Books of Dead Gods and Lesser Idols
The Cult of Shymos
by Elenia Granfaere
Written by a High Vaultian scholar named Elenia Granfaere, this book presents a case against the existence of Shymos. She is very dismissive of the god, writing him off as a fairytale imagined by poor fishermen. The second half of the book is devoted to the dangers of allowing the worship of nonexistent gods to continue. She suggests there is power in belief and the potential to create gods through worship. She concludes the book with a scathing critique of the addition of the new gods (Vashana and Tolarra) to the Pantheon.
Tales of the Wolf Moon
by Cordelia Mirthforest
Like many of Mirthforest's books, Tales of the Wolf Moon takes a fantastical approach to the folktales of Shymos. The stories are heavily embellished and expanded upon from traditional oral stories. It also features a colorful illustration for each tale. The morals of the story vary wildly from tale to tale. For example, one story is about strength through kindness, another is to beware of strangers, and another is a warning against growing inattentive.
A Comprehensive Study of Shymos
by Magthora Bergen
Magthora's book is a dry academic report on archaeological sites and other evidence for and against the existence of Shymos. She concludes that Shymos did not exist during the age of The Ancients but theorizes he was one of the deities created from the remnants of the Old Gods by the Matron of Trees and Yteus following the Transmigration. She further suggests that, if he did exist, he survived for no more than three centuries into the Age of Divinity.
The Obsidian Prince
by Mortimer Rosecourt
The Obsidian Prince reads like a smutty romance novel. In it, a young woman named Ophelia meets a beautiful black-winged angel named Cadriel. Jealousy, ambition, and lust lead to a turbulent fall from grace for both the angel and the woman. Cadriel becomes a devil and a patron to many, including Ophelia. The book ends with Ophelia massacring every last warlock who held a pact with Cadriel and becoming a devil in her own right.
Under the Shadow of Blades: A True Account
by Bilben Pebblestone
Under the Shadow of Blades recounts the tales of a halfling who was pulled into the Shadow Veil in 1123 AA. He details his five-year search for a way back home, his dealings with the denizens of the shadow plane, and his encounters with its demigods. In his time there, he befriends a woman named Halri, one of the Shadow Veil natives he calls the Hollow Elves. Like all Hollow Elves, Halri bound her soul to a patron, in her case to an entity called the Mistress of Blades. Other powerful entities mentioned in the book were the patrons known as Kirnon, Ktheopi, and the Ferry Keeper.
Shadow clung to my cloak and crept up my body, engulfing me entirely. At first, it was pure darkness, a flash of cold. I thought perhaps I had died. But then the darkness softened. I was in the basement, or so I thought, but it was wrong. Everything was gray, as if the color had been leeched from it, and I was gripped by an intense and all-consuming feeling of sorrow and despair.
I resigned myself to being eaten by the great, slavering hound but, to my surpise, it was a gaunt elvish face that greeted me when the door slammed open. She was as colorless as the surrounding landscape, heavily tatooed and pierced, and had apathetic eyes that belied the childlike grin she wore. Halri was her name, and she would become my loyal companion and dearest friend. I later learned she was younger than she appeared, but she showed little regard for the many years ahead of her she should have had. I watched too many times as she flung herself into battle with reckless abandon in a doomed mission to fill the hollowness the Shadow Veil had sown in her kind.
Rivulets of glowing magma flowed along the pathway as I ascended to the mountaintop. When I finally reached the summit and stared down into the caldera, I saw the Palace of Blades. Had I not grown so numb to my surroundings, I might have been intimidated by the bristling iron structure, which appeared to be a living, breathing creature through the heat haze. [...] When I accused the Mistress of abandoning Halri, her face morphed into an owlish mask and her form grew, looming over me. I was merely a bug standing beneath a wrathful god. Until the fates themselves perish, she told me, her wards would never be without her.
By the Fires of the Dancer
by Neshime Draamphishkmijoth
By the Fires of the Dancer regales its reader with tales of a spirit called The Dancer, who slips into the dreams of unsuspecting common folk to lure them towards adventure. Farmers, bakers, schoolteachers, and the like find themselves drawn from their mundane routines to starlit mountaintops and enchanting forest clearings where they revel by the colorful fires of The Dancer. The revelers are snapped back to reality when the fires die out, quite confused by how their feet carried them there. Perhaps by the Dancer's design, friendships and love are often formed through the shared experience.
Legend of the Face Maker
by Cordelia Mirthforest
The distinguished Cordelia Mirthforest records and illustrates the oral stories of the Face Maker, an old godlike figure said to sculpt the faces of all living beings. The book includes folktales about people who sought the Face Maker for various reasons. Some of the tales have happy endings, but most carry the moral of "be careful what you wish for." The stories suggest the Face Maker holds domain over physical appearance, time, and memory.
Gods of the Dead: A History
by Faeranduil Lorafiel
This thick tome took six centuries to write and is the incredibly dry lifework of the high elf Faeranduil Lorafiel. It is a 2000 page book that should have been 200. It contains detailed research regarding various personifications, demigods, and lesser idols related to death. He includes interviews with people who supposedly met these entities, his thoughts on those interviews, and interviews with other scholars to get their thoughts on those interviews. There are also long sections detailing related archaeological findings and his and others' analyses of them.
Blood and Ash: The Cult of the Wood Witch
by Inaleth Lightoak
In this book, Inaleth Lightoak, a reclusive firbolg, details rituals performed deep in the forests by the cult of the Wood Witch. The rituals often included animal sacrifices and the burning of the corpse. She also records multiple instances of humanoid newborns being sacrificed. Hallucinogenic plants are thrown in the fires, creating a thick haze around the rituals. By Inaleth's account, the cult is comprised solely of young women. The members often seek social status, revenge for perceived slights, and magical power.
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