Elven Pantheon

The **Elven Pantheon** is the name of the religion followed mainly by elves, but also to a not so lesser extent, by dwarves.

The elven pantheon divides with the Drow Pantheon.

## **Deities**

* Larethia, **The Igniter,** core deity of the pantheon, goddess of enlightenment, arts and tactics.
* Moonbow, **The Dreamweaver,** a major deity of the pantheon, deity of secrets and grave.
* Celanil, **The Fatesealer**, a major deity of love and lasting relationships.
* Rillifane, **The All-Grower**, a major deity of nature and seasons.
* Aerdrie, **The Herald**, a minor deity of the skies and weather.
* Sashelas, **The Lord of the Abyss**, a minor deity of the sea and nature.

## **Principles**

The elven religion is based upon the quest for understanding of eternity. As Elves reincarnate, their souls being carried back to the Feywild when they die and brought back into new bodies when an elven child is born; the concept of death is very different for them than for other cultures.

Every deity of the pantheon brings its own answer to the question : *what is eternity*?

## **Original Schism**

#### **Prime Fey God**

The Drow Pantheon originated from the schism between Larethia and Lloth in the Feywild.

An original Fey God was the embodiment of life, chaos, primality, and the deity of the very first elves - although they were very different from the ones in the Material Plane. Those elves had immense magic and were immortal, perfectly linked to the Feywild that they originated from.

#### **Disappearance of the God**

Eventually, the Fey God vanished - theories and legends are very distinct and do not agree with each other, although all share that it disappeared abruptly. However, the Fey God left behind a number of elves and minor deities, children of the Fey God, that had to rise to lead their people. Unsure of how to proceed, the deities were alarmed and focused on finding back their creator : but the elves started changing. They began to show the weaknesses of age, frailer bodies and minds, sickness and even death. The Feywild itself started to show aggression towards the elves : the Fey creatures, not recognizing them with kinship, turned on them. This is where the schism divided two factions of deities.

#### **Eternity & Transcience**

A large faction wanted to keep the elves in the Feywild, while they kept searching all across the planes for signs of their original god. Larethia, deity of Tactics and Enlightenment, put in place cosmic stategies on a multi-dimensional scale to find any trace of it. Many other deities joined in this process.

Lloth, twin sister of Larethia, showed great distress seeing the elves wither away and face hardship. She proposed to move the elves to the Material Plane to save them - at the price of irremediably separating them from the Feywild. Larethia and the others refused - and this led to a great conflict to save the elven race. One faction fought for the immortal redeeming of elves, while the other battled to preserve the race even if it meant to face death.

Eventually, with the help of minor but less kind-hearted deities and elves who believed in her salvation, Lloth managed to pierce through the planes, and moved the whole race onto Falon'Rakk, no matter how displeased were Larethia and her allies.

#### **Above and Below**

For that, Larethia cursed Lloth and her followers to never see the light again, and live underground, away from the breeze and the leaves that they grew up with in the Feywild. Those were named "Drow", "Those under". To the elves that stayed faithful to her (called "Eladrin", "the first elves"), Larethia granted them a partial immortality : with the help of Moonbow, the two deities would secure the departing souls of the elves, bring them back to the Feywild in an ethereal state where they can regain energy before being sent back onto the Material Plane.

With time, Eladrin adapted to their environment, becoming High Elves, Wood Elves, Sea Elves, and developed with the friendship of the dwarves. Prejudice still exists between Eladrin, their descendants and Drows; but slowly do the newer generations reach towards each other and attempt to overcome past boundaries. It is, however, still exceptional to see a Drow elf on the surface, and for anyone of the surface to travel to the Drow cities, buried deep underground.