Religions of Paramýth (Paramýth Supplement)
On Paramýth, there are a number of different religions. While the gods they worship may exist, they do not typically manifest, and have relatively low influence over the continent of Paramýth. Most gods where originally mortals who managed to achieve godhood in some manner, or are the children of those who were. Gods only have influence over mortals and others in their own pantheon, and as such do not fight with other pantheons directly. Paramýth itself exists in what is effectively a "blind spot" to the gods, making influencing it harder and less rewarding. Because of this, Paramýth is very rarely directly influenced by deities of any kind. A follower can pray and receive help, but there is rarely overt actions of gods in Paramýth.
The Three
A Sevatin and Vonaisen Pantheon which contains three major gods, and is loosely based on ancient myths from the planetouched. The gods Santulana, Adesa, and Arajakata each represent one of the three alignments on the law-chaos scale; Santulana is the god of neutrality and balance, Adesa is the god of order and wisdom, and Arajakata is the god of chaos and power. Santulana in the old planetouched myths was the father of Adesa and Arajakata, and was the god of humans, Adesa, and Arajakata being the gods of aasimar and tieflings respectively. The Order of the Three in Sevatim both reverses and maintains this- Santulana is a two faced god, one half being the father of Adesa and Arajakata, and the other half being the son of Arajakata born of Adesa. This younger half is believed to have been created when the first true Verrück was born. The most famous worshipers were Matias Vanjen and his son Mathew.
The Vake Gods
The Vake Gods are the most widely worshiped in Paramýth, and even Sevatim and Vonaisu acknowledge important dates for the Vackel Deities. There are twelve primary dieties, with numerous minor gods and goddesses as well, often woshiped locally. The king of the gods is Zheptal, the god of Thunder and the Sky. His two brothers are Nepos, god of the Sea, and Pheanos, god of the Underworld. The other nine are Meres, the Messenger god, Avira, goddess of Beauty and Love, Apheo, god of the Sun, Archery (for sport), Music, and Medicine, Diaena (also known as Djaena or Jaena), goddess of the Hunt, Archery (for hunting) and the Moon, Vymerus, crippled god of the Forge and Alcohol, Erymar, god of Battle and Killing, Miranda, goddess of Wisdom and Strategy, Veria, virgin goddess of the Hearth, Bride, and the Family, and Messoter, god of the Harvest. Notable minor gods include Nyx, goddess of night, Chronicus, god of time, Erys, Goddess of chaos, the Erinyes, goddesses of retribution, (Alecto, harnessed, precise "cold" fury, Tisephone, vengeful, wild, "hot" fury, and Megera, jealous, grudging fury), Auramoi, god of winds. Kronos is known as "The God-Sire" because he begot Zheptos, Nepos, and Pheanos. He was overthrown by his sons, and is believed have settled in Paramýth after being cast out. He still takes little overt action, but is more commonly prayed to and worshiped. The Post-Vackel inhabitants of Paramýth honor Kronos with a holiday known as Kronodeis, celebrated on the autumn Equinox. Other important days are Apheras, on Midsummer, and Verimass, on the first day of spring.
Chrlnkhlahl
Chrlnkhlahl is not a god. It is not a mortal, either. It does not come from another plane, but neither does it come from the Material Plane. It comes from outside of normal planes, normal existence, and normality in every form. It is capable of reducing those who gaze at it to madness, corrupting places and things into exonatural horrors. It is capable of "thinking" things that mortals cannot conceive, of creating things using geometries and colors mortals are incapable of comprehending. It is alien in every sense of the word.
The most common theory is that it is the reason that gods avoid Paramýth, and that the Rift was it's doorway into planar existence. The Old Regime of gods are said to have spent their immortality to seal the Rift and trap Chrlnkhlahl in a constant slumber beneath the Nameless Lake. While the Old Gods managed to trap it, it is still able to influence the world subtly, attempting to gain followers to free itself.
The second theory is the same as the first, except for an adendum; the gods influence Paramýth less than elsewhere not due to fear, as the first theory states, but due to nessecity. The theory states that the purpose of the gods is to ensure that Chrlnkhlahl continues to slumber. They do not tred carefully in Paramýth, but in fact focus most of their attention there. However, all of that attention is spent maintaining the "Prison of Elders". Chrlnkhlahl's influence on the island prevents any additional intervention, and so the gods can only influence those who call for their help.
The third and final theory is the least common, and only held by the cultists of Chrlnkhlahl. The Tchrelenites theorize that Chrlnkhlahl is in fact the Creator, and when he is awoken he will bring about a new paradise world for his chosen. Most Tchrelenites do not know any methods for weakening the Prison of Elders, but they still worship and sacrifice to him. Those who do, however, are very dangerous people. They commune with other, weaker exonatural beings that have passed into the Material Plane, in order to gain more power, in the hopes of releasing Chrlnkhlahl. Most destroy their mind and die before achieving the state of power required. Only one person has ever obtained enough power, a human by the name of Kethalos. He was barely stopped by the joint might of all of the major pantheons, and even still he was not able to be truly destroyed. His ability to destroy the Prison was removed by locking his exonatural power away in his mind, similar to the Elder Prison. He has now become the Emissary of Chrlnkhlahl, wreaking havoc amongst mortals and advising promising Tchrelenites. He has taken the name K'thhlos in his new position.
Other exonatural beings of note include Nyr'trakhl, Kmul'tu, and D'ranm. Nyr'trakhl rules the Astral Mountains, sending his minions to attack travelers. Kmul'tu, and D'ranm are not particularly special, but are the most commonly invoked of the exonatural beings.
"Chrlnkhlahl" is never written in universe, as the name itself carries power. It is always written and pronounced as "Chrlnkhluhl". The "Chr" is pronounced as a hard Ch and T blended together, turning into a hard rolled R (machine gun noise). His name is often simplified to a normal Ch and a reduction on the guttural sound of the latter half.
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