Religion

There are many gods that influence Caen, acting upon the world from afar. The presence of these gods was only reaffirmed during the claiming, when the gods sent their archons, beings of divine grace to assist the world. The most prevalent are as follows.

## Morrow

Morrow is one of the twin gods and is the lord of light and community. Morrow the was the first known divinity to ascend to godhood from mortality, doing so after he sacrificed himself to spare his city from his sister Thamar's wrath. The Church of Morrow is one of the largest human faiths in Immoren, with worshippers among every human nation. The Church of Morrow extolls "goodness" in its followers, which is a simplification of Morrows actual teachings but one that plays well towards the masses.

After the end of the Claiming, the Church of Morrow declared a policy of religious tolerance for those who assisted against the Infernals. This writ has been accepted by most, though there are those that haven't let go of their prejudices against groups that were traditionally referred to as evil cults by the Church.

## Thamar

Thamar is the other of the twin gods and is the goddess of knowledge in all forms, self expression, and individuality. Thamar is also known as a champion of the downtrodden and oppressed. Thamar ascended to divinity shortly after her brother after dying at the hands of her brother's followers. Often viewed poorly as many of her followers practice dark arts and rituals. With necromancy and other magics that led to the Church of Morrow often arresting Thamarite cults for heresies.

Thamar was behind the original bargain with the Infernals that gave humanity magic. Thamar knew the cost of the bargain, though viewed the deal to be necessary to save humanity in Immoren. Thamar didn't intend to honor the bargain, however and when the Claiming began she sent her archons to fight beside those of her brother, placing the siblings together for the first time since the Orgoth invasion.

## Menoth

Menoth, also known as the *Lawgiver* is a deity that is believed to be the creator of mankind. Menoth is often depicted as a towering masked giant and his existence and role as mankind's creator is believed by humans of both Immoren and Zu as well the as non-human worshipers of Dhunia. This chase led Menoth and the Wurm away from the physical world to Urcaen, a spiritual mirror of Caen. Occupied by these battles, Menoth had no time to shelter or guide humanity, and the scattered tribes were left to their own devices in the wild places. Much of humanity forgot their Creator and many turned to worship the Wurm.

On learning that much of humanity had forgotten their Creator, Menoth became wrathful and returned his attention to Caen to reprimand the neglectful mortals however but the harsh indignities of human life tempered his rage. In the face of this fearsome manifestation, many human tribes abandoned their false gods and hastily sought to regain Menoth’s, while others fled deeper into the wilderness and refusing to give up their beliefs. Those who begged his forgiveness he treated with mercy and benevolence, bestowing upon them gifts that formed the foundation for Menite civilization: the Flame, the Wall, the Sheaf, and the Law and he promised to shelter his followers after death in a domain called the City of Man where the Wurm could not reach them while nothing but endless torment would await those who turned from him.

The worship of Menoth is ancient, predating the Church of Morrow by millennia. Menoth is a strict, vengeful deity, credited by most humans (even those who follow the Twins) with the creation of the world and mankind. It's unquestionable that Menoth exists, for his priests were once the powerful ruling class of the land. Alas for Menoth, the more uplifting and tolerant message of Morrow began to take hold with the people, and today the worship of Menoth is a minority faith everywhere except the Protectorate.

## Cyriss

Cyriss, Maiden of Gears, Mistress of Numbers, also known as the Clockwork Goddess, is a fairly recent addition to the land's pantheon. Her worship became known only a few centuries ago, at about the time Men and dwarves began to build sophisticated machines and delve into new kinds of math and philosophy. Cyriss is largely unconcerned with the fate of individuals. Most of her effort is spent writing and overseeing the natural laws that govern the realm of science and engineering, though she will take action directly or through her followers when something threatens the natural order of things. She appears as a humanoid, but she is not a human goddess; her worshippers are largely human but also include a number of dwarves and even some gobbers and members of other races inclined toward engineering.

Understanding the mind of Cyriss and revealing the true nature of the multiverse is a process of divine revelation to her worshippers. For this reason engineers and scholars often pay Cyriss their respects, but true fanatics and clerics are hard to find with the culture of Men and dwarves so dominated by their traditional religions. Many of the most devout followers of Cyriss believe that machines are holy, and those who build and tend them are society's superior caste. Some even believe that in mathematics there may be found some superior method for managing the world's affairs – a place for everyone, and everyone in their place, with some kind of divine calculating machine overseeing everything with cold precision.

During the Claiming, worshippers of Cyriss played a crucial part in humanity's salvation. Cultists turned a machine that was an attempt to bring the Clockwork Goddess to Caen, into a portal to transport refugees off of the planet into the constellation that makes up the goddess's body. After the claiming, worship of Cyriss has increased, partially due to the writ of religious tolerance and also in the hopes that someone can reopen a path to those who left.

## Devourer Wurm

Although often referred to as a legendary monster rather than a god, the Devourer is the ancient foe of Menoth, bane of humanity's creator. Also known as the Beast of Many Shapes, Lord of Predators, and the Unsleeping One, the Devourer is an ancient force of natural chaos which hates everything civilized. When Menoth was the dominant religion, the Devourer was considered the great foe, although its role as enemy of mankind has been reduced since the rise of the twins.

Despite its reputation the Devourer has always drawn worshipers among many races, particularly those living in the wilds or of chaotic alignment. Many human barbarians, gobbers, trollkin, and ogrun worship the Devourer, and claim this god is the most ancient power from the dawn of the world. Since the near extinction of the human barbarian tribes, there are no longer any large territories in the hands of Devourer worshipers. The largest pockets are found in the mountains of Khador, the Bloodstone Marches, and the Scharde Islands. Small cults to the Devourer can be found across the Iron Kingdoms, usually in remote locations or in secret tunnels beneath cities and towns. Human druids in the Iron Kingdoms believe their power derives from the Devourer, but do not actually worship this entity.

## Dhunia

Considered a primitive religion by the "civilized" races of the Iron Kingdoms, Dhunia's worship is widespread among the more peaceful gobbers, trollkin and ogrun. According to these races, the world and all life are aspects of Dhunia, the great mother of the world. Their creation myth depicts Dhunia,the Great Mother of Caen, as their divine mother, and the Devourer as their divine father, and insist that Menoth did not make the world even if he was the creator of humanity. Further, worshipers of Dhunia do not expect to experience an afterlife when they die, but instead believe in reincarnation where their souls are recycled by Dhunia to be born again. Dhunia's faith is relatively passive and has no large agenda or plans, nor is there any form of central organization or structure. Each race has its own representation of the goddess, but the most common is a very abstract sculpture or figurine of a pregnant woman.

This religion has been tolerated by the Church of Morrow since it appears to have no designs on human worshipers, although those who believe in her are treated with condescension. The followers of Menoth are not so tolerant, and consider Dhunia simply another face of the Devourer Wurm.

## The Great Fathers

The dwarves do not have a single patron deity. Instead, they worship a group of divine forefathers, the thirteen paragons that spawned their race. These divine Great Fathers founded the original Thirteen Families millennia ago, and their blood is said to provide all dwarves with their legendary fortitude. The Great Fathers' most direct descendants are called the Stone Lords, and these powerful and respected individuals sit at the head of the dwarven Moot today as they have since the first days. Being strong with the Great Fathers' blood, the Stone Lords are unusually hardy and live a very long time, often surpassing two hundred winters.

Each Great Father is, practically speaking, a demigod, though dwarven folk only worship them as a lawful good unity. An individual Great Father is never singled out as a cleric's sole patron, for this is considered disrespectful and ignorant. The Fathers as a group gave life to dwarvenkind, and as a group they will always be worshipped. Nonetheless, each Father has his own personality, holidays, parables and sphere of influence, and it is common to say a prayer or a curse in a particular Father's name as the situation warrants it.

## The Divine Court

The gods of the elves are truly dead, with the remaining two dying at the end of the claiming. The deaths of the pantheon has had ramifications for the elven people, with many Iosans being born without souls and priests losing their connections to the now deceased gods. Despite this, worship of the final two members of the divine court still continues in the remaining elves, though has taken on an air of grief for their dead deities. Some former clerics tell of a new connection that has formed in the absence of Scyrah or Nyssor, though no one knows what this might herald.

The final two elven gods were Scyrah and Nyssor, the goddess and god of spring and winter respectively. The two gods were the only survivors of whatever tragedy befell the other members of the elven pantheon many years ago and were waning in strength ever since. Elves had many responses to this outcome with a sect going out and searching for any potential solution to the gods plight, while another sect blamed human magic for this situation and set about killing all human mages that they could in order to strengthen their dying gods.