Pantheon of Gods

The Outer Planes are a crystallization of moral temperament and elemental force into purpose-built biomes, each dominated by one or several cosmic entities. These beings exist at a stratus of power which is completely incomprehensible to all but the most transcendent mortals. Those entities which have had dealings with the peoples of Munda have been called "gods," due to the seeming limitlessness of their powers--a title which most of the celestials are pleased to take. These powers are, however, limited in a curious capacity. The gods may only use their power upon the mortal plane of Munda by channeling it through a living mortal conduit. Without a mortal soul willing and powerful enough to channel the god's energy, they are unable to act upon the plane. Their presence thus limited, they can only contact these mortals through dreams, offering power for obedience. And so it is that priesthoods and cults have formed around the various gods, each with more or less the same arrangement. The god grants a portion of its powers to its mortal followers so long as they continue to act out its will upon the earth.

Most gods are happy to leave it thus, and live under a mutually beneficial arrangement with their followers. Others, however, rage at the barrier separating them from Munda, ever seeking for loopholes through which to invade and conquer.

As the planarverse is infinite, it is certain that there are gods which have never shown themselves to the mortal plane and others still which were once worshipped and eventually forgotten. As such, the Pantheon is merely an enumeration of those gods with current dealings on the mortal plane. In the current era, these are generally said to consist of the Six Outer Gods and the Munda Triad.

## The Munda Triad

The strangest of the known gods are the Munda Triad, three separate entities which invested the whole of their celestial energies into creating the mortal plane. In a sense, they *are* the plane, a single system formed by a trinity of gods, forged by their sacrifice into a working whole. Each of these gods still exists as an individual entity, however they are in a decentralized state which operates under largely subconscious direction.

#### **The Strictum**

The Strictum is less a personality and more a set of rules and calculations, a pure expression of internally consistent law. It provides the backbone of Munda, freezing time into a unidirectional constant upon which is built causality and the entirety of physics, the laws which all matter upon the plane must follow.

#### **Caelius**

Caelius is the polar opposite of the Strictum. It is a spirit of chaos and chance, said to be the source of luck and the freedom for life to grow and change. Caelius is also the patron of sorcery, granting mortals access to arcane energy which allows practitioners to warp and overrule natural law.

#### **The World Tree**

The Many-Skins, greatest of the triad, forms the spirit of the world itself. It created and shaped all of the physical matter of Munda, poured out the oceans and carved massive continents. Then the spirit shattered its great soul into innumerable pieces, each of which formed the seed for a mortal life. These seeds are recycled from generation to generation, animating new forms with each rebirth. It is said that even in this fragmented state, the mighty will of the World Tree prevails. The many mortal shards commune through their dreams, the time at which one's spirit is moored loose and allowed to roam the planes. Through this web of constant subconscious connections, the Tree prods its mortal lives toward the completion of its aims--namely, the preservation of Munda's future.

The Tree is the eldest of the known gods, and years have made it canny and wise. Its touch upon the world is subtle, but even a subtle touch can snowball into great happenings.

## The Six Outer Gods

The Outer Gods fill more traditional roles of godhood, attempting to guide and control the mortal world through the actions of their worshippers.

#### **Lluvia**

    Lluvia is a benevolent goddess of law and order. Patron of the celestial plane and favorite of Paladins, her glittering legions wage eternal war against the evils of the planes, replacing them with benign but stifling Law. She takes interest in the affairs of mortals, trying to guide them toward the creation and expansion of lawful societies which are molded in her understanding of justice. In the past, many empires have been built in her name to spread her writ far across the known world. In these uncivilized times, however, her power is currently at a nadir.

#### **Alma**

    Alma is known as Mother Mercy, a goddess of peace, healing, and forgiveness. She is the patron of the positive energy plane, and friend to all things living. She grants use of her power strictly to healers, so that they may protect and restore the precious gift of mortal life. The Cult of the Youth in Lazar claims their patron deity to be her offspring, but the truth of this matter is unconfirmed. It is more likely that the Youth was merely a mortal of great magical potential, whose body was utilized by the goddess as a conduit to protect the Lazarenes.

#### **Victus**

Victus is the God of Thunder, a warrior's god. It is said that he leads a great warband through the Outer Planes in a never ending crusade against evil. Further, some claim that the souls of those who die in righteous battle are allowed to join his ranks, though this is based on an erroneous apprehension of how souls work. There is little in the way of organized worship of Victus, for his nature is chaotic and free. Such that exists comes in the form of soldier cults which often form spontaneously among campaigning armies. These have no unified rituals or canon law. The only holy symbol Victus claims is the axe, in any of its many forms.

#### **Ignotean**

Ignotean is the Archfiend of Hell, an unusual plane shared by two opposing factions: the lawful devil legions, and the chaotic hordes of daemons. Ignotean is ambitious and powerful, with the ultimate goal of dominating all sentient spirits in the planarverse. He is in constant war with the other Powers of the Outer Planes, including those who cohabit Hell with him. His devil legionnaires are constantly battling the daemons of Hell, the corrupted spawn of the Chiaropticae. The armies of Hell enslave the wild daemons, cage them, and use their destructive power to wage war on the other planes. Most of all, Ignotean covets the plane of Munda, seeing it as a rich prize to be earned by one clever enough to snatch it. For Ignotean knows that in the process of creating Munda, the Triad has made themselves vulnerable, incapable of utilizing their power for self defense. With the right opportunity, the Dark God could claim their essence for his own, unmaking three gods with one stroke, and empowering himself enough to conquer the planarverse. In the aeons since the creation of the Mortal Plane, Ignotean has made several attempts to breach and destroy it--each of which eventually failed in the face of mortal resistance.

#### **Chiaropticae**

The Chiaropticae are twin spiders, primordial beings of chaos and insatiable hunger. Ever since they crawled out of the darkness of the Void they have sought to devour one another, but being perfect twins in power and cunning, neither has been able to succeed. So instead they rampage the planes, devouring lesser spirits in a vain attempt to assuage their hunger. These spirits are warped and changed by digestion within the dark gods' foul chaotic essence, and rebirthed as cruel daemons which infest the planes.

#### **Soltis/The Nameless One**

Originally a god of indiscriminate punishment, Soltis resided upon a plane of fire and light, aspected as the Sun. With the creation of the Mortal Plane, Soltis saw an opportunity. There, his judgments took on a permanence not found among the planes. He could use them to shape the future. And so he did, taking patronage over the Lizard Tribes of the young earth, speaking through their dreams. Upon gathering a priesthood, he used them to harshly forge the Tribes into a fledgling civilization, and thence into a massive empire. In the process, the God did not realize that he was changed as well, taking on a sense of paternal duty toward his followers. The discovery of this change would prove a brutal lesson.

Ignotean, seeing Soltis as a rival for the prize of Munda, jockeyed to destroy his religious following. Of course, the only way to do so was to destroy Lizardfolk culture itself. Ignotean took advantage of the desperation of those peoples being colonized by the Lizard Empire, offering them a way to strike back at their oppressors. They took him up on the bargain, and to fulfil it the dark god used his new followers to call down a titanic meteor, causing mass extinction in a continent-wide Catastrophe and then enslaving the surviving Lizardfolk with a terrible, parasitic curse released from the meteor's depths. This parasite, designed as a living bridge between Ignotean and his victims, allowed him to torment them through the ages, preventing them from ever again forming stable societies. Soltis was devastated. The god turned inward and in his despair, his entire home plane was swallowed in darkness, radiating misery, misfortune, and tragedy out into the planarverse. In time his identity was forgotten, and he was known only as The Nameless One, a harbinger of Doom and ill luck. And so it would stay, until a group of mortals conspired to right the ancient wrongs against his followers.