Worshipping the Gods of Valerouros

A pantheon of nineteen gods guides religious life on Valerouros. From the sun and agriculture to death and passage into the Underworld, the gods oversee the forces of nature and the most important aspects of mortal life. These gods are quite real to the people of Theros, who see them moving across the sky at night and sometimes encounter them face to face. Thus, most people perform rituals and devotions that honor various gods, hoping to win their favor and stave off their wrath.
Not every mortal serves or acknowledges the gods, though. Some philosophers in the schools of Nicinda teach that the gods of the pantheon are subordinate to a higher reality, perhaps Nyx itself. And other people, particularly leonin, believe that the gods are undeserving of mortal reverence. The people of the Supis Empire are not allowed to worship any of the gods, because the Ghast Queen is scared of their wrath.

Divine Characteristics

The gods of Valerouros are not omnipotent. Although they are physically and magically powerful, ageless, and all but indestructible, their actions are bound by the decrees of Klothys. They can tangle the threads of destiny to a point, but they are forbidden from overstepping their assigned places in the pantheon. The Actum Celandi is able to confine them to Nyx, preventing any direct interaction between the gods and the mortal world.
Likewise, the gods aren’t omniscient, though they see and hear everything that occurs inside their temples and before their altars. They have perfect recall of everything they experience. Certain liminal spaces—cave mouths, shorelines, crossroads, forest edges, and so on—enable mortal voices to reach the gods as well, though most gods have little reason to pay attention to what is spoken there.
Gods can speak directly to their oracles and clerics. They can appear in the dreams of mortals or manipulate natural phenomena to create omens. They can also create Aasimar to serve as messengers or emissaries.

Divine Relationships

The pantheon of Valerouros is a family—a large, often dysfunctional family riven with petty jealousies and rivalries but also held together by genuine affection, admiration, and cooperation. It is easiest, after all, for mortals to conceive of gods that are very much like themselves, and the gods of Valerouros are very humanlike in their foibles and their exploits.
The pantheon of Valerouros has expanded through four generations of divine evolution. Some tales describe these as actual generations, suggesting (for example) that the storm god, Keranos, is the literal son of Thassa, god of the sea, and Purphoros, god of the forge. Others describe the generations in metaphorical terms, suggesting that Keranos represents the combination of Purphoros’s creative energy and Thassa’s deep knowledge, resulting in lightning-like flashes of inspiration (as well as the fury of a physical storm). Some describe gods that used to be and merged with other gods to create the current pantheon.

Worship

The most prevalent form of expressing reverence is the practice of libation, pouring out a splash of wine or water in honor of the gods. Pious people perform a simple rite of prayer and libation every morning and evening at a household altar or hearth, while the less devoted might still pour out a splash of wine before drinking the rest.
The defining feature of a temple in Valerouros is a statue of a god—which the actual god can occupy and animate at any time, though this almost never happens since it will use a lot of the deities power to do so. Worshipers kneel before it, touch and kiss it, drape it in garlands and fine cloth, and leave offerings before it. These acts are sometimes spontaneous outpourings of love or gratitude, and sometimes petitions, imploring the god to cure an illness, send rain for crops, guarantee a safe journey, or perform any other favor related to the god’s sphere of influence.
Most people aren’t devoted to a single god, though many prefer some gods over others. Someone might ask Pharika to spare a loved one from disease, then later offer prayers to Karametra for a bountiful harvest or to Thassa for safety on a sea journey.

Clerics and Champions

It’s far more common for a hero to be devoted to an individual god than it is for an ordinary mortal. A cleric almost always worships a single god of the pantheon and chooses a domain appropriate to that deity for their Divine Domain feature.
Often, heroes choose to devote themselves to particular gods either out of piety or self-interest. Sometimes, though, the gods choose champions who might not be entirely willing. Heliod, for example, takes pride in selecting only the best mortals to be his champions. He doesn’t care how the mortals feel about being chosen, and his demands won’t be refused.

Gods of Valerouros

Deity	Alignment	Suggested Cleric Domains	Common Symbol
Athreos, god of passage	LE	Death, Grave	Crescent Moon
Ephara, god of the cities	LN	Knowledge, Light	Urn pouring water
Erebos, god of the dead	NE	Death, Trickery	Serene face
Heliod, god of the sun	LG	Light	Laurel crown
Iroas, god of victory	CG	War	Four-winged helmet
Karametra, god of harvests	NG	Life, Nature	Cornucopia
Keranos, god of storms	CN	Knowledge, Tempest	Blue eye
Klothys, god of destiny	N	Knowledge, War	Drop spindle
Kruphix, god of horizons	N	Knowledge, Trickery	Eight-pointed star
Mogis, god of slaughter	CE	War	Four-horned bull’s head
Nylea, god of the hunt	NG	Nature	Four arrows
Pharika, god of affliction	NE	Death, Knowledge, Life	Snakes
Phenax, god of deception	CN	Trickery	Winged golden mask
Purphoros, god of the forge	CN	Forge, Knowledge	Double crest
Thassa, god of the sea	N	Knowledge, Tempest	Waves