Kaltamorn Regional Pantheon & Religion (Teon Supplement)
Kaltamorn Pantheon & Religion
The deities of Teon's Kaltamorn region are essentially omnipotent beings who do not rely on faith for power and who are not completely knowable by mortal minds. One does not become a deity, nor does a deity ever cease to be as such, they simply are. Events concerning them may seem contradictory, inconsistent, and even illogical, but it is speculated that this is a result of the deities existing on the fringes of reality and perhaps beyond even that.
The motivations of said deities migrate in and out of the knowable and at all times one is never able to be entirely sure of what their plans are or are not.
Kaltamorn's history marks various different types of deities through the ages. Going by different names, it's speculated that the deities fuse and defuse now and again for unknown reasons. Some scholars suggest that the old deities perish in the process and are reborn as new deities. Others think that these fusions are more of meetings and grand summits rather than funerals, but no one is entirely sure of the exact nature and the deities have yet to impart such information, at least not publicly.
The deities of Kaltamorn do not seem to have any dire needs that would cause them direct harm if they did without. In truth, none of the deities need to concern themselves with mortals whatsoever. As far as the known ones go, they merely choose to do so. Indeed there is nothing that mortals have that deities require. The good-aligned deities attempt to coexist with the Kaltamorn region because they want to. The neutral deities do whatever it is they actually do because they want to. And the evil deities quibble and quarrel over power, pride, and subjects that are beneath them because they want to. Mortals are not a matter of survival for the deities, they're more like a passion/neighbor/hobby respectively.
Previous Deities
Through the Kaltamorn Regions history several deities have existed. However these deities have supposedly fused and split into new deities several times over the years. This section details the previous deities that were involved with the Kaltamorn Region.
The Deities of Lora
The most recent pantheon of deities, the deities of Lora came into being not long after the beginning of Age 4 or roughly around 10200Y. The deities of Lora formed groups such as the Divine Alliance and the Dark Conclave and were a significant part of the War of Mortality.
Good-Aligned Deities
The good-aligned deities eventually resolved to form the Divine Alliance seeing that their interests were, in the grand scheme of things, remarkably similar. While the exact alignments, beliefs, attitudes, and so on may vary between the deities, they can all agree that working together yields more favorable results than working separately. They interact with the people of Kaltamorn as a united body of divine beings so as to appeal not only to a large group of people but to also hopefully unite them as well. As such, just about every city has at least one temple devoted to the D.A. And given their popularity there are rarely any other places of worship available.
- Alanor: Local god of virtue, war, society and more; potentially omnipotent.
- Euna: Local goddess of nature, potentially omnipresent.
- Xarlen: Local god of magic, knowledge, mind, and more; potentially omniscient.
Neutral-Aligned Deities
The neutral-aligned deities continuously grant their powers to all who can experience in the form of the fundamental forces of reality such as the strong force, weak force, electromagnetic force, gravitational force, and more. These forces are manifested by these deities continuously, or so it is speculated. But they do not seem to interact with other beings socially or bestow special divine powers like the kind that clerics and paladins receive. They seem content to merely exist and do little to nothing else. As such their identities are considered to be null and void since they do not seem to act upon them (at least to common knowledge).
Evil-Aligned Deities
Evil deities expend vast amounts of effort warring with each other, protecting their egos, fussing over minute problems, or generally being obsessed with themselves and their own place in the universe in some way, shape, or form. While they may possess a great deal of power, they are at all times their own greatest enemies. Any one of them could destroy Kaltamorn in an instant, as could all the other deities, but they fear that doing so would make them look weak. Like a nobleman plowing a field. In fact during the Age of War the Dark Conclave, a very weak cooperation between the evil deities, fell apart because they could not agree on who was to take the credit for their successful battles. In fact their selfishness has formed a reputation around them which has caused for almost no one to worship them, since they have no guarantee that their deity will be loyal to them indefinitely or would support them if/when they are weak and need help. Tales of the followers of evil deities being betrayed have accumulated over the years and the result is that virtually no one trusts them or their followers. As such the evil deities remain at-once very powerful, and very weak. Since any time they overtly appeal to someone, they are usually turned down. Sort of like a convicted serial killer who escaped prison trying to get a job at a daycare without concealing his identity first. But what frustrates them more than anything is when people and other deities pity them. Which happens quite a lot. Except for the easily-manipulated and generally foolish people who attempt to appeal to them. But since the evil deities are so full of themselves they end up betraying what few followers they accumulate anyways. At all times they are fighting a losing battle with themselves, but since they are immortal, it isn't likely to end anytime soon.
Outsiders
Angels, Archons, Demons, Devils, and most other kinds of outsiders do not typically interact with the Kaltamorn region. Indeed the more powerful they are, the more they contemplate the correctness and validity of their means of existence and the less they actually do. They do not exist with or serve a deity by default. Mostly because the deities, regardless of their alignments, have no practical need for assistance given that they are practically omnipotent.
Outsiders are less like pure or impure souls and more like alignment-elementals. An angel cannot fall from grace and become a fiend. A fiend cannot ascend and become an angel. They are stuck being like they are. Ageless, powerful, and of one perspective. Angels cannot help but do good things. Demons cannot help but do evil things. Because change is a power that mortals wield and partially embody.
Even angels who try to be evil unwittingly end up doing good. Demons who try to do good end up doing evil. The main problem is that they are all prototype mortals. They are ancient beings whose sentience and means of existence are a precursor to mortal existence. Except they are endowed with only so much capacity for change without ability to make a true transition. This depresses both sides greatly and so the only thing that they tend to do is absolutely nothing. They are beings who serve no real function and their realms are like living graveyards of idle permanent power. Pseudo-living relics bound to one state of being, well aware of what comes next, but unable to truly participate in it.
Possibly one of the most interesting events for all outsiders ever was The War of Mortality. Where many of the weaker outsiders actually left their own realms to fight in the interest of deities. Of course the war ended and with it the outsiders went back to where they came from. For the evil outsiders it was like a show had ended after getting boring about halfway through. For the good outsiders it was like being the “third-wheel” at a date, not feeling needed anymore and more like they were in the way. It was a passing means to occupy themselves and a fleeting attempt to feel necessary with minor success.
Unfortunately there are many levels of outsiders separated by how powerful they are. The tragedy of it is that it resembles the capacity for change but since it's a prototype for the concept of change of status outsiders are unable to change between the levels of power. So the powerful remain powerful and inactive, and the weaker remain weaker and less inactive.
Power Levels
Outsiders come in ten different levels of power, but it is theorized that there are higher ones as well. Level 1 is what is normally listed in any reference for an outsider. Levels 2 – 10 mark an exponential increase in power. On the other hand, the more powerful the outsider is the less likely they are to use their power for anything. A level 1 is about 10% likely, a level 2 is 5% likely, and so on.
Death
Outsiders can “die”, so to speak, but if they do then they reappear in their home plane after a period of time completely unharmed and with their memory intact. As such defeating one is, at-best, a temporary inconvenience to them. That said, the more powerful the outsider the longer it takes to reappear in their home plane.
Origins
Outsiders are not former mortals. They existed in the brief instant before mortals came to be. Instantly relevant and irrelevant. They are a byproduct of finite existence with no objective purpose or occupation. They have always been plagued with crushing boredom and little to no means of curing it indefinitely. The few that decide to serve a deity find that they tend to be overqualified for the tasks they are given. Good ones are underutilized since the D.A. wants to ensure a close and genuine connection (having no reason to fear upheaval) with their mortal followers. Evil ones are exploited, toyed with, and treated as slaves by their masters.
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Campaign Settings → Teon