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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > The Deities of Gladius, part 1

The Deities of Gladius, part 1

Out of the Box, D&D Encounters, Series 2, #17 - "The Ante"
The Deities of Gladius, part 2
deities, d&d, domains

The gods of the Greek Olympus

When I was writing my article about using Unearthed Arcana for world building, I ended up going through all of the UA articles.  In light of my article, especially in anticipation of at least some of their inclusion in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, I started thinking about the UA cleric domains for my world.  In two previous articles, I had shared my pantheon, but I wasn’t ever completely satisfied with it.  I didn’t consider using the UA domains, largely because I’m not really a fan of including Unearthed Arcana as a whole.

However, in light of the new context of world building, regardless of their inclusion in Xanathar’s (which I would’ve added new gods to this list of deities to match the new domains, anyway), I decided to go ahead and use all three domains to correct what I think was wrong with my pantheon until then.  It took some work, and I shifted some or my original deities around (Kur even became a different god), but I’m very proud of the work I’ve done.

I feel like I’ve struck a real balance with it.  With the now twelve domains (Life, Knowledge, Light, Nature, Tempest, Trickery, War, Arcana, Death, Grave, Forge, and Protection), and the fact that I like to have two deities per domain, that gave me a total of twenty-four deities to play with.  That was surprisingly enough to find a good balance.  I was able to create a solid distribution of alignments, and I was able to create an equal number of male and female deities, including two genderless gods.  With this updated list, I feel like there’s a good chance most characters will be able to find a deity to follow, and the clerics will have something to follow that feels like it fits their domain.

Now that I’ve finally finished it, and I’m finally (currently) satisfied with my pantheon, I wanted to share it with everyone.  I’m sure there are plenty of DMs out there that aren’t really satisfied with any current offerings, but they just don’t have the time to build their own, so I want to share a little bit of mine.  I haven’t completed a full breakdown of my deities, but I’m sharing the full list, as well as a brief description for each of them, as a kind of primer.  When I’m able to get to the full design of all of my deities, I’ll find a way of sharing it.

Please note that these deities are geared towards my world (which I’m calling Gladius, at least for now).  Some things may need to be changed to fit into your world, but I think that they’re not too different than what’s already out there.  Also, the icons are not the final forms.  Most of it is clipart that I have in place that’s for inspiration for when I’m able to include real art.

The Pantheon of Gladius

deities, d&d, domains

Anezti, Queen of the Ravens

When the gods and goddesses started to come into being, they didn’t know each other in the beginning.  There was no such thing as time, or at least not in the way that we know of it today, so there was nothing else to compare the measurement of time to, so no one knows the order they came to be, but many of them believe that Anezti was the first.  Of them all, she is the one with the least form, who seems to move about like shaped smoke, shifting in and out of structure at will.

While it’s believed that ravens carry the souls of the newly born and recently dead, and thus they are all treated with respect by most civilized people of the prime material plane, that is in reality a myth.  Anezti favors ravens, it’s true, and they tend to congregate near her when she’s around, but she doesn’t burden them with the responsibility.

 

Anezti has domain over the path of life and death, and cares for the natural life cycle of all living beings that have a soul.  What most people don’t know is that time is a construct that exists only because it’s the byproduct of the natural transitions of life and death, including the natural life and death cycles of every part of the body, including individual cellular birth, growth, and death.  As a result, Anezti also cares for the natural flow of time, and abhors anything that disrupts or reverses the natural life cycles.

Aotahi, the Morning Star

Not all deities came to be before the birth of the planes of existence.  Some came to be after, and some came to be as each plane was formed.  Aotahi was one of those.  As the lights of the celestial plane dimmed from the blinding light of creation, one source shone brighter.  Aotahi emerged, one of the first two Solars.  The other was Astarte.

Astarte and Aotahi fell in love in an instant.  If they didn’t know any better, they would’ve said they were made for each other.  But they weren’t created.  They were birthed by the universe.  Fully formed, pure and whole.  Two of the most beautiful creatures to have ever existed.

Discovering that he had powerful divine magic, Aotahi built the celestial kingdom that resides on the celestial plane, where the angels and other celestial beings live.  Later, when the prime material plane was formed, he spread his divine light throughout the cosmos, creating every star in the universe.  He rules over all of the heavens and the celestial bodies.

Asmodeus, the Lord of the Nine Hells

deities, d&d, domainsFrom the moment that Asmodeus came to be, before the planes of existence, Asmodeus had only one desire.  He wanted to rule.  There was nothing to rule that he knew of, nor did he fully grasp what that meant.  He only knew that he must have power.  Power over everything.

Because time didn’t exist the way that we understand it now, there’s no way to convey how he did it, but Asmodeus’ need to conquer was so great that he searched for something else.  Anything else.  Being that time and space are intrinsically connected, and being that time didn’t exist the way we understand it now, neither did the concept of space.

Everything was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, but that was also the only thing that Asmodeus knew.  So, in a way that cannot be explained to you or I, he searched for something else to conquer.  The first he found was Anezti, but you can’t conquer death, so he moved on.  He continued his search, finding new deities along the way, none of whom he could conquer.

Finally, when Kur created the Shadow Realm, which caused the creation of the celestial plane, Asmodeus knew what he needed to do.  He took his considerable power with his hellish magics, and created the Nine Hells, for him to rule over.  When Belobog created life, he knew he needed to do that, too, and devils, demons, and fiends were born then.

Astarte, the Evening Star

Not all deities came to be before the birth of the planes of existence.  Some came to be after, and some came to be as each plane was formed.  Astarte was one of those.  As the lights of the celestial plane dimmed from the blinding light of creation, one source shone brighter.  Astarte emerged, one of the first two Solars.  The other was Aotahi.

Astarte and Aotahi fell in love in an instant.  If they didn’t know any better, they would’ve said they were made for each other.  But they weren’t created.  They were birthed by the universe.  Fully formed, pure and whole.  Two of the most beautiful creatures to have ever existed.

Astarte was strong and powerful.  She desired conflict, but in the beginning, she only knew of Aotahi.  There was no one to fight.  Even when the deities first discovered each other, there was no conflict to be had.  It wasn’t until after the Planar Wars, after the creation of the prime material plane, that she realized her purpose.  She was the goddess of war.  Her mighty blade, Gladius, forged by Sethlans himself, sung a harmonious chord as it sliced through the air, cleaving mighty ancient dragons in twain with seamless precision.

But, it was also Gladius that split the Great Continent in half, forging the Bladed Mountains and Scarred River, finally ending the Planar Wars.  The Forces of Darkness in the West, and the Armies of Light in the East.

Belobog, the Lifegiver

Belobog and Chernobog came to be before the planes of existence.  They formed at the same time, twin brothers.  Born with magic so incredible that they had power over life and death itself.  Their opposing natural inclination made them rivals, but they never lost their brotherly bond.  There is conflict, and they oppose each other, but they still love each other.

Belobog’s strength with life magic was so strong that when the planes of existed began to form, he was able to create life itself.  He didn’t create all life.  Some were born from the other deities or created by them.  Asmodeus populated the Nine Hells, the angels are the legacy of Aotahi and Astarte, and the dragons are the progeny of Dacian and Kur.  Some creatures, such as the dragonborn, tieflings, and aasimar were evolved from the soldiers of the Planar Wars that settled the prime material plane.  But, much of life itself is owed to Belobog.

Benzeiten, the Lotus Queen

Benzeiten is known as the Lotus Queen because of her beauty and grace.  It’s said that she steps so softly that she doesn’t disturb the surface tension of the water when she walks on it, and her gentle smile is known to put even the most violent creatures at ease.  Some who have claimed to have seen her say that they hear a source-less song playing when she’s near.  Others claim that she appears to them to change their fortunes when they need it the most.

Not a lot is actually known about Benzeiten, because she doesn’t stay in one place for long, and she doesn’t choose very many clerics, but most stories are consistent.  Those lives she touches turns to worship her, and even some naturally evil creatures have been known to turn good after meeting her.  Some pray to her for good luck, especially when gambling, while others try to model themselves after her.

The Deities of Gladius

and their domains for D&D, part 1

Chernobog, the Necrotic

d&d, deities, domainsBelobog and Chernobog came to be before the planes of existence.  They formed at the same time, twin brothers.  Born with magic so incredible that they had power over life and death itself.  Their opposing natural inclination made them rivals, but they never lost their brotherly bond.  There is conflict, and they oppose each other, but they still love each other.

When Belobog was about creating life, Chernobog developed his magic powers.  While he became a master practitioner of the arcane, far stronger than any other except for Mazdayasna, he reveled in the manipulation of the necrotic.  He contorted the bodies of the living, and raised the dead.  His actions often caught the attention of Anezti, who would personally interfere, until after the Planar Wars, and the subsequent Treaty of Gladius.  He moved to the shadows, and she recruited champions to wage a holy war against his abominations, which he continued to develop and create.  Eventually he began passing his knowledge on to magic users who wished to learn his ways.

Dacian, the Guardian

Dacian is a platinum dragon who came to be before the planes of existence.  He’s an incredibly honorable creature, with a strong sense of justice.  He is the defender of the weak, and the protector of the good.

Before Kur revealed her true self, as the evil creature she is, she and Dacian bore many children.  Those were chromatic and metallic dragons.  At first, Dacian thought nothing of it.  Eventually, he started to become aware of how naturally cruel and selfish his chromatic children were, and was ashamed.  When he confronted Kur about their children, she attacked him.  The chromatic dragons turned on their brothers and sisters in that moment.

Dacian chased Kur away, but she ordered some of her chromatic children to stay behind to save her.  Without their mother to guide them, the battle was over quickly.  The chromatic dragons were too selfish to work effectively together, where Dacian’s metallic children were naturally inclined to form into units, and organized attacks.  Knowing that his chromatic children were not at fault, because they were poisoned by their mother’s evil, he set them free to return to her.

Druantia, the White Goddess

Not all deities tend to the needs of living creatures.  Druantia is one of those.  In the same way that Anzeti watches over the souls of the living, Druantia watches over nature.  She guides the natural life cycles of plant life, and she watches over the harvest.

While her primary domain isn’t over living creatures, early agrarian humans would also pray to her for fertility.  They started by praying for fertile harvests, which she would help when she could, but in time they started praying for her to help with the fertility of their livestock, and then of the women.  Druantia, feeling pity and love in her heart, did what she could for the humans, aiding them in their fertility, too.

In time, Druantia’s influence grew across the lands, and many farmers and ranchers pray to her across the world.  There are even some druids that worship her as a part of her role in the guidance and protection of nature.

Erebus, Bringer of Darkness

Erebus started out as one of the earlier deities, although he prefered to stay in the shadows.  He successfully hid himself from the others until the Planar Wars, when he couldn’t hide any longer.

Some believe that Erebus got the name Bringer of Darkness because he caused The Great Divergence, where the prime material plane was ripped into two planes of existence, creating the twilight plane, and taking a fourth of the world’s population into the eternally darkened plane of existence, where they evolved into the dark races that live there today.

That’s actually not the case.  He earned it because, as a deity, during the Planar Wars, he was easily the finest assassin in all of the planes of existence, and he was one of the most effective tools for the Forces of Darkness.  Erebus used shadowy tricks, poisons, and traps to annihilate his foes.  The Armies of Light had to be constantly vigilant in and around the dark, because he could strike at any moment.  That terror of the darkness still resonates in the hearts of all living creatures.

Fame, Hostess of the House of Legend

Legends never live up to the real thing, because real life is never anything like the stories you hear.

Some deities came to be long before they had a purpose.  Some deities found purpose right away.  Some deities came to be as a result of a collective need.  Fame didn’t come to be until long after the Planar Wars were over.  Not for many generations, when the inhabitants of Gladius began to forget.  That’s when the first whisper of Fame came to be.

At first, Fame lacked any real form.  Born with the knowledge of everything that came before, she literally whispered in the ears of the earliest bards, poets, and writers, feeding them the stories of long forgotten heroes and battles.  As those bards, poets, and writers twisted her stories for dramatic effect. Fame delighted in these exaggerations and began making some of her own.  Thus they fed each other until stories turned into myths, and myths into legends.

In time, Fame gained a very powerful form and crafted a realm for herself, and in that realm, she built an endless home that was the same size on the outside but grew to accommodate her guests, who are the souls of those that achieved mythical and legendary status.  Whose renown was so large that many doubted their existence in the first place, and assumed they were merely the subjects of pure fantasy.  By that time, Fame had begun to inspire those who would invent their legends, and it started to become difficult to dissect fact from fiction.

Fate, Keeper of the Fallen Heroes

Some deities manifest as the needs of planes of existence evolve.  Fate is one of those.  Chernobog’s manipulation of the dead predicated a need for a guardian of the afterlife, known as Elysium.  Thus, Fate came to be.

Unlike most of the rest of the deities, Fate is formally genderless.  While many refer to Fate as being female, sometimes even referring to it as, “a cruel mistress,” Fate is neither.  A lot of this stems from the fact that a lot of the myths surrounding Fate is largely dogmatic.  For an example, there are many believe that Elysium is reserved for heroes or those that died under honorable conditions.  This is far from the truth.  Elysium is the plane of existence where all of the dead souls are transported to by Anezti, regardless of deeds or alignment.

Eventually, some began to blame Fate for the circumstances of the deaths of their loved ones, which then evolved into Fate having some control over the circumstances of life itself.  No one knows exactly where, when, or why Fate was ascribed with the female gender, but most scholars agree that it happened during the less enlightened eras of Gladius’ history when race and gender were the basis of extreme discrimination.

These are just the first 12 of the 24 deities as well as the domains that could be used in your d&d campaign. For part 2 click here.

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Joshua Brickley

Despite looking so young, I'm in my mid-30s (36, to be exact). Up until I was 21, I focused a lot of my attention on stage acting, mostly local and school theater. At some point, I felt a need to change my life's direction, so I joined the Air Force. After 10 years, where I was an Intelligence Analyst and Mission Coordinator, I was medically retired. I went back to school and got my Bachelor's in English, focusing mostly on literary theory and rhetorical criticism, at the University of the Incarnate Word. In this next chapter of my life, I'm turning my attention towards tabletop RPGs.

1 Comment

  • longshotist
    September 18, 2017 at 3:19 am

    You can learn a lot about a setting through the pantheon. This is a fun part of world building. Lots of detail, lore and flavor here!

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