Annam (AHN-ahm)

All-Father, the Prime, the Creator, the Great Creator, the Progenitor of Worlds

Annam the All-Father is the powerful creator deity of the giants, and sire to the Jotunbrud and their deities. He is said to be the first of the deities, the oldest being in existence, and supposedly even created the elements with which all of creation is built. His merest thought is said to spin off worlds on the Prime Material Plane and his greatness unfolds itself across all time, planes, and worlds. Some giant aesthetes, especially amongst the storm giants, see the All-Father as an eternally sleeping dreamer, whose subconscious thoughts shape and form the worlds of the multiverse.
The giants speak of Annam as always existing, before all other things, or having willed himself into being at the very beginning of the multiverse. Some stories say he was spawned from the merging of the concepts of Law and Chaos at the beginning of time to balance and rule the two forces. Dragons claim Annam was formed from the first drops spilled of Io’s blood after the Ninefold Dragon created the Shadow Void, thus asserting the pre-eminence of their creator deity over that of the giants’. Followers of the Aesir draw a connection between the forbearer of the giants in their own myths with that of Annam, and refer to the All-Father as Ymir or Aurgelmir. In their telling, Annam was created from the confluence of the fires of Muspelheim and the icy cold of Niflheim; while there are some parallels between Annam and Ymir, giants scoff at the myth and claim it is a corruption of the true events designed to inflate the position and importance of a minor upstart pantheon.
Annam is a dual-natured deity. On the one hand, he is an omniscient god of learning and philosophy, wise enough to choose not to know certain things. On the other he is a vigorous and fertile god for whom extensive contemplations have little attraction, and he is prone to mistakes of judgment when controlled by his instincts. He has come to realize that his exclusive preference for male offspring was a mistake he was too late in correcting, which may have been what allowed evil to arise in his creation, twisting the hearts, minds, and bodies of both mortal and immortal giant alike. The endless bickering of his sons, coupled with his lack of a wife who is his equal despite all of his conquests and consorts have left him with weariness and a deep-seated depression; as such he has withdrawn from the tasks of maintaining the pantheon and events on the Prime Material and left his former home of Gudheim in Ysgard. Annam spends his time in the endless empty halls of his hidden castle of crystal spires in pocket demiplane attached to the Outlands, watching the movements of an enormous orrery that perfectly models the motions of all the crystal spheres and the worlds they hold and all the planes of existence. No other being can locate, let alone enter, this castle without his express permission, not even Stronmaus.
Annam is nominally head of the Ordning, although he has ceded much of the duties to his firstborn son Stronmaus and his daughter Hiatea. Thoughts of his son and daughter fill him with pride and contentment, for they represent the very best of his creation. The All-Father holds similar feelings towards his other daughters Iallanis and Diancastra, but at the same time they are reminders of missed opportunities, daughters whose births he’d prevented or altered, leading him to thoughts of his more disappointing progeny, such as Thrym and Surtr. Cruel, hateful, self-centered, and obsessed with battling the young upstarts who reside in Asgard, Even Skoreaus disappoints his father due to his stony and withdrawn nature, although his skill at craft and sculpture makes him a comparative bright point next to his brothers Surtr and Thrym. It is sometimes said the birth of the twisted runts Grolantor and Karontor were the turning point for Annam, when he ended his focus on divine children and sired the resulting races of mortal giantkind, returning only to sire Iallanis once Hiatea appeared and proved herself worthy of her inheritance. Details of Annam’s many affairs and consorts are sparse, with rumor taking the place of concrete information in many cases. It is said that Vaprak is his son by an evil goddess of illusion, with Cegilune, Baba Yaga, or Ysshara being the most common deities mentioned. In the time after most of his divine children were born, he travelled amongst the worlds of the Prime Material Plane, fathering mortal giants or minor divinities, such as the demigoddess Othea on Toril. The giants of that world attribute Annam’s withdrawal to a bargain he struck with Othea after discovering her serial infidelity with the likes of Vaprak and the minor arctic power Ulutiu; the terms of this bargain supposedly keep him from interfering in the affairs of the Jotunbrud until a time that his offspring have restored the glory of the ancient kingdom of Ostoria. Such tales can be found across the multiverse, indicating there may be more than a grain of truth to them.
Annam maintained few alliances with other powers even before his self-imposed exile. He had distant but cordial relations with the patriarchs of other pantheons, such as Corellon of Arvandor and Moradin of the Morndinsamman, although these relationships were as one leader to another and never rose to the level of alliance, nor did the All-Father truly respect these younger and less powerful beings. Infrequently he has had to intercede with the heads of these other pantheons to end or ward off disputes engendered by his more selfish children. Much like his lack of alliances, Annam has few true foes; to a great extent he feels harboring long-term enmities towards those weaker than himself are beneath him. However, that is not to say he holds no negative feelings towards other powers. In particular, he holds Vaprak and Ulutiu in high contempt for their part in Othea’s betrayal which lead to her eventual death. Similarly, he loathes the insidious evil of Memnor for his corruption of the cloud giants and his attempts to undermine and usurp his authority. The only deity he may truly respect and consider an equal is the great dragon god Io; such is their power that myths and legends speak of the day the two engage in physical combat as the day the multiverse is destroyed. Only once before have the two met to end a dispute; in the days when giants and dragons were still young, supposedly even before the elves were born, a great war waged between mortal giants and dragons that stretched across worlds and planes. In order to resolve the conflict, Io and Annam played a great game of strategy that lasted for a century or more, but in the end neither deity could gain the upper hand and the game ended in a stalemate, thus ending the war with no victor.
Annam sends an avatar to the Prime Material Plane on only very rare occasions. Such occasions usually herald an event of great consequence that will alter the course of history on a continent or an entire world. He has witnessed such events on a myriad of worlds, from the Storms of Undeath to the Zephyrs of Unbecoming. He watched as the Baklunish and Suloise empires destroyed each other in the twin cataclysms of the Invoked Devastation and the Rain of Colorless Fire on Oerth. He was present for the destruction of Borka in Greyspace at the hands of the Elven Imperial Navy during the first Unhuman War, and watched as the hubris of the King-Priest of Istar caused the great Cataclysm on Krynn. He observed the destruction of the old gods of Aebrynis and the apotheosis of their champions at the Battle of Mt. Deismaar. He was witness to Karsus’ Folly and the Fall of Netheril on Toril, and giants say it was his timely intervention that allowed Mystryl to revive as Mystra and remake the Weave. He walked Toril in avatar form during the Time of Troubles, but specifically avoided being seen by mortals and avatars alike, observing the deaths of Bane, Bhaal, Myrkul, and Mystra. Annam virtually never interferes in such events and does not allow himself any foreknowledge of the course history will take, preferring to simply observe the events in silence. Of note, Annam recently had an extraordinarily rare personal interaction with mortals, recovering his hand axe Sky Cleaver, left long ago on Toril, from the firbolg Tavis Burdun, saving him from certain death as he foiled the plans of the All-Father’s last remaining mortal son, Lanaxis.

Manifestations

Annam appears as an enormous giant of staggering size with long white hair and an equally long beard. His eyes are dark blue, but a close look will reveal small twinkling lights, like stars in the night sky. He wears a long flowing robe of midnight blue, belted with a cord of gold and silver strands.
Annam’s manifestations are extremely rare, as he takes little interest in the activities of mortals on the Prime Material Plane, outside of world-shaking events. In extremely rare cases he may send a precognitive vision to a giant in an important position in the local Jotunbrud society, such as those he sends to his clerics that become High Priests. If moved to great emotion by an act of incredible bravery or treachery, he may manifest as heal, regenerate, restoration, earthquake, or weather summoning. In the All-Father’s rarest manifestation, he brings a follower or followers to him directly, pulling them into a pocket dimension that can only be described as “the whirling emptiness between stars, filled with wind that shined like light and radiance that boomed like thunder.” No mortal brought to this place can possibly describe it fully. In this place, Annam speaks directly to those he brought there, usually to correct some significant path a follower is on, or to issue a special pronouncement or judgment.
Annam is served by baku great ones, elementals, para-elementals, and quasi-elementals of any sort, hakeashar, magic golems, lillendi, nishruu, normal and magical owls of all sorts, and translators. He displays his pleasure in the smell of fresh cut spruce, the sizzle of lightning, and the howl of a lonely wind sweeping over an endless glacier. He manifests his displeasure as elaborate curses, such as endless voices reciting the failures of the one who has displeased him.

The Church

CLERGY: Clerics, Stormazîn, monks, wizards, runecasters
CLERGY’S ALIGNMENT: LG, NG, CG, LN, N
DOMAINS: Arcana, Knowledge, Nature, Stormazîn

On most worlds, the blood of elder giants or kings must flow through the veins of any member wishing to join the clergy. After achieving 10th level, priests of the All-Father receive a precognitive vision from Annam. This precognitive vision reveals a coming truth about the priest’s tribe or all the giantish races in a particular region or the entire world. Such visions could herald the coming of a great hero or warn of an impending invasion; in any case, the priest always knows the source of the vision and has no doubts of its importance.
Ever since Annam’s self-imposed exile from Gudheim, dedicated priests of the All-Father have been quite rare, although almost all giants honor him. His priesthood is generally only found amongst the greatest and oldest of storm, stone, cloud, and fog giant tribes and kingdoms, or any kingdom or confederation composed of multiple giantish subraces. Here they tend to assume roles of leadership, with the mantle of king often being bestowed upon a singularly powerful and charismatic priest. Even amongst tribes that have no clergy of Annam, with the exception of those who follow Memnor, he is acknowledged as the chief of the pantheon and his priests are respected, if not necessarily obeyed. In areas with a large number of different giant subrace populations, the All-Father’s priests may act as spiritual guides to the other clergies, as well as a moderating force on inter-racial conflict.
Temples dedicated to the All-Father are found on many worlds, but are more often than not now in ruin. Annam’s withdrawal from the day to day activities of the Jotunbrud has resulted in a substantial decline in his clergy throughout the multiverse. In all cases, they follow similar plans, however, and are usually long colonnaded buildings with ceilings high enough for the All-Father’s avatar to stand in unhindered. Giants speak of these temples as being the direct inspiration for the design of the favored temples of the Olympian gods, although this is of course disputed by that group of deities. The temples are frequently built on flattened mountain peaks allowing a view of the surrounding land. Shrines can be found amongst most giant tribes, although they tend to take on characteristics of the individual subraces.
Novices of Annam are known as the Blooded, while full priests are called High Wise Ones. They eschew individual titles, although each knows their place in the hierarchy. Ranking within the clergy is determined by a complex formula based on personal power, height, and bloodline. Younger priests refer to the elders simply as Lord Brother, while the elders call the younger priests Young One. Organized priesthoods of the All-Father don’t exist on every world; sometimes, only individuals are called to his service. In such cases, the individuals are almost invariably part of an ancient, elder, or royal giantish lineage, becoming powerful lords or kings. The bulk of Annam’s priesthood is composed of specialty priests known as Stormazîn (52%) and clerics (32%), with the remainder made up of wizards (6%), runecasters (5%), and monks (5%). The clergy of Annam consists of storm giants (47%), cloud giants (35%), stone giants (10%), fog giants (5%), and various other giantish races (3%). Lesser giants, such as hill giants and ettins, and those often called “kin” (firbolg, verbeeg, etc.) are never called to his service. The priesthood of Annam is wholly male. They long held a low opinion of females in positions of power; while these opinions have generally dissipated with regards to political power, they maintain the tradition of disallowing female clergy.
Day-to-Day Activities: Leading and guiding other giants is the prime duty of Annam’s clergy, wherever they are found. Many are driven to greatness and status, as well as the creation and acquisition of magical prowess and powerful magical items. They are expected to have grand but achievable goals and inspire their fellow giants to greatness. They are also seen as wise guardians of knowledge, and hold deep counsel for those in search of answers. Striking another giant except in self-defense is considered a grave offense for the clergy of the All-Father; doing so is grounds for divestiture. The taboo against striking a fellow giant is so strong that most members of the clergy undergo the divestiture process willingly. If magical compulsion is responsible for the physical blow, divestiture is still the most common result, although lengthy periods of atonement are occasionally required instead. In certain mythologies surrounding the All-Father, some of the races reputed to be giants or related to giants (firbolgs, verbeeg, trolls, ogres, etc.) are in reality the progeny of one of Annam’s wives and another deity, such as Ulutiu or Vaprak. On worlds that maintain such beliefs, speaking the name of those deities during a ceremony in honor of the All-Father is an unforgivable crime, punishable with the death of the offender.
Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: The Grand Feast of the All-Father is held on the first day of the first month of each year. This ceremony is observed by most giant tribes, regardless of the presence of Annam’s priesthood; it celebrates the eventual return of Annam to Gudheim, and the coming or returning glory of giantish dominance. Each breed celebrates slightly differently, based on their individual views of the All-Father, although the eating of vast quantities of food is common. Tribes that normally compete violently at other times of the year often put aside their differences during this ceremony, sending ambassadors to attend each other’s celebrations as a sign of unity. Local clergy of Annam typically honors a favored tribe or chieftain by attending their feast. This is considered a great honor for the members for the tribe, and trying to manipulate or bribing the clergy into attending is considered an insult to Annam himself.
Once per month, the high priest of Annam holds a special prayer vigil, honoring the All-Father and asking for his guidance. The clergy encourages troubled members of the Jotunbrud to attend these vigils in hopes of finding the answers they seek and to discuss their problems with the clergy.
In especially tight-knit giantish communities, the high priest of Annam holds a special ceremony every two years to invest new priests of the various faiths of the Ordning. The priest typically travels to a dedicated temple within a tribe to perform the ceremony, and it is considered a great honor for the tribe whose temple is selected.
Major Centers of Worship: While once far more common, with the passing of time and his seclusion, many of the great temples of the All-Father have become lost or ruined. Those temples still maintained are usually located within healthy but ancient giantish kingdoms. Typically, those temples associated with ancient giantish populations that no longer have hegemony over a significant area of land have only a small number of priests. One chief priest and two or three minor priests or novices is common. Temples of this sort can be found within the Jotens mountain range on Oerth.
Affiliated Orders: The Great Creator’s clergy does not maintain any military orders, although there are a small number of monastic orders dedicated to pondering his philosophies and prophecies. Such orders always reside in the most isolated of places, even by giantish standards.
Priestly Vestments: The All-Father’s ceremonial garb consists of expensive robes of a deep shade of blue, sewn with delicate silver thread. They keep their heads bare and grow their hair long and well groomed, although hair and facial adornments are forbidden. Elder priests often grow lengthy beards as well, although this is by choice; junior priests are required to be clean-shaven. They wear intricate silver bracelets with a pattern that signifies their rank and position within the hierarchy. These bracelets are the holy symbol of the clergy; they hold their wrists together so they touch when casting spells.
When traveling or otherwise not performing their ceremonial duties, Annam’s clergy wear garments typical for their tribe or community, although always of the highest quality available; however, they avoid flashy or ostentatious clothing or jewelry. When entering combat, they prefer items of magical protection (rings of protection, bracers of defense, etc.) to actual armor, even magical armor, but they are not averse to wearing such if necessary.

Stormazîn Domain

Clerics of Annam may select the Stormazîn Domain instead of the Arcana, Knowledge, Nature Domains.

DOMAIN SPELLS

Cleric Level	Spells
1st	detect magic, thunderwave
3rd	enlarge, mystical orrery*
5th	call lightning, clairvoyance
7th	divination, stoneskin
9th	Bigby's Hand, commune

*indicates a new spell described below.

Requirements

Stormazîn (the term is both singular and plural) must be cloud, fog, storm, or stone giants, and have the blood of ancient giant lineages (DM’s decision).

Bonus Cantrips

Also at 1st level, you add thunderclap to your list of cantrips.

Channel Divinity: Giant Charisma

At 2nd level, Stormazîn may use a Channel Divinity as a reaction to gain advantage on a Charisma check or saving throw.

Slow Aging

Starting at 7th level, stormazîn age at only half the normal rate.

Future Visions

Also, sometime after achieving 7th level (DM's discretion), stormazîn receive a precognitive vision from Annam. This precognitive vision reveals a coming truth about the priest’s tribe or all the giantish races in a particular region or the entire world. Such visions could herald the coming of a great hero or warn of an impending invasion; in any case, the priest always knows the source of the vision and has no doubts regarding its importance.

Divine Strike

Starting at 8th level, you can imbue your weapon with divine power. Once per turn when attacking a creature with a weapon, you can inflict an additional 1d8 points of thunder damage. At 14th level, this will increase to 2d8 points of damage.

Ancient Word of Power

Starting at 17th level, stormazîn may cast the spell power word stun once per day as if they were a caster of their current level.

Stormazîn Spells

Mystical Orrery

2nd level divination
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: self
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 minute

When a priest casts this spell, he enchants a number of spherical gems to animate and float about in a perfect representation of the planets, moons, and sun in the world’s solar system. By doing so, the priest can easily determine the precise time of events such as solstices, equinoxes, high and low tides, eclipses, planetary conjunctions, and the like. The priest is able to determine one such event or detail for every three levels of experience he has obtained. In addition, the priest is able to see if the alignment of the planets indicates whether it would be a good day to perform a specific task or not. The DM should use his own discretion in determining the results, based on the task asked about and events coming up; for example, if a heavy storm was about to break over a settlement, it would not be a good day to work outdoors. The mystical orrery must be studied for a period of 1 minute, at which point the gems return to the palm of the caster’s hand.
The material components for this spell are a series of spherical, colored gems that are similar shades as the visible planets and the sun. Each gem must be worth at least 100 gp, and the gems are not destroyed in the casting. They must be held in the caster’s open palm when the spell is cast.

Greater God

Giant Pantheon

Titles
All-Father, the Prime, the Creator, the Great Creator, the Progenitor of Worlds
Sphere of Influence
Magic, Creation, Knowledge, Fertility, Philosophy, Meditation, the Jotunbrud
Alignment
Neutral
Symbol
Two hands, wrists together, with fingers facing downwards
Home Plane
Outlands and Ysgard

Superior
None
Allies
Diancastra, Grolantor, Hiatea, Iallanis, Othea (dead), Skoraeus Stonebones, Stronmaus, Surtr, Thrym
Foes
Memnor, Ulutiu, Vaprak
Worshipers
Giants
Worshiper's Alignments
All alignments
Domains
Arcana, Knowledge, Nature, Stormazîn