2010-06-08T02:53:34Z

Maelstrom:

[[Category:Setting]]
[[Category:Religion]]

<center> <font color="red"> '''To be finalized pending edits from Maelstrom.''' </font> </center>

= The Eidolons, and Pantheon of Gaea =
Twenty-one major gods exist amid Gaea, who are also known as The Eidolons, The Undying and The Powers.

{{TableMain}}
{{T01}}
| colspan="4" | '''Gods of Good'''
{{T02}}
| '''Deity'''
| '''AL'''
| '''Portfolio'''
| '''Domains'''

|-
| [[Althea]]
| NG
| Goddess of love, beauty, healing, and redemption
| Good, Healing, Protection, Community

|-
| [[Angoron]]
| CG
| God of strength, valor competition and freedom
| Good, Strength, Luck, Chaos, Liberation

|-
| [[Daeus]]
| LG
| God of lordship, justice, the sun, dragons, light
| Glory, Good, Law, Sun, Nobility

|-
| [[Eluna]]
| NG
| Goddess of magic, destiny, dreams and wisdom
| Knowledge, Magic, Good, Rune

|-
| [[Gilead]]
| NG
| God of nature, hunting, trade and the wild
| Animals, Community, Good, Plant

|-
| [[Serriel]]
| LG
| Goddess of truth, justice, honor and family
| Good, Law, War, Protection

|-
| [[Tarien]]
| CG
| God of luck, music, travelers, the stars
| Good, Chaos, Charm, Luck, Travel

{{T01}}
| colspan="4" | '''Gods of Neutrality'''

{{T02}}
| '''Deity'''
| '''AL'''
| '''Portfolio'''
| '''Domains'''

|-
| [[Ceinara]]
| CN
| Goddess of inspiration, art, passion, fire
| Charm, Luck, Fire, Chaos, Liberation

|-
| [[Dana]]
| TN
| Goddess of the living earth, animals, the natural world
| Air, Animal, Plant, Water, Weather

|-
| [[Kor]]
| CN
| God of war, weapons, and aggression
| Chaos, Glory, Strength, War, Destruction

|-
| [[Navos]]
| TN
| God of history, knowledge, self perfection
| Healing, Knowledge, Rune, Strength

|-
| [[Rada]]
| TN
| God of the sea, travel, trade, wealth
| Weather, Water, Nobility, Travel

|-
| [[Reos]]
| LN
| God of artifice, engineers, the forge, earth,
| Artifice, Earth, Law, Rune

|-
| [[Vardama]]
| LN
| Goddess of death, birth, law and prophecy
| Death, Healing, Knowledge, Repose, Law

{{T01}}
| colspan="4" | '''Gods of Evil'''

{{T02}}
| '''Deity'''
| '''AL'''
| '''Portfolio'''
| '''Domains'''

|-
| [[Caracoroth]]
| CE
| God of savages, monsters, nightmares,
| Evil, Chaos, Animals, Madness

|-
| [[Deimos]]
| NE
| God of trickery, secrets, crime and corruption
| Luck, Trickery, Evil, Charm

|-
| [[Gunahkar]]
| CE
| God of destruction, chaos, disaster, wrath
| Chaos, Destruction, Death, Weather, Evil

|-
| [[Illotha]]
| NE
| Goddess of murder, poison, envy, loss
| Evil, Death, Knowledge, Rune

|-
| [[Maugrim]]
| LE
| God of tyranny, slavery, pride, dragons
| Evil, Law, War, Strength, Destruction

|-
| [[Taara]]
| NE
| Goddess of cruelty, darkness, evil, lust
| Evil, Darkness, Magic, Destruction, Void

|-
| [[Thul]]
| NE
| God of death, undeath, gluttony, contracts
| Death, Evil, Strength, Trickery

|}

= Religion and Faith =
The world of Gaea is dominated religiously by a dualistic pantheon system known officially as the Holy Order of Ea. The teachings of this order were spread by the prophet Shadam in the aftermath following the end of the previous age and due to the similarities in the stories, legends and teachings of the religion and the myths and stories of many of the elder races it is largely believed to correctly reconcile the different cultural viewpoints and racial themes on the matter of the gods, heavens and their agents.

However the Holy Order of Ea is not the only religion in and of itself but it is the most influential. Animistic faiths such as The Green Word, dedicated to the earth goddess Dana, and the Ygdrassil Union which believes in the living power of the world itself, thrive in less developed areas where druidic powers and circles are able to grow un impeded by the teachings of the Holy Order of Ea. Similarly speaking, though a dualistic pantheon, the Order of Ea largely teaches in the principles of good and neutral aligned powers and sees darker gods in rebellion of the intended creative order. This causes the cults and faiths of the dark gods to largely operate as independent faiths and religions, separate from the Holy Order and often in opposition to it. If you add this in with smatterings of shamanistic faiths, ancestry worship some cultures revering some deities more than others, you end up with a world of few gods but many faiths.

== The Holy Order Of Ea ==
A dualistic pantheon, the Holy Order of Ea teaches of a war between two households of gods that both sprang up from the will of the creator God known as [[Elhim]]. The leaders of these two house holds once worked together as one group and were brothers known as the Twin Dragon Gods. Together and in concert this unified pantheon created the prehistoric world, struck down their rebellious first born children, the Scions (aka the Titans) and bound the Wyrms (Dragons) to allow lesser races to thrive. At some point, however, one of the two mightiest of the gods grew hungry for additional power and after receiving a prophecy from The Fates, attempted to turn it to his own will and so made war against his brother inciting a devastating civil war known simply as the War of the Gods.

This war ended with the newly crowned gods of evil being either imprisoned or bound. The rest of the world reeled from the devastation caused by this, forcing a second or ‘new’ creation to have to take place to replace the chaos ridden old world. Despite their efforts the gods could not fully heal the world and remnants of the ancient conflict remain to this day creating a number of different phenomena that still saturates the world. In the aftermath of this new creation the remaining gods retreated to the heavens and retired to their holy city, which lay beyond the reach of all save a blessed few. The departure of the gods would bring about an end to the early prehistoric ages and usher in the rise of the mortal races as the dominant forces in the physical world.

The Holy Order of Ea is the official name given to the loose affiliation of temples, religions and denominations that promote the gods of light, and to a lesser extent the gods of neutrality, and decry the efforts of the gods of darkness, whom are seen as in rebellion to the plan of the Creator God Elhim and Elhim's appointed remaining god-king, Daeus. The influence of The Order is profound, creating a strong dualistic pantheon system that permeates much of western civilization and beyond. For the most part the Order is largely sybmolic, existing as a neutral go-between for affiliated temple orders and churches. Each individual deity maintains their own order and religious following but the Order of Ea seeks to reconcile the differences between like-minded faiths and to provide some unity for the common masses to look to. The de-facto leader is the Chosen Prophet of Daeus who also is the spiritual leader of the Church of Daeus. Despite this, he leads more as a spiritual guide and guardian rather then attempting to impose edicts upon other faiths though such a thing would be impossible anyway. The Order headquarters itself in The Holy See which is in the Myrrish nation of Ecclesia. Here, they shelter a number of temples, shrines, religious orders and teachings while also acting neutrally on matters of politics and national affairs and as mediators when conflicts between the various faiths arise.

== The Green Word ==
A primarily druidic faith dominant among races of the wild and less urban areas. The Green Word refers to the Voice of the World which is also known as the goddess Dana. Dana was once considered part of the pantheon of the Order of Ea but separated herself to attend to her first love which was the nurturing of the world itself which she saw as being hurt by the ongoing conflicts of light and dark. Sects of the god Gilead are also part of this loose affiliation of like minded priests, druids, rangers and more. The order is only loosely organized and split between both clerics and druids. Within the larger religion are a number of smaller sects and denominations that have different goals and agendas and at times they come into conflict with one another but it is taught that this is the way of the world. Prominent groups include The Ygdrassil Union, which teaches more harmony, and Circle of Thorns, which teaches more destructive hard stances against those who they deem unworthy of natures bounty.

== The Fates ==
Three goddesses who represent the past, present and future, they, as a rule, do not interfere with the doings of the world but simply observe, comment on and occasional offer guidance to mortals and gods alike. The Fates have no religion tied to them and have no mortal followers although some who wield magic consider themselves under their wing. It is believed that they represent aspects of Elhim Himself and others believe they are simply gods removed from The Order of Ea who did not come to the world in the beginning of the Great Making and instead remained apart from it all to observe history. Thus they are outside of history while the Order of Ea is bound to the world and history. The Fates are known of and often used in conversation as part of daily culture; ie “The Fates must be playing a cruel joke on me.” And so forth. Peoples actual belief in destiny, fate, pre-ordained events varies from culture to culture but as a mythical world, prophecy, destiny and the power of vow making and the spoken word is a tangible thing.

== The Covenant of Mana ==
Less a religion and more of a philosophy founded by the ascended deity known only as Animus of the Grey. Animus founded the principles that govern the power of Mana which is a phenomena that saturates the world and provides the source of arcane magic and the conduit by which divine magic can be transferred from divine sources to their followers. As a result, this philosophy is decidedly neutral in nature though good and evil alike adhere to its defining principles in regards to magic. To put it more simply, it is a philosophy many wizards and arcane users adhere to and swear by, without which the personal skill and attachment necessary to work arcane wizardry would be impossible. This does not make wizards priests of Animus but rather they function as extended hands of his where the larger scheme of things regarding the care taking of magic is concerned.

== Others ==
The above represent aspects of larger faiths and orders on Gaea but by no means represent them all. For example, though the gods of light loosely agree upon affiliation within The Order of Ea and accept veneration based on that philosphy, each one maintains individual churches and orders and some deities are known by countless names in other cultures far off. Daeus, arguably the most powerful god, is venerated as far north as the Ice Wall and in the deepest south where a simple lit candle and heartspoken prayer is enough and the grand sweeping cathederals of the west and unheard of. The gods of darkness, through both necessity and nature, maintain even more variance of faiths and cults. Neutral aligned deities which represent abstract forces such as war, the natural world, death and creativity, arguably have even more worshippers and are known by even more names. This also does not include groups such as nihilistic cults of The Void. These cults, dedicated to the hungering power of the emptiness that exists beyond the walls of the world know precious little about the ‘power’ they claim to dwell there and in some cases are merely being manipulated by members of the gods of darkness.