Suloise Pantheon

Unlike the Baklunish pantheon, a number of Suloise gods made it into the core D&D 3.x pantheon (a few Baklunish deities made it into supplements with short entries, but that's it). As such, unless I decide to change something about them, I'm not going to worry about writing up any gods which appear in the Player's Handbook, or who has received a writeup in a major book. Ie, I'm not going to write up Kord. He's D&D Hercules, he's in Core, who gives a shit, but Beltar only received a single paragraph in Complete Divine, *and* I think I can do something more interesting with her than canon did, so I'll write her up.

## Greater Gods

### Incabulos

*NE God of Plague, Disaster and Nightmares*

**Symbol:** A reptilian eye contained within a red diamond on a field of black

**Domains:** Death, Destruction, Evil, Pestilence

**Favored Weapon:** Quarterstaff

Incabulos is known as the Black Rider, lord of all that infects and brings suffering. Common folk will make offering to him in the hopes of appeasing him and turning his gaze from them and theirs, while his malevolent clergy spreads sickness and defilement in his name. These clerics maintain secrecy, doing their foul deeds and holding their vile rituals only in the dark. Incabulos appears with a twisted body, skeletal hands, skin tinged with a diseased blue, with a face from the worst nightmares. He wears a filthy black robe lined with orange and trimmed in moss green, and rides astride a nightmare, accompanied by night hags. Those who meet his eyes are stricken by nightmares, and his staff causes weeping blisters to break out across withering flesh with a touch.

## Intermediate Gods

### Wee Jas

*(L)N(E) Goddess of Beauty, Death and Magic*

**Symbol:** A flaming skull. Alternatively, a skull with *locks and tongue of flame*

**Domains:** Beauty, Death, Glory, Magic, Mind *(Note- clerics of appropriate alignment can also access the Evil and Law domains through her)*

**Favored Weapon:** Dagger

Wee Jas is a complex deity. In general, she is considered to be a lawful neutral figure, as she does teach adherence to laws, and does little to help either side in the war between Good and Evil. However, beyond the belief that laws should generally be followed, and that the souls of the dead should be allowed to rest, she has little care for Law. She keeps herself and her own, and to herself, and if the alternative is harm to her own interests, her people, or the souls in her care, then all else can go hang. The extent of her lawfulness is her belief that contracts and legitimate laws should be followed and "The souls of the dead should be allowed to rest, and no one should bother those who wish to." The extent of her evilness is "I will manage mine. You manage your own."

She is also described as vain. But, in truth, she merely has high standards for herself, and takes great pains, even as a goddess, to maintain them, to always look her best, even if the only person looking is herself. She will change outfits with a thought. She will take entire days caring for her divine body and hair even though, as a god, she has no need to.

She rewards those who do her great service with intellect, wisdom and charisma. She will make them more knowledgable or keener of mind, stronger of will or more open to the world, or more charming or, indeed, beautiful. She can also take these assets from those who significantly displease her, but rarely bothers unless they have been truly a thorn in her side.

As a goddess of death, Wee Jas is concerned with the souls of the dead, not their bodies. Her clergy will perform funerary rites, and ensure a good burial, but she has no problem with the animation of dead bodies, only denying a soul its rest. She is, however, understanding of souls who do not *desire* rest, and it's not particularly uncommon to find ghost priests in her temples, maintaining them and mentoring the faithful beyond the pall of death.

Wee Jas' temples are all beautiful, if occasionally austere, with permanent magical fires as pieces of focus, and extensive libraries of magical lore, wills and legal documents. Her clergy are nearly all trained in the funerary art, and much of their time is occupied with such, but she also counts quite a few scholars of law among her faithful.

## Lesser Gods

### Beltar

*CE Goddess of Spite, Pits, and Caves*

**Symbol:** An open mouth of fangs *(note- typically, this symbol displays a horizontal mouth, but there are those who worship Beltar, mostly women, who insist the mouth should be **vertical***.*)*

**Domains:** Chaos, Earth, Evil, War

**Favored Weapon:** Spiked Gauntlet

Beltar is the ancient Suel goddess of earth and mines, but was displaced. Her purview taken by other gods of earth, stone, and mining, both new Suel gods, foreign human gods, and gods of non-humans. Her worship dwindled until she had virtually no worshippers who were not non-human slaves, and her prayers came only from the lips of those bound and beaten in the darkness, forced to work in the mines and caves that once were her hallowed places. It is believed she was once the consort of Incabulos, though she now hates him with a consuming passion over some schism that can only be guessed at. Women who lose babies, either in the womb or the creche, curse her name for taking their babies as she is said to consume her own young, but, in the darkness, when they are alone and with nowhere to turn, many women pray to Beltar to take their babies who they never wanted, or cannot care for. The clergy of high-minded gods such as Jascar and Lendor claim she is a fiend of child murder, but the wise women who serve the slums they live in know that she is an answer to the cries that are not heeded.

Beltar's clergy are often seen as cruel and hate-filled. In truth, they do teach hatred, namely, that one should hate those who would subjugate and enslave them, and they are cruel, namely to those who find it easier to appease their master than to fight and those who would betray their fellows. Many of Beltar's clergy are undead, returning from the grave within a year of their burial. The common belief is that this is a sign of goddess of slaves never letting them rest, but if asked, the clergy will say that there is no rest to be had while any slaves still exist, too beaten to fight back, or too bound to resist.

The Suloise say that Beltar tended to Tiamat's wounds after the latter's first terrible battle with her brother, Bahamut. In this time, it is believed that Beltar spoke words of hatred and malice into Tiamat's ears and ensured her corruption, but the devoted of Beltar frame this another way. Tiamat was betrayed, by creator and sibling, and grievously wounded. The Mother of the Oppressed took her in, healed her, and listened to her. The two goddesses spoke of their wounds and struggles, and out of this came a powerful dragon-goddess with an eternal hatred for the one who cast her down and rose to Celestia himself. Some say that Tiamat was cast out for claiming too large a share of treasure for her horde, but who can deny that Bahamut now sits on a literal mountain of gems and precious metals, so large it is a plane unto itself, while Tiamat coils within the deep and dark places, like her nurse Beltar, gathering to her those who are likewise cast aside, like Beltar?

### Joramy

*N Goddess of Righteous Fury, Flame, Volcanoes and ~~Conflict~~Revolution*

**Symbol:** Three pillars of flame with flaring terminals. Often upright, but can be oriented in any direction.

**Domains:** Competition, Destruction, Fire, War

**Favored Weapon:** Longsword

Joramy is often characterized as "a shrew," a shrill, unpleasant, continuously bickering and nagging woman. But then, many women who stand up for themselves and expect others to pull their weight are characterized this way. Joramy *is* an outspoken goddess, prone to fiery outbursts and anger. She's a goddess of volcanos and righteous anger. That's how those gods *are.* Masculine gods of fire are frequently attended by wild bursts of fire that echo their speech. They are "terrible" or "awesome." Masculine gods of righteous fury are unyielding and outspoken. They are "strong" and "stern." If Joramy's voice rises to shrillness, if she seems to have explosive outbursts, if she seems unyielding, it is often in response to one who expects her to "know her place."

Joramy knows her place. It is in the fire, it is in the fray, it is in the way of those who would enforce their will upon others, and at the side and backs of those who are targeted for such oppression.

The other Suel gods would not listen to Joramy when their worshippers decided they should control the world. Now, they will hear her, or they will hear nothing.