Eagle Hobgoblin Pantheon

# Ignore for now :P

The **Eagle Hobgoblin Pantheon** is a faith originating from hobgoblin shamanism and sharing many of the same gods. A key difference between the faith of the Eagle Hobgoblins and original hobgoblin shamanism is the perception of the multiple gods. Each god is thought to have dominion over a certain rule of reality, and thus the magic of these gods is responsible for manipulating these particular rules. Before the Day of Ashen Skies the gods were considered to be separate entities and worshipped as such, but the Eagle hobgoblins eventually began to consider the way they worshipped due to the harshness of the trial they faced. After climbing the Godswall, the mage-shaman who led the eagle hobgoblins up the cliffs had a revelation on the nature of the hobgoblin gods. Each god was in fact a face of the nameless god of the universe, who long ago split his very name into the laws that govern all creation, and it was the failure to properly acknowledge this god’s sacrifice that led to the Godloss. From this point on the different gods were treated as aspects of the nameless god, and their worship is a way to give gratitude to the god, since, as a god without a name, it cannot be directly worshipped.

Magic is considered divine, since the ability to manipulate one of the laws of the world is considered to be a gift from the gods and a sign of enlightenment. It is thus through magical ability that a hobgoblin may ascend towards the nameless god through the mastery of all the laws of the universe. Hobgoblins with mastery of only one law would be considered partially enlightened, and it would require a hobgoblin to have total mastery of all types of magic to truly be considered enlightened. The ascension of a truly enlightened hobgoblin is considered to be one of the greatest goods within this religion, and given the difficulty of true enlightenment it has yet to occur.

Eagle hobgoblins believe in concepts of karma and reincarnation, the life one leads determines how one returns once their spirit has managed to make the journey through the spirit realm to be reincarnated. Those who defied the gods and their teachings in life are said to step away from the path of enlightenment, being reincarnated into non-mages or weaker mages. Hobgoblins also believe that pious conduct increases the chance that one reaches true enlightenment in their next life, which further leans into the elevation of the mages, as mages are considered to have good karma from a previous life.

## The Gods and Their Laws

**Shape**:  The manipulation of objects' physicality.  Shape is a Fickle God/Law, one that dances closest with concepts we know as ‘Chaos’.  Bending Shape typically falls into two camps: reshaping individuals or reshaping objects. Simple Bending would be changing objects into other types of mass, like water to ice, or oneself into a gaseous form for a time. More advanced Bending involves shapechanging one into a larger size, or a rock into a giant cannon.

**Time**:  The progress of existence itself. Time is unnerving, knowing all that past and will pass. Many may consider it to be the ‘Strongest’ God/Law, as it affects all other laws in some manner. Bending Time is heavily advised against by many hobgoblins, as failure to do so properly leads to catastrophic results. Those that manage to bend Time can repeat battles until their side wins, keep a part of the land in a stasis, or remain young eternally.

**Space**:  The Extent of our concept of ‘Where’. A God/Law that originally rivaled Time, until it splintered, creating Force. It is a God/Law that seems to favor those that already show promise, typically granting Bending capabilities to generals and mage-shamans. Perhaps this is because some who Bend Space falter their first time, disappearing forever. Those that succeed, however, can quickly close space around a foe, create homes that appear to be 100x the size inside, and trap rivals in never-ending mazes.

**Word**:  The vocalization of thought. Many believe Word to be related to Shape in some way, though how is ultimately unknown. This God/Law is the most charitable of all God/Laws, granting the smallest bending to many creatures all over. However, what any Hobgoblins consider to be ‘Bending’ Word would be the ability to use words in ways that most could not. Examples include speaking a command to someone and they follow it to the letter, detailing great stories that cause insanity, or manifesting other bending skills through merely uttering words.

**Light**:  The agent of being. Light is a God/Law that is hard to understand. Originally, Light was seen as similar to Word, granting the gift of sight as the ability to bend the God/Law and nothing more. However, the Shaman-Chief that found revelation at the Godswall claimed Light to be instead the illumination of all things, and that those that basked in Light were the most favored by the God/Law. A small contingent of Hobgoblins also believe Dark to be a God/Law, twin of Light, however most dismiss this, instead insisting that darkness is the absence of Light and nothing more. Bending Light can lead to invisibility to the naked eye, literal solar beams, or making it appear as if the sun dimmed to nothing or vice versa.

**Force**:  The ‘Child’ of Space, Force is a God/Law that represents the relationship of all things. This applies not only to what we know as magnetism, but also to the bonds people share, be it platonic friends or romantic lovers. Despite this, Force is seen as a very emotionless God/Law, having experienced all emotions from every ‘thing’, and grown null to it. Force Bending feels like a safer Space Bending, with the ability to launch objects as projectiles, create a vaccum of energy in a space, or make forcefields out of air to repel all.

**Chaos**:  Not a God/Law, Chaos is everything that the Original God was not. It is not a physical force in any way, and is something that will always exist. Eons ago, Chaos was imprisoned by the Original God, and the Laws of Reality were the chains binding it. When a single chain breaks, a small part of Chaos seeps into the material realm, inflicting great harm to all.

## Interaction With Spirits

Spirits are considered by eagle hobgoblins to be gifts from the nameless god to assist hobgoblin kind in reaching enlightenment. In this way, spirits are both valued, but not necessarily seen as equal, since their purpose is seen as in service to their enlightenment.

Eagle hobgoblins will often make pacts with spirits in exchange for greater magical power, these pacts can be based on worship, safety, debt after freeing a spirit from precursor corruption, etc. In general, the more that is given up to a spirit for a pact, the stronger magic is granted to the contractor, additionally the stronger a spirit is the more it will demand from a potential contractor.

There are a few different main types of pacts that are used by the eagle hobgoblins. The first, which is generally seen as the most favorable, is a pact of duty. Through saving a spirit from precursor corruption a hobgoblin can often gain a very favorable contract with a spirit due to the spirit’s gratitude. Due to the fact that this requires being able to free a spirit from corruption, these pacts are mostly performed by already-powerful mages, and serve to enhance their abilities even further. Another type is a pact of reverence, which is when a hobgoblin makes offerings, sacrifices, and worships a spirit in order to gain power from them. This type of pact is often considered to be somewhat demeaning by the mage-shaman class as it indicates a lack of mastery over the laws of the world. A pact of safety is a type of pact where a spirit gains the protection of a pactmaker in exchange for granting them magical power. This type of pact is often done with weaker spirits who want protection from the various corrupting elements left behind by the precursors or from being absorbed by other spirits. These pacts are limited in terms of granting magical power since the spirits who are willing to enter into such an arrangement are often weak, though it is not very taxing on the pact maker so they serve as a fairly simple way for a mage to gain more magical power. Lastly is a ‘pact’ of domination. Through using magic eagle hobgoblins can also influence the will of the spirits and essentially force spirits into unequal pacts that grant the mage much more power compared to what they give up in a contract. Despite being somewhat cruel, these contracts are generally seen as a sign of a mage’s mastery over the world.

Pacts with spirits are often used as a way to gauge a mage’s worth within eagle hobgoblin society. Hobgoblins that have many spirits under their sway or have the favor of powerful spirits are often looked up to as leaders on the path to enlightenment. Due to magic being helpful in gaining favor with spirits or forging favorable contracts, powerful mages will often have many spirits contracted under them with favorable contracts. Less powerful mages, or non-mages,  on the other hand may have contracts with one to a few individually powerful spirits but must constantly worship and satiate their few contracted spirits to maintain their magic.

## Magic

From the hobgoblins perspective, the world is created within the bounds of numerous ‘Laws’ that define reality. These laws are considered absolute, as they are created from the fracturing of God. However, Hobgoblins that approach Enlightenment can learn how to bend the laws to their favor, causing instances of distorted reality. A hobgoblin that fully reaches enlightenment would have mastered bending all laws of reality.

There is a problem with bending reality, however: Laws exist for a reason. Bending Laws is meant as a gift, and are expected to utilise that gift with wisdom. Too much usage can cause Laws to break in extreme cases, inviting Chaos to step in. Chaos distorts whole areas in ways that can not be properly comprehended by mortal minds. The good news is that Chaos hates the status quo, and after lingering in an area for some time, it will dissipate.

Hobgoblin Magic is created somatically, through precise movements of the body and additional objects. Those proficient in Bending the Word God/Law may substitute or enhance their magic vocally.