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Gods
Introduction
to The Pagan Gods Of Arcanum
Apon
reflection, it can be said that the development of Arcanum and
its peoples can be mapped through the rise and fall of it
religions. Throughout the ages, it has been the fervent belief
in higher powers that have propelled us into the most torrid,
as well as the most enlightening, events in our history. And
why shouldn't this be the case? Is it not our intellect and
our passions that set us apart from our bestial counterparts?
The value we place in our deities, whatever form they take, is
merely a reflection of our greater desire to give form and
pattern to our existence, to see beyond what is in the here
and now, to give it meaning to the haphazard events that
happen around us everyday.
In
my book, The Pagan Gods of Arcanum, I have attempted to
describe, in detail, the diverse religions practiced by the
various races in Arcanum prior to the era often known as the
Age of Legends. With the rise of the Panarii religion and its
widespread acceptance among almost all of the civilized races,
the importance of the ancient pagan religions has been largely
overshadowed. By describing these gods and the people who
worshipped them, I hope to shed light not only what has come
before, but on who we are now and what we might one day
become. Whether creatures of magick, or children of
technology, we must never forget that some lessons are best
learned by looking behind us.
I
am often asked whether or not I have my own religious beliefs.
I will say only this; I've studied the old gods extensively,
visited their temples, even made offerings at certain altars
where they are still intact. From what I've seen, I can with
all verity say that these ancient beliefs are not to be
trifled with. Tread lightly among them.
Aldous T. Buxington
Professor of Religion
Tarant University
The
Lesser Gods
I
have classified the pagan gods into two categories: The Lesser
Gods and the Greater Gods. I shall begin with a discussion of
the Lesser Gods, as they are more specific to the various
races of Arcanum, and serve to aid in the understanding of the
Greater Gods, which shall be described afterwards. There is a
Lesser God for each of the known sentient races, and they
invariably embody those virtues within us that make our
peoples unique.
The
Lesser gods are further classified into three
distinct groups: Nobel, Neutral
And Darker. The nomenclature is my own, and
is based on the general characteristics of the god described.
The
Nobel Lesser Gods
Ter'el,
the elven god of Wisdom
Before
the advent of existentialism, the elven people were mostly
mystics who worshipped natural deities. The most powerful of
those deities was Ter'el, god of the Trees, who later came to
embody wisdom. Ter'el was both blind and mute, and could only
speak through the wind in the leaves of autumn, who cried
tears in the showers of spring, and who passed thunderous
judgment in the storms of winter. Early offerings to Ter'el
included the best fruit of the harvest, but in time became the
small wooden statues known as Li'tani, or Houses-of-the-Soul.
Such idols were carved once a year by elven shamans, and were
said to hold the true essence of the owner.
Once
a year the Li'tani were thrown into the fiery altars of Ter'el
and burned to ash. By doing so, the elven people thought that
Ter'el had purged them of all impurities and pettiness. A new
Li'tani was obtained from the elven shaman, and a new cycle
could begin again.
Geshtianna,
human goddess of Love
Gehstianna
has been a central figure in human Paganism for as long as
their history has been recorded. Human mythology claims that
Geshtianna was once a mortal woman who was so beautiful that
she was made into a god by the moon and the sun, who could no
longer bear to be outshone by something so far below them, and
so raised her up to the heavens. Humans believed that
Geshtianna would smile down upon them at twilight, when the
sun was setting and the moon was rising, and that her love and
beauty were manifested in the springtime, between winter and
the long, hot days of summer. The festivals to the goddess
were a time of great celebration, wrought with music and
drink, as well as various rites of physicality and fertility.
Offerings
at the altars of Geshtianna were usually Passion Root, which
came to be thought of as an aphrodisiac and was often used
during the festivals.
The
Neutral Lesser Gods
Alberich,
Stone God of the Dwarves
Very
little is known of dwarvish religions, although there is great
speculation that the dwarves have a long tradition of
philosophy. The dwarvish Clan Wars of 600 years ago quite
possibly were started because of a conflict of philosophical
beliefs. Regardless, the ancient dwarven god Alberich has
always weighed heavily in dwarvish lore. According to the
oldest dwarvish myths, it is upon the spine of Alberich that
Arcanum rests, and the dwarves are his first children who are
privileged to live within him. Alberich is the most ancient of
things, and loves those who are slow to anger, deep of thought
and hardworking. He sings to his children in the shiftings of
mountains, in the roar of volcanoes, and whispers to them in
the still air of long forgotten caverns, deep underground.
To
the altars of Alberich, dwarves bring chunks of lava rock. To
them it represents his anger, which can be terrible, but which
is cool and light when all is well with his children.
Makaal,
the Bedokaan God of the Hunt
Little
is known of the Bedokaan. Lizard-like creatures that travel in
nomadic tribes, the Bedokaan have lived within the swamps of
the Dark Fens for millennia. Sir Warren Purrington, the famous
16th century gnomish explorer, left perhaps the only true
account of them or their ways. The following is an excerpt
from "Fauna and Specie of the Darke Fens."
"I've
discovered a most unusual tribe of creatures, covered in scale
and slime, who call themselves the Bedokaan. Apparently,
they've never seen any of what I'd call the 'civilized races',
whether gnomish or otherwise. They have language, and the most
elementary beginnings of culture, but besides that seem
altogether wild and ferocious. Their simple religion revolves
around deities they call the Snake-fathers, one of whom is a
being named Makaal, the god of the Hunt. Before their daily
outings to find food, Bedokaan warriors kneel before the altar
of Makaal, and offer small pieces of something they call
Heartstone, which looks to be some form of rough diamond or
crystal. Where they get them, I've yet to ascertain.
Bedokaan
warriors believe that the offerings to Makaal give them speed
when hunting their prey. Truly, these are a primitive
people."
One-armed
Bolo, the Halfling God of Thieves
Halfings
have always been fond of trickery, so it is no surprise that
one of their most important ancient deities was Bolo, the
one-armed god of Thieves. Bolo was known for his cunning ways,
and his love of all things precious and beautiful. Legend
tells that Bolo was so skilled at thievery, that he once stole
the shadow of Progo, who was Bolo's stepfather and god of the
Storm. Unfortunately, Bolo was careless, and was noticed by
Progo. As punishment, Progo cut off one of Bolo's arms; in
retaliation Bolo stole his stepfather's soul, tore it in half
and Progo dropped dead. Lightning, it is said, represents the
skillful cut of Progo, and thunder his death roar.
Halfings
used to offer rings at the altars of Bolo. Rings, they said,
reminded them of the price that Bolo paid for his
carelessness, as well as the skill he still possessed in his
remaining hand.
Kerlin,
the Golden God of the Gnomes
Gnomish
history is well guarded, as are their most ancient beliefs and
traditions. But a visit to any gnomish household will reveal
at least one of their religious traditions...one will
invariably find a golden statuette, or likeness thereof, of
Kerlin, the Golden God. Kerlin was the oldest of the gnomish
pantheon, and all other gods were sprung directly from the
palms of his hand. He sung the world into existence, and the
sound solidified into great veins of gold and silver.
Kerlin
wanted only those things made of his words, and so gnomish
offerings were always of money, usually of the small, ancient
gnomish coins known as Mnura.
The
Darker Lesser Gods
Shakar,
the Orcish God of War
Shakar
was an ancient god, worshipped by almost all orcish tribes
before the Age of Legends. Shakar was a frightening creature,
with the head of a ram, four arms, and the tail of a scorpion.
For many years orcs sacrificed their first born to Shakar, who
demanded the first and best of everything. Orcish lore says
that Shakar changed his mind about the sacrifices when he saw
that the orcs were truly warlike and then demanded only the
finest weapons as offerings. Traditionally, these were
bone-handled knives and swords...bone to represent Shakar's
great horns, and tempered steel to represent his will.
Often
an itinerant adventurer will discover the ruins of an ancient
orcish tribe, and invariably they will find such bone-handled
weapons among them. The Orcs were very serious about their
god, and they carried such weapons to remind them of his
ferocity.
Torg,
God of the Ogre Heart
The
ogre god Torg is still worshipped by the more primitive ogre
tribes, and was earliest of the ogre deities to survive the
Age of Legends. Ogre lore tells that Torg was the father of
many children, and that long ago there were many gods to rule
over the ogrish people. As time passed, Torg saw that his
children had forgotten what it meant to be ogrish, and slew
them all. From the bodies of his children he pulled their
still beating hearts and ate them, bringing into himself all
the best parts of them, and threw the rest into the sea.
Torg
is known as the God of the Ogre Heart, and every year the ogre
tribes who still worship him eat the hearts of hunted stags in
deference to him. The bodies of the stags are thrown to the
western sea, where the ogres lament Torg's lost children, and
praise his strength and wisdom.
The
Greater Gods
The
Greater Gods are very interesting in that they seem to be
common to all of the known races of Arcanum. Names and
spellings might differ slightly depending upon specie and
region, but the general belief in these more powerful beings
is practically unchanged between them.
There
are only four Greater Gods, as they seem to embody larger
philosophical and religious concepts.
Halcyon,
the god of Truth
All
of the pagan religions had a notion of ultimate good, and the
god Halcyon represented that good in all of them. He is best
known as the god of truth, and is the child of Helion, god of
light, and the sun. Halcyon was said to shed light on all that
was unknown, all that was petty or evil. Halcyon is the god of
the sky, and astrologers and clairvoyants pray to him, seeking
his wisdom in reading the signs and the stars.
Offerings
made to Halcyon were always the branch of the olive tree,
which are most difficult to find in light of the destruction
of the Morbihan Forest.
Moorindal,
the God of Shadow
Evil
is an integral part in any religion. Moorindal, the God of
Shadow, is represented in one way or another in all of
Arcanum's pagan religions. Moorindal is the bastard son of the
moon and Helion, the God of Light. Patricide is always
associated with Moorindal, as legend tells that once Helion
ruled over both the day and the night, but that Moorindal
killed him so that the night could be his and his mother's. So
the night became the kingdom of Moorindal, as did the winter
months.
There
were many secret cults and religions that worshipped Moorindal,
but we know little about their practices and perhaps that is
for the best. We do know that they used the black diamonds
from the Bangellian Deeps as offerings to their dark god. It
represented loss of innocence, the triumph of the shadow.
Kai'tan,
the goddess of Balance
Kai'tan
is the daughter of the moon and the sun, and so is the
half-sister to both Halcyon and Moorindal. Kai'tan is a
trickster, a cunning goddess who is forever using her skills
upon her two more emotional half-brothers, setting them
against one another, and laughing when they blame the other
for their problems.
Her
worshippers have most assuredly included thieves and actors,
but Kai'tan was also the goddess of judges who prayed to her
for guidance and discernment in all decisions, seeking her
cunning knowledge when dealing with enemies and miscreants. It
was said that Kai'tan knew all things, as well as their value
and she was always depicted smiling, because most things are
worth nothing at all.
Worshipers
of Kai'tan have always offered to her the geode, which
represented both the beautiful and the evil in the world
Velorien,
the All-Father
Of
all the pagan gods, the least is know about Velorien, or the
All-Father. References to him are few and far between, but all
of the religions speak of a deity who watches over all, and
from whom all was created. There are only two known passages
that refer to the All-Father by name, and both are from
"The Book of the Twelve Powers", written by Mazzerin,
the Elven Mystic, almost 3000 years ago. The second will be
discussed later. The first says:
"...and
the City of Wonders made great offerings to the All-Father,
and he blessed them, and gave them power, and they made things
never seen before by the eyes of man..."
If
there were offerings made to Velorien, it is unknown what they
were, or what was expected of him if the offering was made.
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