Gods

The One (El. Al. Abba. Aeon. Eon. Eo.)
Monotheists all worship the One Above All who is the creator of the world, although it is known by many names and not all worshippers agree they necessarily worship the same deity. Other deities are considered either an illusionary emanation of the One, or entities that assumed a divine guise to trick mortals into worshipping them to increase their own personal power. In either case are such entities not considered worthy of worship and can even be a distraction from worship of The One. Monotheists are rare on the continent of Altera and they are mostly found within monk orders. Even those who reject the gods assume The One is still the eternal, unmoving mover, unassailable. For some Cobrians Aeon is the guardian on the threshold to Ascension though most keep their worship private and secret to avoid the suspicions of the Cobrian Inquisition who punish cobrian citizens for religious practises.
The One Above All is never depicted. Those who worship him will tell you that the One Above All is everywhere and nowhere. Open spaces are the usual locations where the One Above All is worshipped.

Danu (Greater Gods)
The Danu are so powerful they are mostly thought of in abstract terms, difficult to understand in mortal terms. They found more worship among monks than they did among clergy. Even those who reject the eventual return of the gods believe these deities still have influence over the galaxy since babies are still born and people still die but they too do not seem to heed prayers. Perhaps because they are beyond mortal concerns. The Dan elves believe the Danu blew life into the elves.
Ama/Aia/Ella/Allmother: The female aspect of God. Wisdom, temperance. Depicted as a pregnant woman with a skeletal appearance the All mother is also called the dark mother as by giving life she also introduces death as all things that are born eventually die. Her children, Gaia and Morgai represent these two extremes. (Neutral). The Allmother is the formgiver.
Gaia(elfish)/Ghar(orcish)/Gai(qinan)/Aka’I(yitan): Life, rebirth. Daughter of Ao and Ama Gaia is the goddess of life, the nurturer who gives freely and who promotes protection of life and nature. (Chaotic good-neutral)
Morgai(elfish)/Morkuhl(tuskan)/Muraqai (yitan)/Mo At (qinan)/Moq Ai (Mixlan): Death, time. Son of Ao and Ama. (Lawful neutral).

En Shavar (Lesser Gods)
Mostly worship of the En Shavar revolves around appeasement rituals, begging the gods not to turn their worst aspects loose upon the mortal world and requesting blessings that are approriate for the god’s sphere of influence. The En Shavar are far enough removed from Eo that they are fully aware of The One’s divine plan and this causes some of them to wander into darkness.
The En Shavar are the children of Morgai and Gaia.

Ptav (Yitan)/Thav (Tuskan)/Pan Tai (Qinan)/Paxtaph-Tanu (Mixlan)/Pa’Tarph (Orcish): Opener of the way. The son of Gai and Morgai. The voice of Eo. He’s the guardian on the edge of reality and bars the gate to the afterlife realms. Those who ascend are greeted by him before being allowed to pass into the astral realms.
Sol/Sune/Sul/Solaris/: Sun. Son of Gaia
Lune/Luna/Lenai/Layna/Ci-Lan/Sai-Lan: Moon. Sister-wife to Sol, destined to stay apart from him forever.
The Three Fates: Destiny, fortune, misfortune. Three daughters of Morgai and Gaia. Sisters to Ptav.
The Crone: Disease, plague. A neutral goddess who spreads disease but also teaches cures.
The Crone has a cult of witches (warlocks) and is worshipped as well by the Hags.

The Patrons (demigods)
The Patron deities promote the crafts they represent and are said to have taught the races of the world their crafts. In other denominations the patrons are ascended mortals or chosen by the gods to be gifted with divine power. Served by angels.

Moidin (tuskan)/Mordin (dwarvish)/Muyadin (yitan)/Mi Dan (qinan): Metalurgy. Favorite among the dwarves and by them worshipped as a greater god. In dwarven mythology Mordin was created, by K’Soth and Bar-Cromm upon their peace agreement, from cooled down basalt lava.
Trigos : Trade. Devil lord who made a deal with Aeon to become a god and betrayed hell.
Xanic/Kana/Xala/Xan: Travel.
Isidoro: Farming. Isidoro was murdered by his brother Labras but returns from death after winter has passed.
Labras: Animal Husbandry
Hestia (Tuskan)/Herst (Dwarven)/Hesta (Naverran)/Hestes (Thane)/Hi Sha (Mixlan): Family, fertility, marriage, children.
Braxis: Alchemy. Magic.
Dhanu: Huntress. Depicted as an Dan elf. Wild and brutal but also the one providing nourishment to her followers.
Pendalis: Artifice and scientific discovery.
Galla/Lagella/Laeghala/:

The Seven Muses (demigods)
Seven daughters born to Galla, the goddess of beauty, and Braxis, the god of magic.
Minaya: Art.
Cantiabla: Music
Chorai: Dance
Mora: Courtly love
Poimanda: Poetry
Theabella: Theater
Corpe: Sports

The Elemental Nobles
The Elemental nobles are said to have formed from the elements and are lesser gods but not born of Eo. As such they are considered lesser than the En Shavar, who are considered divine royalty, and their loyalty to the hierarchy is nebulous and at times outright violent. Some sages believe these gods still have worshippers among the druids.

Acani: Wind, storms. Mother to Ostesian, Aquaedia, Luta.  Acani is a neutral god, both nurturing the earth with rain and wrecking havoc as a storm.
Bar-Cromm: Earth, ore. Husband to Acani (though they often quarrel)
Ostesian: Oceans. Father of the Naiad elves according to their myths.
Aquaedia: Rivers. Sister Wife to Ostesian.
Luta: Swamps. Ostesian’s second sister wife.
K’Soth: Fire. Reluctant brother to Bar-Cromm.
Monsignis: Volcanoes.

The Discordant
The Discordant deities are rarely worshipped in public. They are gods and goddesses who promote vice and destruction. More often patronized by individuals or secret cults.
Who exactly is labeled as Discordant can differ per culture.

Aris(tuskan)/Eris(Naverran)/Urthis(orcish)/Urth(Thane)/Aerin(elvish): War, strife.
Uthania/Euthana/Utha/Uth-Taneia : Murderers.
Udolavan (elfish)/Udlvon (orcish)/Udolvin (thane)/Ulvin (Tuskan/Ulf /Utol Avan (Mixlan):Trickery, gambling.
The Nameless One: Manipulation, trickery, deceit. He is believed to have started life as a demon lord but attained ascension to godhood. The Nameless One may not have been an original god but rather the first Ascendant god, somehow fulfilling the requirements for ascension long before the destruction of the world of the gods 3000 years ago.

Ancestors
Ancestor worship is one of the oldest religious movements. Although the dead pass on to the afterlives it is believed they can still influence fate on behalf of their descendants.

Animal Totems
The avatar of a species, the archetypal animal spirit of a given animal. Worship of totem spirits is focused on receiving elements of said animal. Wolf, Eagle, Bear, Lion, Shark

Primordial dragon pantheon
Those who follow this philosophy include lizard species and dragonborn.There are also human dragon cults. They believe that primordial dragons were responsible for the creation of the world, having formed from the raw elements that preceded the world. Within this philosophy there are several movements, some worshipping all, while others worshipping only one or some. Most dragon worshippers consider all other deities interlopers, either from realms beyond the galaxy or latecomers, unworthy of worship while worshipping dragons as saints.
There is the belief in the 5 cosmic dragons who roam the stars. And the nine elemental dragons.

The Archfey
In the north people still respect the Fae nobles, living in a region bordering the primordial Aosidh forest where faeries still roam and secret doorways and circles still lead to Annwyn, the Otherworld. Some believe that the Archfey are the true masters of this world, its original creators and protectors. Followers of this belief, which include the Thane and Dhani tribes, as well as members of the elven, gnome and halfling tribes, believe the Celestial Hierarchy came later from worlds beyond and drove the older gods into the Feywild. They believe the archfey plotted their return, and the death of the Celestial pantheon was the first step in their return.
Worshippers of the Archfey include warlocks who bind their souls to one of the Archfey and serve as priests for the Archfey. Their ability to cast magic is the envy of the Holy Celestial Church and makes them archenemies.
In Ascendant philosophy some categorize the archfey as Archetypes, the manifested result of humankind’s communal consciousness.

Omrigh/Omrin/Arig: the king of summer.
Flura, the lady of flowers, queen of spring. Guardian of the apples of immortality.
Atilana//Atila/Allana/Lani Al (: The huntress. Enemy of Arawenn. Atilana and Arawenn represent the two sides of hunting. Atilana hunts to feed her people and is considered a caregiver.
Craobhan/Kraven/Krav/Qaraf:  The lord of the woods. The green man.
Scackle/Shek/Shacla/Shai/Ashak: Shai is known as a trickster, a master of illusions. Represented


Gwynnadh: The autumn king who wilts away when he falls in love with Flura.
Mabd/Maeve/Mav:  the queen of winter whose heart grew cold and bitter when she discovered her husband was in love with Flura and sought to destroy all plant life as revenge.
Arawenn, the Dark Lord. The Dark Hunter. Arawenn is a predator, he hunts beasts and men.
Savatar, the berserker warrior
Gobha/Gotha/Gobber: The goblin king. The arch fae ruler of the Goblinoid race.
Scorgphaeon, the scorpion king.
Occassa (Tuskan)/Ochcasan (Thane)/Ocha/Okasan (Yitan/Khandara/Mixlan): The spider queen.
Sgaoileadh (Thane)/Sheolick (Tuskan)/Shaelac (Naverran)/Skel (dwarvish)/Shellek/Xallax (Mixlan/Xil (Qinan)/Xel El (Yitan): The wolflord. The archfae patron of werewolves. Considered the original werewolf who spread the disease to humanoids. Servant to Arawenn.
The lady of the Maze.
Caileag, unseelie queen of hags:


Demons and devils
Some factions worship demon lords. Warlocks in particular are known to supplicate demon lords for power. While not all warlocks worship demon lords the reputation tends to stick to them nonetheless.

Faith and Philosophies
The Old Faith.
Most druids propose that all things great and small in nature have a spiritual quality and that nature as a whole is the only thing worthy of worship. They do not recognize deities as the ultimate epitome of spirituality, but rather as an expression of nature, to be respected for their power, but ultimately no more important than a lizard or a rock in the grand scheme of things. And thus they do not worship deities, merely acknowledging them the same way one acknowledges the existence of a storm. Animist magic thus is viewed as rousing a spirit into activity or assuming traits of an essence. Animists believe demons, gods, fae and elementals are spirits who have achieved personhood, evolved into individual entities. Most animists also believe in reincarnation, some believe in the law of karma as a cosmic moral judgment system.

Primordeal Dualism
There are those who believe that both the Archfey and the demon lords preceded the creation of the world and lived in the dream realms from which the material world sprung into existence.  They are representatives of dreams and nightmares. These elder gods will one day reclaim the world or destroy it, depending on which side wins in the end. Deities worshipped by the followers of the Celestial Hierarchy are categorized according to this philosophy as archfey or demons, depending on whether they are destructive or productive, but ultimately considered deluded.

Celestialism
This philosophy was the world faith when the gods still made appearances and led their followers through its divinely-inspired heroes. Celestialism fractured after the gods stopped speaking. Various branches of Celestialism sprang up over the centuries following the Silence. Followers of this religion worship the One Above All and the many deities that descended from It. Not all deities in the hierarchical pantheon are necessarily acting in accordance with the will of the One Above All. Demon lords, devil nobles and archfey are usually considered such Discordants. Not all Celestialist movements follow the same set of deities, some are ignored in favour of others depending on the region. Within the Celestial hierarchy there are several sub pantheons depending on which branch of celestialism. For example the Reformed Celestial Church places emphasis on the Patrons and the Muses whereas the Holy celestial Church members only worship Eo and the Danu.

Holy Celestial Church: The Holy Celestial Church instituted the Celestial Inquisition in response to the Silence during the rise of the Naverran empire and with the emperor’s aid wiped out mages, druids and all others capable of magic. This ensured the church’s survival, confirming its authority by instilling the continued belief that the gods will one day return if mankind proves itself worthy. This brutal policy backfired as a new branch of the church developed among the city states of the Tuskan tribes and eventually led to the Naverran-Tuskan wars and the Reformed Celestial Church. The teachings of the Holy Celestial Church are state religion in Corinia, Gallica, Leonis and Naverre.  Cordonaval is the holy city of the Holy Celestial Church.
Members of the Holy Celestial Church do not worship the Muses and Patrons.
The Holy Celestial Church prescribes to the notion that the soul resides in the heart, and so after death the body can be burned but the heart is interred in graveyards or sealed into the walls of ancestral homes. This practice prevents many corporeal undead plagues within the Celestial territories. These graveyard of hearts are called Curierre in Naverran.
Lex Cordonius
-Mankind turned their backs on the gods in favor of other powers and the Gods abandoned Teranoc to her fate. But if enough faithful are converted again the world can be saved.
-Magic that is not divine in origin is unholy and heretical. You shall burn sorcerers.
-Heretics should be converted, if need be with the sword.
-Therians and shapeshifters are servants of the trickster god and must be destroyed.
-The heart is the seat of the soul. You may burn the body but inter the heart.
-The Pontifex is the ultimate spiritual authority of the world. His symbol is a phoenix, his animal is the peacock. He is dressed in white and gold. He is the voice of Ao on Teranoc.
-Only royal marriages blessed by the pontifex are legitimate.

Reformed Celestial Church: The teaching of st.Doria the Wise grew in popularity during the Thousand Year War when Doria began preaching the ascension of the Muses and Patrons, and spoke against the Lex Cordonius which outright bans magic on punishment of death by burning. The new religion was taken up by the rebels who found powerful allies among druids, sorcerors and wizards against the Holy Celestial Church and its inquisitors.
 The tenets of the Reformed Celestial Church form the national religion of the Tuskans and finds followers among the Gallicans as well as Malakeshi. Magic is allowed in reformed nations but tends to be carefully screened by local authorities. As such many magic users seek positions within the local establishment to limit unwanted scrutiny or use their power to maneuver themselves in positions of power.  Reformed Celestines bury their dead as per Thane tradition, interring their dead under slabs of stone.
Lex Doria
-The Patrons and Muses are demigods, mortals elevated to divine status.
-Magic is a tool. It existed long before the gods stopped talking and is not heretical by itself.
-The gods did not abandon mortals. Rather they fight for our souls beyond the pale.
-The Holy Celestial Church betrayed the faith when they preached that the gods had abandoned mortals. Instead the gods are fighting a war and will one day return when they are victorious.

Renovati
Renovati philosophy proposes that magic is the creation force of the universe accessible by willworkers with the knowledge to do so, and that the gods did not create the world but were created in response to humanity’s beliefs impressed upon the creation force. As such Renovati followers do not worship deities, and in fact are fierce opponents of organized religion, believing it gives these false gods more power.
Renovati follow very strict lifestyle rules. They are vegetarian and meditate daily. Children are taught in state schools, and when found to have a talent of magic put into special classes.

Avatar philosophy
The followers of this philosophy follow the same basic lines of reasoning as the Renovati, except they do worship deities they feel a connection with, believing that by doing so they increase the influence on the world of those aspects.

Ascendant philosophy
The Ascendant philosopher goes one step further than the Avatar and Renovati philosophers. Followers of the Ascendant philosophy believe that all living beings can become gods through enlightenment and believe that all deities were once mortals before they ascended to godhood. In Ascendancy the gods are considered to have once all have been mortals who assumed divine power and forced mortals into worship.

Demonolatry
A rare few tribes and nations believe the Celestial hierarchy stole power away from the true masters of the world, the demon lords, or that the demons are bound to win eventually and thus worthy of worship. N’gara, Qon Meo, Kalighar, Yugonath, Carcazotul and Apoxipotl all openly worship demon lords instead of the gods. Many small cults or individual worshippers are hidden among other nations, gathering strength in hopes of one day swaying the masses to worshipping their masters instead of dead gods.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 23:17, Wed 13 Apr 2022.