Religion

[grokkngrognard]

Religion, Faith, and The Gods

Old and New Gods: Anganach and Futurus In The Prelacy of Middenmark

The Ancient Ones, called the Anganach by the people of the region, represent the elder gods. Some believe they preexisted in the forests, swamps, and streams of the land—such as Silvanus (Green Man), Cromm Cruach, Herne the Hunter, Valdghar, Malachai, Nergal, and Impurax. Others believe the first nomadic humans brought their gods with them. No one knows for certain.

With the founding and growth of the population of Threshold, new religions sought to expand into the Northern Reaches. These faiths are called the New Gods or the Futurus. The church of St. Ygg has been the most aggressive in establishing itself in Threshold and The Prelacy of Middenmark. The church has been less successful in more peripheral, and more traditional, regions like The Duchy of Aerik. The clerics of St. Ygg are dismissive of the Ancient Ones and position them as backward, primitive, and irrelevant. In addition to St. Ygg, the followers of Arcantryl have also established churches and followers. However, they are less aggressive than the priests of the Red God.

Despite the success of the New Gods in The Red Prelacy, local people still consider it a good omen to wander across the face of the Green Man carved into a great tree or rockface in the wilderness.

Deities in The Prelacy of Middenmark

Anu-Eya
Greater God of the Archaians, Archaian Magic, Archomancy, and Knowledge
Neutral Evil
Symbol: A crowned, sneering face
Anu-Eya is an ancient deity from the time before time. He long predates the arrival of demi-humans and humans to the Northern Reaches. He is a greater god and creator of the Archaians. Anu-Eya gave life to his people and bestowed many gifts upon them. These included innate magical abilities and knowledge of the cosmos. When the Archons of the Trium sought to ascend to godhood and challenge him, Anu-Eya wrought destruction upon the great city of Archaia. His wrath cracked the earth, swallowed the city, and destroyed his people. Anu-Eya is tall, lithe, with slightly pointed ears. He is often depicted wearing a large round headdress and loincloth. His arms, neck, fingers, ankles and toes are decorated in gold and platinum jewelry. He is a vengeful god.

Arcantryl (Magus)
Goddess of Magic
Lawful Neutral
Symbol: A star within a star
Arcantryl derives her power from knowledge of the laws of the universe and existence. She believes in understanding the structure of the cosmos and harnessing (and bending) that knowledge to express magical energies. Instead of branching out immediately to the smaller villages of the Northern Reaches, the clerics of Arcantryl focused on developing followers in the larger centers of the Reaches. These include the city of Threshold, Eastdale in The Prelacy of Middenmark, and Ironguard Motte in The Duchy of Aerik. One might see a humble, or impromptu, shrine for prayer located in other towns or villages.

Crom (Cromm Cruach)
God of Strength and Battle Chaotic
Neutral (Good)
Symbol: A silver crown over a white-capped mountain
Crom, or Crom Cruach, is worshipped largely by warriors, mercenaries, and humble frontiersmen. Crom is considered grim and gloomy. He prizes feats of strength, valor, and daring in battle. He rarely answers prayers. Instead, he prefers to watch resilient and resourceful warriors blaze their own path to glory. His followers use his name as a blessing, a curse, or in astonishment. Crom’s symbol is a crown atop a great mountain. The crown represents his position as the greatest of warriors. His followers, upon death, must climb Crom’s great mountain and stand in judgement before him. If they have been cowardly, or fled in the face of battle, Crom will laugh at them and cast them out. However, if a warrior has been stout of heart and died well he will be embraced and welcomed into the afterlife. Crom is often depicted as a barbarian with black hair and blue eyes.

Denara (Pecuna)
Demi-Goddess of Wealth, Bureaucracy, Trade
Lawful Neutral
Symbol: The scales of trade
Denara’s sphere includes the areas of trade, wealth, and administration, broadly defined. Her followers include entrepreneurs, merchants, traders, government bureaucrats, and the wealthy. Denara is not as fickle as Fortuna. She believes in judicious treatment of wealth, the hierarchical distribution of capital, and lawful organization of trade and trade agreements.

Dogma (Illuminatus)
God of Knowledge, Scholars, Learning
Lawful Neutral
Symbol: A sunrise within a book
Dogma appears as an old, thin, grey-bearded man in a monk’s habit carrying a great book under his arm. The Learned One is the patron of those who seek knowledge and those who create new knowledge, such as scholars, inventors, alchemists, and mages. Dogma embodies the notion of enlightenment through higher education.

Fortuna (Fortunatus)
Demi-Goddess of Luck, Gamblers, Adventurers
Chaotic Good and Chaotic Neutral
Symbol: A coin in the center of a horseshoe
Fortuna is the patron of luck, gambling, and adventuring. She is sometimes referred to as Lady Luck. Fortuna is known as being flighty, moody, capricious, and temperamental. Her (notoriously brief) favour often relates specifically to the acquisition of wealth (such as gambling or adventuring). Adventurers often pray to her if they face life-or-death circumstances. Fortuna appears as a beautiful, golden-haired woman. Her symbol is an upraised horseshoe with a gold coin in the center. Lady Luck is allied with Denara.

Imperiosa (Imperator)
Goddess of Tyranny, Domination, Destruction
Lawful Evil
Symbol: A clawed black fist
Imperiosa, The Conqueror, appears most often as a beautiful black skinned human warrior. Her symbol is a defiant, clawed black fist, which represents the spheres of domination and destruction. Her church is militaristic and encourages conflict and hate. They seek to identify weakness and destroy it, both within their faith and without. She is the patron of all those who seek military conflict, destruction, and domination. Her motto is “By our swords, we rule.”

Impurax (Impuratus)
God of Rot, Decay, Corruption, and Pestilence
Neutral Evil
Symbol: A rotting fanged hand or a rotting raven’s head
Impurax, also called The Rotten God or The Fanged God, is a deity cloaked in mystery. Impurax was an ally of Nergal. Impurax traditionally granted his followers power of pestilence, rot, and fungal life. His clerics, called The Putrescalate, have powers akin to cleric-druids. Impurax also has a order of warriors called The Fanged Legion which possess paladin-like powers.

Malachai (Frumentus)
Demi-God of Agriculture (Corn) and the Harvest
Neutral Evil
Symbol: A black face crowned with corn stalks
Malachai, or He-Who-Walks-Between-the-Stalks, is one of the Ancient Gods or Anganach. His followers believe that they must make ritual blood sacrifices to appease Malachai or he would fail to provide them with a bountiful harvest. His symbol is a sneering black face crowned with corn stalks. The arrival of St. Ygg to Middenmark has all but extinguished Malachai’s faith, although some peasant folk still utter his name in hushed tones. Some believe he may be connected to the sphere of fertility.

St. Ygg (Veridicus)
God of Righteousness
Lawful Good
Symbol: A red cross on a white field
St. Ygg is the deity of righteousness and light. St. Ygg believes in the highest moral standards. He is sanctimonious and has an indignant temper with those who fail to see the just nature of his actions. The faith of St. Ygg is the most well known of the new organized religions in the Northern Reaches. The central-southern district, known as Middenmark, was ceded to the faith of St. Ygg in order to extend their faith and bring order to the region. The Red Temple in Eastdale is the epicenter of St. Ygg’s faith in The Prelacy. His followers include clerics and a small group of paladins known as the Order of the Crimson Cross. The Red Bannermen, as they are also called, are based out of Threshold and have a small detachment stationed in Eastdale. Paladins are, generally speaking, extremely rare in the Northern Reaches.

Valdghar
Demi-God of the Valdghardt, Nomadic barbarians, Bloodlust
Chaotic Neutral
Symbol: A woolly mammoth
Sages are unclear as to whether Valdghar is a distinct demi-god, or an aspect of Crom acclimatized to northern warrior tribes and barbarians. Valdghar appears as a brawny barbarian with black hair and cold blue eyes. He wields a broad-bladed battle-axe and rides a woolly mammoth into combat. He values strength and brave feats of arms. Sages believe he instills his bravest and most loyal warriors with an inspiring bloodlust. The barbarian tribes that range across the most northern aspect of the Reaches worship him exclusively. The Valdghardt barbarians consist of a number of small distinct tribes, such as Cougar Claw, Black Wolf, Green Griffon, Three-Eyed Raven, Horned Stag, Great Moose, Blood Moon, and others. They have their own dialect, totems, worldviews, and spiritual beliefs. The tribes are fiercely independent but will ally themselves with neighboring tribes for security or war.

Zuul (Elementus)
Demi-God of Chaotic Elements
Chaotic Evil
Symbol: The four elements
Zuul, also called The Destructor, embodies the chaotic and deadly nature of the four elements. He appears as a winged demon with four arms. When the land cracks open and swallows the earth, or a harsh winter culls the living, or extreme heat dries rivers, or tornados destroy villages, Zuul is said to be displeased. The Elemental God is uncaring, uncompromising, and cruel. Zuul is one of the Ancient Ones, or Anganach, and the status of his cult is unknown