Old Gods: Polytheism | Lands of Tyranny

Old Gods, Polytheism

Polytheism: An OOC Preface

Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god.

Monotheistic religions have dominated Western Civilization in the real world for well over a thousand years at this point, and it can be hard for people who do not come from a background of a polytheistic society to even conceptualize playing a character who not only believes in, but also actively worships multiple gods. But the setting of Tyranny is a polytheistic setting, where even The Three, with all of their Judeo-Christian symbolism and language, are still three separate gods. The only culture that can be remotely said to be “monotheistic” are the Ilthir, and even in the case of the Ilthir, they do believe that all of the other gods do exist, but they consider Arachnea the only one worthy of worship or consideration, and most other deities to not even belong to their world (the Depths).

In the end, characters in Tyranny are almost certainly polytheistic, even if they don't worship every single god.

So what does it mean to be polytheistic? Why wouldn't you just favor one god to the exclusion of all others? What's the difference between worship and appeasement?

In Ancient Rome, people generally honored a plethora of gods. A person might have one or two gods they felt especially close to (such as a Legionary worshiping Mars, or a scholar revering Minerva). Sometimes which god you felt closest to would change over time - for instance, a young, unmarried girl might revere Artemis, but later draw closer to Juno when she became pregnant. But while a person might have been closest to one or two, most Romans did their best to revere all of the gods - even the gods they didn't like or were afraid of.

Indeed, a lot of times it was about appeasement, not worship. You wanted to be on Apollo's good side, because while he was the god of healing, he was also the god of plagues. You wanted to appease Neptune, because if he was unhappy, your ships sank.

You did not want to get on the bad side of Fortuna, because she would desert you when you needed her most. So you burn incense, offer a sacrifice, make a donation in hopes that the god in question will leave you the hell alone. This was incredibly common. Even priests and priestesses of a certain deity, would still want to pay their respects to the other gods.

For a follower of Tyranny’s Gods (Old or New), characters would probably make offerings to all of the gods they know of, to appease them, for their belief that in such a way, they would gain their benevolence, or at least avoid their wrath. Though, on top of that, they might also revere one or two deities, or none. Most of the gods would also not actually care if someone loves or hates them, so long as they get their pound of flesh, as it were, or as long as people do not commit acts so intense to attract their attention Tldr: Devoting your character to a single deity should be the exception, not the rule.

What this lore page is for.

This guide is not meant to be accurate to the true lore about the Old Gods. It is not meant to help people get to become Chosen of a deity. In fact, in several cases, it might even inhibit people - because the way some people, civilizations or societies see (or saw) the gods, may be different from the ‘reality’ of those gods. This document should not be construed as absolute truth. This document is intended to be a mishmash of ideas, of speculation, of an incomplete historical record and unreliable narrators.

Both the elves’ and the humans’ interpretations of the Old Gods may not actually be correct. The elves may have been wrong the whole time. Or perhaps the humans are. The gods may have changed as the millenia have passed. Some gods may have been confused for other gods, and while others may simply be aspects of still other gods: all of these are just interpretations, tales, names, and roles that reflect the mish-mash of Elven religion that has resulted from centuries of oppression and subjugation.

Pantheons are how mortal minds relate to the divine: they reflect the dreams and hopes, as well as the prejudices and foibles of their creators.

Once you’ve internalized this fact, please read on.

Religion Prior to the Empire

The first humans learned of the Old Gods from their elder siblings - the Elves and the Dwarves, from which they inherited their first conception of the divine and belief systems. Hence, the overall structure of their pantheons (of which there were several), as well as their understanding of the gods themselves were reflections of what they had learned when their people were young and had not yet found their strength.

It would be impossible to codify all the names and pantheons that stretched over the continent for millenia, and even should we try, some twenty generations have passed for Humans since the Three began their rise to prominence in Annoria and quickly spread across the Continent, for most places, way before their conquest by the Annorian Empire. Indeed, this is likely why most of those who remember the Old Gods outside of the Black Dome are non-Human. And thus much of what is now understood about the Old Gods comes from scraps of half-remembered lore passed from grandparent to grandchild, and from what was in place in the Black Dome prior to the Imperial Conquest.

Now, as the fires of the conquest of Meridia have finally begun to gutter out, what is left is a twisted mish-mash of information, but most sources agree on the following, even if the deity names themselves are disagreed upon.

Old Gods Pantheon - Humans

The pantheon of gods as it existed for most Humans prior to the Conquest was as follows:

The Mother and The Father

Balthazar as the Head of the Pantheon, the Great Father of all. How the Father was perceived varied from culture to culture. Balthazar's name itself appears to have come from Messalaya, where he was revered as the god of Fire and Artisans. In most cultures, great emphasis was placed on the Father's Honor and his governance of the Craft of War. In Hym, for instance, his greatest devotees were often warriors who pursued honorable warfare as almost an offering or worship of Balthazar. In the Northlands, artisans and leaders in general followed the Father because of his emphasis on beautiful crafts and honor in all your dealings with others. In most places, Balthazar was seen as the supreme god and the leader of the rest. The only notable exception to this is in Kheman, where Lilith reigned supreme.

Lilith as the consort of Balthazar. As with her perception among Elves and Dwarves, Lilith seems to have played a huge role in the lives of women no matter the culture. In some places, she appears to have played a greater role - for instance, in the Northlands, she tended to take a more active role in myths and legends, in a mirror to the way women had a more active role in political life among the Nords. Among the Nords, Lilith was seen as the strong mother who guided her children to good, productive lives. Far to the south, in Kheman, Lilith reigned supreme, and was seen as the head of the entire pantheon. Indeed, the perception the Khemani had of Lilith seems to have either associated her with the goddess Festum, or in some cases, treated Festum as the more hedonistic face of Lilith. Interestingly, in stories hailing from Kheman, Lilith's demeanor is far darker than in any other region. This is ultimately the form of Lilith that the Empire chose to propagate, likely because of the excesses to which the Lilith cults would resort. And in the Southlands, in what is now known as the Black Dome, Lilith was all but silent. She still had her roles in childbirth and young women coming of age, but she appears to have played almost no part in political life in the city-states that existed there.

The Children

Dominium, the Son of the Father, whose most well-known name appears to have originated in the Black Dome, was at one point worshiped across the continent by nearly every culture, though how he was perceived in each varied. In some surviving stories from the Northlands, he is depicted as the jealous older brother of gentle Twyll, and depending on the stories, may or may not have lusted after her. In Hym, he was seen as an integral part of society - that order and control must be maintained - even at the expense of the rights of others. A few scant stories survive that depict him in a less dark manner, the most prominent from the mountains south of the Heartlands. In these stories, Dominium shares more traits with the early Elven stories of Ilmarin, in that his tyrannical attributes are more muted, and reinterpreted as a "protective older brother" to his younger sister, Twyll. The stories that have been salvaged from the fires of the Inquisition portray those who follow Dominium as warriors/protectors of those who till the land in service of Twyll, with special attention being paid to the clergy of Twyll. It is these lighter, gentler stories of Dominium that are most brutally suppressed by the Tribunal, who wish to wipe out any mention of the Old Gods, but most especially any positive mentions of them.

Twyll, whose most well-known name also appears to have originated in the Black Dome, has varying portrayals across the map. No stories have survived from Messalaya, but it is likely that she wasn't widely worshiped there, given that the land is unsuitable for agriculture. In Kheman, the stories are a bit of a mishmash. Twyll is seen in some cases as a separate deity, in other cases is associated or believed to be Festum in a different face. Her agricultural aspect was highly important in Kheman, but the harvest festivals thrown in her honor gradually dipped towards worship of Festum as the millennia continued, and by the time the Empire was knocking on Kheman's doors, things were a bit muddled. It is believed, though it cannot be confirmed due to the Inquisition's very efficient efforts, that Twyll was initially seen as a benevolent and loving goddess in what is now Annoria, and that a series of droughts that caused successive years of crop failures, combined with the rise of the Three, changed the Annorian people's perceptions of the goddess. It is this form - the vengeful goddess of hunger and famine - that the Empire propagates to this day, and the Inquisition is fairly vicious about stamping out any stories that portray her in a kinder light.

The Sisters

In most records, Umbra and Fortuna are depicted as sisters of Lilith. Umbra is almost always portrayed in this light, but occasionally Fortuna will be depicted as the younger, more impetuous sister of Balthazar. In all stories that have survived, both deities are depicted as having some sort of blood relation tie to the Father and the Mother, regardless of which deity they are directly kin to.

No one seems to know where Umbra got her name, but modern scholars speculate it was one of the few that survived almost intact from the time when Elves and Dwarves reigned supreme over the known world. Modern understanding of Umbra has primarily come from surviving stories from Hym, where she appears to have been widely worshiped by rather disparate groups of people. While it is true that ne'er do wells, and assassins in particular, revered Umbra for her dominion over Secrets and Silence, there are accounts that indicate she had a more protective aspect in their society, as well. In particular, the surviving stories indicate that Umbra had a real problem with the killing of innocents and had a penchant for cursing people who went around slaughtering civilians. Stories that survive from Messalaya depict Umbra as a melancholy goddess, who spent much time in solitude. Despite her penchant for shadows, Messalayan devotees were known to seek her out in high places, where the stars could be seen. Whether this is a memory from ages long past when Umbra's temples were found almost exclusively on mountaintops is unknown. In the Southeastern portion of the Continent, where worship of Boggereth was always strongest, Umbra was depicted as his consort, with the two engaging in esoteric pursuits in the Road Between Worlds. In Hym, Umbra was often depicted as the consort of Astaroth, sometimes with her sister Fortuna, and other times separately, with Umbra's penchant for Secrets and Shadows being paired with Astaroth's domain over Knowledge and the Night.

Modern understanding of Fortuna has largely come from surviving stories out of the Northlands, where she was portrayed as the goddess of Fate and Fortune. In these stories, Fortuna is the consort of Astaroth, her foretelling of Fate combining with Astaroth's domain over Death - and whatever happens on the other side. In these stories, little of her capricious and vain nature is seen, and Fortuna is, in general, portrayed as a much more mature and grave character, with some minor stories conflating her and Umbra as the same deity with different faces. It is her depiction in the South, however, that has been the most enduring, for in Kheman and Messalaya, she was known as a capricious, vain goddess who you never wanted to slight for her vengeance was terrible. This is where most scholars believe she was first called Fortuna. People there prayed to her as much to avoid her notice as they did to invite her blessing. These vicious, hedonistic stories are the ones the Empire propagated in an effort to show the "ignorant" what a vile creature the goddess was, which is in large part why the stories survive at all. In Kheman in particular, there were minor cults that conflated Fortuna with Festum, viewing the gods as two faces of the same goddess. In Hym, Fortuna was sometimes paired with Astaroth as his consort, similarly to her depiction in the Northlands, but usually only with her sister, Umbra, as Astaroth's other consort.

The Brothers

In most surviving stories, Boggereth and Astaroth are considered to be, if not brothers, at least colleagues of a sort. Which makes sense when you think of the esoteric domains both preside over - there is nothing more terrifying to a mortal mind than the unknown, and both gods walk those roads with impunity.

Our modern understanding of Astaroth comes primarily from Hym, which is also the source of his name. In Hym, Astaroth appears to have been seen as an esoteric god of scholars, who encouraged his devotees to pursue knowledge at almost any cost. His temples were located in remote areas, and were often surrounded by graveyards, where his clergy tended to the dead. From the stories that have survived, it seems that most Hymani viewed Astaroth as a largely remote, unapproachable god who was terrifying simply because so little was known about him. Some stories associated him with black cats, and said that if you encountered one, your death was assured to be soon. This had the unfortunate side effect of making black cats undesirable, and in some rural villages, black kittens would be drowned at birth, for they were considered a bad omen. The other major source of information about Astaroth comes from the Black Dome, where his conflict with Erkish over who, exactly, had dominion over Death and the Dead, mirrored the conflicts between the various city-states within the Dome.

Where Boggereth acquired his name has been lost to time, but most scholars believe it was either in Annoria itself (which would explain why no one is really sure, since that lack of records is a real issue), or in an unnamed city-state located somewhere in the Southeastern portion of the Continent. Perhaps not coincidentally, the worship of Boggereth is strongest in that area. But the God of Travelers has stories that hail from across the map. In most places, he was seen as the guide and protector of those who traveled the roads across the continent. Shrines dedicated to Boggereth, some that dated back millennia to the Elven hegemony, were largely destroyed when the Empire began its expansion. But some small shrines can be found at crossroads even today, for it is there that the superstitious believe that the gateway between worlds is thinnest. And even if people no longer remember why that is, or who once protected them, they sometimes follow those old ways out of fear. In Messalaya and Kheman, Boggereth was associated in many surviving stories with embalming of the dead in preparation for burial. In these stories, Boggereth was not superseding Astaroth's role in the burial of the dead, but rather, he was assisting, and the stories say that clergy of Boggereth and Astaroth once got along quite well. In almost all stories, the God of Travelers is described as being fairly unemotional, almost blank in terms of his responses.

The Land and The Sea

Sylvar has existed relatively unchanged since before the first Humans knew how to read and write. Of all the Old Gods, he is the only god who maintained his original Elven name - Sylvar - even through countless millennia and being renamed from culture to culture. Venatus is the name he is most commonly known by among Humans, and it is believed that the name originated in what is now Annoria. No one can be sure, of course, because records of that time no longer exist. Of all the gods taken from the old Elven pantheons, Sylvar/Venatus is perhaps the one closest to the original version. In ancient times, Sylvar was often seen as the “salt” that kept civilization from falling in on itself in decadence and greed. As in the Elven kingdoms before, Sylvar worship was all but ubiquitous, and those places that banned his worship (typically under the influence of Festum devotees) tended to crumble from within very quickly – within decades at the most. His creed of respecting the hunt, of the animals you kill, and only taking what you need was widely appreciated in rural areas. Sylvar’s message of careful management of wild resources, and his overall humble aura and demeanor flew in the face of the goddess who sits on the opposite end of the spectrum – Festum. Indeed, clergy of Venatus and clergy of Festum have never gotten along, with those who served Venatus decrying the excesses and waste that Festum propagates, and those who served Festum decrying the limitations and self-denial inherent to Venatus’s creed. When the Three began their rise to prominence, there were times when clergy of Venatus “helpfully” pointed the nascent Inquisition’s fires in the direction of Festum’s worshipers. Only much later would they realize those same fires would come for them, as well.

What we know about Calipha is in large part due to surviving stories and some records from Hym and from the eastern coast of the continent, north and south of Annoria (where no known records have survived to present day), and the name we know her by comes from the Black Dome itself. In Hym, Calipha was known as a merciless goddess who exacted a price from sailors, but she was fair. If you paid your due, she would leave you be. The Calipha of Hym was a lawful deity who was part of the overall structure of heaven as understood by the Hymani. The Hymani may not have liked Calipha, but they respected her. In the Eastern part of the continent, she was seen much differently. Storms are more frequent and stronger on the eastern side of the continent, and there Calipha was seen as a fickle, viciously vengeful goddess who would accept payment and maybe leave you alone. Maybe. Unless you annoyed her. Or looked at her wrong. Or didn’t bow the precise way you should. There are very, very few stories outside of the Black Dome that survive about this goddess. One of the more prominent from the southeastern portion of the continent, says that Calipha fell hopelessly in love with Boggereth millennia ago, her longing for new adventures having caused her to look to the god for whom new worlds were a real possibility. Alas, Boggereth was far too esoteric a god to even notice the lovely Calipha pining for him, and has remained blissfully unaware of her affections for centuries at this point - a fact that fills her with rage. Indeed, the stories say that particularly terrible storms are caused by Calipha’s rage over Boggereth’s unknowing rejection of her.

Those Who Stand Outside

There are several deities who, while they exist in some pantheons or have extant stories about them, seem very regional and perhaps not at all connected to the larger whole. Erkish, An-Lil, and the fascinating urban myth of The Blue Lady fall into this category. Other deities may have been realized as fully-fledged entities in one culture, but thought to be “faces” or “aspects” of another deity in still other cultures. Festum falls into this category.

What we know of Festum is, well, kind of weird. The Inquisition has spent centuries, at this point, doing its level best to wipe out even the mention of the Old Gods, and unfortunately for Festum, most of her cultists were easy targets. They were the hedonistic elites of the great city-states that dotted the landscape prior to the Imperial Conquest. In the stories that do survive, Festum is often conflated with other deities - most often with Lilith, but there are cases where Festum is associated with Twyll, or is believed to be an aspect or “face” of Fortuna. Festum worship was most well-known in Kheman, at least in more recent eras. It only appears to have flourished in places that were wealthy enough to where there was excess, and her worship also seemed to only take place in cities where the divide between rich and poor was so wide that the elite were effectively living in a different world from a regular citizen or subject. The lone exception to this appears to have been in the Northlands, where the Nords conceptualized Festum as a gregarious man who threw the finest of feasts that included all of his subjects. This version of Festum only really shares the feasting aspect with the Festum known to the far south, and it is possible that this was a god that only existed in the Nord pantheon that was later conflated with Festum. In addition to being a stellar thrower of feasts and festivals, the Nord version of Festum was said to be enraptured with gentle Twyll, and there are still stories that survive that speak of his efforts to gain Balthazar’s permission to wed her. Festum never really gained a hold in Hym due to the way that Hymani society was structured. Her penchant for breaking any rules that exist for no other reason than that she could say she did it did not endear her to the ruling class in that region. It is likely that she was worshiped all over the continent in different times and different places, but very little information remains outside of what is still found in the Black Dome, and the stories that have survived from Kheman.

In large coastal cities in Hym, the children – street urchins all – have begun to speak of The Blue Lady.

“The Blue Lady” is a female figure who appears in moonlight to defend children who have no one else to protect them. This mysterious figure is said to glow with a gentle blue light, and the children who have spoken of her swear her features are made of starlight itself. The stories speak of children being protected while hiding from bullies (or worse), of locks being opened by themselves, and children being led to secure sources of food or shelter when they could find nowhere else to go. Those children who have been convinced to speak of her believe, for the most part, that she is the ghost of a mother who drowned trying to save her children when their boat sank in a storm. It is, after all, beyond their understanding that there might be deities other than the Three, but ghosts are completely possible! Interestingly, similar tales have begun to crop up in a coastal city on the other side of the continent just at the edge of the Northlands. Only in this tale, “The Blue Lady” is a woman who drowned her own children and is now serving an eternal penance by protecting children who have no one else to help them.

What has scholars most interested is that this “Blue Lady” appears to be combining aspects of both Umbra and Calipha in a way they had not considered before. Her association with water and storms is clear, but her drive to protect the innocent who have no one else to help them, as well as her association with moonlight are decidedly un-Calipha-like. The Inquisition however, is equally unamused by any version of the story, and any of the scholars that are interested in it.

Erkish and An-Lil are basically unknown outside of the city-state of Lauka, and those cities that descend from the people who founded it. Scholars who have examined extant works are not completely sure where these two gods fit into the cosmology of the rest of the continent, or if, indeed, they fit at all. The dominant theory at present is that they are minor regional deities, not unlike the tales of Faelwen and Achared from ancient Elven documents. Some forward-thinking scholars have proposed that Erkish may be an incredibly obscure god once known is Annoria as Aspidis, but when other scholars have tried to look into this “Aspidis,” they have hit a brick wall with the word “Inquisition” all over it, and were stopped dead in their tracks. Often literally so.

Old Gods Pantheon - Elves

Introduction

“It is said that long ago, in the time before time, before even the first dawn, Ianna, the Mother, breathed life into this world. But the world was cold, and dark, and the life that Ianna created could not thrive in such a place. And so she sought out her beloved consort, Anmar, he of Forges, Fire, and Flames, and begged him to help her. And so it was that Anmar, the Forgemaster, Lord of All Craftsmen, did forge his mightiest work before or since - a great bronze disc into which he poured his power, the heat of his flames, and he set the disc into the skies that his beloved Ianna’s children might know light and warmth. And each sunset, he retrieves His Great Work, bringing it down to his magical forge and re-imbuing it with his power, that this sun may rise the next morning and shine light upon all of creation. In this way, each sunrise is a promise - a promise of Anmar’s eternal, undying love for Ianna, and of Ianna’s eternal, everlasting love for all of her children.”

– The First Creation, a tale of Elm Thalor, from the First Age

The Elves in existence today often feel like pale shadows compared to what they once were. Forever do they hearken back to the time before the present, a time when they were powerful, strong, and ruled the known world. At one time, their people spread across every land known to the modern-day Annorian Empire, scattered among city-states, kingdoms, small empires, and rural villages and towns. Indeed, the Elves themselves were once as culturally diverse as the Human populations that later replaced them, with religious and cultural practices differing wildly from city-state to city-state. To try to cover every possible religious quirk and practice that was present over the tens of thousands of years that Elves ruled supreme would be almost impossible. And it would, ultimately, be pointless – for those days are now gone, and the Annorian Empire has been very efficient in erasing the past it does not wish to acknowledge.

But faith is hard to kill, even with fire, oppression, executions, and dogma. The stories have changed slightly, and in some places are lost completely, but a core remnant of Elves still follow the Old Ways taught from mother to daughter, from father to son, from Elder to youngling. And as long as there remain those whose tongues dance in the language of the Firstborn, and whose hearts cry out for something more than the sterile, dead faith of the Empire, these tales will never truly be gone.

The Primordials

The Elven gods who fall under these headings do not have a “creation myth” or “origin story” to explain their presence. They just are. These are divines who have always been, and continue to be, who were born of no parents, but may have been created out of the primordial forces at the world’s beginning.

Anmar – The Father, Lord of Honor, Metallurgy, and the Craft of War. He is considered the co-leader of the Elven Pantheon with his consort, Ianna. While he is the long-time consort of Ianna, the myths that speak of him claim he has had trysts with several other deities, and he has even been said to partake of pleasures offered by mortals from time to time.

Anmar was most commonly associated with forged materials, and warfare. It is said that he delighted in the beautiful works of art that Firstborn craftsmen would create, and it is his influence that pushed Elven craftsmen to focus not just on the function of weapons, but also their beauty and grace. It is said that the most beautiful, and deadly, weapons can only be forged by Elven craftsmen blessed by Anmar himself.

It is also said that Anmar gave the gift of fire to Elvenkind, and that it was he who taught them first of honor, courage, and skill in battle. Entire schools dedicated to understanding combat and strategy were raised in his name, the most prominent said to be located in the city state of Elm Thalor during the first age, over 20,000 years ago. Though the location of the fallen city has been lost to the sands of time and the fires of the Inquisition, it is said that at times Anmar himself would be in attendance, teaching his favored children directly.

The Elves considered Anmar to be the center foundation of all that they built, and in many, if not most, Elven cities, there would be an entire temple complex dedicated to Anmar, Ianna, and their three children - Sidhion, Ilmarin, and Herenya. The majority of the earliest powerful cities were dedicated to either Anmar or Ianna, for so central was worship of the two to Elven culture. And even as Elvenkind has lost, and lost, and lost again, still do they cling to the worship of Anmar, their Father; still do they cry to him for deliverance.

The Humans would later name him Balthazar.

Dûrion - God of Knowledge and the Night; the Sage at Sunset; The First and the Last; the God of Death and Endings. The Elves of old had a very different view of death than Imperial Humans have. For the Elves, death was not to be feared - it was simply a door everyone must pass through. And at that door, at the end of everything, each person would meet Dûrion, the Sage at Sunset, in whom all knowledge was to be found.

Dûrion’s clergy were split into two main categories - scholars and those who took care of the dead and saw to their burial. Many of his priests and priestesses played both roles, especially in smaller communities. The Elves themselves were extremely attached to reading and writing, and stories that have survived depict Dûrion being the first to teach them these skills - indeed, many old statues of the god depict him holding a bowl filled with flames - the Flame of Knowledge that he uses to guide his children through the darkness of night.

Those clergy who were tasked with caring for the dead and the families left behind appear to have ensured funerals were carried out properly, in ways that honored Dûrion, while also ministering to the family members left behind. In this way, the Elves viewed Dûrion as not a deity to be feared, but a beloved deity - for in the majority of surviving stories and records, he was viewed as the one who would meet you at that last door, and walk with you into whatever awaits.

Humans would later name him Astaroth.

Sylvar - God of the Hunt and Primal Nature; God of the Wild and Woodlands. Sylvar is an interesting case. In terms of theme, he doesn’t quite fit in with the other Primordials, yet no one can doubt that he was one of the most important gods in the Elven Pantheon - an importance that has only increased as knowledge of so many other gods has been lost to time and repression.

The earliest surviving writings that mention Sylvar indicate that he was most strongly revered in the southern portion of the continent, and that the center of his worship was in the wildest, most pristine lands. From the records that remain, however, it seems that nearly every rural village or town had a shrine to Sylvar, and that there were even pilgrimage sites set up across the continent for devotees to commune with the Lord of the Woodlands before taking up ritual hunts through some of the most dangerous territory of the time.

Accounts that survive from some of the larger Elven kingdoms speak of Coming-of-Age ceremonies in backwater locations, where newly-adult Elves - male and female alike - would venture into the wilderness alone and seek out a vision of the god, only returning when they had succeeded, or dying in the process.

At least one powerful city-state banned his worship during the most decadent portion of their existence. The scholars who wrote about the period of time speculated that banning the worship of the God of the Hunt was a relatively early sign of the coming collapse of that city-state. It did not last even half a millennia after making the proclamation.

Humans would later call him Venatus, but his true name - his oldest name - still survives.

Menathradon - He Who Stands at the Crossroads; the God of Travel and Dreams; Lord of the Lands where the Veil Between Worlds is Thin (traditionally believed to be places like marshes or bogs). It is said that travelers would pray to him when venturing into new lands they were unsure about, or into territory they knew to be dangerous.

The Elves believed that Menathradon sent prophetic dreams to his followers, and that he stood at the Crossroads - a mythological place where passage between realities is possible - and guarded our world from the Other Side. Some stories claim that he and Umbriel have a long-standing affair with one another, despite each deity having been most often portrayed as loners.

Menathradon’s followers were often dreamers and thinkers, people who speculated about the Beyond, and other realities. Old accounts suggest that he was believed to fill some young Elves with wanderlust, which encouraged them to travel through the lands and learn new things, and of new peoples. Prophets and oracles often served as members of his clergy, and though his temples were most often placed in remote, out of the way places (after all, who really wants to live near a bog?), they never lacked for foot traffic.Small shrines to Menathradon were often found at literal crossroads throughout the Continent, and to this day they are sometimes still found, placed there by people who either still revere the God of Travel and Dreams, or by those who follow the old superstitions without fully understanding what they mean.

Humans would later name him Boggereth, perhaps after the bogs and marshes where the last of his temples persisted.

The Three Sisters

This is a term often used to encompass the three main female deities of the Elven Pantheon: Ianna (Fertility and Love), Umbriel (Secrets and Solitude), and Tanna (Fortune and Chaos).

Ianna - The Mother, Lady of Fertility; of Femininity and Sexual Pleasure; of Beauty and Motherhood; Protector of Maidens. She is considered the co-leader of the Elven Pantheon with her consort, Anmar. While she and Anmar have been engaged in a love story that stretches past our understanding of time, several myths claim she has had trysts with other deities.

Possibly the most beloved member of the Elven pantheon, the song of Ianna has existed for as long as mortal memory can recall. It is said that she and Anmar have been in a dance of love and passion for longer than the stars have existed in the heavens. The earliest writings about Ianna say that it was drops of Anmar’s blood mixed with her tears that gave the Elves life, the Father’s Fire and the Mother’s Compassion uniting to create their eldest children. Stories depict her as presiding over the lives of women more than anything else, with her clergy being involved with births, marriages, and the coming of age of maidens. Her clergy were midwives, counselors, and healers of the body, though there also existed a more militant branch of Ianna’s clergy who functioned as guards and enforcers at her temples, protecting worshipers and the more peaceful clergy.

A marriage was not considered a marriage among Elvenkind without a Priestess of the Mother presiding, and no Elven woman wished to give birth to a child without one of Ianna’s own there to guide her through the blood and pain. It was Ianna’s influence that led to the Elves treating pregnant women as near-sacred. The penalty for harming a pregnant woman was severe in most communities, and casting a pregnant woman in need out of a city was near unthinkable.

Ianna’s clergy also taught young men and women about contraception and consent. Consent was deemed paramount, for the Mother’s clergy abhorred rape above almost any other crime. Bringing an unwanted child in the world was considered a distant second in terms of severity, but still an incredibly serious offense. Men and women both were expected to take precautions unless a pregnancy was wanted - for every child born should be wanted.

There were times when Elven children were abandoned, unwanted, on the steps of temples to Ianna, and it is said that each was taken into the temple and raised as clergy to the Mother. Later tales state that when Humans began to be allowed into Elven cities, abandoned Human babies began to be left on the temple steps, as well. These children were also taken into the temples, and raised as clergy. Though they were physically human, they were culturally Elven - raised to speak the tongue of their adoptive parents, to think in the Elven way, and often cherished by the clergy who raised them.

The inability or unwillingness of Humans to take precautions to prevent unwanted pregnancies appears to have been a major source of conflict towards later years, as the Elves found such behavior unconscionable.

Though worship of Ianna was focused very much on things like pleasure, beauty, and the joyful welcoming of new life, her clergy were said to be merciless when it came to judging affronts against the innocent. The oldest tales say that when a person was found to have committed a sexual offense against another person, they would be brought before the clergy of Ianna and judged for their crime. Woe betide the one who takes what is not given freely, for the Mother’s clergy had no mercy in them for such people.

The most gruesome punishments were reserved for those who harmed children, however, with accounts stating that the preferred method was to flay the guilty individual alive, using alchemical draughts and, in some accounts, magic to keep the victim awake and aware to feel every slice. The process could take days to complete. The dying criminal would then be displayed in front of the temple, that all could see the punishment for such crimes as rape and sexual abuse.

The Humans would later name Ianna as Lilith.

Umbriel - The Lady of Starlight; Goddess of Secrets and Shadows; of Solitude and Sorrow; The Protector of the Innocent.It is said that her compassion upon the Firstborn is the reason why there are stars in the night sky.

Often characterized as a melancholy goddess, or at least one who spent much time alone, Umbriel was revered for her listening ear - for she would listen to the secrets given to her, and sometimes even offer counsel. In the times before, those who suffered from various mental and emotional traumas would often be cared for by Umbriel’s clergy, who would accept the most shameful secrets of those haunted by their pasts, and offer those selfsame secrets to the Lady of Starlight.

Umbriel’s temples appear to have been mostly built in remote places, especially in the mountains, close to the stars. Her clergy were said to be avid stargazers, and one form of therapy that was used in many of her healing halls was for groups of patients to observe the stars for hours at a time in silence, with only the occasional whisper being shared between one or more people. Many of her clergy took vows of silence, and it is said that among her finest priests and priestesses, many would spend decades wandering alone in remote places, seeking wisdom in their solitude. The Lady of Solitude taught her followers that, though they were social creatures who enjoyed spending time with one another, solitude was not to be feared - and often, should be embraced, for the secrets it might reveal to you.

The Lady of Starlight had another title, however - the Protector of the Innocent. Her temples were places of refuge wherever they were found, and those who sought sanctuary were defended from any who might try to retrieve them, so long as the refugee kept to peace within the temple walls. Indeed, it was considered a great crime to enter a temple of Umbriel to retrieve someone inside. Though Umbriel, as a rule, eschewed violence and conflict, records indicate that some portion of her clergy were dedicated to the task of protecting those who could not protect themselves. This primarily concerned children, but could include the weak and infirm, those who lacked education or standing to fight back against abuses - such as the poor, and in some cases, even Humans - and very occasionally, someone who was the target of assassination and either did not know this, or did not have the resources to protect themselves from such.

Umbriel’s Shadows, as they were called, would go out of their way to avoid bloodshed in their mission to protect the defenseless, and most often their missions could be completed by moving the individual needing protection to a better, safer place.

There were, of course, times when lives were ended to allow other lives to continue. This was never a decision made lightly, and the Shadow who made the kill would often agonize after the fact over actions they had been forced to take. This burden they would cast onto Umbriel, pouring out their heart to the goddess, and begging for forgiveness.

As the Elven hold on the landscape became further and further tenuous, Umbriel’s Shadows were called to action more and more. They are said to have evacuated hundreds from the city of Rymlenor only days before its fall to an attacking force from an opposing Elven kingdom, spiriting every child and pregnant woman they could save to safety. One of the most poignant accounts concerns a group of Elves that had sheltered at a temple of Umbriel near what is now Ti-Bastit. The surviving account is unclear about the precise time period, and gives no context as to why the conflict occurred, but relates that the Elves were sheltering in one of the last temples of Umbriel left in the southern lands, possibly from a city’s collapse, or they may even have been fleeing slavery. A military group - likely Humans - came to retrieve them but were denied entry by the Shadows that guarded Umbriel’s house.

The Shadows were informed that they had two hours to produce those sheltering inside, and then the temple would be invaded and razed to the ground.When the two hours had passed, the refugees were not produced. The Shadow who emerged, a male Elf whose hair was as white as snow, politely informed the military leader that Umbriel’s walls were sacrosanct, and they would not betray those who sought Sanctuary in their halls. In a rage, the leader cut the Elf down and ordered an attack on the temple.

It took the Humans almost twelve hours to breach the temple and reach the inner sanctuary. Ten Shadows gave their lives to buy time for the refugees inside to be brought to safety through secret tunnels known only to the clergy of the Lady of Starlight. They cost the military force nearly a hundred men, exploiting every trick they could to stall, slow, and otherwise impede the attackers. The last Shadow fell at the doorway into Umbriel’s inner sanctum, and though her name has been lost to time, it is said she died with a smile on her face - full of hope that though she had lost her own life, those under her protection would live.

By the time of the rise of the Three, Umbriel’s name had been lost to most Humans, who called her Umbra.

Tanna - Lady of Fate, Luck, Fortune, Chaos and Discord. A mercurial deity who was often characterized as more mischievous than malicious, Tanna figures in several Elven myths that still survive to the present.

Interestingly, she seems to have been perceived in several different ways, depending on the city-state in question. In several surviving stories, she’s seen as an Oracle of sorts, divining the fates of individuals and determining when the strand of their life needs must be ended. In those myths, she works hand-in-hand with her consort, Dûrion, handing to him the life strands of those due to pass into his keeping.

In other stories, she’s seen almost as a whirlwind of chaos – sometimes sparking unnecessary wars for the fun of watching the chaos and suffering, other times sowing strife and discord out of boredom.

The most consistent theme with Tanna is that you do not want to be on her bad side - ever. Those who didn’t follow her out of love often worshiped her out of fear. The humans would fixate on her most prominent aspect, and name her Fortuna.

The Children

The Elven gods who fall under this section were believed to be the offspring of the Primordials, whether literally or through adoption.

Sidhion – Firstborn Son of the Father and Mother; the God of Harmony Between Nature and Mortals; The Lost Son. The Elves perceived this god as the embodiment of nature existing side-by-side with mortals, and there was a time when his worshipers outstripped those of Sylvar. A gentle, benevolent deity, he was beloved by many Elves.

Stories that recount his violent demise appear much later, and scholars have noted that the point where the stories begin to say that Sidhion was murdered all appear to originate around the time that Humanity’s numbers became too great to contain – the moment, to the Elven mind, when the world’s harmony was broken. And as the Elves were betrayed by their younger sibling, that of Mankind, so, too, was Sidhion betrayed by his younger brother out of jealousy and spite.

But stories of Sidhion persist, and an almost cult-like belief has sprung up among several disaffected Elves scattered in communities across the continent – that the world has been broken ever since Sidhion was murdered, and that it can only be made right by his return. And so, as Humans have cried out to Valthos, so now do disparate Elves cry out to Sidhion - Deliver us. Return to us. Let that which was broken be remade.

It remains to be seen whether their cries will be answered.

Ilmarin – Secondborn Son of the Father and Mother; God of Strength, Order, and Determination. The oldest tales of this god depict him as the sword to Sidhion’s benevolence. Whereas Sidhion was a creature of harmony, Ilmarin was a creature of order. Many early Elven city-states were dedicated to Ilmarin for just that reason - he brought order out of chaos, steeled the hearts of soldiers, and strengthened the reign of monarchs.

It is not clear when Ilmarin fell from grace, nor is it entirely clear when he became known as Sangarë, the Lord of Oppression, God of Order and Tyranny, but most scholars place it as shortly before stories of Sidhion’s murder began to appear. Some scholars have speculated that Ilmarin and Sangarë are two separate deities, and that this is a case of one or more city-states having had more of their records survive, thus making it appear that Ilmarin either vanished or became Sangarë. But there are so few records that have survived the sands of time and the fires of the Inquisition, that it is almost impossible to discern at this point.

By the time of the rise of the Annorian Empire, the name Ilmarin was all but forgotten, and the Humans had renamed Sangarë as Dominium.

Herenya – Daughter of the Mother and Father; Goddess of the Harvest and Plenty; Lady of Joy and Celebrations; Goddess of Debaucheries. The youngest of Anmar and Ianna’s children, Herenya is a joyful deity who was associated with harvests and the celebrations that followed. She was a popular goddess no matter where you went – in the countryside, she was revered for the harvests she blessed, and in the cities she was revered for the parties thrown in her name.

Worship of Herenya appears to have begun at some point after the first mention of Sangarë in ancient texts, but it is possible that she existed prior to that under a different name that has since been lost. It is said that she was especially beloved by her older brother, Sangarë, and that she could make him smile as no one else could. The center of her worship was located in what are now the Heartlands - the breadbasket of the continent, though by the time the Three had begun their rise to prominence, most Humans knew her as Twyll.

There are some scholars who related her to an entirely different deity altogether - the one the Humans call Festum, but they are a minority at best. It is ultimately possible that she is both, or neither.

Eäryendë – Daughter of Umbriel and Menathradon; the Blue Lady; Lady of the Tides; Goddess of the Unfathomable Depths; Goddess of Water and Storms; Lady of Beginnings and Terrible Ends.There was a time when every dock or harbor-side quay had a shrine to Eäryendë , the Lady of the Tides.

The Goddess of Water and Storms is something of a mystery to most scholars who study her. While the majority of surviving myths surrounding her place her as the daughter of Umbriel and Menathradon, and the half-sister of Istariel, others depict the Blue Lady as a force in her own right, having sprung from the water fully-formed. It was said that Eäryendë laughed in the face of the worst storms, and dove to the deepest depths of the oceans to study new things, and find new life. Of all the Children, she is said to have been the most curious, the most daring, and what few myths remain that mention her childhood state that Eäryendë often dragged her half-sister Istariel into one adventure after another, much to the latter’s disdain.

While the earliest surviving myths treat the Lady of Tides as a mischievous, almost joyful prankster, the later myths depict her quite differently. These were the myths that earned her the epithet of Lady of Beginnings and Terrible Ends. Eäryendë was said to lure the unwary (especially Humans) to their doom with just the sound of her beautiful voice, drowning them in the depths of the ocean where she would add them to her collection. She would smash their ships, leaving widows and orphans waiting on shore for men who would never return. She would send terrible storms that raked the shorelines clean, leaving only sorrow in their wake. You could earn her favor for a time, if you had the coin for it, but she was fickle and just as willing to kill you if you so much as annoyed her.

By the time the Annorian Empire began to rise in the Heartlands of the continent, Eäryendë had become Calipha, the terrifying goddess or demon, depending on who you asked, that resided in the endless waters that stretched away from the shores.

Istariel – Daughter of the Ianna and Menathradon; Goddess of Duty and Weaving; Lady of the Veil; She Who Sees the Pattern; the Watcher at the Crossroads; Protector of the Order of the World. Istariel is an odd deity, and one whose worship came into prominence far later than most of the other members of the Elven Pantheon.

The earliest myths that have been found of the goddess depict her spending much of her childhood with her half-sister, Eäryendë, and Umbriel - for all three were prone to melancholy and solitude. But where her half-sister saw potential in the chaos of storms, and possibility in the endless depths of the unknown, Istariel only saw potential problems - and things to be feared. It is said that out of all of the gods of the Pantheon, Istariel was the first to pick up on worrisome patterns - she counseled her mother and other gods not to bless Humanity so greatly, for she could see before any of them the chaos this would bring to fruit.

Her temples were known to house clergy gifted in seeing the self-same patterns that Istariel could see – such individuals were extremely talented in crafting riddles, and discerning truth from lies. Indeed, the Lady of the Veil’s clergy were sometimes called upon to assist with investigations to look for patterns that might indicate guilt, or in strategy sessions, to see patterns no one else might discern.

While never depicted as a particularly aggressive goddess, the Lady of the Veil was almost always depicted as a protective force. Many myths that survive depict Istariel as standing side-by-side with her father, Menathradon, at the Crossroads, and almost all of these myths include references to her weaving magical barriers that protect our world from the Other Side. Soldiers are said to have prayed to her to reinforce the walls surrounding their cities, while mothers are said to have prayed to Istariel for the protection and shielding of their children.

She would be elsewhere associated with another name, in another tongue – Arachnea.

Obscure Oddities

The deities who fall into his category do not appear to have been widely worshiped as members of the Pantheon, but were counted as such depending on the region you were in. In some cases, they appear to be direct reactions to world events that were breaking the spirit of the Firstborn, and in other cases they appear to be minor deities who sought to fill a role the rest of the Pantheon didn’t cover.

Faelwen – Goddess of Justice and Mercy; Lady of Compassion. Written tales of Faelwen only survive from one kingdom mentioned in the chronicles - that of Ese Unarith, a city located in the mountains south of what are now the Heartlands, but it is believed she was worshiped much more widely. What is perhaps astounding is how many depictions of her have surfaced - a beautiful Elven woman, simply dressed, one hand outstretched as though towards a friend, compassion writ large upon delicate features. Figurines and painted images of Faelwen have been found across the southern portion of the Continent, though she does not appear to have been worshiped or even known north of the Heartlands.

The tales that have survived about the goddess describe her as a daughter of Ianna and Anmar, who weighed compassion and justice equally - seeking to return harmony rather than enact vengeance. Faelwen appears to have had particular compassion towards Humans, encouraging her followers to deal with Humanity with kindness, instead of disdain. Scholars have speculated that this may be a case where she was conflated with Herenya, who occupied something of a similar role as the Daughter of the Mother and Father. They postulate that Faelwen was simply another name for Herenya, with some added bells and whistles. Other scholars hotly contest this, pointing out that nothing appears to tie her to harvests or celebrations, and there are no indications of Herenya herself being tied to mercy or justice. A very, very minor few have suggested that Faelwen may be some sort of re-imagined Sidhion, pointing out her focus on returning harmony where there had been strife.

Some of the later myths that have been recovered appear to attempt to tie her into the rise of the religion of the Three, claiming that Faelwen was a mortal Elf whose commitment to compassion and justice was so deep that she alone of Elvenkind reached out to help the pregnant Minerva, guiding her to the very farm where the Human goddess would later give birth to Valthos. These myths, which appear to originate long after the last Elven city fell, tie into the story of her supposed twin, Achared, and claim that gentle Faelwen was eventually murdered by the very Humans she sought to help. So moved were Anmar and Umbriel by the Elven woman’s compassion, and commitment to do right even at great cost to herself, that they caught Faelwen’s soul before it could pass out of this world, and raised her to divinity, adopting her as their very own child. In this way, the later myths claim Faelwen to be the daughter of Anmar and Umbriel.

Most scholars who have examined the available myths are convinced that the Faelwen of the later myths was most likely a real person, but they are not in agreement about how much of her mythological journey is true. It is their belief that the story of the real Faelwen (though that was probably not her name, and more a title) was later conflated with that of the goddess.

Achared – God of Vengeance; Lord of Preparation and Strategy. It is impossible to discuss Faelwen without mentioning her twin brother, Achared. While the written record of Faelwen has only been recovered from Ese Unarith, most of the information we have about Achared comes from the Elven city of Thelenaes, which was located far to the south in what is now known as Messalya. From accounts that have survived, it appears that worship of Achared predates worship of Faelwen, and it is entirely possible that he existed before she did, and they were later conflated as siblings due to time and later mistranslations.

Though very little is known about Achared’s origins, he appears to have been worshiped rather widely in the most unstable Elven kingdoms, but lacked a presence in more stable city-states. The most coherent (and, well, most recent) myths depict Achared as Faelwen’s beloved twin brother, who was left inconsolable when she was murdered by Humans. So wounded was he by the murder of his other half that he dedicated the rest of his life to gaining vengeance on behalf of his gentle twin - despite knowing that she would never have wished him to do so. The tales say that over the course of his life, he killed scores of Humans, and that it was through his efforts that several Elven kingdoms held off the initial advances of the Human conquest.

By the end of his life, Achared had become a semi-mythical figure, revered among Elvenkind as a symbol of Vengeance and Strategy - the Thinking Warrior, as it were. These tales say that when he finally fell in battle, Anmar and Umbriel were so moved by his dedication to the memory of his sister, as well as his prowess and cunning in battle, that they raised him to divinity as well, giving him a place alongside his immortal sister for all eternity.

Some scholars have pointed out that Achared as a deity shares many traits with Sangarë, including the close relationship with a younger sister (although Sangarë and Herenya are never depicted as twins). Indeed, they have postulated that Achared is either another name for Sangarë, or is an aspect of the other deity, with Faelwen being another name for Herenya, or an aspect of that goddess.

Naerdiel – Goddess of Famine and Privation; Lady of Sorrow and Woe; Goddess of Curses. Almost nothing survives of this goddess’s worship, nor are there any coherent tales of her origin. The only surviving myths that mention her surround the twisting of Ilmarin into Sangarë. It is said that her poisonous words were the catalyst that pushed Sangarë to murder his older brother, Sidhion.

There are no concrete reasons provided for her influencing Sangarë in this way, nor is it ever explained who she is, or where she came from. Mention of her only appears in three fragmented engravings dated to 10,000 years ago, essentially meaning a generic ‘very distant, almost mythical past’. Only one gives any indication of her motivations for encouraging strife between the two brothers - a desire to unseat Anmar and Ianna and take Ianna’s place as head of the Elven Pantheon, with Sangarë as her consort. No temples have ever been found to honor Naerdiel, and almost no depictions of her still exist.

Some scholars have speculated that she might be a very early version of a goddess who would later be known as Luxa, while others believe she may be a dark form of the goddess Tanna, but these are pure speculation given the gaps in the historical and religious records.

Author: Smol & Angry, many thanks for the images to Cenere and Hugh-Gi-Oh, and for the image-texts to Bogrot!)

Lands of Tyranny

Day 17 of The Centaur, Year 416

Old Gods, Polytheism