Pantheon

## Summary

A Pantheon is a collection of all Gods and Immortals from a particular mythology or religion. It can essentially be thought of as different factions or even nations of divine beings, each with its own corresponding culture that either currently or formerly worshiped them.

While it's a common belief that, by being in the same pantheon, the Gods would share similar characteristics, this isn't always the case. At most, they are like-minded in terms of goals, beliefs, ideologies, and virtues. The Gods also often engage in familial relationships with one another, creating mythical narratives of sky-fathers and earth-mothers with hundreds of children. In the case of *some* Gods, the common belief is actually correct.

Once a pantheon forms, it orders the world around itself in a cosmology. Reality is divided into different layers for the Gods to colonize and reorder, unmoored from the world and taken to the Overvoid and the Underworld alike. Not all realms are created by the Gods, however, as sometimes mythical realms (often Terrae Incognitae) are born from stories that worshipers told about the Gods and reality would reshape itself to take those forms around them. This isn't a common occurrence, but a strange and unusual phenomenon; a subconscious process, altered by worship and by belief to suit the dreams of humans.

In the ancient past, many pantheons chose to live in the shadows of the world, dwelling in Terrae Incognitae that were located in the cracks of reality. The Gods could build a home for themselves in a tree or a hearth or a statue, and all of them were every bit as fantastical and opulent as the great palaces of kings and emperors. Even when the Gods left for the Overvoid, these Terrae Incognitae continued to be inhabited by lesser immortals and their mortal descendants to this day.

The forming of a pantheon can be a dangerous matter... though not to the Gods, but to the mortals who worshiped them. Wherever the Gods go, conflict follows. Every story needs a conflict, and the Gods cannot escape the fact that they sow the seeds of their own dramas. They cannot help but stir up trouble in the form of mortal entanglements, cultural indiscretions, and spats with each other that may lead to the doom of entire civilizations.

In addition, by becoming parts of a collective, the Gods risk being Fatebound through the actions of a certain few, being locked into certain stereotypes that they have no choice but to perform when manifest in the mortal realms. Some Gods even purposefully play into the stereotypes to avoid being Fatebound to new roles and expectations with every new generation of followers.

## Known Pantheons

### African Pantheons

* Ashanti Pantheon: The Abosom
* Bantu Pantheon: The Miung
* Egyptian Pantheon: The Netjeru
* Igbo Pantheon: The Arusi
* Yorùbá Pantheon: The Òrìshàs
* Zulu Pantheon: The Onkulunkulu

### Asian Pantheons

* Abrahamic Pantheon: The Tzevaot
* Ainu Pantheon: The Kamuy
* Arabian Pantheon: The Ālihah
* Armenian Pantheon: The Dik'
* Balinese Pantheon: The Hyangs
* Buddhist Pantheon: The Pālas
* Chinese Pantheon: The Shén
* Hindu Pantheon: The Devás
* Hittite Pantheon: The Šiuneš
* Japanese Pantheon: The Kami
* Korean Pantheon: The Janggunsin
* Manchu Pantheon: The Enduri
* Mesopotamian Pantheon: The Anunna
* Mongolian Pantheon: The Tengri
* Myanmar Pantheon: The Nat
* Persian Pantheon: The Yazatas
* Philippine Pantheon: The Anitos
* Phoenician Pantheon: The Ilhm
* Scythian Pantheon: The Bhagas
* Tai Pantheon: The Phi
* Vietnamese Pantheon: The Thần

### American Pantheons

* Algonquian Pantheon: The Manitous
* Aztec Pantheon: The Tēteoh
* Choctaw Pantheon: The Na Shilombish
* Guarani Pantheon: The Anga
* Haida Pantheon: The Sga'na Qeda
* Hopi Pantheon: The Katsinim
* Inca Pantheon: The Apu
* Inuit Pantheon: The Inue
* Iroquois Pantheon: The Orenda
* Lakotan Pantheon: The Wakanpi
* Maya Pantheon: The K'uh
* Navajo Pantheon: The Yeii
* Taíno Pantheon: The Zemí
* Vodoun Pantheon: The Loas

### European Pantheons

* Baltic Pantheon: The Dievas
* Basque Pantheon: The Jainkoak
* Circassian Pantheon: The Narts
* Etruscan Pantheon: The Aisar
* Finnish Pantheon: The Jumalten
* Gaulish Pantheon: The Nemetondevos
* Greek Pantheon: The Theoi
* Irish Pantheon: The Tuatha Dé Danann
* Norse Pantheon: The Æsir
* Roman Pantheon: The Dei
* Slavic Pantheon: The Bogovi
* Welsh Pantheon: The Plant Dôn

### Oceanian Pantheons

* Australian Aboriginal Pantheon: The Tjukurpa
* Fijian Pantheon: The Kalou
* Polynesian Pantheon: The Atua

### Otherworldly Pantheons

* Atlantean Pantheon: The Tēros
* Lovecraftian Pantheon: The Old Ones

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* The list above only listed known pantheons by their place of origins. In modern times, many pantheons have "immigrated" to new lands and expanded their influence beyond their original territory, often by establishing new colonies all across the world.
	+ Some pantheons are identified by their religious nomenclature rather than their regional one due to their religious influence reaching far beyond their original territory. For example: The Pālas of Buddhism are worshiped all across Asia, notably in East and Southeast Asia; the Devás of Hinduism aren't only revered in India but also across South and Southeast Asia, not mentioning their intermingling with the aforementioned Pālas; and the Tzevaot's influence is globally due to the widespread of the Abrahamic religions.
* Just as not all Gods are daimons, not all pantheons are daimonic in nature, though daimons (or at least, half-daimons) are present in almost every pantheon. Even the Tzevaot, the Heavenly Hosts of the Abrahamic faiths, make extensive use of daimons as tutelar protectors of hallowed grounds, spiritual guardians of the faithful, or soldiers in their war against the abyssal forces.
* Some pantheons are considered sub-pantheons of (not always necessarily) older and more powerful pantheons. These sub-pantheons can be a faction of younger Gods who splintered away from the main pantheon due to new and/or conflicting doctrines, or foreign Gods assimilated into the pantheon of their conquerors and are allowed to remain partially in power in exchange for a portion of their worship.
* While exceptionally rare, solitary Gods do exist. Often, they are Gods who were banished from their original pantheon or survivors of extinct pantheons and cultures. Almost all of them are vastly weaker than those from long-standing pantheons and require annual blood sacrifices from their cults in order to maintain their powers and immortality, though this came at the cost of attracting unwanted attention.

### Notes

* The word "Pantheon" derives from Greek πάνθεον (*pantheon*), literally "(a temple) of all gods", "of or common to all gods".