Gods of the Thirteenth Age

The Imperial Pantheon

These are the main gods of the Empire, both good and evil; they allied against demonkind but squabble and fight each other sometimes.

The Gods of Light:

**Bahumat, Lord of Good Dragons **– Head of the Pantheon, he rules over good dragons and promotes justice and courage. He and Tiamat have a long rivalry… but they cooperate against demons and devils… even if not easily. Anyone who wants justice cries out to him… but the world is very large and he may not notice.
Avandra, Goddess of Luck, Wanderers, and Halflings – Happy go-lucky Avandra is said to wander the universe, having adventures, and stumbling into evil plots and wrecking them with a little cunning, a little luck, and a lot of common sense. While she is especially worshipped by Halflings, every peasant and gambler looks to her for luck. If you hold on, you never know when help will come from her unexpected. Basillia II Bugbear Slayer – Baisillia the Bugbear Slayer, faced with a seemingly endless tide of Bugbears, activated the Golden Carapace and led her armies against the Bugbears, who died by the thousands. One army of 20,000, she blinded 99 of every 100 and sent the last 1 back with one eye to lead the first 99 home. When humanoids invade the empire, the peasants pray to her to come and save them, along with General Lead. She is a deified Empress **Berrornar True Silver, Goddess of Hearth and Home **– The wife of Moradin; she helped birth the Dwarves and taught them how to make underground places liveable and cheerful. She is worshipped by others as well. Her priestesses preside over marriage. Correlon, God of Magic and High Elves – One of the three creators of the Elves. But he is the patron of all who use magic, and of the Archmage, even when it’s a gnome. Rumored to have the soul of the Spelljack in a bottle at the bottom of a septic tank.
**Erathis, Goddess of Civilization and Law **– The daughter of Ioun, she presides over Heavenly Axis, the heavenly mirror of mighty Axis and is the great lawyer and judge of the Gods. She determines the fate of your soul when you die. She is both implacable and someone who can be argued around if you know divine law well enough; it remains a divine paradox how both are true.
Heinrich I, God of Emperors – Once the First Emperor, he ascended to godhood and is the God of the Empire and of Emperors. He is worshipped on the Imperial Holidays but is mostly concerned with the big picture; no one prays to him directly unless they’re in the Imperial family, usually.
Ioun, God of Knowledge – The first time a god learned something, Ioun appeared. His worshippers claim he knows everything which can be known. He certainly knows a lot and is worshipped by scholars and sometimes wizards. It is rumored that he knows the secrets of mind magic too. He is married to Istus, who knows what he does not – the future. Istus, Goddess of Foresight – Istus knows what is to come and appeared with Ioun, they say, already married to him. However, she is reluctant to share because once you know the future, you cannot escape it, while otherwise, it is in flux. This raises the question of how it can be in flux when SHE knows. Don’t ask. Anyone who wants to know about the future asks her for guidance. **Kord, God of Strength **– The child of Zehir and Khala, he has a good nature which keeps him out of the dark gods and no one is sure why. He’s just like that, a joyous warrior. He is the god of warriors, worshipped less in this civilized age; ironically, he is worshipped by many of the Empire’s enemies. Kord hits things until they fall down. That’s what he’s good at, and anyone who hits for a living may worship him. A small cult claims that Kord and Gruumsh are the same person, depending on how angry he is. Kord and Khala have a difficult relationship, while he gets on oddly well with his father, Zehir.
Melora, Goddess of Nature – She is the kind and benevolent goddess of nature and is NOT worshipped by the High Druid, who sees her as more of a goddess of farms and gardens and not nature at all. She and Pelor are married and they do preside over agriculture together and every farmer loves them. However, if you make her angry, she will wreck you. She is the mother of Sekolah, but Pelor is not the father. Moradin, God of Dwarves and Forgework – The creator of the Dwarves, Moradin is ev everything every Dwarf wants to be. Getting him to come away from his forges is hard, but he’s a doughty warrior. He is served by Garl Glittergold for some value of ‘serve’.
Pelor, God of the Sun and Foe of Undead – The god of the Sun, whose light destroys the undead. Some Witchhunters serve him. She and Pelor are married and they do preside over agriculture together and every farmer loves them. Pelor is allied with the Raven Queen due to a common interest in killing off the undead. Sehanine, Goddess of Night, Love, and Shadows - The three gods of Elvenkind emerged together out of the mists of the Astral Plane, the three children of a God of whom they do not speak. Corellon was the eldest, the master of magic and art who was the leader of the triad; Lloth was the middle child, who loved the twilight and the shadows. She sought out the secrets they hid. And Sehanine loved the night and its pleasures. Together, they made Elvenkind and invented many magics and forged the Prime to their vision: Corellon the High Elves, Sehanine the Wood Elves and Lloth the Shadow Elves. Sehanine it was who created the Moon when Pelor begged that his followers might have some light at night as well as in daytime. Sehanine accepts non-Elves as well, especially Gnomes, but is dear to all thieves, lovers, and explorers. Sehanine and Avandra are good friends and allies.

The Dark Gods: Bane, God of the Crusade – He heads the Dark Gods who aid the Crusade. He is known to want to take over the world… but first, those damn outsiders trying to muscle in on it have to be put down. He is especially a god of kings, generals, and major nobles.
Abbathor, God of Greed – Abbathor is the Dwarven god of Greed. To be precise, he lusts for everything that comes out of the ground – precious metal, gems, and the like. Tiamat hates Abbathor because he wants all treasure that came from the earth. But he’s better at robbing her than vice-versa. He is the patron of many Duergar, though some serve Asmodeus instead.
Blibdoolpoolp – Goddess of Kuo-toa, Madness, and Insane Insight – Possibly also lobsters. Basically completely insane and hard to deal with, but she sees things even Istus cannot and is part of the war on demonkind. They cannot predict her lunatic plans. She looks like a naked, giant Kuo-toa. She and Sekolah are rivals, but sometimes cooperate.
Gruumsh, God of Fury – Gruumsh is the killing machine of the gods, basically turned loose to kill things when they need things to die. He predates Orcs, but took the form of one when they were created, which bothers people. He hates Corellon, but Corellon treats him like an idiot younger brother. A small cult claims that Kord and Gruumsh are the same person, depending on how angry he is.
Khala, Goddess of Winter – Mother of Kord, she is the ice goddess who rules over a quarter of the year and is thought to want to freeze the world, though that will have to wait until the demons and devils are locked up forever. She is married to Zehir but does not share his love of messing with Tiamat. Khala has a disliking of Pelor which would probably be hate, only she hates Sekolah more. It’s not even clear why. Many think this is because her power doesn’t really go very far into the ocean. Kord and Khala have a difficult relationship, while he gets on oddly well with his father, Zehir.
Lloth, Goddess of Spiders and Dark Elves – Unlike some universes, Lloth remains by the side of Sehanine and Corellon, though it’s assumed that she’ll try to usurp them once demons and devils are all driven out and the world is safe for plotting. As it stands, she is the spymaster of the Dark Gods. Mainly because while Vecna is better at spying… he then doesn’t share his secrets, while Lloth enjoys exposing secrets. A small, probably insane cult claims Vecna IS Lloth in disguise. Or vice-versa. Another small one worships ‘Shining Lloth’ and tries to claim she’s not evil at all, just faking it as part of an elaborate plan to eventually hang the Dark Gods up by their own nuts once they aren’t needed.
The Raven Queen – Goddess of Death and Ravens – Once Nerul ruled over the dead and basically decided to kill everything to get stronger. Pelor and a mortal sorceress killed him instead and she ascended to godhood as the Raven Queen. She gathers the souls of the dead, who are judged by Erathis, then delivers them to their final fate. She also watches over everyone who died without a divine patron. At least in theory. She is theoretically a dark god, but is probably the least dark of them. Or so her priestesses claim.
Sekolah, Goddess of Sharks and Sahuagin – She is the wrath of Nature, who destroys the enemies of her mother, Melora. And random bystanders. Many think the reason the Iron Sea is so hostile is due to her power. Sahuagin regard her as their mother. She will not attack Priestesses of Melora but anyone else is fair game. The High Druid doesn’t like her either. Sekolah is known to regard Khala as basically a dried up useless bitch and her followers mock Khala all the time.
Tiamat, Goddess of Greed and Evil Dragons: The twin sister and rival of Bahumat. She is the leader of evil dragonkind and is said to want ALL the treasures. Once a God only for Dragons and Dragonborn, she has found many worshippers among other sapients because they also appreciate her patronage of wealth, greed, and treasure-seeking. The chromatic dragons and vengeance seekers rally to her banner. She and Zehir have a long feud in which she thinks he is after her treasure and he screws with her to amuse himself. Tiamat hates Abbathor because he wants all treasure that came from the earth. But he’s better at robbing her than vice-versa.
Torog, God of the Undeerdark, prisons, jailors, and torture: Torog was the son of Tuern, though myths vary as to who his mother was. He is the God of the Underworld, prisons, jailors, and torture. He is believed to be prisoned in the Underworld and many Living Dungeons worship him. Indeed, he is often seen as the god of dungeons. Vecna: He is the god of secrets, magic, and liches. But especially secrets. Vecna’s origins are unknown; he may have been a mortal who somehow achieved godhood or he may be one of the oldest gods. His own cult asserts that the first time someone knew something and hid it from others, Vecna was born. Or that is what outsiders are told, anyway. Vecna’s cult is so secretive that it may well lie to its own initiates. Vecna and Lloth often clash over seeking out the same secrets. Vecna has only one hand and one eye. Vecna has no hatred of Ioun but his cult often steals knowledge from hers and so they are on bad terms. His other hand and eye are artifacts which may or may not answer to his control but most definitely wander the world, sometimes missing and sometimes turning up in the hands of evil warlords and wizards. He may or may not be seeking them out. Zehir, God of Night, Murder, Snakes, and Poison: When first the sky went dark and Pelor’s light could not be seen, Zehir was born in a sunless canyon. He came and joined the Gods and married Khala and together, they had Kord. He began the Dawn War by slaying Tabrach-Ti, the Queen of Bronze, after she destroyed his holy city of Kasharia on the Prime. He became the assassin of the Gods. His love for snakes led him to create the Serpent People and though they have fallen, the Yuan-ti still love him. It is thought that he hates the Lich King, who overthrew his followers, so long ago. Tiamat and Zehir have a long feud in which she thinks he is after her treasure and he screws with her to amuse himself.

The Saints 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.
Arvoreen, Saint of Watchmen – A Halfling saint who was a loyal Imperial watchman whose alertness saved first his village, then a Duke, then the Emperor himself. Watchmen worship Arvoreen. He is typical of many occupational saints.
Avachel, Saint of Draconic Magics: His history is confused now; he was an Elf or a Dragonborn or maybe a strange cross of the two. He is depicted all three ways, and he may have served Correlon or maybe Bahumat or Ioun or… But people interested in draconic magic who are not actual dragons turn to him.
Brandobaris, Saint of Halfling Adventurers – Brandobaris was an ordinary halfling who had to become a spy and rogue to protect his people. He was cunning and used his wits to overcome bigger foes.
Cuthbert, Saint of Beating Sense Into People – Cuthbert was a priest of Kord who had enough of your shit five seconds after he was born. He somehow could hit people in the head and revive their common sense; some people say he had a magical mace or staff which did this for him. His priests sometimes become adventurers to knock some sense into monster heads. Garl Glittergold, Saint of Gnomes, Jewellers, and Humor: Garl Glittergold tells many stories of his origins and some of them might actually be TRUE. He is a demigod, possibly the son of Moradin or a mortal who achieved divinity, or maybe he’s actually still a mortal and somehow bluffing divine status. Or a small rubber duck. Whatever he is, he may have created gnomes or maybe some other, now forgotten God did so. He is their patron, whatever his origins. Gem cutters, jewelers, and those who dwell in the shallows of the Underworld also give fealty to him. His cunning is employed in defense of good causes.
Hanali Celanil, Saint of Romance and Love: A Wood Elven Saint and servant of Sehanine. She fell in love with a Shadow Elf and a High Elf; their unusual but successful relationship, and many adventures, brought her to Sainthood. Those seeking love with someone of another race turn to her for help.
Sophia, Saint of Hermetic Scholars: Saint Sophia may have been the daughter of Ioun, or that may be a legend; virtually every saint has people claim they were half-divine. She was a priestess and mage who founded an order of scholars to preserve knowledge against some future apocalypse, after which they could restore the world’s knowledge. Most of her holy places are hidden away to avoid being blown up by any apocalypse. The mother house is said to be near Santa Cora, but not in it, just in case.

The Barbarian Pantheon

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 Gods of the Peoples Crom, King of the Gods – Crom is the leader of the gods, the great king who leads them in war and divides the loot afterwards. Crom emphasizes courage and generosity. But he is a god of chiefs and kings and nobles, not of the common man.
Maeb, Queen of the Gods – Wife of Crom, she rules over home and hearth, over birthings, marriage, and funerals. (She shares the latter job with the Raven Queen). Part of her job is to restrain the warriors when they get out of hand.
Avandra, Goddess of Luck, Wanderers, and Herders – Happy go-lucky Avandra is said to wander the universe, having adventures, and stumbling into evil plots and wrecking them with a little cunning, a little luck, and a lot of common sense. She tends Crom’s herds when not out wandering and her many children protect them when she must go out and thwart some horrible Imperial plot. Many young folk idolize her and hope to have adventures like hers, while they are still young and free to wander. Istus, Goddess of Hidden Wisdom – Her priestesses have all the great secrets and use them with special magics to aid the tribe. But their foresight tends to make people uncomfortable and they sometimes lie to you ‘for your own good’.
Gruumsh, God of Fury – Gruumsh went berserk the first time Corellon used magic to slay one of Gruumsh’s sworn warriors, and rarely stops being enraged. He is served by berserkers, but he’s so prone to kill everything in sight that most people pray he won’t notice them at all, ever.
Khala, Goddess of Winter – Mother of Kord, she is the ice goddess who rules over a quarter of the year and is thought to want to freeze the world, though that will have to wait until the demons and devils are locked up forever. She is married to Zehir but does not share his love of messing with Tiamat. Khala keeps trying to convince Crom to throw Pelor out of the tribe, but many think he keeps Pelor to balance her out, as her power and Pelor’s balance each other. She has a long feud with Sekolah because Sekolah is a murderous bitch and who wouldn’t hate her? She and Kord swing between a good and bad relationship as is common when mothers can’t accept their child is no longer a child and can make his own decisions, thank you.
Kord, God of Strength – The child of Zehir and Khala, he is the god of warriors and beloved of the common man. He drinks too much and goes on a tear, but it’s only endearing. He hears the cry of those whose bravery is not enough and gives them strength when the odds are worst. Even moreso than Crom, he gives, keeping only his armor and weapons for himself.
Moradin Soulforger – He is the lord of the Souldeep, where the wicked (like most imperial people) go for eternity, working his forges to make armor and weapons for Crom’s army. No one likes Moradin… in fact, everyone fears Moradin, but without him, Crom’s warriors would have to fight with their bare hands.
Pelor, God of the Sun – Pelor makes everyone nervous because he is a god of both the Empire and the True Folk. The Sun basically doesn’t care if we live or die; it shines on the good and the bad alike. We appease him so he will make our crops grow and make the grass grow for our herds, but we know we can’t trust him, just buy him off. At least he helps drive off the undead.
The Raven Queen – She may have once been a mortal or a raven or both, but she slew the old God of Death and took his place. Maeb handles laying bodies in the ground; she takes the souls and brings them to Wonderhall to feast and make war with evil (like the Empire) or to Souldeep (where weaklings labor as thralls for eternity).
Sehanine, Goddess of Night, Love, and Shadows: She is the goddess of the night, who hides our raiding parties and let’s lovers meet in secret. We know some Imperials worship her, but unlike Pelor, she loves us more than she loves them.
Zehir the Sineater – Zehir is not a brave warrior at all, skulking in the dark, stealing, poisoning, and murdering. But he turns his talents only against the filthy Imperials, who have stolen what is rightfully ours. He does bad things so we don’t have to. Thus, we accept his loyalty. Also, he and Tiamat are deadly enemies and we hate Tiamat.

The Imperial Dark Gods of Evil: Bahumat the Tyrant – He helped Heinrich I overthrow the Wizard King (who was a bastard) but only in order to establish himself as absolute ruler of the best lands in this part of the world. He does not give, he takes and if you won’t give to him, he kills you. Even his own followers. He also has endless, stupid rules. And he’s an evil dragon, just like his insane wife, Tiamat. Tiamat, Goddess of Greed: Bahumat married his sister because he is a freak who doesn’t marry out of the clan. It’s no wonder she’s an inbred, five headed monster. She is totally selfish, treats her maidens terribly, and literally uses coins and gems and jewelry as her bed. She and Zehir have a long feud because he keeps stealing part of her horde and giving it to Crom to distribute. Her servants, the Three, control one of the Seven Imperial Cities, Drakkenhall, and it is the worst city on Earth and that’s saying something.
Bane the Enthraller – Bane is the Zehir of the Imperial Cults. This is to say, even Bahumat finds him repulsive, but he’s so effective at killing, he has to make use of him. Bane believes EVERYONE should be a thrall, even the strong. His thrall. He and his insane son Torog are the biggest threats to freedom, along with Erathis. Bane and Erathis are the parents of Torog.
Correlon, God of Wizardry – He is the creator of the filthy art of wizardry, which enables weaklings to destroy the strong. We hate him more than most of the Imperial Gods and he is utterly worthless in every way.
Erathis, Goddess of Bad Laws – Her job is to make up excuses to punish people who did nothing wrong, by creating so many laws that everything is illegal and she can always stomp you for something. Bane and Erathis are the parents of Torog.
Heinrich I, God of Emperors – Once the First Emperor, he ascended to godhood and is the God of the Empire and of Emperors. In other words, he is the source of most of our problems and killing him is high on Crom’s list of things to do when the Empire fnally burns.
Ioun, God of Writing and Books – You can’t trust books not to warp your mind. They’re used by evil weaklings to destroy the strong and control them. He is one of the most evil of gods.
Melora, Goddess of Gardens and Imperial Farming – Melora keeps the empire fed and that makes her a bad person. They deserve to starve and eat shit. Basically, she helps their crops grow ridiculously well, probably by human sacrifice.
Pelor, God of the Sun – Pelor makes everyone nervous because he is a god of both the Empire and the True Folk. The Sun basically doesn’t care if we live or die; it shines on the good and the bad alike. We appease him so he will make our crops grow and make the grass grow for our herds, but we know we can’t trust him, just buy him off. At least he helps drive off the undead.
Torog, God of the Undeerdark, prisons, jailors, and torture: Torog is the son of Bane and Erathis. He wants to imprison everyone underground and torture them, and he creates Living Dungeons to carry everyone underground and imprison them.

Gods too Evil Even For the Empire: Abbathor, God of Duergar – Abbathor thinks that everything made from rock, stone, metal, or crystal belongs to him. He is the god of the Dark Dwarves who live in the Underworld. He robs everyone all the time.
Blibdoolpoolp – Goddess of Kuo-toa, Madness, and Insane Insight – Possibly also lobsters. Basically completely insane and hard to deal with, but she sees things even Istus cannot and is part of the war on demonkind. They cannot predict her lunatic plans. She looks like a naked, giant Kuo-toa. She and Sekolah are rivals, but sometimes cooperate.
Lloth, Goddess of Drow – Basically, she is a crazy, murdering sneaky person who rules over evil Shadow Elves from the Underworld and since she tried to kill Correllon AND Sehanine, no one wants her.
Sekolah, Goddess of Sharks and Sahuagin – She is why the ocean hates everyone; she is petty and murderous and hates the Empire AND the Free Folk.
Vecna, God of Liches and Undeath: The number one enemy of the Raven Queen; Vecna turned himself into a lich, then a god, stealing power which rightfully belonged to US, through evil secrets, books, and wizardry. He is basically the Lich King’s patron.

The Serpent Gods

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 Lady of the Knife in Darkness: The Queen of the Gods, who hungers for sacrifice. Despite this name, she was their sun god, though they believed she needed the blood of the living to keep the sun alive, and sacrifices were made to her in the night, when she is hungriest.
Uzark, the Teeth: Husband of The Lady of the Knife in Darkness; he was known for his powerful fangs and venom. With them, he bit and slew all her enemies whose blood wasn’t worth saving for sacrifice.
Four Heads In A Sack: This god is a headless monstrosity which carries four heads in a sack; by donning them, he can take anyone’s form and pass unseen, then report back to his queen on the secrets he found out. Son of The Lady and Uzark.
The Mourner: Daughter of the Lady and Uzark; she wails for the dead and keeps their memories alive. The souls of the good dead go to her nest; the souls of the wicked are remembered… by her eating their souls and absorbing their memories. There is reason to think that she and the Raven Queen conspired to slay Nerull.
Opolos, the Lord of Doors: He is the master of every threshold between two times, things, or places. Magical gateways pass through his nest, the Serpent Folk claimed. Every time you pass through a door or gate, Opolos knows you. Opolos simply appeared when first a doorway was made. Yithri, Mistress of Nails: The first time the Lady got angry, her skull cracked and Yithri burst out to hurt the one she hated. Mistress of torture and prisons and slavery, she and Torog have a long and bloody rivalry.
Borog, the Red-handed One: Trickster and mischief maker, his tricks sometimes help the Serpent Folk and sometimes hurt them and always convey a lesson, though sometimes the lesson is ‘you are a petty little bitch’. Borog and Zehir screw with each other constantly. Borog somehow switched babies on the Lady and no one knows what happened to the real kid, whose place Borog took. Weirdly, the Lady puts up with this.
The Carrion King: The spawn of Four Heads in a Sack and… no one knows. No one really WANTS to know. Basically the god of eating intelligent beings and other carrion; he may be the father of Jammandaru, or may BE Jammandaru. Where everyone knows Nurgle is a cosmic garbage can, he eats what is in the garbage can.
Ymegar, General of the Host of Smoke: Transformed from a golem to a god for the Lady, he exists to command her armies and trample her enemies under his tail. He is made from volcanic rock and has powers of fire and ash and smoke, and imbues his army with them.
Agarus, Eater of Faces: The daughter of Four Heads in a Sack and… something. She can eat anyone’s face and take on their role in the universe until she tires of it; she has no identity of her own beyond loyalty to her father and is constantly changing. She also presides over the shedding of every serpent’s skin. Weirdly, this makes her somewhat of a goddess of healing.
Lugno, the Hairy Pillager: He is an actual human exalted to godhood because he fought so hard for his masters; he is the god of slave soldiers, who fight for the Serpent People. He commands all the furry freaks who work for the great folk. His loyalty is surpassed only by his desire to kill people and take their stuff.
Mun, the God-shadow: Mun is the moon goddess, the goddess of night. She is also the collective shadow of the other gods. She acts to balance them out and sometimes even helps non-Serpent Folk. But she cannot be destroyed, even by the Lady, without wrecking all the other gods.
Herunos, the Moon Hunter: Son of the Lady and Uzark, he is the god of the hunt and spends all his time hunting. He is married to Mun and dwells on the moon with her.

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.