The Agostrian Faith - Pantheon of the Namers

The Agostrian faith takes its name from Agos the Ruler, the mythical parental figure of the Namer-pantheon. Its followers believe that the Namers spoke the world into existence and named the forces of nature into being. In many ways, they are tied to mankind as they gave them their names. It is said that every living being that is born only does so because it is given a name by one of the Namers.

The Namers are, according to the Agostrians, opposed to the forces of the Lord of Lies, who is a master of illusion and trickery. They believe that in the beginning, the Lord of Lies took the form of a God and walked among them as an equal. They say that the Lord of Lies misled some of the Gods into following him, and that he became their King. The Agostrians thus believe that the Golden King, the Emperor in Shadow, is but one of many faces of the Lord of Lies, evil incarnate.

The Agostrians believe that only Agos saw through the lies and disguise of the Lord of Lies, and that the Heavenly War erupted as Agos and the rest of the Namers attempted to banish evil from reality. Agostrians believe that this war was ultimately won by the Namers at the price of Agos' life and that Agos banished the Lord of Lies to the Abyss and sealed him in the Void.

Agostrians also believe in the dead God Eoth of Might, who supposedly gave his life to Name the material plane, which made mortal lives possible.

## Gods of the Agostrian Faith

While the Agostrian pantheon recognizes numerous Gods, it most predominantly features three gods; Kaeth, Maag and Gareth. The Namers are commonly linked to the primal powers of magic and sorcery.

### Agos the Ruler (dead)

Former ruler of the Agostrian gods, believed to have died during their battle with the Shadeite family in the beginning of time. Little else is know about Agos, but the divine figure is believed to be a divinity of Death and Knowledge and is said to have had a relationship with a Shadeite in the beginning of the conflict. It is said that Agos defeated the Lord of Lies and trapped him in the Abyss. After Eoth created the material plane, it is said that Agos gave their lifeforce to create the first living organisms inhabiting the plane, and that from Agos’ creation, all life springs.

### Eoth of Might (dead)

At the end of the war, Eoth is said to have been the strongest divinity standing possessing immense might. While Eoth is considered an Agostrian deity, it is believed that Eoth was of both bloodlines. Eoth’s power is said to have dwarfed even that of Agos and the Shadow Emperor, but that he was opposed to the conflict. As the divine figures licked their wounds in anticipation of another struggle, Eoth is said to have created the material plane as a means to end the conflict. Eoth used a great deal of his power, and ended up creating the Nexus, the source of all magical power,by drawing upon all of his power and that of the other divinities, thus consuming his life. It is said that Eoth knew that it would claim his life, but he also knew that it was the best way to preserve peace between the divine bloodlines, as it would force them to battle in a more indirect manner. Eoth’s half-sister, Kaeth, would honor her half-brother’s wishes and invest much of her time leading the Agostrians to create worlds all across the Material plane, speaking them into existence using much of Eoth’s power and legacy.

### Kaeth of the Void (Death domain, Grave Domain, Arcana domain)

Kaeth is the god of the Underworld and the guardian of the gates to the Abyss. It is her responsibility to weigh the souls of the dead and to damn those whose soul is dark to Dreadlords of the Abyss and lead those who pass to Edrinian Fields. Kaeth is the strongest among the living Agostrians and has the strongest connection to the Great Nexus at the center of creation, which she is also said to guard in the underworld that connects all the worlds of the Material plane to the higher planes. She gave life to the material plane by gifting a piece of the nexus to each world, creating concentrated pools of life in a dark and cold universe. As much as Kaeth is a goddess of death, she is a goddess of life as well, as Kaeth creates as well as destroys. It was important to Kaeth that all life that sprung from Eoth’s sacrifice understand his sacrifice, and thus Kaeth dictated as she Named life into existence that all that live must also die so that they, when they reach their eternal grave, do so knowing what Eoth sacrificed for them.

Kaeth is also the great enemy of the forces Chaos and the Abyss after the Agostrians defeated the Lord of Lies and his Dreadlords and as the last great deed of Agos the Ruler, her parent, she views it as her duty to safeguard their prison. And so, Kaeth spends most of her life in the Underworld, on the brink between the living, the dead and the divine, sitting by the Gate of the Abyss, at the end of the Blood River as the judge of the living and dead alike.

Kaeth is worshipped by many as the ultimate judge and defender of life, worshipped by rulers and commoners alike. It is said that she is the most important deity to please, as she governs in death as in life, while the rest only govern over the living. In many ways, she is viewed as the alpha and the omega.

### Maag of Dreams (Knowledge Domain, Light Domain)

Maag is on of the oldest of the living Agostrian deities, said to be of the same generation as Agos the Ruler, and often acts as a guide and advisor to the Namers and Kaeth in particular. Maag gave mankind dreams to keep them in the light even during the darkest nights, but she is a chaotic deity. In her pursuit to make mankind develop and realize greater truths that lie beyond, she is as want to send nightmares as sweet dreams. It is said that once, the Lord of Lies broke out of his prison to bring great despair upon one of the worlds of the material plane and Maag, in an attempt to stop this horror, was captured and tortured by the Lord of Lies. Her madness, though brief, encompassed all the mortal realms and every man, woman and child, was cursed to a century of horrific nightmares. It is said that when Maag sleeps, she is sometimes reminded of this great trauma, and this is when the Great Shadow draws near. Throughout Ultheles, those attuned to her suffer horrific nightmares and sleep paralysis, as they witness brief glimpses of what she suffered. Her powers are also said to be able to manifest dreams into reality.

### Gareth of Wisdom (Knowledge domain, Trickery domain, Arcana domain)

Gareth is said to be the wisest and smartest among the Namers, yet his existence is in many ways nebulous. He is often represented by a statue with two faces, one solemn and stoic, one mischievous and smiling. It is said that Gareth was the one to teach the arts of magic to the mortals and told them that thereby they could rival even the gods themselves. Gareth thus has two names, Gareth the Corrupted and Gareth of Wisdom. In many ways, he is the trickster among the Namers and there is always a price to be paid for his advice. Some say that he is product of an intermingling of an Agostrian and a Dreadlord, which explains his chaotic and erratic nature and he regularly bothers the other Namers. He is also said to be able to fool just about any god among the Nameless as well and that he has even lived among them for long periods of time.

Gareth is the god of the hidden wisdoms and scientific inquiry. He is rarely worshipped, however, and doesn’t seem to be much bothered about that either.

### Gelus of the Axe (War domain, Tempest domain)

The Agostrian God of War, Gelus is storm and rage incarnate and with his axe he slaughters indiscriminately. Sometimes he is called En, the rager, the thunderlord. Gelus is not a god of forethought, but one of immediate action. He is said to have named lightning and storm to give life to the world. Gelus often follows Nuada’s lead and is regarded as somewhat of a brute by his peers. All the same, he is said to represent a closeness to nature and the natural cycle of life and death.

### Nuada the Ironclad (War domain, Strength domain)

Nuada, dressed in Iron, is the Goddess of War in the Agostrian pantheon alongside her brother-husband Gelus of the Axe Nuada is the cold and calculated battle commander and the goddess of Vengeance. With her blade, Widower, she commands the Namers in the field and is the patron of all battlefield commanders and soldier wives alike. She is the shieldmaiden and said to have named Iron into existence. She is one of the few among the Namers whom it is said still seeks vengeance upon the Nameless, and is often involved in dark schemes.

### Briganta the Green (Nature domain, Life Domain)

Briganta is the force of the natural world, and it is said she named wilderness and life into being. Like Gelus, she is unpredictable but in a much more stable way. Her spirit is ever close to the natural spirits, and some say that the Meredar recognize her strength. Still, she is the lightning that strikes on a cloudless sky, the beasts of the woodlands that defend their territories and the force that stands against civilization. She is not typically revered in the larger cities, but she is a deity that mankind must keep at peace, least she tear down all their machincations.