Pantheon

The Pantheon is the collective name of the Primordials split from Amier, the Constant of Space, in the age of myths, even if their goals and interests do not align. Amier did this to personify humanity's strengths and gave the world a fighting chance when all was threatened long ago.

Once ten in number, when forged from Amier's split, time and conflict have brought an end to even the gods. Still, to this day, 'the Ten' is an erroneous but common colloquialism for the children of Space, and old exclamations might still incorporate it.

Most of the pantheon are commonly worshipped throughout Meranthe in some aspect or another as they all represent different things. While it is vaguely understood that there are greater powers than the Primordials, they are still referred to as gods by the people of Meranthe for their ability to answer prayer, provide power through faith and provide solace in the afterlife.

Schisms have ruptured any idea of sibling steadfastness, however, and the gods have quarreled. In recent times, the death of Mestra after the brutal extermination of the majority of their descendants has rendered the split all the more stark

While the Gods that split from Amier are the primarily worshipped Gods, all of Amier's "siblings", the other constants, find their own place within the pantheon of Meranthe. Even its darker parts have managed to find root somewhere on the land.

The Gods of Meranthe

For a more detailed overview on each god, see their individual page. This is a brief overview that most characters can be familiar with.

While there are cults and religions dedicated to worshipping one god, most citizens and even priests pay respect to many throughout their life. What they are the god of represents in which situations they are invoked.

The Old Pantheon

The survivors of the original Ten, these gods are almost entirely disconnected from the physical, after the departure at Mount Pavonis. In their varying domains in the Spirit Realm, contacting them directly is a difficult and onerous task, not often possible by most as they watch over their domains.

Enarr

God of wisdom, leadership, insight, oaths, and navigation at sea. Enarr is prayed to when searching for guidance by kings and nobles, and those that rule justly are considered in his favour. Sailors pray to Enarr to guide their ships and it is considered that Enarr's mercy banished the divine storms of the early age separating nations. His primary worship is a grand temple complex in the north, known as Enos.

• The de facto leader of the Ten, as the arguably most powerful.
• Many of the strongest Nephilim came forth from Enarr, who to this very day discreetly oversees Meranthe.
• Enarr is by no means an infallible ruler. While charismatic and inspiring loyalty, he might also be considered controlling, cruel and uncompromising; like the rest of the Pantheon, he is the embodiment of humanity's strengths as well as their flaws. The punishments dealt to the Realms that do not follow the divine law of the spirit-king's council have often been harsh. He has an up-and-down, often poor and violent, relationship with Athelios, Nemea, and Caius. He is closest to Gala, Ualdir, and Chireus. His domain is by far the largest and reaches across many worlds within the cosmos.

Gala

Goddess of stars, veils, truth, lies and foresight. Believed to create the veil that helps separate the spirit and physical world. Invoked where the barrier is thin and needs to be repaired... Or torn down. Her descendants have enacted change and upheaval, and many of them still run across all of Meranthe.

• Perhaps as part of the division between the spirit and the physical world, also became associated with truth and lies.
• It is said that Gala could weave the fabric of the veil itself into brilliant silk.

Nemea

Goddess of forests, hunting, seasons, grief, illusions. Creator of the Faeborne. Invoked to pay respects to nature, when eating meals, when hunting, to deal with grief. Her worship is primarily based within the Realm of Delphina, central to the capital of Dal'thala.

• The enchanted forests of Nemea are like magical labyrinths that defy the senses and lead travellers astray.
• Her children, the Faeborne, feel emotions deeply while also having stronger control over them to appear collected.
• She is known as the goddess of grief as she is so in tune with nature that every natural disaster and manmade travesty weighs heavily on her soul. Nemea works tirelessly to mend the lifestream.

Athelios

God of light and shadow, night and day, rivalry, forgotten places. Creator of the Faceless. Invoked in the Republic to ward against deception and witchcraft. Patron of the Aphrosi, he is worshiped primarily in Gloomlight Grove.

• For a time, Athelios acted as the guardian of Helheim, the underworld, attempting but failing to keep the chaotic, corrupt elements at bay. He wore a plain white mask that covered his entire face, and had two distinctly separate personalities that cycled with night and day.
• Unlike his siblings, Athelios' realm resides in Hel, eternally fighting the forces of the Marquis. His two-faced nature and isolation often make his true allegiance and motives unknown to others of the Pantheon.
• Known to feud with Enarr, more openly now that he has made patronage of the uprising of 'daughters' to the seats of Aschea and Vdali. Some priests of Enarr posit that it was even his machinations that brought Atrellya to invade Meranthe, to further his designs to control the Pantheon.

Chireus

God of travel, messengers, gatherings, bravery. Invoked when traveling, or in daring new undertakings.

• Those that study wayfinding and riftmancy in Meranthe typically do so under his teachings.
• Often considered a mediator, worshippers of Chireus tend to value the concept of neutrality, wandering.

Ualdir

God of battle, flame, independence, greatness. Invoked in battle, grand achievements, or against necromancers.

• Ualdir was a direct participant in the divine wars against the forces of The Betrayer, serving as a general in a coalition of Sheng's phoenixes, the dragons of Ryujin, and the western armies of Lysterg. Many razings took place by the lash of his black axe.
• One of Ualdir's divine sons, Martzel, was instrumental in the recent defeat of Ozmandius Tal and his seven phylacteries, at the cost of his own life.
• Ualdir's chosen in recent history, Eivor, lead a grand crusade against the forces of demonkind- Ending the reign of the Skarnfel empire that would give name to the modern appellation of 'the Fel' to encompass dark or wicked forces.

Caius

God of death, love, abandonment, graves and easy rest. Invoked during funerals and (rarely) weddings, at last rites, in graveyards. Said to have completely abandoned his post, Caius is rumored to wander far across Eternia, casting his power and domain adrift for his siblings to maintain and arbitrate.

• Great debate exists in the scholarly and necromantic community over whether raising the dead is approved by Caius or not.
• Known as the 'pariah' who shirked his duties and fled early, to chase Lady Death, the primal Mortyl.

The Living Inheritors

The recent inheritors of the domain of the fallen and sealed gods of the Pantheon, these beings have not yet fully left behind the mortal plane, much like the Ten once walked in the age of Myth. Far weaker than their compatriots, their powers still often eclipse what most mages can do, within their domains.

Koretheia

Goddess of redemption, life, renewal, rebirth, spring, and Harmony. Invoked in matters that involve new beginnings, personal and outer balance, connecting the nature and the world, or being granted a second chance. Includes acts of White Magic. The realm of Arcadia is a theocracy with her bonded tree, the golden boughs of Solais, growing high and forging an ethereal point; Her priests acting as vectors of her intents and well-wishes, through the Keeper and Warden.

• Officially ascended Aschea's seat in accordance with Athelios' will. Aschea's domains can fall under her as well.
• Reborn from the dryad Azalea Aubreen in the late 2000s, her uplifting marked one of the greatest open schisms of the pantheon thusfar, being forged against the command of Enarr.
• Aerodyne are children created by her hand, and have a deep connection to the spirits and the spirit world, having been used as messengers since her birth.
• The ability of her works to rebirth those who were pulled from the cycle as undead, to be reborn into dryads is considered one of her most impressive miracles. The price, however, is steep- And not all who seek a fresh life can be so reincarnated...

Vinaska

Goddess of destruction, change, darkness, sacrifice, frost, and materiality. Invoked to quell or visit chaos, or to learn of deep magical secrets and the arcane. Reincarnation of Vdali and sister to Koretheia, her first act on being forged was to destroy and consume the Demon King Indras after the warriors of Meranthe brought him low, and to consume and break his very soul down to decimate demonkind and banish all but the very strongest from the shores of the continent. She sustains a strong following throughout the Republic, enjoying both a seat in the Tribunal Pantheon of Goldlight, and worship within the Umbra of Gloomlight’s Bastion.

• Having taken the place of her prior incarnation, both the domains and mistrusted levied at Vdali have been inherited by her.
• Responsible for maintaining the Blacklight Barrier that safeguards Meranthe from demonkind.
• Exiled and banished from the lands of Delphina after violently threatening the death of Duke of Nereides, her temple residing within the Shadowlands off of Republic land remains her primary sanctum.

The Fallen Gods

The members of the original ten who have been slain or chosen death throughout the ages. Some may cling to them, but only graves remain.

Aschea

Once goddess of beauty, betrayal, family, salvation. Invoked during matters of family and penance.

• Her undoing came during the divine wars when she was seduced by the angel of death, falling in love with him and producing Eos and Achlys. She left in self-exile on a long journey of redemption.
• In 1686 a coven of witches decided to call upon the dark lord in a village within the realm of Esshar. Given the corruption to the land and the lifestream Aschea decided to directly intervene, rallying the villagers against the witches. She was successful in restoring the land but was too gravelly damaged to survive after the following battle, creating the Teraphim with her last breath.
• Her domain was succeeded by the ascension of Koretheia, inheriting her place amongst the gods.

Vdali

Once god of frost, earth, solitude, deep places, disaster. Invoked while meditating, or to avoid disaster.

• Once feared for his rage and destruction, Vdali was primarily shunned and appeased, cast out from Vanaheim for the disasters caused beyond.
• To avoid catastrophe, Enarr sealed Vdali deep within the earth, where he burrowed deep into the earth and titanous caverns formed. His prison would come to be where the gods would exile their most reviled prisoners, known as the Hollow World.
• Unsealed during the invasion of Atrellya, he would ultimately choose to dissolve himself into a new reincarnation, consuming and merging with the souls of those who came to return his very soul to him when it was stolen by the demon king Indras- With the primary catalyst being the Oracle of Athelios, Lirael Equisol.

Mestra

Once god of arts, fiction, dreams. Invoked for inspiration in artwork and good dreams.

• Formerly the patron of the Shimmering Troupe and the ancestor of the monarchs the small, arboreal realm of Londo, the Atrellyan Invasion of the 2100s would have the Crescent Isle
• Following on this grief and agony, the Imperfect Demon Varrach would hunt down the weakened primordial of art and tear them asunder through invading their realm within Vanaheim despite the efforts of those to oppose him, consuming and discorporating them.

The Six Constants

During the formation of the Cosmos, the Six Constants came to be, each a force of the highest order. They reside over a fundemental aspect of the fabric of creation, and from them many spirits descend of all natures. While the Divine Dragons and Beasts are aspects of the elements, these six are aspects of the unseen laws of nature.

Amier - Space

Memoria - Time

Alacritas - Life

Mortyl - Death

Pylae - Hope

Hel - Despair