The Meridian Pantheon

The gods as understood throughout most of Meridia. The gods were inspired by stories passed down since the Age of Artifice Arcana (and beyond), adaptations of the surrounding races and their cultures, but most notably, the eight Colossi statues that stand at the borders of Avalon, the capital of Meridia. While some of the gods recognized in Meridia's pantheon are actual deities - known and worshiped by other races and cultures across Manaris - some of them are simply deified mortals from the Age of Artifice Arcana, the truth of their origins lost to time. Regardless, they are now entities of power in their own right, that can grant their followers a sliver of their domain's essence.

## Gallifrey, God of Knowledge

Also called the Azure Magister, Gallifrey is considered the father of higher thought, blanketing the schools of logic and magic and their application in the world. Portrayed as an open book, sometimes with a runic eye upon or over it. He is believed to have overseen the entirety of civilization in the Age of Artifice Arcana, acting as its principle scholar and the engine behind the incredible magic and technology from that Age. In reality, Gallifrey was a brilliant magician-scientist who lived in the Age of Artifice Arcana, and was deified into Gygasi status after the Sundering.

## Onedra, Goddess of Nature

Also called the Verdant Lady, or the Lady of the Earth and Sky, Onedra is regarded as the matron of all natural entities and processes. Considered the overseer of life, she is also often associated with the living things that embody nature. Portrayed as a tree whose limbs and roots are almost interchangeable mirrors of each other. While some humans from the remains of the Drendal Empire had been told stories of a Lady of the Earth and Sky, it was largely thanks to the elven druid-priests from Tel'Darin that came to help Meridia rebuild that the concept of Onedra (and her counterpart Ula) were solidified in the Meridian pantheon.

### The Wild Gods

The Druids who worship Onedra often simultaneously pay homage to what druidic circles refer to as the Wild Gods (referred to as the “Savage Spirits” by most other cultures). The Wild Gods are considered the direct children of Onedra, prompting many Onedran followers to refer to the goddess as “The Earth Mother” or simply, “The Mother”. They can be as large as patron spirits, and as small as a single tree, river, or wind. They are either elemental or savage entities that serve as conduits to the primal energies of the Days of Fury, and can be prayed to interchangeably and independently; a prayer to Onedra is often meant as a prayer to the Wild Gods as well, and vice versa.

## Fiers, God of the Forge

Also called the Molten Maker by dwarves and the Ruby Smith by humans. He is the patron deity of dwarves, but was shared with Meridia during its construction by the dwarves of Staggerpeak. Fiers is the deity that oversees the creation and destruction of crafts and is often also associated with fire, creativity, and change. Portrayed as whole and broken hammers, crossing in an X. Fiers is one of the Primordial Titans.

## Shivanna, Goddess of Luck and Fate

Also called the Gilded Goddess, Shivanna watches deals, lends luck, and can bend fate. She is praised when one is blessed with good fortune, and cursed when things don’t turn out as expected. She's often portrayed as a golden coin or a woman who's two faces are opposites. A Gygas, risen to deified status at the end of the Age of Artifice Arcanum.

## Kord, God of Strength and Mind

Also called the Bronzeman. Praised by those who worship physical - and to a lesser degree, mental - strength, growth, and accomplishment; Kord is considered by some to be a mortal that reached physical perfection in life and earned an immortal place amongst the gods for his deeds - the most public awareness of the concept of a Gygas. Portrayed as a closed fist.

## Balfix, God of Justice

Also called the Ebon Justice. Balfix is prayed to before battle and beseeched in courts of law. He oversees the warring ideals of mortals and lends aid and strength to those worthy enough of his blessing. Portrayed as a spear who's head doubles as a scales. One of the Primordial Titans.

## Ula, Goddess of Death

The Grim Lady. The Grey Lady. While some faiths claim Ula is the dark sister to Onedra, her general domain of the suffering, withering, and death of things makes her a silently acknowledged deity. Portrayed as a simple hooded woman. Her symbol can be a skull, a lantern, or a scythe.

Like Onedra, Meridian culture largely “adopted” the goddess Ula with the aiding elves from the Tel'Darin Forest during the kingdom's construction. The shorter-lived races, such as humans and gnomes, are generally more averse to the praise of Ula; indeed, the nature of her domain usually elicits quiet regard even from the long-lived races that praise her. The Tel’Darin elves that initially brought Ula to the kingdom claim that Onedra and Ula are two bound and opposing opposites of the same entity, even as they maintain a distinct separation of the two deities’ domains.

Ula is usually represented with a distinct lack of divine flair in her portrayal, even by her own followers - a simple hooded woman of varying age and beauty, armed with little but a lantern and sometimes a scythe.

Some who outright worship Ula claim that Onedra and Ula actually cycle through ages of dominance, and that the current time period is an age of Onedra. These followers are those who acknowledge the necessity of death against the existence of life; they see death being the backdrop against which life - a fleeting and ultimately finite force - is cast. Ula is still represented as the Grim Lady, but she is considered by many in this denomination more as a force than a proper manifesting entity...at least, in this age. Elves claim that in ages of death, Ula becomes supreme and is called Uladra, and Onedra loses her dominance and becomes One. Elves claim the Frostveiled Age was a period of “Uladra’s rule”.

Some see Ula as the guide who leads souls to whichever afterlife awaits them. She’s often depicted with a Lantern for this interpretation, as she is the final beacon of light that the dying see, and the path through the astral dark.

Some associate Ula with the undead, invoking her name during necromantic rites to allow passage of a soul back its body - or at least, for a body to rise again. Elves who praise Ula deny her association with the undead, and claim that the order of her domain expressly forbids tampering with the dead once they have passed from the living.

Travelers and adventurers from other lands will sometimes share a similar god or goddess of death from their own pantheons, but most of the races of Meridia reappropriated any outlying deities of death into Ula when the Meridian kingdom began hundreds of years ago.

## Xivix, God of Time

Also called the Pale Traveler. Little is known about Xivix, as he's said to exist outside of time. However, the Colossus in Avalon, as well as Threshold Day and its affiliated anomalies, continue to keep Xivix a member of the pantheon. The oddities associated with these reminders, however, makes Xivix a strange and generally ignored deity; there is no major house of worship, and no public group of followers. He's often colloquially used as the source behind strange turns of luck, odd happenstance, or unexplained phenomena.

A Gygas that achieved deification at the end of the Age of Artifice Arcana. Contains

☀Clockwork Heart: While in the process of creating the Modrons, Primus created a clockwork heart. Since this heart wasn’t useful to making the Modrons he set it aside and forgot about it. In order to attune to this artifact you must hold it pressed to your heart during a short rest. The artifact slowly enters your chest and fuses with your heart. Unattuning kills the person because the artifact can’t be unfused from their heart. While attuned to this artifact you have advantage on death saving throws. Also you can open up a portal that leads to the plane of Mechanus or back to the material plane from Mechanus once per day. Modrons recognize Primus’ creation and will avoid fights with the person attuned the clockwork heart unless they are attacked. Once a creature has attuned to the Clockwork Heart, they begin to gradually lose the ability to feel emotion and instead become more logical. The process is slow, but speeds up significantly whenever an aspect of the heart is used (such as opening a portal to Mechanus or making a death saving throw only because of the advantage provided by the artifact). At the end of the process, the creature will be completely unable to experience any emotion and will become a logic-centered being.

Destroyed by: The heart most be brought to a plane of chaos, tainting it. Once the heart is tainted, it can be destroyed as a normal object.