Gods, Deities, and Greater Powers

All who are feared, revered, and worshipped by the people of Eusia

Tiamat

Tiamat was the Evil God of Chromatic Dragons. Her portfolio included Conquest, Trickery, and Avarice. Generally, she was thought to be imprisoned in Hell.

The Lady in White

The Lady in White is a minor deity associated with the village of (cool mountainous village). She is a benevolent undead entity which looks after the souls of the village, both in life and in death. She is a goddess who exists regularily in her follower’s daily lives, though she is bound to the village and so can only bless them while they reside there.

It is by her hand that the Clergy in White raise the dearly departed into zombies. As the clumsy beginning of their journey commences, they are suited mostly to field work and non-dexterous manual labor. They do not yet remember anything of their past, and it is The Lady who keeps them content. As their flesh rots away to reveal the skeleton underneath, they begin to recall their past and may begin to recognise family and friends. One’s Second Life usually plateaus for some time in the skeletal stage, and they are the most common Returned within the village. More cognisant and dexterous, skeletal Returned perform all sorts of tasks from weaving to threshing, basically anything that a child could accomplish. They are not yet wise enough for planning and logical tasks. The Clergy diligently cleans Skeletal returned to keep them from introducing and odor or disease to the First Life villagers.

The Lady in White wishes for all her children to lead virtuous lives, for it is the accumulated positive energy of a soul that allows a Returned to linger for longer. Sinners may cease their second life without ever rotting enough to expose bone, while Saints will endure while even the smallest sliver of their skeleton remains. Deep within the Crypts of Remembrance, wise spirits of the elders remains attached to fragmented skulls and fingers. The purest form that a Returned can achieve is that of full spectral presence, wherein they not only recall everything from their life, but can learn new information. Legend holds that the oldest Spirits, members of an advisory council to the living Baron, are centuries old.

The Lady is unique in that she no longer possesses any physical body, only an ornate casket which once held her in repose. So old is she that it is said she remembers the previous empire and what befell it, though she refuses to speak of those dark days.

Sune

Sune in the Lore of Eusia

Sune was the Lady Firehair, a radiant goddess of love, beauty, passion, and sensual pleasure. Her faith treated beauty not as vanity, but as a sacred force that made life worth living, and her worshippers often honored joy, romance, art, and personal allure as divine gifts.

Portfolio and Names

Her portfolio included love, beauty, passion, and often the celebration of physical and emotional attraction. She was commonly known as Sune, Lady Firehair, and in many traditions she was associated with red-gold hair, warmth, and irresistible charm. Her presence in lore was usually tied to romance, inspiration, elegance, and the courage to love openly.

Who Prayed

Sune was often prayed to by lovers, artists, poets, courtiers, performers, and anyone seeking confidence or grace. She also drew prayers from people hoping to recover from heartbreak, inspire attraction, mend relationships, or simply feel beautiful in their own skin. Those who honored her rarely treated devotion as solemn suffering; they treated it as a joyful affirmation that pleasure and affection could be holy.

When They Prayed

Her worship was often strongest at dawn, at festivals, before dances, during courtship, and at moments of personal transformation. Many of her followers would have prayed before art, performance, romance, bathing, dressing, or any event where presence and charm mattered. Unlike gods of hardship, her faith tended to favor bright, public, celebratory moments.

Holy Day and Devotion

A fitting holy day for Sune was often celebrated with feasts, music, flowers, candles, perfume, dance, confession of admiration, and declarations of affection. Her observances commonly centered on spring, midsummer, or any local festival devoted to beauty and union. In practice, every act of sincere delight could have served as an offering to her.

Ways of Praying

One way to pray to Sune was through praise: speaking aloud the beauty one had seen or the love one wished to protect. Another was through ritual preparation, such as dressing carefully, adorning a shrine with flowers and ribbons, or creating something beautiful in her honor. Her faithful often believed that the act itself mattered as much as the words, because devotion to Sune was meant to be felt in the body as well as the heart.

Shrines and Temples

Shrines and temples of Sune were usually vivid, fragrant, and welcoming, often decorated with mirrors, silks, petals, polished metal, carved figures, and warm light. They were typically spaces where music, conversation, art, and intimacy were not merely allowed but encouraged. In many places, her temples doubled as gathering halls, salons, or places where the lonely could find companionship and the shy could learn confidence.

Clergy and Organization

Sune’s clergy tended to be socially graceful, persuasive, and deeply involved in community life, especially where art, courtship, or social mediation were concerned. Her priesthood often included performers, counselors, diplomats, beauticians, and teachers of self-presentation. Rather than a stern hierarchy, her religious organizations usually felt like circles of patrons, attendants, and beloved figures who maintained shrines, hosted gatherings, and nurtured joy. Some clergy members of Sune’s church were not unlike geisha.

Church Character

The Church of Sune was likely remembered less for rigid doctrine than for atmosphere: warmth, welcome, elegance, and emotional honesty. Her faith could have defended romance against shame, beauty against cruelty, and pleasure against puritan fear. At its best, it reminded people that tenderness, attraction, and delight were not distractions from life, but part of what made life worth defending.

Summary

Sune could be summarized as the goddess invoked when beauty needed protection, love needed courage, and joy needed permission to exist openly. Her faithful did not merely seek pleasure; they sought the kind of beauty that made hearts braver and lives more radiant.

Ilmater

The Crying God – The Broken One – The Martyr – The Enduring Heart

Ilmater is the god of endurance, suffering, martyrdom, perseverance, mercy, and the relief of the oppressed. His faithful do not glorify pain for its own sake. They believe suffering should be resisted wherever possible and willingly carried when doing so protects someone weaker.

Ilmater is invoked when pain cannot be avoided, when injustice leaves no easy answer, and when someone must endure hardship so that another may survive.

Portfolio and Names

Ilmater’s portfolio includes endurance, healing, sacrifice, compassion, and the protection of the helpless. He is known as the Crying God, the Broken God, the Lord on the Rack, and the One Who Endures. Among some peoples of the [[Great Glacier]], he is called Ayuruk.

Ilmater teaches that pain has no virtue when it is inflicted needlessly or accepted out of cowardice. His followers are expected to lessen suffering wherever they can and to endure hardship when doing so protects others.

Who Prayed

Ilmater was chiefly prayed to by the lame, the poor, the oppressed, the persecuted, monks, paladins, serfs, slaves, healers, and those living under unjust hardship. His faith also attracted anyone who cared for the sick, tended the wounded, sheltered the homeless, or stood between the vulnerable and those who would exploit them.

His worshippers saw him as the god who helped them endure while reminding the strong of their responsibility to shoulder suffering on behalf of the helpless.

When They Prayed and Holy Days

Clerics of Ilmater prayed for their spells in the morning. Older devotional practice called for prayers to be repeated throughout the day, sometimes six times or more. His worship was therefore steady and rhythmic rather than centred on a single dramatic hour.

Ilmater traditionally had no annual holy day. His faith was expressed through continual service instead of seasonal festivals. Local traditions sometimes established days of fasting, remembrance, healing, or charity. These observances usually involved feeding the hungry, treating the sick, freeing prisoners, or remembering those who had died in poverty or oppression.

Tenets

A cleric of Ilmater must work to reduce suffering rather than merely condemn it. They are expected to protect the helpless, comfort those in pain, speak for those who cannot defend themselves, and accept hardship when doing so spares another.

They must not inflict pain for pleasure, profit, pride, or entertainment. They must not abandon someone in desperate need when aid is reasonably within their power, nor may they use another person’s suffering to gain authority, wealth, or devotion. Torture, cruelty toward prisoners, the abuse of the vulnerable, and the deliberate creation of suffering are forbidden.

Ilmater does not require his servants to submit to every abuser or accept preventable harm. A cleric who allows cruelty to continue when they could stop it has failed in their duty. Mercy does not mean permitting the strong to prey upon the weak.

A cleric who repeatedly ignores these tenets may lose Ilmater’s favour. This loss may begin as an absence of comfort in prayer or a growing inability to endure hardship. More serious violations can sever a cleric’s connection to divine power until they seek to repair the harm they caused.

Ways of Praying

One traditional prayer asks Ilmater to see the speaker’s weakness, accept their fault, and grant them the endurance to carry what must be borne. Other prayers ask for the strength to continue, the wisdom to relieve suffering, or the courage to resist cruelty.

Prayer and action are rarely separate in Ilmater’s faith. A cleric may pray while binding wounds, feeding the hungry, sheltering the sick, or comforting someone in grief. The work itself becomes a prayer when performed without expectation of reward.

Some devotees practise voluntary discomfort to cultivate empathy, but such acts have meaning only when they strengthen compassion. Self-punishment that serves pride, vanity, or despair is not considered holy.

Shrines and Temples

Shrines and temples of Ilmater are usually found where suffering is greatest, especially among the poor, the sick, and the displaced. His houses of worship commonly serve as hospices, shelters, healing centres, and places of refuge.

They distribute food, drink, firewood, medicine, and clothing. Larger temples may maintain kitchens, infirmaries, orphanages, and dormitories for travellers or the homeless. In major cities, Ilmater’s worship spaces may form part of larger charitable institutions or formal temple complexes.

A temple of Ilmater is expected to be useful before it is beautiful.

Clergy, Orders, and Church Character

Ilmater’s clergy are commonly called the Adorned, or more formally the Adorned Sufferers. Their name refers to the cords, scars, bands, or other marks traditionally worn as reminders of the burdens carried by the faithful.

Some traditions distinguish between healers, painbearers, and sanctars. Healers tend to the sick and wounded. Painbearers accompany those facing imprisonment, illness, or death. Sanctars serve as judges, investigators, and protectors of the faith.

Sanctars are responsible for judging serious violations, and they consider both the harm caused and the offender’s willingness to repent before determining whether Ilmater’s favour has been lost.

The wider church includes the [[Broken Ones]], the [[Companions of the Noble Heart]], and the [[Weeping Friars]] among others.

The church combines monastic communities with organised orders of healers, protectors, and warriors. In major urban centres, it may form a powerful network capable of sheltering the poor, opposing slavers, treating the sick, and defending those who cannot defend themselves.

In Summary

Ilmater is the god invoked when pain cannot be avoided, but meaning still has to be found in it. His faithful do not pray merely to survive. They pray to endure, to heal, and to become shelter for others.

“If you can ease another’s burden, do so. If you cannot, help them carry it.”

Gam Gam

An Archfey who weaves fate as easily as she knits yarn. Patron to those who find themselves caught in destinies strands, she works to guide these poor souls towards glorious achievements. She is kindly, abhors destruction, and enjoys a good joke with a cup of hot tea.

Aurel Veyr

Aurel Veyr is a minor deity associated with Helm. Seen as his son, Aurel Veyr takes the stern protection of his father and turns it inward, keeping a hearth and home which is worth protecting. Different from Chauntea in that he does not provide for families, Aurel Veyr is concerned with the disciplined keeping of internal order within rough places. Helm is the external defense, Aurel Veyr keeps everything inside from coming apart.

The faithful give prayers to Aurel Veyr when they perform duties of stewardship, taking oaths, safekeeping, and supporting rightful authority. As Aurel Veyr serves his father Helm, adherents of Aurel Veyr often serve others themselves, making his worshipers likely to become stewards, chaplains, and other types of support staff for nobles and powerful merchants.

Thalor

Neutral god of the sea as well as what lies beneath its waves 🌊

Lloth

Lloth was the Spider Queen, a divine goddess of shadow, venom, ambition, and binding intrigue. Though some duplicitous lore (perhaps planted by her own followers) name her a demon who rose to divinity, she was in fact a true goddess who had long courted demons to her service, bending abyssal power into a web of faith, fear, and dominion. Her worship was far more popular in the [[Deep Dark]] rather than on the surface.

Portfolio and Names

Her portfolio included spiders, traps, poison, deceit, domination, lust for power, and the cruel beauty of survival through cunning. She was known as Lloth, the Spider Queen, and in darker traditions as the Weaver of Ruin, the Mother of Webs, and the Black Mantle. Her worshippers treated her as the patron of those who ruled from concealment and those who believed that strength meant making others kneel.

Who Prayed

Lloth was prayed to by schemers, assassins, spies, venom-brewers, cruel nobles, traitorous priests, and those who believed betrayal was a legitimate ladder to power. She also drew worship from the fearful, especially those who wanted protection from worse monsters by becoming monsters themselves. Her faith was rarely about comfort; it was about survival, leverage, and ascendancy at any cost.

When They Prayed

Her prayers were commonly offered at night, at moments of hidden work, before poisonings, during secret meetings, and after betrayal had been planned but not yet committed. Her faithful often prayed when standing at thresholds, in narrow corridors, at the edge of ambush, or while weaving, binding, or preparing traps. In many places, silence itself was treated as the truest form of devotion.

Holy Day and Devotion

Lloth’s holy days were often marked by secret rites, sacrifices, punishments, and the public humiliation of rivals. A fitting observance would have been a night of oaths sworn under black candles, with webs stretched across altars and offerings of blood, venom, or stolen names. Her devotion was never gentle; it celebrated fear as a tool and cruelty as proof of resolve.

Ways of Praying

One way to pray to Lloth was through whispered bargains made in darkness, promising service in exchange for favor, protection, or vengeance. Another was through ritual craft: weaving, knotting, braiding, or setting traps while reciting her names and inviting her to “tighten the web” around a chosen enemy. Her worshippers often believed that action mattered more than sentiment, and that a successful trap could be a sacred sentence.

Shrines and Temples

Shrines and temples of Lloth were commonly built in hidden places, under noble houses, beneath cities, or in deep caverns where light was thin and fear traveled well. They were often decorated with web motifs, dark stone, venomous imagery, black silks, carved spider forms, and altars meant to inspire both awe and dread. Her sacred places were usually as much fortresses and courts as they were temples, because her faith thrived where hierarchy, secrecy, and intimidation could be enforced.

Clergy and Organization

Lloth’s clergy was usually rigid, predatory, and intensely hierarchical, with status won through obedience, ruthlessness, and successful manipulation. Priestesses or priests of her faith often ruled through a network of initiates, enforcers, informants, poisoners, and favored retainers. Her church might have maintained a formal court-like structure, but the real power would have lain in hidden patronage, blackmail, and the ever-present threat of betrayal.

Church Character

The Church of Lloth would have been feared not because it was chaotic, but because it was organized enough to turn cruelty into policy. It would have taught that mercy was weakness, trust was a liability, and loyalty existed only until a stronger web was spun. At the same time, it would have remained deeply attractive to the desperate, because even fear can feel like safety when it has a throne.

Summary

Lloth could be summarized as the goddess invoked when power had to be taken, hidden, or kept through fear. Her faithful did not seek harmony; they sought the advantage that came from patience, venom, and the willingness to let others struggle in the web.

Orikan

Orikan is the austere keeper of the night heavens, the divine shepherd of stars, [[../../../Ex Mortia/Lore/Zodiac Signs|signs]], and the hidden courses of fate. Where other gods rule through passion, mercy, wrath, or revelry, Orikan rules through order: the cold and exact turning of the sky, the measured drift of destiny, and the secret knowledge written in the dark between one heartbeat and the next.

He is often imagined as a solemn ferryman upon a black river, guiding his vessel through the luminous current of the Zodiac. The stars are said to be lanterns upon that riverbank, and the souls of the living are born as travelers crossing from one sign to another, each carried onward by Orikan’s steady hand. To his faithful, nothing in the heavens is random. Every birth, every omen, every falling star is a note in a greater celestial ledger.

Orikan is honored by astrologers, navigators, scholars, midwives, omen-readers, and those who wait patiently for the world to reveal its meaning. His priests are welcome in cities and villages alike, for it is seen as a blessing to give birth attended by one who interprets the sky. They do not merely witness the first breath of the newborn; they read the hour, the hush of the heavens, the stars visible through the doorway or window, and the subtle portents that declare what sign the child bears. If the stars are not visible (due to weather or time of day), the first stars the child can see are taken to be their Sign. In this way, Orikan is a god of beginnings as much as endings, of thresholds, crossings, and the unseen order that binds all things.

Dogma

Orikan teaches that every life follows a course, though few are wise enough to read it. The heavens do not command by cruelty, but by truth, and truth is often severe. To know one’s place in the design is not surrender, but discipline. To resist the shape of destiny without understanding it is folly; to know it and still choose rightly is wisdom.

His faithful are taught to observe before speaking, to record before judging, and to aid before claiming authority. Midwives and clergy of Orikan are expected to bring calm to laboring households, to protect the vulnerable at the moment of passage, and to treat each birth as both sacred mystery and celestial accounting. They believe that a soul enters the world beneath a sign for a reason, and that reason may not be understood for years.

Worship and Clergy

Temples of Orikan are often quiet places, roofed for star-viewing and built with narrow apertures that frame the night sky. Many are attached to observatories, infirmaries, or birth-houses. His clergy wear dark robes marked with silver thread, pale beadwork, or tiny discs that resemble stars in procession.

His priests are known for:

Though Orikan’s clergy are respected almost everywhere, they are not always loved. Their words can be blunt, and their judgments rarely softened for comfort. Yet they are trusted, for they do not flatter the powerful or invent signs where none exist. They believe the sky is not a poem to be embellished, but a law to be read correctly.

Symbols and Myth

Orikan is commonly depicted as a hooded figure in a boat, one hand upon the oar and the other upon a staff crowned with a star. Some icons show him beneath an arch of constellations, while others place a crescent moon behind his head like a halo of dusk. His holy symbol is a single star above a curved line, or a silver boat crossing a field of black.

A common myth says that in the first night, when the world was still unmeasured, Orikan sailed the river of the Zodiac and set the stars in their courses one by one. Where he passed, destinies took shape. Where he paused, wonders were born. Where he turned his gaze away, mortals named the result coincidence.

Helm

Helm, the Ever-Watchful, is the god of vigilance, guardianship, duty, and ordered justice. He is lawful above all else, with a stern and limited goodness expressed through protection, discipline, and the preservation of rightful order.

Helm does not promise that the world will be kind. He promises that those who stand beneath his shield will not stand alone. His faithful are expected to defend the innocent, punish the guilty, honour their oaths, and remain at their posts when fear, doubt, or exhaustion would drive them away.

To Helm, goodness is not measured by the softness of one’s heart, but by what one is willing to endure for those placed under one’s protection.

“Life is fleeting; duty is eternal.” -Saint Ilyra of the Last Watch, 239

The Nature of Helm

Helm is stern, patient, and difficult to deceive. He has little patience for excuses, sentimentality, or those who mistake indecision for wisdom. A person who knows their duty and performs it is worthy of respect, even if their motives are imperfect. A person who abandons their duty while claiming noble intentions is viewed with far greater suspicion.

Helm is not cruel for cruelty’s sake. He does not delight in suffering, nor does he demand punishment merely to satisfy anger. Yet he believes that mercy shown to the guilty may become a betrayal of the innocent. Justice must be reliable, or it becomes merely another name for favour.

“Be not merciful where guilt is involved.” -High Judge Odran Vey, 350

Among most Helmites, this teaching means that guilt must not be excused, concealed, or softened because the guilty are loved. Judgment should remain lawful and proportionate, but it must occur.

Helm’s goodness is therefore difficult to distinguish from severity. He protects the weak, but believes they are best protected by strong institutions. He values peace, but distrusts compromises that reward betrayal. He offers forgiveness, but only after wrongdoing has been acknowledged and its consequences accepted.

The Teachings of The Vigil

Helm’s holy scriptures are collectively known as The Vigil. They consist of commandments, battlefield prayers, legal judgments, parables, and sayings attributed to Helm’s saints. The faithful are taught that no passage should be understood in isolation. A command to destroy corruption must also be read beside the warning to guard one’s own soul against it.

The most commonly recited verses include quote from the following (some of which may or may not have been directly inspired by the voice of Helm himself):

Saint Ilyra of the Last Watch:

Saint Ilyra (212-247) was a Human soldier who held a mountain pass for three days after the rest of her company had fallen. She represents endurance, sacrifice, and the conviction that a duty does not become meaningless simply because its fulfilment is difficult.

“Life is fleeting; duty is eternal.” “Doubt not thy strength whilst faith prevails.” “Duty demands sacrifice.” “Endure the present, so those who follow may continue your endeavours.” “Life is measured not in years, but by the deeds of the faithful.” “Only in death does duty end.” “Rejoice in thy service.”

Mother Vael, Priestess of the Guarded Soul:

Mother Vael (468-567) was a Dwarf who served as a priest, confessor, and teacher in Helm’s temples for more than fifty years. She represents spiritual vigilance: the need to guard one’s mind from fear and disorder while remaining alert to the corruption that may hide behind righteous intentions.

“Abhorrence is a gift; use it well.” “An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.” “Foolish are those who fear nothing, yet claim to know everything.” “Honour thy oaths, honour thy God.” “The shield of faith is your best protection.”

Captain Ser Caldus, the Unbroken Shield:

Captain Ser Caldus (468-510) was a Human who commanded the rearguard during the Defence of Veyr’s Crossing, refusing to retreat until every civilian had escaped. He represents martial courage, obedience under pressure, and the willingness to confront betrayal without hesitation.

“A coward’s only reward is to live in fear another day.” “Be steadfast in defence.” “Be thou the scourge of traitors.” “Heed not the whispers of the faithless.” “Honour thy weapon.” “It is an honour to bleed for Justice.” “Keep the faith, kill the foe.” “Only the coward seeks compromise.” “Timidity begets indecision; indecision begets treachery.” “To spare the traitor is to invite corruption.”

Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks:

Archivist-Marshal Teren (812-1137) was an Elf responsible for the protection of Helm’s most sensitive records, including treaties, oaths, military plans, and judgments. He represents the preservation of knowledge, the sanctity of promises, and the belief that honour must be made visible through deeds.

“Speak not the names of traitors.” “The difference between heresy and treachery is ignorance.” “Thou shalt be remembered by thy deeds.” “Your honour is your life. Let none dispute it.”

High Judge Odran Vey:

High Judge Odran Vey (337-379) was a Human who served Helm as a magistrate during a time when noble houses routinely escaped punishment through wealth and influence. He represents impartial judgment, the rejection of excuses, and the belief that law must be strong enough to restrain the powerful.

“Be not merciful where guilt is involved.” “By your scars and deeds shall you be judged.” “Complaining of thy lot is the first step on the Road to Damnation.” “There are no walls strong enough to protect the Injust.” “There is purity of purpose in the faith of the just.” “To withdraw in disgust is not apathy.” “Welcome the judgement of thy God.”

The Five Duties

Helm’s teachings are often organised around five duties.

Vigilance

The faithful must remain alert to danger, corruption, and disorder. Suspicion is not proof, but it is a warning, and warnings must be investigated.

"A suspicious mind is a healthy mind.” -Mother Vael, Priestess of the Guarded Soul, 514

Helm teaches that the mind should be open to evidence but never left undefended. Trust is a virtue when earned; blind trust is negligence.

Defence

The strong are obligated to protect those who cannot protect themselves. A defender does not abandon their post because the enemy is stronger or victory appears unlikely.

“Do not shy the hopeless fight, for endeavour is its own reward.” -Saint Ilyra of the Last Watch, 247

A lost battle may still buy time. A doomed guard may still save a village. An action need not succeed completely to be worthy.

Duty

Every person possesses obligations determined by their oaths, station, ability, and circumstance. Duty may demand hardship, loneliness, public disgrace, or death.

“Honour your duty.” -Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks, 1026 Helm does not accept excuses based on misfortune, resentment, or personal inconvenience. To complain of one’s lot is not itself a sin, but using hardship to justify betrayal is.

Judgment

Helm teaches that guilt must be acknowledged and judged. The guilty must not be protected by wealth, rank, sentiment, or clever manipulation of the law.

“Justice allows no doubt.” -High Judge Odran Vey, 368 This is generally understood to mean that justice must not be paralysed by endless hesitation. It does not mean that evidence, testimony, or proper procedure are unnecessary. A judge must be decisive, but must also be certain they are judging the right person.

Obedience

Obedience is the foundation of trust between people. Soldiers obey commanders, guards obey their watch captains, officials obey the law, and rulers obey the duties of rulership.

“Honour, duty and obedience.” -Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks, 918

Helm does not teach that every command is righteous merely because it comes from a superior. An unlawful order violates the chain of duty rather than fulfilling it. A servant of Helm must know both whom they obey and what limits bind the one giving the order.

Corruption and Faith

Helm teaches that corruption rarely arrives openly. It enters through small exceptions, hidden resentments, unexamined compromises, and the belief that one’s own motives are too noble to require scrutiny.

“Beware the corruption of men’s souls.” -Mother Vael, Priestess of the Guarded Soul, 489

This warning applies to rulers, soldiers, priests, judges, and reformers alike. No office makes a person incorruptible. No oath eliminates temptation. No cause is so righteous that its servants are beyond judgment.

The faithful are therefore expected to examine themselves as carefully as they examine others. They must confess resentment, ambition, envy, and hatred before those emotions become disguised as duty.

“Guard thy soul against disorder.” -Mother Vael, Priestess of the Guarded Soul, 521

Likewise, the command to destroy corruption includes corruption within oneself. A Watcher who uses the verse only against enemies has misunderstood it.

One disputed passage reads:

“Facts are chains that bind perception and fetter truth.” -High Judge Odran Vey, 342

The verse originated in a judgment concerning a guilty man who escaped punishment through legal technicalities. Its traditional meaning is that justice must not become so narrow that clever manipulation allows obvious wrongdoing to pass unpunished. It is not permission to ignore evidence, abandon procedure, or declare guilt according to instinct.

The Church of Helm

Helm’s temples are commonly built as fortified watchhouses. They favour thick walls, clear sightlines, sturdy doors, narrow windows, and elevated positions. Even temples in peaceful areas maintain signal fires, weapons, food stores, and emergency plans.

The clergy are called Watchers, with senior priests known as Wardens or Keepers. Their vestments are practical and often reinforced with leather or metal. Helm’s holy symbol is usually an eye set within a shield, though some traditions depict an upright gauntlet or an unclosed helm visor.

Helmite temples frequently contain:

Helm’s clergy are expected to keep accurate records. Names, times, witnesses, orders, injuries, disappearances, and unresolved threats are all treated as sacred information.

“Knowledge is power, guard it well.” -Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks, 899

The Ever Watch

The Ever Watch is a rotating vigil kept within many of Helm’s temples. One or more Watchers sit in silence before Helm’s shrine, remaining awake while the rest of the temple sleeps.

The vigil cultivates patience and self-command. The Watcher must endure boredom, fear, intrusive thoughts, and the temptation to abandon the duty simply because no immediate danger is visible.

The Ever Watch is also a reminder that guardianship is often thankless. Nothing may happen. No one may notice. The watch is still necessary.

Worship and Observance

At dawn, the faithful inspect their equipment, surroundings, and obligations before beginning the day. At dusk, they consider what they failed to notice, what promises remain unfinished, and whether their actions preserved or endangered rightful order.

The most important observances include:

Helm’s faithful commonly adopt personal watchwords such as:

“I will not leave my post.”

“No oath is small.” -Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks, 833

“The innocent sleep because someone remains awake.” -Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks, 1029

“My eyes remain open, and my duty remains.”

The Ideal of Helm

Helm’s ideal is not a world without fear, conflict, or wrongdoing. His ideal is a world in which danger is met by people who are prepared, accountable, and unwilling to abandon their obligations.

Civilisation survives because someone remains awake after the songs have ended. Someone checks the lock. Someone records the name. Someone refuses the unlawful order. Someone stands between the helpless and the hand raised against them.

“The price of duty is high, but the rewards are eternal.” -Saint Ilyra of the Last Watch, 232

“Without fear or falter, do thy duty.” --Saint Ilyra of the Last Watch, 246

Xenegos

Xenegos is the Chaotic Good god of wild growth, fertility, celebration, passion, and renewal. He is the green pulse beneath the soil, the warmth in the blood, the song around the midsummer fire, and the root that splits stone. His worship teaches that life is temporary, difficult, and therefore worthy of celebration.

Xenegos is usually depicted as a laughing man with a youthful body and an ancient face. Leaves, vines, and flowers grow from his hair and beard, while his skin resembles bark. Some iterations have his face completely obscured by green leaves. He is not the master of nature, but nature’s delight in itself.

Portfolio and Names

Xenegos’s portfolio includes wild nature, harvests, fertility, feasting, music, dance, physical pleasure, freedom, rebirth, and communal joy.

He is known as the Green Man, the Son of Mother Earth, the Laughing Root, He Who Wears the World, the Lord of the First Fruit, the Red Sap, and the Unfettered One.

His titles reflect the many forms of life: the seed beneath the soil, the fruit on the branch, the fire in the blood, and the fallen leaf returning to the earth.

Who Prayed

Xenegos is chiefly worshipped by farmers, gardeners, vintners, brewers, cooks, hunters, herbalists, midwives, and healers. Musicians, dancers, actors, artists, and storytellers also honour him, seeing creativity as another form of growth.

He is especially beloved by lovers, newlyweds, travellers returning home, survivors of oppression, and communities rebuilding after war or famine. Those who have been taught to fear their bodies or desires often find freedom in his faith.

Xenegos does not excuse selfishness or cruelty. Pleasure must be freely shared, and celebration that leaves others hungry or harmed is considered an insult to him.

When They Prayed

Worshippers pray to Xenegos at moments of beginning, change, and return: when planting seeds, welcoming a child, beginning a marriage, starting a creative work, recovering from illness, returning from a journey, or gathering the harvest.

They also pray at funerals. Death is understood not as the opposite of life, but as life returning to the earth. A common saying is: “Pray to Xenegos when the seed enters the ground, when the fruit is on the table, and when the ashes are cool.”

Holy Day and Devotion

Xenegos’s principal holy day is the Feast of Returning, held after the harvest. Communities eat, drink, dance, sing, and remember the dead. Food is set aside for the departed before being scattered for animals or returned to the soil.

The feast celebrates both abundance and mortality. Grief is welcome, but silence is not required. To laugh while remembering the dead is not considered disrespectful; it is a reminder that their lives contained more than their endings.

Ways of Pray

Xenegos favours prayers that engage the body. Singing, dancing, preparing food, physical expressions of love, working the soil, and gathering around a fire may all become acts of worship.

The first portion of a meal is often offered to the earth, the dead, or nearby animals. Other offerings include fruit, bread, wine, flowers, seeds, bright ribbons, and handmade instruments.

Personal devotion to Xenegos is shown through practical acts that help life flourish. A worshipper might tend a garden, heal an injured animal, reconcile with an enemy, or help a community recover. Xenegos values practical renewal more than empty words.

Shrines and Temples

Xenegos’s shrines are usually open-air places beneath sacred trees, beside springs, in forest clearings, or near village ovens and gathering places. A proper shrine contains something growing, something burning, and something shared.

Larger temples, called Houses of the Revel, include gardens, orchards, kitchens, workshops, guest rooms, and halls for festivals. They provide food and shelter to travellers and the poor. Any wealth beyond what the temple needs is turned into seed, tools, medicine, or aid.

Clergy and Organization

Xenegos’s priests are collectively called the Green Revel. They have no single hierarchy, and individual temples govern themselves. Junior priests are known as Keepers of the Grove. Senior priests are known as Root-Fathers and Root-Mothers.

Priests are expected to possess practical skills. They tend gardens, prepare food, assist at births and deaths, settle disputes, protect wilderness, and lead communal celebrations. A priest who can speak beautifully but cannot serve the community is considered incomplete.

Some extremists, known as Thorn Revelers, mistake freedom for the right to indulge every appetite. The Green Revel rejects them. Nature contains violence, but it also contains cooperation, patience, and care. Thorn Revelers are usually single individuals who becomes issues in isolated communities or wild places, but occasionally a group of Thorn Revelers will join together into a very dangerous type of bandit/criminal group.

In Summary

Xenegos teaches that life is sacred because it is temporary. Joy is strongest when shared, the body is not inherently shameful, and grief need not exclude celebration.

His followers seek to leave something living behind: a planted tree, a restored friendship, a nourished child, a protected piece of wilderness, or a story that makes others laugh.

“Eat while there is food. Sing while there is breath. Love while there is time. When you return to the earth, may something green grow from you.”

Bane

The Lord of Tyranny - The Iron Tyrant - The Black Lord - He Who Commands

Bane is the lawful evil god of tyranny, domination, fear, and hatred. He teaches that order is valuable only when it serves power, and that power belongs to those strong enough to seize and maintain it. His followers believe that freedom produces weakness, while obedience creates stability.

Bane rarely demands chaos or senseless destruction. He prefers systems that function perfectly while serving cruel ends. His greatest victories are achieved when people accept oppression as necessary, just, or even protective.

Portfolio and Names

Bane’s portfolio includes tyranny, domination, fear, hatred, conquest, obedience, authority, punishment, and the use of law as an instrument of control.

He is known as the Black Lord, the Black Hand, the Iron Tyrant, the Lord of Fear, and He Who Commands. His symbol is an upright black hand, often displayed against a red or dark field.

Bane is not merely the god of rulers. He governs every relationship in which one person seeks unquestioned power over another. A tyrant, a cruel commander, a corrupt magistrate, and an abusive master may all serve him, whether openly or unknowingly.

Who Prayed

Bane is worshipped by conquerors, tyrants, despots, ambitious officials, cruel soldiers, and those who believe that the strong have a duty to rule the weak. His clergy also attract people who seek protection through authority or who wish to rise above their neighbours.

Some followers pray to Bane for victory, discipline, or the strength to impose order upon a dangerous world. Others come to him out of resentment, believing that fear is the only language their enemies understand.

Open worship is uncommon in lands where Bane’s name is hated. His followers may instead present themselves as reformers, lawkeepers, military officers, or guardians of public order. Not every servant of Bane considers themselves wicked. Many believe that mercy, compromise, and personal freedom are luxuries that society can no longer afford.

When They Prayed

Bane is prayed to before battles, trials, interrogations, political negotiations, and acts of punishment. His worshippers call upon him when demanding obedience, confronting a rival, or accepting a position of authority.

They also pray at dawn before beginning a day of command and at night while reviewing those who have failed them. A common prayer asks Bane to reveal weakness, reward loyalty, and make resistance costly.

His followers often pray in private before making an important decision. They seek not guidance, but certainty: the confidence to act without being troubled by pity or doubt.

Holy Day and Devotion

Bane’s principal holy day is the Day of Submission, observed at the beginning of winter. Worshippers renew their oaths, kneel before their superiors, and publicly declare the names of those who serve beneath them.

The ceremony varies by rank. The powerful accept renewed loyalty, while the powerless demonstrate obedience through labour, tribute, or military service. In some communities, prisoners and defeated enemies are forced to participate.

Personal devotion to Bane is shown through discipline and control. His followers maintain strict routines, punish disobedience, keep careful records, and ensure that their authority is visible. They may demonstrate faith by enforcing an unpopular order, refusing to forgive an insult, or making an example of someone who has resisted them.

Bane does not value kindness unless it strengthens obedience. Mercy may be granted, but only when it creates a deeper debt.

Ways of Pray

Bane’s prayers are usually spoken while standing rigidly or kneeling with the head lowered. Worshippers may recite oaths, present written plans, or name those they intend to command.

Offerings include weapons, legal documents, chains, military standards, tribute, and the written confessions of defeated enemies. Some followers offer the surrender of a personal desire, proving that their will can be mastered before they attempt to master others.

A successful act of control is considered the highest prayer. Winning an argument, compelling obedience, silencing dissent, or turning a rival into a servant may all be understood as acts of worship.

Shrines and Temples

Bane’s shrines are commonly hidden in fortresses, prisons, court buildings, military camps, and private chambers. They are spare and orderly, containing little more than a black hand, an iron chain, a brazier, and a place to record names and oaths.

Larger temples are called Houses of Command. They resemble administrative halls, barracks, or courts rather than places of celebration. Their walls display laws, ranks, victories, and the names of those punished for disobedience.

The poorest worshippers may find food, employment, or protection at such temples, but assistance always carries a cost. Every gift creates an obligation, and every obligation strengthens the temple.

Clergy and Organization

Bane’s priests are known as Black Ministers, Handbearers, or Keepers of the Oath. They are expected to be disciplined, organised, and difficult to intimidate. Each temple is arranged according to rank, and a priest’s authority depends upon the number of people who answer to them.

The highest-ranking clergy are called Commanders of the Hand. They oversee regional temples, direct political schemes, and decide when force should be used openly. Beneath them are ministers who administer punishments, collect tribute, conduct interrogations, and maintain records of loyalty.

Bane’s clergy compete constantly for advancement. They are encouraged to expose weakness in their rivals, though a successful accusation must never leave the temple without competent leadership. Failure is tolerated only when it can be turned into a lesson for others.

In Summary

Bane teaches that fear is more reliable than love, obedience more useful than freedom, and authority more important than justice. He does not seek disorder. He seeks a world in which every person knows who commands them and understands the cost of resistance.

His worshippers may speak of safety, duty, reform, or stability. Beneath those words lies Bane’s central demand:

“Submit, and the world will be made orderly. Resist, and you will become an example.”

Thor

The Thunderer – The Skyfather – The Red-Bearded – The Defender of Midgard

Thor is the god of thunder, lightning, storms, strength, courage, protection, and righteous force. He is the defender of gods and mortals, the breaker of monsters, and the guardian of those who stand beneath the open sky.

Thor is not the god of calm weather. Storms are disruptive, dangerous, and sometimes destructive. His worshippers do not deny this. They believe that power must be answered with responsibility, and that anyone who calls upon the storm must be prepared to shelter those caught within it.

Thor’s storms may destroy, but they also break oppressive heat, bring rain to the thirsty earth, reveal hidden dangers with lightning, and remind mortals that the world is larger than their plans.

Portfolio and Names

Thor’s portfolio includes thunder, lightning, storms, strength, courage, protection, travel, battle against monsters, oaths, hospitality, and the defence of ordinary people.

He is known as the Thunderer, the Skyfather, the Red-Bearded, the Defender of Midgard, the Stormlord, and the Hammer-Bearer. His most famous weapon is the axe JarnBjörn, though stories differ on whether it was forged by dwarves, shaped by the first thunderbolt, or gifted to Thor by the earth itself.

Thor is not the only god associated with storms, nor does every storm originate with him. Some are natural events, some are caused by other powers, and some are the direct manifestation of Thor’s will. His faithful consider this distinction important. Storm magic is not a harmless display of divine power. Every storm has consequences beyond the battlefield.

Who Prayed

Thor is prayed to by sailors, farmers, miners, travellers, warriors, hunters, smiths, labourers, and those who live beneath dangerous skies. He is especially honoured by people who protect others through strength, courage, or practical skill.

His worshippers include those who face monsters, tyranny, wilderness, and natural disaster. Many families pray to him during thunderstorms, while others invoke him before beginning dangerous work or travelling through the mountains.

Thor’s faith also attracts people who believe strength has meaning only when it is used in defence of others. A person who possesses power but refuses responsibility is not considered worthy of Thor’s admiration.

When They Prayed

Thor is prayed to during storms, before battles, before long journeys, and when confronting a powerful enemy. His followers may call upon him when lifting a heavy burden, entering a dangerous forest, protecting a settlement, or beginning work that demands courage.

Prayers are often offered at dawn, before a journey, and at the evening meal. During a storm, a household may ask Thor to turn aside the worst of the wind and rain. Afterward, the same household is expected to help repair damaged homes, clear roads, and shelter those affected.

A storm caused by Thor is not automatically considered a blessing. His followers believe that divine power must still be respected, managed, and answered for.

Holy Day and Devotion

Thor’s principal holy days vary between regions, but most Thorists celebrate the First Thunder, marking the first major storm of spring or the return of thunder after winter. The occasion is usually marked by feasting, contests of strength, offerings to the sky, and the repair of communal tools, bridges, roofs, and roads.

Devotion to Thor is shown through courage and usefulness. A worshipper may defend a stranger, keep an oath, repair storm damage, share food with travellers, or stand between the helpless and danger.

Thor’s faithful are expected to accept the consequences of their strength. Those who use storm magic are particularly responsible for helping communities recover from flooding, wind damage, fire, and other destruction that follows.

Tenets

Thor’s faithful are expected to be strong enough to protect others, brave enough to face danger, and humble enough to recognise the damage their power can cause.

They must not use strength to bully the weak, abandon those in danger, or break an oath for personal convenience. Cowardice is not the same as prudence, but refusing to act when action could save lives is considered a serious failure.

Those who wield storm magic must take responsibility for its consequences. They should avoid needless destruction, warn those who may be endangered, and assist with relief and repairs after a storm. Calling lightning into a crowded place, damaging homes without necessity, or treating collateral harm as unimportant are violations of Thor’s trust.

Thor does not require his followers to win every battle. He requires them to meet danger honestly and to rise again when they are thrown down.

Ways of Praying

Thor’s prayers are often spoken aloud, with raised voices, lifted weapons, ringing bells, or blows upon anvils and shields. His followers may pray beneath the open sky, beside a forge, at a campfire, or before beginning a difficult task.

Common offerings include food, mead, ironwork, weapons, tools, and the repair of something damaged. A person who clears a road after a storm or rebuilds a neighbour’s roof may be considered to have offered a more meaningful prayer than someone who merely recites words.

The Open Halls of Thunder teach that storm magic should be accompanied by service. The power to summon lightning is a gift, but sheltering those harmed by the storm is a duty.

Shrines and Temples

Thor’s temples are known as Open Halls of Thunder. They are places of worship, hospitality, study, debate, and practical aid. Their doors are traditionally open to travellers, refugees, pilgrims, and people of other earth-focused faiths.

The Halls commonly contain meadhalls, guest rooms, libraries, smithies, training yards, and large open courtyards where rain and sunlight can reach the worshippers. Many maintain outreach missions called Stormward Sanctuaries, which shelter people displaced by storms and help repair the damage afterward.

The most celebrated of these is [[Skyfather’s Hall]], while smaller examples like [[Skallheim Hall]] bare some reknown.

Clergy and Organization

Thor’s priests are commonly called Thunderers, Stormkeepers, or Keepers of the Hall. Senior clergy may bear titles such as High Keeper, Stormwarden, or Voice of the Sky.

The Open Halls of Thunder are independent but united by shared laws and customs. They cooperate in matters of doctrine, storm research, disaster relief, and the training of clerics and paladins. Their organisation is deliberately open, allowing Thorists and members of other faiths to debate, study, and learn together.

The Stormward Sanctuaries form the charitable arm of this wider movement. They provide shelter, food, medical aid, and assistance with rebuilding after severe weather. Their work is widely respected, even among those who distrust storm magic.

Church Character

Thor’s faith is loud, direct, practical, and welcoming. It values strength without worshipping cruelty, courage without demanding recklessness, and celebration without forgetting responsibility.

Thorists may disagree about whether a particular storm was natural, divine, or caused by mortal magic. They are less divided about what must happen afterward. The hungry must be fed, the displaced must be sheltered, and the broken must be repaired.

Their faith is not concerned only with controlling storms. It is concerned with learning how to live responsibly beneath them.

In Summary

Thor is the power of the storm and the hand that raises the hammer against those who would prey upon the helpless. He is strength used in defence, courage exercised under pressure, and responsibility accepted after the lightning fades.

And when the thunder has passed, Thor expects his followers to remain.

“If you call the storm, stand ready to shelter those caught within it.”

Urizen

The Storm’s Heart – The Buried Light – The Unbroken Spark – The One Who Stands

Urizen is a minor deity associated with Ilmater, storms, and the first steps back from despair. He is the patron of those who have fallen from a path but have not lost the will to return.

Ilmater teaches his faithful to accept suffering, give it meaning when it cannot be avoided, and carry it for those less able. Urizen reaches those who have the ability to serve Ilmater but who must carry themselves first. He speaks to the wounded, the angry, the ashamed, and the exhausted before their pain drives them toward cruelty or despair.

Urizen does not demand that his followers be clean before approaching him. He asks only that they be honest about how dirty they have become.

“You need not be clean to stand in the rain.”

Portfolio and Names

Urizen’s portfolio includes survival, recovery, defiance, trauma, outcasts, fallen soldiers, failed heroes, and the preservation of hope during hardship. Storms are part of his symbolism, but he is not primarily a god of weather or destruction. He represents the inner storm that must be endured before a person can find peace. Despite this, many of his faithful still draw upon the power of Storm magic.

He is known as the Storm’s Heart, the Buried Light, the Unbroken Spark, and the One Who Stands. Some of his followers call him the Storm-Born, the Scarred Guardian, or the Last Ember.

Thunder represents anger that must be acknowledged rather than denied. Lightning is sudden clarity. Rain is grief that can no longer remain hidden. The eye of the storm is the protected centre of the self.

Who Prayed

Urizen is prayed to by survivors, deserters, outcasts, disgraced soldiers, failed heroes, and those struggling beneath the weight of trauma. His followers may have lost faith, abandoned their duties, or done harm while trying to escape their own pain.

He is also honoured by people who have been expected to save everyone around them. When such people finally fail, Urizen reminds them that failure does not erase every good thing they have done.

Many of his followers are not yet ready to serve Ilmater directly. They may be angry, frightened, ashamed, or unwilling to accept help. Urizen welcomes them without pretending that their weaknesses are harmless.

Of note, Urizen does not exclusively bring his faithful closer to Ilmater. There have been times where clerics of other good-aligned faith have been brought back to their fold by a worshiper of Urizen.

When They Prayed

Urizen is prayed to during storms, dangerous journeys, battles, sleepless nights, and moments when despair feels stronger than hope. His followers may call upon him before confronting an enemy, resisting a vice, admitting a failure, or attempting something they once believed impossible.

He is especially invoked at dawn after a night of fear or grief. A brief prayer may be offered when someone rises from the ground, asks for help, returns to a duty, or chooses not to harm someone who has caused them pain.

Holy Day and Devotion

Urizen has no fixed annual holy day. His worship is personal rather than communal, and his followers generally observe the holy days of Ilmater when they are ready to approach his church.

Devotion to Urizen is shown through recovery and honest effort. A follower may resist a vice, seek help, repair harm they caused, or protect another person while still struggling with their own wounds.

Urizen does not demand perfection. He demands that his followers keep moving toward becoming better than their pain.

Tenets

Urizen teaches his followers to survive before they attempt to serve. They must acknowledge their wounds without allowing those wounds to rule them. They may fall, but they must not decide that falling is all they are capable of doing.

His faithful are expected to protect those less able to withstand the storm, use pain as knowledge rather than permission to inflict pain, and accept help without treating dependence as weakness.

They must not use suffering as an excuse for cruelty. Deliberately abusing the vulnerable, abandoning someone in immediate danger out of spite, or inflicting pain merely to feel powerful are serious violations of his faith.

Urizen does not forbid anger, recklessness, fear, vices, or failure. He understands that these may be symptoms of wounds rather than proof of wickedness. What he forbids is surrendering the self entirely to them.

His central teachings are:

“Do not mistake your wound for your nature.” and "You are not the first to fall from the path, and you will not be the last to rejoin it."

Ways of Praying

Urizen’s prayers are often spoken in harsh weather or difficult places. His worshippers may stand in the rain, grip a weapon, light a candle against the wind, or place a hand over their heart while naming the thing they refuse to let destroy them.

Storms are a language through which his followers understand their struggles. Thunder gives voice to anger. Lightning reveals what has been hidden. Rain marks the beginning of renewal. Urizen does not promise to end the storm; he teaches people to find the eye within it.

Acts of recovery are also sacred. Asking for help, resisting an old vice, admitting fault, returning to a duty, or protecting someone while still afraid may all be offerings to Urizen.

A follower may pray simply by standing when they could remain on the ground.

Shrines and Temples

Urizen has no dedicated temples, and his followers do not maintain a separate church. His worship is carried by individuals who recognise the same patron and help one another endure. Some become mentors, sponsors, or trusted companions to those facing similar struggles.

These relationships are informal but meaningful. A person further along the path may guide another through recovery, help them resist destructive habits, or remind them that failure is not the same as final damnation.

Urizen’s followers usually turn to Ilmater’s temples for shelter, healing, food, and formal rites. They may hesitate to enter at first, believing themselves unworthy or unwilling to accept the obligations of Ilmater’s fuller path. Ilmater’s clergy generally welcome them regardless.

Clergy and Organization

Urizen has no clergy, hierarchy, or organised religious institution. He grants no formal ranks, and no individual can claim authority over all his followers.

Those who have weathered their own storms may become mentors to others. They offer practical guidance rather than doctrine, helping the wounded survive until they can make their own choices again. A mentor’s authority comes from trust and experience, not office.

Some mentors eventually become members of Ilmater’s clergy. Others remain independent, continuing to guide people who are not yet ready to cross that threshold. Others still join another church altogether.

In Summary

Urizen is the hand extended to those who have fallen from grace. He is the patron of survivors who are not yet healed, outcasts who are not yet reconciled, and failed heroes who still have the capacity to stand again.

Urizen does not ask his faithful to extinguish their light. He teaches them to protect it through the darkness until they are ready to carry it openly.

“First survive the storm. Then understand the wound. Finally, become shelter for someone else.”

Ildarinen

The Master of the Forge – The Sky-Forged – The Father of Hammers – The Maker of the Sampo

Ildarinen is the good-aligned god of smithing, craft, invention, endurance, and ordered creation. He is the patron of dwarves and all who shape the world through patient labour. To Ildarinen, a well-made tool is an act of service, a strong home is a promise of protection, and a finely forged weapon is only righteous when used to defend others.

He is lawful not because he demands obedience for its own sake, but because creation requires discipline. Metal must be heated, measured, struck, cooled, and tested. So too must a society be built through skill, responsibility, and care.

Portfolio and Names

Ildarinen’s portfolio includes smithing, metalwork, invention, engineering, architecture, dwarves, honest labour, perseverance, and the creation of useful things.

He is known as the Eternal Smith, the Master of the Forge, the Sky-Forged, the Father of Hammers, and the Maker of the Sampo. Dwarves often call him the First Craftsman or the Ancestor Beneath the Mountain.

Ildarinen values craftsmanship over luxury. A beautiful object that fails its purpose is inferior to a plain one that protects a family, feeds a village, or helps a worker endure difficult labour.

Who Prayed

Ildarinen is chiefly prayed to by dwarves, smiths, armourers, engineers, miners, builders, masons, carpenters, inventors, and artisans of every kind. Farmers may honour him when repairing tools, while soldiers pray before receiving newly forged weapons or armour.

He is also respected by anyone who creates something lasting through patience and effort. His faithful believe that honest work is sacred when it improves the lives of others.

When They Prayed

Ildarinen is prayed to before beginning a difficult project, lighting a forge, entering a mine, raising a building, or testing a new invention. His blessing is also sought when repairing something damaged or completing a work that will outlive its maker.

Many smiths offer a brief prayer before the first strike of the hammer and another after the final inspection. The first honours the material; the second acknowledges the responsibility of the craftsman.

Holy Day and Devotion

Ildarinen’s chief holy day is the Day of the First Hammer, commemorating the beginning of divine smithing. Communities celebrate with public demonstrations, apprenticeships, contests of skill, and the repair of tools belonging to those who cannot afford new ones.

Devotion to Ildarinen is shown through patience, precision, teaching, and maintenance. A worshipper may honour him by repairing a broken tool, sharing a technique, completing unfinished work, or creating something useful without seeking praise.

Tenets

Ildarinen’s faithful are expected to work honestly, honour their materials, test what they create, and accept responsibility for the consequences of their craft.

They must not knowingly produce shoddy work that endangers others, claim another person’s work as their own, or hoard useful knowledge solely to increase their power. Apprentices must be taught properly, and masters must acknowledge the labour of those who assist them.

Ildarinen does not forbid weapons, engines, or dangerous inventions. He requires that they be made with care and used with judgement. Creating something powerful without considering who may suffer from its misuse is a failure of craftsmanship and conscience.

Ways of Praying

Ildarinen’s prayers are spoken over fire, metal, stone, wood, and tools. A craftsman may pray through the rhythm of hammering, the careful measurement of a joint, or the patient correction of a flaw.

Offerings commonly include metalwork, tools, repaired objects, or the first successful product of a new technique. The most meaningful offering is often a useful object given freely to someone who needs it.

Shrines and Temples

Ildarinen’s temples are usually working forges, workshops, mines, foundries, or great halls built into mountains. They contain communal tools, training spaces, storehouses, and places where damaged equipment can be repaired.

A proper shrine includes a forge or hearth, an anvil, and a piece of unfinished work. The unfinished object reminds worshippers that no craft is complete until it has been tested and put to use.

The Sampo

The Sampo is Ildarinen’s greatest creation, a divine engine forged from the fundamental substances of creation. Its exact form is disputed, but accounts generally agree that it is something which now sits at the center of the world. It is by all lore and accounts an item or engine which grants immense power over Transmutative magic. It was made by Ildarinen during the beginning of the conflict between Bahamut and the Elder Dragons. He used it to remake the shattered pieces of creation into the world as it would be inhabited by mortals, outstripping the pace of the destruction.

Clergy and Organization

Ildarinen’s priests are called Forgekeepers, Anvil-Fathers, or Masters of the Hearth. His clergy include smiths, engineers, architects, miners, and teachers. Authority is usually granted according to skill, reliability, and willingness to train others.

Temples often function as guilds and schools. They preserve designs, certify apprentices, settle disputes over workmanship, and maintain tools for the wider community.

In Summary

Ildarinen is the god of making the world stronger through disciplined craft. He teaches that creation is a moral act and that every tool, building, weapon, or invention carries the character of its maker.

“Forge with care. Build for those who come after. Let what you make be stronger than you are.”

Taurakion

The Guardian – The First Citizen – The Horned Shield – The Wall Between

Taurakion is the ancient Minotaur god of [[Throngler|Thronglers]].

In ancient Minotaur society, a place was not truly a settlement until it had a Throngler. Chosen by popular vote, the Throngler came to know every street, passage, gate, and blind corner better than anyone. Any intruder who slipped past the walls still had to evade the settlement’s chosen monster.

Some Thronglers were planners or engineers, but most were large, blunt-minded creatures valued for loyalty, courage, and enthusiasm for violence. Taurakion would never expect his followers to govern, simply to protect.

Portfolio and Names

Taurakion’s portfolio includes loyalty, defence, gleeful and justified violence, pursuit, and threats within or without.

He is known as the Throngler, the Guardian, and the Wall Between. His sacred places are doorways, gates, settlement walls, and Labyrinthian internal walls.

He does not judge whether a community is kind, just, or worthy. He cares whether its chosen guardian fulfils the duty entrusted to them.

Who Prayed

When Taurakion was worshipped, it was typically by a Throngler hoping to make him proud with well-directed violence, a citizen directing the Throngler, or an onlooker praising the Throngler’s effective work.

Tenets

Taurakion’s faithful must protect those in their care, obey their community’s lawful will, and use their strength against threats identified by those they serve.

They must not abandon their post, betray their voters, or act against the settlement for personal comfort or glory. A Throngler’s violence must serve the community.

Taurakion does not require his servants to be good or honourable by any wider standard. A settlement may be cruel or corrupt. If its citizens direct their Throngler toward a dishonourable duty, the Throngler is generally bound to obey. Taurakion values loyalty and service above morality.

“Stand where lil ones say. Let ’em decide what’s got ’sta be done, an’ make ’em proud!”

When They Prayed and Devotion

Citizens prayed when choosing a Throngler. Thronglers prayed while carrying out their duties.

Devotion was shown through watchfulness, repairing defences, sharing communal burdens, and guarding the settlement while others slept.

Ways of Praying

Prayers were brief and direct. After a particularly brutal victory, a Throngler might say, “I ’ope Taurakion saw tha’ one.”

Offerings included supplies and weapons given to a Thongler, particularily large weapons like mauls and greataxes. A successful hunt through the settlement’s streets was an especially meaningful prayer.

Shrines and Temples

Shrines stood at settlement entrances, beside gates, or near meeting places. They often featured a carved Minotaur head and a stone marked with citizens’ names.

Clergy and Organization

Taurakion had no formal priesthood. His representatives were the Thronglers, citizens chosen by popular vote to defend their settlement.

Some were skilled planners or engineers. Most were large, fearless, loyal, and eager to dispense violence. Their authority was limited to defence. They did not rule, and rulers did not necessarily value their advice.

A Throngler’s authority came from the voters who selected them. To betray those voters was to betray Taurakion.

In Summary

Taurakion is the god of the guardian who stands between a settlement and danger, whether that settlement is noble or vile. He is loyal, direct, and devoted to service, with little concern for honour beyond fulfilling the will of those he protects.

“You chose me to stand. So I stand.”