Pantheon of Kaldaran

The **Pantheon of Kaldaran** consists of several deities who the people of Kaldaran worshipped in the Age of Gods. These deities have long since left the Material Plane, having driven themselves out as a result of warring between themselves, yet they retain a following of mortal worshippers even now, in the Age of Hope. Many of these deities are split into two pantheons of their own: the **Inheritors**, who governed mortal affairs and were widely considered paragons of virtue, and the **Fell Lords**, who sought to overthrow the Inheritors for the sake of their master, Valan Saris. These deities, as well as others unaffiliated with the Inheritors, are listed below.

While these gods remain worshipped, mortals more often pray to the **Saints**, people who have performed significant acts in Kaldaran's history and are honored today for their deeds. Not all of these Saints can be considered heroic, yet few of them are outright evil. Oftentimes, they are given praise for the values they embody, and for exemplifying the innate potential of mortalkind. These saints are listed below the Pantheon of Kaldaran separately.

For a brief history on the creation of Kaldaran and the wars between gods, see Kaldaran (Realm).

## Legacy of the Gods

### The Absence and the Hundred-Fold Lattice

When the gods departed from the Material Plane, three Inheritors - Dobir, Merendei, and Zobex - came together to form the Hundred-Fold Lattice, a magical barrier which formed around the Material Plane and cuts through parts of the Inner Planes. No celestials, including deities, can pass through the lattice through any means, whether magical or non-magical. Since the raising of the lattice over 400 years ago, no gods have been found within the Inner Planes. This disappearance is referred to as the **Absence**, and signifies the end of the Age of Gods.

Some celestials stayed behind in the Inner Planes after the Absence, whether by choice, by force, or by circumstance. While stranded from their masters, many continue the work of their gods in isolated locations within the Inner Planes, typically in secretive communities known as **Divine Sanctuaries**. The Honored Halls of **Valhalla** and the Sanctified Temple of **Arcadas** are two such sanctuaries.

### Manna

The Hundred-Fold Lattice does not only thwart attempts by celestials to travel past it. Divine energy fails to pierce through the barrier, preventing worshippers from drawing power directly from the gods. This limitation forces practitioners of divine magic to seek other means of fueling their spells.

Only one method has been discovered that can allow the likes of clerics and paladins to cast divine magics: **manna**. Often referred to as the "blood of gods," manna is an energy left behind from a god's magic, fragments of the miracles they introduced to the Inner Planes which echo their powers and memories. Scholars researching manna describe it as a magical essence trapped in a state between liquid and gas, which produces a nearly-imperceptible tune akin to a musical melody. By studying this melody, as well as the manner in which the manna's power manifests, a scholar can identify the deity to whom it belonged.

When manna is used, the energy is dispersed, and can no longer be used. Stronger divine magics expend more and more manna, with resurrective spells using significant amounts. Because of this limitation, manna is considered a limited resource, and is closely guarded by temples. Some governments in whose lands these temples operate, such as the Republic of Luxengrand and the Moradic Kingdom, dispatch their own forces to supplement their security, and allow the temples limited authority in parsing out manna while restricting its use unless the user is a follower of a temple.

Because manna is considered irretrievable once expended, scholars have been researching what happens to it once it is used. Some believe it is dispersed across the Material Plane, joining with the aether until it coalesces once more centuries later. Others believe it attempts to return to its source: the deity from which it spawned. Those who adhere to this latter theory believe that one could follow a trail of manna through the Astral Plane to whatever plane of existence the god currently resides on.

Many scholars once discarded the second theory because it implies that manna can somehow penetrate the Hundred-Fold Lattice and detect celestials beyond it. However, recent studies from planar travelers, most significantly from the **Planebinders**, have revealed such phenomena within the Astral Plane, as ribbons of gaseous, divine energy snake through like the northern lights of the Frozen Reach. This discovery has led to two prevailing theories: that manna takes on a new form after it is expended, or, more disturbingly, that there are openings within the Lattice allowing manna to slip through. If the latter is true, the implication lends credence to the centuries-old prophecy of the **Reckoning**.

### The Reckoning

Legends across Kaldaran tell of a coming cataclysm known as the Reckoning. Sometimes referred to as **Ragnarok** in Varkryn or the **Day of Falling Stars** in Eridur, the Reckoning is said to mark the return of the gods to Kaldaran, which will result in another destructive war as these deities fight for control of the Realm once more. Countless lives will be lost, and the works of mortals will be undone, as the gods leave behind a world of ash and dust.

No two interpretations of the Reckoning are the same, though virtually all of them involve the end of the Age of Hope. Some legends claim that rather than the return of the Inheritors and the Fell Lords, new gods will instead rise in their place, succeeding them as the realm's next contenders over the dominion of the realm. Others believe that the Makers - deities of the Lost Age of dubious existence, who ruled Kaldaran before the Inheritors and whose names have long been forgotten - will awaken from hidden cradles beneath Aethon, the world of the Material Plane, and remake the realm at their whims.

## Gods of Kaldaran

The Dark Seldarine, Drow Deities
 Eilistraee

Unafilliated Deities
 Bahamut
 The Grey Lady
 Tiamat