Pantheons
The Old Gods
In the fey-infused lands of the Moontide Isles, the pagan "old gods" are seen as ancient and primal forces that exist alongside the fey courts, embodying the raw power of nature and the cosmos. These deities are not removed or aloof, but rather deeply intertwined with the land, seas, and skies. These entities have been around since before the humans settled the Isles. And while their influence once traveled beyond the Isles to the mainland of Auluin, the rise of the Oleander Throne has diminished their presence everywhere except for the Isles.
The fey beings of the Moontide Isles recognize the old gods as kindred spirits, powerful forces that are tied to their realm. There is a sense of mutual respect between the fey and the old gods, as both hold sway over the natural world, although the fey are more mischievous and capricious in their dealings, while the gods are viewed as more immutable and eternal, though many believe that the old gods themselves are just ancient and elder archfey whose divinity and magic stem from the Feywild.
The Daoine and the elder races of the Isle all understand the Old Gods and their ways. The raiders who left Rhytham and ended up as the Northlanders have abandoned most of their gods and have accepted the Old Gods into their life and culture here. Beyond the gods themselves here, many have small shrines to lesser spirits or fey that influence the Isles.
The old gods’ influence can be felt in the ebb and flow of seasons, the tides, and the cycles of life and death. Rituals in the Isles often blend fey magic with offerings to these gods, invoking both for protection, harvests, and guidance. The people of the Moontide Isles believe the gods can walk among them, sometimes cloaked as animals, natural phenomena, or even in the guise of mortals. Many shrines and sacred groves exist where both fey and mortals make their offerings, further blurring the lines between fey magic and divine power.
The old gods and fey courts do not operate in opposition but in an intricate dance, each maintaining their own dominion while sharing an unspoken balance of power over the Moontide Isles.
The Imprisoned and Dead Gods
Aeons ago, while the old gods were still young, Nyctelios was a god of discovery and sought to learn of other worlds and planes beyond this one. In this seeking, he discovered other planes and worlds that were so alien to everything that reality understood. He sought to understand it all, so that he could return and have Emone record it for it to become a knowable reality because Nyctelios and Emone were once twin gods of discovery and knowledge.
However, upon returning his consciousness to this plane, this understanding could not exist in the order of this world and his mind splintered and shattered. Aberrations, strange alien beings that should not exist, emerged from his shattered view of reality and entered into the world.
Nyctelios had also returned with powerful abilities to change realities, more so than any god should have. He rose against the other gods, wanting reality to reflect his maddening vision and he struck down two of their order. Miseria, the goddess of fear, and Sisig, the god of dreams fell before him. However, Nyctelios did not absorb their powers and ruling claims, instead he set them free into the world. This is why today dreams have no rules or order and why fear and terror can take any form. These concepts freed would also mingle, and fear and dreams would collide to create nightmares.
Fearing for the freedom of concepts, the gods banded together. Belenos lit the forge for Ctenmillar to craft the chains. Aine created the arcane lock. The Red Knight delivered the battle plan. All of the gods took part in the capture and binding of Nyctelios. He would be held and bound deep beneath the surface. They chose beneath the earth near Myrloch, as the mystical connection of ley lines helped to weave the bindings. And so he was captured and bound, and a great lock used to bind him.
However, upon returning his consciousness to this plane, this understanding could not exist in the order of this world and his mind splintered and shattered. Aberrations, strange alien beings that should not exist, emerged from his shattered view of reality and entered into the world.
Nyctelios had also returned with powerful abilities to change realities, more so than any god should have. He rose against the other gods, wanting reality to reflect his maddening vision and he struck down two of their order. Miseria, the goddess of fear, and Sisig, the god of dreams fell before him. However, Nyctelios did not absorb their powers and ruling claims, instead he set them free into the world. This is why today dreams have no rules or order and why fear and terror can take any form. These concepts freed would also mingle, and fear and dreams would collide to create nightmares.
Fearing for the freedom of concepts, the gods banded together. Belenos lit the forge for Ctenmillar to craft the chains. Aine created the arcane lock. The Red Knight delivered the battle plan. All of the gods took part in the capture and binding of Nyctelios. He would be held and bound deep beneath the surface. They chose beneath the earth near Myrloch, as the mystical connection of ley lines helped to weave the bindings. And so he was captured and bound, and a great lock used to bind him.
Myths and Legends
When the Isles have been in need, great spirits from the Feywild that walk among the Isles have risen to its defense. It was High King Lugh Dunain who called them together to repel the invasion of the Oleander Throne, uniting the isles under one rule. Now, these spirits remain a part of the lore and history of the Isles, but there influence and presence still remains as it is said that they will stand to protect the Isles again from dangers.
Northlander Hero-Gods
Since the first people from Rhytham landed on the Isles, the Northlanders began to adapt a new culture and identity. They soon left the Rhytham gods behind as the Old Gods of the Isles' presence was too undeniable. However, like the old Rhytham tales of long ago, heroes were raised in status to Demi-Gods and some of those heroes from the Isles have become a part of Northlander custom and worship.
The Oleander Throne God
On the mainland of Auluin, the Oleander Throne's empire stretched out and flourished, overtaking many nations and states, making them a part of the Throne's Empire. With this came a forceful integration of Oleander customs, and their monotheistic beliefs. With the Empire stretched over so many regions and cultures, uniformity has not always been achieved, but to make the transition easier, the OIeander Throne would adopt parts of the Pagan customs into the local worship of the All-Father. Worship of the Old Pagan Gods is forbidden and to those within the Oleander Throne, there is only the All-Father.
The New God
A relatively new religion for a very new god. The kobolds of the Burnfist Clan had believed the black dragon, Ydarion the Night Cutter, to be their god. For them, they had believed that the world was the shell that Ydarion had hatched from and before the egg hatching, there was nothing. Ydarion was their only god--something which Ydarion happily went along with to have fantatical worshippers to do his bidding.
However, after the party captured the kobold Guc Fuggruc and he stated that Ydarion was their god and mentioned the world being its egg, Tiarjead mused to the kobold, "then who laid the egg"? The kobold instinctively replied Ydarion's mother, to which Tiarjead said, that then Ydarion's mother must have existed before Ydarion.
This put Guc into an existential crisis of faith, as he realized that then Ydarion's mother must have had a mother, and the chain continued to Ydarion's Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother, where the kobold ran out of fingers. To Guc, this must be the true god from whence everything came from. Guc began to proselytize Ydarion's Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother as the true god of the kobolds, taking on several apostle believers.
This caused a schism within the Burnfist clan and the faithful of Ydarion's Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother were expelled from the clan and took up residence in the League and Eastbridge. While considered a joke by most, during a negotiation with the ratcatcher's guild in Eastbridge, Guc grew frustrated and accidentally cast command on Otis--the first true divine act granted by Ydarion's Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother.
Since then the outcast kobolds have started to further worship and deify Ydarion's Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother.
