Part II of the Basic/Expert/RC Dungeons & Dragons Special for April: this is the second part of the introduction to the world of Pergerron, on which all subsequent entries this month will hang. You could use Pergerron for almost any edition of D&D at its core, but the intent here is to make this special to the unique flavor and allowances of classic B/X style D&D, with some RC edition enhancements thrown in. Now for the gods of Pergerron....
The Pantheon of the Enkanneth
There are
many Enkanneth, which are formally described in the Sacred Codex of Enamoratu
as the First Men of the world. There are two conflicting myth-tales about the
origins of the First Men. One is that they were dwellers in the stars (said to
have come from the planet Surdat,
farthest and most peculiar o the sky-wanderers). A second tale that is less
popular but embodies the Cult of the
Risen Kings states that the First Men were an accident of creation, formed
in error by the Primordials, destined to rise up and destroy their masters.
Regardless
of the origin of the First Men, both sects agree that they rose to power, saw
the Primordials for the formless and evil entities they were, and stole the
divine secret of godhood from them. With this power they destroyed the
primordials or drove them into the dark recesses of the world, and elevated
their own people to the dominant kindred of the world over beast and monster
alike.
The Temples
of the Enkanneth can be found throughout the River Kingdoms, and you must
journey to the remote lands of Asparta, Vothrace, Esmonar and Mesutin before
finding significantly different deities and methods of worship. The people of
the River Kingdoms tend to assume that these other foreign gods are just more
Enkanneth, but worshipped in foreign lands…except, of course, when they see
evidence of primordial worship. Such worship must be stamped out, destroyed, no
matter the cost.
In the
Kingdoms of Anansis there are nine prominent Enkanneth and several dozen lesser
Enkanneth that are worshipped. The nine principle deities and associated
spouses are:
Katas – The god of kings, said to have
been the deity who led the charge against the Primordials, and to have slain
its greatest leader, Sarpoxas. His contribution to the land is the fabled
Rule of Law, which is etched upon the sacred stones at the entrance to Katas’
temple in the capitol of Ulimpor.
Suliversa – the goddess of lore and
wife to Katas, sometimes also seen as the mother of all men and women.
Suliversa is the patron goddess of the Temple of Lorein Ulimpor and other
cities, and is said to have taught mankind the principles of civilization.
Vornen – the god of sustenance and the
hunt, who taught man how to craft spear and blade and bring down the beasts and
monsters of the wild. He is also believed to be the god of the elves, having
imparted to them his special gifts of sight and understanding, and that the
elves disdain civilization as men see it to honor their creator. His wife is Medrea, who is regarded by the elves as
a principle fertility goddess and given more import than her husband.
Sakhar – The god of metal, forges, and
smiths. Sakuar is regarded as the progenitor of such lore, and it was with his
teachings that mankind mastered the crafting of copper, brass and bronze
implements and weapons. Sakhar is also regarded as the creator of dwarves,
along with his wife Indraka.
Tekastei – God of the harvest. Tekastei
is seen as the one who created the seasons, to allow mankind to grow food and
predict the weather; the elements are seen as a creation of the primordials,
but it is Tekastei who forces the elements to behave (sometimes). In myth Tekastei
is seen as a stout Halfling, sometimes remiss in his duties, thus explaining
the problem of actually predicting the weather. Tekastei is seen as the creator
of Halflings, too, along with his less divine wife Immerta.
Skuurn – The tamer of beasts and lord
of shepherds. Skuurn sought to teach man how to tame the beasts of the wild,
and also sought to make such beasts friendlier to humanity. Though he failed
against those beings too monstrous, his contribution is normally regarded as pivotal
to the mastery of pastoral living in civilized lands. Skuurn is regarded as the
creator of boar-kin, centaurs and minotaurs though those races may dispute this
as a “human thing.”
Velos – God of war, Velos is the patron
of warriors everywhere. His aspect is battle and it is said he forged the
armies which marched behind Katas against the forces of the primordials,
smiting them all. Velos is said tohave once married Tartessa, the goddess of
death, and it is from the souls of the dead that he harvests new warriors for
his armies in the sky. Most commoners look to the sky and believe the stars
reflect the campfires of the soldiers of Velos, standing fast against the
primordials that lurk in the Darkness beyond the dome of the sky. Velos is also
said to be married to Marnica,
goddess of tranquility and beauty. The dichotomy is deliberate, and Marnica’s
temples are just as prominent as those of Velos, and usually maintained by a
dedicated crowd of priestess artisans.
Tokandros – Among the gods it is said
that Tokandros is the mischief-maker, the one who betrayed them or will betray
them, through whose actions the primordial will rise again. He is said to be
half-brother to Katas, and that he is half-primordial, his mother being the
terrifying dragon goddess Druusa
herself. Tokandros as outcast god has been regarded as an important foil and
reflection on the hubris of the other gods, while officially being the god of
opposites; when Velos offers mercy, Tokandros will offer none. When Katas
offers justice, Tokandros offers none. As such, he has officially become patron
god to criminals and thieves in the land. His cult, which remains secretive,
believes that Tokandros is married to his sister, Abeitha, the spiteful Queen of Gorgons who is one of the Ten.
Abia – The goddess of Light and
destiny. Abia is said to have been the one that awoke the First Men to the
realities of the Primordials, and showed Katas the secret gate to the power of
divinity. Abia’s aspects are a dichotomy, being secret knowledge contrasted
with blinding, inescapable light. Her cult is small but dedicated, and her
priests are renowned as great seers and oracles. She is unmarried, though it is
said that she still bore children in the form of the first rakasta and some
other more enigmatic immortal races. There is a secret elvish cult that
believes Abia is the true mother of the elves, though they decry the notion
that she at some point lay with Sahambla and birthed the rakasta.
Tartessa – the powerful goddess of the
dead, Tartessa is supreme ruler of Zhol’Dran, and the harvester of souls. Her
designs are enigmatic, and she pays a toll in potent souls to her former husband,
Velos. Tartessa is said to have a keen hatred for the living, and openly
despises the other gods, biding her time until the primordials return so that
she may reap the harvest of souls that such an apocalypse will entail.
The Primordials
The ancient
primordials are a mystery. A modern anthropologist might see this ancient
pantheon as a fallen religion, trampled and absorbed by a younger usurper
culture into their own myths, but the people of Pergerron know better, for the
fabulous, mysterious and deadly ruins of the old era of the primordials dot the
wilderness, tempting adventurers with treasure and doom. Old temples to these
gods still abound, and the monsters of the world still seek to worship these
lost gods. Even the current religion of the River Kingdoms acknowledges the
power of the primordials, attributing the creation of the world and the
elements to them.
There were
ten great primordials and a host of unknown lesser primordials, but today all
that exists to indicate their lost power outside of relics and ruins are the
Servants of the Ten, a host of monstrous entities who claim to have been the
last true children of the old gods, and who were destined to ascend to divinity
before the Enkanneth stole the power away from them.
There is little known of the old primordials,
but their names are recorded as:
Sarpoxas – the god of chaos and lord of
primordial. Depicted as a great red dragon with seven heads in most old images.
Druunas – the queen of all dragons and
creator of the night sky. Depicted as a many colored dragoness with five heads.
Certain ancient texts call her “Tiamat” by her primordial name.
Verethax – lord of fire. Depicted as an
infernal giant wreathed in flame.
Sambador – creator of earth. Depicted
as a greath earthen mass made of soil, worm and bone.
Vos Kar – the primordial of air and
wind. Depicted as a great tornado filled with gargoyles that form an immense
humanoid shape.
Yoka Vataras – goddess of the
quintessence of magic, depicted as a being of pure darkness.
Trigaril – goddess of the waters of
creation. Depicted as a great leviathan of the sea who sometimes manifests as a
beautiful woman to lure sailors to their doom.
Pulsagral – old god of the dead, the
lord of Hazata. Depicted as a pulsing mass of undead flesh that shifts form
constantly.
Hox Nagor – the god of the ophidians
and serpents, depicted as an immense snake, larger than the river Anansis
itself.
Sahambla – the destroyer, the reaver of all. Depicted
as a storm of blades with two burning eyes.
The Servants of the Ten
Each of the
servants are a beastly incarnate of their kind, powerful beyond measure and
very nearly immortal, or so the stories claim. These are paragons of their
species and noteworthy for being the driving force behind the hatred of
humanity by monstrous kind. Whether or not some of these beings are truly sons
and daughters of the primordials as they claim is an unverified belief, but
what matters in the end is that their monstrous followers believe it to be
true. Some of them, such as Sekulos and Palagor Harad, are clear that they are
either direct or spiritual successors, the latest in a long line of the
Servants of the Ten, elected or chosen by a means unknown to hold their
station.
Abeitha – queen of the gorgons,
daughter of Yoka Varatas
Samadar Phorain – lord of the minotaurs, successor to Vos Kar
Sekulos the Cunning – lord of
goblins, successor to Verethrax
Palagor Harad – king of orcs, successor to Sambador
Sibitsen Muukol – king of the nagpa, successor to Sarpoxas
Skag – King of the manticores,
successor to Verethrax
Kalabar Drethos – king of dragonkin, son of Druunas
Shuutol – king of the bargda, successor
to Pulsagral
Astrea Vespis – queen of the ophidians, gatormen and lizardmen, daughter
or Hox Nagor
Habatar Kasgardan – king of the beastkin and rakasta, son of Sahambla and
Abia
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