Slavic Pantheon

### Known Aliases

The Rus, Slavic gods, Czech Gods, Russian Gods, Serbian Gods, Slovene Gods, Ukrainian Gods, Gods of the Slavs

### Identity

Public Identity
(Believed to be Mythical by Most Persons)

## Membership

### Current Members

Baba Yaga, Byelobog, Chernobog, Dažbog, Khors, Jarilo, Mokosh, Morena, Perun, Radegast, Stribog, Svantovit, Svarog, Svarožic, Veles, Živa, Zorya...

## Summary

The Gods of the ancient Slavs, a people who stretched from the frozen reaches of Russia to the more hospitable climes of southern Germany and Poland, the Bogovi are ancient and nearly forgotten in the modern world, relics of a bygone era. Being forgotten by humanity is no hardship for them, however; the Bogovi are supreme adapters and chameleons, able to become part of any culture and survive its influence with their own unique character.

They are gods of the natural balance of the universe, the ebb and flow of tides, seasons and mankind itself, and they can never be eradicated by such a small thing as the loss of worship. The Bogovi are as flexible as reeds, as hardy as the earth and as entrenched as the permafrost of their northern lands; they have never been conquered and do not consider it boasting to assume that they never will be.

In fact, the Bogovi are not at all absent from the world, though their current forms are more subtle than the larger-than-life imprints some other pantheons leave on the world. The Slavic gods have colored and flavored every memory of their people for centuries, influencing their myths, folktales, and even rival religions so naturally that humanity is entirely unaware of their influence and other pantheons can only shrug in wonder. Though many cultures have invaded and conquered their lands over their long lives – the Greeks, the Persians, and the Norse to name only a few, sometimes accompanied by their own gods – the Bogovi have never worried that they would be supplanted. Invaders inevitably find themselves settling down and "going native", becoming part of the unique Slavic world within a few generations; even intruding gods find themselves at a loss as to why they somehow cannot make their mark permanently in the Slavic lands. The Bogovi are as flexible as reeds, as hardy as the earth, and as entrenched as the permafrost of their northern lands; they have never been conquered and do not consider it boasting to assume that they never will be.

### Modern Times

The Slavic gods have not been directly heard from in a very long time, almost to the point of being completely forgotten by humanity; this is intentional, and in fact, the result of the divine law laid down by Svarožic (supposedly under Rod's commands) that the gods should not meddle in the affairs of humans. The law was made long ago in order to allow humanity to grow on its own without the pressure of divine interference, and, for the most part (aside from a few major and severely punished incidents), it has worked, making the Bogovi more absentee deities than those of most other pantheons. They do not lack interest in humanity (they are quite avid observers of their peoples' doings and inventions); they simply choose not to inflict their divine presence upon them.

## Principal Members

What makes the Bogovi stand apart is how controlled by their natures they are, but also the similarities a few among their number have to gods in other pantheons. Despite the similarities, the pantheon has no real structure like others; there is no real Godhead of the Bogovi, though Perun, Svarožic, Svantovit, and Svarog have all claimed that title at times. The simple fact remains that the pantheon exists in the land of crossroads, and that makes them wholly unique unto themselves. Several distinct but overlapping groups comprise the pantheon; their similarity to others is something they consider a strength.

Some of the principal members of the Bogovi include: Baba Yaga (Witch of the Woods), Byelobog (The White God), Chernobog (The Black God), Dažbog (Fire in the Sky), Khors (The Brilliant Light), Jarilo (The Bright Sun), Mokosh (The Great Mother), Morena (The White Death), Perun (The Great Protector), Radegast (The Hospitable Councilor), Stribog (Grandfather of All Winds), Svantovit (The Sacred Lord), Svarog (Fire of Creation), Svarožic (Fire of the Earth), Veles (Guardian of the Gates), Živa (The Most Beautiful), and Zorya (The Shining Star)

## Cosmology: Veledub Kosmos

Lands of fanciful fairy tales, heroic deeds, and the misty wonders of the otherworld, the territories of the Bogovi are legendary themselves. Unlike many other pantheons' lands, they may be stumbled into unawares, even by mortals with a touch of second-sight; the wonders of the Slavic otherworlds have always spilled over into the world of man.

### Peklo (Underworld)

*For detailed information: Peklo*

When one mentions the afterlife, people usually think of two separate and diametrically opposed places: heaven or hell. Peklo, however, is both. How it appears to any singular spirit depends on how they carried out their lives. Those who lived in accordance to their nature and upheld their honor and duty find themselves in Raj - A warm and lush, heavenly paradise where they want for nothing. Those who failed to uphold their honor and duty, however, experience not fire and brimstone as one would equate a hellish landscape; Nav is a dreary, frozen wasteland which falls under Veles' personal dominion, though he would gladly leave it for Morena to run, whose temperament is much suited for this miserable place.

### Tridevyatom Tsarstve (Overworld)

*For detailed information: Tridevyatom Tsarstve*

Just beyond the veil of the Mortal World lie thrice-nine lands, known only among the ancient Slavs as the Thrice-Tenth Kingdom. These are the realms of magic and fairytale, wonder and horror, where heroes make their mark and gods walk elbow to elbow with mortals. Nothing is too out of the ordinary in this place, and one can easily cross over into it unwittingly and find themselves in part of a story they heard in their childhood. Deep the dark forests surrounding this mystical place, however, is where Baba Yaga makes her home, and under the Bogovi's commands, the old witch rarely allowed mortals to venture far into the abode of the gods.

## Signature Magic: Dvoeverie

Since the beginning of their civilization, the Slavs and their gods have inhabited lands that stand at the crossroads of other peoples, seeing constant influxes of travelers, conquerors, and foreign explorers pass through over the years. Dvoeverie, literally meaning "double-faith" in the Slavic tongue, represents the pantheon's uncanny ability to adapt to these foreign ideas while remaining true to themselves. The Bogovi know that other deities cannot hope to stamp them out, merely bring with them new sources of worship that they can turn toward maintaining the divine balance of the natural orders.

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

#### General

* The Bogovi smell like rich, loamy earth after a heavy rain; accompanied by the rustling of dried, cracked leaves in fall.
* The current priority of the Bogovi is maintaining the status quo, as it were, but are realizing that doing so comes with a cost. They teeter on a precipice of adhering to their natures or doing what is roundly seen as the "right" thing and going against them for the sake of the world while being keenly aware that drawing too much attention to themselves and these actions may risk annihilation.
* The Bogovi possess all the traits inherent to greatness: honor, courage, conviction, and loyalty. However, they are still gods and are a capricious sort who operated on a level that isn't always suited to consideration of mortals – after all, they serve a much higher power and have a duty to their own nature to uphold. The more they stay true to this nature, the less likely they are to awaken Svarog, but that is not without its challenges in these modern times. In a world that is becoming increasingly more complicated and more aware of the forces at work behind the scenes, the less likely they are to abide by that nature. Besides, what could it hurt to indulge every now and then?
* The Bogovi rarely sired Scions throughout the entirety of their history. For them, the act of creating half-divine offspring is considered a grievous breach of cosmic laws and any Bogovi discovered responsible for the creation of a Scion would be harshly punished.
* Many people have noticed the similarities between Rod, the Supreme Being that the Bogovi claimed to have descended from, and Elliyoun, the Progenitor famously known as the Monotheistic God of the Abrahamic faiths. And while mortals would just chalk it up to ancient pagan myths being influenced by the Christianization of Slavic lands, divine historians know the similarities went back way further (possibly before the creation of Christianity even) and believed that the Bogovi might be one of the Tzevaot's lost colonies. However, with Rod's notable absence since the Bogovi's creation and the Tzevaot's notoriously secretive nature, the answer might never be fully revealed.

#### Relationships

* Compared to other pantheons where interpersonal squabbles are commonplace, the Bogovi are surprisingly civil to each other, even those who are diametrically opposed such as Perun and Veles, Dažbog and Veles, or even Veles and Veles (not even the Bogovi understand *how* or even *why*).
* The Bogovi have had dealings with many of the other pantheons in the past; simply staying out of the Mortal World does not prevent them from being cordial to their godly neighbors, and their position as gods of what was once the center of the world has allowed them to observe and aid other pantheons for quite some time. While some pantheons view their shifting natures and undefinable powers with suspicion, the Slavic gods themselves seldom consider other deities their enemies.
* Their general interactions with other pantheons are as follows:
	+ **The Æsir**: The Norse gods are puzzled by the Bogovi, who by rights should be among their greatest foes. The long history of the Æsir and their people invading the Slavic lands seems not to bother too many of their gods, however, who tend to view their Viking counterparts as overly excitable and prone to rash action, but not actively malevolent. The Vanir members of the pantheon, in particular, enjoy the company of the Bogovi, relating to their focus on the natural world and refusal to involve themselves in the messy business of conquest.
	+ **The Devá**: The Bogovi and the Devá have plenty of mutual respect for one another; both pantheons understand the need for harmony in the world and respect the other's willingness to endure any hardship on their way to achieving their goals. While the Bogovi are unimpressed by their eastern allies' insistence on their silly theory of a world fashioned of illusion, they are nevertheless always willing to help them when that world is in jeopardy.
	+ **The Loa**: The Bogovi look down sharply upon the Loa; their direct and dangerous interference with their mortal worshippers, they feel, is an unpardonable usurpation of their free will and more likely to get their hapless mortal vessels killed than save them. They have, so far, mostly expressed their disapproval by ignoring the Loa with all the deep-freeze cold-shoulder at their disposal, behavior which confuses the free-spirited Vodoun gods because they are unsure what they have done to deserve it.
	+ **The Theoi**: Oddly enough, the Greco-Roman gods are extremely suspicious of their Slavic neighbors; any pantheon whose lands could be invaded and conquered by them that many times without retaliation must be plotting some truly horrific vengeance which they are constantly on alert for. Despite all this paranoia, the Bogovi are not actually concerned by the Theoi's past transgressions and (aside from a few hot-headed malcontents among their ranks) are willing to let bygones be bygones in the service of the greater good.
	+ **The Tuatha Dé**: Though they probably would not admit it, the Bogovi tend to admire the Tuatha Dé, who embody a kind of free-willed abandon and enthusiasm that they often cannot afford when the balance of the world hangs over them. They would never trust them with any real responsibility, of course, but they are entertaining to spend time with, fantastic guests and excellent warriors, sentiments that the Irish gods echo about them in turn.
	+ **The Yazata**: The Slavic gods have historically been close allies of the Persian deities, admiring their determination to combat evil with a minimum of suffering inflicted upon the Mortal World. Though they do not always agree with the Yazata's somewhat black-and-white view of things, the Bogovi are generally willing to support them and seldom suspect them of being capable of any real misbehavior.

### Notes

* Bogovi is the Slavic word for "gods". Its singular form is "Bog".