Gods

There are no true Gods on Vigneus, only those strong enough to be deified by their followers and claim the title themselves. The following are the major Gods and religions that can be found throughout the Ashen Wastes, though many smaller "deities" exist, undiscovered and worshiped by small covens deep in the wilds. Perhaps making contact with one could grant you their favor, or turn you into a mortal sacrifice. Anything is possible when you're deep in the Outlands.

## Mama: Knowledge and Secrets

> *"What Mama don't know, will hurt her." - Whispering Son, Mama's executive A.I. unit.*
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"Mama" is an artificial intelligence from before the Maw's Eruption, a cunning being that has cemented its code into the roots of much tech and religious faith throughout the wastes. She is hellbent on the collection of data and secrets, employing her followers as spies and informants moreso than priests. In return, her followers are granted with visions of the Halls of Many Truths, promised that in return for their service to Mama, she shall sail them across the open skies to a land of infinite knowledge and secrets that will explain *all* in the New World. Followers of Mama are heavily invested in technology usage, wielding stolen weaponry from ruined ships that Mama has taken control over and even the ruined ships themselves.

## X: War and Madness

> *"Psychosis is the pathway to true Reality." - Father Rags, Psycho Priest of X.*
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X is an anomaly in its own right, having only materialized in orbit around Vigneus after the Maw's Eruption. The icy, glass-like planet has become the object of worship for raiders, savage barbarians, soldiers, and generals alike, an ominous power that blesses those burdened with the mantle of violence should they stare into the planet's cold glare. Followers of X undergo a universal ritual for all lines of faith in worship to the strange God, a rite in which the potential follower must stare unblinking into the planet while it is fully visible in the night sky. This ritual severs the gazer's link to their original perception, thought, and emotions, granting them with a "raw" perception of the universe, an outlook that many others consider sheer madness. Some are unable to complete the ritual, either dying of heart failure or losing their minds from such revelations, and so only the strong or foolish are capable of withstanding such a rite.

## The Rope That Coils: Death and Endings

> *"In Death it speaks, and in Life we listen." - Medhari Thovius, Arbiter of Spirits.*
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The Rope That Coils is a force from the Immaterial, a being with no humanoid shape that speaks and acts through the death throes of the dying, granting bloody scripture to its newly recruited agents through spectral ropes found on the throats of heretics. The Rope seeks to ensure that death finds its way to those who deserve it, blasphemizing undeath as an abomination and granting its followers with the tools necessary to cull both the hordes of the living and the unliving. Followers of the Rope That Coils typically do not find their faith on their own, but rather their faith finds them. When an Uncoiled\* creature has finally met its end, the Rope relays a message to the murderer, granting them a chance to become a reaper for the being, contracting them with hunting the Uncoiled and guarding the sanctity of death.

\*Uncoiled are creatures who have removed themselves from the cycle of death through trickery of fate or undeath.

## The Monarch: Life and Magic

> *"With the Universe as our Crown, we claim our Thrones." - The Monarch.*
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The Monarch is an anomalous butterfly, who, through strange coincidence or devilry, gained hyper-intelligence and immortality through the Maw's Eruption, now able to control reality at-will. Seeking the benevolent spread of creation and understanding, the Monarch has employed many personal agents with mere fractions of its power, hoping that it might itself be able to unravel the chaos wrought by the Immaterial. The Monarch itself is colossal and roosts in the Hovering Gardens, a pre-apocalypse greenhouse atop a gigantic flying platform that the creature repaired using its power. At times, one can even witness the Monarch passing overhead, either observing the land or gifting those below with magical nectar rain. Followers of the Monarch utilize the supernatural, bending the universe to the power of the Immaterial and using this power for the benefit of mankind, but benefits are subjective in the eyes of those inhabiting the Ashen Wastes, and some would rather do without magic entirely, as it is what brought Vigneus to its destruction.

## Mr. God: Justice and Conquest

> *"With belts of lead and swords of light, the Righteous arbitrate the Wicked." - Sannitus Aralon, Paladin of Mr. God.*
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"Mr. God" is a "born-again" cyborg from before the Maw's Eruption, a figure whose lofty ideas of justice, charismatic relation to the weak, and military cunning have made it into a deific force to be reckoned with. Mr. God himself is believed to be a prototype cyborg or an undiscovered variant altogether, as he possesses an aging human frame rather than one of black iron. Followers are typically those in service to the weak; genuinely kind souls who wish only to end the tyranny of the malignant strong, sought out by Mr. God and his "angels" firsthand to be employed as agents of the faith. The peasantry, the poor, the faithful, and the chivalrous see the cyborg as a beacon of light and hope in a world of sinful rapture, while the wealthy, the powerful, and the tyrannical despise Mr. God, as his mere presence inspires revolution, even in those undeserving of their revolt. Through righteous Crusade and military insurgency, the cyborg leads his zealous troops into battle against the evils lurking throughout Vigneus.

## Elshirai: Luck and Beauty

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> *"All life is a Dream, to be observed, tasted, and played with." - Elshirai.*
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A former elf who ascended to deific form through means unknown, Elshirai appears in times of beauty, great coincidence, and cosmological humor. Many followers of Elshirai worship her as beauty incarnate, seeking to spread the gifts of art, song, and poetry throughout the wastes in a cultural battle against the barbarism that plagues the hungry and desperate. Others see Elshirai as a boon or omen, a cosmic force of luck and coincidence that can cause the impossible to occur and the possible to seem outlandish. Throughout the wastes, small groups can be found in practice to the elf goddess, calling upon her in attempts to alter fate or summon beauty from the Immaterial, while others simply happen upon her in moments of unbelievably good or bad luck. Elshirai is a fickle and strange goddess, only appearing if the situation entertains her, and so her following remains small but highly dedicated, save for the elves, who see her as their patron deity.

## The Incalculable Scourge: Life and Chaos

> *"We are what it means to be alive." - The Incalculable Scourge.*
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The Incalulable Scourge is a hivemind being from the Immaterial, an Elder God who promotes the spread of life to a horrifying degree. The Scourge appears as a colossal, many-limbed, many-headed abominable mantis that speaks through swarms of cicadas that sing its words in droning, maddening language. Appearing to the famished and terminally ill, the Scourge grants them with power over life itself at the cost of permanently burdening them with their famine and illness, instilling their followers with a pain that will drive their faith more than hope or hate ever will. These followers spread their contagion and weakness throughout the wastes, where evolution and disease might rid the natural world of the weak and pave way to the native beasts of the land once more. Followers of the Scourge are rare to be found, as they are shunned by society for their sickness, and so gather in communities deep within the Ashen Wastes, forcing the will of mother nature and biology through their practice.

## King Kal: Tyranny and Order

> *"The Reins of the Machine are in the hands of Gods; us." - Warlord Burzha, Lieutenant of King Kal.*
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Not much is known of King Kal, the Minotaur God, save for one thing: he arrived in a flash of flame and brimstone, murdering the original King Kal on the stones of his keep and taking his place as the new ruler of the newly forming Murgorrum Empire. Now, followers of law and order speak the name of their King, using his infernal power to control the weak and serve the strong, with a divine plan to found a globe-spanning empire where law might be seen as divine and strong as the Immaterial itself. Agents of King Kal see the lower folk as mere pieces of the Machine, whereas the executors of Kal's will are seen as the operators and drivers, piloting the Machine to an era even greater than the Times Before. A physical being, Kal does not appear in visions or whispers, but rather approaches his chosen directly, still seeming to possess deific abilities despite his humanoid appearances. He does the same for his enemies, challenging them to duels if they have angered him and claiming their head as one of thousands of trophies.