The Demesnes - Gods

Introduction

The existence of powerful immortal entities known as gods is an accepted fact in The Demesnes. Gods grant their clerics the ability to weave magic, so there is tangible evidence of their reality. Their actions and motivations, however, remain mysterious to most people.

In general, gods do not meddle directly in the affairs of mortals, though there have been some exceptions. Any influence a god wishes to have on the mortal world is pursued through the god's clergy and worshippers. The reasons for this state of affairs are unknown to mortals - perhaps there are divine rules of order, or the gods may be physically limited in what they can achieve in the mortal realm.

Pantheons and Aspects

The gods are generally organised into several distinct pantheons, though in most cases a god known by one name in one pantheon is the same as that known by another name in a different pantheon.

Closely related is the notion of aspects. A god may present one image of itself, or aspect, to one group of worshippers, and a different aspect to another group. The aspects may have slightly different spheres of responsibility. Aspects are often opposed, as one serves the benevolent side of a concept while the other represents its malevolent qualities. So while aspects may appear good or evil, the gods themselves are above such concepts and as readily embrace one side as the other. The pantheons group aspects of gods together in a coherent way.

The main pantheons are: The Oeridian, the Baklunish, the Aerdan, the Ranapo, the north-eastern barbarian pantheon, Cereteo (the main elven pantheon), Derrumteo (the dark elven pantheon), and those of the dwarves, gnomes, halflings, lizard men, and orcs.

The Gods

The gods presented here are listed by their Oeridian names. All descriptions are of the Oeridian pantheon aspect unless otherwise noted. This aspect is usually echoed closely by the other pantheons - notable exceptions are given.

Alia - Our Lady of Fate

Alia is the goddess of chance, fate, luck, and destiny. Her positive aspect embodies good fortune, happy coincidence, and the seizing of opportunity. In negative mode she symbolises precisely the opposite: bad luck, tragic happenstance, and the loss of opportunity ungrasped.

Birrin - The Huntsman

Birrin is the god of the hunt. He also represents fair sporting contests and honour in battle. In malevolent aspect he embodies unfair play, cruelty, and wanton killing. Birrin has an orcish hunter aspect named Kal'baak, which also serves as the closest thing orcs have to a nature deity - since all nature is merely prey to orcs.

Bolkon - The Blacksmith

Bolkon is the god of artifice and creation. He embodies crafts such as woodworking and metalsmithing, as well as creativity, cleverness, and competence. His negative aspect represents destruction, restriction, unoriginality, stupidity, and incompetence. To dwarves, Bolkon is Moraddin, The Forge Father, who created the dwarven race.

Darlishai - The Dreamweaver

Darlishai is the goddess of sleep and dreams, and also the moon. She represents restful sleep, comfort, pleasant dreams, and imagination, while in malign aspect she brings horrible nightmares, restlessness, fear, discomfort, and inflexibility.

Ehlona - Earth Mother

Ehlona is the goddess of nature. Her major sphere of influence includes flora and fauna. She also represents life and fertility, making her a patron of mothers and childbirth. In malign aspect, Ehlona symbolises the harshness of nature and randomness. Ehlona does not appear in the Orcish pantheon.

Eryn - Mistress of Passions

Eryn is the goddess of love. In positive mode she represents all that is good about love, including respect, generosity, trust, caring, and joy. Her negative side however is responsible for lust, greed, jealousy, suspicion, hatred, and broken hearts.

Irrison - Dweller in the Sky

Irrison is the god of the sky and the weather. His aspects are responsible for the gentle rains, winds, and sunshine which cause growth and prosperity, as well as the floods, storm winds, blizzards, and droughts which herald hard times.

Kabrann - The Harvester

Kabrann is the god of life and death. Benignly, he represents life, renewal, hope, and determination. His malign mode symbolises death, endings, despair, and apathy.

Lydian - Mistress of Magic

Lydian is the goddess of wizardly magic in all its guises. Good wizards honour her benign side, while evil necromancers pay homage to her malevolent nature.

Malfestus - Lord of Suffering

Malfestus is the god of disease and injury. His benevolent aspect embodies healing and compassion, while darker cults honour him for the misery he brings. Malfestus has an orcish aspect known as Haggara, who embodies the notions of survival of the fittest and weeding out of the weak. Haggara also serves as the orcish deity of childbirth and parenthood.

Mord - Old Father

Mord is the god of time, history, and memory. He represents fond memories, the wisdom of the ages, and positive growth and progress. His malevolent aspect represents tedium, forgetfulness, decay, and the tragedy of repeating the mistakes of the past.

Olsek - The Wandering Minstrel

Olsek is the god of music and of travel. He symbolises art, music, industriousness, safe journeys, and welcomes. His malign side controls decadence, boredom, mischief, laziness, hazardous travel, and hostility.

Pyonia - The Firebird

Pyonia is the goddess of fire. Her benevolent aspect represents warmth, hospitality, food, and safety. Her malevolent aspect is responsible for destruction, panic, jealousy, and danger.

Selanna - The White Dove

Selanna is the goddess of peace, and of war. Positively, she symbolises wisdom, negotiation, diplomacy, and cooperation. Her negative aspect embodies all the horrors of war: discord, hatred, violence, and anger.

Syrulan - Lord of the Sun

Syrulan is the god of the sun, light, and also darkness. He is responsible for the dawn and the daylight, warmth, happiness, and beauty. His malevolent aspect controls darkness, cold, sadness, and ugliness.

Tammer - He of the Mountain

Tammer - is the god of mountains and rocks. He symbolises strength, stability, wealth, precious metals and gems, and fertility of the land. His malign aspect is responsible for volcanoes, earthquakes, uncertainty, ruin, and barrenness. Tammer is a major dwarven god, known to the dwarves as Drammara.

Trinos - King of the Seas

Trinos is the god of the oceans. His domain also includes marine animals. In benign aspect he represents calm weather and the bounty of the sea. Malevolently, he is the master of storms and shipwrecks.

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