Faiths and Pantheons
Of the World's Creation, and Birth of the Gods
In the beginning Elhim summoned the twin gods from the Source and they likewise did summon companions and kindred spirits and allies to aid them in the creation of the world. They built The Dome of Heaven to cover the world and the Walls of the World to protect it from The Void. They set the world in the midst of the Sea of Mana and created the Ethereal Gate that the gods would have passage from the heavens and to the earth. Elhim set Creation into the world and the gods and their people built many homes and dwelling places about it and within this Gaea.
However, though they created the world in unison, they soon began to quarrel with one another over the fate of the world and the spirits that dwelled within. The twin gods, who were the divine rulers of the world, lost their way and fell to war against each other and their conflicts spilled forth to the other gods and then to the mortal world. From this war were created many fallen gods and dark and evil beasts and monsters. Dwelling places for them were made by them as well as prisons for them among which, The Iron Hells is chief as is The Abyss and the Pale World. The legend of the creation of the world and the war of the gods is recounted in The Legendrium known as The Eidolon Hymn.
Now these great beings that come from before the world was made are known as the Gods and Elhim is their Father and God of the Heavens and from the Source did they emerge. They are known as the Holy Order of the Constellations and the Holy Order of Ea. Those who most desired it entered into the world and forged the world but then strife caused the War of the Gods and the age of sorrows and thus did they nearly undo what they created... They have many names among sildanyari, khazad, and giants but among the men their names are legion and men often tell strange tales concerning them...
- - Sage Orum
The Pantheon of Gaea
Twenty-one major gods exist amid Gaea, who are also known as The Undying and The Powers. Click on a Pantheon header (Gods of Good, for example) for more information about those groups. Or, click on a deity entry for more information about a specific god.
| Gods of Good | |||||
| Deity | AL | Embodies | Domains & Inquisitions | Relations | The Devoted |
| Althea, The Foundation | NG | Compassion, Family, Protection | Good, Healing, Protection, Community | Wife of Daeus, Mother of Eluna, Tarien, and Gilead | Altheans |
| Angoron, The Athlete | CG | Valor and Competition, Childbirth, Freedom | Good, Strength, Luck, Chaos, Liberation | Competitor of Kor, Traveling, Lover, and Boasting Companion of Tarien | Angorites |
| Daeus, The Knight | LG | Justice, Good Governance, Protection, Good Dragons | Glory, Good, Law, Sun, Nobility | Husband of Althea, Father of Eluna, Tarien, and Gilead, Brother of Maugrim the Fallen | Daeusites |
| Eluna, The Seeress | NG | Magic, Dreams, and Wisdom | Knowledge, Magic, Good, Rune | Daughter of Daeus and Althea, Sister to Gilead and Tarien | Elunites |
| Gilead, The Hunter | NG | The Hunt and the Wild | Animal, Community, Good, Plant | Son of Daeus and Althea, Brother to Eluna and Tarien; The imprisonment inquisition ability refers primarily to his abilities as a trapper, and capability to capture evil or aberrant aspects | Gileans |
| Serriel, The Soldier | LG | Honor and Civilization, Advancement of Society | Good, Law, War, Protection | Birthed after the death of Animus, Unknown, Lover of Vardama | Serrielites |
| Tarien, The Trickster | CG | Luck and Travel, Talespinning | Good, Chaos, Trickery, Luck, Travel | Son of Daeus and Althea (the middle child), Traveling and Boasting Companion of Angoron (lover of the same), Father of Deimos (according to legend), Reminds Kor to Have a Sense of Humor (failure so far) | Tarienites |
| Gods of Neutrality | |||||
| Deity | AL | Embodies | Domains & Inquisitions | Relations | The Devoted |
| Ceinara, The Artist | CN | Artistic Inspiration | Charm, Luck, Fire, Chaos, Liberation | Daughter of Dana and Reos | Ceinarans |
| Dana, The Earth | TN | The Forces of Nature (She is also known as "The Green Word") | Air, Animal, Plant, Water, Weather | Wife of Reos, Mother of Ceinara | Danan |
| Kor, War | CN | War and Chaos, Conflict | Chaos, Glory, Strength, War, Destruction | Competitor with Maugrim and Serriel over the dominion of War, and Angoron like that brother you never wanted | Korites |
| Navos, The Historian | LN | History and Self-Perfection | Healing, Knowledge, Rune, Strength, Law | Once close friend of Daeus, distanced now with His new role among the Twilight and loss of Compassion | Navosians |
| Rada, The Trader and Sailor | TN | Sea and Travel, Trade and Wealth | Weather, Water, Nobility, Travel | Glub. Glub glub glub. | Radan |
| Reos, The Craftsman | LN | Craftsmanship, Artifice, Engineering | Artifice, Earth, Law, Rune | Husband of Dana, Father of Ceinara | Reosian |
| Vardama, The Crone and Mortician | LN | Death, Inevitability, and Prophecy | Community, Healing, Knowledge, Repose, Law | Once wife of Thul, Lover of Serriel | Vardaman |
| Gods of Evil | |||||
| Deity | AL | Embodies | Domains & Inquisitions | Relations | The Devoted |
| Caracoroth, The Nightmare | CE | Nightmares, Monsters, and Madness | Evil, Chaos, Animal, Madness | Mad son of Maugrim, Harries Eluna across the sky | Caracorothans |
| Deimos, The Betrayer | NE | Betrayal, Secrets, and Corruption | Luck, Trickery, Evil, Charm | Rumored son of Tarien | Deimosan |
| Gunahkar, The Destroyer | CE | Chaos, Disaster, and Wrath | Chaos, Destruction, Death, Weather, Evil | Gunahkarans | |
| Illotha, The Scourned | NE | Murder, Poison, Envy and Loss | Evil, Death, Knowledge, Rune | Illothans | |
| Maugrim, The Tyrant | LE | Tyrrany, Slavery, Pride, Evil Dragons | Evil, Law, War, Strength, Destruction | Husband of Taara, Brother of Daeus | Maugrimites |
| Taara, The Avaricious | NE | Cruelty and Greed, Avarice | Evil, Darkness, Magic, Destruction | Wife of Maugrim, Lover to Thul | Taarans |
| Thul, The Cannibal | LE | Gluttony, Undeath, Contracts and Cannibalism | Death, Evil, Strength, Trickery, Law | Maddened husband of Vardama, now divorced, Sometime lover of Taara | Thulites |
Religion and Faith
The world of Gaea is dominated religiously by a dualistic pantheon system known officially as the Holy Order of Ea. The teachings of this order were spread by the prophet Shadam in the aftermath following the end of the previous age. Due to the similarities in stories and legends of many of the elder races, it is believed that Shadam's teachings reconcile the different cultural viewpoints and racial themes on the matter of the gods, heavens and their agents.
The Holy Order of Ea is not the only religion, though it is the most influential. Animistic faiths such as the Green Word thrive in less developed areas. In these areas, druidic powers and circles are able to grow unimpeded by the teachings of the Holy Order of Ea. Similarly speaking, though a dualistic pantheon, the Order of Ea largely teaches the principles of good and neutral aligned powers and sees the darker gods as in rebellion of the intended creative order. This causes the cults and faiths of the dark gods to largely operate as independent faiths and religions from the Holy Order and often in opposition to it. If you add this in with smatterings of shamanistic faiths and ancestor worship, or some cultures revering some deities more than others, you end up with a world of few gods but many faiths. The gods of Ea, especially those such as Tarien, operate under a variety of different names.
The Holy Order Of Ea
A dualistic pantheon, the Holy Order of Ea teaches of a war between two brothers who both sprang from the will of the creator God known as Elhim. Maugrim and Daeus had been known as Twin Dragon Gods. Together, this unified pantheon created the prehistoric world, struck down their rebellious first-born children, the Scions, and bound the Wyrms (Dragons) to allow lesser races to thrive. At some point, however, one of the two of the mightiest of the gods grew hungry for additional power. After receiving a prophecy from the Fates, attempted to turn it to his own will and so made war against his brother. His actions incited a devastating civil war known simply as the War of the Gods.
This war ended with the newly crowned gods of evil being either imprisoned or bound. The rest of the world reeled from the resulting devastation, growing dark and chaos-ridden. The gods were forced to craft anew. Despite their efforts, the gods could not fully heal the world and remnants of the ancient conflict remain to this day. Leftovers from this era of chaos and devastation create a number of different phenomena that still saturate the world. In the aftermath of this new creation, the remaining gods retreated to the heavens and retired to their holy city, which lay beyond the reach of all save a blessed few. The departure of the gods would bring about an end to the early prehistoric ages and usher in the rise of the mortal races as the dominant forces in the physical world.
The Holy Order of Ea is the official name given to the loose affiliation of temples, religions and denominations that promote the gods of light, and to a lesser extent the gods of neutrality. They decry the efforts of the now-twisted gods of darkness, who are seen as in rebellion to the plan of the Creator God Elhim and Elhim's appointed remaining god-king, Daeus. The influence of The Order is profound, creating a strong dualistic pantheon system that permeates much of western civilization and beyond.
For the most part the Order is largely symbolic, existing as a neutral go-between for affiliated temple orders and churches. Each individual deity maintains their own order and religious following. Yet, the Order of Ea seeks to reconcile the differences between like-minded faiths and to provide some unity for the common masses to look to. The de-facto leader is the Chosen Prophet of Daeus who also is the spiritual leader of the Church of Daeus. In practice, he leads more as a spiritual guide and guardian rather then attempting to impose edicts upon other faiths. The Order headquarters itself lay in The Holy See which is in the Myrrish nation of Ecclesia. Here, they shelter a number of temples, shrines, religious orders and teachings while also acting neutrally on matters of politics and national affairs and as mediators when conflicts between the various faiths arise.
The Green Word
The Green Word is a primarily druidic faith dominant among races of the wild and less urban areas. The Green Word refers to the Voice of the World which is also known as the goddess Dana. Dana was once considered part of the pantheon of the Order of Ea but separated herself to attend to her first love: the nurturing of the world itself, which she saw as being hurt by the ongoing conflicts of light and dark.
Sects of the god Gilead are also part of this loose affiliation of like minded priests, druids, rangers and more. The order is only loosely organized and split between both clerics and druids. Within the larger religion are a number of smaller sects and denominations that have different goals and agendas and at times they come into conflict with one another. However, it is taught that this is the way of the world. Prominent groups include The Ygdrassil Union, which teaches more harmony, and Circle of Thorns, which teaches more destructive hard stances against those who they deem unworthy of nature's bounty. Members of the Green Word recognize other deities; it's more that their primary worship is of Dana (and for some, Gilead as well).
See the Various Practitioners of Divine Magic for more information.
The Fates
Three goddesses who represent the past, present and future, they, as a rule, do not interfere with the doings of the world but simply observe, comment on and occasionally offer guidance to mortals and gods alike. The Fates have no religion tied to them and have no mortal followers although some who wield magic consider themselves under their wing.
Scholars believe that debate whether they represent aspects of Elhim Himself or that they are gods removed from The Order of Ea who did not come to the world in the beginning of the Great Making yet instead remained apart from it all to observe history. Thus, they are outside of history while the Order of Ea is bound to the world and history. The Fates are known of and often used in conversation as part of daily culture; ie “The Fates must be playing a cruel joke on me.” And so forth. Belief in destiny, fate, pre-ordained events varies from culture to culture but as Eas is a mythical world, prophecy, destiny and the power of vow making and the spoken word is a tangible thing.
The Covenant of Mana
A philosophy founded by the original progenitor of magic, the Covenant of Mana is a collection of guiding principles that govern the power of Mana. Mana is a phenomena that saturates the world and provides the source of arcane magic and becomes the conduit by which divine magic can be transferred from divine sources to their followers. As a result, this philosophy is decidedly neutral in nature though good and evil alike adhere to its defining principles in regards to magic. To put it more simply, it is a philosophy many wizards and arcane users adhere to and swear by, without which the personal skill and attachment necessary to work arcane wizardry would be impossible. As a philosophy, the Covenant works within many faiths and belief systems, though how exactly is left to the practitioner's ideals.
The Void and the Source
Elhim and Lachesis stand as opposites of one another. Distant and far removed from the doings of Ea, Elhim is responsible for the Source and Creation, while Lachesis embraces Destruction. Worship of them is rare, and they do not grant clerical powers. Many of Ea have only a passing reference to them, and the two remain highly distant. Elhim has only been known to intervene in such epochs as the War of the Gods or similar efforts, and then indirectly.
Others
The above represent aspects of larger and more influencial faiths, orders, and ideas on Gaea but by no means represent them all. For example, though the gods of light loosely agree upon their affiliation within the Order of Ea and accept veneration as part of this Order, each one maintains individual churches and orders and some deities are known by countless names in other cultures far off.
Daeus, arguably the most powerful god, is venerated as far north as the Ice Wall and in the deepest south where a simple lit candle and heartspoken prayer is enough and the grand sweeping cathedrals of the west and unheard of. The gods of darkness maintain even more variance of faiths and cults. Neutral-aligned deities which represent abstract forces such as war, the natural world, death and creativity, arguably have even more worshippers and are known by even more names. This also does not include groups such as nihilistic cults of the Void. These cults, dedicated to the hungering power of the emptiness that exists beyond the walls of the world know precious little about the ‘power’ they claim to dwell there and in cases are merely being manipulated by members of the gods of darkness.