Eagle David Lightfinger West

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Patrons of the Races

Most humans, humanoids, and demi-humans worship each section of the pantheon which suits their current situation. However, countries and the demi-humanoids have adopted certain patrons which are venerated a little bit more than the others.

Dwarves - Vulcan

Dwarves have always prided themselves on the creation of weapons, armor, and other crafts. Thus, Vulcan has become their patron on this world. In dwarven mythology, the first dwarf, Moradin, was created by Vulcan to assist his work.

Elves - Sylvanus

As self-styled protectors of nature and protectors of the forest, nature gods tend to be worshipped more than others. Sylvanus especially garners much support, as the caretaker of the forests. Corellion Larenthian, the normal elvish god, is a scout for Sylvanus.

Gnomes - Rhea

The mother of Jupiter and the other major gods was a natural for the gnomes. She embodies fertility, crops, and the earth which the gnomes inhabit. Garl Glittergold, the gnomish god, was believed created by Rhea to become her jeweler and aide, thus the gnomes revere jewelry and other works with precious metals. Reorx, the gnomish tinker god, however, is associated with Vulcan as one of his assistants. Thus, the tinker gnomes which exist, and there are very, very few, revere Vulcan.

Halflings - Vesta

Halflings have always been thought of as a close knit community. Because protection of the family and the community is paramount to their way of life, it was natural for them to adopt the Goddess of the Hearth, Vesta, as their patron. Yondalla, the halfling goddess, is one of the Vestigal Virgins who gave birth to the halfling race in a similar myth as Mary giving birth to baby Jesus.

Goblins - Thea

Goblins are decadent, thus decided to adopt the most decadent of the Titans as their personal patron, Thea. Maglubiyet, the god of the goblins, is Thea’s most constant consort.

Orcs - Themis

Born to war among themselves and other races, it was natural for the orcs to adopt the Titan Themis as their patron. Gruumish, the orcish god on other worlds, is one of Themis’s generals in her vast army.

Dark Elves - Orcus

The darkness of the underworld suits that of the Dark Elves, thus they have adopted Orcus as their patron. Considering most humans attempt to placate the Lord of Death, instead of worship him, this has only added to the fear and mistrust of the small contingent of Dark Elves in the world. In this world, Lolth is not a rival to Orcus, but is one of his primary agents of destruction and chaos. Good Dark Elves, however, worship Pluto, the father of Orcus. In this pantheon, Eilisstree (sp?) is really just an aspect of Persephone, daughter of Ceres and wife of Pluto.

Ogres - Mars

Bullies, ogres naturally tend towards the personifications of strength. Mars is more popular than Hercules, though, because of Hercules’s reputation of being a hero as well as a god. Hercules, for his point of view since he does not consider himself a god, and still adventures in the lands of Penta for sport, is not thrilled with his sentient-eating worshippers.

Gnolls - Coeus

Normally thought to be carriers of many dread diseases, gnolls naturally adopted Coeus, the Titan of Disease, as their patron to strike fear in their opponents. Yeenoghu, the gnollish demon worshipped as a god most everywhere else, is a general in Coeus’s army.

Kobolds - Iapetus

On this world, kobolds are normally neutral evil, not lawful evil as portrayed in the Monstrous Compendium elsewhere. However, since kobolds are primarily concerned with taking away luxuries other races have acquired, Iapetus, the Titan of Destruction, was a perfect choice on this world. Kurtulmak (sp?), the normal god of the kobolds, acts as a thief and spy for Iapetus.

Centaurs - Diana

Strangely, the usually male-dominated centaurs of the world do not consider a male their patron. Instead, Diana, goddess of hunting, has become their patron. Skerrit, their usual god, is Diana’s mount when she wishes to use a ‘horse’ to hunt from.

Hobgoblins - Tethys

Normally associated with arid locations, where little grows, caused the hobgoblins to adopt Tethys, Titan of Famine, as their patron. Again, like the kobolds, hobgoblins are primarily neutral evil in this world. Nomog-Geaya, the hobgoblin god who is normally associated with the goblins in their hierarchy, is an agent of Tethys.

Minotaurs - Saturn

Not much of a surprise, as the minotaurs were originally created via a curse which they blame upon Jupiter. Thus, adopting the father of Jupiter and his sworn enemy, Saturn, was logical. Baphomet, the minotaur demonic god from other prime worlds, is instead a general in Saturn’s army which continues to attempt to take back over Olympus.

Satyrs - Bacchus

The father of Pan and master of wild parties was natural for the satyrs. The normal god of the satyrs, Damh, is one of Bacchus’s retinue of frolickers and partiers.

Mind Flayers - Memnosyne

The dreaded, but small group, of illithids have adopted Memnosyne as their patron. Unlike illithids of other worlds, however, because of their worship of the Titan of Evil Knowledge, their priests have been able to cast clerical spells.

Bugbears - Crius

With their shaggier coats compared to other humanoids, the bugbears are much more resilient to cold. Thusly, they have adopted the Titan of Cold, Crius, as their patron deity. Hruggek, the normal bugbear god, is Crius’s hunting companion on their missions to destroy humanity.

Mongrelmen - Diana

Mongrelmen were created via wizardly experimentation back in the Great Age. These creatures, reminicent of some Earth stories about half-men, half-beasts, were relatively docile, however, and escaped to form their own community. Their bestial side made them naturals for worshipping Diana, who is also the goddess of freedom for slaves as well as beastmistress. Meriandar, in this mythology, is female and one of Diana’s hunting companions.

Beholders - Hyperion

The Titan of the Solar Orb has become the patron deity of the eye tyrants. Eye Tyrants believe their Great Mother was born from the sun of old, thus born from Hyperion. Thus, though they revere the Great Mother more, they are actually paying more than lip service to Hyperion in the process.

Mermen/Locathah - Neptune

Logical, as in our own world, mermen and mermaids were the offspring of nymphs created by Neptune, and fish-men were also supposedly created by the great deity of the sea. Eadro, the god of both of these races, is one of Neptune’s direct offspring in this mythology.

Tritons - Neptune

Persana is a direct decendant of Neptune, and thus the father of the Triton race. Again, in our own mythology, tritons were always considered the agents of Neptune and nothing different has occurred on Jil-Trath to dispel that original notion.

Kuo-Toa - Oceanus

The evil fishmen of the Kuo-Toa believe themselves created by Oceanus’s daliance with their goddess, Blipdoolploop. Thus, they believe they are the instrument of Oceanus’s wrath and must destroy humanity at any cost.

Lizard Men - Gaia

Close to nature, even in their swamps, it was not much of a stretch for the lizard men to adopt Gaia, the Earthmother, as their goddess. Semuanya, the lizard man god in other pantheons, is believed to be a normal lizard who was raised to his lofty level by Gaia to help lead the reptiles into appreciating their environment more.

Faeries - Gaia or Saturn

Though split into the seelie court, which supports Mother Nature, or the unseelie court which supports Father Time, the philosophies of both courts believe their original parentage comes from both deities. However, the seelie believe in the goodness of nature and the harmony all creatures should have. On the contrary, the unseelie look at the inevitability of decay and death for even immortal races, and attempt to destroy mortal beings so they may finally take over the world as their own. Titania and Oberon rule the seelie court jointly, while the Fairie Queen of Air and Darkness rules the unseelie faction.

Sahuagin - Oceanus

The other evil fishmen, the sahuagin, worship the might of the Titan Oceanus. However, they disbelieve the myths of other Oceanus-worshipping races. Instead, they believe their regular god, Sekolah, was created by Oceanus to be a force of destruction of humanity’s ships. Thus, they attempt to do the same as well as war against other sea-dwelling races for the glory of Oceanus.

Baatezu, Tanarri, Yugoloths

These planar creatures of evil are seen as agents of various evil gods and titans. The Blood War being fought between the Baatezu and Tanarri is viewed by those who know of it as the Titans and evil gods fighting each other for supremacy. The victor will turn his great power against the gods of Olympus in an attempt to crush them. The fact these three races war in indepencence of the gods is lost to the vast majority of the people of the world. Only a select few understand what is really going on with the Blood War. Baatezu are agents of Oceanus, Hyperion, Thea, Themis, and Memnosyne. Tanarri are agents of Crius, Saturn, Orcus, Mars, and Coeus. Lastly, yugoloths are believed to be agents of Phebe, Tethys, and Iapetus.


Content Copyright 2005, David West