Dawn War pantheon

The Dawn War pantheon was a pantheon of gods worshiped on the worlds of Nerath, Exandria, and other worlds of the multiverse.
==Organization==
===Membership===
The gods of the Dawn War pantheon were a small group of deities that banded together during the Dawn War. They kept a loose alliance of coexistence (even between gods of Good and Evil) and mutual help against common enemies. The alliance was maintained by the "compact of heaven," in which the gods agreed to share power in the natural world and shared control over angels. The compact included Evil in its terms but not Chaos, making it troublesome for chaotic deities to enforce the power of the compact at times.
==Activities==
The gods of the Dawn War pantheon were "universal" gods, meaning that even if they were "racial" gods they were worshiped by members of all races instead of just the races they created.
==Relationships==
As mentioned above, the Dawn War pantheon was an alliance of gods under the terms of the "compact of heaven". Despite rivalries and hatreds between its members, the gods of the Dawn War pantheon were aware that the existence of their alliance (and by extension the survival of their rival deities) was necessary to survive against threats such as the primordials or the Far Realm.
==History==
The Dawn War pantheon was created out of necessity, as a small group of gods from different worlds allied together to survive during the Dawn War. When the primordials attacked the worlds of Realmspace, the gods of the Dawn War pantheon were summoned to Abeir-Toril by Selûne and Shar to help the twin goddesses to defend Realmspace.
By the late 15 century DR, some of the Dawn War gods still had some degree of influence on Toril.
==Members==
The following were the members of the Dawn War pantheon known on the world of Nerath:
;Asmodeus:
: A god of Tyranny and Domination, and lord of the Nine Hells.
;Avandra:
: A goddess of Change, Luck and Travel, and patron of halflings.
;Bahamut:
: The dragon god of Justice, Protection and Nobility, and patron of metallic dragons and good dragonborn.
;Bane:
: A god of War and Conquest, revered by goblinoids. His identity was conflicting because the goblinoids believed he was a deity named Achra. He was however, entirely unrelated to the Bane of the Faerûnian pantheon.
;Corellon:
: The elven god of Beauty, Art, Magic and the Fey, he was also the seasonal God of the Spring and patron of eladrin.
;Erathis:
: A goddess of Civilization, Inventions and Law.
;Gruumsh:
: The orcish god of Slaughter and Destruction, and patron of the orcs. He was something of a wildcard in the "compact of heaven" given his chaotic nature.
;Ioun:
: A goddess of Knowledge, Skill and Prophecy.
;Kord:
: A god of Storms, Battle and Strength, he was also a member of the Oerthian pantheon.
;Lolth:
: The drow goddess of Shadow and Lies, and patron of drow. She had broken her connections to the "compact of heaven" and was barely considered a member of the alliance.
;Melora:
: A goddess of Wilderness, Nature and the Sea.
;Moradin:
: The dwarven god of Family, Community and Creation, and patron of dwarves.
;Pelor:
: A god of the Sun, Agriculture and Time, and seasonal god of Summer. He was also a member of the Oerthian pantheon.
;Raven Queen:
: A goddess of Death, Fate and Winter. She was one of the youngest members of this pantheon, having joined it after usurping the previous god of death.
;Sehanine:
: The elven goddess of Illusion, Love and the Moon, she was also the seasonal goddess of Autumn and patron of wood elves.
;Tharizdun:
: The Chained God, also known as the Elder Elemental Eye. He was not considered a member of the alliance, and was more of a prisoner keep under their watch.
;Tiamat:
: The dragon goddess of Greed and Envy, patron of the chromatic dragons and evil dragonborn.
;Torog:
: A god of the Underdark.
;Vecna:
: A god of the Undead and Necromancy, He the newest member of this pantheon, and he was also a member of the Oerthian pantheon.
;Zehir:
: A god of Darkness and Poison and the favored deity of the yuan-ti.
In the world of Exandria, a minor goddess named Raei was also considered part of this pantheon.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===Background===
The Dawn War pantheon, also known as the "core pantheon" or the "D&D pantheon", is the sample pantheon of gods used in the default setting of 4-edition game products. While originally the game designers had intended to not use a core pantheon and to give examples of sample deities in the PHB, they later determined that it was better to use a defined pantheon for stuff like art or adventure hooks.
At first, they proposed to use deities from the Forgotten Realms setting for this pantheon, but they later decided to use deities from the nonhuman and Greyhawk pantheon instead. Deities like Corellon and Bahamut were used given their long history in the game products since 1 edition. Of their original plan, only a revised Bane remained in the final version of the pantheon, as the game designers considered he filled the role of the war god perfectly. However, he was considered to be an entirely separate deity, with some similarities and some differences. They also created a few new gods exclusive for this pantheon.
The "Dawn War pantheon" was introduced to 5 edition in the Dungeon Master's Guide, that used it as an example of a common pantheon of gods in the D&D multiverse, with inspirations from among Earth's mythologies. This pantheon was later adopted as the default pantheon of gods for Matt Mercer's Exandria setting (from the Critical Role series).
===References===
===Connections===
Category:Pantheons
Category:Organizations in the World Axis planes
Category:Organizations in the Outer Planes
Category:Organizations in the Great Wheel planes