Endhavian Pantheon
Gods from all points of the compass are worshipped in the megalopolis of Endhome, with few if any actually originating there. The gods of the Crossroads City also meddle heavily in mortal affairs. The former king of the pantheon, Khors, is fading from influence as Rava usurps his position in many places, but he has not vanished by any means. The Sun God still shines in the city, and his adherents value his power against night’s terrors that dwell closely outside the city walls. The elven gods once common in this region, including Yarila and Porevit, Baccho, and Holda, still have some influence but their temples and shrines are few and fading.
The people of the Crossroads City know their gods share their worries and concerns, and they fill the altars with sincere offerings. Religious faith in Endhome is strangely variable, since gods come and go here as if on their way to somewhere else. The sudden arrival of new gods like Rava and the slow fading of older ones like Khors is not unusual here. This changeability makes religious life in the city lively.
While worship of the gods in the Endhavian pantheon dates back much further, the pantheon itself was not codified until the year 20090 A.E..
Alignment: Lawful good
Domains: Light, Knowledge
Prime Deity: Thera
Symbol: A radiant sun
Favored Weapon: Longsword.
Comparable To: Mitra in Lados; Mithra in the Atlantean Pantheon; Valeresh in the elven pantheon; Aten in the Scorched Lands.
Though the Sun God is in decline in the Crossroads City, Khors still stands supreme within the city's surrounding rural areas. His numerous statues feature his feathered cloak, heavy armor, and wild helmet plumes. He is depicted striking down dragons, knighting new heroes, and defending common people against the darkness and terrors of night. The knights of the Order of the Undying Sun are Khors’s largest remaining bastion of influence, and he is still covertly worshipped in Rumela and Krakovar. Elsewhere, he is largely forgotten. Khors’s symbol is a radiant sun, and his sacred text is called the Book of the Sun, divided into a First Sun and New Sun portion. Since they worship a declining god, the priests of Khors know how to slip into other temples and other priesthoods, and many of Khors’s priests are pantheist priests. His worship once extended far to the East, but most places now venerate other gods. The temple in Endhome is now devoted more to his father Svarog than to Khors. Some of his priests have lately gone to Triolo seeking converts; it might be fertile ground, since the city hosts the head of the church, High Sunpriest Salomonn Csabos (LG male human cleric), a refugee from conquered Illyria. Khors is the unrelenting enemy of Sarastra, the White Goddess, Marena, and Vardesain, and all dark gods. Khors demands that his worshippers rise and pray at dawn and noon; bring light to the darkness; never approach a foe by stealth, but only bravely and openly; cast down demons, devils, and the dark gods without quarter; stand fast in battle, for courage is the greatest virtue of the warrior, yet if you must retreat, make clear your intention to return and win the day; let no shadow harm the innocent.
Alignment: Neutral good
Domains: Life, Grave
Prime Deity: Thera
Symbol: A radiant eye
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff.
Comparable To: Freya in Lados; Ishtar in the Atlantean pantheon; Baldur in the Northlands Pantheon; Lachesis in the High Houses.
Everyone loves Lada, the goddess of healing and love, although few truly follow her teachings of mercy and forgiveness. She is a maidenly goddess of the dawn and the day, and the enemy of the cult of Marena, the Red Goddess. Although depicted as meek and mild in most of her idols and images, she has a powerfully wrathful side, sometimes called the Bear Maiden, which defends children, the elderly, and the weak. Her attributes include compassion and mercy, though in some cases that mercy can seem harsh, such as destruction of the undead and granting merciful death to suffering plague victims. Lada appears as a young woman with braided black hair and bright green or blue eyes. She wears flowers in every season but winter, and fragrant rose petals cover her altars. Lada has many worshippers, for does not everyone wish for mercy, healing, and light? Young mothers, children, and the sick are all her devotees, as are many paladins (especially women) and some rangers, dervishes, and southern travelers. Her shrines and charms are common among the centaurs, the elves, and humans from north to south. These followers see her in their own race’s form (a centaur maiden, an elven matron, or a human woman), but they concede that this outer seeming is a bridge to worship. All utter similar prayers and hold their rites at daybreak. Lada’s symbol is the radiant eye, and her followers are referred to as “bright-eyed.” Some of her orders use roses or other flowers as symbols of Lada as well, though these are more common in the North and Endhome than in the Scorched Lands where her faith originated. Lada’s books are both holy scriptures and medical tracts. The Golden Book of Ruby Laughter describes worship of the sun, and the Codex of Herbals, Prayers, and Simples is the touchstone of Lada’s healing lore. Lada’s holiest sites are those on high ground, where the dawn breaks earliest. For this reason, her temples sit on hills or mountaintops or (when no high ground is available) are built with a large dawn steeple. The main doors to her temples face east. The current high priestess in Endhome is Lucca Angeli, a human woman born and raised in the Free City. She spent her youth adventuring and made her reputation during one of the many sieges of Endhome, when her steadfastness helped the Griffon Knights repel a dark army of fey. Many of her temples function as hospitals and plague wards, and in the South they are frequently paired with the temples of Anu-Akma, since even Lada’s grace cannot save everyone from death’s embrace forever. Lada’s shrines are also common in the fields and at crossroads. Prayers are held at the first light of dawn, and sometimes a farewell prayer at sunset. Lada is said to be Aten’s daughter, though the two priesthoods rarely get along. Lada and her divine brother Khors are more compatible. Lada is the unflinching enemy of the three evil sisters, as her priests refer to Marena the Red, Sarastra of the Night, and the White Goddess. However, her greatest enemy is Mavros-Perun, the god of war and thunder, whose destruction and bloodshed her priests find abhorrent. Priestesses of Lada rarely serve in an army devoted to Mavros. Lada despises all those who prey on the weak or the sick. Lada's teachings include doctrines to cure all the sick who ask, defend lovers from all dangers and trials, and show mercy to those who ask it. Members of Lada’s clergy must make a pilgrimage to the temple at Kingsgardt once every 12 years. All her faithful must defend and protect mothers and children, and none may turn away from poverty and want without a kind word and an offer of help, whether that takes the form of wisdom, food, clothing, a song, or shelter for the night.
Alignment: Neutral evil
Domains: Arcana, Death
Prime Deity: Alizaxis
Symbol: Rust-stained skulls
Favored Weapon: Whip.
Comparable To: Set in the Altantean pantheon; Loki in the Northlands; Nethus in the Seven Cities of Elaysm; Ludz in the High Houses.
Marena is the dark face of human fears: all flesh fails, and unbridled lust and rampant plague can destroy any happy life. She is known and feared throughout the Crossroads City, and her cults flourish in secret, especially in small villages when times are hard. In the great cities, her followers meet in cellars and sanctuaries within the poorer districts. Her face is both beautiful and chilling, and those who see her and survive are invariably marked with white hair, wine-colored birthmarks, or haunted silver eyes. Her followers believe that her strict worship grants them power, and her orders in the Greater Duchy of Morgau include anchorites, flagellants, and orgiasts. Marena is popular north of the river Argent in the Greater Duchy of Morgau, and she serves as the patron goddess of whores, vampires, ghouls, and the Order of Ghost Knights. Indeed, she is worshipped openly in the Blood Kingdom, and the vampires are building new temples to her glory in Krakovar. She is followed with somewhat less fervor on the Rothenian Plain in her aspect as the Winter Maiden, and hidden sects of her adherents exist throughout the Seven Cities. Some kobolds worship her out of fear or awe, although most prefer the simple faiths of Volund or Baal. Marena’s symbols include all red garments and skulls stained with ochre or rust. Her books are banned in most places as treatises of corruption and illness. The most infamous volumes include the Book of Holy Lust, the Song of Blood & Winter, and the Scarlet Commandments. The greatest public shrine to Marena is the great Aprostala temple, a site of pilgrimage and daily sacrifices in the Barony of Doresh. Worship of Marena is frequent and public; offerings are loud and messy. Every Morgau, Krakovar, and Doresh village of any size displays at least a small blood-stained altar stone, and her name is invoked at every birth, funeral, and battle. The religion is one of the few ways for living men and women to rise in status in the Blood Kingdom. Everywhere else, her worship is in secret. Marena’s priesthood is the Red Sisterhood, responsible for justice, law, and punishment. The strict Red Sisters dole out punishments both harsh and public: floggings, quarterings, and brandings are all common, as are executions by beheading. The high priestess Lileshka of the Chalice rarely executes followers and visitors, but attempts to seduce pilgrims when the goddess demands it. Those who permit this are granted an audience to petition for whatever they wish. Those who refuse are given to the harsher priests for chastisement. Despite (or because of) her proclivities, the high priestess retains the respect and good opinion of many of the elders of the realm. Her offerings are generous and yet she always demands favors in return. Most who underestimate her soon learn that her public congress with men and women does not mean she is weak or easily led; to the contrary, she chooses her conquests carefully. Marena is on excellent terms with the priests of her husband Mavros, and with Boreas, who is widely regarded as their son (at least in the Northlands). Marena is on poor terms with most other gods. Boreas and the Goat of the Woods are her allies, and some believe she has a secret pact with Vardesain as well. Her enemies include Rava, Aten, Khors, Lada, Sif, Ninkash, and Wotan. The stern goddess of lust and death demands her followers kill her foes (especially followers of Lada) and she requires rites of seduction, blood sacrifice, and flagellation. Although her worship is harsh and bitter, she is not unrelentingly cruel: she grants strength and magical power far more often than other gods, even to those who are not priestesses. Marena’s followers must make a pilgrimage to Morgau if they attain the age of 50.
Alignment: Neutral good
Domains: Nature, Seasons
Prime Deity: Gaia
Symbol: The baerra symbol, which resembles a crudely drawn Y.
Favored Weapon: Mace.
Comparable To: None, Ninkash is unique to Endhome and the dwarven cantons near it, and when worshipped elsewhere she remains unchanged.
Dwarves love ale and consume prodigious amounts of it—at least by human measures—and become incoherent, clumsy, or simply fall asleep. The dwarves call this last condition “gone,” short for “gone to visit Ninkash.” And indeed, the matron mother goddess of ale and merriment was a great gift to the dwarves from the Kariv, who brought their goddess with them to the cantons and the Crossroads City. Ninkash turned the rituals of brewing and drinking—such as Wotan’s stern priests toasting the dwarven dead at midwinter—to a more frequent and joyful sacrament, though still a serious one. Ninkash embraced the dwarves, and they embraced her. The public face of Ninkash is a golden-glowing, oversized tankard with a simple handle, an ever-full vessel floating in midair. To her faithful, she appears as a jovial, buxom dwarf woman clad in flowing robes of shifting color: one moment nut-brown, the next gold. Her garments are simple as a tavern maid’s. The goddess appears barefoot, her clothes unbelted and low-cut. Ninkash always smiles. When displeased, her smile is slight and she shakes her head, and when pleased, she beams and extends her arms to sweep all into her bosom. Dwarves in the Free Cantons and in the South (particularly around Firemount) revere Ninkash. The holy symbol of Ninkash resembles a roughly drawn golden “Y” shape called the “baerra” (or munificence). Ninkash’s smile appears as a golden, rippling glow above altars and dwarves who sing her praises as they enjoy her libations. Even unseen, Ninkash imparts directions and visions for guidance, warning, or instruction. Ninkash has few texts and appears primarily in dreams and drunken visions. A vision from the goddess contains a golden tankard or rivers of ale spouting from gargoyles and gutters, waterfalls plunging from the mountains, or noisy dream taverns. As a matron goddess, Ninkash symbolizes morale, and she encourages pleasing self and family in small, daily things—kindnesses and shared fellowship, dining, drinking, and hospitality. She is the goddess of inward desires and the demands of flesh and kinship, expressing oneself and questioning laws, authority and clan rules. The priests of Ninkash are collectively called the vaer. They all wear plain brown robes and carry two tankards, a miniature taster and a large belt-tankard. The kalath are those priests who heard her voice from a tankard or altar. Indeed, they are kalath because they dared to respond. The clergy of Ninkash advise the dwarves of a community, calming and soothing when necessary but also warning against other influences—even the clergies of other gods—when needed. Within the vaer, male and female dwarves are equal: either gender may lead rituals or hold any rank or holy office. However, the devout claim that only dwarves may be true members of the vaer, although they do respect and work with “Holy Ones”—those rare non-dwarves who have “spoken with Ninkash.” The most famous of Ninkash’s priesthood currently include Herma Heid, High Vaer of Kubourg in the Free Cantons, and Ekibe of the Barley, her premiere representative in the Scorched Lands. Among humans, the bestknown priestess of Ninkash is Mother Hapesh of the Barrels, who travels with the Kariv. Priests of Wotan look down on Ninkash, and those of Loki consider her a fool and sometimes a useful weapon, but hardly serious. Baccho’s handful of followers consider Ninkash a “gutter faith” of commoners and those unable to compose proper poetry. Marena’s followers find her faith a pitiful group of drunks, unable to organize anything or hold to any great purpose. These are the only gods with much bad to say about her. Most other deities consider her faith useful or at least harmless, offering comfort with the kind word and the gentle voice. Lada, Volund-Svarog, and even the strange priests of Seggotan and Hecate embrace her. Her closest ally is Ceres of the Harvest, and legends in the South claim the two goddesses are sisters. According to Ninkash's scripture, all followers must procure or make a personal tankard and use it to drink ale every day. Learn to brew it before you marry. Offerings of ale are accepted at her altars, and her clergy must learn the craft of brewing and alchemy as well. A dwarf is not a true dwarf unless that dwarf faces all secret fears, wants, and delights. The ales of Ninkash help worshippers set aside the armors of civility, reserve, and secrecy for a time, to let them see more clearly. While ordinary ale is a road to truth, the holy ale of Ninkash is the road to the mysteries of reality.
Alignment: Neutral
Domains: Tempest, War
Prime Deity: Fatima
Symbol: A lightning bolt
Favored Weapon: Spear.
Comparable To: Muir in Lados; Thor in the Northlands; Khespotan in the Dragon Empire; Bishamon in the Emerald Empire.
Perun, the god of war and thunder, is the Lord of the Storm Court in the Crossroads City and on the Rothenian Plain. His chorus is the sound of spear on shield, his ceremony is the tramp of boots marching and mustering. Perun seeks to expand conflict between nations and to strengthen his worshippers against their enemies. He is the bright blade of youths at their first Mustering, and the notched edge of gray-bearded veterans. All turn to him in times of anger and know his service is an honorable estate, as long as they do not break the Edicts of Just War. At first glance Perun is the simplest of gods—a creature of destruction, strength, and war. His deeper aspect promises healing and rebirth, since his mysteries involve not just death and glory, but also resurrection and a cleansing of the soul. Most soldiers, guards, bandits, and scouts make offerings to Perun. In his cavern-temples he brings the greatest warriors back to fight once more, through resurrection at his priests’ command. Perun’s role in resurrection is tied to his role as a master of the spear-maidens, angelic figures said to have once visited Torar in corporeal form to rule it with complete justice. Though primarily a god of war and thunder, Perun is also the god of chaos and rebirth. The chaos of war is well regarded in the North, or at least respected, but it is considered something to be mastered by priests in the south, who see chaos as an undesirable but irrefutable aspect of the storms of war. Humans are Perun’s most devoted worshippers, especially those of the Seven Cities (who call him Mavros). Soldiers and guards, farmers and shepherds alike appeal to the Lord of War and Thunder for strength and guidance. All weapons of war are weapons of Perun, and yet his favorites remain the spear and sword. Minotaurs associate the axe with the Bloody God of War. Many of his worshippers use a lightning bolt, a red bull, or a red circle in their heraldry. The holy writings of Perun include the 25 Martial Books and the mystical Soldier’s Journey. The first is written in the Northern Tongue, and the second in the Southern Tongue, but both are translated for his priests in other regions. The most famous sites for the worship of Perun are the House of Swords in Valera, the Temple of Twin Thunderbolts in Donnermark, the Seat of Mavros in the Wasted West, and the Fist of Mavros within Valera (which grants access to those who call him by other names). The Seat of Mavros is a site of pilgrimage for soldiers every year, and a bastion of the faith in a hostile land. Mavros is invoked constantly from spring to harvest time in the Seven Cities, and he is also popular in Rumela, Krakovar, Perunalia, and on the Rothenian Plain, where he is admired by the centaurs. His priests frequently serve as officers in southern armies, and they are considered both the best officers and among the worst (given his fanatics). The priesthood is more than 80% male, though shield maidens and amazons are well represented. The worship of Perun is most common in spring, as the campaign season begins. His priests are indistinguishable from mercenary captains, and indeed some serve as captains in the Free Companies. The best known orders of Perun include the priesthoods of the Numinous Spear, the Keepers of the Seat, and the Defenders of the Lightning Fist. The Order of the Storm in Perunalia is considered somewhat heretical, since it emphasizes the storm god’s side of the faith, and it rejects the primacy of war. Despite this, few wish to cross the god’s daughters in battle, for their battle-rage is as great as any man’s when required. Perun is the husband of Marena the Red Goddess in the North and Endhome. He is also the son of Wotan in the North. Yet he is scarcely connected to other faiths, since his priests emphasize soldiers as his children and victory as his only love. Perun’s greatest enemies include Lada the Golden Goddess, whose priests scorn the honorable wounds of battle and urge peace rather than strife, as well as Hecate, a deceptive goddess of schemes and dishonor, and the dishonorable Hunter, whose bloodshed is wasteful and ignoble. From his worshippers Perun wants action! Worshippers are expected to seek out battle and keep their martial skills well honed. The perfect death for a follower of Perun is on the battlefield—they abhor death of old age. Followers of Perun must attend the mysteries at his temple before any great battle or long journey, and must never abandon a comrade’s body on the field. Cowardice is shameful and abhorrent. All worshippers of Perun must make the pilgrimage to the Seat of Mavros at least once in their lifetime. Fights, duels, and combats may never be refused. Retreat is acceptable, but victory is the finest goal of a follower of the war god.
Alignment: Lawful neutral
Domains: Law, Trickery
Prime Deity: Oros
Symbol: The spider-embossed gear
Favored Weapon: Dagger
Comparable To: Sefagreth in Lados; Daikoku in the Emerald Empire.
Patron of Endhome, Rava is a relatively minor goddess whose beneficence has given the city autoscribes, clockwork scullions, the gearforged, and other inventions. Merchants believe she blesses their hard work, and her mark features on contracts and bills of lading as a surety of delivery or payment. She is the patron goddess of the city and a sponsor of magic, knowledge, and industry. Rava’s physical form resembles a six-armed woman, and she is frequently shown weaving or spinning. She appears as a maiden, as the mother of industry, and as a wise crone in different shrines and at different seasons. The industrious, the learned, and the warforged are Rava’s closest followers, and dwarves, humans, and kobolds all maintain shrines to her. Most of her hard-working followers are willing to try new things; novelty and invention are a part of her portfolio as much as tradition and crafting. Alchemists, wizards, scribes, guild masters, weavers, and merchants all turn to Rava for wise counsel. Rava’s priestesses have written dozens of volumes of prophecy on the Clockwork Oracle in Endhome. These books are closely guarded; most of their predictions do come true in time. The priesthood sells the knowledge within them to their wealthiest followers and gives it away to the most fervent and boldest followers, the paladins and inquisitors of the faith. These are most often warforged heroes. Rava’s symbols are the gear and the spider. Many of her priestesses carry a spindle for thread and spin as often as possible, the better to feed the looms of Rava’s weaving spiders. Her priests build looms in her shrines and work as scribes for all who need thoughts put to paper (for a modest donation). Lena Ravovik is the current human high priestess of Rava. Her surname is traditional for human priests and priestesses of Rava in the Crossroads City, who abandon their families and former lives when they enter the service of the goddess. Other prominent clerics include the current dwarven high priest in Endhome, Ondli Firedrake, and Alkestis, the high priestess on the island of Archae. The most famous of her clergy are the goddess‑forged. These powerful clerics have been blessed to become immortal, magical machines. Their bodies become completely covered in metal, and they gain the abilities of a warforged. Rava is not fond of Bastet’s sybaritic luxuries and even less fond of the wild madness of Addrikah, the derro mother of madness and chaos, whose works are abominations. Rava is considered cool or hostile to the followers of Yarila and Porevit, and she has a longstanding-but-genial feud with Volund over whose artifice and creation skills are greater. Rava demands her followers be wise and hard-working. They prize learning and scholarship, and the discovery and making of new things. As a goddess of both novelty and fate, she demands her followers seek out new learning and steer the world’s fate to peace and plenty. In Endhome, Rava’s followers must defend her patron city against any threat that the Clockwork Oracle identifies. Rava despises sloth, idleness, and luxury.
Alignment: Neutral
Domains: Forge, Travel
Prime Deity: Fatima
Symbol: An anvil with a horse head emblazoned on it
Favored Weapon: Warhammer.
Comparable To: Dre'uain in Lados; Ebisu in the Emerald Empire; Kyo in the High Houses.
Volund is the god of earth and fire, of the hammer’s ring as it lands upon the anvil and the hiss of steam as a new-forged sword is quenched. He is one of the divine patrons of the reaver dwarves, but many races revere him as a master craftsman and lord of all the jewels and precious metals in the earth. Though primarily a god of fire, creation, and smith work, Volund is also the god of family and hospitality, especially among humans. Marriage is sacred to the faith (since it forges a bond between two people), as are horses. The Kariv say Volund stole the first steeds from Boreas and showed mankind how to tame them. Dwarves everywhere scoff at such tales, but the Khazzaki of the Rothenian Plain praise this aspect above all, revering him as the Rider, master of the open steppe and guarantor of their freedom. In his youth he was a great traveler—some even dare to say a mortal—and in his wanderings taught many races to forge not only swords and shields but laws and communities. If angered he was merciless in his revenge, crafting cursed items that still linger in Torar and cause trouble into the present day. Reaver dwarves, cantonal dwarves, the Kariv and the Khazzaki of the Rothenian Plain, and the people of Endhome are all especially fond of Volund. Most nations recognize him as at least a lesser god, and smiths everywhere venerate him. The symbols of Volund are his anvil and his weapons, the hammer among humans and the battle axe among dwarves (called the shashka, among the Khazzaki). His holy writings are the Book of the Anvil and the Saga of Volund’s Wanderings, both written in the Northern tongue and concerned with tempering both steel and souls. Volund is one of the most widely worshipped gods, with major temples in the Free Cantons, Naledi, the Northlands, Endhome, and in the Seven Cities. The greatest of these many forge-shrines includes the Great Temple of the Sacred Hammer in Templeforge, where iron is smelted to provide light during services and where the anvils rarely rest. The Shrine of a Thousand Anvils in Stannasgard is also a famous site of pilgrimages. The greatest priests vary in style and temperament. The young master smith Hydrig Vallesulm in Salzbach is devout and talented, but so is the more aggressive Øpir Skapti (NG male human), the priest-captain of the young dwarven company of the Hall of Spears in Stannasgard. Volund’s most famous priest is Toveli Rogest, master of Templeforge, a canton of the Ironcrags. He is the keeper of the Great Temple of the Sacred Hammer in those snowy peaks, a place of pilgrimage for many. Volund and Rava have always been friendly rivals, and Volund is also on excellent terms with Thor and Perun. Volund is sometimes the lover of Sif and the husband of Lada, depending on who you believe. Volund’s greatest enemies include Seggotan and the water gods, Loki the trickster, and Boreas, the god of the North Wind. Volund demands his followers craft great works in his name and harness stone, metal, and fire to their will. Humans call him Svarog and add mastery of riding to his divine demands. His priesthood and many of his worshippers marry young, a sacred act that represents building a family and forging links with their community. They make pilgrimage to shrines and temples far and wide, especially to Volund’s hammer shrine in the Free Cantons and anvil shrine in the Northlands. Worshippers must take raw materials or tools with them to donate to the places they visit, and they must add something, no matter how small, that they have personally wrought to every temple they visit.
Khors
Lord of the Sun; Bright Master of the Chariot; Son of Svarog; the Perfect Knight; Lord of Light and Destroyer of the Darkness; Friend to Magus and Warrior
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Lawful good
Domains: Light, Knowledge
Prime Deity: Thera
Symbol: A radiant sun
Favored Weapon: Longsword.
Comparable To: Mitra in Lados; Mithra in the Atlantean Pantheon; Valeresh in the elven pantheon; Aten in the Scorched Lands.
Though the Sun God is in decline in the Crossroads City, Khors still stands supreme within the city's surrounding rural areas. His numerous statues feature his feathered cloak, heavy armor, and wild helmet plumes. He is depicted striking down dragons, knighting new heroes, and defending common people against the darkness and terrors of night. The knights of the Order of the Undying Sun are Khors’s largest remaining bastion of influence, and he is still covertly worshipped in Rumela and Krakovar. Elsewhere, he is largely forgotten. Khors’s symbol is a radiant sun, and his sacred text is called the Book of the Sun, divided into a First Sun and New Sun portion. Since they worship a declining god, the priests of Khors know how to slip into other temples and other priesthoods, and many of Khors’s priests are pantheist priests. His worship once extended far to the East, but most places now venerate other gods. The temple in Endhome is now devoted more to his father Svarog than to Khors. Some of his priests have lately gone to Triolo seeking converts; it might be fertile ground, since the city hosts the head of the church, High Sunpriest Salomonn Csabos (LG male human cleric), a refugee from conquered Illyria. Khors is the unrelenting enemy of Sarastra, the White Goddess, Marena, and Vardesain, and all dark gods. Khors demands that his worshippers rise and pray at dawn and noon; bring light to the darkness; never approach a foe by stealth, but only bravely and openly; cast down demons, devils, and the dark gods without quarter; stand fast in battle, for courage is the greatest virtue of the warrior, yet if you must retreat, make clear your intention to return and win the day; let no shadow harm the innocent.
Lada
The Golden Goddess of Dawn, Love, and Mercy; the Bear Maiden; Lady of the Healing Hand; Daughter of Aten; Mistress of the Petal Palm; Patron of Mothers and Children; Wife of Volund
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Neutral good
Domains: Life, Grave
Prime Deity: Thera
Symbol: A radiant eye
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff.
Comparable To: Freya in Lados; Ishtar in the Atlantean pantheon; Baldur in the Northlands Pantheon; Lachesis in the High Houses.
Everyone loves Lada, the goddess of healing and love, although few truly follow her teachings of mercy and forgiveness. She is a maidenly goddess of the dawn and the day, and the enemy of the cult of Marena, the Red Goddess. Although depicted as meek and mild in most of her idols and images, she has a powerfully wrathful side, sometimes called the Bear Maiden, which defends children, the elderly, and the weak. Her attributes include compassion and mercy, though in some cases that mercy can seem harsh, such as destruction of the undead and granting merciful death to suffering plague victims. Lada appears as a young woman with braided black hair and bright green or blue eyes. She wears flowers in every season but winter, and fragrant rose petals cover her altars. Lada has many worshippers, for does not everyone wish for mercy, healing, and light? Young mothers, children, and the sick are all her devotees, as are many paladins (especially women) and some rangers, dervishes, and southern travelers. Her shrines and charms are common among the centaurs, the elves, and humans from north to south. These followers see her in their own race’s form (a centaur maiden, an elven matron, or a human woman), but they concede that this outer seeming is a bridge to worship. All utter similar prayers and hold their rites at daybreak. Lada’s symbol is the radiant eye, and her followers are referred to as “bright-eyed.” Some of her orders use roses or other flowers as symbols of Lada as well, though these are more common in the North and Endhome than in the Scorched Lands where her faith originated. Lada’s books are both holy scriptures and medical tracts. The Golden Book of Ruby Laughter describes worship of the sun, and the Codex of Herbals, Prayers, and Simples is the touchstone of Lada’s healing lore. Lada’s holiest sites are those on high ground, where the dawn breaks earliest. For this reason, her temples sit on hills or mountaintops or (when no high ground is available) are built with a large dawn steeple. The main doors to her temples face east. The current high priestess in Endhome is Lucca Angeli, a human woman born and raised in the Free City. She spent her youth adventuring and made her reputation during one of the many sieges of Endhome, when her steadfastness helped the Griffon Knights repel a dark army of fey. Many of her temples function as hospitals and plague wards, and in the South they are frequently paired with the temples of Anu-Akma, since even Lada’s grace cannot save everyone from death’s embrace forever. Lada’s shrines are also common in the fields and at crossroads. Prayers are held at the first light of dawn, and sometimes a farewell prayer at sunset. Lada is said to be Aten’s daughter, though the two priesthoods rarely get along. Lada and her divine brother Khors are more compatible. Lada is the unflinching enemy of the three evil sisters, as her priests refer to Marena the Red, Sarastra of the Night, and the White Goddess. However, her greatest enemy is Mavros-Perun, the god of war and thunder, whose destruction and bloodshed her priests find abhorrent. Priestesses of Lada rarely serve in an army devoted to Mavros. Lada despises all those who prey on the weak or the sick. Lada's teachings include doctrines to cure all the sick who ask, defend lovers from all dangers and trials, and show mercy to those who ask it. Members of Lada’s clergy must make a pilgrimage to the temple at Kingsgardt once every 12 years. All her faithful must defend and protect mothers and children, and none may turn away from poverty and want without a kind word and an offer of help, whether that takes the form of wisdom, food, clothing, a song, or shelter for the night.
Marena
Red Goddess of Winter, Lust, Sickness, and Death; the Blood Maiden; Patron of Morgau
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Neutral evil
Domains: Arcana, Death
Prime Deity: Alizaxis
Symbol: Rust-stained skulls
Favored Weapon: Whip.
Comparable To: Set in the Altantean pantheon; Loki in the Northlands; Nethus in the Seven Cities of Elaysm; Ludz in the High Houses.
Marena is the dark face of human fears: all flesh fails, and unbridled lust and rampant plague can destroy any happy life. She is known and feared throughout the Crossroads City, and her cults flourish in secret, especially in small villages when times are hard. In the great cities, her followers meet in cellars and sanctuaries within the poorer districts. Her face is both beautiful and chilling, and those who see her and survive are invariably marked with white hair, wine-colored birthmarks, or haunted silver eyes. Her followers believe that her strict worship grants them power, and her orders in the Greater Duchy of Morgau include anchorites, flagellants, and orgiasts. Marena is popular north of the river Argent in the Greater Duchy of Morgau, and she serves as the patron goddess of whores, vampires, ghouls, and the Order of Ghost Knights. Indeed, she is worshipped openly in the Blood Kingdom, and the vampires are building new temples to her glory in Krakovar. She is followed with somewhat less fervor on the Rothenian Plain in her aspect as the Winter Maiden, and hidden sects of her adherents exist throughout the Seven Cities. Some kobolds worship her out of fear or awe, although most prefer the simple faiths of Volund or Baal. Marena’s symbols include all red garments and skulls stained with ochre or rust. Her books are banned in most places as treatises of corruption and illness. The most infamous volumes include the Book of Holy Lust, the Song of Blood & Winter, and the Scarlet Commandments. The greatest public shrine to Marena is the great Aprostala temple, a site of pilgrimage and daily sacrifices in the Barony of Doresh. Worship of Marena is frequent and public; offerings are loud and messy. Every Morgau, Krakovar, and Doresh village of any size displays at least a small blood-stained altar stone, and her name is invoked at every birth, funeral, and battle. The religion is one of the few ways for living men and women to rise in status in the Blood Kingdom. Everywhere else, her worship is in secret. Marena’s priesthood is the Red Sisterhood, responsible for justice, law, and punishment. The strict Red Sisters dole out punishments both harsh and public: floggings, quarterings, and brandings are all common, as are executions by beheading. The high priestess Lileshka of the Chalice rarely executes followers and visitors, but attempts to seduce pilgrims when the goddess demands it. Those who permit this are granted an audience to petition for whatever they wish. Those who refuse are given to the harsher priests for chastisement. Despite (or because of) her proclivities, the high priestess retains the respect and good opinion of many of the elders of the realm. Her offerings are generous and yet she always demands favors in return. Most who underestimate her soon learn that her public congress with men and women does not mean she is weak or easily led; to the contrary, she chooses her conquests carefully. Marena is on excellent terms with the priests of her husband Mavros, and with Boreas, who is widely regarded as their son (at least in the Northlands). Marena is on poor terms with most other gods. Boreas and the Goat of the Woods are her allies, and some believe she has a secret pact with Vardesain as well. Her enemies include Rava, Aten, Khors, Lada, Sif, Ninkash, and Wotan. The stern goddess of lust and death demands her followers kill her foes (especially followers of Lada) and she requires rites of seduction, blood sacrifice, and flagellation. Although her worship is harsh and bitter, she is not unrelentingly cruel: she grants strength and magical power far more often than other gods, even to those who are not priestesses. Marena’s followers must make a pilgrimage to Morgau if they attain the age of 50.
Ninkash
Mother of Beer; Goddess of Merriment; Patron of Brewers and Tavern Keepers; Matron Goddess of the Cantonal Dwarves
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Neutral good
Domains: Nature, Seasons
Prime Deity: Gaia
Symbol: The baerra symbol, which resembles a crudely drawn Y.
Favored Weapon: Mace.
Comparable To: None, Ninkash is unique to Endhome and the dwarven cantons near it, and when worshipped elsewhere she remains unchanged.
Dwarves love ale and consume prodigious amounts of it—at least by human measures—and become incoherent, clumsy, or simply fall asleep. The dwarves call this last condition “gone,” short for “gone to visit Ninkash.” And indeed, the matron mother goddess of ale and merriment was a great gift to the dwarves from the Kariv, who brought their goddess with them to the cantons and the Crossroads City. Ninkash turned the rituals of brewing and drinking—such as Wotan’s stern priests toasting the dwarven dead at midwinter—to a more frequent and joyful sacrament, though still a serious one. Ninkash embraced the dwarves, and they embraced her. The public face of Ninkash is a golden-glowing, oversized tankard with a simple handle, an ever-full vessel floating in midair. To her faithful, she appears as a jovial, buxom dwarf woman clad in flowing robes of shifting color: one moment nut-brown, the next gold. Her garments are simple as a tavern maid’s. The goddess appears barefoot, her clothes unbelted and low-cut. Ninkash always smiles. When displeased, her smile is slight and she shakes her head, and when pleased, she beams and extends her arms to sweep all into her bosom. Dwarves in the Free Cantons and in the South (particularly around Firemount) revere Ninkash. The holy symbol of Ninkash resembles a roughly drawn golden “Y” shape called the “baerra” (or munificence). Ninkash’s smile appears as a golden, rippling glow above altars and dwarves who sing her praises as they enjoy her libations. Even unseen, Ninkash imparts directions and visions for guidance, warning, or instruction. Ninkash has few texts and appears primarily in dreams and drunken visions. A vision from the goddess contains a golden tankard or rivers of ale spouting from gargoyles and gutters, waterfalls plunging from the mountains, or noisy dream taverns. As a matron goddess, Ninkash symbolizes morale, and she encourages pleasing self and family in small, daily things—kindnesses and shared fellowship, dining, drinking, and hospitality. She is the goddess of inward desires and the demands of flesh and kinship, expressing oneself and questioning laws, authority and clan rules. The priests of Ninkash are collectively called the vaer. They all wear plain brown robes and carry two tankards, a miniature taster and a large belt-tankard. The kalath are those priests who heard her voice from a tankard or altar. Indeed, they are kalath because they dared to respond. The clergy of Ninkash advise the dwarves of a community, calming and soothing when necessary but also warning against other influences—even the clergies of other gods—when needed. Within the vaer, male and female dwarves are equal: either gender may lead rituals or hold any rank or holy office. However, the devout claim that only dwarves may be true members of the vaer, although they do respect and work with “Holy Ones”—those rare non-dwarves who have “spoken with Ninkash.” The most famous of Ninkash’s priesthood currently include Herma Heid, High Vaer of Kubourg in the Free Cantons, and Ekibe of the Barley, her premiere representative in the Scorched Lands. Among humans, the bestknown priestess of Ninkash is Mother Hapesh of the Barrels, who travels with the Kariv. Priests of Wotan look down on Ninkash, and those of Loki consider her a fool and sometimes a useful weapon, but hardly serious. Baccho’s handful of followers consider Ninkash a “gutter faith” of commoners and those unable to compose proper poetry. Marena’s followers find her faith a pitiful group of drunks, unable to organize anything or hold to any great purpose. These are the only gods with much bad to say about her. Most other deities consider her faith useful or at least harmless, offering comfort with the kind word and the gentle voice. Lada, Volund-Svarog, and even the strange priests of Seggotan and Hecate embrace her. Her closest ally is Ceres of the Harvest, and legends in the South claim the two goddesses are sisters. According to Ninkash's scripture, all followers must procure or make a personal tankard and use it to drink ale every day. Learn to brew it before you marry. Offerings of ale are accepted at her altars, and her clergy must learn the craft of brewing and alchemy as well. A dwarf is not a true dwarf unless that dwarf faces all secret fears, wants, and delights. The ales of Ninkash help worshippers set aside the armors of civility, reserve, and secrecy for a time, to let them see more clearly. While ordinary ale is a road to truth, the holy ale of Ninkash is the road to the mysteries of reality.
Perun
God of War and Thunder; Lord of Strife and Rebirth; Lord of the Storm Court
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Neutral
Domains: Tempest, War
Prime Deity: Fatima
Symbol: A lightning bolt
Favored Weapon: Spear.
Comparable To: Muir in Lados; Thor in the Northlands; Khespotan in the Dragon Empire; Bishamon in the Emerald Empire.
Perun, the god of war and thunder, is the Lord of the Storm Court in the Crossroads City and on the Rothenian Plain. His chorus is the sound of spear on shield, his ceremony is the tramp of boots marching and mustering. Perun seeks to expand conflict between nations and to strengthen his worshippers against their enemies. He is the bright blade of youths at their first Mustering, and the notched edge of gray-bearded veterans. All turn to him in times of anger and know his service is an honorable estate, as long as they do not break the Edicts of Just War. At first glance Perun is the simplest of gods—a creature of destruction, strength, and war. His deeper aspect promises healing and rebirth, since his mysteries involve not just death and glory, but also resurrection and a cleansing of the soul. Most soldiers, guards, bandits, and scouts make offerings to Perun. In his cavern-temples he brings the greatest warriors back to fight once more, through resurrection at his priests’ command. Perun’s role in resurrection is tied to his role as a master of the spear-maidens, angelic figures said to have once visited Torar in corporeal form to rule it with complete justice. Though primarily a god of war and thunder, Perun is also the god of chaos and rebirth. The chaos of war is well regarded in the North, or at least respected, but it is considered something to be mastered by priests in the south, who see chaos as an undesirable but irrefutable aspect of the storms of war. Humans are Perun’s most devoted worshippers, especially those of the Seven Cities (who call him Mavros). Soldiers and guards, farmers and shepherds alike appeal to the Lord of War and Thunder for strength and guidance. All weapons of war are weapons of Perun, and yet his favorites remain the spear and sword. Minotaurs associate the axe with the Bloody God of War. Many of his worshippers use a lightning bolt, a red bull, or a red circle in their heraldry. The holy writings of Perun include the 25 Martial Books and the mystical Soldier’s Journey. The first is written in the Northern Tongue, and the second in the Southern Tongue, but both are translated for his priests in other regions. The most famous sites for the worship of Perun are the House of Swords in Valera, the Temple of Twin Thunderbolts in Donnermark, the Seat of Mavros in the Wasted West, and the Fist of Mavros within Valera (which grants access to those who call him by other names). The Seat of Mavros is a site of pilgrimage for soldiers every year, and a bastion of the faith in a hostile land. Mavros is invoked constantly from spring to harvest time in the Seven Cities, and he is also popular in Rumela, Krakovar, Perunalia, and on the Rothenian Plain, where he is admired by the centaurs. His priests frequently serve as officers in southern armies, and they are considered both the best officers and among the worst (given his fanatics). The priesthood is more than 80% male, though shield maidens and amazons are well represented. The worship of Perun is most common in spring, as the campaign season begins. His priests are indistinguishable from mercenary captains, and indeed some serve as captains in the Free Companies. The best known orders of Perun include the priesthoods of the Numinous Spear, the Keepers of the Seat, and the Defenders of the Lightning Fist. The Order of the Storm in Perunalia is considered somewhat heretical, since it emphasizes the storm god’s side of the faith, and it rejects the primacy of war. Despite this, few wish to cross the god’s daughters in battle, for their battle-rage is as great as any man’s when required. Perun is the husband of Marena the Red Goddess in the North and Endhome. He is also the son of Wotan in the North. Yet he is scarcely connected to other faiths, since his priests emphasize soldiers as his children and victory as his only love. Perun’s greatest enemies include Lada the Golden Goddess, whose priests scorn the honorable wounds of battle and urge peace rather than strife, as well as Hecate, a deceptive goddess of schemes and dishonor, and the dishonorable Hunter, whose bloodshed is wasteful and ignoble. From his worshippers Perun wants action! Worshippers are expected to seek out battle and keep their martial skills well honed. The perfect death for a follower of Perun is on the battlefield—they abhor death of old age. Followers of Perun must attend the mysteries at his temple before any great battle or long journey, and must never abandon a comrade’s body on the field. Cowardice is shameful and abhorrent. All worshippers of Perun must make the pilgrimage to the Seat of Mavros at least once in their lifetime. Fights, duels, and combats may never be refused. Retreat is acceptable, but victory is the finest goal of a follower of the war god.
Rava
The Gear Goddess; the Clockwork Oracle; Mother of Industry; Spinner of Fate; Merchant Goddess; Patron of Endhome; Patron of Weavers and the Warforged
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Lawful neutral
Domains: Law, Trickery
Prime Deity: Oros
Symbol: The spider-embossed gear
Favored Weapon: Dagger
Comparable To: Sefagreth in Lados; Daikoku in the Emerald Empire.
Patron of Endhome, Rava is a relatively minor goddess whose beneficence has given the city autoscribes, clockwork scullions, the gearforged, and other inventions. Merchants believe she blesses their hard work, and her mark features on contracts and bills of lading as a surety of delivery or payment. She is the patron goddess of the city and a sponsor of magic, knowledge, and industry. Rava’s physical form resembles a six-armed woman, and she is frequently shown weaving or spinning. She appears as a maiden, as the mother of industry, and as a wise crone in different shrines and at different seasons. The industrious, the learned, and the warforged are Rava’s closest followers, and dwarves, humans, and kobolds all maintain shrines to her. Most of her hard-working followers are willing to try new things; novelty and invention are a part of her portfolio as much as tradition and crafting. Alchemists, wizards, scribes, guild masters, weavers, and merchants all turn to Rava for wise counsel. Rava’s priestesses have written dozens of volumes of prophecy on the Clockwork Oracle in Endhome. These books are closely guarded; most of their predictions do come true in time. The priesthood sells the knowledge within them to their wealthiest followers and gives it away to the most fervent and boldest followers, the paladins and inquisitors of the faith. These are most often warforged heroes. Rava’s symbols are the gear and the spider. Many of her priestesses carry a spindle for thread and spin as often as possible, the better to feed the looms of Rava’s weaving spiders. Her priests build looms in her shrines and work as scribes for all who need thoughts put to paper (for a modest donation). Lena Ravovik is the current human high priestess of Rava. Her surname is traditional for human priests and priestesses of Rava in the Crossroads City, who abandon their families and former lives when they enter the service of the goddess. Other prominent clerics include the current dwarven high priest in Endhome, Ondli Firedrake, and Alkestis, the high priestess on the island of Archae. The most famous of her clergy are the goddess‑forged. These powerful clerics have been blessed to become immortal, magical machines. Their bodies become completely covered in metal, and they gain the abilities of a warforged. Rava is not fond of Bastet’s sybaritic luxuries and even less fond of the wild madness of Addrikah, the derro mother of madness and chaos, whose works are abominations. Rava is considered cool or hostile to the followers of Yarila and Porevit, and she has a longstanding-but-genial feud with Volund over whose artifice and creation skills are greater. Rava demands her followers be wise and hard-working. They prize learning and scholarship, and the discovery and making of new things. As a goddess of both novelty and fate, she demands her followers seek out new learning and steer the world’s fate to peace and plenty. In Endhome, Rava’s followers must defend her patron city against any threat that the Clockwork Oracle identifies. Rava despises sloth, idleness, and luxury.
Volund
Master of Fire and Anvil; God of Horses, Smiths, and Marriage; Patron of the Cantons; Master Smith of the Gods; the Wanderer; the Rider
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Neutral
Domains: Forge, Travel
Prime Deity: Fatima
Symbol: An anvil with a horse head emblazoned on it
Favored Weapon: Warhammer.
Comparable To: Dre'uain in Lados; Ebisu in the Emerald Empire; Kyo in the High Houses.
Volund is the god of earth and fire, of the hammer’s ring as it lands upon the anvil and the hiss of steam as a new-forged sword is quenched. He is one of the divine patrons of the reaver dwarves, but many races revere him as a master craftsman and lord of all the jewels and precious metals in the earth. Though primarily a god of fire, creation, and smith work, Volund is also the god of family and hospitality, especially among humans. Marriage is sacred to the faith (since it forges a bond between two people), as are horses. The Kariv say Volund stole the first steeds from Boreas and showed mankind how to tame them. Dwarves everywhere scoff at such tales, but the Khazzaki of the Rothenian Plain praise this aspect above all, revering him as the Rider, master of the open steppe and guarantor of their freedom. In his youth he was a great traveler—some even dare to say a mortal—and in his wanderings taught many races to forge not only swords and shields but laws and communities. If angered he was merciless in his revenge, crafting cursed items that still linger in Torar and cause trouble into the present day. Reaver dwarves, cantonal dwarves, the Kariv and the Khazzaki of the Rothenian Plain, and the people of Endhome are all especially fond of Volund. Most nations recognize him as at least a lesser god, and smiths everywhere venerate him. The symbols of Volund are his anvil and his weapons, the hammer among humans and the battle axe among dwarves (called the shashka, among the Khazzaki). His holy writings are the Book of the Anvil and the Saga of Volund’s Wanderings, both written in the Northern tongue and concerned with tempering both steel and souls. Volund is one of the most widely worshipped gods, with major temples in the Free Cantons, Naledi, the Northlands, Endhome, and in the Seven Cities. The greatest of these many forge-shrines includes the Great Temple of the Sacred Hammer in Templeforge, where iron is smelted to provide light during services and where the anvils rarely rest. The Shrine of a Thousand Anvils in Stannasgard is also a famous site of pilgrimages. The greatest priests vary in style and temperament. The young master smith Hydrig Vallesulm in Salzbach is devout and talented, but so is the more aggressive Øpir Skapti (NG male human), the priest-captain of the young dwarven company of the Hall of Spears in Stannasgard. Volund’s most famous priest is Toveli Rogest, master of Templeforge, a canton of the Ironcrags. He is the keeper of the Great Temple of the Sacred Hammer in those snowy peaks, a place of pilgrimage for many. Volund and Rava have always been friendly rivals, and Volund is also on excellent terms with Thor and Perun. Volund is sometimes the lover of Sif and the husband of Lada, depending on who you believe. Volund’s greatest enemies include Seggotan and the water gods, Loki the trickster, and Boreas, the god of the North Wind. Volund demands his followers craft great works in his name and harness stone, metal, and fire to their will. Humans call him Svarog and add mastery of riding to his divine demands. His priesthood and many of his worshippers marry young, a sacred act that represents building a family and forging links with their community. They make pilgrimage to shrines and temples far and wide, especially to Volund’s hammer shrine in the Free Cantons and anvil shrine in the Northlands. Worshippers must take raw materials or tools with them to donate to the places they visit, and they must add something, no matter how small, that they have personally wrought to every temple they visit.
Structure
Khors leads the Endhavian pantheon, though there are many strong gods in this pantheon, including Rava, the patron goddess in Endhome, and the goddess of love and healing Lada.
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