Bumper List of Terranuovan Deities

# Immortal presences of Te Ao

## **The Deva and The Asra**

The Asra are a pantheon or group of deities worshipped by elves and goblins. The Deva are a pantheon worshipped in Desh society. In ancient times, the two sets of deities were said by mortals to oppose each other. To Asra worshippers, Deva are anathema and vice versa. The collapse of the Deshi Empire means the conflict is all but meaningless today.

### The Goblin's Lament

In the time before time, when mortal voices shaped the ages with story, the Duende made names for their joys and their woes, their wisdoms and their follies, and so the Asra took shape out of the air.

Deep in the clefts of Te Ao there were other voices not yet named, that craved the power of identity. So they spoke low and soft to the Duende in the still night. It had come about that Man walked the earth, on great flat feet and bearing wondrous objects and craft in his eye. Many Duende there were who desired to be tall and wise, and to have their own great works, greater than those of Man. So a deal was struck with the sinister voices, to give them name and form. In return, their worshippers would be granted long life, so long as they cleaved to their mother soil: great craft and the first Art, so long as they did as their masters bid: and great beauty, so long as they would strive after it with all their might. And they must surrender their old names, and become Alfen - Latin - a new race.

Duende there were who wanted no part of this bargain, who enjoyed their simple worship of the earth's green places, the spirits of the air and the Asra, who bore their simple faces. Those who stayed were overrun by the Alfen, who in their blindness and hubris could no longer recognise their own kin. Er-Kle the Upright led his band south, to the place of jungles and warm airs: there, the Duende became Trasgu, Gobelin, bands in the wilderness or slaves to the cruel Desh, who worshipped the Devas, gods that cared little for the plight of visitors.

### Atina / Menrfa

* Mother of Cunning
* A lawful goddess (Keeper) with mastery over strategy and intelligence. Apparently she may have cursed Llolth with spider form after a rival's quarrel.
* Popular with elves and goblins
* Worshipped by battlemages and leaders.
* Symbol: bird of prey (varies depending on culture).

### Mitras / Bramma / Dajbog / Usil

* The Shaper / The Forgefire
* worshipped by Desh as a Deva, and by kin of mixed heritage
* Lawful neutral god (Keeper) who shaped themselves into a masculine identity. As such he is beloved by Two, and by all who wish to transcend themselves. The Drow spin, Dajbog, is more True Neutral (Two turned M - walked off the job, tired of authority. Gave the secret of metalworking to kin)
* Master of arcane magic and Great Works. Exiled to Ao for being overzealous with his manipulation of space and reality.
* Symbol: Star between the horns of a bull or set into a wheel shape / a gold coin with an anvil on it
* Dajbog variant has two aspects: The Sun aspect and the Cave Aspect. Thus he is a god of the sun and smithing, but also a god of wealth and the underworld. Known in Rosland, Iberiya and clandestinely worshipped by male Roma in the Old Country. Depicted with a metallic beard.

### Mama Minuit / Ratri

* The Nightingale
* Neutral good goddess (Native).
* Beloved of bards, sorcerers and autodidacts of all kinds. She loves both stealth and spectacle. She enjoys a mystical exploration of the world's knowledge. Appears sometimes as a black-skinned woman at night in lonely places.
* Symbol: a specific haunting song.

### Nesh / Ganesh

* the Remover of Obstacles
* Good god, child of a Keeper and a Guest. It is said that one of the beasts that holds up the edge of the sky gave its life to save him
* worshipped by Desh as a Deva, by street children and by locksmiths
* likes sweets, has a pet poguana familiar
* Symbol: an extinct pachyderm

### Tyche / Lakshmi

* la Gioconda
* worshipped by all non-Desh cultures but especially goblins and elves as Tyche. To the Desh she's Lakshmi
* Neutral goddess (Native) of luck - good, or bad.
* Anyone who gambles, adventures or takes a risk will lend power to her, and can invoke her blessing in return. Appears in the guide of a saucy half-elf or goblin woman as Tyche, and looks like a noble musician in fine robes as Lakshmi.
* Symbol: A flat disk/ a red pentagram.

### Lathander / Thalna

* the Midwife
* Neutral good god (Keeper).
* Lathander has set aside his ancient duty of guarding the Guests, in favour of helping the mortal inhabitants of Te Ao. Represents childbirth (especially the birth of Two) and creativity. Goblins worship them as Thalna and always represent them as hermaphroditic. Healers often worship them. Lathander is often invoked at dawn in Terranuova, or at the Small Dawn in the Twilight.
* Symbol: a sun rising.

### Chanti / Ma Durga / Uni

* Also known as Yondala, Great Mother or The Fat Lady
* worshipped by Desh as a Deva
* Neutral good goddess (Native, Two) of fecundity and agriculture. Often depicted as a chubby humanoid with leaves for hair and surrounded by little birds. Goblins depict her in a more matriarchal way, as a tall female ruler. Druids and farmers venerate them.
* Symbol: wreath of wheat or leaves.

### Lene / Candi / Tiv

* The Shattered Child
* Chaotic good, deceased goddess. Said to be the illicit child of the Keeper Usil/Mitras and a "Titan" - a Native entity called Pale Night.
* Had power over the moon and tide until the Guests and Keepers were brought to Te Ao. Her moon is now broken into the shards of a ring in the night sky. Had power over the Life domain - now she brings unlife to a select few and is mostly worshipped by the undead and a few ancient creatures.
* Symbol: a cracked crescent

### Shaundakul / Turms

* The helping hand
* worshipped by elves and goblins, as well as exiled peoples.
* Chaotic neutral god (Guest), once a much more troubled soul, but who has reformed enough to be able to pass beyond the Blight.
* Shaundakul likes travellers and exiles, and he desires freedom for both himself and his followers. Appears as an old man in battered travel clothes.
* Symbol: old boots

## Native gods

### Ulutiu / Ge

* The Dead God of giants and frost. Goblins refer to them as Ge
* (Native: the first Two in existence)
* Their Ggantija descendents have gone into the Tenebrae looking for ways to bring them back.
* Symbol: Bisected crystal/ice shard

### Jergal

* The End of All
* Lawful neutral god (Native) representing death and destined mortality.
* Often shown with writing tools. Venerated by undertakers and feared by elves. Jergal may some day come for even the guests and Keepers themselves.
* Symbol: a skull and a stylus

### Llolth

* Chaotic evil goddess (Native) who gravitated to the shame and anger of the Dark Elves, and bound her cause to theirs. Got on Atina's bad side with unfortunate spidery consequences.
* Her influence is too obviously malign and too weak to have great effect in Terranuova. Atina / Menrfa made Llolth into the strange spidery entity she is today. She was originally a benign goddess of weaving, crafts and knowledge; unfortunately she found out things about other gods, things that needed to stay buried. Her old name is forgotten to the Roma.
* Symbol: spider

### Jack the Lantern

* The walker by night
* Chaotic neutral god (Native). A being born of nature magic and mischief, he resembles either a gourd borne on twig-like limbs or a rakishly thin ginger-headed man with unnaturally pale skin.
* Symbol: carved pumpkin

### Sha the Teller

* Our Lady of Loss
* Neutral evil goddess (Native).
* Sha is the embodiment of the pain felt by the Guests when they were driven into the Tenebrae, and the loneliness of the Keepers. The edges of the Blight don't fully contain her - she finds conduits into Terranuova through deep caverns and sites where atrocities have occurred.
* Symbol: Black disc

### The Great Wave

* Chaotic evil force of nature (Native)
* Representative of the massive storms and weather anomalies that separate the two great hemispheres of Te Ao. Propitiated rather than worshipped by sailors. Guests have tried to enlist The Great Wave's energy to break past the Blight, without success.

### Yakvas

* The Taker
* Immortal, enormous megalodon who inhabits the great ocean of Terranuova.
* Pure brutality - worshipped by some, but more a force of nature than a cosmic intelligence.

### Illuyanka

* the Hostess
* Lawful neutral goddess (Native) of winter and permafrost.
* Worshipped in Vestfal. Does battle each autumn with Tarhut and blinds his avatar. Takes an ice dragon form each winter. Probably a metaphor for glaciers.
* Symbol: an undulating dragon or snake shape.

### Tarhut

* Thunderstriker
* Chaotic neutral god (Native) of storms and sky.
* Worshipped in Vestfal. Does battle each spring with Illuyanka and destroys her avatar. Appears as a blinded old man in winter, and as a bearded feasting man in high summer.
* Symbol: blindfold, lightning bolt.

### Yaga

* the Little Mother
* Chaotic good goddess (Native) of secrets and transformation.
* Worshipped in Vestfal, often by sorcerers hoping to learn Transformation magic. Yaga will help innocent people but only if they show bravery or wits.
* Appears as an old woman, sometimes with a wooden leg or brandishing a pestle. Has no temples, but her cottage is said to appear in woodland glades.
* Symbol: cauldron and pestle, matryoshka doll

### Kikkuli

* The Horsemaster
* Lawful good Native deity (Two, often presents as hermaphroditic)
* Patron/ess deity of riding, especially horses and camelids. Worshipped in Vestfal and the Hot Lands. Appears as a centaur, a large white camel or a fartlek trainer in archaic dress, depending on location.
* Symbol: a bridle with no bit

### Wakeen

* Glimmercoin
* True neutral Keeper turned local deity, Wakeen has dominion over trade and commerce. It's worth noting that unlike most outsider immortals, Wakeen has a Two identity and seems to delight in its versatility.
* Terranuova's colonisation gave Wakeen a tremendous boost in power. It's likely that many who claim to venerate Elo actually channel their power to Wakeen.
* Symbol: a shiny coin (or opal, in New Albion)
* would-be Patron of the Y'd

## Keepers/Guests not in the pantheons

### Garagos

* Lord of War, The Fasces, the Goat
* A chaotic evil demonic god (Guest), M
* Garagos is held prisoner within Te Ao. He both inspires and feeds off strife. War domain influence - he is pure murder constrained within a veneer of chivalry.
* Garagos only has sporadic influence, as he cannot send his minions into Terranuova, but he can still influence people in the throes of battle. The Paladins of the Hueste invoke him when they need to fight giants or other worthy enemies. Ser Kevan was also possessed by Garagos while seeking to devote himself to Mitras.
* Manifests in screams, blood and teeth. He has one great yellow goat's eye, a hairy naked back, curled horns and goat-like legs. His aspect is animalistic and barbaric.
* Symbol: arms clutching weapons, especially fasces or twin axes. Colours, gold and red
* Patron of Venere

### Asmodios

* The Deceiver, The Serpent of Idleness
* Lawful evil devil (Keeper), Two
* Once chief warden on Te Ao, Asmodios has no outlet for their ambitions and their boredom has turned to angry scheming. Worshipped by those who hunger for power.
* Asmodios always had an affinity for animals. They give their minions the power to transform others into beasts.
* Presents as a gender fluid, sensual and petite humanoid, who transforms from male to female and back again. They can also manifest as a giant constrictor snake or have hair made of snakes.
* Symbol: an empty throne, a knot of snakes intertwined. Colours, green and black
* Patron of Cachot

### Kyric / Cyric

* Prince of Lies, the Star-Spinner
* Chaotic evil demon (Guest), M
* Imprisoned for psychopathy and mass manipulation, Kyric gets power from sadistic thoughts and covetousness. Appears to thieves in dreams at times.
* Kyric the Spinner is on a mission to find and punish his wayward prophet, Coulisse, the former headman of Delemont.
* Cyric the Scientist is on a mission to save the fragments of his friend and colleague, Lene
* Famously doesn't show his whole form, or conceals it in a sea of smoke and stars. Often has cat-like eyes and slender silver hands with double thumbs. Yiuri, however, has seen him in a simpler, more dwarf-shaped form, hairless and with small gills at his neck.
* Symbol: a starry cloak. Colours, midnight blue and silver
* would-be Patron of Vestfal

### Bane

* The Black Hands, the Gauntleted Fist
* Lawful evil devil (Keeper), F
* Former chief of security in the Tenebrae, a master of fear and intimidation. She craves control above all. Influences dictators and those who abuse power.
* Grants War domain blessings.
* Presents female and always heavily armoured, with four arms and dark ashen skin. She has a complicated and intense relationship with Sha the Teller.
* Symbol: black right hand outline, a ship with a black sail. Colours, royal blue, maroon or purple
* Patron of Vilaverde

### Orcus

* The Stinking Lily, The Pale Lily
* Neutral evil demon (Guest), M
* A former accomplice of the other Guests, tends to be parasitic in nature, takes and warps ideas and life forms. Strike the earth three times to commune with him.
* A slender Guest with more of an alien than a humanoid form. Long and pale of limb, flat faced with large compound eyes and an orchid-like ruff.
* Has the ability to conjur and bind demonoids, but annot create anything truly original himself.
* Symbol: a pale lily-like flower or a doorway shaped like an open mouth. Colours, black and white
* Patron of del Flor

### Other Guests:

#### Pale Night

* A mysterious female-presenting Guest, the oldest known Guest on Te Ao, said to have powers over reality. Mother of Lene.

### Other Natives:

#### Robierto the Simple

* Once a folk hero and village idiot, now worshipped as a last resort by many peasants. The god of slapstick humour and lucky discoveries.

#### Er-Kle

* Champion of the goblin tribes who migrated to Terranuova in the time of legends. Big, very strong, kind of dumb. Good but prone to barbarian rage.