Author's Preface
Though it is doubtful anyone needs to read this brief page on the pantheon our populace worships, I decided to write it and send it through a small publisher so desperate they would say yes to a used napkin if I, the Great and Gorgeous V.R., would only put my name on it. In truth, doing so would allow my wife to avoid owing any tax on our land, in her name, on the islands of Gwilvenne. For our financials rather than particular inspiration, I pen these words.
~ V.R.
Delight you now in the fruits of my travels and research:
The Only Edition of a Pamphlet I Am Literally Writing to Exploit a Tax Loophole.
Bibesia
Emberlynnie Goddess Of Wine And Relaxation
Considered the literal spirit of table wine, it is believed her holy grace hangs over every Ilian table to serve wine, that she may make sure it is of good quality and flows freely. Her truest worshippers, famously, cannot be harmed by poisoned wine. At formal banquets or feasts, it is considered polite to invite a Bibesian cleric to give libations with a blessing.
Cognocrux
The Panilian Oddity Deity
Perhaps unique in being the only god that is not so much worshipped as observed, and somehow rather universal and without clear origin for it. Accounts and ancient descriptions of how a Cognocrux figure was involved in the creation of our world range from compelling to messy to trivially false. I don't know what to say on that, really. Likely, we'll never know, especially given how proudly worthless all the Laknoits people are! They devote their lives to a god they have no intention of serving. They waste away their days sitting in a room, thinking about them. Trying to align their thoughts with those of Cognocrux, and to no clear end or benefit than the bragging rights of saying they have achieved such a mental state. Pure, pungent partridge piddle, I say!
Eldath
Verdantial Goddess Of Water And Healing
In contrast to Kostarra's salinated bloodthirst, the Mother of the Waters is a bastion of peace and hope in our world's calmest lakes and holiest baths. Though some would consider her a fickle, noncommunicative goddess, I believe there is great wisdom and dedication in how she operates. I believe her to be cautious and open-minded, and thought she may act in measured ways when she does so directly, she is sure never to let her church slack off. She seeds its clergy with her divine-touched children to go enact a will that is in neverending communion with her own. The Senate recognizes and encourages their works and contributions to peace and ilianharmony in our families and communities. Can the same be said of the faithful of Kalei? Or of Cognocrux, for that matter? Green Goddess Eldath is often depicted more matronly and demure than the other goddesses, a position and image she has, no doubt, befittingly earned.
Hilo
Crystalisian God Of Birth And Youthfulness
While the wretched proud childless enjoy their treacherous communion in Judyth, Hilo cares for those in need of fertility blessings. Hilo and Lathander are considered brothers from their very beginnings in many aspects, and it is rare to see a cleric of Hilo that has not had due education in the ways, teachings, and rites of the Lathenderians. Usually, this is fairly one sided, and many Lathenderians do not regard Hilo so highly as those faithful to Hilo regard their Morninglord. Hilo is often depicted as a younger brother to Lathander in painting and statue, holding hands and looking up to Scatehlor, who created them both from a dying star passing by ours long ago.
Hiloth
Seraphoran God Of Mighty Winds And Sailing
Fishers, shippers, pleasure-goers, and pilgrims are rare to depart without begging a token of Hiloth's mercy. Perpetually in a state of cold war with Kostarra, Hiloth is the one who guides us to traverse the deep indigo home of the scorned once-Scatehlorite. We are blessed with the winds that will push us efficiently through, and it is his presence which we preside in for the duration of any safe journey. A testament to his gift of safe travel between and around our islands, Hiloth's temples are not constructed on land, but instead held on sailing vessels. There is a fleet, currently sized at 346 vessels, which are large enough to host permanent, traveling holy host to Hiloth. It has been more than two centuries since the last major incident involving one of these vessels. For my long life in travel I can assure, few gods are more reliable than Hiloth.
Hilothia
Verdantial God Of The Harvest And Plants
Clear and mighty, they are a god of the land and what it may bear us year after year. A favorite, of course, of the farmers on Pelray's Ban, where the largest of Hilothia's temples are located. They are not usually prayed to for weather, good soil, or the like. Usually, that is left to Skialta and Judyth, sometimes Kostarra and even more rarely Scatehlor. Instead, Hilothia is called upon to bless the plants with the strength to improve, adapt, or overcome, as necessary, for a plentiful harvest.
Judyth
Crystalisian Goddess Of Sexuality And Mining
Judyth on her good days is why our society runs so smooth on both varieties of sword. On her most temperamental days, she is more vengeful than even Kostarra's mightiest typhoons. She was once considered the goddess of the people of Blilttal (what we now call Eylesbreach). For reasons not so well documented, her temples became less frequented, some abandoned, shortly before the great historic disaster to their forges. A good number of these abandoned temples were repurposed and given to Eldath following the Year Restriction 187 Eldath's Works laws, piloted in Eylesborne by Senator Rewl Kanlayan, a former mayor. A big Judyth push followed, many locals believing the disaster was another of her tantrums on a world that elected to rob her of the attention and veneration she was due. This was almost successful, but the IFL chose a trio of gods and a more successful marketing campaign in the long run, a success seen in the island's culture to today. Until a wild magic incident robbed her of the chance, my wife was going to make a fantastic cleric to Judyth. Thankfully, she was spared that fate and met me instead. And, I assure you, in and against my wife's falling from holy calling in Judyth's name, Judyth doth still bless our marriage.
Kalei
Crystalisian Goddess Of Beauty And Control
A goddess for everyone's outer fox and inner tyrant. She is considered very powerful and loose to the order of the other gods, as her domain of power coheres so naturally into form. The tyrant considers herself beautiful, and the beautiful feel entitled to a tyrannical end. Unlike her peers in our history's pantheon, she does not organize her followers formally into temples and services. Instead, they are taken up as acolytes in strange warlock pacts to sow chaos and disarray. It is hard to estimate how many there are or even who you meet might be among them. Maybe it was the man who took you on charming little date only to disappear for good. Maybe it was the woman hiring a posse of pirates to intimidate you for money or a valuable heirloom. They work in secret, and for a deity so vain, Kalei seems perfectly pleased to not need the credit for her works. In her power and prestige among the other gods, that they are there in our everyday lives is obvious credit enough.
Kostarra
Ebonreacher Goddess Of Oceans And Violence
Once a mere celestial being in her own right in service of Scatehlor, she lost a fateful, prideful bet and gained godhood of it. Though it was discouraged by the Cosmic Queen, she descended to the mortal world explored and its chaos, and she fell in love with it. A land of warships and music to immerse herself in, she claimed a new home in the waves between the islands of civilization. Unafraid to interfere, she gained godhood through steelfisted rule of the oceans and their tides. Every storm or devastating tidal wave is a perverse gift to remind us of the fallen celestial soul who gained godhood, that we may never again know a day of peace without her daring hunger to watch us flail in her wake. Those bold enough to voice that they worship her will remind the rest of us that her violence has been a persistent call to innovate, adapt, and thrive for it. Unfortunately, they are absolutely right, and Kostarra's great storms have brought about the might of our infrastructure and our greatest ilianharmony. Though you will be hard pressed to find Kostarran temples outright, her worshippers do gather. And, after decades of search, I can safely contend with a popular schoolyard myth. No, there are no offshore temples one must be willing to drown themselves to be saved and brought into. Do not try this.
Lathander
Verdantial God Of Warmth, Light, And Life Itself
Shining bastion of art, liberty, and culture, Lathander is the rising light in your morning and just the right amount of sugar in your tea. He is usually depicted in the form of a human or other creature of the land, where all life must rest and take root sometimes. In his temples, you will find skilled healers, often overworked.
Scatehlor
Ebonreacher Goddess Of Otherworldly Power
Scatehlor is our bridge from our humble island home to the cosmos. She is usually regarded as indifferent to the events of this place, but many still pray to her and ask her for perspective and guidance. She is usually considered wise of and for her distance, and offerings to her are usually paid back tenfold in an abstract sort of way. Once a lonely adventurer, I often credit Scatehlor for the magic surge from beyond that lost my wife the job among Judyth's Court. I think the people who call her indifferent and too far above us for our lives as individuals to matter are quite foolish. I also seem to realize that none of these people are her devotees, their voices able to overpower her relatively sparse congregations and ritual sites.
Skialta
Emberlynnie Goddess Of Flight And Clean Air
Skialta is often said to be seen in clouds and air currents rather than inhabiting many other forms. This affects how she is depicted in art as well as how she is discussed in literature. She gave the original gift of flight, known to have been exhibited in Emberlyn's dragons long before birds came about. Though there are fires, poisons, and other contaminants, Skialta shares her air with us, and in doing so keeps her domain clean that we may delight in it. Her faithful are grateful, and their sacrifices keep her willing to provide her services.
Vantendosh
Ebonreacher God Of Song And Perfume
Vantendosh is a singer and a winner and a primper, full of glamor. A painter or a poet, too, on most days, and a gardener, an inventor, a hairstylist. If it takes creative energy, Vantendosh cares deeply to learn from us about it. Once a minotaur and mortal bard prodigy in his own right, he assembled such a large following of bards, whose power and magic were so great that it threatened the gods of his time themselves. Cognocrux stepped out of hiding to gather Scatehlor and Kostarra in a strange alliance that promised Vantendosh godhood if he would syphon the power from his bardic following and purge them of their lives in the process. What mortal could deny godhood born of the powers sucked from their own cult of personality? From a bard's bard to a bard's god, Vantendosh rose in glory. True to his charismatic nature, he is generally thought of as an ally to all gods and their causes, maintaining a tense bridge between Scatehlor and Kostarra to this day. He's the face that greets me every morning in the mirror and gives me the strength to perform, speak, and fight my way through life's struggles.