Gods

[BigRedRod]

The people of Dagern are a God-fearing lot, and with the amount of Gods present they have a great deal to fear. The average commoner will most likely visit a temple infrequently and simply offer sacrifice and prayer to a specific God as and when he feels he has given cause for divine retribution against him or all hope is lost.


There are ten Central Gods to the world, each holding an essential element of the world. Since the sealing there has been no direct contact with these gods. These Gods are the most likely to have large temples errected in their honour and they are acknowledged throughout much of the world with no real region fluctuation.

In the beginning there were two Elder Gods. One representing the ideals of God and the other the polar opposite. The war between V'ran and Xzar reached a climax known to most as the sealing. Only ruins of temples to these Gods still exist.

Denev
The Goddess of Nature (also known as the Mother)
Chaotic Neutral (or Chaotic Good)
Domains : Animal, Plant, Renewal, Sun
Symbol : A tree
Favoured Weapon : Quarterstaff
Denev was the first creation of V'ran, she created most of the plants and animals that populate the world today.

Telisha
The Goddess of Magic
True Neutral
Domains : Magic, Spell, Rune, Knowledge
Symbol : A pentagram inside a circle with an eye in the centre
Favoured Weapon : Scimitar
Telisha became Goddess of magic when the children of the gods turned on their masters ( her father, Mystran, the god with the task of keeping the raw forces of magic restrained, was killed). The destruction of her father flooded the world with many forms of magic, this is how a great many of the species of the world were created. Telisha has never attempted to recvoer the lost magic, she believes it is better that the people of the world can use it

Cynthrax
God of Water
True Neutral
Domains : Water, Ocean, Storm, Travel
Symbol : The Neptune Glyph
Favoured Weapon : Trident
The oldest of the elemental brothers, son of Denev and Chronos

Flett
God of Air
True Neutral
Domains : Air, Storm, Sun, Moon
Symbol : A cloud
Favoured Weapon : Short Bow
The second elemental brother

Albaren
God of Death
Lawful Neutral
Domains : Fate, Law, Undeath, Death
Symbol : An Ankh
Favoured Weapon : Scythe
Albaren was created by Xzar, Xzar hoped that Albaren would kill the animals and plants that Denev had created. He does not kill however he simply moves the souls along (to paradise or back to the mortal realms) and has been known to hunt those down who over-extended their lives

Kalracon
God of Fire
True Neutral
Domains : Fire, Metal, Renewal, Destruction
Symbol : A flame
Favoured Weapon : Spiked Chain
The third elemental brother

Darnizan
God of Earth
True Neutral
Domains : Earth, Cavern, Metal, Protection
Symbol : Outline of a mountain peak
Favoured Weapon : A heavy Pick
The youngest of the elemental brothers

Chronos
God of Time
Lawful Neutral
Domains : Fate, Time, Law, Knowledge
Symbol : The infinity Symbol
Favoured Weapon : Chakram
Chronos loved Denev but they have gradually drifted apart because of their differing views on life, they remain close but it is unlikely they will ever have any more children. Chronos is the older brother of Albaren and was also created by Xzar.

Horus
God of Day
Neutral Good
Domains : Good, Healing, Plant, Sun
Symbol : Sun Glyph
Favoured Weapon : Khopesh
Created by V'ran to help Denev with her plants and animals. Horus hasn't really accepted his task, instead he rebelled from his father and fell in love with Delana. Denev was forced to create her creatures and plants according to the system that Horus and Delana created

Delana
Goddess of Night
Neutral Evil
Domains : Evil, Moon, Darkness, Trickery
Symbol : Moon Glyph
Favoured Weapon : Dagger
Created by Xzar, but fell in love with Horus and the two worked in unison rather than against one another.

[BigRedRod]

The Greater Gods (also known as the higher Gods) are (or were) a great deal more active in the affairs of the world than the Core Gods
A Higher God tends to have power of a widespread concept (such as war)

Tempus
God of Warfare
Chaotic Neutral
Domains : Chaos, Protection, Strength, War
Symbol : A blazing silver sword
Favoured Weapon : Battleaxe
Tempus has few temples, those that he has tend to be built on the sites of great battles. Most barracks will have a small shrine to the god so that soldiers may wish for his strength in battle. Tempus dislikes "hidden" wars, he prefers the fighting to be done with no trickery on a clear battlefield. However, it is rare for an army to keep his favour for long, and during a long military campaign he may switch his support between the sides several times.

Ezra
Goddess of Trade
True Neutral
Domains : Knowledge, Protection, Travel, Trade
Symbol : Caduceus (winged staff with two entwining serpents)
Favoured Weapon : Quarterstaff
Ezra has temples in all major cities. Most will pay her lip service when making a deal (be it legal or otherwise). It is said that Ezra introduced the idea of coinage to the civilised races, indeed many ancient coins (and some newer ones) have the symbol of Ezra on one side. Her clerics travel a great deal and promote trade wherever possible

Leocadia
Goddess of Love and Fertility
Chaotic Good
Domains : Chaos, Charm, Good, Fate, Family
Symbol : A seashell
Favoured Weapon : Shortbow
In almost all marriages Leocadia's name is spoken and a majority are performed either in a Temple to Leocadia, by a Priest of Leocadia or beside a shrine to the Goddess. Shrines to Leocadia are very common and most villages will haveone nearby, temples are not so common however, although they are present in very large towns and cities

Aneko
God of Trickery, Deception and Practical Jokes
Chaotic Neutral/Evil
Domains : Chaos, Luck, Trickery, Illusion
Symbol : A laughing white face mask
Favoured Weapon : A dagger
From the earliest records it would seem that Aneko was once a God more aligned with good and concerned with little more than practical jokes. But looking through records until just before the sealing it would seem that the God slowly changed, his "practical jokes" would sometimes go a little too far (this was often manifest in some small scale destruction or the death of a number of creatures). Aneko has few public temples, most saw him as an unpredicable and possibly destructive force. However some good followers remain worshipping his more humourous side.

Vaern
God of the weather
Chaotic Neutral
Domains : Weather, Sun, Chaos, Storm, Ocean
Symbol : A spiral with a horizontal line above and below
Favoured Weapon : A shortspear
Vaern is the brother of Aishen, he has very few temples but many pray to him and perform sacrifices in his honour when they are in need of good weather. When ships are constructed a large amount have a short ceremony performed by a Priest of Vaern to protect them from bad weather.

Jelryt
God of Justice
Lawful Neutral
Domains : Law, Knowledge, Planning, Protection
Symbol : A set of balanced scales
Favoured Weapon : Warhammer
Jelryt has temples in many towns, and most villages will at least contain a shrine. The temples to the God of Justice double as courts of Law, Priests of Jelryt are also known as Judges, they may travel through countries to perform trials or to aid the local law enforcement for a short time.

Aishen
Goddess of Agriculture
Chaotic Good
Domains : Chaos, Good, Animal, Renewal, Plant, Weather, Earth
Symbol : Bag of grain
Favoured Weapon : Sickle
Aishen is very widely worshipped but her temples tend to be fairly small and few in number. Although where they exist they are also used to train people in the most efficent farming techniques. Most communities will include a priest of Aishen who maintains a shrine and uses her power to aid the farmers

Gul'ren
God of Tyranny and Conflict
Lawful Evil
Domains : Law, Evil, Tyranny, Destruction, Retribution
Symbol : A gauntlet clenched into a Fist
Favoured Weapon : Heavy Mace
Temples to Gul'ren are quite common, in evil lands the guard barracks will often also be a temple to Gul'ren. Clerics are trained in tactics and strategy, and are favoured as generals. The church seeks to overthrow the weak (i.e. non-lawful and/or non-evil) governments. Unlike other evil religions they have few secret cults in good lands, they seem to prefer to tackle their targets head on rather than subtle slow manoeuvres

Hephaestus
God of Craft
Lawful neutral
Domains : Artifice, Earth, Fire, Law, Craft, Metal
Symbol : Two crossed Hammers
Favoured Weapon : Warhammer
There are many temples to Hephaestus scattered throughout the world, the stationed priests are usually also skilled artisans. It is not uncommon for a smith or architect to have learnt his craft at one of the temples. The church generally favours smithing but it will not reject any craft.

Kroegen
God of Murder and Hate
Chaotic Evil
Domains : Chaos, Evil, Hatred, Suffering, Trickery
Symbol : A Skull with a crack down the centre
Favoured Weapon : Morning Star
There is little structure to the Church of Kroegen, temples are rare due to the concept of taking what you want and causing bloodshed and panic for it's own sake that the God embodies. Small groups often form in the name of Kroegen, these tend to be bandit groups, criminal cults and the like. The God has a large amount of support from evil savage tribes

Puck
God of Luck
Chaotic neutral? (Clerics may be of any Alignment)
Domains : Chaos, Luck, Fate, Trickery
Symbol : An upper case Xi
Favoured Weapon : Longsword
Many deny that Puck exists, others accept he exists but deny he is a God. He (or maybe she) is a mystery, however, he also was the God who interacted the most with the world (he hasn't been reliably seen since the sealing but so many other things also dissapeared so many refuse to take this as proof of his god-hood). He has few temples, but there are many rather ornate shrines to him throughout the world. The priests of Puck tend to get on well with the priests of Aneko as both Gods enjoy practical jokes, tricks and games.

Lilleth
Goddess of Music, Dance, Compassion and The Community
Neutral Good
Domains : Good, Community, Family, Healing,
Symbol : A harp (Any musical instrument can be used as a Divine Focus for a Cleric of Lilleth)
Favoured Weapon : Shortsword
Lilleth's teachings tell her followers to be compassionate and avoid violence, while providing hope, but to be intolerant of any evil. Priests of Lilleth tend to be community leaders, they organise frequent festivals and contests of music and dance. Temples of the Goddess usually include a large hall to be used for social events and teaching the arts of dance of music.

Telric
God of Chivalry and Valour
Lawful Good
Domains : Good, Law, Glory, Protection
Symbol : A silver full plate helmet
Favoured Weapon : Heavy Mace
The Church of Telric seeks to protect the world from the threats of Chaos and/or Evil. The church has frequent "crusades" into lands containing evil creatures to establish civilisation and law, the Church is merciless in it's attacks on evil in any form. Churches to Telric are fairly common in good lands, they tend to be well built fortresses that may be incorperated into the keep of a castle. A temple of Telric will usually have several followers aiding the town-guards, this makes them very welcome in most towns and cities.

Kunoq
God of Strength and Competition
Chaotic neutral
Domains : Chaos, Strength, Glory, Healing
Symbol : A man sprinting
Favoured Weapon : Unarmed Strike
Kunoq is frequently worshipped in less civilised lands, although he has a presence in other lands. He enjoys competitions, particularly ones that involve strength. Temples devoted to the God tend to be large and airy, each season has a set of games devoted to it and athletes spend large amounts of time training in and around the temples. Kunoq dislikes any contest which is unfair (competitors using magic to help win a race, for example)

[BigRedRod]

The lesser gods are the gods of fairly localised concepts, such as races. Before the sealing they were also the most likely to take an active part in events on the Prime Material. Such Gods are very region-specific.

Corellon Larethian
God of the Elves
Chaotic Good
Domains : Chaos, Elf, Good, Magic Protection, War
Symbol : Crescent Moon
Favoured Weapon : Longsword

Moradin
God of the Dwarves
Lawful Good
Domains : Craft, Dwarf, Earth, Good, Law, Protection
Symbol : Hammer and Anvil
Favoured Weapon : Warhammer

Garl Glittergold
God of Gnomes
Lawful Good
Domains : Craft, Gnome, Good, Law, Protection, Trickery
Symbol : Gold Nugget
Favoured Weapon : Battlexe

Yondalla
Goddess of Halflings
Lawful Good
Domains : Family, Good, Halfling, Law, Protection
Symbol : Cornucopia on a shield
Favoured Weapon : Shortsword

Grummsh
God of Orcs
Choatic Evil
Domains : Cavern, Chaos, Evil, Hatred, Orc, Strength, War
Favoured Weapon : Longspear

etc. (most of the general standard Greyhawk Gods with tiny portfolios can be placed in to this classification.)

[BigRedRod]

In recent times the Venterran Empire (and the allied states by extension) have adopted an entirely new method of worship. Rather than errecting temples which serve only one of the divine, the religions of the specific Gods have been combined in to one known as "The Great Wheel".

A now massive institution, most of the old temples have been taken over by the Great Wheel. In just two years the seeming whim of the Emperor has become commonplace.