearer", and "The Iron Will," Dio can appear in any multitude of ways. Sometimes he is a bearded man wearing a lionskin upon his back. Sometimes he appears as an old but tough farmer, wearing a hat to shield the sun from his eyes. In times of war, however, the God Dio most often appears as a gigantic warrior, clad entirely in riveted and spiked plate armor, wielding an impossibly huge axe.
Dio's worshippers, known as 'Diomes', are usually down-to-earth, realistic people, with a firm belief in the power of tradition. Dioism encourages hard work, family, and pride, along with a respect for nature. Dioism does not, however, encourage unrealistic protection of nature. A Diome might plow the earth and till his garden-his hard work is his prayer to Dio, and his reward of a well-grown garden is the answer to his prayer. However, Diomes will have no problem cutting down a tree to keep themselves warm, because they worked hard to chop the tree into firewood, and so they deserved warmth because of it. Many Diomes tend to be farmers.
In military matters, Dio preaches judgment and punishment as well as collective guilt. Soldiers and Paladins of Dio are expected to neither relish war, nor loathe it. Orders are to be strictly obeyed, and leaders are supposed to be chosen for their wisdom, judgment, and trust. When fighting an enemy kingdom, knights of Dio are only concerened with conquering the enemy, then deciding the appropriate punishment-this usually takes the form of heavy taxes, but there have been instances when kingdoms have had certain towns destroyed as a punishment. After the judgment and punishment has taken place, the Diosian knights will usually leave-leaving burning resentment in their place, more often than not.
Dio rarely appears to his subjects, preaching hard work and personal responsibility as he does. However, the disunity of his people greatly disturbs him, as he wants all Diosians to be like a rock in the midst of a storm, the one source of stability in a chaotic world. The few times he has appeared on Fou Lu was during the Air/Earth war and the Great war, giving some of his divine aid to keep his people together.
