Religion
There are twelve named gods in this world, divided into two very distinct groups. A third group of nameless gods is also said to exist, but there is little evidence of them.
Clerics in Maugeter do not derive their powers from gods, but from themselves, much like sorcerers. There is some connection between clerical powers and deities, however, and the deities and their churches seem to have some insight into the nature of clerical powers. High-ranking members of churches tend to have such powers.
Elder gods
The three Elder Gods have no established churches, and few worshippers. Each is said to be served by a legion of stars, called Tari ("Flame"). Within the Rammas Mountains supposedly lie monasteries of holy men dedicated to the Elder Gods.
- PRI - The Sun - PRI is the light in the day. He is said to watch over all the Realm in the hours between dawn and dusk, served by his Pritari day-stars. The Pritari cannot be seen in the Firmament because PRI's light is so strong.
- EN - The Earth, The Grey, The Mist - EN is the light in the grey. He is said to maintain vigil in the dusk and dawn while neither of his brothers are paying attention. EN is served by the Entari, the grey-stars, who can be seen occasionally at the horizon during EN's times of day.
- SUR - The Moon - SUR is the light in the night, who watches over the Realm between dusk and dawn. SUR's stars are the Surtari, the night-stars, whose vengeance is said to be terrible, and whose light can be seen as clearly as SUR's own.
Prime Gods
The remaining nine gods each have an alignment and a responsibility. It is believed that when a person dies, their spirit travels north 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 controversial 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. Gods on the whole are less important to the inhabitants of the Realm than they are in other places.
- 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
- 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 little is known about her. 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. Domains: Chaos, Animal, Plant, Air, Fire, Earth, Water
- 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 active worshippers, 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 only a small number of followers, 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. Domains: Evil, Death, Travel, Destruction
- Nahagarash - The Beast, The Defiler, The Destroyer, The Adversary. Chaotic evil. God of war and destruction. Nahagarash is reviled in the civilised lands, and is the adversary of the gods of good. The Paladins of Ristinnol claim that a powerful avatar or emissary of Nahagarash holds sway in Hetaria, and certainly traders report that the Destroyer is worshipped openly there. Domains: Chaos, Evil, War, Destruction, Fire, Strength
Cthonic Gods
One especially persistent superstitious legend is that there are gods beneath our feet, buried in the Fundament. Known as the cthonic gods, they are said to be without name and without number. Some believe them to be the powers of nature, and others say they are what PRI, EN and SUR watch over.