The Laurentian pantheon (pronounced lore-ENT-ee-an) is one of the major regional pantheons on Kishar. Most followers of the pantheon live in the the vast and cold northern landscape known as Laurentia, or else in one of the surrounding areas like Rothurland, Izgrev, or Koritan.
Overview
The gods of the Laurentian pantheon are largely dispassionate deities who rarely take notice of the mortal realm. Still, they are prayed to in hopes they might deign to distract themselves from their internecine struggles long enough to grant boons to their faithful. In the Laurentian conception of the divine, the gods are absorbed by feuds and conflicts between each other, wrapped up in complex webs of shifting alliances, loyalties, and rivalries. Followers of the Laurentian pantheon tend to heavily anthropomorphize the divine in their depictions.
To those that follow the Laurentian pantheon, worship of ancestors and ghosts is seen as equally important as the veneration of the gods, if not more so. Ancestor spirits have far more impact on the world and can be communed with regularly, and are therefore more reliable spiritual guides than deities. Still, the gods are worshiped regardless, as one would never wish to invoke their wrath if they happened to look down from the lands of the divine.
In the creation story of the Laurentian pantheon, the gods lived in a divine world, which was the only world at the time. They feasted and fought, forming alliances, relationships, and rivalries, then breaking them and starting them all over again. Eventually one amongst them, Ubilai, had enough of these endless pursuits. He sneaked away from the godly realm and set about making his own, to be populated by his loyal servants whose support he would use to take his rightful place over all the over deities, bringing them into line beneath him. When the other gods took notice at last, they flew into a rage and attacked Ubilai - all except his brother Skohsla stood against him. Ubilai was defeated, his attempt at creating a world of evil and order halted. But it had already begun, and the gods knew that if allowed to fester unaltered its denizens were bound to challenge them directly in the future. They took Ubilai's remains and used them to shape the world to their own aims instead. His flesh became the land, his blood the seas, and his bones the mountains. His influence scattered into dust, the new mortal realm was no longer as lawful and orderly as Ubilai had intended, but rather infinitely chaotic and full of unimagined opportunity.
Skohsla looked with anger at what was done to his brother and vowed revenge. Though Ubilai was not dead, he was reduced to a pale shadow of his former self, stripped of all structure and most of his power. The World-Encircler began his slow, grinding battle against the other gods, seeking to destroy the mortal world to free the remains of his sibling and grant him form once more. This battle continues to the present day, and believers in the Laurentian pantheon consider the defeat of the gods by Skohsla to be inevitable. At some point in the future, the World-Encircler will gain enough strength to finally push through the defenses of the other gods, who will by this point be once again too caught up in their own squabbles to notice.
Adherents of the Laurentian pantheon broadly eschew holy texts or organized clergy, preferring instead either local priests or more personal worship.
Deities
| Name | Alignment | Areas of Concern | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haihaz | LG | Rulership, diligence, history | Haihaz (pronounced HIGH-hahz) is a goddess of rulership, diligence, and history. She is the steward and record-keeper of the gods, the one that reminds them of their purpose and history when they begin to lose their focus. Though she is not a warrior in any way, she is seen as the foremost defender against Skohsla, as she is always watchful and ready to rally the other gods into action.
The goddess is a wise and benevolent figure, but she does not interfere in the mortal realm, as her attention is occupied with the divine world. Still, prayers and offerings to Haihaz are common out of respect. She is the patron of poets, scribes, and all others who ensure their history is remembered. Haihaz taught mortals how to write, her singular gift to the world, and steles, runestones, manuscripts, and other written works often bear messages dedicated to the goddess. Some mortal rulers see Haihaz as their patron, but this is not universal, as many instead choose to worship deities who are more aligned with their immediate goals over a deity that's aloof even by the standards of the Laurentian pantheon. Haihaz is nearly always depicted as an older woman in the garb of a chief or jarl. In most portrayals she has one eye, typically covered by an eye patch. In coastal areas of Rothurland, amongst communities that had historical contact with the cyclops of Hellea, Haihaz sometimes takes on a cyclopean appearance. |
| Taufran | NG | Protection, families, hospitality, children | Taufran (pronounced TAU-fron) is a goddess of protection, families, hospitality, and children. She is the hearth-tender of the gods, responsible for making sure their great feasts can continue unabated. Taufran and her followers are simultaneously tender and fearsome, willing to go to great lengths to defend those they care about.
The goddess is perhaps the most widely worshiped of the Laurentian pantheon. Small idols of Taufran are commonly kept in homes and tents, with offerings and prayers given frequently. Her priesthood are often rather militant, equally comfortable with martial matters as they are with the care of children. Taufran is usually depicted as a motherly figure with a sooty apron, dirtied from tending to the cooking fire. |
| Austron | CG | Travel, art, music, fire, ghosts | Austron (pronounced OW-stron) is a goddess of travel, art, music, fire, and ghosts. It is believed that she was the spark that created the first bonfire, bringing people together to share in the festivities that pass the cold nights. Through selectively weakening the barriers between the mortal and divine worlds, she also plays an important role in bringing ghosts back to the physical realm.
In some regions that follow the Laurentian pantheon, and in particular in the Whispering Hills, campfires commonly attract lost ghosts. These ghosts are believed by many to be servants of Austron that have come to hear news of faraway places and pass them along to their goddess. It is said that the goddess actually has a keen interest in the lives of mortals, but has been stopped by the other gods from visiting the world directly, as the last time she did so her actions threatened to allow Ubilai to regain his form. Austron is often depicted as half-spectral, her body losing opacity towards the extremities. |
| Saiwalo | N | Souls, the dead, stories, judgement | Saiwalo (pronounced sigh-WAH-loh) is a god of souls, the dead, stories, and judgement. The god is thought of as an almost jovial character. Rather than simply being judged upon death, when an individual dies their soul is given the opportunity to share stories of their life with the god, with the hopes of impressing them with tales of great deeds. If Saiwalo is entertained, then it is believed they will take particular favor on the soul and ensure they find their way to a destination of their choosing. All are given exactly one chance to meet Saiwalo - it is up to them to make the most of it.
Saiwalo's followers are a motley mix with varied interests in the god. Those who deal with the proper interment of the deceased solemnly follow Saiwalo, but so too do bards and skalds more concerned with merriment and entertainment. All, however, see the act of having an interesting life to be the greatest tenet of the god; a boring life is a wasted soul, so they say. This does not mean that only heroic adventurers are seen positively by Saiwalo, however. All challenges and opportunities can be interesting in their own ways, depending on how one approaches them. Saiwalo is most often depicted in an emaciated form, half-desiccated yet preserved by the cold winds. A very different depiction favored by some thinks of them instead as a ruddy-faced portly figure. |
| Vihansa | N | Healing, conflict, weapons | Vihansa (pronounced vee-HAN-sah) is a goddess of healing, conflict, and weapons. She is both the patron deity of those that tend to the physical and psychological ailments of others as well as the goddess that aids mortals in inflicting such injuries. All knives are guided by Vihansa, whether the blade is intended to heal or harm.
Vihansa's faithful can vary widely, from the fiercest and toughest warriors to those that tend to their communities without lifting a hand in violence. Her two distinct sides are not seen as oppositional, however, but rather as inseparable. Sometimes to heal one it is necessary to harm another, but application of both must be measured and careful. The priesthood of the goddess teaches patience, planning, and forethought over actions borne of instinct or emotion. Vihansa is usually depicted as a woman wearing a traditional healer's bone mask, armed with both an obsidian surgical blade and a spear. |
| Nemedaz | N | Nature, air, water, farming | Nemedaz (pronounced neh-meh-DAHZ) is a goddess of nature, air, water, and farming. While not evil, she is often seen in an antagonistic role. Nemedaz is the embodiment of the harsh landscapes in regions that follow the Laurentian pantheon, which forces those that live there to develop a mastery of the land. Such traits are believed to be favored by the goddess. She is also the patron of farmers and herders, who must understand the goddess and her domains well in order to thrive.
Though Nemedaz is considered to be concerned with the natural world in its entirety, the skies and seas are of particular interest to her. Thunder and lightning are reflections of Nemedaz's frustration and anger at the events of the divine world as the feuds of the gods endlessly continue, as are stormy and turbulent oceans. Seafarers commonly pray to Nemedaz for safe travel over the waters, often tossing talismans of the goddess overboard when the seas turn rough in order to appease her. Nemedaz is typically depicted as a large woman draped in thunderclouds. Her holy animals are orcas and moose. |
| Runo | CN | Trickery, hunting, raiding, lycanthropes, the moon | Runo (pronounced ROO-no) is a goddess of trickery, hunting, raiding, and the moon. She was the first lycanthrope who gave her blood to mortals so that they might hunt as she does. As the patron of hunters, raiders, and those who take from others what they need to survive, Runo is viewed as a goddess of necessity, who tolerates actions that may be evil when in service of keeping oneself alive.
It is said that Runo enjoyed her hunts in the divine realm to such a degree that she began to transform herself in order to fit her obsession. She took first the ferocity of a wolf, then its speed and its cunning, before finally adopting its physical features directly. In this manner she hunted the creatures of the gods' world for uncountable years, felling her prey as it reappeared each day. Eventually she took notice of the prayers of mortals, and saw hunters amongst them who acted in her name. She found the five fiercest of the hunters and stalked them as they tracked their quarry. The first two did not impress Runo, for they were unable to detect her, and therefore she tore into them. The next two spotted her as she moved, but were too aggressive in attacking the goddess, and lost. Finally, the fifth laid a trap cunning enough to catch Runo, and she was defeated. The goddess allowed her mortal form to be temporarily slain. As the hunter drank her blood she gave him her gift, and he became the first mortal lycanthrope. Runo is almost always depicted as a werewolf with red-tinted fur. She is far less commonly depicted in her humanoid form, a battle-scarred woman with red hair. |
| Skohsla | CE | Destruction, chaos, revenge, curses, linnorms | Skohsla (pronounced SKOH-slah) is a god of destruction, chaos, revenge, and curses. Known as the World-Encircler, Skohsla seeks to destroy the mortal realm in order to allow his brother Ubilai to regain his form.
Those driven by revenge often worship Skohsla, praying to the god for strength as they pursue those that have wronged them. His followers are rarely secretive, preferring instead to wield violence and fear against those that would stand in their way. Neither the god nor his followers are particularly subtle. Linnorms, the great creatures of the northern landscapes, are often associated with Skohsla. The god is the creator, or perhaps father, of the serpentine monsters, and many adherents of the Laurentian pantheon believe that linnorms continue to serve as Skohsla's underlings. It is said that he fashioned the first curses to give to the linnorms, such that they might take their vengeance on those that fight against them. Skohsla is commonly depicted in two ways. The first is as a massive linnorm that surrounds the world, slowly constricting it. The second is rather more anthropomorphized, a giant figure with serpentine features. |
| Ubilai | CE | Lost causes, ambition, undeath, caves | Ubilai (pronounced OOH-bih-lie) is a god of lost causes, undeath, caves, and the dangers that lurk out of sight. He was originally a very different god, one of structure and order, but these aspects were taken from him along with his body when he was defeated by the other deities of the pantheon. Today Ubilai is a relatively minor god with only a small following. Still, he remains theologically important for providing Skohsla the motivation to destroy the world.
When his body was stolen from him and torn apart, it is said that Ubilai was forced to seek another mode of existence, in doing so creating undeath. Many of his followers are necromancers or undead creatures. Amongst both his followers and those opposed to the deity, necromancy is thought to require Ubilai's direct involvement - the fact that it remains possible to raise the dead shows that the god's influence on the mortal world, while reduced, still remains. Ubilai is also closely connected to caves and the underground world. As his flesh became the soil, delving below ground makes one more susceptible to being swayed towards the god. Many geographical features in the Laurentian landscape are associated with Ubilai, from mountain ranges to lakes to the vast expanse of the northern tundra. Ubilai is usually depicted as a haggard, often greatly injured figure. Sometimes he is shown as skeletal or necrotic, his form barely holding together. |
Area of worship
The disparate peoples of Laurentia account for most of the followers of the pantheon, but they are not the only ones. To the west the inhabitants of Rothurland have long worshiped the same gods, albeit sometimes in slightly altered forms. Historically the Laurentian deities had followings in old Razgovir, but it has greatly declined there as the region has been reshaped over the last half millennia. Small numbers of adherents to the old gods still live in Koritan and Izgrev, with some very isolated groups continuing to worship the pantheon as far afield as the northern mountains of Talam Galta, but the pantheon has nowhere near the following in these areas that it once did.
Connections to other pantheons
The creation story of the Laurentian pantheon is quite unlike that of any of the other major pantheons, as is its near complete lack of lawful deities. Laurentian gods are seen as having very mortal strengths and failings in rather similar manners to Hellean ideas of the divine, but this is the only major connection between the two sets of beliefs.
In Rothurland, the Laurentian gods are often worshiped in forms that have been syncretized somewhat with their Hellean or Chaskan interpretations.