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Halüt (hah-LUTE)
Lawful Good
God of paladins, warriors and justice.
Halüt is common patron
deity of many monarchs, keeps and fortresses. The Halütian order
teaches the benefits of a heavily organized civilization, but also stresses
the need for rulers to be compassionate. Justice is a common theme
in the Halütian mythology, as compared to revenge: punishment is inflicted
by circumstance or Halüt himself to the wrongdoer. Priests of
Halüt strive to preserve the social order while showing mercy upon
the oppressed and supporting the ideas of justice.
The Halütian Order
is highly structured, with each level reporting to another, higher level
and commanding any lower levels of power. The single autocrat of
the Halütian order is the Emperor, the Hand of Halüt, below him
are several viziers, each assigned a certain area to oversee. This
is usually a kingdom, but in some cases, such as the very large kingdom
of Ruûn, such an area is divided between two viziers, or a single
vizier may oversee sever small er kingdoms or city-states. Below
the viziers are various cardinals, who are charged typically with a smaller
area of the vizier's domain, such as a large city, or a duchy. Each
House of Halüt has a Father Superior, and possibly several other priests
and clerics, with a few acolytes and perhaps even a laymen or two if it
is a large congregation. Every three years, there is a Great Assembly,
where lay people to cardinals may gather to petition the Emperor and his
viziers, who makes holy decrees by committee.
Paladins are unique to the
Halütian Order. Their devotion, once knighted, is sworn to the
Emperor himself and held above any other alliance or friendship.
Paladins are rare upon Alina, but are exquisite specimens of martial prowess
and religious zeal. A paladin may be summoned to aid an priest or
cleric of Halüt, even if the priest is of a lower level. To
ignore such a summons is a mortal sin, and good cause for not only excommunication,
but death for heresy.
Symbols: The Hammer, the Eye, the Shield with Crossed SwordArtifacts: The Eye of Halüt: a fist sized emerald of exquisite beauty and craft, the Eye of Halüt is held in the treasury of the Emperor himself. The gem reportedly manifests the will of Halüt himself to the Emperor, or to any supremely holy man of the Halütian Order. The Eye was crafted by ancient dwarves as a gift to the Halütian Order, in thanks for men's aid i beating back the goblinoid hordes after the death of Grüge.
Legends: Lôr Swingsword is the most famous of all paladins, the first and greatest of men to walk upon Alina. He was a devout follower of Halüt in his day, tracking the dragon Grüge across the very heavens to punish the creature for its wickedness. Lôr is something of a saint within the Halütian Order, and a common folk hero among all humankind.
Athé (ah-THAY)
Lawful Neutral
Goddess of rationality and science, favorite of wizards and psionicists.
No magical academy could
possibly operate without the blessing of an Athéan priest, or without
an icon of Athé in its lobby, greeting visitors, professors and
students alike with its bright silver stars on a field of deep blue.
Athé is the patron of all those who study ancient tomes, seek new
knowledge, or toil over flasks and sketches in a laboratory. Reason
and logic are virtues continually extolled in the Athéan canon,
its heroes are intelligent, not brutish. However, the presence of
good and evil are considered somewhat frivolous, disappearing from the
truly enlightened eye when placed under close, rational scrutiny.
Either are merely means to an end of preserving order ad attaining salvation
through knowledge.
Like that of Halüt,
the Church of Athé is highly structured from the Great Headmaster
to the last acolyte, ever member of the Church is very conscious of his
place in the great order of things. The Great Headmaster rules from
the Universities of Rackash, in the southern kingdom of Ruûn.
He is aided by a the Silver Council, ten of the finest priest, who are
appointed by the Great Headmaster for life, after proving both their devotion
to the Church and to their own studies. The Silver Council is universally
regarded as greatest gathering of intelligence in the realms of men, rivaling
even the ancient wisdom of the elfin and dwarven kingdoms. The Council
holds direct command over a collection of Great Priests, who are each,
in turn, in charge of five to ten temples of Athé, and the magical
academies associated with each church. A Head Priest, or Silver Hair,
presides in each temple, with a number of retaining priests, acolytes and
lay servants. Very often, a magical academy will have an adjunct
Athéan Priest as both spiritual advisor and professor.
Symbols: Silver stars and moons, most often displayed against a deep blue sky, the Open Book, the Quill, the Singular Radiance (a Silver Star on a field of deep blue shedding gold rays in every direction; a symbol of Athéan salvation.)
Artifacts: The Tapestry of Stars: A large tapestry of dark blue with silver stars, in an arcane but exact position in the night sky. The Tapestry is periodically traded from one Temple to the next, and certain special studies are only done under it auspices. It is fabled to have magical powers to aid one with self-insight and clearing the mind for purely logical thinking.
Legends: Athéan mythology tends to place very little emphasis on the individual, underling more the power and ability of the group. However, foremost in an Athena teaching is the story of Reydif the Enlightened, the first Great Headmaster, and the founder of the Athéan Church upon Alina. Reydif was amongst the first humans to place his foot upon Alinian soil, and saw at once a realm of great mystery, charged with chaos and the unexplained. He set out immediately to study the grandeur of this new world, to catalogue and explain. One night, after an exhausting day of examining the fauna of the Mountains of the Unknown, Reydif found a cave in which to take shelter. That night the goddess Athé visited him for the first time, and in his dreams they analyzed his findings, debated their meaning. He awoke with the greatest sense of order and understanding of not only his work, but himself. At the mouth of that cave Reydif erected a simple altar to Athé, and then immediately returned to his home in Rackash, spreading the news of his revelation and eventually founding the first human university of Alina.
Glor
Lawful Evil
The snake goddess of Iovia
Glor is a hard and difficult
goddess, unforgiving, selfish, and manipulative. To serve the Goddess,
serve oneself, and slake other's blood: this is the law of the dark kingdom
of Iovia, the center of the Gloric faith. Steeped in mystery and
shadows, priest of Glor are renown for their ruthless ability both in combat
and politics, subjugating the last of their enemies (and allies) to their
will. Raw power combined with rigid ruthlessness are the values held
close by Gloric priests, who are constantly tested by their superiors,
with dire consequences for failure.
Like the followers of Halüt
and Athé, the priests of Glor have an incredibly regimented inward
structure that doubles as the political structure of Iovia. The despot
Serpent Lord rules over all the priesthood and the "rabble" of Iovia, those
not deemed worthy to serve the goddess directly. directly beneath
the Serpent Lord is his Council of Blood, landed, high-level priests who
have sworn direct allegiance only to the Serpent Lord himself. With
the Council little more than titular yes-men (though powerful priests in
their own right), the Serpent Lord enjoys a beauraucratic autocracy much
like that of the Dark Emperor Baûl. Serving beneath the Serpent
Lord and his Council of Blood is a and handful of minor dukes and duchesses,
Gloric priests of at least 9th level who have been granted land by the
Serpent Lord and who have attracted a number of followers to their political
and military support. These Greater Priests lead services (rituals
sacrifices, combat, and the such) for their entire duchy, and are charged
with not only the orderliness and well-being of their lands, but the proper
training of their subordinate priests.
Symbols: The snake, blood, the colors of Earth and combat: brown, crimson and the black of Hate.Artifacts: The Serpent Lord (a certain megalomaniac named Trizyn Kafk in the year 1004 of the Rebuilding) is reported to have a special helm, The Helm of the Serpent, that allows him to commune with Glor directly. Some - those who have witnessed its use and lived - say that Trizyn transforms into a giant snake and then consumes living sacrifices to the goddess, Glor; others purport that the Helm allows him to travel to the Outer Planes and brave the great pain of Glor's realm.
Legends: The sadistic followers of Glor guard the inner secrets of their faith carefully, none but the barest facts of any ritual or teaching is known to those who do not worship the Snake Goddess. Their are tales, however, of Gloric priests to dedicated to their cause, so twisted by inward hate and outward love for their goddess, that Glor granted them the gift (or curse) of transformation, allowing them to become half-men and half-snake, roaming through the night in search of blood and terror.
The Lord Sabbat
Neutral Good
A young religion of compassion and mysticism
The Lord Sabbat is a relatively
young god - even for the relatively young race of humans. Emerging
just after the fall of the Dark Emperor, Sabbatian priests upheld the rights
of the oppressed and spread a message of salvation through kindness and
faith wherever they went. This created a strong following in the
commonfolk and lower classes of most human kingdoms, for few of the older
gods deigned even to recognize the plight and toil of the common man, while
it was central to the focus to the Sabbatian church. Few kingdoms,
or even powerful feudal lords, have any special place for the Lord Sabbat,
but simple church can be found in any peasant village. Sabbatian
priests are humble and simple people with few illusions, but a remarkable
depth of humility and understanding.
The Sabbatian church has
only a very loose structure, and no real political hierarchy. All
authority is derived from only two things: a priest's length of tenure
within the faith, and his knowledge of the Pentaust: the holy book
of the Sabbatian church. Penned during the darkest hours of Baûl's
reign by an unknown, but largely canonized author, referred to as the Pentaumn,
the Pentaust is the cruz of the Sabbatian faith, carrying its main
tenants of humility and service. Every seven years, a collection
of churches elects a representative to attend the Pentau Assembly, where
important doctrines are created by assembly vote and church theology is
discussed and decided upon. Peculiar to the Sabbatian church is a
strange type of mysticism: Sabbatian priests are fascinated by any manifestation
of magical power, and have a strange penchant for conjuring magical energies
through prayers and rites detail in the Pentaust.
Symbols: A blood-soiled shirt, the open palm with a wound, two hands holding a starArtifacts: The most powerful and revered artifact of the Sabbatian church is the original manuscript of the Pentaust itself, preserved through care and magic over the millenia since first penned by the Pentaumn. The Pentaust Origine is kept in secret by Sabbatian monks, and moved from monastery to monastery at random intervals to prevent both its capture or its keeping monks to become jealous of the powerful holy script.
Legends: Like the Pentaust Origine, the greatest legend of the Sabbatian church is the of the Pentaumn himself. Differing stories abound of his exploits and persecution during the reign of Baûl, but they universally underline his super-human wisdom, his closeness in spirit and mind to the Lord Sabbat, and his suffering for the sake of his god.