Religion Overview

Religion is a central pillar of most of Poyian society, and though the gods no longer walk the world with mortals there power and existence is impossible for any observant person to ignore. The histories are full of stories of how avatars of the various gods fought in the Reclamation Wars and even afterwards their priests and followers wield power in their stead. In some places the gods are venerated, in others blamed, but almost nowhere are they denied.

The pantheon of Poy falls into two broad categories: Aspects and Patrons.

Aspects are deities of some particular power or cause. Love, death, and harvest are all examples of Aspects. Such a god may have many aspects, but no two gods ever claim the same one. Even the case of _____ and ______ who both appear to have death as an cause, there is no conflict. For ______ the word 'release' is more appropriate, while for _______ 'murder' is a better description. This fine distinction has not kept the followers of either from being violently opposed, however.

Patrons are the gods of a particular race or group, and there can multiple Patrons who vie for followers amongst that group. There are three bugbear patron deities and several halfling patron deities, some with only a few thousand followers. The intensity and manor of competition vary depending on the Patron and their followers. For bugbears, the conflict manifests in ritual sacrifice of an opponent's followers. The halfling seem free of such conflict until you look under the surface. There you'll find that each Patron is tied to a community and each community works to entice or recruit families to move.

Finally, there is a power outside of the Pantheon that is sometimes worshiped or at least mentioned. The Creator. Unlike Aspects and Patrons, there is no history of the Creator interacting with Poy or even it's Pantheon. Dwarves are the only race with any cohesive writings of the being they call Tak. Even they don't worship it as no dwarf has ever recorded receiving any acknowledgement for doing so.

Outside of the pantheon of gods there are other, less powerful, beings. For example, the elves speak of the Fey and the dwarves have a hundred kinds of Darkness that wander or stalk their underground world. These beings do not provide succor or power to worshipers, but instead seem to live a separate life alongside the rest of the world. Most agree that interactions with these spirits are rarely beneficial, at least to the mortal who encounters them.