Religion
From Mare Tectum
Contents |
Overview
Work in Progress The Gods of the Aslosians are split into three groups: the Primal Family, the Seasons, and the Sages. The Primals and the Sages are quite active and there are many stories of those deities manifesting a physical presence on the mortal plane. The Season are more distant; while they make their manifestations known, it is in the form of the seasons and not as a physical embodiment.
While powerful and sometimes wise, the Gods are beings of great emotions, and often manifest the baser ranges of feelings, such as lust or jealousy or greed. The Gods have names, but these names are secret and give power over the deity to those who know them. The Gods are referred to by descriptive titles by their worshipers.
Death is not worshipped as a god; it is a natural force, given respect but no homage.
The Primal Family
The Primal Family are the dominant gods of the city dwellers; they are the most active and powerful of the deities. Every city, major or minor, has a temple to at least of the Family. Father Storm's favored city, are known as Stormson or Stormget, due to the relative frequency of his visits. Father Storm is married to Mother Ocean, but he is hardly faithful to her. Their fights are things of legends, fought out over the water, with whirling winds and crashing waves. Their eventual reconciliations lead to calm seas and favorable winds to those who are fortunate to be sailing just then. The two are the parents of the twins, Brother Sun and Sister Night.
- Father Storm, Lord of the Winds, the Thunderbolt -- Manifesting as a powerful man in the prime of life, the Father Storm blows where he will, and no wall, no window, no structure will keep him out. He has an eye and appetite for the ladies and will blow into their lives and then out again, like the wind. Bastard children in Taguan, Father Storm's favored city, are known as Stormson or Stormget, due to the relative frequency of his visits. Father Storm's moods change like with wind; mild and still one moment and then angry and blowing the next.
- Domains: Storm,
- Mother Ocean, Our Lady the Sea -- The Patron goddess of Porza, is said to be the mother of that city's current prince. Often depicted as a kindly, motherly mature woman, Mother Ocean also manifests as a wild and fickle teen. Kind to those who please her, she rewards them with the bounty of her body, in the form of fish and other sea life. However, displease her and she will turn on you in an instant. She is an obvious patron goddess for sailors or anyone who makes their living on the sea.
- Domains: Ocean,
- Brother Sun, the Lightbringer -- More stable and steady than his parents, Brother Sun favors the dragonborn of Medrath, who love to bask beneath his warming rays. But the Lightbringer is more than the embodiment of the sun, he is also the divine spark of knowledge and a source of enlightenment. Brother Sun tends to take the form of a dragonborn with golden scales or a human man in his early 20s with blond hair and eyes the color of the clear sky. Arcane casters are often drawn to the Lightbringer as their patron.
- Domains: Sun,
- Sister Night -- A dual nature deity. On one hand, night bring relief from work, an end to the day's labor. Night is a time for resting, for relaxation. On the other hand, night brings darkness, which cloaks deceit, attacks, and danger. Worshipers do their best to stay on Sister Night's good side, and keep her malevolent nature far from them.
- Domains: Darkness, Moon, Trickery
The Seasons
While the Seasons are worshiped as major deities and respond to prayers by sending miracles and divine powers, they have not exhibited a physical manifestation since the Cataclysm. Farmers tend to worship the Seasons as a pantheon, giving devotion to each of them in their turn. Others, who are not as dependent on the land for their living, might choose one of the Season as their patron goddess. The seasons come, in a cycle, year after year and their power is evident.
- The Winter Queen
- Domains: Change, Protection, Winter
- The Summer Queen
And the only thing that I remember
Is a summer like a pretty girl
Who shimmers and shines
Moving in time
Shaking to the beat of the heart of the world
- Domains: Change, Love, Strife
- The Lady of Spring
- Domains: Change, Life, Wilderness
- The Autumn Princess
- Domains: Change, Creation, Earth
The Sages
- The Builder -- The Builder appears as a smiling dwarf, wearing a blacksmith's apron and holding a heavy hammer. His portfolio includes all crafting and he likes nothing better than a well-wrought item, be it as simple as a rake or complicated as a sailing ship of the line. He is the special patron of Stronheim, whose dwarven craftsmen have the reputation as the finest in the Islands.
- The Poet -- Manifesting as a beautiful human woman in her 20s, the Poet is the patron deity of all artistic ventures. While icons of her tend to show her posed holding a lyre and making some oration, she smiles on all of those who undertake any artistic endeavor, from poetry to painting to performing. She is said to express her pleasure with talented artists rather directly, and has been rumored to have manifested all throughout the Archipelago.
- The Seeker -- Coming soon!
- The Scholar -- Coming soon!
- The Warrior -- A dour, grizzled, scarred dwarf, the Warrior inspires those who make their way in the world through conflict. While he is said to favor those who act more honorably in warfare, he is also the favored patron of thugs and strongarms. The Warrior has no favorite city; his stomping grounds are battlefields and back alleys and anywhere there's a good fight.
Other Dieties
- Asteron and Torvald -- A pair of war deities from the time before the world was broken. This pair was recently freed by the party and have gained their first priest, Risha.
