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.
Contents
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 swiftly in the wake of Annwyn's ships, to drive them into the depths 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 and are usually Devoted Clerics, and their powers do Necrotic damage rather than Radiant.
A character knows the following with a successful Religion check:
- DC 20
- DC 25 - Calling Home the Weary Sailors - Daily in his innermost sanctum, Annwyn practices a ritual of power, the only thing that brings the dead safely to his black ships and from there to his realm. If he failed to perform this ritual, the dead would remain in Scalgard and who knows what might happen then? There are some who claim that, though very secret, the ritual is not hard and a very skilled mortal necromancer might master it; a good thing, should Annwyn ever fall, or a terrible temptation to his power.
- DC 30 - Dust, Ashes and Forgot - The Prince of Dust calls many souls guests in his house. One of these, his name now lost, was (or would have been) a sixth god, his purview the Shadows. If he knows the name of his slayer(s) and what has become of her, he has whispered it only to Annwyn. Who now, if anyone, controls his shadows is similarly a mystery.
Beira - the Queen of Frost
Mother Crow is the very opposite of Cerithwen - a goddess of permanence and stasis. She has found, in Scalgard, a perfect place, and she wishes that it would never change; she would cover the world in the stasis of her bitter cold, and rule forever as its queen. She has already begun, for far to the north, past even the frosty shores of Orcheim, the goddess lives in a palace made of crystal. So cold and still is her domain that not even Mannanan's winds can reach her - they die in silence while clouds fall to the ground as snow. A thousand frozen statues of men dot the approach to her home, testament to her implacable will.
In her goal, though Beira stands opposed by every god, the last laugh may yet be hers; Beira's interest in stillness and an endless time gives her the gift of prophecy. The Queen of Frost can tell what the future holds; she may tell a petitioner, but the furthest futures always end with ice. For this reason alone, despite the dangers it brings, many are the lords of Scalgard who have asked one of Beira's priests to advise them.
Beira is an older, serene woman with painfully sharp features and bluish skin and hair. 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 Rime-hags and are most often Devoted Clerics, and their powers do Cold damage rather than Radiant.
A character knows the following with a successful Religion check:
- DC 20
- DC 25 - The School of Ice - In her palace of cold north of Orcheim Beira is mistress of the Jokulholme, a school where she teaches 10 of her Rime-Hags the greatest rituals of frost for one year. At the end of that year, though, only nine of them return to the world of men. The tenth, the strongest, remains behind as Beira uses her final, most secret ritual to seal away his heat and life, and uses it to fuel her own frozen might.
- DC 30 - Standing On Native Snow - Of the gods, Beira alone was born within Scalgard. Her history is sung in the howling of the winter wind and written in the patterns made by snow drifts. Learning the whole of this history would undoubtedly grant insights into the sources of her sorcerous power, and how possibly to usurp it.
Cerithwen - the Lady of the Moon
Sister Hart is the mistress of the new. In other spheres, she dreamed of the world that Scalgard could be, and she longs to shape it to her dream. In her mind she sees crumbled towers not just made whole, but built up as spires of marble and silver, testaments to her glory. She will heal men of hurt and illness, or inspire inventors to new heights, all in the name of her dream. But a dream to some is a nightmare to others, and not all of the moon-beasts she makes have mankind's interests at heart. Her world is primal, and dangers would lurk there; worse, for her dream to become reality, the Scalgard we know today must fall, so its nations have much to fear from the Lady of the Moon.
The gods' worst rivalry traces a regular path across the night sky, where Cerithwen makes her home. Month by month the moon waxes full and wanes, pursued, sometimes covered over, by storms. Mannanan chases Cerithwen through the night, and Stormlords make cruel jokes of their patron's lust for the comfort of her full breasts and his willingness to hold them by force. Annwyn's Cerements, a more scholarly lot (who nevertheless hold no love for the goddess who would unmake all of the lore they have collected), point out that a god so devoted to destruction would be naturally opposed to a goddess who sought to renew. Mannanan's chaos will never be complete so long as Cerithwen still lives.
Cerithwen seems to be a full and beautiful woman with dark skin that yet shines white. Her hair is silver, her court-dress is blue, and both trail into a mist that pours from her as she walks. In her passing, flowers bloom that have never been seen on Scalgard before. Her priests are the Luminous and are invested as Devoted Clerics.
A character knows the following with a successful Religion check:
- DC 20
- DC 25 - Early Birds Better Late - Ever seeking the new, Cerithwen was the first of the gods to come to Scalgard. Though she did not mean for them to see, the others followed her light to find the way. A skilled astrologer might be able trace her courses through the sky and find a path to the land from which the gods arrived, but reaching that land once a path is found might prove... difficult.
- DC 30 - Birthing the New Flesh -
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.
The Duke of Thunder makes his home in the stormclouds, where he can watch battles from on-high. Persistent legends, particularly among the orcs, say that he strides the worst of battles in person, seeking out heroes and laying waste to their hosts, solely for the joy of it.
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 and are rarely other than Battle Clerics, and their powers do Thunder damage in place of Radiant.
A character knows the following with a successful Religion check:
- DC 20
- DC 25 - The Hungry Throne -
- DC 30 - Lone Wolves Never Rest - The Duke of Thunder is the one who drove the Foimoire from the earth, in the days when the gods still stood together, for he could countenance no challenge to their rule. He is fearful of revenge, though, now that he and his fellows have turned to fighting amongst themselves, and will start at tall shadows, thinking always that the Foimoire have returned.
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 is a young god, but an old soul, and she has known the lords of the Tuatha-Sidhe since time out of mind. Some stories say that she is, or was, one of the Strange Lords, or one of their children. True or false, the armies her followers field are often peopled with soldiers of the Tuatha-Sidhe, and not always through summoning.
Nefain dreams of fairy castles, and she would return the kingdoms of the Tuatha-Sidhe to Scalgard, where they will sit side by side with the new kingdoms of men and strive together for justice and glory. Already her dream touches on reality, for in the Low Countries, hidden behind the castle her followers call home, she lives in a rarely-seen castle of illusion, and the Strange Lords are her frequent guests.
Nefain appears as a young maid, just entering 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 has no priests save the sorcerer-paladins of the Red Branch Knights.
A character knows the following with a successful Religion check:
- DC 20 -
- DC 25 - Keys To a Heart-Shaped Box - It was a mortal that brought Nefain to the Phantom World, or love of one at least. She watched him, a swordsman seeking justice, from afar, and every glimpse brought her closer to a mortal's life. Though that paramour is long-dead, she founded the Red Branch in his honor, and the captains of that order always seem to bear a striking resemblance to certain ancient statues the goddess keeps in her halls...
- DC 30 - Her Mother's Daughter - Four gods began their lives human, as truly mortal as any of us, but Nefain was sidhe-kin, fostered by a Fairy Lord and raised in his kingdom. This is the source of her pacts with the Tuatha-Sidhe and the powers they give her. If her father's kingdom were ever to fall so, too, might her alliances, and her power as a god.
