Myriden - Religion

*"For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." (Matthew 18:20)*

The following is the list of the known religions of Myriden. While there may be other gods in existence, they are not listed here because tend not to be ones who provide divine strength to followers. For example, while Moradin is not the only member of the Morndinsamman, as the leader of the Shield Brothers, he is typically the only one worshipped. Other divine beings may have followers who are simply not commonly encountered.

## The Fathers

The three greater gods of the cosmos. They are among the greatest powers in the heavens, and are primarily responsible for the creation of what are considered to be the major races.

*"But what drives this theory is that no one knows which god or gods created the Eldar races, but yet they were created during the Dawn War to be their army. If a deva retains such recollections, or if it is stored in the compiled knowledge that the illumians have collected, they are not talking. One would think that the illumians were created by Ioun, being living expressions of knowledge. However, this seems not to be the case, some illumians defy this fervently. Some think that they may have been created by another god, some greater being who fell during the Dawn War."*
– Daniel Grumbar, Calx Sapientia

*Greater God*

* Become a sculptors and wardens of magic's endless mysteries.
* Bring forth the beauty that envelops and let the spirit dance unfettered.
* Seek out new experiences and new ways.
* Seek out lost magic items, forgotten rituals, and ancient works of art. Corellon might have inspired them in the world’s first days.
* Ward against those that would destroy what they cannot create.
* Commune with the natural and mystical world.
* Be ever vigilant against the return of the banished darkness, and be strong in heart against the corruption of the Dark Queen

Corellon is probably the deity who is most opposed to the traitorous Iron Six. His attitude towards Gruumsh was already adversarial during the Dawn War, and when the traitors struck, Corellon plucked out his eye, and the two consider each other their greatest enemy (thus the hatred that elves and orcs feel for each other).
Likewise, Corellon's relationship to Lloth is uncertain. Some believe she is the third daughter of Corellon, along with Melora and the Raven Queen, others believe she was his bride. In any case, the betrayal still is felt by all his children, no doubt an echo of Corellon's attitude, and he is considered champion to all of those who would hunt
**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Corellon's followers tend to be good in nature. They are never evil, and it odd for any of them to be lawful in their views.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Arcana, skill, wilderness
	+ 5th edition: Life, Nature

*Greater God*

Those that follow him strive to:
* Meet adversity with stoicism and tenacity
* Demonstrate loyalty to your family, your clan, your leaders, and your people.
* Strive to make a mark on the world,something that lasts is the highest good, whether you are smith working in a forge, or something less grand.
* Emulate the Father's principles and workmanship in smithing, stoneworking, and other tasks.
* Derive wisdom from life but temper it with experience.
* Advance your clan in all areas of life. Honor the elders of your line.
* Innovate with new processes and skills.
* Defend that which is yours and that of your clan.

**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Moradin's followers tend to be good in nature. While they may forget that greed can be a path to evil, his teachings tend to lead away from darkness. Likewise, it is odd for someone to consider themselves a follower of Moradin and be chaotic in nature.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Creation, earth, protection
	+ 5th edition: Life

*Greater God*

God of the sun and summer, Pelor is the keeper of time. He supports those in need and opposes all that is evil. As the lord of agriculture and the bountiful harvest, he is the deity most commonly worshipped by ordinary humans, and his priests are well received wherever they go. Paladins and rangers are found among his worshippers. He directs his followers thus:
* Alleviate suffering wherever you find it.
* Bring Pelor’s light into places of darkness, showing kindness, mercy, and compassion
* Be watchful against evil

**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Pelor is a god of light. He espouses the ideals of law and goodness.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Hope, life, sun
	+ 5th edition: Life, Light

## The Seldarine

While there are numerous beings within the Summer and Winter Courts, few are worshipped outside of the fey realms.

*Lesser God*

Her strictures are few:
* Protect the wild places of the world from destruction and overuse.
* Those who defile the natural world declare themselves your enemy with every act.
* Oppose the rampant spread of cities and empires.
* You are dedicated to protecting the world from both wanton defilers as well as creatures that should not be.
* Hunt aberrant monsters and other abominations of nature.
* Do not fear or condemn the savagery of nature.
* Live in harmony with the wild.
* You set the world right by dispensing the will of Melora.

Her followers hold the wild places sacred, often considering themselves guardians of a sacred location, such as an ancient grove, a waterfall, or a hilltop. While many may wander, they frequently answer the call to defend such locations. They seek to educate others in how to make use of nature and how to respect it. There are proper ways to gather wood, hunt for game, and build fires. Those who choose not to respect nature get what they deserve.
**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Melora's followers tend to avoid the larger questions of good versus evil and of order versus chaos, although there are always exceptions. Several of Melora's archons are known to be champions of virtue.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Life, sea, wilderness
	+ 5th edition: Nature, Tempest

*Intermediate God*

* Hold no pity for those who suffer and die, for death is the natural end of life.
* Bring down the proud who try to cast of the chains of fate. As the instrument of the Raven Queen, you must punish hubris were you find it.
* Watch for the cults of Orcus and stamp them out wherever they arise. The Demon Prince of the Undead seeks to claim the Raven Queen’s throne.

The Raven Queen frequently receives the prayers of warriors, soldiers, and those who risk their lives often. Although these individuals may not consider the Queen their patron deity, all warriors appreciate the constant proximity of death; after all, they function in a dangerous, violent, and unpredictable profession. To men and women of the sword, death remains a constant companion. Wise warriors do not seek out death, but they do not fear it or run from the Raven Queen. In the end, there is no such thing as outrunning death, so it is best to say your prayers to her and have your affairs in order before every conflict. Many people believe the goddess becomes most vindictive and persistent with those who try to cheat her or avoid her cold embrace.
**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Those that follow the Raven Queen are varied. Many that choose to follow the Lady of Ending would not be considered goodly, but it is not unheard of. As well, those who seem to be serving the Death Goddess to satisfy their own darker impulses are typically watched to ensure that their ambitions do not exceed the Mistress's strictures.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Death, fate, winter
	+ 5th edition: Life, death

*Lesser Gods*

Her faith espouses youth and revelry. Critics cry “Spare the rod, spoil the child”, but to Aloura, an innocent child is perhaps the last bastion of purity. Children who have had this innocence ripped from them often find themselves aided later in life by an Alouran priest.
Likewise, Aloura is enchanted with young love, and often urges her followers to foil arranged weddings. Priests of Aloura usually wander until their physical bodies cannot contain their youth. Old priests may seem aged, but vitality courses through their soul. Their travels usually take them in a circuit, primarily among villages.
* Always be young at heart, and teach others the same, and the world will be a lighter place.
* Young love is a virtue, and children are to be cherished and nurtured.
* Live life to its fullest, and remind those about you that life is a gift to be cherished.

Life is to be lived, is Rhialla's word. Priests of Rhialla wander about, encouraging others to seek their fortunes. They are wonderful storytellers and many a young man or woman has left their village behind to follow the priest on some adventure just waiting to happen. This, of course, occasionally causes some townsfolk to look askance at Rhialla’s followers, and lock their children away when one comes to town.
* Eat, drink, and be merry, for life is good and luck comes to those who need it.
* Be bold; seek your own destiny and cast off the chains of expectation
* Help those who are down on their luck. Rhialla’s luck and fortune are not finite quantities to be hoarded away.

Legends have it that in the days following the Dawn War, the weary gods would have been unprepared for the treachery of the Iron Six, had it not been for the vigilance of Luna. She was the first to stand against the dark gods, and stood fast against their initial assault. She now eternally watches over the night. People look upon her as a symbol of hope and mercy. On the rare instances when she has manifested, she has been seen as a beautiful yet stern woman with long luminescent hair.
The night of a new moon is considered a dark and evil time, for Luna's watch has waned and evil creatures are less fearful of her gaze. Her symbol is that of a crescent moon waxing.

*In Myriden, Luna is also the patron of those who have been seriously injured. Her priests tend to those who have been maimed, as the other gods have tended to their sister’s hurt. As well, Luna’s priests are welcomed as guests in many churches.*

**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Followers of the Sisters are of good hearts. With the exception of those that follow the Old Faith of Luna, they tend to avoid lawful bents.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Life, Love, Luck, Trickery, Freedom, Hope
	+ 5th edition: Life, Trickery

*Lesser Gods*

Taros is the lord of battle, glory and prowess. He and his twin sister Tyla represent the twin aspects of conflict, Taros being that of pure strength and might. No other being can match his skill at arms, and few would be so foolhardy to try. He appears in many forms, but prefers to appear as large and fearsome as possible, his red hair flaring out in a mane of rage.
In the Dawn War, tales tell of Taros standing alone against horde after horde of the primordial warriors until only he remained. His comrades arrived on the blood soaked battlefield to see Taros sitting atop a mountain of fallen foes. Taros is the defender of the world, and is the symbol of strength, that all warriors may look up to. His symbol is a gauntleted fist raised in the air, grasping the handle of a large double bladed axe.
* Strengthen yourself and sharpen your skill always, for the challenge may come at any time.
* Find those who would live off the strength of others and teach them the error of their ways
* Search for the challenge, for it is that which will define you

Trained from inception into Taros's clergy in the arts of war, Taros’s priests are among the foremost military presences on the face of the world. In times of war, a Warlord will mobilize the forces within a region to serve as an elite strike force in the land’s army. In times of peace, they train themselves and seek to strengthen others, finding those weaklings who would live off the strength of others and instill in them strength, both internal and external.

Tyla is the patron of justice, law and perseverance. The High Lady Paladin espouses the ideals of honor and valor. She is depicted as a beautiful, yet stern woman with radiant red hair, who projects an inner strength which matches the raw power of her twin brother Taros. A master tactician, she is perhaps the only being to have ever bested the war god on the field of battle. Taros insists that she cheated, but quickly learned that treachery for himself. In modern times, this treachery is known as the art of strategy.
Tyla is extremely lawful good, being the goddess, noble and just paladins pledge their lives and swords to. Her symbol is a gold ring with three swords crossed across it. These swords stand for the tenets of her faith: virtue, truth, and justice, as the basis for law.
* Seek out evil and banish it when it cannot be outright destroyed.
* Maintain law and order; offer your sword to the rulers whenever possible.
* Remain vigilant against corruption, especially that which might come from within.

**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Followers of the Twins tend to be valorous. Less scrupulous followers might adhere more to Taros's way of thinking, while paladins frequently emulate the High Lady.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Strength, War, Justice, Protection
	+ 5th edition: War

*There are some theologians who believe that Bane, Tyla, and Taros are all siblings, and that Bane is the black sheep of the family. However, I find this unlikely. Indeed there is very little evidence that Taros and Tyla are true siblings themselves. The two represent twin aspects of strength and might, and it is for this reason that I believe they are called the Twins. But by the same logic, you can argue that Bane is the third twin, if you consider that he represents the strength of conquest.*
*I have found that most priests who follow the Twins are willing to entertain this idea as long as the discussion tends to surround what the ideals of the Twins are as concepts (as opposed to being about justifying Bane’s precepts). The one Bane priest to whom I was able to interview on the subject reacted to the idea with a mixture of exasperation and incredulity.*
*– Daniel Grumbar, Calx Sapientia*

## Other Gods

*Lesser God*

* Seek the perfection of your mind by bringing reason, perception, and emotion into balance with one another.
* Accumulate, preserve, and distribute knowledge in all forms. Pursue education, build libraries, and seek out lost and ancient lore.
* Be watchful at all times for the followers of Vecna, who seek to control knowledge and keep secrets. Oppose their schemes, unmask their secrets, and blind them with the light of truth and reason.

**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Knowledge and morality are largely separate. Evil followers of Ioun are rare, since the selfishness that such people would typically possess is at odds with the edict to distribute knowledge. But as many followers have benefited from a structured approach to learning as have a more abstract, free-form style.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Fate, knowledge, skill
	+ 5th edition: Knowledge

Now, separately and as a group, they plot and maneuver their worshipers towards the day that they may realize their ambition.

* Asmodeus is your true master. Obey his commands absolutely.
* You can earn special favors by tempting new worshipers into serving Asmodeus.
* Indulge in the pleasures of life, but do not falter in word or commitment

**Game Details**\* **Alignment**: Followers of Asmodeus tend to be Lawful Evil.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Civilization, tyranny
	+ 5th edition: Trickery

* Strive ceaselessly to dominate your environment.
* Be merciless in the execution of your duties, and show no pity to the weak.
* Respect tradition and authority

**Game Details**\* **Alignment**: Followers of Bane are never good, but it is not unheard of for a non-evil warrior to pay homage to the Tyrant.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Skill, war
	+ 5th edition: War

* Gather and breed, and your numbers shall flourish.
* Rise up in hordes and seize that which is rightfully yours.
* Raid. Kill. Conquer.

**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Gruumsh is thoroughly chaotic and evil, and those that follow him are invariably of the same mindset.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Destruction, Strength
	+ 5th edition: Tempest, War

Lloth’s favor is fickle, and she regularly pits her worshipers against each other, but the following dictates hold true for all her faithful:
* Exhibit absolute loyalty to the Spider Queen and no other.
* Honor Lloth through sacrifices of blood and that which you hold dear.
* Kill no spider, for to do so is to attack Lloth herself.

**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Followers of Lloth are rarely anything but chaotic evil.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Darkness, Trickery
	+ 5th edition: Trickery

* Kill
* Destroy
* Devour

* Never reveal all you know.
* Find the seed of darkness in your heart and nourish it; find it in others and exploit it to your advantage.
* Oppose the followers of all other deities so that Vecna alone can rule the world.

**Game Details**
* **Alignment**: Few that follow a lich turned god would be anything but evil, but the adversary utilizes servants of both order and chaos in his schemes.
* **Domain**:
	+ 4th edition: Destruction, Strength
	+ 5th edition: Tempest, War

It is also believed that the blood of the new gods, which was spilled during that battle, mingled and coalesced upon the earth, and that from these pools, the first dragonborn arose. Thus the dragonborn revere the noble Bahamut and the vengeful Tiamat as the creators of their race. Some aspire to the noble example of the Platinum Dragon, and others revel in the vicious ruthlessness that courses through their veins, but most recognize that both are part of the ancestry they all share.

Called the Platinum Dragon, Bahamut is the god of justice, protection, nobility, and honor. Lawful good paladins often revere him, and metallic dragons revere him as the first of their kind. Monarchs are crowned in his name. He commands his followers thus:
* Uphold the highest ideals of honor and justice
* Be constantly vigilant against evil and oppose it on all fronts.
* Protect the weak, liberate the oppressed, and defend just order.

Tiamat is the evil god of wealth, greed, and envy. She is the patron of those whose lust for wealth overrides any other goal or concern. Tiamat has five heads, each a different shape and hue. Perhaps five minds drove her to madness, because Tiamat is bitter and wicked. Her story is a topic of art, myth, and legend throughout the cosmos.
Stories alternately depict her as a nightmarish synthesis of hatred, rage and might, and also as the pinnacle of ambition and pride. Tales speak of her dealing severely with the smallest slight, and she embodies the principle that might makes right.
* Suffer no insult upon your person
* Allow none to take what is yours; destroy those who would dare.
* Your strength is a gift from the gods; those that lack it are unworthy of the gifts they have been given.