These are the main gods of the Empire, both good and evil; they allied against demonkind but squabble and fight each other sometimes.
Many mortals have ascended to Sainthood, either of the Light or the Dark. Most of them are only relevant to people living in specific cities or doing specific occupations; just about any occupation which has been around more than the current age has a Saint. Every saint is linked to a god or goddess, though sometimes it may be hard today to understand the link. A few of note are listed below.
Barbarians worship some of the same gods as the Empire and some different ones as well. They also view some gods differently. Many humanoids worship this pantheon, just under different names. The heart of the pantheon is the ideas of strength and rewarding service generously. The Free Folk see themselves as free of the stifling laws and corruption of the Empire, which they see as evil. Only the Gods of the Peoples are truly worshipped; evil criminals and spies worship the Imperial Gods, though at certain times of the year, they are appeased with special ceremonies. Many Barbarians also practice some degree of druidic practice.
The Serpent People worshipped different, alien gods. No one worships them now but they are thought to seek to revive their Serpent children and probably the Yuan-ti DO worship them. They will not bow to Bane, so they are not part of the Dark Gods officially; they are pretty dark in practice.
The Gods From Beyond:
Various past incidents have brought gods from other lands to ours. Not all of them are worshipped legally in the Empire, and those that are still are seen as… weird.
The Dark Trio: Jammanderu, Thanatos, and Bogdozan all served Nerull until the Raven Queen killed him. They are now on their own, a mini-team of evil and vengeance, seeking to destroy the Raven Queen. They are the gods of Cannibalism, Intelligent Undead, and Lies respectively and they’re always out there, lurking and causing trouble. They refuse to join team Dark Gods because their vengeance trumps anything. They are not legally worshipped in the Empire. Jammanderu is notorious for corrupting ogres into cannibalistic monsters and for his repeated attempts to corrupt Halflings. He is sometimes called The Devourer. He was a major member of the Gnoll pantheon.
The Gods of Ascolais: Legally worshipped by those descended from Ascolais folk, but monitored by the empire. They’re a bunch of lazy bastards who encourage their followers to seek the easy life, quibble over everything and have a lot of sex. They thus appeal to those with wealth and power. It’s not clear why the Empire allows this to go on.
The Gods of the Gnolls: Ranivorus is the high god of the Gnolls, but in practice, the most prominent is Jammanderu, the Great God of Devouring. Ranivorus is the god of chiefs and war, who is mainly worshipped in war ceremonies and by gnoll leaders. Jammanderu, on the other hand, gives power to anyone who eats intelligent creatures. Ranivorus is married to Harkilla, Lady of Conquests, his second in command, who is in charge of controlling the slaves until they are eaten. Jammanderu ate his wife long ago, but all three wisely fear the cunning Miximec, the Wise Hag. She commands mystical secrets of gnollkind, enabling their survival now and their massive accomplishments during the Eighth Age. She is now cursed by the last Archmage of the Eighth Age, however, and so her power is weaker than it once was. Yeenoghu, one of the Princes of Demonkind, tries to convince gnolls to turn to him; the most feral gnolls follow him.
The Gods of Shali: They are legal to worship but are mainly worshipped only by those of Shali descent and people who have to be different. Olorun created the universe, but basically sits back and watches what happens and makes sure Creation doesn’t blow up or suddenly fall into a ‘dark star’, whatever that is. His wife Olokun is the goddess of the ocean and the mother of all the river-goddesses. She is as mysterious as the sea.
Obatala created humanity and taught them the ways of morality. He is married to Yemoja, who is the goddess of rivers and rain and the fertility of the earth. His son Oduduwa specifically created the people of Shali and watches over that land.
Sango is Obatala’s right hand-man, who is the storm god and leads his armies. He is married to Oba, who invented cooking and the home and presides over marriage. Their son Osoosi is the god of hunting.
Erinle is the god of healing and the slayer of rampaging elephants. His wife Ayao is the goddess of the sky and hidden wisdom. They are the loremasters of the gods.
There are a ton of other lesser gods and goddesses, the Orishas.
The Triad and the Twelve: Threshold Island didn't exist until the Fourth Age. Sailors stumbled on it early in the Fourth Age and were confused to find a central mountain, lots of trees, and a small abandoned logging town with two churches, both to gods no one had ever heard of. The Triad and the Twelve, two pantheons of unknown gods are worshiped here through half-understood rites which seem to bring huge blessings, but fail if you go far away. The timber was mostly cut down long ago and now is carefully preserved and sheepfolds, wheat, barley, oats, and fruit trees have taken their place. There is 'Threshold', built from the ruins, and 'Threshold Port', where visitors come, though none of the island is barred to visitors. A small guild of sorcerors and wizards dwell in Threshold, trying to figure out what is going on with this place. Threshold has one other distinction. During the tenth age, six different Demidemons tried to conquer it. Each time, the clerics of the Twelve successfully slew them with a special ceremony... which didn't work off the island. The famous, yet ill-named Bard Felonious Punk believes the Triad and the Twelve are asleep under the island and until they wake, their power can't go very far. The Triad are known as the King, the Queen, and the Huntsman. The Twelve are: The Trickster, the Healer, The Warrior, the Artisan, the Holy Defender, Mother Nature, the Judge, the Lover, Father Time, The Trader, The Druid, and the Scholar. These are titles in both cases, known only to their worshipers.
The Walking Man: Doomed to wander the world, he brings death and destruction in his wake. Only a few fools worship him but he’s died and returned so many times, everyone assumes that he is a god. Some think he is actually just an aspect of Bogdozan, but he seems uninterested in the Raven Queen. He has not been confirmed to be in the Empire in this age… the last confirmed sighting was during the Tenth Age. But everyone knows, sooner or later, he will show up again.
This version of the page was edited by John at 2021-03-27 07:07:42. View the most recent version.