The Gods of Lorone

## The Divine Pantheon:

The Gods of the multiverse are entities of great power that tend to control or encompass some aspect(s) of mortal existence. Most deities have existed since the dawn of creation - the inception of free thought and concept.

However, some Gods have been elevated to their positions by way of naming them as the heir to a position by the God who once ruled that domain, or by ascending from a lower status, such as that of a mortal, to that of a deity. This is typically by being granted the powers necessary by a force, such as another God, artifact, or magic, on top of having a level of power rivaling that of demigods and other beings of Godlike power.

**Paladins and Clerics:**

The Gods tend to share roles, as they encompass ideas and their array of powers can converge into one another. This is seen especially when observing the powers clerics gain from their God’s domain.

Paladins typically take oaths according to their God and receive blessing or power from them. But, this is not always the case as fiends, celestials and other entities of near Godlike power can take the place of a deity for the purposes of granting magical power - similar to a warlock.

Breaking one’s oath is not to be taken lightly, and typically cannot be ended amicably unless by the approval of the entity your power as a paladin comes from.

However, oaths exist which do not have specific tenets. The aptly named Death Paladins *(DMG p82 Oathbreaker)* tend to make deals and follow a set of parameters as opposed to that of ideals. Death Paladins are always either sworn to Pali, or to an Archfiend of hell. When sworn to Pali, one would typically be instructed to carry out her will on the Material Plane; slaying unnatural undead and fiends, and putting a stop to anything disrupting the cycle of life. However, the alternative is that the paladin makes a pact with an Archfiend, typically in return for any combination of (but typically 3 or so of the following):

* Their soul
* Eternal servitude
* Abstinence from their patron’s machinations
* Fealty to their patron and the formation of a cult in their patron’s name
* Theft or assassination against a rival/deity.

## **The Gods of Lorone:**

The Gods of Lorone encompass all of Lorone’s culture and infrastructure, because it was by their powers and the gifts they bestowed upon mortals that civilization began and sustains itself as it does. This is especially true regarding the use of divine magic to fight back the forces of chaos and evil that threaten the living, as well as to sustain and heal those in need. Though, it can be argued this is a negative thing because it has stunted the growth of non-magic-based technology and medical science severely, making mortality resent the Gods slowly as time and education progresses.

The Gods of Lorone, like all deities, control a portfolio of aspects that they hold interest and power in. Theirs being numerous and rarely overlapping due to their few numbers. Likewise, many have materials that originate from their own planes of dominion, bestowed upon mortals in miracle-like fashion. A mortal would be lucky to see even an ingot worth of these materials in their lifetime; and even less likely own an item forged or imbued with one.

### *Gali (Lawful Evil):*

Divine Portfolio: Fire, Passion, War, The Forge, The Sun, Ambition, Tyranny, Fear.

Divine Form: Lion or Phoenix with a mane of fire. A titanic, burly man or woman (typically androgenous) with ash grey skin, long flowing hair of fire, burning cat eyes and a suit of Inflammium armour decorated with lions, tiger stripes and fire - bursting with steam and cinders.

#### Divine Material:

Inflammium *(Legendary, Material)*, found within Gali’s plane or gifted by the deity in the form of tools, weapons, and/or armour. It is believed to be the power of a volcano condensed into metal, it enhances the wielder’s prowess in war along with the affinity for fire to a level that rivals the God’s own high ranking legionnaires.

Cinderite *(Rare, Material)*, a man-made replica of Inflammium that is used sparingly to enhance certain weapons and armour with fire-based enchantments mimicking Inflammium’s own to a much lesser effect by infusing an object with it or crafting it partially with Cinderite built-in. It is rare to find anything using a Cinderite infusion, but a hefty payment, usually in the thousands, could pay a skilled smith to forge or sell one.

### *Arcti (Neutral Evil):*

Divine Portfolio: Ice, Cold, Winter, Patience, Knowledge, Solitude, Solidarity, Storms, Oceans, Magic, Wisdom, Protection.

Divine Form: A snow owl. A winter wolf. An androgenous man (or woman) with stark white chin length hair, smooth fair skin, and sharp grey eyes. They wear flowing ice blue robes with white runic accents. Typically seen with a book and a Permafrost sickle on hand.

#### Divine Material:

Permafrost *(Legendary, Material)*, found within Arcti’s plane or gifted by the deity in the form of tools, weapons, and other wondrous items. It is believed to be an unshatterable ice that can weather any condition, be it extreme heat or an unstoppable force that would topple even glaciers. It enhances the wielder’s prowess in battle, magic, and plays to the creativity of the user; a quality befitting of the God’s most esteemed mages and thinkers.

Never-melt Ice *(Rare, Material)*, a man-made replica of Permafrost that is used sparingly to enhance certain tools, weapons and armour with ice-based enchantments mimicking Permafrost’s own to a much lesser effect by meticulous and precise craftsmanship. It is rare to find anything using Never-melt Ice as a material, but a hefty payment in the thousands of gold pieces could pay a skilled smith or artisan to forge or sell one.

### *Bonti (Neutral Good):*

Divine Portfolio: Fertility, Harvests, Nature, Extroversion, Relaxation, Sex, Romance.

Divine Form: A raven. A bull. A man (of varying build between that of a bodybuilder or a heavy drinker) with long flowing hair with the consistency of straw, and curls of grass and fruit bearing branches, dresses lazily, wears a mix between a hat, sunglasses and typically carries a drink (whatever is perceived as “cool” by mortal standards).

### *Eni (Chaotic Good):*

Divine Portfolio: Life, Creativity, Boundless Energy, Unpredictability, Entropy, Living Creatures/Beings, Nature.

Divine Form: A ram. A rabbit. A humanoid fey who is conventionally attractive but rather normal minus the small hints to his nature - a rabbit pelt, ram horn motif, etc.

### *Pali (Lawful Neutral):*

Divine Portfolio: Death, Graves, Finality, Endings, Pathways, Order of Life and Death, Rebirth, Age, Grief, Acceptance, The Moon

Divine Form: A Bat. A Moon with eyes for craters. Dark mist in the form of a deathly thin woman. A skeletal person in a wisp-like, tattered pitch-black robe that covers their body with a black veil masking a white glow where their face would be (if the veil is lifted, it is a blank marble slab that shrieks like a banshee when exposed).

### *“The Shadowbound” (aka, Secret 6th) (Chaotic Evil):*

Divine Portfolio: Thieves, Luck, Beggars, Charity, Deception, Secrets, Intrigue, Misdirection, Murder, Shadows. (Briefly held the domain of Law and Knowledge in 23 CA)

Divine Form: ???. Could be anyone or anything.

### *Hori (True Neutral):*

Divine Portfolio: Time, Space, Order, Sight, Divination, Fatalism, Destiny, Abstinence.

Divine Form: A gargantuan winged pearl dragon whose scales shine with the luster of crystals.

Additional Note: Hori is also the patron of all gem dragons, though these dragons have long since become extinct or have hidden away on the Material Plane due to many mortal creatures fearing their magic and psionic abilities.

## **Gods of Law (Mortals Who Became Gods):**

Throughout Lorone’s history, many mortals have ascended to Godhood, taking the portfolio of the Nameless Law God, who died millenia ago in the process of Lorone’s founding, after the Nameless Law God died separating Lorone from the rest of the greater multiverse.

### *Brohn (Lawful Good):*

Ascended: 0 CA

Deceased: 0 CA

Replaced by: Joeri Celeste

Divine Portfolio: Law, Order, Magic, Altruism, Absolution, Judgement, Self-sacrifice, Absolutism, Fear, Ambition, Control.

Divine Form: A gold eyed eagle. A well built elven man of sculpturesque beauty with wavy silver hair and warm, glowing golden eyes that hold little emotion.  He wears no clothing except for a long flowing white and blue robe fashioned into a loincloth. On his back he has the three pairs of stark white wings like that of a seraphim angel protruding from his back.

### *Joeri (Lawful Good):*

> *Main article: Joeri Celeste*
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Ascended: 0 CA

Deceased: 32nd Eni, 23 CA.

Replaced by: Azrael Celeste, Desdemona Diswun, Tia Matthews, Jebediah Blackwood,

Divine Portfolio: Law, Order, Magic, Understanding, Protection, Knowledge, Consideration, Heroism, Self-sacrifice.

Divine Form: His mortal form. A dove. A white barked, humanoid treant with the face and arms of his mortal form exposed in a hollowed section in the middle. His face is split down the middle like a pair of panels, his arms are joined at the middle perfectly.

## **Old Gods of Lorone (Gods of Attunia)**

> *Main article: Old Gods of Lorone*
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## **Places of Worship:**

Most if not all cities, towns, and villages have temples or shrines to deities in the centre or border of their areas.

Though naturally the size/quality of these temples should be proportionate to the country’s politics and wealth. For example, Blanksee would have lower quality Gali temples/shrines everywhere.

A poor village would only be able to afford shrines.

### *Worship of The 6th:*

“The Shadowbound” (Secret 6th) God’s shrines are never so obvious, hidden in plain sight. This is due to their worship being considered heresy by other faiths, and the world at large - though whether this was instigated by the hidden God themselves is unknown. But some believe this functions as a safety measure against revealing their existence.

To find a shrine to the God of thieves, a general rule of thumb is kept with the simple phrase:

*“Hide in the shadow of the light to avoid the eyes of death.”*

In reality, this is a set of instructions to find a shrine easily and consistently; look for a shrine of Pali, face the shrine of Gali, walk towards it until you find somewhere a coin (of any quality) has been hidden/placed. From there, the worshipper may place an offering of money, a valuable item, or trinket. However, this is not always the case, as a practitioner of secrecy should not be so consistent. Examples of “shrines” include, fountains, boulder piles, dirt piles, hollow trees.

Likewise, the oaths sworn by paladins of “The Shadowbound” God are also so secretive that they can be sworn in secret while swearing a normal sacred oath - so long as the intention to deceive even the greater powers is there. The powers granted by this oath against greater powers is known as the Oath of Treachery *(UAP p82 Oath of Treachery (UA))*. Their powers come from the wielder’s deceptive nature, and blessing of their God so long as their true nature is not compromised to the world at large; as this would reveal your heretical worship of The Shadowbound God. To be compromised is to be abandoned by “The Shadowbound” God, leaving you to live you life as an Oathbreaker and at constant threat of the hidden agents (e.g. assassins) both of your world and others.

Holy symbols especially are the telltale sign of these deceivers, as the holy symbol they are given from their falsified oath does nothing and is neither used for spellcasting, nor for channeling holy power (using your Channel Divinity). This may rouse suspicion when such a paladin invokes their powers, so caution when invoking powers involving a symbol is advised. Unknown to others, someone sworn to “The Shadowbound” has an item typically related to the God’s nature and aspects, even mundane items such as gold coins or daggers can function as a holy symbol to a paladin who swore an Oath of Treachery.

Likewise, clerics may swear fealty (willingly or not) to “The Shadowbound” God by rejecting the other Gods and vowing to serve under them. Those who do so willingly typically understand that their fate will be cut off from that of the other Gods and must live lives of secrecy; hiding holy symbols and instances of spellcasting from the world at large. Those who are unaware of their newfound fealty tend to simply be aware of their secretive nature, and are compelled to abide by it without facing some unknown punishment, either from their God or society as a whole.

## **The Afterlife:**

The afterlife is very simple, each deity has a heaven within their own dimensional spaces in the multiverse. Hell is managed by Pali as she judges the soul of the individual before being sent to their appropriate afterlife. If an individual is not a worshipper of any God, they are either given a choice of God’s dimension to live in or they are automatically sent according to their mortal ideals (e.g. alignment).

### *Afterlife for Outsiders:*

Fiends, elementals, celestials, and other entities partially composed of the essence of a plane (that typically is not the Material Plane) or divine power (such as divine lineage, or link to a deity or god-like creature) do not have souls in the conventional sense. Most of these creatures tend to be immortal, and do not expect death to come, if ever. For the sake of ease, we can refer to these entities as “Outsiders”

When an Outsider is killed, no soul is let loose as they did not have one when created, therefore they also have no afterlife. This is because their body is also their soul.

However, killing an Outsider does not always mean slaying the creature, because most of these Outsiders when slain return to the plane of existence they were created in (e.g. a fiend will return to Hell when killed on the Material Plane, rather than die). We can refer to these as “Non-native Outsiders”. Only a Non-native Outsider that is killed on their home plane is truly killed, destroying their essence forever. As normal, divine intervention can revive an Outsider and restore their existence if the deity would deem it so.

Divine intervention typically occurs when said deity (or Godlike entity for some lesser creatures) is related to the reason said Outsider was created in the first place, or if the deity would have them swear loyalty to their saviour upon revival - willingly or otherwise (e.g. Empyreans, Angels, Imps, etc). Similarly, divine intervention is capable of reviving the souls of mortals that have been destroyed.

### *Death and Ascension of Deities:*

Like their Outsider servants and companions, deities when killed tend to be incapable of revival by conventional means. Exception exists if a deity is reborn into another mortal being who ascends to replace them. But, this typically results in only aspects of the original deity remaining after this transition.

This process of rebirth is typically performed by the last will of the deity, sending out their Godly essence - known as a Divine Spark - out to embody an appropriate vessel; whether by specific choice or based off general qualities varies depending on the deity’s wishes.

Deities can also be created from mortals who ascend by attaining and cultivating a Divine Spark by themselves. This is typically not an easy feat to achieve. If a mortal ascends to such a status, it is due to them possessing raw power and sufficient skill that could cause them to be worshipped as a deity among mortals. Their epic feats make them legends in their own right, their adventures hold the lives of millions (on their plane or others) in the balance.

Other possible methods for acquiring a Divine Spark include:

* Slaying a deity and claiming their Spark (and subsequently their Divine Portfolio) for themselves. Other deities may choose a mortal in the immediate area/plane to inherit this Spark, so quick action and planning is required for this to work without fail. Example: Pali transferring Brohn Silverwile’s Spark to Joeri Celeste after the former’s death.
* Having a deity willingly give up their Spark and Portfolio. Though this is typically in fractions so as to not kill the deity.
* Destroying powerful artifacts and building up power with the fractions of Divine Sparks/power imbued in them. Example: Brohn Silverwile stealing the Divine Sparks from the fragments of Nh’thielus and the “Unnamed Law God’s” pieces via his use of the Wish spell.
* Being born with or simply gaining a fraction of a Spark by gaining great power beyond typical mortals.
* Very rarely, a deity could sponsor a mortal, allowing them to become a low level quasi-deity - otherwise known as a hero deity - who must work their way up to true Godhood.