The Pantheon

While specifics of the great churches - and even the names of the gods that were granted them by man in ages past - have largely been lost, the gods of the world still exist, and tales are still told of who they are and their deeds in times long lost to history. The powers they represent are barely understood, but what has survived still speaks to hope, and to the warp and weft of the world.

The Great Powers:

It is said, in the beginning of all things, that the world was forged for a great purpose, an unknowable reason that drives its turning and the lives of all that live within it, from the greatest elemental to the least worm. :

The Great Dragon:

Said to be the first of dragons, the great dragon is the eldest and most powerful of his kind, now ascended to godhood. The great Court of Dragons is beholden to him, and - alone of all of the gods - he is said to be still active, guarding and guiding his people in their destinies.

He is a dragon of crystalline scales that reflect every color, and is himself neither good nor evil... only a dragon, and that, likely, is enough. His Domains are Trickery, Knowledge, and Tempest. Dragonborn and Kobolds often claim him, though any mortal can worship him - those mortals often accept Dragons as objects of worship, and will work to further their ends. Given that dragons were always known as great manipulators, it is unknown how many of the elder race are still active - and they often worked at cross purposes.

As of the beginning of The Aria of Stars, no true dragon has been seen in the world for almost seven hundred years.

The Lord of Morning

He was said to have given order to nothingness, to have carved the world out of the void and decreed its laws. It was he that determined the length of the day, the laws of gravity and light, and the rules of magic. He limited possibility, making all that is possible, and granted order amidst the chaos.

In his most general aspect, he is depicted as an androgynous, tall form, of golden eyes and hair, carrying a spear tipped in light. His domains are Arcana, Tempest, Law, the Forge, and the Grave.

The Lady of Twilight

She stood at the Lord's side - and everywhere his laws were strict, she offered possibility. It was she who brought flexiblity and dreams, and who split the spirit of the world into what is, the dream of what could be, and the memory of what is past - creating the Feywilde and the Shadowfell. It is she who breathed possibility into life, and taught all creatures how to use the Weave. She is not the great mother - but the great mother is her daughter, and has learned many of her secrets.

In her most general aspect, she is depicted as a woman of any race, clothed in stars, with eyes of fire - and great wings that stretch across the entirety of the horizon. Her domains are Arcana, Trickery, Knowledge, Nature, and Light.

The Beast

The Lord and Lady were said to have had a union - a misbegotten thing that was forbidden by the very words written into the fabric of existence. This union birthed a creature of rebellion and pain, the antithesis to their creation, a thing said to be made of the worst of all possibilities, a thing that pined for its own death, which could only come with the death of all. This creature joined with the world, burrowing deep into its core - and became the Beast Below, the heart of nightmares. From it is birthed abominations and the undead, and dreams of destruction and hunger. It is never depicted, but always described as the worst nightmare the teller can imagine. Its domains are Death, War, Trickery, and Darkness.

A note on Domains:

This is not to say that different domains cannot be granted by each of the great powers; their hands are in all things, and they are not bound by simple mortal conventions, only by the mortal understanding of the possibilities of what they actually are. Thus, it is possible to be a Cleric of the Lord of Morning and be granted powers of the Trickery domain - but it is hardly typical. It is also worth noting that the powers themselves have no care for good or evil, or even law and chaos - while the Lord of Morning tends to Law, and the Lady of Twilight to Chaos, and the Beast to evil - any alignment can follow any of the powers. There is good in death, and evil in law, chaos in civilization - every civilization has their own names and aspects for these beings. In one, the Lord of MOrning might be the harsh arbitor of unbending crusaders, a Lord worshipped by tyrants - and who grants powers to their clerics just as easily as to the great woodfens, where gentle elves worshipped him as the bringer of summer and the lord of healing. THey defy simple classifications, and .. perhaps there is even truth to the idea that the people that worship them drive their own inscrutable purpose. Who can say?

The Demigods:

The great powers are not the only creatures of divinity within the world - six lesser powers exist, creatures that achieved divinity in their own way, perhaps at the intent of the Great Powers themselves. These six creatures were all elevated in their own way from among the peoples of the world - but their worship is necessarially limited. In fact, there may be more - but only these six are widely known.

Note that their names are many and varied, and often are granted by culture.

The Great Mother:

Goddess of nature and all things living, the great mother holds sway over the natural cycle, the soul of the world, and is often declared to be ruler of the Feywlide. She has had hundreds of names, a different one in every culture - but names don't bother her very much, for all are her children. Commonly worshipped by druids and rangers, as well as clerics called to family, childbirth, and the rites of death, she also has worshippers among the evil creatures and races - for she does not judge. All that live are her children.

She is said to be at constant war with the Beast, whom she cannot overcome, but who has corrupted a part of her domain - where he has the power to spawn abberations and unnatural creatures that her worshippers are tasked with destroying.

Her domains are Life and Nature, and, while she herself is Neutral, she has followers of all alignments.

The Raven Lord:

A faceless barbarian clad in furs and feathers, the raven lord guards the shadowfell with savage fury, and ensures the sanctity of the dead, and the entropy that must exist that defines endings, whether those endings are of lives, kingdoms, or ideas.

He is said to be in constant war with the Beast, whom he cannot overcome, but who has corrupted a part of his domain - from which undead are born. His fGreollowers treat undead as anathema, and once had wandering Hunters that were a great order of slayers - now nearly forgotten.

His domains are the Grave and Knowledge, and he is Neutral, with followers of all alignments.

The Storm Queen:

Haughty, cold and vicious, the storm queen is said to be a great giant living in a castle in the sky above the frozen north of the world, from where she sends out uncaring storms and rules over vast kingdoms of giants, elementals, and the spirits that owe her allegiance. She is appeased, not worshipped - and lays claim to mariners who sail her seas and skies, and all of the elements of the world around her. She tends to evil, though good elementals do exist - she is selfish and inhuman, ruling with a fist of ice and iron.

Her mortal worshippers entreat her for elemental power for their own purposes.

Her domains are Nature, Light, War, and Tempest.

The Maker:

Said to have been the greatest smith and inventor the mortal races have ever produced, the Maker is a force of civilization, patron of dreamers, inventors, poets, craftsmen, and bards. It is he who creates cities, defends mortals against chaos, and stands athwart the cold impersonality of the storm queen through a combination of mischief and great machines.

Their mortal worshippers are kings and artisans, those who seek civilization. Again, he tends to lawful and good, but their followers are often simply lawful, understanding the value of community and power.

Their domains are the Forge, City, and Trickery.

The Caller:

A human sorcerer, the Caller came to power by uncovering the Gates of the Beyond, walls that protect the world from the unknowing things in the void beyond, things so alien that even the Beast bands together to handle their incursion. Patron of those who seek power, the Caller wants to regulate the opening and closing of the Gates, and forever seeks to crack them wide enough to allow demons, devils, angels... and worse things that defy easy description - to flood into the stasis of creation. Considered inimical to all, the Caller's followers are secretive, often seeking power for its own sake...

... but there are those that, however misguided, would entreat him to allow the unfettered beings of pure 'law' or 'good' onto the world as well, likely with similar disastrous consequences.

HIs cultists can call on domains of War and Knowledge, and are often Warlocks besides.