Religion (Shard Ne'Vaal Supplement)

The religion of Shard Ne'Vaal is a complex movement, one which has been in supposed decline ever since Paradise Lost. The Gorge not only ravaged mortals, it also decimated three quarters of the old pantheon. Needless to say, this was a blow across all faiths.

A Note on Faith

Like any fantasy setting, the people of the Old World relied on faith to give them power, whether they be paladins or clerics, or even warlocks, whose powers come from stronger beings. With the death of many gods through the Gorge, the fabric of divine magic is now basically in tatters. There is little to gain from holding to your faith when the deities no longer answer your call. Shortly after the Gorge was the Era of Tumult, where, amid the crumbling infrastructure of the world, there was a hasty scramble for power among mortal nations and gods, which only fractured the world further. This accounts for a portion of the gods who lost their status in the Gorge aftermath. What is left of religion and faith are mainly cult movements and populations held hostage by vile gods who coerce them into belief. The only exception is probably Orelia, who provides the only life holding the world together, and the only light of good left. But as the situation fails to better itself, the branches holding the fragile mosaic of Shard Ne'Vaal wither with each passing day, as faith shrivels and gives away to despair.

While some gods fell entirely from grace, a few were not so immensely impacted by the loss of their base, instead descending to a level of power known as a vestige. These were usually insulated entities who never relied on faith to begin with, and held positions more akin to that of primordials than deities. Falling to a vestige merely means a sort of inactivity or slumber and a lack of a base of faith. They remain one of the more powerful beings in the world, rivaling even deities.

The Old Pantheon

Back in Paradise, what the Void was never crossed anyone's mind. It did not exist. Nothing was, well, nothing. The main gods were merely stewards of the land, keeping watch over the mortals who lived on the body of an ancient primordial being. The forces of evil were largely trouble-making gods, from tricksters to megalomaniacs bent on taking over the world. These forces were divided into the Council of Four Meditations, the good gods, and the Four Deeds, which are comprised of the evil gods. Under these main eight are other deities who choose sides. Some are of course unaligned.

While this is a general composition of the gods, some major and minor deities are part of other, smaller pantheons that originated in their local origin. In other regions, they may be known under another alias, or have a different aspect. Their general interactions on the world stage are part of the overarching pantheon, rather than their origins. These local pantheons can be found in the individual pages of the nations in the world. The international list found here is composed in alliances formed by the deities themselves, rather than a mnamade categorization.

Council of Four Meditations

Deity	Alignment	Domains	Origin	Alternate Aliases
Vatar	Lawful Good	Storm, Strength	Hocheim Pantheon	Sky Striker, Storm Father
Orelia	Neutral Good	Life, Protection	Okut Pantheon
Shabast	Lawful Neutral	Knowledge, Death
Yue	Chaotic Neutral	Arcana, Moon	Ba Xin Pantheon	Lady of the Moon

Four Meditations Alliance

Deity	Alignment	Domains	Origin	Alternate Aliases
Milapylge	Chaotic Neutral	Luck	Larysas
Valia	Lawful Good	Skill, Hope		Lady Victory
King Cold	True Neutral	Winter	Hocheim Pantheon	Frigid Crown
Anheldr	Lawful Good	Justice	Hocheim Pantheon
'

The Four Deeds

Deity	Alignment	Domains	Origin	Alternate Aliases
Quthok	Neutral Evil	Tyranny	—	Hungering Trepidation
Espera	Lawful Evil	Poison, Knowledge	Arana Pantheon	Lady of Vexation
Oortz	Chaotic Evil	Torment, Destruction	Toryu Pantheon	Dark Eyed One
Cahafel	Chaotic Evil	Vengeance	Preius Pantheon

Court of Four Deeds

Deity	Alignment	Domains	Origin	Alternate Aliases
Ushi	Chaotic Evil	Torment, Strength	Toryu Pantheon	Earth Tiller
Egriori	Chaotic Neutral	Death	Preius Pantheon	Lizard Lord, Iron Mask
Ose	Chaotic Evil	Madness		Mad Rakshasa
Hek	Chaotic Evil	Arcana, Creation	Uruzi
'

Unaligned Deities

Deity	Alignment	Domains	Origin	Alternate Aliases
Alape	True Neutral	Strife, Change	Okut Pantheon	Thunderous Earth
Bajara	Lawful Neutral	Knowledge, Civilization	Okut Pantheon	Calming Sky
He'Nth	Chaotic Neutral	Fate		The Watching Hag
Ame-Mon	Chaotic Neutral	Trickery	Toryu Pantheon	Rain Lord, Monsoon Baron
'
'

The Shattered Pantheon

After the Gorge and the revelation of the Void, there is no cohesive religion any longer. With the death of several gods leaving holes in the divine fabric, many people simply stopped believing. This resulted in another purge, where another quarter of the deities lost their deityhood and fell onto the broken land to live along with the rest of the mortals. Many did not survive.

Most notable about the post-Gorge pantheon is the presence of the Void personified into something equivalent to an archdeity or even beyond, as there is no known form of it, and that is Graghk. There is also no more specific group of deities who are evil, and those which were are now included within the remaining deity pool. Distinctions have broken down as the gods themselves shifted towards selfish impulse. There is just the major and lesser groups, determined by power and survival. The remaining gods are acknowledged throughout the tree, and their origins matter no longer.

Major Gods of the Pantheon

Deity	Alignment	Domains	'	'	'	'	'	'	'	'
Graghk	Unaligned
Orelia	Neutral Good	Life, Protection
Va Mor	Chaotic Evil	Tyranny
Alape	Chaotic Neutral	Strife
Quthok	Neutral Evil	Fear
'

Lesser Gods of the Pantheon

Deity	Alignment	Domains	'	'	'	'	'	'	'	'
Ushi	Chaotic Neutral	Strength
He'Nth	Neutral Good	Fate
Egriori	Chaotic Neutral	Death
'

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“	All life is but relative in meaning! We will all be swallowed by the Void, now matter how just or depraved we may be!	”
—Dram Perktooth, Ahorrathia acropolis

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