The Divines of the sections in the first volume of this primer form cohesive units, groups that might be described as indigenous to Terminus, and as such were more easily described in the broad strokes above. The various gods and goddesses of the pantheons of Terminus' refugee races are not so homogenous. Their cultures are diverse, sometimes unrecognizable to one another. As such, I believe understanding their deities is best done on a cultural basis. The subsequent sections are not meant to be an exhaustive treatise, for of course the true number of such supernatural beings is unknowable. Instead, we shall focus on turn on those most famous of entities, the ones whose impact on Terminus and her peoples have been felt the most.
The Gnomish Star
The Gnomes are, by all accounts, a race without divines. Or, that is to say, the Gnomes themselves would be the first to suggest that they have no pantheon of which to speak of. They are not devoid of fanaticism, however. Quite the contrary, for deep within their home planet of Stormona they discovered a dwarf star. They called it Elos, and from the minerals that had spent eons soaking in its light they carved out their technological marvels.1
Elos is, or perhaps was, just a star; however, the power it gave the Gnomes eventually led them to ruin. Few true gods can say they created their people the same way Elos both caused the Gnome's destruction and powered their salvation. Godless indeed. For our purposes, the people of Terminus can rest easy knowning that little divine intervention will come gallavanting from a deity of small stature.
The Dwarven High Mortals
The Dwarves are a fascinating people, for their destiny has and continues to be more closely bound with their pantheon than any other race to theirs. The Dwarves have three principal divinities: Khazas their creator, Rhazik 'the Rageful', and the godhead of Lockehnhammur. This pantheon is additionally unique in that not only have all three gods Descdend to the status of High Mortal, but all three are still living to this day.
Khazas and Rhazik form a duality in Dwarven culture. Khazas gave the Dwarves life and now leads them as a benevolent god-king; Rhazik has, according to Dwarven teaching, always been jealous of this relationship and has sought to poison it since their creation.2 On Oldassa, Rhazik's machinations were kept in check by an Edict of Balance, which was preserved by Lockehnhammur. On Terminus this suspension of hostilities ceased as a side effect of the Dragon Accord. Before Rhazik could act, he was forcibly Descended by Lockehnhammur and imprisoned; the period since then is decribes by Dwarves as The Imprisonment of Rhazik.3
As it stands now, a Descended Khazas continues to lead the Dwarves as their King. Rhazik remains imprisoned, but his cult, the Zealots of Rha, dwell in the deep dark waiting to strike at weakness. Little is known of the goings on of Lockehnhammur, and less still is written of their actions in the time since the Age of Seclusion, save that he(they?) are Descended. What is clear is that the story of the Dwarves will by necessity be interwoven with that of these High Mortals among them.
The Betrayer of Humans
The Humans of Terminus have a larger pantheon, but the most important entity for the history of Terminus among them is without a doubt Ossari the Betrayer. Tempted by the promises of power and glory oozing from the mouth of the Ravaging Lord, Ossari Descdended and joined Ittero's dread march upon the mortal races of Terminus. Ossari razed Havensong, the first city of Mankind on the planet, to the ground, and cast its remnants into the sea. His destruction of the mortals previously under his charge did not stop until finally he was at last slain by the War Wizards, but not without inflicting damage.
The other gods of Mankind have had nowhere near the influence on the history of Terminus. Perhaps it is appropriate, for Humans have looked to the line of Avendyr and Amensol for leadership since arriving. Let us hope they will forever be up to the weighty task.
The Flamebound Halflings
The pantheon of the Kiri of Hyrith (the "Halflings") is relatively new to the world of Terminus and, having been absent during the Raving War remain untested on the field of this world's history.4 There are six so-called "Wards of Hiryth" and Kiren, the Ward of Flame, is the one most closely aligned with the Halflings. Unlike Khazas of the Dwarves, Kiren was not originally mantled with the well being of the Halflings; as a result, his gift to them of fire (the so-called "First Magic") and his constant doting led to punishment by the remaining wards.5 It is not clear if such a punishment still holds weight on Terminus, as it was meted out on their homeworld. It stands to reason, however, that Kiren is subject to the same type of continuing countenance that Rhazik faces from Lockehnhammur.
While the wards have yet to make recorded intercessions on Terminus, it seems likely that they still oversee their refugee mortals. With the reality of the High Mortal status, who knows what the future holds.
The Antigod of the Skar
The Skar have but one god, D'shath, which in their tongue means 'the Nine God'.6 Why he is called this is debated, but his antagonism to the Skar is unquestioned.7 As punishment for their rape and pillage of their homeworld, D'shoth, the Nine God took away their freedom of reproduction (until their arrival on Terminus).8 He is the reason they have protruding bones from their faces, and the reason they are now called the Skar.
Terminus is a strange land, and the constraints on the bygone deities of homeworlds past even stranger. We cannot know what has stalled D'shath from preventing the myriad atrocities the Skar have committed on Reignfall, or why he chooses to not intercede now. If there was any God who could truly be called coward, I would label the Nine God as such. May the Celestials have mercy on the Khägans.
editor's note: without further substantiation this is just speculation, but Averish (the once broodmother of the Skar) may have attained some level of reverence in Skar culture. Based on eye witness accounts, the Skar have kept her dessicated corpse in some kind of chamber, preserved in death. These are not the actions of a society who has rejected their forced 'mother', and I would wager she seems a better god than the one they were dealt. More research is needed (or perhaps braver researchers).
The Ogre Gods of Ghorrok
Ogre culture is of course quite uncivilized and violent. On their homeworld of Ghorrok their deities (known mainly for their seat of power at a place called Graven Hold) kept the 7 Ogre clans at bay using the 'Seven Tomes of War'. In Ogre tradition, the gods mandated that the tribes each take a tome and defend it, lest they be destroyed.
What is most fascinating about the gods of Graven Hold is not they themselves, but of the fact that the power contained in the Seven Tomes of War was able to still manifest on Terminus. In short: Rothluk of the Black Moon 'unlocked' the secrets of his tribes' tome after weeks of meditation on Terminus. He proceeded to use the powers of the Ogre gods to crown himself the 'Black Moon King' and took by force the remaining tomes. Eventually, as with most corrupting powers, Rothluk succumbed to madness, and went into indefinite seclusion with the accursed books.
The tomes of War are still at large, the power of the deities of Graven Hold up for grabs somewhere on Terminus. How strong must the magic contained therein be, that despite the presence of the Celestial Boundary a single Ogre warlord could wreak havok upon Terminus?
---
1. It is not the purpose of this essay to retell the story of the creation of the Gnomes. However, a summary is as follows: their over-exploitation of Elos led to increasingly unstable environments on their homeworld. Since Elos lie at the core of the planet, this naturally meant that there was no practical means of escape. The Gnomes were forced to eschew their mortal bodies and infuse their souls into the mask and wrappings (the "Maq'esh") they are commonly seen in. Further reading is recommended.
2. In literature and in the histories Rhazik is described as 'the Rageful' because of his abounding hate for Khazas' creations. It is said his jealous and anger "attended [the dwarves'] every triumph like a shadow", and that his hate aged "unquenchable".
3. The Edict of Balance was, as seems logical, a preventative measure tying the hands of both Khazas and Rhazik, in the hopes that neither god would triumph over the other. What this means regarding the relative power of those two and Lockehnhammur whose to say; what is clear, however, is that they have consistently acted in accordance with that ancient rite. It would be wise to remember that should an opportunity to defeat the High Mortal Rhazik present itself.
4. Kiri is actually derived from Kiren's name. Kiren so loved his adopted people that he revealed himself to them in what is known as the "First Sight".
5. For neglecting his original charges, Kiren was sentenced to silence, a symbol of not interceding on their behalf. He could dwell among the Kiri, for a time, but never speak to them. After granting them the First Magic (and thus indirectly breaking his oath) Kiren was required to depart them, and has since become an absent god.
6. Direct knowledge of the ways of the Skar is quite limited. Only a few survivors of their brutal and rapacious ways have testified as to the "culture" of this decidedly ignoble race.
7. It is unclear if D'Shath consists of literally nine gods, or nine facets of a single persona.
8. The story is, of course, quite complicated. Sufficed to say the Nine God cursed them with a singular queen named Averish, known appropriately as the "Averish Curse". Further reading into Skar lore is recommended.
9. Like many stories from the individual cultures described here this is a gross oversimplification of a most important tale. I implore you, curious reader of footnotes, to seek this tale out to better understand the hulking behemoths of Reignfall.
Part three (which I hope is the final part, for anyone who reads/cares) should be out later this week. Hopefully I'll get through the Ginto, Dark Myr, Archai and Elves, with a separate section for the War Wizards.
Anyway, thank you for reading! This is pretty fun.
So I apologize, I need to make an addendum to this part of the Primer as I believe there is at least one other Dwarven pantheon member we are already aware of: Ry'fel.
When Khazas created the dwarves, he fused two elements together: a fragment of the heart of Coldark Peak (a mountain on the Dwarven home planet of Oldassa) and a "shard of the ice of Ry'fel'. I suspect that Ry'fel is a diety in Dwarven theology associated with life, their origin and ice, which to Dwarves seems to be an element intertwined with who they are as a people.
Jimmayus said:So I apologize, I need to make an addendum to this part of the Primer as I believe there is at least one other Dwarven pantheon member we are already aware of: Ry'fel.
When Khazas created the dwarves, he fused two elements together: a fragment of the heart of Coldark Peak (a mountain on the Dwarven home planet of Oldassa) and a "shard of the ice of Ry'fel'. I suspect that Ry'fel is a diety in Dwarven theology associated with life, their origin and ice, which to Dwarves seems to be an element intertwined with who they are as a people.
Thanks again for the read! 1 more to go. =D
Hey man thanks for the messages. If you're interested I also wrote (smaller) essays that are also on the front page here: Dragon Accord Observations and What is a High Mortal. They're more in depth about those two concepts in a way I didn't feel was proper to discuss in this primer.
