Ordic pantheon

The **Ordic pantheon** was the pantheon traditionally worshiped by the Kingdom of Orden in North Zelmaya, a continent on Alterra. Since the fracturing of Orden following the First War of Succession, worship of the Ordic pantheon has waned somewhat over the following century, but pockets of the religion still hold out against conversion to the more popular Arkhosian pantheon.

The major deities of the Ordic pantheon - sometimes referred to as the **House of Ord** or the **Sacred Castle** - are Ord, Bahamat, Tiamat, Ix, Steva, Tacita, and Arakam. According to tradition, they reside within the halls of the old Castle Blackmarch in Skyfall, the traditional capital of Orden.

## The House of Ord

Chief among the Ordic pantheon is, unusually for most pantheons, its youngest member: the hero-god Ord, who was known in life as **Hákon Norgård** before his ascension to godhood following his death. Following the Fourth Valdic War, Hákon conquered much of the continent of North Zelmaya, fighting to unify mankind who had previously slaved under the banner of the giants, an effort that culminated in 5E 27 with the birth of the Kingdom of Orden.

Hákon ruled for 81 years and is widely considered by many to be the greatest example of human leadership in history. According to myth, upon his death, he was accepted into the ranks of godhood by the Platinum Dragon Bahamat, who bequeathed the newly-crowned Ord dominion over his fellow gods.

## The Sacred Castle

### Ord, the First King

King of the gods and patron saint of mankind: god of law, justice, order, and might. The hero-god of the Kingdom of Orden. Ord's divine domains include War, Strength, and Order.

### Lady Tacita, the Morning Radiance

The wife of Ord, the sunrise over the horizon. Goddess of life, light, and all joyous things. Ord worshiped the goddess Tacita in life, and when he claimed his godhood he too claimed her as his wife. Tacita's divine domains are Life, Light, Grave, and Forge.

### Lord Bahamat, the Platinum Dragon

The right hand of Ord, his most trusted lieutenant. God of the sky, lightning, and winter. The dragon of the north, who enacts swift vengeance upon those that cross his allies. Bahamat's divine domains include Tempest, Strength, Light, and Nature.

### Dame Tiamat, the Carrion Feeder

The ravens that feast upon the dead, she who knows the ways of man. Goddess of death and decay. The ruin of Tiamat is an endless battlefield, riddled with corpses feasted upon by crows. Tiamat's divine domains include Death, Grave, Arcana, and Twilight.

### Lord Ix, the Dragon-heart

God of glorious battle, the warmaster; god of strength, war, and protection. The paladin of righteous battle, whose heart burns with the machinations of war. Ix's divine domains include War, Strength, Protection, Death, and Zeal.

### Lord Steva, the Spymaster

The ceaseless watcher; the eyes in the dark. Patron god of thieves, spies, and those that seek secrets. Steva's knowledge is vast and endless, but so too is his greed and his covetous nature for that which he does not know. Steva's divine domains include Arcana, Knowledge, Trickery, and Twilight.

### Arakam, the Crone

The eldest and wisest of the Ordic pantheon, Arakam is an old goddess of the harvest, and the cycle of the seasons. She watches the seasons come and go, and with them the rest of history. Arakam's divine domains are Life, Nature, Peace, and Grave.