Player's Guide--Gods and Worship

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There are several sources of power for those that believe. Gods, fiends, elemental princes, kami, and ascended heroes are the most common.

Religious Traditions of Western Noefra

Religion across western Noefra (the Federated Nations region) varies wildly, although worship of the Congregation is fairly common in most places.

Vocabulary

In this section, "god" always includes the congregation and may include other ascendant powers. It rarely means elemental lords, devils, or demons.

Religions are generally classified as one of

  • Animistic, where local spirits as well as ancestors are venerated and propitiated, but "gods" in the larger sense are at best one more force to propitiate.
  • polytheistic, where individuals and societies worship each of the congregation in their proper sphere, without really picking a favorite. Priests belong to all the gods and tend the rites and shrines.
  • merotheistic (my own term), where individuals and societies acknowledge and pay respect to all the members of the congregation, but consider a subset (more than one) to be the "patrons" or "primary" gods and the rest to be "secondary". Sometimes, certain members are thought of as "antagonists" and only propitiated out of fear, rather than actively worshiped.
  • henotheistic, where individuals and societies take a singular god or ascendant as "the" god of that area. They acknowledge the divine nature of the others and are fine with others worshiping them, but their society focuses nearly entirely on that one entity as being the target of their worship.
  • monotheistic, where the religion only accepts a singular entity as being divine and considers worship of the others to be mistaken at best, heretical/heathen at worst. There are not many of these in western Noefra.

Breakdown by Nation

  • Auringon has a state merotheistic religion. They accept all of the Congregation as gods, but consider the Lord (Roel Kor) and the Lady (Aerielara) to be their patron deities. Unlike most, they focus on his aspect as Ruler and hers as Beauty, and consider them to be married. Clergy are chosen to favor one or the other; the Lord's clergy are administrators and martial warriors, while hers (male or female) are artists, musicians, and prostitutes. The center of worship is the Great Temple in the capital.
  • Byssia is split, mostly along ethnic lines. The night's children (humans) are strongly henotheistic, oriented around the Church of Night Reborn, although worship of Elphas among men is becoming more common. The ihmisi (and most of the highlanders in general) are animistic, with heavy respect for the elemental spirits as well as the local kami and ancestors. Ancestors are more looked-to as a source of guidance, rather than power. Congregationalism is quite rare in Byssia, and found almost exclusively among the island groups (who worship Selesurala henotheistically) and outsiders.
  • Wyrmhold's state religion is officially polytheistic, although individual clans and tribes often chose patrons and act more merotheistically. See Wyrmhold Religion for more details. Henotheistic groups such as the Breath of the Sun have gained influence recently, and there are heavy influences of mystery cults that venerate certain heroes (ascendant or otherwise) alongside the more conventional congregational worship. The deep-woods orcs tend to add a dash of animism into the mix.
  • Crisial Kingdom does not have a state religion (in fact they officially renounce any such thing). Culturally, they're pluralistic--the Church of the Seasons (reformed variant) is quite common among the human and halfling population, while the gwerin tend toward the merotheistic or henotheistic, usually focusing on Aerielara and/or Yogg Maggus, with Roel Kor also playing a significant role. All forms of worship except demon worship are accepted, and you can find temples to all sorts of minor Powers across the land.
  • The Duarchy is also split, with Kotimaa and the mountains being almost entirely animistic, except for Godsfall (which tends polytheistic), and Dreamshore being merotheistic (at least in the lowlands), with heavy Church of the Seasons influence. No state religion, but worship of the Four Seasons is by far the most common.
  • Rauviz has a state religion that is lightly merotheistic, with Kela Loran as their patron. Pluralism is fine, with all religions (again, except demon worship) accepted as long as they can pay their rent. The Grand Temple has shrines to most of the Powers, but evicts those whose worshipers don't bring in enough coin.
  • The Holy Kaelthian Republic used to follow the Church of the Seasons (orthodox variant) until ~250 AC, when they suddenly pivoted very hard to the quasi-monotheistic Law of Truth. Technically, the Law does not provide any single identifiable deity, but scholars and political observers are nearly positive it's actually funneling worship to Loran Hae.
  • The Uulan Confederacy is henotheistic as far as deities, worshipping Korokonolkom in both his aspect as Lord of Mountains and Lord of Silent Endurance. In addition, they revere the Uulani Paragons, both living and dead.
  • Shinevog is not very religious, but what religion is native there tends towards venerating Lon-Ka and Yogg Maggus. They don't care who you worship, really.
  • The Sha'slar Autonomous Zone, Asai'ka, and the Serpent Dominion all henotheistically worship the Queen Ascendant almost exclusively. Jungle tribes mix this with animism, and the Congregation are acknowledged, but the vast majority of worship goes through the Queen and her religion. See Stone Throne Religion for more details.

The Congregation (the 16 true gods)

Gods (members of the Congregation) are beings directly tied in to the Great Mechanism. Each one started as a lesser being (many were mortals, others were elemental beings) chosen and empowered as a consequence of the 3rd Wish, these beings have near-limitless power in their domains and cannot be destroyed as long as they are fulfilling their role. Unlike ascendants, their power is independent of the number or quality of their worshipers; as a result they are generally less concerned with the details of the worship of their faithful. Their duty is to answer (or at least hear) prayers and to represent their domains and keep them in order. They are also tightly regulated in their exercise of this power and cannot act directly without risk. They act through demigods and clerics--the first are former mortals chosen and called up and empowered by the god to act in their name; the second are still-living mortals granted access to a tiny sliver of the power delegated to their god based on their faith and connection to their deity and his or her domains.

A short description of each of the 16 Congregants follows; more detail can be found on their individual pages. Domains in italics are the generic domains most commonly focused on with clerics of each deity. These do not constitute an exhaustive list. The gods are worshipped world-wide, but the listed areas have especial focus on some of them.

  • Hollow King, The Executioner
    • Domain: Untimely death, murder, maintenance of order at any cost. Patron of assassins. Death, Trickery
    • Personality: Dour and cruel, but fair. A firm believer in law and order for the masses. Also believes that some need to stand in the shadows to enforce that law. Despises the demonic cults.
    • Worshiped in: Wyrmhold (somewhat), various other places in small amounts. Mostly called upon to avenge against powerful malefactors.
  • Korokonolkom, The King Below
    • Domain: Mountains. The earth. Patron of the Dwarves. Knowledge, War
    • Personality: Mostly quiet with volcanic temper if angered. Does not forget or forgive easily. Strong sense of honor.
    • Worshiped in: Uulan Confederacy
  • Lae Loara, The Huntress
    • Domain: Wilderness. Travelers. The Hunt, Nature, Trickery
    • Personality: Impatient with civilization. Kill or be killed. Unconcerned with social niceties.
    • Worshiped in: Rarely worshiped directly, mostly venerated by travelers. The Duarchy of Kotimaa and the northern (orcish) regions of Wyrmhold are most likely to have dedicated shrines to her.
  • Lon-Ka, The Hammer
    • Domain: The forge. Technology. Patron of Smiths. Knowledge, Forge
    • Personality: Stubborn. Takes offense easily if criticized. Direct.
    • Worshiped in: Shinevog, Wyrmhold (especially the industrialized areas), Crisial Kingdom
  • Sarapha, Festival-keeper
    • Domain: Harvest. Agriculture, Night. Life, Nature
    • Personality: Generous.
    • Worshiped in: Most areas. Replaced Loran Hae after his fall from grace in the Seasonal Four, representing Autumn.
  • Peor-fala, Hearth-keeper
    • Domain: The home. Domesticity. The Hearth. Life, Light
    • Personality: Gentle but can be fierce if pushed. The peacemaker of the Gods.
    • Worshiped in: Crisial Kingdom, Wyrmhold
  • Pinwheel, The Fox
    • Domain: Deception, trickery. Trickery, War
    • Personality: The trickster of the Congregation. Not given to evil acts, but also not to good acts. Hates tyranny and compulsion.
    • Worshiped in: Not generally worshiped openly. His only known shrine is near Rauviz.
  • Selesurala, Mistress of Storms.
    • Domain: Oceans. Cold. Storms. Nature, Tempest
    • Personality: Changeable, with a temper. No pity for the weak. Not particularly subtle.
    • Worshiped in: Not worshiped particularly anywhere. Revered (and feared) everywhere. However, her demigods Perkunos and Tatsuryuu are worshiped heavily in Tuura Adam and Zhapai Karmap.
  • Yogg-Maggus, Lord of Magic
    • Domain: Arcane Magic. Arcana, Knowledge
    • Personality: Neutral and dry. Rarely raises his voice. Works to preserve the ebb and flow of magical power throughout the planes. Hates the over-use of magic and punishes those who threaten the fabric of the planes. Prefers orderly means of gaining power, favoring learned academic arcanists over more spontaneous, vibe-based ones (like sorcerers).
    • Worshiped in: Crisial Kingdom, Shinevog

Ascended Heroes

Mortals who gathered enough ongoing fame and veneration while alive, the ascended heroes are much weaker than the Congregation and much more dependent on their worshipers. To a degree, they are shaped by this worship--as their worshipers believe, so they become. This means that they are much more diligent about shaping the religious practices of their followers. What they lack in power (being not much more powerful on average than the strongest mortal) they make up for in ability to intervene. Unlike the gods, they cannot ordain clerics; they pass on secrets to their followers and bind them to pacts instead.

Below are listed a few of the prominent ones in western Noefra. There are many others.

  • The Queen Ascendant
    • History: A mortal elf used as a conduit for a demonic ritual siphoning souls for a thousand years. Ascended after being freed from the ritual chains by the Catalysts.
    • Worshiped in: the Jungle of Fangs.
    • Ethos: Maintain the order of the nations. Each person should know their place and strive to magnify it. Self-sacrifice in a noble cause is the noblest choice.
  • Nocthis
    • History: Once a god herself before the Cataclysm, she was protected from the absorption of the Old Gods by a ritual performed by some of her followers. The ritual was completed by adventurers in 211 AC and she was reborn and ascended as a hero.
    • Worshiped in: Byssia (very heavily)
    • Ethos: Preserve secrets, especially magical ones. Hallow the night. Women should rule. Keep to the old traditions.

Fiends

Worship and service to other extra-planar (astral or abyssal) entities is a quick, but risky, source of power.

Devils

One can pledge himself to the Dons of the Infernal Hierarchy, signing binding contracts. Contrary to popular belief, this does not involve signing away ones' soul or promising to do horrific acts of evil. Devils don't want your soul--that's the province of demons. Instead, they want an ongoing portion of the excess energy created by your soul. For most, this isn't much. Enough to gain you a spell or so or a single act of help from a devil. For those with powerful souls, they can learn to call on the more powerful beings, gaining knowledge and excercising power. All at a cost--the power warps the wielder's soul, often causing a loss of empathy and understanding for ones fellows, as well as diminished creativity and stunted growth (physical and spiritual). For that "excess" energy is what allows one to learn and grow.

See Diabolical Families for more specifics about the families and their goals.

Demons

Demons, the residents of the Abyss, are those that survive on stolen and caged souls. This gives them great power, but taints their essence and makes them anathema to creation itself. Their very presence on the mortal plane corrupts it and degrades its fabric. Those that sacrifice to demons (often involving blood magic) find that they too become warped and tainted; after death their souls become fuel for the demons unless they're very lucky or powerful. Demon worship arises from desperation, madness, or an overwhelming lust for power or dark secrets. Worship of demons is considered a capital crime in all of the Federated Nations and surrounding territories. Those credibly accused are to be slain without trial or chance of forgiveness--their souls are already forfeit.

See Demon Princes for more information about specific demon lords. Others exist, but they are of significantly lesser might and influence.

Elemental Princes

One can gain power by devoting oneself to one of the lords of an elemental plane. Powerful genies, dragons, and other beings can grant power. Their demands are varied, and the power they give is that of a warlock--empowered by secrets taught and rituals learned through contracts--rather than that of a cleric.

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