Post/Author/DateTime	Post
High Octane 03-10-07, 09:59 AM	I have been working on fleshing out my campaign world, Pondera, and I have managed to make a semi-complete Pantheon. Please do give comments/advice. Note: Pantheon is not complete, if anything is missing it may be because I havent gotten to it yet, but feel free to tell me anyway since I might not have thought of it. Also, I know I havent listed domains but thats because I havent decided on them yet. The 5 Aspects: These deities have no physical limits as they are merely the embodiments of their respective aspects. They cannot be destroyed and are omnipresent. Though they lack a true consciousness, their will is managed. Of the 5 Aspects, each represents a separate element and a separate alignment. (Note: All aspects have no gender, but for the sake of simplicity will be referred to as “he” and “him”) These deities have holy symbols in the form of a circle pendant with a specific symbol etched into it. Each symbol that is etched is specific for each deity. Dorai: Aspect of Water. Dorai is Neutral Good, representing the life-giving force of water. Dorai’s clerics are merciful and gentle to those in need, always wanting to help all living creatures live and grow. His clerics consider all life precious and not to be wasted, though they understand the cycle of life does include death. They are fierce defenders of life and all life-giving things. Dorai’s holy symbol is always white. Dorai is often referred to as The Lifegiver. Pyrrus: Aspect of Fire. Pyrrus is Neutral Evil, representing the relentless destruction of fire. Pyrrus’ clerics believe in the beauty of destruction. Often they are found burning forests or villages should they get the chance. The greater and more beautiful the creation, the greater and more beautiful its destruction is. The implement need not be fire. Seeing empires fall from war, plague, or corruption also please the followers of Pyrrus. Pyrrus’s (un)holy symbol is always black. Pyrrus is often referred to as The Inferno. Hulsan: Aspect of Air. Hulsan is Chaotic Neutral, representing the ever changing winds. Hulsan’s clerics are usually wanderers. They go where the wind takes them. Whimsical and unpredictable, the only thing they are sure to be concerned with is their own freedom. Often they act upon those that would rob themselves or others of their right to fly with the wind, but rarely stay long. Hulsan’s Holy symbol is always blue. Hulsan is often referred to as The Gust. Coincidentally, that term also is used to refer to a person’s wanderlust. “That boy has got the Gust. I don’t expect him to be here long.” Erubi: Aspect of Earth Erubi is Lawful Neutral, representing the unchanging earth and stone. Erubi’s clerics are steadfast, tidy, and traditional. Of all the aspects they are the least likely to have adventuring clerics, though they certainly do exist. His clerics are generally stern, and surprisingly clean (They believe everything has its place, including dirt, which belongs on the ground.) They often hold high ranking seats in traditional governments. A cleric of Erubi can be sure to uphold tradition and shun change whenever possible. Erubi is often referred to as The Ground. Erubi’s holy symbol is always red. Samel: Aspect of Void Samel is True Neutral, representing balance and all that is between the other aspects. Samel’s clerics are generally quiet and aloof. They care little for the battling of good evil law and chaos. They are mainly concerned with greater issues and the workings of the world. They only show concern with what would be global catastrophes. They are great diviners and sport several Void Disciples in their ranks. They seek balance and wisdom. Samel’s Holy symbol is either a blank grey pendant or a 4 colored pendant (blue, red, black, and white) Samel is often referred to as The Void.
High Octane 03-10-07, 10:04 AM	Deities: These deities have actual forms and consciousness. These deities can at will take form of any race and gender, but do have a preferred form. They often have objects that perform as holy symbols. These objects may either be a sanctioned symbol in the form of the object, or the object itself. Most clerics carry a symbol since it is easier and more durable. Although the items themselves function as a holy symbol in the hands of a cleric, they do not perform as such outside a cleric's hands unless they are bless or sanctified to do so. Joblak: God of Death Joblak is Lawful Neutral. Despite his title as the God of Death, he is not the source of death, merely its most powerful enforcer. He uses his power to guide those who have died to their place in the afterlife, willing or not. Those that have hovered near death claim to have seen his form. He appears as a solemn old man dressed in neat black clothing. Joblak’s clerics are obsessed with death. They are very strict on keeping the dead in their place, so undeath is considered a grievous sin that should be resolved. They are not fans of resurrections either, but do not wish to interfere with the direct intervention of other deities so they tolerate such things, but rarely engage in such themselves. Joblak’s followers and clerics often take part in funeral proceedings. They are very stern and serious about their work. Though solemn, the funerals provided by these clerics tend to bring closure. Joblak’s holy (or unholy) symbol is a black rose. Joblak is often called The Last Guide. Note: Although Joblak’s Clerics may be (lawful) evil, and they may channel inflict spells instead of healing, they may not command or rebuke undead. Only turn/destroy it. They also may not create undead. They are never granted the spells, and if they use arcane magic to create undead they immediately lose their powers. Taycrown: God of Thieves Taycrown is Chaotic Neutral. His followers are thieves, bards, assassins, and anyone who commits crime to make a living. To Taycrown, stealing is the highest art, and rightful ownership is only as good as your ability to keep what you possess. To Taycrown, the greater the item stolen, the better. It need not lead to a lot of money (though that is welcomed) but if the stealing proves skill, it is a real achievement. Discretion is a virtue however, and Taycrown's followers understand the steal is not complete until you get away with it. There are no true rules for acquiring the items, but creativity is considered another virtue. Taycrown generally appears as a younger man in fine purple clothing with a long hooded cloak that seems to unnaturally hide him, and is completely silent despite rapid movement. Taycrown’s holy (or unholy) symbol is an open lock. Note: Any open lock performs as a holy symbol in the hands of a cleric of Taycrown, but it must be open, independent of any other device (so an unlocked door will not work), and not broken. Saleev: God of Knowledge Saleev is Neutral. He is the keeper of the Great Library where all knowledge is kept. Legend says Saleev was the librarian of a great empire’s royal library which was a crowning jewel of the empire. When the empire fell, it is said the library vanished, only to reappear once every year in order to add new books to its endless shelves. Saleev and his assistants guard and maintain the books. Saleev’s followers admire knowledge and learning above all else. They are often teachers, sages, librarians, and wizards. Schools are considered holy ground to them and their churches often double as libraries. Saleev appears as an older bald man with spectacles dressed in fine robes. He is almost always seen either reading or cataloging books for his library. Saleev is often referred to as the Bookkeeper. Saleev’s holy (or unholy) symbol is an open book. Zyzzx: God of Art Zyzzx (Ziz-ix) is Chaotic Good. His followers are bards and other performers, as well as painters, architects, sculptors, and any other artistic craftsmen. His follower respect talent, but respect creativity more. Times and styles change, and you can be sure that a cleric of Zyzzx will be dressed in the latest fashion, or even forging a new fashion. Zyzzx appears as a young man. Beyond that, his appearance is completely dependant on the latest fashions and trends. Zyzzx’s clerics are good natured usually, generally willing to lend a hand to those in need, particularly artists struggling. They also can be found performing arts in order to promote happiness and goodwill, as well as free thought. Zyzzx’s holy symbol is a paintbrush. Zyzzx is often called The Muse, since his influence often inspires artists. Fluchell: Goddess of Luck Fluchell is Chaotic Good. She is one of the most fickle creatures ever. Her followers include gamblers bards and travelers, as well as anyone who requires luck in their life, as well as certain druids who live life amongst fey. Amongst fey creatures, she is the chief deity, especially loved by pixies. She is also well loved amongst gnomes. When seen, she appears as a lovely creature resembling a nymph, but even more flighty. She is generally dressed in gold or fine silk. Due to her influence, many fey are seen engaging in games of chance, and it is well known lore that in a pinch involving fey, you can always challenge them to a game of chance. Often though, clever fey use games of chance to get creatures to do their bidding. Fluchell does not abide cheaters, but she lets any rules exist for a game, as long as they are understood before the game. Fluchell’s clerics can be seen running gamehouses, making sure no one cheats. Few dare to try to cheat where a cleric of Fluchell watches. Fluchell is best known as Lady Luck. Fluchell’s holy symbol is a playing card or a set of dice. Proha: Goddess of Emotion Proha is Neutral Good. Her followers are poets and caregivers, and any who wish to help others who are sad or otherwise swamped with negative emotion. Her followers are mostly female, but they help and support all people. Her followers teach the value of each emotion, good and bad, and how to use them to achieve happiness. She is most famous as a deity of love, so her name has become synonymous with love, thus the phrase “Proha has embraced my heart.” is a vernacular for falling in love. Her clerics often oversee marriages. Proha is seen as a matronly dark skinned woman whose emotions are worn on her sleeve. She often has an aura whose color matches the feelings she has. Her holy symbol is either a picture or name of someone the cleric cares for (or did care for) deeply. Exemus: God of the Forge Exemus is Lawful Good. His followers are any craftsmen, but especially blacksmiths. His followers show strong resolve and tenacity, as well as a great pride in their work. Clerics of Exemus almost always have training as a blacksmith. A strong work ethic is the highest virtue. In addition to being blacksmiths, they are stout defenders of their home. Often Clerics of Exemus are at odds with clerics of Zyzzx. Whereas Zyzzx's clerics are more concerned with look and style, Exemus is more concerned with practical function. Though they disagree often, they normally end up working together well enough to finish the job. Exemus is the chiefly worshipped deity amongst the dwarves. He appears as either a man or dwarf, always broad shouldered and strong with a long well kept beard. He is usually dressed in the finest armor, which is perfectly made and functional, with almost no stylistic additions. Exemus’ holy symbol is an anvil. Exemus is often called The Builder. Sorali: Goddess of the Hearth Sorali is Lawful Good. Sorali watches over families, homes, and children. Her followers are defenders and supporters of smaller towns and often serve as mayors and other administrators, since a cleric of Sorali will always have the people and their homes interests at heart. Her churches are always safe houses for non-combatants during times of war. Her clerics are usually non-violent, and will normally refuse to take part in any war, save in defense of their homes and town. Sorali is often revered amongst Halflings, but is always loved by any good or neutral people wishing a safe and happy home to raise families. Clerics of Sorali serve as doctors and midwives often, as well as teachers. Sorali appears as a kindly woman of around 35 whose image brings comfort. She is generally seen in common garb. Her holy symbol is a whit of grain. (Reason: Bread comes from grain and is baked in an oven, thus it is a sign of being in a permanent home.) Sorali is often called The Child-Watcher. Tallus: God(dess) of Adventure Tallus is Neutral. Legend says that Tallus did not exist until an adventurer made up a deity for adventure. The name stuck so well that his name was on the tongue of every adventurer as their protector, until finally he was formed from the collective minds of those seeking protection in a highly dangerous profession. Tallus is concerned mainly with protecting and encouraging those who seek adventure. Those who plumb the deepest pits and climb the highest mountains speak his name in hope of a blessing. His virtue is in achieving or discovering that which was always considered impossible. The rewards are loved, but not the point. It is the journey that is important. Tallus’ clerics serve as adventurers most of the time, but sometimes settle in as helpers of travelers in temples that serve as inns for adventurers and travelers. Tallus’ preferred form is actually unknown, and in fact no one is sure of his or her gender, if any. Tallus appears as whatever is appropriate for the person seeing him (Which often leads to false presumptions that he is of a certain race.) Tallus’ holy (or unholy) symbol is different for every cleric, but it is always a souvenir from a cleric’s first adventure. (If this symbol is lost, the cleric suffers no penalties, he just has to pick a new object from a new adventure. He can only have one such item at a time.) Dubio: God of Oppression Dubio (Doob-yo) is Lawful Evil. He is a cruel and clever deity who seeks to cause war wherever possible. His followers are conquerors and warmongers who seek to better their lives on the backs and blood of others. They form excuses to declare war and rally their country through false patriotism, sparing no concept for propaganda. Dubio also professes harsh oppressive treatment of the people his followers rule over. Although lawful, he does not see any issue with double standards and hypocrisy. Dubio appears as a tall human in black full-plate armor with a country’s home flag as their shield and a bloody flail in their other hand. Dubio’s unholy symbol is a small flag stained with blood. Anicoth: Goddess of Excess Anicoth is Neutral Evil. She is seen as an alluring but unhealthy looking woman. Although she can appear thin and beautiful, she is often seen as fat and unhealthy. Her followers profess excess in anything and everything. They enable people who are addicts of drugs, alcohol, sex, and other activities that are easily abused and unhealthy. Those who are her clerics often engage in excess themselves, but are left immune to permanent effects due to her blessings. The poor people lured into her grasp suffer obsessive addictions which lead to their ruin. The obsessions need not be drug or pleasure related, but can also mean excessive vanity leading to unhealthy things done to their body, excessive gambling leading to ruin, excessive work leading to isolation from friends and family, excessive greed leading to their own ruin, even followers of Saleev have fallen victim when their obsession with learning who died reading books. Anicoth’s unholy symbol is either an overflowing cup of wine or a once full now empty cup. Liph: God of Deceit Liph is Chaotic Evil. Liph is a former friend of Proha who originally helped her become the Goddess of emotion, until Liph began using those emotions for evil ends. He twisted Proha’s words and turned many of her followers against their own friends. To this day Liph delights in turning followers of Proha, particularly women, against their lovers and spouses. Liph’s followers use false words and deceit in order to further their own ends. Whoever gets hurt in the process does not matter to them, in fact they often use these tactics to purposely hurt people they do not like. They are scornful, backstabbing, and vicious. Liph appears as a seemingly trustworthy middle aged man with a friendly face and a well trimmed mustache. He dresses in fine attire. Liph’s unholy symbol is a dagger, with the name of an enemy on it. Soloman: God of Torment Soloman is Neutral Evil. Soloman desired to become the God of Art. His attempts at art were atrocities and he was repeatedly denied the title. Since then he has become bitter, desiring pain and suffering on all beings since they didn’t like his creations. He is utterly jealous of Zyzzx and his clerics make all sorts of attempts to hurt the followers of Zyzzx. Soloman’s followers delight in torture and pain of all types. Their lucky prisoners are tortured to death. The unlucky ones have to listen to the poetry of the clerics. Soloman appears as a pathetic aging man with a bad sense of fashion. His unholy symbol is a bleeding eye.
taradusis 03-10-07, 10:06 AM	What are the deities favorite weapons?Do the deities have a totemic animal,like an eagle is the animal of "the Gust"?How do the churches get along with each other?Are there Paladinate orders connected to these faiths?RANDOM THOUGHTS
High Octane 03-10-07, 10:25 AM	1. Hasnt been decided 2. Did not think of that 3. The deities' churches get along depending on their alignments and goals and how they match up. Same as in say Greyhawk. The aspects' followers do often oppose each other, but the aspects themselves respect one another's existance since the world's balance is more important to them. 4. There would be paladin followers of the deities, but no orders specifically dedicated to one deity as of yet.
KeshFerrar 03-10-07, 08:02 PM	Is the dichotomy -- water good and fire bad -- intentional? Will it play into a traditional good vs evil setting? I find it different that the natural elements have alignments away from variations on neutral. In life they are all capable of good as well as evil. Does this mean that the general populace views fire as evil?
High Octane 03-10-07, 10:28 PM	Is the dichotomy -- water good and fire bad -- intentional? Will it play into a traditional good vs evil setting? I find it different that the natural elements have alignments away from variations on neutral. In life they are all capable of good as well as evil. Does this mean that the general populace views fire as evil? Yes it is intentional. No fire by itself isnt evil, but evil has always been associated with destruction of life and good has always been associated with the nurturing of life.
KeshFerrar 03-11-07, 12:50 PM	Yes it is intentional. No fire by itself isnt evil, but evil has always been associated with destruction of life and good has always been associated with the nurturing of life. I see. I'm sorry I guess I didn't read the aspects closely enough. They aren't the elements themselves, but parts of the elemental nature. Hence Aspect. :embarrass Are these gods in a tight pantheon, so people generally worship them as a group? Or are they individual gods that interact? Does everyone know them by the same name all over the world, or are they known by different names, and do they have a different persona to go with the new name?
High Octane 03-12-07, 09:24 PM	I see. I'm sorry I guess I didn't read the aspects closely enough. They aren't the elements themselves, but parts of the elemental nature. Hence Aspect. :embarrass Are these gods in a tight pantheon, so people generally worship them as a group? Or are they individual gods that interact? Does everyone know them by the same name all over the world, or are they known by different names, and do they have a different persona to go with the new name? Deities can be called anything people make up really, Im sure nicknames would abound, but the given are the most common names that almost anyone who has heard of the deities would know them by. The deities are loosely related at best, bound only by common goals and ideals. The Aspects on the other hand are so tied to the world that they both keep each other in check and work symbiotic with each other.
KeshFerrar 03-14-07, 07:43 PM	I like the name Zyzzx. Every time I drove between Cali and Las Vegas I'd always blast past the Zyzzx Rd exit and wonder what the heck was out there in the middle of the desert. Although I think that is pronounced Zei-zix. I digress, back to the deities: How do the deities interact with the aspects? How did the deities come about? How are they related? You mention a couple of rivalries between the gods, but we're left wondering why. Do tell.
High Octane 03-14-07, 11:01 PM	I like the name Zyzzx. Every time I drove between Cali and Las Vegas I'd always blast past the Zyzzx Rd exit and wonder what the heck was out there in the middle of the desert. Although I think that is pronounced Zei-zix. I actually got it from my bro who uses that name as his handle in WoW. He did mention that was the name of a street in California where he used to live. I liked the name as well, so I "borrowed" it. I digress, back to the deities: How do the deities interact with the aspects? How did the deities come about? How are they related? You mention a couple of rivalries between the gods, but we're left wondering why. Do tell. The aspects are enigmas really. They are closer to being described as "the force" than a deity. They have wills, they grant powers, but they have no real forms. I purposely left the way the deities came about a mystery. They arent related by blood if thats what you mean.
yellowdingo 03-14-07, 11:26 PM	Not neccessarily like Greyhawk. You might want to consider a Thearchy: Direct rule by the Gods (aka The Thearchy of Olympus). Thus you can have the gods playing their own little games with mortals... Have some island somewhere where one GOD is shackled to a mountain as an object lesson to the rest. Some terrible event where during a time of anarchy, the people turned on their Patron god and shackled him/her to a Mountain.
High Octane 03-16-07, 12:28 PM	Not neccessarily like Greyhawk. You might want to consider a Thearchy: Direct rule by the Gods (aka The Thearchy of Olympus). Thus you can have the gods playing their own little games with mortals... Have some island somewhere where one GOD is shackled to a mountain as an object lesson to the rest. Some terrible event where during a time of anarchy, the people turned on their Patron god and shackled him/her to a Mountain.Interesting ideas. Ill think about them.
High Octane 03-22-07, 06:25 PM	:bump:
KeshFerrar 03-22-07, 06:36 PM	Looking for anything specific?
High Octane 03-22-07, 08:17 PM	Anybody manage to catch the joke in the last deity? :D