The Hellean pantheon (pronounced ha-LAY-an) is one of the major regional pantheons on Kishar. Most followers of the pantheon live on the Hellean peninsula on the northwestern coast of the Chaska Sea. Gods in the Hellean pantheon have strengths and failings just like any mortal, and are sometimes thought to take physical forms to walk the world with their followers. Despite its rather unique theology, thousands of years of close contact with the Chaskan pantheon has caused many who worship the Hellean pantheon to both meld their gods with their Chaskan forms and outright adopt Chaskan deities wholesale alongside the existing gods. Besides the more typical divinities, an ever-changing array of hero-gods is also an important part of the pantheon.
Overview
To those that follow the Hellean pantheon, gods are much alike any mortal, with their own strengths, weaknesses, and failings. Gods are not faultless, perfect entities, but rather fundamentally people, albeit with power and influence that could not possibly be matched. They are as fickle as anyone, prone to sudden passions, angers, and every other emotion experienced by those in the mortal realm. Worship often centers around attempting to placate and please these gods, in the hopes they will bestow their favor in some tangible way as well as to avoid inviting divine retribution. Many even believe the gods sometimes walk the mortal world themselves, disguised in order to either aid or test their followers.
In the creation story of the Hellean pantheon, Ananke was not only the first god but also the first of anything, who created herself from the nothingness of the void. Ananke then brought forth the world, then time as well. After an eon she gave birth to Typhon to help aid her in giving purpose to the world, but Typhon looked upon his mother's creation and had other ideas. Displeased with the primitive forms of mortals that had been brought forth, he sought to destroy them, to be replaced with creatures who would worship only him. To protect her works Ananke birthed six more gods, collectively called the Hexad, Hemera first and Psais last. Ananke set her new children to fight their uncontrollable sibling, promising them vast domains if they succeeded. Led by Hemera, the gods pursued Typhon as he rampaged through the world. After a great fight Typhon was defeated, yet the gods knew that he could only be contained, never killed, and so they imprisoned him under a great mountain that in his weakened form he could not lift. Returning to Ananke, they took their new roles in the cosmos, the same as they posses today.
The Hellean pantheon considers there to be three tiers of divinities. Ananke, as the creator, sits above all others, though she is quite remote as she rarely has interest in interacting with the world directly. Below her are the seven siblings, each of whom has broad domains and interests in the mortal realm. Last are the minor divinities, who can take many forms. Hero-gods, for example, fall into this category, as do powerful nature spirits and syncretized gods from other pantheons.
The traditional gods and theology of the Hellean pantheon are quite distinct from those of the Chaskan pantheon, worshiped in most of the areas surrounding Hellea. Still, millennia of close cultural ties have caused the two faiths to converge. Chaskan gods are often adopted by followers of the Hellean pantheon and worshiped alongside their existing deities - this is especially common for Chaskan gods for which there is no direct analogue in Hellean religion. This type of syncretism is very familiar to followers of the Hellean pantheon as they already regularly adopt new divine figures in the form of the hero-gods. Deities from elsewhere are seen in much the same way as the hero-gods, lesser divinities who can be worshiped as more narrowly-focused gods under the deities of the Hellean pantheon.
As a general rule, Hellean gods do not have structured mortal churches. Temples are broadly independent to pursue their own interpretations and worship of the gods without being beholden to mortal religious rule from afar. Some regional churches do exist, most notably in Kyamita, but these are the exception to the rule. Any codified means of worship would fundamentally undermine the pantheon's core belief that veneration is a very direct matter that involves personally entreating the divines for guidance or aid.
Temples are not the only sacred sites to the Hellean gods, as many locations across Hellea are thought to have close connections to the divines, often as a result of stories of their past direct involvement in the mortal world. The priests and priestesses that perform ceremonies, rituals, and sacrifices to the gods are not the only important figures in Hellean religious life, as oracles are often sought for guidance as well. While they might not have the ear of any god in particular, these oracles are thought to have close connections with the divines in general, and are therefore privy to information and wisdom that might otherwise be out of reach.
Deities
| Name | Alignment | Areas of Concern | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hemera | LG | The sun, seasons, agriculture, protection, duty, rulership | Hemera (pronounced heh-MER-ah) is a goddess of the sun, seasons, agriculture, protection, duty, and rulership. As the firstborn of the Hexad, Hemera also represents dawn and the beginning of things.
The goddess is the patron of many, including farmers, soldiers, and rulers. She favors all who dutifully perform their roles in life, everyone from those that make decisions from their thrones to those who toil to keep their communities fed. Hemera often walks the world to test her followers, crafting situations to test the wisdom and dedication of those who profess her faith. In the stories of the Hellean pantheon, Hemera is responsible for keeping Typhon trapped under his mountain prison. Over the course of every year he regains his strength, his rage causing his mountain to quake and erupt, until his efforts reach such a point that the Hexad cannot ignore him any longer. Each year Hemera dutifully returns to the mountain, stepping away from walking the mortal world in order to shore up the prison and weaken Typhon to once more delay his escape. In doing so her attentions shift, causing her other domains to weaken slightly. Her sun dulls and loses its heat, and life in the mortal world changes as the seasons turn. It may take months of distracted by Typhon, but Hemera always returns to her other concerns, walking the world as the winter warms to spring. Though the other gods often stray from their duties when Hemera is away, upon her arrival back they quickly resume their tasks, both inspired and cowed by the presence of their leader. Hemera depiction? |
| Khalkeus | NG | Family, community, civilization, art, invention | Khalkeus (pronounced CALL-key-us) |
| Triteia | CG | The sea, trade, travel, rivers | Triteia (pronounced try-TAY-ah) |
| Psais | LN | The dead, souls, learning, history | Psais (pronounced SIGH-ahs) is a god of the dead, souls, learning, and history. The last of the Hexad to be born, Psais is closely tied to dusk and to endings.
Stately and imposing, Psais is a god who performs their role amongst the divines with utmost solemnity. They are the Ferryman, the overseer of all psychopomps as they transport the souls of the dead to the afterlife. In regions following the Hellean pantheon, coins are often buried with the deceased, or placed in their mouth or over their eyes, to serve as payment for the psychopomps and, in turn, Psais. In fact, many coins minted in these regions bear the god's likeness, dedicated to them even in life. Psais is connected not only to those concerned with the dead but also with those that record the stories that would otherwise be taken to the grave. They are the patron of historians, chroniclers, and others who preserve their own experiences and those of others through writing. Psais themselves often converses with the souls they ferry after death, adding their own insights and experiences to the vastness of what the god already knows. Though most worship of the god takes takes the form of pensive prayer and rituals performed at their temples, schools often have small shrines to Psais in order for both the students and teachers to learn from the god directly. Psais depiction? |
| Ananke | N | Creation, nature, time, motherhood | Ananke (pronounced ah-NAN-key) is a goddess of creation, nature, time, and motherhood. As the first of the Hellean deities who created the world from nothingness, Ananke occupies a special place in the pantheon. Compared to her children, Ananke is an impassive deity who rarely becomes involved in the events of mortal life, preferring instead to leave such duties to the other gods. She is quick to come to the protection of the natural world, however, and any unnecessary harm to nature is seen as harm to the goddess herself.
Many devotees of Ananke are druids or others concerned with the natural world and its processes. Nearly all followers of the Hellean pantheon pay at least occasional homage to Ananke, worshipers of Typhon excepted. The goddess does not walk amongst mortals as do the other gods, though many believe she has little reason to as she is already literally the world itself. Ananke is a thoughtful and ponderous deity, traits that her priesthood impart to her followers. All actions should come only after careful deliberation, Ananke teaches, though she herself sometimes acts rashly in defense of nature. Unlike with other deities in the pantheon, temples to Ananke are usually located away from cities and other populated areas, found instead in the more wild and remote parts of Hellea. These temples and shrines are often not immediately recognizable as such, as they are frequently built to appear like natural extensions of the landscape. Rituals, sacrifices, and invocations to the goddess tend to be direct and without pomp or pageantry, as such needless formality is said to tire her. In the rare times she deigns to communicate with mortals, Ananke prefers to send omens that are inscrutable and vague. Ananke depiction? |
| Lycia | CN | The sky, storms, luck, the moon | Lycia (pronounced lie-SEE-ah) |
| Marsyas | LE | Punishment, spite, greed, war, revenge | Marsyas (pronounced mar-SIGH-ahs) |
| Typhon | CE | Volcanoes, caves, darkness, anger, rivalry | Typhon (pronounced TIE-fon) is a god of volcanoes, caves, darkness, anger, and rivalry. The first of Ananke's children, Typhon was defeated by the other gods and imprisoned under a great mountain after he attempted to destroy the earliest mortals.
Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are said to be caused by Typhon in his restless rage as he struggles against his prison. |
Area of worship
The Hellean pantheon is worshiped mostly by those that live on the Hellean peninsula and the surrounding islands, including within the nations of Halakros, Eretrebus, Iaramnae, Ephardia, Metrya, Kyamita, Alyma, Philiraki, and the Ersas City States. Past the Sentinel Peaks to the north, the inhabitants of Asteria, largely descended from settlers out of Hellea, also worship the pantheon. The gods of the pantheon also have followings in the western-most parts of Viridia and in some parts of the Western Coast.
Connections to other pantheons
Deities of other pantheons, particularly those of Chaskan or Khapeshan origin, are often worshiped alongside traditional Hellean gods. Though this long-standing syncretic practice continues, in parts of Hellea aspects of the Hellean pantheon have been losing ground to Chaskan influence, especially along the southern and eastern coasts. Some have begun to move their gods in the opposite direction, in fact, shifting Hellean divinities into the theology and framework of the Chaskan pantheon.