Religion

## The Ancient Way and Cults

There are Triads of the Occult, Primordial, Asura, Natural, Paladin, Axiom, Innevitable, Daemon, and Aeon.

*Triads* are pre-assembled cults of like-minded patrons, complete with their own enemies, and inter-religion drama. These cults have roots in common themes. However, in practice, several of these cults prove just as dangerous to themselves as each other.

This system helps sort the souls of the condemned when they die, especially if they served no god; a triad is often assigned to receive the spirit.

## Religious Factions

* The Ancient way:
	+ The Divine Hand of the Ancient Way
	+ The Inventing Eye of the Ancient Way
	+ The Reassemblers of the Ancient Way

* The Eternal Knighthood of Exhousia
* Defenders of the Transient Web

* The Dark Sun
* The Order of Fel:
	+ Faeth's Incarnation
	+ The Keyturners
	+ The Claws of the Thane
* Despoilers

## Deities:

**Ancient Way Pantheon**

King Amarond, Lord of Lineage
Necris
Forlor
Jula
Vesuva

Outsiders:

Axayaxchtl
Mechanical Dragon
Knox
Polia
Oberon
The Muses
Grimgurt

## Gods of Other Races:

Elves: Fauexetar

Humans: Choronozon

Dwarves: Ezra

Orcs, Halflings, Gnomes, and Goblins: Iblis

Undead and Fetchlings: Balinor

## Hierarchy of the divine

*This section describes the hierarchy of all beings in the known universe, broken up into parts starting with the most powerful, and descending into groups of beings with relative power. Depending on how religious one person is, they may have three, or four patrons (God, Avatar, Outsider (such as an Aeon , Humanity , Axiom , Viscount , Innevitables , or Daemon) , and Ascetic), while many priests who worship in a triad can have as many as twelve patrons. These patrons are broken down into groups of power as follows: Non-Euclid, Euclid, Outsider, Super Paternal, and Terrestrial. The categories of beings is as follows:*

1. Non-Euclidians:
	* Extra Terrestrial Deities
2. Euclids:
	* The Ancient Way pantheon
	* Alternate Dualities
	* Avatars
3. Outsiders:
	* Aeons
	* Axioms
	* Humanities
	* Innevitables
	* Daemons
4. Super Paternal:
	* Viscounts
	* Ascetics
	* Prime Elementals
5. Terrestrials:
	* Holy Beasts
	* Mortals

### 1. Non Euclids:

These beings serve a mysterious purpose unknown to mortals.

#### *Extra Terrestrial Deities:*

Unknown to even The Oracles and greater theologians, these beings are not referenced in any text. Only The Great Poet, Avatar of Choronozon and author of the Burning Tomes knows of these gods. They are his gods from his original realm from before his banishment to his written prison world Fel. They can be identified as Vesuvians, whose idols are worshipped by barbaric summoners in Siga's experimental badlands.

Their names are *Hecterfactition*

* The 100 fated god*-* a being of extra Euclidian nature whom appears as a geometric invisible pattern
* Geneva- the embodiment of destruction, appearing as a twin bodied beholder-like god with one central eye in each round body, and capable of decimating magical attacks
* Coerbenik: The Magician, appearing as a glyph, capable of healing, and harming magic
* Morphos: The Embodiment of Vesuva, appearing as a lanky humanoid with two featureless heads, capable of placing and removing enchantments, also known as the denizens of the Vesuvian multiverse
* Vesuvians, which are creatures of writhing sharp bodies, known as inhabitants of the Vesuvian multiverse.

These beings never approach Fel, and only the lowest Vesuvians are depicted in effigy by Fel's mortals. Morphos has been known to deliver messages to The Great Poet in his dreams.

### 2. Euclids:

The terrestrial gods who exist only as a collection of dogmas and symbols. Includes the physical Avatars, who visit Fel, and grant spells.

#### *Ancient Way Deities:*

The gods of the most popular religion of the world, known for their ever changing dogmas, and worshipped in several forms. These gods are either seen as part of a polytheistic pantheon of deities who work together in the form of triads, combating their opposites, or they are considered part of a multiple personality monotheism. Whether worshipped as a pantheon, or as a monotheism, The Ancient Way is formed of gods who do not have physical bodies of their own, rather, they are represented by their avatars. For this reason, many gods are thought to vary in power, given the number of avatars, and other beings in their control are imbalanced, and certain gods are inactive, or thought to be dead due to a lack of representation. Marx is one such example of a god who has lain dormant for most of the *3rd Age,* since the destruction of his temple.

The power of these gods comes directly from the number of *avatars, temples, shrines, champions*, and *holy beasts* they control. These are all contested targets which are high priority for the avatars to protect and proliferate as the more they have, the more divine power they are granted. It can be said that a god alone has no real power since its will is carried out by its avatars, whom are the only real evidence of their god's existence.

Each god is said to command its own plane of existence somewhere connected to Fel through the transient planes, places where their faithful worshippers souls eventually rest in the after life. These domains are considered under the rule of their avatars.

According to The Burning Tome holy scrolls, during the formation of Fel, only the three *Primordial gods* were in existence; Ithis, Hexe, and Plath. They were some of the first beings named in the writings of the author, existing even before the heavens, or terrestrial earth.

In the creation story, *Plath* sired the sun, earth, heaven, and hells; *Ithis and Hexe* were then forced to draw lots to decide who would rule the underworld, and the earth. From these gods their wives, The Muses were created, and gave birth to all other gods over the course of the first years. Their children were born of necessity, as described by the writings, such as Si'ir who was created in order to become the craftsman of the heavenly globes, and the protector dragons of the heavens, and hells. After this, the gods required mortals to populate Fel, and in The Age of Beginnings Humankind, Elves, and Dwarves were created by the cult of Choronorozn, Fauexetar, and Ezra respectively.

There are *ten gods* in The Ancient Way pantheon known as the Dicead (polytheistic, and monotheistic).

#### *Alternate Dualities:*

The creators of the mortal races of *Humans, Elves*, and *Dwarves*, as well as the creator of *Orcs, Goblins, Halflings*, and *Gnomes, Iblis* (said to have been born impish, with love for only the deformed) were never themselves created, rather, they exist in tandem with a host god as a duality. Afet is also Choronorozon, and Si'ir is also Ezra, etc... depending if you ask a follower of The Ancient way, a racial cult, or a mixture of cults. It can be said that these four dualities existed before the others, but that is not definitive as they were not written in the Tomes until the *2nd Age* revision of The Ancient Way, which included the nature of these entities.

Each god has a corresponding dual identity, a darker, if not completely evil version of their personality. Whether these entities exist at all is debated, though it is usually accepted that they are not just negative propaganda against religion, and are actual dark sided natures of even the most goodly gods. For example, Ri'ja, a good god, also is known as Fauexetar, creator of both Elves, and Drow, and has a greedy personality, whose worshippers revel without thought for the balance of nature. This personality is in stark contrast of Ri'ja, who is normally reserved nature, however they both still share a hatred for undead, which gives evidence that the two are not mutual exclusive personalities.

Gods with preexisting evil alignments also have these dualities, which are more chaotic versions, and represent a different kind of evil their dogma brings. Each god has avatars in devotion to its prime identity, as well as an avatar which is devoted to the god's duality. This dual nature avatar is the only symbol of their god's split personality, and is considered the defacto material form for some gods, however, the form that a god might be thought to take often changes between regional cults.

Because some gods have both a chaotic, and lawful personality, and some have neutral aspects, it should be noted that as all powerful beings, the gods themselves are the lords of both angels and demons. Servants which do not have a place in their lords domain are often outcasts existing in Limbo, or The Abyss. Less straight forward examples would include Marx's Avatar, who is a *demon of redemption*, and resides in The River Styx, but can freely travel in Marx's planar good aligned realm.

The origin of these "dark dualities" stems from a paradox which occurred in 3A, when the god Marx was resurrected from the dead. When Marx's shrine, The Serpent Temple, was destroyed; and the Knights of Marx, The Heart Wardens were sacrificed to Hex, Marx ceased existing as a being of worship. When a god is forgotten, it experiences the closest thing to death possible for an immortal; Marx's avatar, The Redeemer lost all divine power and receded into the ocean, and the faithful became lost souls. However, Marx, once only on the brink of death, had been used. In his weakened state, mortals were able to steal some of his power, and used it to unite the nation of Tef under one ruler, Archmage Alldread.

To appease the Tefian people, Alldread, creator of Vulneraries, restored life and worship to Marx in spirit, within Alldread's new religion, The Assimilated. Resurrecting an immortal, such as a god, is never a pure action and this profanity against natural law was one of the events which caused a paradox. This portion of the corrupted time line brought *divergence* to the divine, fusing the gods themselves with intense negative energy (the paradox itself overwrites truth, simultaneously, so these changes were never noticed in real time).

Once the paradox of Marx's reanimation, and transformation into Exousia, a corruption effected each god. Each paradox is responsible for corruption in Fel that instantaneously causes permanent changes to the timeline of Fel's religion. There is no distinguishing the pre-paradox religion from the post-paradox, other than that the gods did not have a dark dual persona before the paradox took effect. Afterwards, the true time stream containing a paradox-less was lost to corruption. The event horizon of a paradoxical event such as this spills out from the moment of paradox. Corruption then stretches as far as it can both forward, and backward in time. Any irregularities in the time line are settled, and the time line recombines into one single time stream. In the case of the pantheon, the dark dualities are a product of that corruption, as well as a hidden aspect of their true personalities. Worship of this paradox is at the core of values to The Dark Sun.

#### *Avatars:*

Beings which comprise the entire scope of the god's personalities, and material forms. They both represent a history, as well as embody the gods in their current state. Each god has at most one Avatar for each dogma attributed to that god by its worshippers, which can easily slip between the gods. Control of an Avatar is often passed between the gods as their worshippers change their views, or as the gods gain, or loose power. Avatars within a Triad often share power, such as Afet's Avatar Grimgurt the Valkyre whom often gives excess divinity to Marx, when mortals forget to. This sharing of power is the only way Marx is able to keep his threads of divinity in a darkened Age of Magic.

If a god does not have enough *temples, shrines, followers, holy artifacts,* or *holy beasts* its divine power can diminish quickly. It is therefor the *duty of the priests to defend* and proliferate these icons in their gods name to ensure they will receive blessing for their life time. *If a god looses all power, a priest of that god may not be able to cast spells*. Likewise, without ample belief, an Avatar can, unlike other divine beings, disappear without explanation. Sometimes, an Avatar will become inert, or transfer to another god's control, but an Avatar can never again become mortal, so the task is not taken lightly.

An Avatar is not made- rather a champion becomes an Avatar through a process known as ascendance. There are stipulations which must be met first; 1) a creature must be intelligent, 2) be a native of Fel, 3) have a connection to the holy sites, or artifacts of the god, 4) be visited by one or more other Avatars, and 5) it must be willing to exemplify the dogma that its Avatardom would stand for. *There is no requirement for a creature being devout, or a divine caster to become an Avatar, but it helps.* Not all creatures that ascend become Avatars, due to there already being enough or if a god does not have enough power to ascend a mortal (one of the least taxing miracles).

In the case of the 3rd Age Avatar of Shadow, the Avatar of Ithis was equaled by the high priest of Ithis, the Tengu Tai Cho, and challenged him to a duel, however events which caused Tai Cho to remain an ascended mortal prevented him from choosing to complete the duel. If an Avatar were to be killed, it is a severe loss for the god, and a new Avatar would immediately take its place if possible. If the god has significant power, and a ready champion, then a new Avatar would be created from the most readily available sources, however there can be conflict with which champion is chosen, especially if only weak champions are available in a time of danger, or if all other Avatars of the god's purviews disagree. Although Avatar's are typically able to communicate with each other through communion, it is possible that they are unable to create an Avatar out of pure inaction, which leaves the dogma vulnerable to theft from another god. If a dogma is stolen, and there is a current Avatar representing it, that being may suffer drastic personality changes to accommodate the new god's Avatars whims, or, conversely, force the new god's Avatars to submit their alignments to it. A change in alignment among the gods can cause major strife for divine casters, who often are pawns of the Avatars, and will be tricked into empowering gods unknown to them. Priests are often aware of the fickle nature of the gods, and commune frequently with Phyllacteries of Faithfulness to ensure they can appease their god.

An Avatar is not compelled to contribute to defending their religion, performing miracles, or leading priests in worship depending on the Avatar's temperament. Avatars are required only to *exemplify their dogma* to maintain their divine standing, and this role has many different meanings. There are Avatars such as the Avatar of void who simply needs to exist to fulfill this role, which has its own challenges, such as maintaining balance with the pantheon as to not cause conflict. Active Avatars are often the greatest boon to a divine caster, who often commune, or desire direction from their god.

An Avatar's wishes are constantly shifting, and a keen priest will observe these whims to gain favor, and sometimes miracles. Because the Avatars are the highest form a god can manifest, their very interaction in the world can influence the balance of the pantheon, therefore all but the most chaotic Avatars often work through their followers by sending them on quests, and rewarding them with spells. Avatars work closely with their god's Outsiders, who are other worldly beings specifically aligned to the gods for their own reasons. Often these powerful beings act as an Avatar would, and are patrons to divine casters as well, with the major difference being that they are not native to Fel, and can never become Avatars themselves, and they are not automatically replaced if they are somehow killed.

Avatardom comes with its benefits, a mortal that ascends to this state gains divine power as a high level cleric. Even a non-casting Avatar gains the use of all abilities of the domain they represent, as a caster level equal to their own level, as well as the use of all of their domain spells as spell-like abilities once per day. Avatars also gain one divine point, which can be used once a day to automatically pass a saving throw, even after results are revealed immediately. There are 41 separate dogmas, only 24 of which have Avatars remaining in the Age of Magic.

### 3. Outsiders:

Alignment specific entities that, unlike Avatars, are not native to Fel, and unlike mortals, can never ascend to Avatardom. They operate individually from the Avatars, but are respected as equal to them, and serve as their vassals to The Outer Planes. Outsiders are incredibly powerful, and are counterparts to the Avatars in terms of battle, combating forces from outside the material plane. All of Fel's outsiders acquire the *'Native'* type while on the material plane of Fel. Although many species of Outsider are worshipped, in Fel their naming convention is highly subjective, and often powerful outsiders other than the named kind appear, however, they may never act as patrons.

Of the most notable Outsiders are the fiends who comprise the cults of daemonology; namely, Lord Oberon of The Gloom, Witch Polia, and Maris Kzasi. As agents of Thanatos, Sheitan, and Iblis respectively, they are not only great fiends, they are integral to the world book; Oberon himself being the Guardian of Space, their existence is objectively the most certifiable of all deities. Their extreme capability for capturing the souls of mortals entitles them to the rulership of entire levels of Hell, and countless underlings to propagate their species of fiends. The agents of the apocalypse, the perversion of the divine, and the law of the story all call these three lords their masters, and they are extremely active in the shaping of Fels multitudinous dooms.

These fiends are best known to theologians for their extensive ranks of underlings, which mimic the ranks of all other patrons, but are arguably the most interested in the capture and trade of mortal souls. Any classification of outsider can contain such fiends, however, the agents of the apocalypse are patrons of the daemonic Cult, and are ruled by none other than fate. Above them exists the Demon princes of legend, ancient beings who themselves shaped the planes of Hell and The Abyss, said in prophecy to be older than time itself. These demons are closest to becoming non-Euclidian out of all other deities, and as such have not been proven to be in communication with any known priests, nor have they ever been recorded in first person account. Their nature suggests that *they represent the idea of war itself*, as the only thing they seem to be interested in is using both hell, and the watery Abyss as their battlefield for control over an unidentified prize.

*Aeons*: Neutral Outsiders

*Axioms*: Lawful Evil Outsiders

*Innevitables*: Lawful Neutral Outsiders

*Humanities*: Lawful Good Outsiders

*Daemons*: Chaotic Evil Outsiders

### 4. Super Paternals:

Between deities, and terrestrials, these beings are prime elementals, greater and older than any other who comprise specific oceans, mountains, atmospheres, and heat sources. They are powerful natural entities whom restore balance to Fel. Conversely, Psychopomps are corruption forces of Vigo representing primal tenants of The Darksun Cult, as well as being supernaturally *powerful manipulators of humanity using fear, anxiety, loneliness, and insecurities to corrupt* men. Lastly, Ascetics, also known as Ascended Mortals whom embody the power of their domains.

#### *Ascetics:*

Among the faithful of the mortals, as well as sometimes atheists with religiously significant pasts, a mark of the gods is placed on the skin bearing a *holy birthmark*. This is the sign of the Star Marked, mortals with particularly powerful souls. This is determined by the wheel of reincarnation, and the well of life of Ithis. When a mortal dies, its soul is first returned to the Life Well if possible, which could take any amount of time to travel through the ethereal. Once it joins the well of souls, it is eligible for reincarnation, and the resulting incarnation will be marked by the *birth sign of a significant god*, or the *deity attributed to the astrological date of birth*.

These such mortals are eligible for ascension to avatardom, however, such an event is not guaranteed at all. Many star marked individuals never become ascended mortals and conversely, a mortal that has no star mark can ascend, but is less likely, to become ascended (even atheists can ascend if a god demands it). The only reason for a mortal to ascend is if it is eligible to become an avatar. This eligibility does not account for the individuals wishes, rather it is an act of fate. Not all who bear the mark are Ascended Mortals, as only those capable of fulfilling the role of Avatar become Ascetic, usually after pilgrimage, and acquisition of the blessing of Holy Geometry.

Becoming an ascended mortal carries an important religious significance, which would be recognized by any scholar or priest. The only difference between a regular star marked individual, and the ascended is a change of the mark they bear. If the individual did not possess a star mark previously, they gain one; and this mark is considered an advanced form of the star mark, known as Holy Geometry.

Bearing the ascended star mark is more noticeable than the regular mark, *which only glows when in the presence of divine magic*, the ascended version is also much larger, sometimes covering entire limbs. This mark can provide divine casters with additional power, and is greatly tied to the power level of their patron deity.

#### *Viscounts:*

Hyper powerful chosen of Vigo, leaders of chapters of the Dark Sun cult.

#### *Prime Elementals:*

The most powerful examples of each of the elementals, the Primes are *sentient beings resembling natural geographical locations*, such as mountains, oceans, or rivers. *Each element has one such Prime elemental*, however it *may have countless Elder elementals as well*. These elementals have a direct connection to the natural balance, and are the creation of Plath. If a Prime elemental is slain, through considerable effort, the world has a tendency to shift into *cataclysm*. Such events have been recorded as religiously significant, as avatars are often the only beings capable of defeating the ensuing threats to Fel, including *sentient storms*, which are the *agents of the god of destruction*, Bok. It is possible for the Prime elemental to change rapidly from one elemental to another, because *the Prime is a title*, rather than a specific creature.

It is unknown which creatures are Prime elementals simply by looking at them; this knowledge is often the purview of the gods themselves.

Prime elementals serve as sentient guardians of nature. While they are the most powerful of their kind, they are responsible for a large amount of natural magic. Their motives are simple, they must simply survive, and propagate. If necessary, Plath's avatars have the ability to bestow Prime elementalism on an elemental of their choosing, if a Prime dies, or is in danger. The creation of such an elemental is followed by the emergence of a new natural formation, such as a new river being created to take the sentience of the Prime water elemental, or a mountain peak becoming sentient as it receives the earth Prime elemental title. The only reason that a Prime elemental would be utterly slain is by the divine intervention of the avatar of destruction, or an equally powerful entity disrupting Plath's natural magic. One such example of a Prime elemental being slain by a mortal is the earth Prime which was annihilated by Arch Mage Elloway D'Varien The Enchanter, upon his arrival to Fel in a confused multi-verse chase. The body of the late Prime Earth became a source for powerful *necromantic energy*, as the blood of the mountain transformed into an ichor, which would later become a source of power for the mages. Due to the weakened state of the gods at this time, the new Prime Earth elemental would not be as powerful, and went into hiding.

It is accepted that if Plath is unable to maintain the elemental portfolios, or if a Prime elemental is destroyed, and there is no other to replace it, that Fel would suffer a loss of that element's magic, as well as extreme negative shifts in the nature of the plane. Natural events, such as drought, flooding, or fires are thought to be attributed to the Prime elementals battling, or dying off naturally. Many druidic rituals, and sacrifices are given to these elementals throughout all cultures of Fel to ensure that the entire plane does not descend into cataclysm again. Their power is derived from Plath directly, and are in concert with The Seasons.

### 5. Terrestrials:

Beings that serve the gods directly, including vassals to the world of the divine, and powerful priests, sometimes capable of granting blessings.

#### *Holy Beasts:*

Awakened animals that serve the gods as messengers, factotums, heralds, etc. These animals are vulnerable to the agents of their god's enemies, as they are frail, and directly connected to the power of their god. If a holy beast is slain, it's god looses an amount of power due to the familiarity the god shares with its chosen animal. There is only one Holy Beast for each god at one time, and if one is killed, it is not always immediately replaced because of the certain circumstances that must be met for an animal to become awakened. The process includes a ritual with a druid of that follows the deity, or one of animals. In order for a beat to become a Holy Beast, it must be friendly with the druid, and receive the miracle of awakening from the god, or the spell cast on it by the druid.

#### *Mortals:*

Lowest of life forms capable of fulfilling a role within the fate of the divine, mortals who are unascended are the most abundant in population, each accounted for by their patrons (chosen, or assigned). Because no mortal can escape the gaze of their patrons, such being the meaning of mortality, often individuals are chosen to become ascetics of their faith. Included in this category are children, born into the world as living, breathing life forms, as well as the necrotic undead who have succumbed to daemonism during their lifetime and remain trapped on their journey to the well of souls. Because an individual mortal's soul can grow in power independent of the faith of the person, it is said that fiends of all kinds watch the world of mortals very closely from the shadows, which are more real, than imagined.

## Burning Tome Pages

These are the pages of The Book of Fel that were torn, and set aflame by the god  Aeites, after which, the ashes settled in Fel. The secrets of The Burning Sea, and the scrolls associated with the highest theocrats are written on each page, the exact descriptions written about Fel by the author, Esher in the creating book. The chapters are Age specific, as the location of each page has been found randomly, and organized by the instruction of the divine.

### 1A Pages

* How the Avatar's magic changed Fel.
* The paradox locked behind a crystal seal.

### 2A Pages

* A cataclysmic new world, threatened by demonic dragon saboteurs
* Assembly of The Archmages
* Courts of The Faerie wither

### 3A Pages

* The Apocalyptic demons return, the faithful dismay
* Assimilated forces war through the end times