The Gods of Fury
Gods of Fury is a collective term for a group of evil and destructive deities. People may pray to them to avoid their wrath, but otherwise shun them if they can help it.
Lead by Talos the Destroyer, the pantheon embodies natural disasters are their worst and most cruel. Auriel the Frost Maiden, and Umberlee the Bitch Queen, at his side, they may invoke their wrath and their spite upon any who tread in their domains.
Those that worship and venerate the Gods of Fury are gifted great power, but bring ruin to society and are thus shunned and hated. Followers of Talos, and by extension the Furies, are fanatical in their love of destruction.
Mythology & Lore
When mortals fight, they sow blood. When the Gods fight, they sow disasters. It was from the first conflict between the Gods that Talos emerged. He was their fury, their destructive power made manifest.
Fear of the elements and their wild, unpredictable nature gave rise to wild, unpredictable Gods. Their whims were fickle and their whimsy came at the expense of others, unleashing their unrelenting passion on anyone they chose.
Divine Origins
Just like all Gods, even the Gods of Fury want worship, but few would be willing to give their patronage to such deities of their own accord. Thus, the Gods of Fury would spare those who gave them offerings and prayers. However, due to their fickle nature, even such gifts weren't a guarantee of safety. Still, the chance of safety is better than none, so they sustain themselves off of the fearful. And, should their worship wane, they can easily remind humanity of their power.
Tenets of Faith
Lacking any sort of code, the worshippers of the Gods of Fury follow the example of their Gods. If one were to try and prescribe any tenets to such scum, it would be as follows:
The world is a cruel and violence place, so embrace it and use it to take what you want, when you want it. If you aren't strong enough to take it, then you don't deserve it. If those that oppose you aren't strong enough to keep it, they shouldn't have it. Tear down the structures of humanity and embrace the violent chaos, and show others your power so that they may quake before it. However, never forget that the Gods of Fury can as easily bring their wrath down on you as you do onto others, should you displease them.
Worship
Worship of the Gods of Fury is officially outlawed in many places, but secret temples receive patronage from people looking to avoid their wrath.
TALOS RITUALS
Calling Down the Thunder: A ritual that involves the sacrifice of an intelligent being by lightning. They are usually died to a large altar upon a cliff precipice or strapped to a lone tree in a clearing. Sometimes it is the faithful themselves who become the sacrifice, and if they survive being struck by lightning, they are said to have Talos' blessing and embued with his power.
The Fury: A ceremony in which the cleric prays, and then makes berserk attacks to wreak as much destruction as possible in a small amount of time, then pray again. When large gatherings of faithful congregate to perform The Fury, their madness becomes infectious, spreading to surrounding areas and causing fits of destructive wrath and violence without cause.
UMBERLEE RITUALS
Umberlee is to be worshiped daily with offerings, prayer, and self-anointing on the brow, hands, and feet with sea water. In addition, the faith has a few special rituals, most notably the Drowning, First Tide, and Stormcall.
The Drowning is a private ritual, and only clergy members may witness it or take part. In the Drowning, an Untaken becomes a true priest of the goddess. The supplicant lies before an altar and is surrounded by candles lit to the goddess, each placed with an intoned prayer by a different Umberlant priest. The attending clergy then withdraw, and a senior priest casts a spell that causes sea water to flood the room in a huge breaking wave and then flow away. Supplicants who survive are confirmed in the service of Umberlee and warned that if they should ever betray the Queen of the Deeps, drowning is the fate that awaits them. They were spared during the Drowning and so can be taken by the Sea Queen at any time to come (clergy whom the Sea Queen feels have failed her go to sleep one night never to awaken, dying during the night of drowning, their lungs mysteriously filled with sea water).
The public rituals of Umberlee include First Tide and the Stormcall.
First Tide is celebrated by a flute-and-drum parade through the streets of a city by the clergy when the ice breaks up in a harbor. In a cold-hearted and brutal ritual, the clergy carry a live large animal down to the shore to be tied to a rock and hurled into the water. If the creature somehow washes or struggles ashore alive, it is freed, tended, and magically healed back to full health. It then becomes a sacred animal with the rank of an Umberlant (this custom began in ancient times when Umberlee often selected her clergy from among human sacrifices by unbinding them beneath the water).
Stormcall is a mass prayer in which worshipers call for Umberlee to send a storm to devastate a specific harbor or ship or to turn away an approaching storm or one that has already broken upon the worshipers. Worshipers kneel around pools in which lit candles float on fragments of driftwood that have been carefully collected and dried by Umberlant priests for this purpose. Sacrifices of precious goods are thrown into the pools, but the priests must carefully levitate the candles through the magic of the ceremony as this is done to keep them alight—for a candle doused is a sign of Umberlee's anger.
AURIL RITUALS
Postulants are instructed in the ways of the goddess, and must undergo the most sacred ritual of Auril to gain admittance into her clergy: the Embracing. This personal ritual may occur at any time of year, but if it is in summer, the postulant must journey to arctic or high mountain regions in order to find a blizzard. The Embracing consists of running through a blizzard all night long dressed in only boots (though they may be thigh-high), a thin shift, and body paint depicting symbols sacred to Auril. Celebrants either perish of exposure or are accepted by the goddess by being rescued from the pain and shivering by Her Embrace.
Thereafter, clergy members usually pray in private, by lying out in the snow all night long in prayer vigil. In summer, her clergy usually immerse themselves (except for their heads) in the coldest water they can find, typically by lying down in a fast-flowing stream. Auril answers their queries and gives them directions and missions through mind visions.
Two informal but enthusiastically celebrated rituals are the Coming Storm and the Last Storm-howling ice storms called up by clergy working en masse with all the cold magic they can muster. Together they bring fierce weather down upon a town or region to mark the onset of winter or its last gasp as spring begins.
Priesthood
The existence of religious orders affiliated with Talos are shrouded in mystery and rumor. However, some are known through reputation
TALOS
Lords of the Tempest: A group of wizards that specialize in combining elemental magic.
Circle of Rust and the Worm: A cabal of insane sages and mystics of various disciplines with the aim of destroying the world.
AURIL
Cult of Frost: A group who has migrated deep into the Everfrost and believe it to be a divine miracle from Auril. Their goal is to spread its power across the lands.
The Frost Witches: A coven of hags who terrorize the inhabitants of the Everfrost, stirring strife and chaos. Sudden snowstorms, avalanches, or deranged wildlife have all been attributed to them.
Umberlee
Sea Queen's Breakers: Profiteers who pursue treasure-hunting and recovery operations beneath the waves or adventures on land when the promise of gold seems to outweigh the dangers of an Umberlant priest working long away from water. They are considered untrustworthy and opportunistic, but skilled enough to still be us
Granted Divine Powers
SPELLS
1st Level: Chaos Bolt, Frost Bolt, Thunderous Smite, Thunderwave
2nd Level: Crown of Madness, Shatter, Minute Meteors
3rd Level: Enemies Abound, Tidal Wave, Call Lightning
4th Level: Confusion, Ice Storm, Storm Sphere
5th Level: Destructive Wave, Flame Strike, Maelstrom
6th Level: Chain Lightning, Freezing Sphere
7th Level: Firestorm, Whirlwind
8th Level: Earthquake
9th Level: Meteor Swarm
BOONS
Those blessed by Talos have often miraculously survived cataclysms and are resistant to the fury of their God. By earning his favor, he may deign to unleash his wrath against the enemies of his followers.
Those blessed by Umberlee can breathe underwater and call forth the power of her sea storms. Clerics seek to build up enough favor with Umberlee to be teleported ashore by the goddess if they are ever in danger on the seas.
Those blessed by Auril are immune to the cold, so long as they fully accept its bitter embrace. They need much less food than other beings because of this ability, and often roam the northlands energetically when blizzards have forced other folk to hole up against the weather. Many priestesses of Auril make a handsome living delivering medicines, messages, and needed supplies throughout the northlands in winter.
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