Religion (Shard Ne'Vaal Supplement)
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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 | |
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- 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 | |
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- 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 |
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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 | ||||||||
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- 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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Shard Ne'Vaal Campaign Settingv | ||||||||
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Players' Handbook | Races, Languages, Classes, Backgrounds, Themes, Magic, Psionics, Religion, Literature, Legends and Lore | ||||||
Shard Ne'Vaal Crash Course | History, Geography, Climate, and the World, Bestiary, Flora, Factions, Calendar and Holidays, Cosmology and the Planes, Politics and Law | |||||||
Dungeon Master's Guide | About, Items of Legend, Campaign Ideas, Consumables, Sample Places, NPCS, Variant Rules | |||||||
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