The Elemental Gods
Scalgard, the Phantom World, hangs in a mist of legend and glory, and from that mist come its gods. Great elemental lords, they are none of them immortal; simply powerful beyond a human's measure. Though natural in their own way, the gods are not of Scalgard - each element they embody is a thing added to the surface or the belly of the world, not a part of its green-growing life. Scalgard's gods did not create the world or the mortal races, and they are uninterested in humanity's salvation or survival.
To say that one of the gods "rules" an area of mortal endeavor is at best a convenience. The gods have their own agendas, and where they intersect with the good of man is a happy accident. These gods gain no strength from faith, and so do not ask for worship; only tools. They strive against each other in ancient sport, and use men as soldiers in their wars.
But even knowing this, many mortals give obeisance or worship to these elemental gods, and the gods grant them with power in return. The mercenary general, after all, knows to equip his soldiers well to win a war, and rewards his men with the gold of plunder. Only a fool thinks he's anything other than expendable in his general's service, but for some, service is the only route to power.
Annwyn - the Prince of Dust
Brother Worm is the god of the hidden earth, patron of that which lives in or falls to dust. He is the keeper of Scalgard's dead, those who fell to disease or age, and the vanquished and the slain alike. They all march, visible only to those with eyes to see, from their deathbeds and battlefields to the shore, and from there board black ships to Annwyn's realm to the southwest.
The voyage is not without danger, for all that the passengers are already dead. Mannanan sends his storms swift in the wake of Annwyn's ships, however, each to send them into the seas and claim more souls for his bloody army. Those who safely make the trip, however, find rest among Annwyn's dry halls, at eternal leisure to read the books in his ancient libraries, for Annwyn is also the god of knowledge.
Annwyn appears as a pale and wrinkled man, wrapped in layer upon layer of torn robes, all in shades of gray and covered with the brown dust of time. His hood is pulled low over his face, casting it in deep shadow, and in his hands is a book said to contain within it's pages the writing inscribed in all books across the world. Annwyn's priests are called Cerements.
Domains: Death, Earth, Knowledge, Law, Repose (PGF), Rune (PGF)
Symbol: a tome
Nefain - the Maiden of Steel
The Steady Blade is devoted to equity and justice for all things. She is brave and honest, and expects those who follow her to be likewise.
Nefain appears as a young maid, just entering the flower of womanhood, clad in plate armor all of silver. Her hair is gold, her skin silver and her eyes bronze. In her hands she carries a greatsword of the strongest steel, apparently far too heavy for one of her height to wield. Nefain's only priests are the Red Branch Knights.
Domains: Courage (CW), Law, Metal(PGF), Nobility (PGF), Protection, War
Symbol: a greatsword
Cerithwen - the Lady Moon
Sister Hart is a goddess of fickle change and the passion of creation, as well as illusion. Forming out of her fog is a constant array of new things, but none can hold its shape for long, quickly drifting away into the shapeless mist they rose from. Gwenhwyfar appears as a beautiful woman of indeterminate age and soft white color. Her hair and dress are long and trail a mist that obscures her exact features as well as almost everything around her.
Domains: Chaos, Creation (CD), Moon (PGF), Mysticism (CD), Renewal (PGF), Purification (CD)
Symbol: a silver chalice
Mannanan - the Duke of Thunder
Father Wolf is the god of the boiling sky. Oaths, sworn in anger and broken in fits of rage, belong to him, though he never seeks to hold them. They may be the only things in Scalgard he is willing to let slip past. Everything else, his savage heart has already laid claim to. Murderers are his, and tyrants, and any who lash out in pain. The orcs are his as well, and they send their sons to join him on his battlefield in the sky, carried to his clouds on pyre-smoke in return for strong wind in their sails.
Mannanan appears as a muscular warrior in light leather armor every bit as scarred from battle as his arms. His face is hidden beneath the shadows of his great helm, though his voice rumbles out across the field of war as he speaks. He holds a spear in his right hand and a shield in his left. His priests are called Stormlords.
Domains: Chaos, Destruction, Hatred, Retribution (PGF), Strength, Storm (PGF)
Symbol: a spear
Beira - the Queen of Frost
The Cold Lady is a goddess of permanence and distance, of truth and a biting cold that cuts away impurities. Since she can freeze anything to stasis with her touch, or allow it motion by staying her hand, she is also the goddess of time and, by extension, destiny.
Beira has the form of a white-skinned woman of almost painfully sharp beauty, with lips and hair an icy blue. She wears a mantle of furs above her gown, and cradles a crystal scepter in her arms. On her regal brow she wears a crown of icicles. Her priests are called Rimehags.
Domains: Cold (PGF), Fate (PGF), Law, Luck, Time (PGF), Winter (FB)
Symbol: a glass diadem