Tempus, Lord of Battles

Deity, Core Pantheon

Tempus was the primary deity of war. He dogma was primarily concerned with honorable battle, forbidding cowardice and encouraging the use of force of arms to settle disputes.

Description

Tempus was depicted as a human male of pure muscle and martial prowess. He wore plates of jagged or spiked armour and wielded a greataxe. His face was obscured behind a helmet.

Activities

Tempus watched over battles waged in the Everplanes. He was impartial, favouring neither side of a conflict regardless of how faithful individuals were. He was known to reward those who enacted his tenets and fought fearlessly and honorably.
He similarly would not involve himself directly in conflicts with the divines. Sune considered Tempus as her enemy because of the destruction that wars caused, but Tempus did not consider her worth the conflict.
Although Tempus was diametrically opposed to Eldath, they were not enemies. He considered passivism naive, but knew that peace was needed after battle.

History

Tempus was one of the many beings of primordial essence born from the battle between Selune and Shar.
See The Creation Myth.
He was one of many powers with the War domain, and through the Era of Creation, he fought and defeated every single one of the others, the last of which was Garagos, The Reaver, who he spared.
During the Age of Humanity, he elevated The Red Knight to partial-divinity. This was to balance the destructive aims of Garagos.
Through conflicts to come, Tempus did not make allies or enemies. He would not take sides and simply encouraged honorable fighting.

Worshippers

Not all civilisations include Tempus in their pillars of worship, but in those that do, Tempus has a large amount of followers. Nearly everyone who drew a sword or nocked an arrow had fought alongside a cleric of Tempus and just as many had fought against one.
Temples could take the form of anything used to enact his dogma, from military barracks and training grounds, to sacred battlefields and hilltop outposts.

Beliefs

It was believed that Garagos was spared because Tempus disliked mindless slaughter and destruction, and would be obliged to take on that portfolio if he slew Garagos.
People who opposed the teachings of Tempus, such as the followers of Eilistraee, called him The Butcher.

Tenets

• Be fearless
• Never turn away from a fight.
• Obey the rules of war

Title(s)
Lord of Battles
Foehammer
The Butcher
Entity Type
Deity
Pantheon


Perceived Gender
Masculine
Alignment
True Neutral
Domains
War
Relationships
The Red Knight (served by)
Garagos, The Reaver (spared)
Home Plane
Limbo
Divine Realm
Warrior's Rest