The Gods of Altheim

Altheim is home to numerous belief systems most prominantly the polytheistic pantheons of the Old Gods of the Druids and the New Gods of the All Faith. In addition, countless other belief systems and cults exist on the fringes of althiem society including worship of Demonic and Infernal entities such as Asmodeus or Warlocks who dedicate themselves to a single patron.

The Old Gods
The spirits of the world, created by primitive mortals, who overthrew the Titans that created all things on Altheim.

The Old Gods tend to be shapeless, formless, and deeply entrenched in the natural systems of the world. Everything has an ancient spirit, a primordial force that embodies it. Rain, fire, rivers, snow, life and death, animals, dreams and medicine... The list is almost endless. Most Old Gods are small and limited in their power, and this is the well from which modern Druids draw their power.

Druids do not have to worship the Old Gods, but they will typically be attuned to one particular spirit, such as that of Dreams, Beasts, the Moon, or any of the primal forces of the land such as swamp, mountain, arctic lands etc.

Ratkin, The World Below
The world that runs beneath us all – things that are left unsaid, things that are hidden, secrets and taboos.

Gender: Non Binary

Symbol: S

Beliefs in a nutshell: Look after one another, be kind, for you have no idea what runs below the surface of the world, of people, and of society. Pay heed to the shadows, and remember that a part of you dwells there.

Other domains: sewers, disease, rats, swarms and poisons/medicine.

Follower's habits and duties: Assemble in the hidden places of the world for safety, research potions and poisons, and spread the word through kind acts. Berate the gods and those who trust in them, for people are where the real power resides.

Praying to them: Either eating a rat, ingesting poison, or covering yourself in filth. Must be making the S sign.

The Wakened World, Life
''We are part of the world, and it is a part of us. The web extends through all things, and a life well lived in joy and love is the best kind of life.''

Gender: Feminine

Symbol: Golden Mandala

Beliefs in a nutshell: We are all connected; to wound one is to wound us all; minimise suffering and encourage joy wherever you can.

Other domains: Love, Birth, Music, Medicine, Fertility

Follower's habits and duties: Bring joy to others, prevent suffering of the body through medicine and suffering of the soul through faith; end suffering of the heart through joyous celebration and music.

Praying to them: Song, Dance, any kind of artwork that utilises colour and shape can be used to speak to The Wakened World.

Their Elysium: A series of peaceful pools of water, linked with running rivers that flow uphill in various colours, surrounded by flowers. They form the shape of a mandala and show the links between all things. The Wakened World herself sits at the centre, and when she sings it sends vibrations through all of the life-web, affecting change.

Their appearance: A white-veiled woman, always cheerful and smiling, with a harp in one hand and a dress made of flower petals.

Character basis or mannerisms: Motherly, kind and caring, fey and unserious, energetic and full of vitality. Leslie Knope.

The Wolf and the Lamb, Nature
''Nature is the great balancing of power: the wolf must eat, so the lamb must die. To take sides is impossible, and foolish. Darwinian survival is a worthy end in and of itself, nothing is fair and even.''

Gender: Neutral: both male and female.

Symbol: A wolf twisted in chase around a lamb, in a yin-yang fashion.

Beliefs in a nutshell: Let the weak perish so that the strong may thrive.

Other domains: Agriculture, Forests, Struggle and Suffering, Hunting, Travel

Follower's habits and duties: Hunting, raising animals, caring for the natural locations of the world. Often these people are forced into neutral positions on mortal matters, particularly war and conflict.

Praying to them: Kill and eat a deer, and you may want to pray to The Wolf and Lamb. Doing so requires that one be in nature, and first give something back to the system that they are a part of before asking something from it.

Their Elysium: A forest clearing: on one side, a predator of any description. On the other, prey of any description. The two circle endlessly around the visitor.

Their appearance: A pairing of animals, prey and predator, depending on the worshipper.

Character basis or mannerisms: Prefers action over words, is mostly silent like nature. The Wolf and Lamb often incorporates the mannerisms of whichever animal it is currently existing as.

The White Wrath, Tempest
''Humility before nature and a healthy respect for its fury. Furthermore, a recognition of the capacity within each person for that same unbridled destruction, and the times to use and suppress it.''

Gender: Male

Symbol: A lighting bolt in a swirl of water.

Beleifs in a nutshell: The world is not a nice place, and the only answer to strength is strength. The only answer to the fury of nature, is the fury of man.

Other domains: The Sea, Natural Disasters, Storms, Rage, Destruction, Famine, The Cold

Follower's habits and duties: Commonly, priests of the White Wrath seek out worthy opponents to smite. They advise fishermen and travellers, they prepare isolated communities for storm and famine alike. They also, sometimes, push people by testing them to strengthen them.

Praying to them: Offering things to the sea, shattering things dear to you in a fury, screaming to the sky and offering up your ruined foes are all good ways to the get the attention of the White Wrath.

Their Elysium: A shipwreck atop a mountain, with a crackling raging lightning storm roaring around it, flame and snow and water and lightning and hail.

Their appearance: A bright figure composed of the elements, wielding a spear of lightning, and constantly shifting and changing.

Character basis or mannerisms: Unbridled rage, barely tempered anger, like a berserker with little time to spare. The way to escape his wrath is by facing it without fear, and earning his respect.

The Laughing Stranger, Trickery
''Power must be mocked, relentlessly, to remind it of where it could be. Disorder and chaos are natural counterweights to tyrannical order and obsessive control. Schadenfreude, chaos, trickery and humour.''

Gender: Male

Symbol: A hooded man, smiling.

Beliefs in a nutshell: Nobody is beyond mockery. Chaos is an equalising force that must be allowed to flourish in order to counter over-zealous Order. Humour brings the lord down to the peasants level.

Other domains: Chaos, Darkness, Loss, Sorrow, Disobedience

Follower's habits and duties: Mock those in power, encourage disobedience when it is necessary, question those in power and bring them to task. Clerics of the Laughing Stranger are sought after by leaders for their capacity to put themselves above contempt and give honest advice, since people already consider them fools and jesters.

Praying to them: Typically one must recount a tale of mockery or schadenfreude, and hold it in their head when trying to get the attention of the Laughing Stranger.

Their Elysium: Typically a tavern, though sometimes a circus tent or festival. The Laughing Stranger is never an individual in the elysium, they are actually every single person there, symbolising the shared experience of anticipation we all feel waiting for something to go wrong.

Their appearance: Could be anybody, anywhere, at any time. If required, typically a jester with a cloak or mask.

Character basis or mannerisms: Aubrey Plaza, a bored and anti-establishment rebel for the sake of rebellion, self aware and self deprecating whilst also being smug as fuck.

The Champion, War
''Those who are unwilling to use violence will always be ruled by those who are. If you seek peace, prepare for war, and keep sharp your sword and honed your skills.''

Gender: Male

Symbol: Sword and shield

Beliefs in a nutshell: Keep your body strong and fit, your weapons well maintained, and be ready to fight for your life and those weaker than you at any time.

Other domains: Justice, Honour, Physicality, Discipline, The Forge, Protection and Courage

Follower's habits and duties: Usually to train local militias, to craft weapons of war and to encourage preparation for unforeseen disasters and conflicts.

Praying to them: The Champion most appreciates a fair fight fought for good reason. To get close to him, lose yourself in training with a companion or crafting a reliable weapon, and you will break down the barrier to speak with him.

Their Elysium: A fortress bridge with a single guard, or a gladiator arena of sand and steel. Sometimes, a roaring forge or a frozen battle.

Their appearance: Always helmed and armoured, armed too, but varies depending on the nature of the communication.

Character basis or mannerisms: A loud, cheerfully violent man who relishes battle. Think of barbarians, knights, every soldier who ever existed condensed into one, with the honour and weight of the severity of uncountable casualties and wars. Has the gravitas of any great speaker matched with the tempered calm of a warrior.

The Open Door, Death
''All things must end, sooner or later. They are the ones who lead funeral processions and burial rites, and are the first to take up arms if the dead rise through magical means – and in the rare event that the dead need to be communed with.''

Gender: Feminine

Symbol: A shaded in doorframe. Particularly gifted artists create the impression of a beckoning hand within the dark.

Beliefs in a nutshell: That everything has its natural end, that death is a great and final equaliser of people, and that without death life would have no meaning. What lies beyond the door is not for the living to see or know; that way lies madness.

Other domains: Madness, Change, Endings, Doctors/Medicine, Afterlife, Fate, Entropy

Follower's habits and duties: Funeral processions, burial and maintenance of graves, hunting and destroying undead, aiding the passing of the old/sick, preventing the passing of those not yet ready.

Praying to them: To speak with the Maiden of the Open Door, one must skirt death – to have a near death experience is for her to have a near-you experience, after all. Suffocation, drowning, bleeding and magical means have all been used to bring one close enough to speak through the door without passing through it.

Their Elysium: Wherever the visitor currently stands, with an unassuming doorway before them. Beyond lies the elysium itself. The vision depends much on the person but some things are consistent: A white desert under moonlight while a black sun shines, like a photo negative. There are bells, always bells, and the faint distant outline of a woman in black, pale and beautiful. Stepping through the door is unreversable death – it separates the soul from the body – so one must remain firmly on their side.

Their appearance: A thin, pale woman with dark hair and black gems for eyes.

Character basis or mannerisms: Kind, gentle, caring, what one would expect of a nurse in palliative care; but when pushed, a cold and severe woman well aware of the finality of all existence. Nihilistic but kind despite it all.

The Mind’s Eye, Knowledge
Some knowledge must be kept for our own safety, and some knowledge must be allowed to spread for our own prosperity – the trick, they teach us, is in knowing how to tell the difference.

Gender: Ambiguous

Symbol: Human face with a third eye on its forehead.

Beliefs in a nutshell: Knowledge is neutral, but mortals may use it for great good or great evil. Therefore secrets must be kept, and in some cases, destroyed. Other secrets must be spread and blown wide open. The most important part is knowing which is which.

Other domains: Spying, Lies, Exploration and Discovery, Science, History, Divination, Secrets and Memory.

Follower's habits and duties: Keepers of Lore, spies and investigators, researchers; those who follow the Mind's Eye might travel for weeks to secluded mountain canyons simply to drop a scroll down into the darkness for a worshipper, or spend years pretending to be somebody else to learn the true name of an enemy.

Praying to them: Typically one can only come close to the Mind's Eye by seclusion, meditation and the discovery or destruction of a secret; failing that, one can sacrifice a memory to its eternal libraries in return for attention.

Their Elysium: an eternal library, filled with tomes and books of every secret every known. The rooms are hexagonal with six doors, and much like a hexadecimal theoretical library containing every piece of text possible, the library also contains every single thing that could ever potentially happen, have happened, or be happening, if one could only navigate the rooms; none of which have roofs, but mile high sheer walls with stars above them, every inch of the walls a bookcase. The Mind's Eye itself is always watching from above.

Their appearance: an abstracted eye, a cloud of mist, a sheath of darkness; the Mind's Eye never appears in humanoid form and if it does, would we know that it was a god? Secrecy is in everything it does, including its appearance.

Character basis or mannerisms: Quiet, rarely talks and when it does, it's in a whisper of twenty voices. Often messes with your memory when one talks to it for lengths of time.

The Light Within, Light
''One of the most popular aspects of the All-Faith, teaching us about the need for purification and rebirth. Its Priests are big on rituals to symbolise renewal and the integration of old darkness with oneself.''

Gender: Feminine

Symbol: Sun held in a clenched hand.

Beliefs in a nutshell: They teach that redemption is attainable for all if they only seek it, that forgiveness holds more power than anger, and that no matter how dark the night, dawn is always coming. To seek redemption is to deserve it. Darkness of the soul cannot be driven out without light. There is a fragment of the divine within all of us, and therefore cruelty and suffering are never justified in their dispensation. Everybody can be saved.

Other domains: Purification, Redemption, Justice, Belief, Sacrifice, Willpower and the Spirit.

Follower's habits and duties: To do good deeds, basically. Help others, believe in oneself and help others to do the same. Purification of the soul is also one of their responsibilities: confessions, ritualised purging of evil, usually with lots of water and candles and all-night rituals with daylight ending them.

Praying to them: By far the easiest to get in contact with but perhaps one of the most cryptic of the Gods, praying to the Light Within requires introspection and meditation alone. There is a spark of the divine in us all, therefore the Light speaks to us from within.

Their Elysium: Pure and dazzling light, like being inside the sun. If one truly visits the elysium of The Light Within, they will be blinded and awestruck by the spirituality of their experience. Forgiveness, love and purity will wash whatever was inside them away, and leave them filled with an unshakeable sense of self-belief.

Their appearance: A humanoid made of light, said by those who have returned from her elysium without being blinded to resemble a blonde woman with wings, like a true angel.

Character basis or mannerisms: Warm and forgiving, knows what people are thinking and what they are afraid of and is constantly reassuring people that everything will be okay.

The Craftsman, Forge
Followed by workers, builders, creators and artists of all description, The Craftsman teaches that potential is the greatest force in the universe.

Gender: Masculine

Symbol: Forge/Hammer

Beliefs in a nutshell: Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both marble and sculptor. To improve yourself every day is the most noble act – and to carry that skill into the creation of fine works is to share it with others. To build something or create something is to take the chaotic mess that abounds and, through sheer force of spiritual will, forge it into something new, something better. The same can be done with people, and therefore the act of forging or creating anything is a truly holy act.

Other domains: Golems, Metal, Invention, Inspiration, Art

Follower's habits and duties: Ritualistic creation of useful items, often as craftsmen or artists of any kind. Deeper yet, is their regular prayer to uncover weakness and ascertain methods for building strength in both themselves and their fellows. Do not make the world safe, after all, if you can instead make the people strong.

Praying to them: The simplest way is to lose yourself in the complex creation of something useful, or something beautiful.

Their Elysium: The sweltering forge in the heart of a star, where a giant smashes a hammer made of perfect darkness onto an anvil. Some say that the sparks coming off of the anvil are souls, or universes. Nobody knows what he is forging – the future, perhaps. Or truths.

Their appearance: A giant, of incredible build and red-faced with effort, always at the forge.

Character basis or mannerisms: Almost always caught up in his work, the Craftsman can spare little attention for even his most powerful Clerics. His will must be inferred from what he builds, what he makes, and the inspiration with which he strikes his faithful.