Faith of the Nine
This is a pantheon of gods and goddesses that are the leading divinities of the Old Religion recognized by all those loyal to the *Erlkönig. Scholars of religion know that the Nine themselves are actually the apex gods worshipped by peoples traditionally accepting the Erlkönig's suzerainty - elves, dwarves, humans, gnomes, etc.
The Ennead Includes the following:
Corellon (High Elves): God of time (eternity/breaks) transitions, opposition, doorways, passages, beginnings, endings, androgyny, the arts, chivalry, Spring (as beginning)
Cult is headed by Erlkönig and his designated deputies
Holy days: The New Year
Symbol: Crescent Moon, star?
Avandra (Forest Gnomes): Goddess of freedom, journeys, adventure, luck, guidance, trade, trickery, messages, communication (divination), dreams, thieves, the moon, Spring (as season)
Notes: awarded wand (palochka-vyruchalochka) by Corellon
Cult: forest priests, market priests, ship’s priests
Animal: hare
Materials: beans, herbs
Festivals: Achairina (full moon, Grazing), Spring Equinox?
Bahamut (Dragons): God of Justice, Earth (?), Agriculture, Polar Star, Earth/Heaven correspondence, burial/ancestors, storms
Animals: canary, turtle (?)
Cult: grottoes, caves, courts, haruspicers
Festival: Scadaria, 24 Gleaming (sowing festival)
Ioun (humans, dragons [?]): Goddess of knowledge, prophecy, study, magic, the night, secrets, full moon, ghosts
Animals: swan, dog (black), polecat
Symbols: swan-rune, spinning stone, crossed torches
Materials: yew, cypress, belladonna
Cult: Chronicler-priests, archivist-priests, university rectors
Festival: Full moon, esp. 30 Turning (Feast of the Tree)
Moradin (dwarves): God of smithing, craft, carpentry, earth, fire, the hearth, marriage, family, wealth, gold, commerce, gainful employment
Animals: bull, pig
Symbols: Hammer, anvil, two interlocking rings
Festivals: Sarkanah, last full Ennead of Reaping
Cult: priests of forge, also luck temples (money-lenders)
Pelor (humans): God of light, the sun, fire, light, truth, right, linear time, summer, humanity, war, courage, friendship, healing, compassion
Animals: lion, phoenix, horse
Symbols: sun/lion disk
Festivals: Summer solstice (Navrok)
Cult: warrior-priests, chaplains, fire altars
Erathis (humans) [twin sister/lover of Pelor]): Goddess of agriculture, livestock, autumn, popular justice, community, music
Animals: ewe
Symbols: cornucopia, sickle, wheat stalk
Festivals: Fall equinox
Cult: community elders
Zehir (humans, [dragons?]): God of death (as change), sleep, wine, poison, mystery, ecstasy, medicine, madness, romantic love
Animals: snake, fox
Symbols: vine, snake crawling out of skull
Festivals: Zehir’s birthday (first ennead of Turning)
Cult: itinerant mediums
Raven (humans [consort of Pelor], [elves?]): Goddess of war (slaughter), death (as decay), burial, cyclical time, winter, shadow,
Animals: ravens, crows
Festivals: Winter solstice
Cult: mortuary priestesses
Major shrines of the Nine in towns are called Serene Temples of the Ennead.
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