Gods

There are four groups of deities on the Paradonian side of the world:

  1. Tharybic Pantheon (lawful), and their neutral allies
  2. Sciorric Pantheon (chaotic)
  3. Uncommitted (neutral with no allegiances)
  4. Suprans (true neutral elemental deities)

Tharybic Pantheon:

The eight lawful deities of the Tharybic Pantheon led by the goddess Lodope traveled across the great cosmic void in their sentient vessel known as Diadron the Living Ark. and settled here in the material plane, thus beginning the First Age.

The Tharybians are attributed with the creation of the first humans, as well as teaching mortals the secrets of commerce, justice, politics, defense, medicine, mathematics, and many other concepts.  Their leader Lodope is ruler of Purgatory, essentially the goddess of death. In this role, she ensures the appropriate afterlife for all mortal souls. It is a position of immense power and prestige and is a big part of why the Tharybians have continued to thrive on this plane.

Anyone of the Tharybic religion must reject chaos as an influence and find no meaning in dreams.

Lodope (F) – LN

  • Goddess of death, mourning
  • Patron deity of mourners, hunters of undead
  • Symbol: triangular helm, maze, esobok
  • Other names: The Mapmaker, The Waiter at the Threshold, Supreme Arbiter, Maze Mistress
  • Governs Purgatory and ensures souls are guided to the right place; considered queen of the gods; Mausoleums in each city have clerics of Lodope who handle funeral arrangements, consult with mourners, and provide resurrection if deemed necessary

Calydo (F) – LG

  • Goddess of light, justice, goodness, courage, just wars
  • Patron deity of humans, paladins, good-aligned warriors
  • Symbol: sun & moon, white stars on yellow, silver dragon
  • Other names: Purelight, Radiant Maiden, Uplifter, Suffuser
  • Created humans; Most popular deity in Paradon; paladin order  – the Pure founded to serve her mission; large temples found in each city (light towers in Farglad); clerics very actively involved with community, providing charity work; multiple celebrations – Bright Night in Farglad, plus annual Suffusion festival with pilgrimage to Theshir

Kyon (M) – LG

  • God of healing, sanity, perseverance under hardship, charity for the poor, youth, restoration, fitness
  • Patron deity of children, healers, reformed villains, good-aligned monks
  • Symbol: bleeding hands holding blade of sword, phoenix with sparks
  • Other names: Lord of Sparks, Renewer
  • Clerics called Embers (Kyonite Ember); smaller temples in cities to train Embers in healing; caring for injured and insane; also act as city firefighters, perform charity work, host orphanages; Embers are widely respected and honored across Paradon

Om-Striom (M) – LE

  • God of protection, defense, xenophobia
  • brother to Styre, jailer of the gods
  • Patron deity of evil politicians / evil guards, fear-mongers, & evil monks
  • Symbol: golden blocking palm
  • Other Names: Divine Defender, Obstructer, Warden of the Gods
  • Brother to Styre, jailer of the gods; His worship is growing in popularity in smaller towns, only big temple is in Farglad; clerics called Protectors proliferate the rural towns

Styre (F) – LE

  • Goddess of political intrigue, secrets, spying, blackmail
  • Patron deity of evil spies & courtiers
  • Symbol: hand with two fingers up,  vertical eye in the palm, & bloody hook tear
  • Other names: The Face In the Shadows, Whisper Queen
  • Sister to Om-Striom; no known temples – only secret shrines; clerics don’t reveal their vocations, just integrate into society; Some nobility will paint her bloody hook tear symbol below their eye as a warning to perceived enemies

Ashen (M) – LN

  • God of power, ambition, individualism, honorable combat, chivalry
  • Patron deity of leaders, loners, neutral knights
  • Symbol: red spider
  • Other names: the Lonely God, Fate Weaver
  • No temples; Ashenites are individual warrior-types with personal shrines, usually nobility, who follow his creed to weave one’s own destiny

Altrus (M) – LN

  • God of commerce, trade, monetary wealth, diplomacy
  • Patron deity of merchants, bankers, diplomats
  • Symbol: rooster, pipe, crowned gem
  • Other Names: Resplendent Herald
  • Considered messenger of the gods; established the practice of buying and selling; bigger temples in Ubren and Slikston; Altruan clerics oversee trade, banks, political meetings

Aedis (F) – LN

  • Goddess of time, mathematics, military strategy
  • Patron deity of scholars, engineers, architects
  • Symbol: crossbow, book
  • Other Names: Major Magistra
  • Invented language, timekeeping, crossbows; big temple in Ambrem acts as main Paradonian college for scholars; clerics, called minor magisters, are professors

Tharybic Allies:

These three deities were not from the original Ark, but have formed an alliance with the Tharybians. As such, their worship is encouraged and devotees are found throughout Paradon.

Sleannus (M) – LN

  • God of beauty, asceticism, martial arts
  • Patron deity of monks, ascetics, aesthetes
  • Symbol: silver slack-jawed mask of a beautiful man
  • Other names: The Slack-Jawed God
  • No temples, several monasteries; a few people have individual shrines

Plabon (M) – NG

  • God of merriment, abundance, contentment, generosity, and the active, joyful life
  • Patron deity of cooks, celebrants
  • Symbol: unwinding knots
  • Other names: Glutton God, Veschkrei (“He who Unties”)
  • Acting as a go-between for mortals and Mygdon (chaotic goddess of sleep), he provides pleasant dreams as a gift to his faithful. One can often find his likeness on soporifics to fight insomnia, as well as on mirrors – for he encourages contentment with one’s body. An annual street festival called Plabonogge is held in his honor all across Paradon.  His clerics make useful confidantes and advisors, many of nation’s nobility have a Plabonite in their retinue. Clerics are trained in healing, massage, effective antidotes, and the culinary arts.

Shaes (F) – NG

  • Goddess of art, music, performance, charm
  • Patron deity of bards, artists, enchanters, lovers of fine art
  • Symbol: star-eyed eagle, blue-green feather
  • Other names: Swayer
  • Big temple in Gridea; other cities have Patronages of Devotees to gather and worship informally, i.e. enjoy performances

Sciorric Pantheon:

As a response to what they saw as the oppression of the lawful Tharybic Pantheon, a group of chaotic gods formed their own pantheon to fight them. Their following has significantly dwindled on this side of the world.

Evroul (M) – CN

  • God of rebellion, revolt, anarchy, freedom from oppression, subversion of the powerful
  • Patron deity of revolutionaries, oppressed, firebrands
  • Symbol: crooked sun, breaking wheel, arrow wheel
  • Other names: Bondbreaker, Overthrower
  • Leader of the Sciorric Pantheon; husband of Gantra; worship is banned: no temples, shrines, or clerics

Gantra (F) – CE

  • Goddess of anger, vengeance, fury
  • Patron deity of evil avengers, evil barbarians, monstrous humanoids
  • Symbol: tree of blades
  • Other names:
  • Wife of Evroul; worship is flourishing among the monstrous humanoids

Zady (F) – CN

  • Goddess of war, glory, bloodsport, hunting
  • Patron deity of neutral barbarians, mercenaries, soldiers, & hunters
  • Symbol: bloody boar (boar beast with spears sticking out)
  • Other names: the Bloody Huntress, Warmaiden
  • Despite being banned, worship continues among mercenaries, barbarians, and wild, less urbane, warrior types

Mygdon (F) – CN

  • Goddess of sleep, dreams, memory, visions
  • Patron deity of chaotic oracles, occultists
  • Symbol: chameleon’s eyes, her head in a box
  • Other names: Nightqueen, Seeress of Sleep
  • Worship is banned, but there are secret shrines, secret oracular/occultist groups; she’s the main rival of Lodope

Reig (M) – CN

  • God of debauchery, lust, hedonism, wine, drugs
  • Patron deity of heathens, brothels
  • Symbol: crossed torches
  • Other names: Smoldering God
  • Worship is banned, but in Gridea and Ambrem you can find secret brothel temples

Valcian (M) – CG

  • God of dancing, fashion, swordwork
  • Patron deity of dandies, swashbucklers, heroic outlaws
  • Symbol: black & white striped lemur tail swirl
  • Other names: the Valiant One
  • Brother of Cristagren; husband of Bilimer; worship is banned, but still popular among unlawful good types, especially sailors

Cristagren (F) – CG

  • Goddess of illusion, shape-shifting, dressmaking, social justice
  • Patron deity of seamstresses, good illusionists, good spies, and good lycanthropes
  • Symbol: scissors, two veils with middle cut
  • Other names: Veilcutter, Unweaver
  • Sister of Valcian; worship is banned: no temples, shrines, or clerics

Caolaub (M) – CE

  • God of madness, murder
  • Patron deity of murderers, evil maniacs
  • Symbol: bloody knife key, severed chain
  • Other names: False God, Eye-blinder, The Firstborn Man
  • Most hated of Sciorric pantheon; worship banned and monitored; Secret cults occasionally spring up

Brega (F) – CG

  • Goddess of travel, luck, personal growth, the journey boldly undertaken
  • Patron deity of adventurers, travelers, merchants, tradespeople
  • Symbol: crossroads
  • Other names: Carefree Wanderer, Lady Lightheart
  • Only tolerated Sciorric deity; No temples but many roadside shrines, Clerics travel the world, acting as guides

Uncommitted:

These four deities took no part in the Divine War, and their number of followers is relatively small.

Quip (M) – NG

  • God of good thieving, trickery
  • Patron deity of good thieves, roguish gnomes
  • Symbol: calligraphic Q
  • Other names: Nimblefingers
  • Good-aligned thieves, particularly of the gnomish persuasion, have a secret worship club devoted to Nimble-fingered Quip

Melista (F) – NG

  • Goddess of animals, wilderness, peace
  • Patron deity of good-aligned rangers
  • Symbol: silver woven star
  • Other names: None
  • The ranger’s choice of deity; Elves don’t worship her, but have a fondness

Sava (F) – NE

  • Goddess of disease, poison
  • Patron deity of assassins
  • Symbol: six eyes, snake in a chalice, three slashing scars
  • Other names: Six-Eyed, Thrice-Scarred, the Doleth
  • Kyon’s chief nemesis; believed to be chief religion of Qualic’s lizardfolk

Gelm (M) – NE

  • God of evil thieving, scavenging, greed
  • Patron deity of evil thieves
  • Symbol: one horned wolf-vulture
  • Other names: God-of-Gains, Ol’ Goldbelly
  • Forsaken son of Zady and Reig, cult group among evil thieves; Quip’s chief nemesis

The Suprans

The Suprans are five siblings, each of a different elemental persuasion. They are quite powerful and have a large number of followers around the world, from all non-elf races.  Dwarves worship the earth god Ulikrus almost exclusively, gnomes love fire goddess Jerum, and humans love nature goddess Tramada if their rural and sky god Billimer if they are maritimal.  The Suprans are true neutral and have taken no position regarding the Divine War.  However, many Tharybic followers feel the divine siblings lean towards chaotic and find them unsavory. It doesn’t help that one of them, Billimer, is married to Valcian, a Sciorric god.

Tramada (F) – N

  • Goddess of vegetation, harvest, seasons, rebirth, transformation, fertility, cycles
  • Patron deity of farmers, gardeners, lovers
  • Symbol: mother & children
  • Other names: Verdant Mother
  • Beloved by human farmfolk; often find her clerics in rural areas, helping guide the harvests, assisting with daily life

Shaukla (F) – N

  • Goddess of water, ocean, darkness, occult, secrets
  • Patron deity of occultists, hermits, misanthropes, desperate oracles and fearful sailors
  • Symbol: waterspout, orca
  • Other names: The Deep Unknown, the Lurker in the Depths, Goddess of the Shroud
  • As she scorns mortals, her clerics are extremely rare and hermitic; It’s taboo to worship her or invoke her name at all, especially at sea; Her brother Billimer (god of air, sky) is invoked as a go-between

Jerum (F) – N

  • Goddess of fire, alchemy, invention, hearth, metalwork, civilization
  • Patron deity of tinkerers, inventors, alchemists, blacksmiths, gnomes
  • Symbol: tongs & flame, foo dog
  • Other names: Jaim, Jemru, Jemy, Jumer, Joomeroo, Jamberoo, the Resolver, Catalyst
  • Encourages practical experimentation; doing  – rather than studying/researching – which is more Aedis’ domain. Gnomes just adore her, even though she is rarely amused by their jokes.

Bilimer (M) – N

  • God of air, sky, wind, weather, flight
  • Patron deity of sailors, fishermen, anyone who deals with the sea
  • Symbol: horizon with radials & curve
  • Other names: Boongiver, Windgiver
  • Husband of Valcian; very popular with sailors; a bit manic depressive; loves mortals, especially dwarves even though they fear him; has several Wolf Cloud Demigods that aid barbarians. Sailors keep shipboard shrines. Clerics are rare.

Ulikrus (M) – N

  • God of earth, mountains, decay/entropy, mortality, war, honor/valor, integrity of custom and tradition
  • Patron deity of dwarves
  • Symbol: ornate bridgehammer, his face
  • Other names: Bridgehammer
  • Chief dwarven deity, but there is a temple for humans in Slikston.