Religion
There are twelve gods in this world, divided into two very distinct groups.
The three Elder Gods, PRI, EN and SUR are an enigma to the overwhelming majority of the population. Popularly supposed to represent the unblemished forces of Good, Neutrality and Evil, these gods have no established churches, and few worshippers. Within the Rammas Mountains a Holy Order of Warrior Monks known as A stands dedicated to each one (A-PRI, A-EN and A-SUR, respectively). The YU and the KE (who appear to be minor and major initiates respectively) of these orders can sometimes be found roaming the lands, although confirmed rumours of their intervention in any matter have never been found.
The remaining nine gods (there is no group title, though an A monk might refer to them as the "Lesser Gods") each have an alignment and a responsibility. It is believed that when a person dies, their spirit travels over the Rammas Mountains to the Heart of the World, where they become a courtier of the god they worshipped. "Courtier" is often used to refer to the deceased, or occasionally to ghosts, which are sometimes said to be on errands for their god. It is generally assumed that those who served no god in life make their way to the court of the most suitable deity, although there are no shortage of contraversial priests willing to preach doom on the unfaithful.
Although each god has an alignment, there isn't always a correlation between that alignment and the alignment of their followers. Clerics of a god tend to be within one alignment step of their deity, but this isn't an absolute requirement.
Gods on the whole are less important to the inhabitants of this world than they are to some others. The gods very rarely intervene directly, and their clerics are less powerful politically than they are on many worlds.
Good gods
- Avaras - The Lion, The Falcon, The Light. Lawful good. God of valour, courage and honour. Patron of the Order of the Falcon. Avaras has a strong church in Ristinnol and Linlishlin. Avaras is a popular god amongst common folk and champions of good alike. His creed is unsubtle, if well-intentioned, and he is the bitter enemy of Nahagarash. Domains: Law, Good, Strength, Earth, War
- Telial - The Healer, The Blesser. Neutral Good. God of compassion and healing, and patron of the Order of Peace. Telial has a quiet but widespread church throughout civilised lands. Not as boistrous as Avaras, and therefore not as popular as those of Avaras, the followers of Telial wage a quiet war against poverty, oppression and sickness all the same. Domains: Good, Healing, Sun, Protection
- Sahrana - The Fire, The Heart. Chaotic Good. Goddess of life, creation, change and renewal. Sahrana's church is poorly organised but enthusiastic, particularly in rural areas. As befits her chaotic status, the precise responsibilities of Sahrana and her church are unclear, but she is held in high esteem by those who work with flora and fauna as well as artists of all description. Domains: Chaos, Good, Fire, Sun, Plant, Animal
Neutral gods
- Lady Justice - The Lady, The Sword. Lawful neutral. Goddess of law and justice, and patron of the Order of Law. Lady Justice's church is very strong in Maugeter, less so in Kanzier. Despite the efforts of the Order of Law, seeds of the kind of oppressive law fostered by a lawful evil attitude keep appearing amongst the Church of Justice. Brash theologists suggest that a divide exists somewhere in the upper temple hierarchy over how to best interpret Justice's teachings. Domains: Law, Strength, Protection, Knowledge, Air, War
- Ro - The Center. True neutral. Goddess of balance. Ro does not have a church, but she is the patron of the Druids of the Emberwild forest. She is not worshipped outside of that area, and has no clerics (the druids are her clerics). Domains: Good, Evil, Law, Chaos, Luck, Trickery
- Nature - The Tree. Chaotic neutral. Goddess of nature. Nature is respected rather than worshipped, on the whole, but to a certain extent every animal in the world is one of her followers. Long ago, legends say that Nature committed a grievous crime against Balance, and since then Ro has been granted power over the wilder deity. Nature has no clerics - her only mortal devotees are the most primal druids of Ro. Domains: Chaos, Animal, Plant, Air, Fire, Earth, Water
Evil gods
- Tirrnor - The Way, The Spirit. Lawful evil. God of magic. It is through some arcane effort of Tirrnor's that magical energy flows through the world, and can be manipulated by mortal spellcasters. Legends say that Tirrnor used to be the chaotic good god of magic, and the lover of Sahrana, but he was captured and tortured by Nahagarash. When he was good, it is said that he kept up the flow of magic out of sheer joy at the wondrous things it made possible. His motivations in his current state are unknown. Tirrnor is respected by practitioners of magic, many of whom scoff at his reputed "evil" nature. Tirrnor has very few clerics, and none at all who were not powerful arcane spellcasters before entering his service. Domains: Magic, Trickery, Law, Evil, Knowledge
- Mournstir - The End, The Reaper, The Choker. Neutral evil. God of death and undeath. It is Mournstir who treads the wheel of time and keeps mortals mortal. Legends say that mortals were originally immortal, but Mournstir had a finite lifespan. Jealously he forces others to give up their life as he must eventually do. Mournstir has a very small number of clerics, but receives worship all the same by presiding over funerals. His followers guarantee peaceful rest for the bodies of the dead as long as they are dedicated to Mournstir, a practice frowned upon by the church of Sahrana. When they require material agents in the world, the followers of Mournstir will raise the unconsecrated dead en masse for their own purposes. Necromancers and intelligent Undead are his only frequent worshippers. Domains: Evil, Death, Travel, Destruction
- Nahagarash - The Beast, The Defiler, The Destroyer, The Adversary. Chaotic evil. God of war and destruction. Worshipped by the evil humanoids of the Wastelands, Nahagarash is reviled in the civilised lands, and is the adversary of the gods of good. It is assumed amongst the Paladins of Ristinnol that the evil force occupying the black mountain in the heart of the east is an avatar or other powerful manifestation of Nahagarash. Domains: Chaos, Evil, War, Destruction, Fire, Strength