In the interest of something beyond arguing over things we have no current power over, here's my current iteration of my write-up of the Church of Karameikos (which I recognise violates a few canonical things, though keep in mind that much of this is what the Church thinks, not necessarily the truth)
Wrath of the Immortals 2.0
by John Walter BilesThe following is an effort to sketch out what I think the most logical sequence of events following on the canonical Ixion/Rad quarrel would be:
Basic Assumptions:
1. Most Immortals do not realise that the continued use of the Radiance from the Nucleus of the Spheres will eventually destroy their own power in Mystara and even cancel out Immortal Level magics. Thus, they do not see the Hollow World as innately threatened by Rad's experiments, and decisions as to who to support will not be made on this basis. If they did realise Immortal level magic could be effected by the Nucleus, even the Entropics probably would have joined forces with the others to rip Rad into bite sized chunks and get rid of the Nucleus. After all, the change to the Nucleus had been intended to limit its use, not to strip all Immortals of their power over Mystara.
2. Many Immortals are not necessarily bothered by magic being wiped out; after all, why would a council of Hierarchs have altered the device to drain magic in the first place if such a state of affairs really concerned them? Thus, only those Immortals with a direct stake in mortal magic or magical races will automatically be bothered by this.
3. Many Immortals perceive the struggle as an internal civil war between factions in the Sphere of Energy, and thus don't want to become involved in it if they are from a different sphere.
4. If magic dies, the path of the Paragon becomes impossible, which would cut off the flow of new Immortals of Energy. This tends to push any Energy Immortal who doesn't have hopes of finding other paths to Immortality in Energy towards Ixion's camp.
5. No other path requires the existence of mortal-level magic (even the Epic Hero's legendary weapon could be theoretically mundane as long as it is used in glorious things). This gives other Immortals more reason to stay neutral, as the outcome of the struggle is no skin off their back.
6. However, Immortals of Time seek to promote change, and Immortals of Thought seek to understand everything; this gives them a potential reason to support Rad's experiments, so long as they have no personal commitment to mortal-level magic.
7. Matter, on the other hand, seeks to prevent change; this might give some incentive to Matter Immortals to join Ixion in preventing a change on the scale of the Death of Magic.
8. And finally, Entropy, because of assumption 1, has no reason to do anything but create as much havoc as possible.
How this plays out:
Every immortal of Energy has to take sides in this struggle. Alphatia, Ilsundal, Mealiden, Palartarkan, Razud (to protect Alphatia), Tarastia (because she sees the potential for Rad's experiments to exterminate the magical races as unjust), and Zirchev (to protect the magical forest creatures from destruction) join Ixion. Thor hesitates because his real loyalty is to Odin, not his sponsor Ixion, and unlike most Immortals of Energy, he was never a mage and has no real interest in magic. He remains neutral and is shunned by both sides, who find his neutrality to be a betrayal of the Sphere itself. Rad is joined by Rafiel, Rathanos (who finds his researches intriguing and a potential road to the achievement of his own goals), Pflarr (who cares nothing for his own followers, but is loyal to Rathanos), Eiryndul (who is chivvied into this by his old sponsor Rathanos, but is somewhat uncomfortable because he worries about the fate of the Elves in a magicless world, if such comes to pass. Mostly he sticks around at first because Korotiku, who he respects, also supports Rad at first), and Kythria, who joins to spite Valerias, who was her first sponsor but rejected her.
The Atruaghin Clans immortals have no particular love of magic, and thus declare their neutrality. Zirchev is unable to convince Halav and Petra to join him, and they remain neutral, preoccupied with other affairs. The Northern Reaches Immortals (Odin, Forsetta, Frey and Freyja [and Thor, see note above]) remain neutral, as they have other things on their mind.
The Dragon Rulers (The Great One, Diamond, Opal, and Pearl) join Ixion because they fear for the survival of the dragons if magic is removed from the world by Rad's experiments.
The Humanoid Immortals (Bartziluth, the Shining One, Wogar) all throw in with Rad because they want magic to be destroyed, figuring this would strengthen the position of their own races, who are usually bad at magic.
Djaea and Khoronus, divided as to who to support, decide to remain neutral to avoid having to fight each other. They take action to protect their worshippers, but that is all.
Khoronus' neutrality means that the members of the Sphere of Time are free to take their own position with regard to the war. Calitha and Ordana throw in with Ixion for fear that the Elves will perish in a world without magic. Al-Kalim, Petra, and Protius all remain neutral because they have no interest one way or another. Vanya throws in with Rad because she has no interest in the preservation of magic, and in fact believes that if Rad wins, his experiments will ultimately destroy Alphatia, throwing the way open for her Heldanner and Thyatian followers to come to dominate the Known World. She can swallow her disgust with Rathanos for this.
Terra, head Hierarch of Matter, also declares neutrality, as she has other things to worry about than an internal dispute in another sphere. Kagyar also has other things to worry about and has no love for magic. Valerias throws in with Ixion because he is her lover, and Faunus, for whatever he is worth, eventually throws in with him to protect the Forest Races. Ka waffles, acknowledging the danger to the magical races, but also wanting to prevent a war of the Immortals which would cause even more damage than a simple decline of magic. The magical races could be saved by moving them to other worlds and planes, but nothing will bring back the dead of such a war. Ka works in Pandius to try to find a peaceful solution, teaming up with Koryis, who also opposes war.
With Odin neutral, the Immortals of Thought are left to find their own way. Because he supports change, has an affection for the underdog, and because he has no philosophical attachment to magic, Korotiku supports Rad. Karaash joins Rad as well, hoping to see magic perish, which would make life easier for his humanoid followers. Diulanna remains neutral, torn between her hatred of Rathanos and her admiration for Korotiku. Noumena has no taste for war, and is preoccupied with his duties on the Council of Intrusion; he remains neutral. He does, however, begin to independently study what effects the draining of magic from Mystara might have, as the puzzle intrigues him. Koryis joins Ka in trying to bring about peace. Asterius hesitantly joins Rad's faction, since he is friends with both Ixion and Korotiku, but Korotiku was his sponsor. Like Eiryndul, his loyalty to the cause is fairly shaky. Still, his followers are largely thieves and merchants, and thus he has no vested interest in magic at the present despite his past interest in it.
Hel remains officially neutral, but unofficially organises a group of Immortals to try to drag out the conflict. Her past failure to sponsor many immortals comes back to bite her. Masauwu and his protégé, Bagni Gullymaw, join her, although Bagni's role in all this is to be a fall guy. Alphaks joins her, although his real interest is getting her help in destroying Alphatia. Atzanteotl joins her with his protégé, Danel Tigerstripes, also in the hopes of influencing things to fulfil his own agendas. The same can be said of Loki. Thanatos remains aloof, along with several of his own ex-students--Demogorgon, Orcus, and Talitha. Nyx begins to worry over whether Rad's experiments would lead to the destruction of Undead in Mystara, and begins conducting experiments to determine if this would be the case. Jammudaru, Yagrai, and Ranivorus try to join Rad, are rejected because they're Entropics, but support him anyway because they want to see magic wiped out so their humanoid followers can flourish.
The body count racks up as follows:
Ring of Fire (Anti-Radiance, Pro-Magic, Supports Ixion)
Ixion, Alphatia, Ilsundal, Mealiden, Palartarkan, Razud, Tarastia, Zirchev, The Dragon Rulers (The Great One, Diamond, Opal, and Pearl), Calitha, Ordana, Valerias, Faunus
Neutrals:
Atruaghin Clans Immortals (Atruaghin and company)
Northern Reaches Immortals (Odin, Thor, Frey and Freyja, Forseti)
Traldar Immortals (Chardastes, Halav and Petra)
Others: Djaea and Khoronus, Al-Kalim, Protius, Terra, Kagyar, Noumena, Diulanna, Taroyas, Minroth, Yav
Entropic Neutrals: Nyx, Thanatos, Brissard, Demogorgon, Orcus, and Talitha
Peacemakers:
Ka and Koryis
Brotherhood of the Star (Pro-Rad, Anti-Authority, Anti-Alphatia, or Anti-Magic):
Firm Members: Rad, Rafiel, Rathanos, Pflarr, Korotiku, Turmis, Kythria, Vanya, Karaash, Bartziluth, the Shining One, Wogar
Hesitant Members: Asterius, Eiryndul
Unofficial and Unwanted Members: Jammudaru, Ranivorus, Yagrai
Brotherhood of the Shadow (Hel's Hell-Raisers)
Hel, Masauwu, Bagni Gullymaw, Alphaks, Atzanteotl, Danel Tigerstripes, Loki
Politically, the sides can deploy the following nations:
Ring of Fire: Alphatia, Alfheim, various Elven clans and forest creatures (The elves of Minrothad are originally unable to motivate it to take sides at first, much frustrating Calitha and Ordana), every dragon with any religious tendencies--lawful, neutral, AND Chaotic ones, which frightens observers, Ethengar (motivated by Ixion in his aspect as Yamuga, playing on their desire to invade Heldann), Sind
Brotherhood of the Star: Glantri, Heldann Freeholds, Humanoids all over the place, Shadow Elves, Thyatian Empire
Brotherhood of the Shadow: Hule, Tiger Clan of the Atruaghin Clans, Azcans and Schattenalfen (Not that either Hollow World nation is likely to be too much help), Alphaks' tiny island nation off Alphatia, Hel's worshippers in Hule and the Northern Reaches, Boldavian vampires
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To try to sum up 95 pages in brief--
The Dragon Races begin manoeuvres to try to build a secure power base to oppose Rad, doing such things as entering the Ierendi tournament to gain the position of King and Queen, conquering nations, etc.
In the Hollow World, Tarastia tries to move to crush Nithia through her Jennite followers. The Tanagoro join them in the crusade to wipe out their old Nithian enemies. This leads Senkha into the hands of the entropics to 'save' her homeland.
The Humanoid immortals begin uniting as many of their followers as possible to be ready to intervene in the war. Thar ravages Alfheim with Shadow Elf aid. Driven out of Alfheim, they take over the surface of Rockhome, then go after the Dwarves below.
Heldannic Knights invade Norwold as part of the war once it erupts. (And their airfleet is annihilated by Alphatia's)
Ethengars invade and ravage Glantri, but are unable to finish it off. Many Glantrian peasants rise up and aid the Ethengars. (Especially in Boldavia and Klantyre, where Ethengar clerics help them slaughter the undead nobility).
The Desert nomads overrun much of Sind, then attack the Atruaghin clans and lots of death ensues. The Children of the Tiger rise up and butcher the Turtle Clan, enslaving some and sacrificing the rest. Only a remnant escapes by sea to the islands.
Shadow Elf agents try to turn the Ylari against the Elves as water thieves, but the Ylari conclude IT MUST BE THYATIS' fault. Events lead eventually to a Kin takeover and war on Thyatis.
When Karameikos betrays Thyatis, Thincol waits until the Karameikan army moves to aid Darokin, then sends assassins who wipe out the entire royal family of Karameikos (to his annoyance, the patriarch resurrects them all.) He then appoints Ludwig as Grand Duke. Civil war in Karameikos ensues as the Church of Karameikos schisms also. Eventually, the Shires invade and end the war by pinning the Black Eagle between Stefan and themselves, but this reduces the ability of either to aid Darokin.
The immortals catch Alphaks and imprison him for the whole meteor thing.
No destruction of Alphatia.
Everyone turns on Rad when it turns out the Nucleus can actually destroy Immortal level magic.