Thursday, November 3, 2011

Ages of Lingusia: The Elvish and Dwarven Pantheons and the Lost Gods


The Elvish Gods:

Selene
(See main entry)

Ailyenarion
Profile: pyromancy, fire, strong tempers
Alignment: neutrality
   The oldest tales found say that Ailyenarion was the first man to steal fire from he heavens, and bring it to fellow men. In later times Ailyenarion was known to be a powerful demiurge of fire in the realms of Old Galonia. His power was great, and his worship spread to the suetheinurian elves, among which the members of house Ilmatar took to his worship, learning their ways of pyromancy. He was a god who walked always in mortal form, said to have once been an Avatar of Naril, who sought to learn the edicts of the sun god, and follow in his ways. He was still a demiurge, however, a force of the land, the physical embodiment of fire. He had not yet achieved his divine form.
   Alas, the ancient Galonian pantheon fell in to ruin, as too many of its gods were said to have been slain in the great War, when the heavens were ripped asunder, and the Lords of Chaos fought against Order. Twelve gods among the Galonians fell in mortal form, and when Ailyenarion fell, it is said his body ignited in a great burning flame, like a sun fallen upon the earth, and he immolated ten thousand devonin warriors sieging his citadel in the Valley of the Gods in Galvonar.
   Ailyenarion’s citadel was blasted into slag by his passing, but a fragment of his essence and spirit still rests in the flames of every camp fire, candle, and dancing ember in the world. The elves of house Ilmatar claim they can still commune with him through his fiery being, and that his true spirit passed on to the divine realm of Naril upon his death.
Appearance: Ailyenarion was a great warrior of human and elvish traits, wreathed in limnal flame

Cerybane
Profile: fae lands, the courts of the faerie queen, fae magic          
Alignment: neutrality
Not a weak or forgotten goddess, Cerybane is highly esoteric nonetheless. Cerybane is the demiurge of the fae realms, the keeper of the Weirding. In Lingusia, her followers number mostly among fae folk, Kythians, and faerie kin. She is cared for and worshipped by the Siviante elves of Amech.
   In legend, Cerybane was said to be the daughter of the first King and Queen of the faerie, and was touched with the divine gift by Amech, who became enraptured with her beauty. She eventually left the fae realms to join Amech in his jungle citadel, where they ruled for eons before the War of the Gods. They fell together in battle, and now exist in the celestial heavens, presiding over their demiplanes.
 Appearance: Cerybane is petite, of the smaller elvish kin, and indescribably beautiful. Her elvish priests do not even try depict her form, instead using runes and abstract depictions of flowers to symbolize her in art.

Elisin
(see main entry)

Temina
Profile: fae lands, the courts of the faerie queen, fae magic          
Alignment: neutrality
   Temina is a fae being, a daughter of Selene who sought to make her mother happy by creating music and enriching the world with art. Her followers are small in number, but are almost all bards. A few priests favor Temina as well, though they usually follow the training of bards, too.
   Temina appears to be a radiantly attractive young half-elven woman who can play any instrument and sing any song with utter perfection.

The Dwarven Gods:

Ashturak
(See main antry)
   Ashturak is the forger god, and is indeed regarded as  a dwarf in nature even by humans. Ashturak is revered among dwarven architects and craftsmen for the wisdom he imparts in the design of objects, weapons and structures. Any dwarven fortress must be blessed by this god periodically or receive bad luck.

Enoctris
Profile: darkness, the underworld, miners
Alignment: neutrality
   Enoctris is the shadowy patron of the miners in the deeps of the world, and keeper of the lost souls of the dark. Though specifically a goddess of the dwarves, she might also be a member of the death pantheon.

Hargameth
(See main entry)
   The dwarves of Lingusia hold a deep respect for this god of warfare and seek his blessing before any engagement against one or more of their many mountain dwelling or underworld foes.

Kishar
Profile: caretaker, home and hearth, patron of dwarven women
Alignment: lawful
   Kishar is the goddess of dwarven women and the homestead, keeper of children and safety. She has an active priesthood among dwarven women, and is seen as a goddess of good fortune among all.

Sin
(See main entry for Selene)
   Sin is the dwarven name for the moon goddess, who is regarded as something of a protector to the dwarven mountaineers and trail blazers of the world. Among dwarves, unlike elves, men may belong to her priesthood.

The Mysteries:

Ashuar
Profile: protector of secrets, keeper of mysteries
Alignment: neutrality
   Ashuar is a mysterious god who is said to himself embody the nature of mystery as his aspect. An esoteric cult in the Monastery of Senampar, near the legendary Tomblands of the Mountains of Madness are reverent to him, as are some of the older cults descended from the lost Thaygiri of Il’Madhar.

Aurumurvox
Profile: oblivion, guardian of the crumbling and forgotten
Alignment: neutrality
   Aurumurvox is the enigmatic keeper of the Orb of Oblivion, and is said to dwell in physical form within a loating tower in the fabled ruins of Corti’Zahn. Little is known about him, and there are no known cults that worship this entity in the Empire Era.

Damortus
Profile: Lord of the Armageddon Tower, Keeper of the Tree of Life
Alignment: neutrality
   Damortus is described as a keeper and watcher of the divine relics in the form of the legendary Tree of Life and the Armageddon Tower, a vast structure in the Dreamlands few can claim to have visited. Damortus is revered in Il’Madhar by some relic cults, but is otherwise not worshipped. A handful of dream priests of Akuuris eventually become aware of this deity and either learn to fear him or take up his worship, as well.

Eldarath
Profile: lord of magic, keeper of emptiness
Alignment: neutrality
   Eldarath is not worshipped by anyone today, but his temples from the era of the Prehunates can still be found in the remote jungles of Amech. Little is known of this deity other than the fact that his lost temples often contain terrifyingly powerful ancient magic.
Plot Note: It was within a prehunate temple of Eldarath that an ancient amulet was found by the Shadow Gods Phaedra and Unarak, a device which could siphon the divine life energy of a wounded god and channel it in to the device’s bearer. This device was used on Vishannu to great effect. How it is connected to Eldarath is unknown.

Surviving Prehunates
   The Prehunates of old were an entire race of human-like beings that challenged the very gods in a bid to steal divine power and immortality. The ancient civilization of these precocious sorcerers was destroyed by the gods, but even today tens of thousands of years later a few are still known to exist in one form or another. Known living prehunates include Diannysos (who is slumbering deep in an ancient temple in Chigros), Eskandar (whose soul is locked in to seven parts of an ancient amulet), and Zelkarod (about whom little is known). In this era little is known of these lost immortals, and no one worships them.






All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Bergquist, all rights reserved

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