but the gods , children of the same birth though rendered grim , arrogant and unforgiving by the immensity of powers that allowed them to rule all creation with a blink of their all-seeing eyes or a snap of their immaterial fingers , could not abide noriens inconstancy , if for no other reason because , like insidious illness manifesting in distant relatives and offspring , the rabid volatility of the ever-shifting sphere infected the rest of the universe to its furthest corners and deepest recesses , breeding chaos .