Religion

A diverse pantheon of deities watches over the lands of Tellene. These gods concern themselves with the affairs of intelligent mortals. Keeping them straight might prove challenging for players just beginning their adventures in the Sovereign Lands. First, each culture or language has its own name for each god. Furthermore, the gods have many names, even among a single culture, and each god’s priesthood and faith has a distinct name. Even among the priesthoods, clerics have different titles commensurate with their ranks within the faith’s hierarchy.

Note that the gods of Tellene do not segment themselves by region or by race. There is no “god of the elves”. They are far more concerned with their followers’ actions and beliefs than they are with race, gender or other physical factors. Because of cultural and racial differences, certain deities appeal more to some races or classes.

Except for clerics, the average person on Tellene does not worship a single god. Instead, they offer donations and prayers to many gods, depending on which deity best serves their needs at the time. For instance, a farmer might attend a service of The Raiser before planting his crops, propitiate the Storm Lord with a small sacrifice while the crops grow and then donate to The Traveler’s temple before taking his goods to market.

Adventurers in particular revere a wide variety of gods. A character might pay homage to the Powermaster before accepting a single challenge, shout an exclamation invoking the Knight of the Gods when she meets a disgusting ghast, and drop off a few coins at The Landlord’s temple before she attempts to sell the loot she recovered from a dungeon.

Those few individuals who revere one god above others and typically pay a tithe to that temple are considered followers of that faith. They might have contacts that other characters do not because of that fellowship and they have more than the basic knowledge of the faith (its holy symbol, spheres of interest, the name of its canon, specific religious stories, etc.). They might also move into a temple or monastery to labor under the clerics and monks who devote their lives to that god. Clerics perceive these folk differently than they view worshipers in their bestowal of spells and other services. While enjoying these benefits, followers are also subject to the faith’s laws, and the faith might have legal power to collect tithes equal to a tax collector’s power to collect monies owed to the sovereign.