A relatively modern belief by many standards.
A pantheon of gods who observe and judge the actions of all who dwell in our mortal realm, these four gods apparently decide who would join them in their majestic place known as ‘The Nev’ to spend eternity in paradise, failure to achieve this would be to have their soul trapped here on the mortal realm to roam unseen and unheard forever. The four are known as-
Kolodnek the Brave, Fuur the Wise, Enorys the Honourable and Karadow the Loving.
Many who believe in this often tell stories of having seen one of the celestial council streak across the sky, or even present themselves to the virtuous onlooker to maybe give them a holy mission, however the majority of these were labelled as mad in olden times and either locked up or worse.
Fortunately in more recent times we are more tolerant to these supposed missions from the council, owing to this, there have been a great many stories told about heroic acts or kindly deeds that were in fact motivated by apparent visits by one or all of the Ster Duw.
The more devoted worshippers of the Ster Duw will often display jewelry or patches that show their holy symbol of 4 gold balls arranged in each corner of a square.
It is mainly The Den race that hold these beliefs however it is not uncommon for other races to become ‘enlightened’ to the ways and motivation of The Celestial Council.
Dur is depicted as a brooding, firm handed but fair god
His hair under his crown and endless beard are said to have a life of its own, twisting and dancing to a drum that only the most devoted can hear, the crown itself is a beacon of blinding golden light that actually hovers above not resting on Dur’s enchanted locks.
Dur worshippers in the midst of battle have claimed to hear the same drum beat stirring from within their heart and soul, however others have been quick to tell them it was nothing more than their own blood and adrenaline… who really knows the truth?
Dur sits on his iron throne, watching the events unfold in our world through a magical jewel, known as The Tegen. This object being the size of a mountain, yet to him he holds this in his own hand.
The stories tell of a day, a day Dur awaits, this is why Dur gazes into The Tegen. This day or event will be the apparent trigger to great Dur’s return, on that sacred day, the ground will be rent asunder and Dur will rise upon his throne to judge us all. until then, Dur waits and watches…
Until then it is believed that his worshippers will join him in their death, to become one with his magnificent jewel, as each soul joins the Tegen, Dur’s vision become ever clearer and as the soul knows true peace within it, the soul also fuels the jewel’s power for Dur.
Those who are proud to praise Dur are known to sport a symbol that resembles a glowing crown above a diamond.
The Korr are the Primary worshippers for this particular deity however due to their fatherly teaching to the Den of old, there are a fair few Den who also pray to him.
(theologists speculate that it was no mere coincidence that the Korr aligned themselves exclusively with a Duchy called The Crown theorizing that religious significance may have played it’s part..?)
The twin entities known as Golowan and Skeus are said to be literally twin brother and sister.
Both are according to the tales, beings of absolute divine perfection and any who would look upon their golden appearance would be unable to comprehend their radiance and instantly die due to their staggering beauty!
These siblings would travel across all existence and time, to seek out the greatest of beauty and the sublime of pleasures, their eternal quest carrying them to every corner of life as we know it, both partaking in the finest of food, drink, merriment and all other forms of pleasure.
Golowan and Skeus continued this search for what seemed like forever.
Golowan was always pleased with what he experienced, enjoying dance, music, beverages and more intimate sensations, always making sure to show gratitude and thanks to those that entertained and amused him, even in so far as to grant blessings and enchantments on those who pleased him the most.
However it was his twin sister, Skeus, who although would also would replicate her brothers thanks, always felt there was something missing, something not quite… enough.
After much attending of feasts, parties, festivals and more, the two rested for a night to digest their merriment for a moment.
That is when it happened.
The Peaceful Golowan eased himself into a slumber when he felt the passionate embrace of his own sister!
Golowan, tore himself away in shock and confusion, attempting to understand her advances, however when Skeus was refused, she flew into a fury, screaming that she had realized, that the only pleasure so divine and pure enough that existed in the universe that could come close to herself, would be her own brother, she had then decided that to experience all pleasure should come with no bounderies and no limitations, therefore Golowan was hers to have.
Her brother was stunned to learn of this and refused to partake in any part of this idea, attempting to leave her sister for the first time since their creation. At this, Skeus was enraged and attacked her brother visciously while Golowan defended himself yet was not willing to harm his sister.
After the exchange, Golowan finally forced away Skeus declaring her mad.
Skeus was furious at her brother demanding him to “open his eyes” to her, and yet, as she spoke, she tasted something, she tasted blood on her lips as she had been wounded in the fight and discovered a new pleasure, war.
Skeus eventually became a darker, twisted and malicious shadow of her former self, never to encounter her brother again
The worshippers of Golowan believe in achieving a higher sense of purpose and therefore attaining a higher sense of spiritual pleasure, however not at the cost of harming others or even allowing others to be harmed believing that pleasure should be pure and honourable in its attainment.
The worshippers of Skeus believe that pleasure can be found by any means and without any limits or restraint, the greatest of these pleasures being bloodshed.
The original worshippers of Skeus also followed her in her transformation, them too becoming a visage not unlike their patron, this transformation among her followers has continued through their bloodlines both physically and emotionally to this day.
The followers of Golowan wear a symbol depicting a ball of light with lines drawn away from it’s centre, not unlike the image of a sun and is primarily worn by the Elven Koth, (however it is noted that many artists, musicians, bards and chefs have been seen to own a similar emblem).
The Skeus have a virtually identical symbol, it is exactly the same in shape and appearance except that theirs is made completely black, symbolizing darkness or shadow, this on many occasion has given rise to the misinterpretation that the Skeus koth are in fact worshippers of spiders as their image looks quite like an arachnid to the untrained eye. This same design is frequently used by murderers, thieves and others such deviant criminals, (there has even been note of one or two brothels using such a logo!)
The Helgi is a purely primal force. An invisible, sentient presence that demands blood given by those who hunt.
it stalks,
it preys,
it chases
and it kills
this is the way of life of all who worship the Helgi.
These bestial followers live for the hunt in all it’s glory, each one practicing its own bespoke method of ritual and worship making, from dancing rhythmically around a fire to bathing or marking oneself in an enemies blood.
There are no grand texts or ancient scrolls to preach the religious expectation, this is purely verbalized and taught, usually by a shaman or tribal leader to the next generation of kin.
In all variations and versions there is only these constants…
‘Bask in the thrill of the chase, revel in the fear of the prey and bathe in the glory of their death’
The other regular occurrence, noted by religious scholars, is that on rare occasions, the pack or tribe may witness what many call, ‘An Helgi Loor’, roughly translated meaning ‘The Chasing Moon’. These gigantic balls of light are said to fly overhead and trigger the whole horde of followers into a manic hunting frenzy,
when this occurs, no one is safe.
Reports from survivors and hidden eye witnesses claim that on these nights where the Beasts run wild, trophies and kills are often marked, displaying a circle with an ‘x’ inside, this being the only known symbol or sign used by the feral, Helgi worshippers.
Since the joining of Morvoren into our society, keen eared individuals will have heard the name Hunros, otherwise known as ‘The Dreamer”.
According to sea- spawned belief, The Great Pearl, the size of an island, appeared in the seas, silently drifting among the depths.
Some claim further that the Pearl bears host to a physical presence inside, wether it be a prison or vessel, no one knows for it’s occupant never leaves but is always heard…
Legend tells that Hunros dwells within, either steering or trapped inside.
A creature of immense size with billowing fins or wings and a reptillian, tentacled head.
The Morvoren reverie this esoteric phenomenon and apparently if you are willing to dive deep enough, you will surely enough see this spectacle! However brave adventurer be warned, although in theory this could be the easiest and direct way to meet a divine presence, only the sea spawned are able to approach unharmed as it seems Huros greatly favours them while encounters from other races have ended in madness and insanity.
The Morvoren priests say, Great Hunros eternally strives to reach all within their dreams, he whispers to all in their sleep, singing his secret song to the Morvoren, many being driven to grand adventures and quests or as they know them as, ‘Callings’ in his honour, however other races have also claimed to have been visited in their sleep with hideous visions and horrific nightmares, mental sights that have forever scarred their sanity so deep that no apostle has been able to fully heal, such are some cases where the poor wretch has ended up on a murderous rampage and it was deemed necessary by the local militia to ‘end’ the spree with lethal and rapid force.
Even now, Great Hunros sleeps within the Pearl as it dances under the waves, rarely touching the surface for a time, then gliding back below to saunter among the deep followers below and the sleepers who await him.
Hunros is frequently depicted in an abundance of Morvoren jewelry, (which is highly priced on the land) in several forms, either his pearl home or The Dreamer himself. on many items a symbols is seen of the pearl set inside the centre of a starfish, however the most common is actually engravings of a circle representing the pearl with wings set either side of it and 5 tentacles dangling from the bottom.
Despite the horror stories of men driven mad by this supposed thing, The sea spawned maintain that Hunros is a kind and benevolent god, here to save and deliver us all, The Morvoren displaying a nonchalant attitude claiming that ‘some minds are simply not ready for the call’.
The enchanted Piski are in themselves once beings of divine power.
It is well known that in times long gone they were the creators of a whole other race known as the Karrek or Rock men, this very act being their greatest magical power ever conjoured, however the spell being so great, that it depleated their abilities, lowering the strength of each individual Piski as they all donated a small portion of their own life force in the process. It is not as well known that all Piski channel their abilities through what they call The Nerth.
The Nerth is their sacred energy force, which they believe is the fabric of every soul in existence. The Nerth is weaved into every tree, rock and flower, every river and mountain, the Nerth is the spark of life and love.
The Piski believe that, with the greatest of respect and noble intention, the Nerth can be shaped and moulded to suit the wielders desire without limitations, once the wielder has achieved a strong link to the life-force.
It is said in ancient tomes, that the Nerth is the the natural balance of power to counteract the presence of demons in our realm, when the first hellish, neverborn creature slithered into our world, The Nerth was also released to help us, not unlike the humble dock leaf which grows by the stinging nettle.
There is a strong belief that the link to the Nerth is utilised by attuning ones own soul, however, The Piski and other followers of the Nerth are fully aware of the blasphemy that is the undead, for how can such a thing exist, charged with Nerth magic when there is obviously no soul inside, due to this, Nerth users will have as much contempt for undead creatures as they would the monsters that spew forth from the Chaosgate.
The Nerth is honoured devoutly by The Piski and also revered by the Karrek who are aware that without both The Piski and the Nerth, they would have never existed, a fact that they believe so firmly that even now many rock-men still look upon the Piski with awe and admiration. It is not uncommon for a magic user or mages to dedicate their power and it’s working to the Nerth too, some having learned their abilities directly from Piski mentors or if one would look back far enough at their magical heritage, they would not be surprised to see a Piski hand involved somewhere.
Nerth followers do not see it necessary to wear any religious symbolism, (although many do wear magical emblems as needed for powers/spells) yet it is commonplace for worshippers to greet or bid farewell by uttering such phrases not unlike, “Nerth protect you”, “May the Nerth guide you”, or “May you be blessed with great Nerth”, etc.
“Once upon a time, lots of moonz ago, way past yesterday, dere woz our boss. Our boss woz called Funderfang and e woz dead ‘ard to beat, wicked good wiv ‘is axe and da girliez said e ‘ad an awesome choppa too, (but I neva got dat bit…)
Anywayz, Funderfang ‘ad loads of ladz wiv ‘im roamin’ around da place smashin’ stuff up and makin’ da Not-Gwer dedder than ded, sprayin’ dere insides into dere outside all over da place.
Dere woz nuffin e could’nt wreck, burn or plunda.
Ven one day, after e woz finished wreckin’ a village, a bloody great ball of light dropped down from the up and this massive not-gwer walked out of it. E lookt almost Gwer, e ‘ad Gwer skin but e woz bloody ‘uge!
So Funderfang and da Ladz thought to ‘av a go wiv it and maybe cook it aftawards for dinna.
A bloody great kick-off ‘appened and Funderfang and da ladz got right stuck in, choppin’ slicin’ and whackin’ but dis big Not-Gwer was lovin’ it and woz even laffin as da ladz stuck it too ‘im?!
Da big not-Gwer woz fighin’ back, sendin’ ladz flyin’ throo da air and smashin’ into da land, but ladz is double ‘ard and woz also lovin’ da ruck so dey keeps gettin’ up for anova go in da ruck.
‘Da Big Kick off’, (dats what we all call it now) lasted for bloody loads of sunz and Moonz, Funderfang and ‘is mighty ladz still ruckin’ away wiv dis ruddy great fella and all da time smashin’ everyfing around dem, it was ace!
In da end, afta lots of sunz did come and went, Funderfang, ‘is ladz and even da big fella woz sat dere laffin and laffin and laffin!
Dey all said dat it was a bloody good laff, dey only said it was guttin that no body got dedded.
Da big fella said ‘is name woz Ombla and said e’d been watchin’ us Gwer for ages and likes our style, e says we should follow ‘im to get into lots more kick offs and find loads more things to make dedded,
so we did follow ‘im,
and since den have always had loads more wicked kick-offs,
and fanks to ‘im we made loads of dedded non-Gwer everywhere,
DA END”
“Now bugga off before I eat ya face!”
Dama is simply ‘mother’ to the Plantae.
She is the living embodiment of the everlasting circle of love, life and growth.
Death for the plantae is not even as concept, as they believe they will always live on in their seedlings. they do not consider their offspring as children, but more alike extensions of themselves to be as equally nurtured and protected as we would our own children.
Dama dances throughout the trees as a beautiful sphere of light, shimmering among the greenery of the land, her gentle caress from the very tip of her fingers will trigger a beautiful explosion of flowers and plant life to burst forth from the land.
There is a whispered rumour that when the sun grow to its greatest and warmest, Dama will appear to her followers within the forrest of Tehidith, the location is never the same and only the Plantae know where she will be, they would not be able to tell you in advance but when the time is right they are simply drawn to her.
Upon arrival it is said that there begins a majestic and serene celebration of dance and song which end with all participants being involved in a mass pollination known as The Blessing.
The wise among chaosgate simply note that at some point, on the hottest days, The plantae are all of a sudden not to be seen in town…
The reptilian Kramvil remember the truth…
They remember The God War and the clash between gigantic Kowr and The titanic Draegon.
The oldest race in the realm remembers it all, but will the other races listen? No.
The Kramvil’s belief precedes celestial orbs and magical deities,
they only know of Bryntin.
Bryntin, the Mother of all Draegon and Kramvil.
Bryntin, who’s wingspan covers oceans and tail reaches beyond the lands.
Bryntin, she of golden scale and diamond of claw.
The god Draegon, Bryntin was the first sentient being on our land, stalking the realm with such colossal strides that her very movement cut the realm into what it is, this remained for such a time until the appearance of the Kowr, rampaging and feuding amongst themselves, also crafting the land with their carnage.
Bryntin looked to the primordial sky and with a thunderous roar produced the first of many Draegon eggs. these eggs being the first of the Draegon and Kramvil race.
In the many years that followed, she ruled from her nest, atop the tallest mount in the realm, Bronn Wennili, watching with her endless gaze the ever feuding Draegon and giant Kowr, when she spotted something new…
A tear in the very fabric of the world.
From within this tear, small grotesque creatures crept and stalked into our world, these were the first demons.
Bryntin unfurled her gargantuan wings and casually soared over to the dimensional rupture. within seconds, she was set upon by the demons. although almost minuscule in comparison to her, their attacks upon Bryntin were painful, this enraging her so and she struck back at them, smiting them in mere moments, Bryntin then saw more and more and even more hell spawn step forth from the tear, in moments she was covered like ants on a bear, every mini creature clawing and biting at her. although she was more than capeable of fending them off, she was aware that the tide of evil was probably never ending and even though she could fight them, their numbers would soon storm past her and into the land beyond her, thus she made her decision.
With great fury, Bryntin threw herself at the horde of monsters, battling through the sheer mass of malice until finally she attacked at the tear itself!
The demons outside were easily crushed from her onslaught, while Bryntin then actually started to force her way inside the rift, causing all manner of chaos to reality, as Bryntin slashed and tore away with her claws at the fissure, it threw huge masses of raw magical energy, this very energy flew randomly at first, but then with almost sentient direction and mysteriously dissipated into forests, caves, seas and our atmosphere, one such mass curled and weaved through the air like a comet until it flew high above a tremendous battle between multitudes Kowr and Draegons, it then bolted down with such a hammer force, igniting a ground breaking explosion that engulfed the whole battle in a blinding flash of magical force…
Bryntin managed to stem the tide of hell, although the demons still arrive here to this day, it is believed that thanks to Bryntin’s sacrifice, that they arrive in small numbers but not as a huge swarm by her trapping herself on the other side and hunting the hell spawn from within their own realm. no one actually knows her final outcome, however, when ever the chaosgate opens here, many Kramvil swell with pride, as they say the noise of the gate tearing into our reality is actually the sound of Bryntin’s roar from the other side… who knows?
Despite the different sub species of Pryv, there is no actual religious system within any of them. Their general attitude is to be created, grow, eat, fight and die. There seems to be no fear, concern or remorse associated with death, dying or the divine?!
It is possible that The Kenes (spiders) or the Gwan (scorpions) might be attracted to the idea of such a god as The Helgi however there is no evidence as yet.
The nearest equivalent could be The Ghoi (wasps) who worshipped their now missing queen as a virtual holy figure.
Due to the very nature of the Bocka, religion is virtually non existent.
the mindset of an undead has been almost ‘reset’ or ‘wiped’ with no former memory of their family, friends or beliefs, as they now live to serve their new master that raised them in their new ‘second’ life, even the more intelligent undead will still show high gratitude to the necromancer that remade them.
It is possible that such a creature as a Vampire would still remember their former life and religious stance, however they are fully aware of what has become of them and either hide in shame from their god or now gleefully reject them.
Lord Scythe, having amassed such a grand army of the dead is considered by almost all raised by him to be their undoubted lord and master.
The vast majority of Chaos-touched have no deity to call their own, fully aware of the curse that is set upon them, most see any sort of god as having already damned them, therefore why should they offer their own heart to them?
Some Derey-Tava will scrabble around in libraries and vaults reading religious text in a hope that by possibly serving the correct god may somehow remove the curse inflicted on their body and soul like some sort of ‘self exorcism’
…and there is the small minority who secretly embrace their dark heritage, forming esoteric groups, that would even include other races, to praise the demons and to attempt to communicate with them, however as far as anyone knows, this has always lead to graphic bloodshed, torture and death.
There are whispers in darkened corners of something known as ‘The Pur Dhu’, unfortunately, this phrase and nothing more is usually all people can obtain…
This phrase being so guarded, due to that fact that it is well recognized that anyone showing to aid or support to the forces that lie beyond the gate would be after trial, expelled from the town, or imprisoned, or even executed depending on the severity of their allegiance, this never boding well for the already persecuted and feared Chaos-touched who already are wary of witch hunts or lynch mobs.
There are those that believe they are above such petty legalities due to their high rank or status among the levels of the Claw duchy…
