There are countless gods in Thule: protectors of cities, patrons of merchants, spirits of beasts and leaf, and dark things remembered only by a few savage tribes or vile cults. This is a superstitious age, and humankind is surrounded by mysterious powers. In such a world, people naturally seek to understand the forces around them by giving them names and seeking to win their favor or avert their displeasure. And because most individuals do not wish to offend any gods, even those they do not worship, strict monotheism is rare if not nonexistent; the people of Thule tend to be polytheistic or henotheistic. Whether the divine take note of such things or not, few indeed could say, for the gods of Thule can be mysterious and fickle.
The Seven
The Seven are a series of (usually seven) godly figures—drawn from ancient Atlantean and Lemurian mythologies—shared and worshiped by most city-dwellers and other civilized peoples. Some of these divinities may have been based on ascendant rulers from antediluvian history; the stories of their lives must remain shrouded in mystery, with truths preserved and twisted by their enduring cults. But in practice, the Seven are viewed as celestial beings beyond the tangible reach of most living mortals, excluding fateful times when they have reincarnated into mortal aspects or "demigods"—gifted individuals who are always destined for greatness.
Thule's civilized cultures often portray their greatest ancestors, rulers, and heroes as incarnations of the Seven. For instance, many Lemurians believe Kalayan the Conqueror was an incarnation of Nergal, a war god. Such beliefs can validate entire bloodlines for royal legitimacy; noble families can try to claim descendancy from a popular demigod as an excuse to take the throne of a city.
A description of each member of the Seven is provided below:
Asura
Goddess of Dawn, Messenger of the Gods, Flame of Atlantis
Symbol: A crown or tiara with rays of sunlight
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Dawn, fire, beginnings, inspiration
The goddess of dawn, Asura is said to begin each new day by kindling the Sun with divine fire. She is a figure of glory and hope, dispelling darkness and driving away evil things with her coming. Her holy texts teach that people are meant to live free of oppression and realize their potential, doing good works and aiding those less fortunate than they. She was once considered the special patron of Atlantis, and her radiant glory symbolized the progress and enlightenment of Atlantean civilization.
Temples of Asura commonly greet each sunrise with ringing gongs, and keep a sacred fire burning at the altar all year round. The cults of Asura lost great deals of wealth and influence when Atlantis was destroyed. But after centuries of decline, her faith is now gaining strength again as new cults pledged in her name champion the cause of Thule’s lower classes. The cultists of Asura oppose the worst excesses of the slave trade, calling for laws to ensure that slaves are treated well, and a few of the most radical even go so far as to call for the abolition of slavery altogether—a position that puts them at odds with the elites of most cities.
In the Vrilerinnen culture, Asura—instead of Kishar—is considered the mother of the gods and consort to Mithra; one of her incarnations was Katagia, consort of their maker, Vril, who founded the city named for herself and the Katagian Code. Her usual portfolio aside, the Vrilerinnen also consider Asura to be a goddess of executive justice and purification.
Ishtar
Goddess of Love, Luck, and War
Symbol: Eight-pointed star
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Portfolio: Love, beauty, art, fortune, passion
Ishtar is the goddess of love and beauty. She is legendary for fickleness and fits of jealous rage, but this same passionate nature also drives her to fight fearlessly to protect those she loves and boldly confront foes. Ishtar therefore possesses an important aspect as a goddess of war. While Nergal is the god of war-making and conquest and Tarhun is the god of battle, Ishtar represents war as the ultimate expression of unchecked emotion. Her dogma can be reduced to one simple idea: Live passionately, in all senses of the expression.
Ishtar is one of the most widely worshiped of the Seven, and her temples can be found in almost every city. Consequently, her cults tend to be rich, powerful, and influential. Many of the rites and festivals associated with Ishtar’s temples are sacred prostitution, grand feasts, and orgies of one kind or another, which goes a long way to explain Ishtar’s popularity with the masses. Cultists of Ishtar are also seekers of beauty, defenders of art, and protectors of their cities.
Kishar
Goddess of Grain, Mother of Rivers, Queen of the Gods
Symbol: A sheaf of grain
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Agriculture, the earth, rivers, motherhood
Goddess of agriculture and growing things, Kishar is the consort of Mithra and the mother figure among the Seven. She is the mother of Tarhun, and held in some reverence by followers of that faith as well as her own. Kishar teaches that all things come in their own season, and that people should give thanks for the bounty of the earth.
Few temples are dedicated specifically to Kishar. She is more commonly worshiped in conjunction with Mithra, and in many places the highest-ranking priestess in a temple of Mithra also serves as the city’s high priestess of Kishar. Kishar’s cults observe the seasons of the year, declaring the times for planting and harvest and seeking Kishar’s blessings of rain and sunshine in good measure.
In the Vrilerinnen culture, Kishar is given her own temples; moreover, she is not considered a motherly figure and is unrelated to Tarhun. The Katagians believe her incarnation was Seraykia, the daughter of their maker, Vril, and his lover-consort, Katagia; both god-incarnates in their own right.
Mithra
God of the Sun, Lord of the Sky, King of the Gods
Symbol: A sunburst and eagle (or black ram)
Alignment: Lawful Good
Portfolio: Sun, justice, sky, rulership, and dominion
The ruler of the Seven, Mithra is the god of the Sun and sky. Kishar is his consort, and headstrong Tarhun is his son. He is a just and benevolent king, ordering all things so that his followers can enjoy justice and prosperity in their lives. Mithra is also a stern and vigilant judge who checks the wicked ambitions of gods such as Nergal and Tiamat, ensuring that they fulfill their role in the scheme of things without exceeding their lawful authority. He teaches that order and justice are the instruments by which the most good can be done for the most people.
Mithra’s temples are often the grandest and most powerful in a city, and his cults are wealthy and influential. They are usually strongly aligned with the city’s monarch, and the support of Mithra’s cults is often one of the chief pillars on which a city’s monarch bases their rule. Few rulers can keep their thrones for long if Mithra’s cultists determine that Mithra no longer blesses the monarch’s reign.
In the Vrilerinnen culture, Mithra's consort is Asura, not Kishar. They believe their maker, Vril—the "last prince of Atlantis"—was an incarnation of Mithra. As such, their symbol for the King of Gods is a black ram and not an eagle. The Vrilerinnen also expand Mithra's portfolio to include creation and artistry, and downplay his legal influence in favor of Asura's executive authority.
Ever since the Lemurian Schism began in 960 PD, the cults of Mithra were exiled from Lomar and Quodeth. As neither city-state has a true monarch, nor has any intention of crowning such until one has conquered the other (which would restore the empire of Kalayan the Conqueror), they have no need for a cult whose purpose is to appoint rulers. Mithra is still widely known and worshiped by the Lemurians, especially those who herald the reunion of their former empire. But until the Schism ends, the war gods Nergal, Tarhun, and Ishtar have effectively taken Mithra's place in the chain of divine rule.
Nergal
God of the Underworld, Lord of War, King of the Dead
Symbol: A black lion with a mane of flame
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Portfolio: War, death, avarice, the underworld
A grim and implacable figure, Nergal is the god of the underworld, war, and death. He represents war as the drive for power, dominion, and triumph, the desire to subjugate enemies and claim what is theirs. Nergal is also the stern and final judge of the dead, sentencing souls deserving of punishment to ages of penance in his hell of black flames. Nergal’s philosophy teaches that the strong rule over the weak, and people are meant to seize the things they want in life—a creed that often casts the lord of the underworld as a sullen and resentful being who believes Mithra’s place as the ruler of the pantheon belongs to him.
While Nergal is a dark and demanding deity, his temples are found in many cities and are firmly established in Thule’s civic life. War comes to all lands sooner or later, and warriors seek Nergal’s favor in the struggles they face. His cults urge a strong hand in dealing with the wretched masses and rival cities, and they also sponsor spectacular (and bloody) games to celebrate the anniversaries of triumphs and conquests from past wars.
Tarhun
God of Storms, Lord of Battle
Symbol: A three-forked lightning bolt
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Portfolio: Storms, sky, battle
Brash and headstrong, Tarhun is a god who confronts his foes and tries his strength against them without hesitation. The son of Mithra and Kishar, Tarhun is a warrior-hero, a figure who battles scores of dreadful monsters in various myths and tales. He celebrates battle as the true test of adulthood, the strife in which a warrior can show their true merit, and teaches that people with courage and honor can make the world a better place by challenging wickedness and crushing it underfoot.
Tarhun’s temples are common in the more martial cities of Thule, especially Lomar and Nim. He is increasingly seen as a god of strength and valor, a war deity who rewards courage (unlike Nergal, who rewards only triumph). Many warriors take Tarhun as their patron and seek his favor before battle.
Tarhun’s cults frequently sponsor athletic games, tournaments, and gladiatorial contests to celebrate the virtues of physical hardiness and valor.
Tiamat
Mother of Dragons, Goddess of the Sea, Queen of Chaos
Symbol: A dragon skull with five horns
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Chaos, destruction, monsters, vengeance, the seas
Goddess of the sea, Tiamat is a capricious and wrathful deity who supposedly caused the Great Flood disaster, as well as gave birth to many of the more terrible monsters plaguing the world today. Long ago, she warred against the other gods and was subdued only with the greatest of difficulty, and she still hates all the others to this day. Tiamat teaches that the world is without order, and that those who serve chaos and beseech her favor will be rewarded with power and riches.
While temples dedicated to Nethys and Nergal can be found in many Thulean cities, Tiamat’s worship is not quite as common. At best, those who have to hazard life and livelihood on the high seas—fishermen, sailors, and merchants—are careful to pay their respects to the dragon goddess, hoping to avert her wrath with suitable offerings. People who feel they have been wronged also have been known to seek out Tiamat’s shrines and pray for disaster to befall their enemies. Tiamat’s cults often seek out monsters wherever they lurk, providing them with treasures and sacrifices to honor the “children of the Queen.”
The Nature Spirits
Roughly categorizing them as "the Beastlords, Land-spirits, and Weather-spirits", the Thulean tribes acknowledge the existences of a myriad of nature deities. Unlike other gods, nature spirits dwell on Earth in
physical forms. Some can even be hunted and slain by daring heroes or villains (though
the spirit will move on to another host; these deities never truly
die). Those who worship the nature spirits are not priests or templars. They are shamans or totem warriors of one kind or another. Their magic is derived from nature, not the power of faith or the divine intercession of distant gods. In fact, tribal people are mystified by the rites and doctrines of the city gods; to the typical barbarian, gods don’t want anything from humankind—they just are. Honoring the natural spirits is simply good sense, since angering the spirit of the deer by failing to express gratitude for a successful hunt might lead the spirit to keep game away from the hunter in the future, while angering the spirit of the mammoth is a good way to get oneself killed.
Although they are minor in power and breadth compared to the lofty gods worshiped by civilized folk, these primeval entities hold a much older and grounded influence over Thule. In fact, in-the-flesh encounters with Beastlords and such are not so uncommon that even the city-dwellers are quick to acknowledge their existence and true might. However, city cultures have long portrayed them as savage demons to loathe and slay, rather than benign deities worth submitting to.
There is also a frequent misconception among city-dwellers that the beastmen are in league with the Beastlords and/or were created by them as militant servants; truth be told, the beastmen were degenerates cursed by the Beastlords for defying their age-old pacts (trespassing sacred lands, hunting or gathering more than one needs, failing to thank a hunted animal before harvesting it, etc). Some beastmen do indeed serve the Beastlords, as part of some ancient blood oath or path to redemption; still, most are beyond saving, serving only to haunt and remind tribespeople of what the price and station of humankind is—that is, no better than beast-kind.
Civilized travelers are sometimes inclined to treat shamans and their spirits with skepticism—after all, they have their own explanations for the mysteries of nature and do not look at the world in the same way more primitive peoples do. But there is no doubt that shamans and other practitioners of primal magic deal with powers every bit as real and capable as the mystic forces harnessed by a mage's spells or a cultist's blessings. It seems that for the wilderness tribes, believing is seeing. They perceive a world where every animal, every tree, every rock, and every stream possesses its own living spirit, and for them, it is so.
The nature spirits of Thule are countless, and many are unknown and unrecognizable to those who live outside their territorial bounds. But there are some deities that are more widely known, and therefore are worthy of a description provided below:
Hamah
Lord of Apes
Symbol: Broken bones
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Beasts, savagery, rage, destruction
An old and brutal Beastlord, Hamah represents the violence and bloodthirstiness that lurks inside the human heart. He was one of the first gods of humankind, a suitable deity for naked savages who were barely more advanced than apes themselves. Hamah teaches that humans are no more than beasts that can think, and that the true man is one who rids himself of his delusions and false morals, giving himself over to the beast that lurks within.
Few civilized folk still worship Hamah. His message of primitive rage and brutal impulse repels the more advanced cultures of Thule, and his temples sit forgotten (or shunned) in the older quarters of Thule’s ancient cities. But here and there Hamah’s crude altars stand in the wild places of the world—in jungle clearings or on windswept hilltops—stained with the blood or bones of the sacrifices the Lord of Apes demands from his worshipers. His worshipers include the most savage warriors, murderers, and lycanthropes.
Nethys
Lord of Blight and Curses
Symbol: Yellow mold (Ophiocordyceps fungus)
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Portfolio: Curses, blights, insects, slaves
Nethys is ancient beyond measure. According to some stories, this cruel nature spirit actually arose to deification during the long ages when ancient Myrmidon hives ruled over Thule and was first worshiped as a goddess by that wicked invertebrate race. Unlike other spirits, she is loathed even by barbarian tribes and their shamans for her deviant obsession with civilization and bondage. She has been portrayed among the Seven as the eternal enemy of Mithra, and a bitter rival to Nergal and Tiamat. Nethys teaches that free will is illusion, and that the only path to understanding is to surrender oneself to her in body, soul, and mind.
While the worship of Nethys is unwelcome in many cities, none can deny the power and influence of her temples. As much as the cults of Mithra and Asura rail against the sinister machinations of Nethys' cults, few would dare to move openly to ban Nethys’ worship or desecrate her altars. Over the years, zealous crusaders have tried to do just that in cities such as Quodeth, but sudden mysterious deaths and various other disasters invariably ensue, bringing these ill-considered campaigns to an end. Nethys' worshipers consist largely of the downtrodden and the defeated, people who think so little of themselves that they surrender their all to her in the hope that she will reward faithful devotion with the comforts and power that have eluded them. Many other people simply hope to propitiate the Lord of Blight and avert the curses, misfortunes, and catastrophes at her command.
Kang
Lord of Mountains, The Sacred Mountain
Symbol: A mountain (himself)
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Mountains, strength, endurance, immortality
Many of the great nature spirits in Thule are none other than eminent bodies of nature, such as rivers, lakes, and mountains. Kang, who is one such deity, is an actual mountain; the largest and highest range in all of Thule, his apex peak is visible from as far as Droum and the steppes of Nythar. One of the oldest gods in Thule, Kang was the first Land-spirit to greet the Thulean peoples when they first emigrated to the island continent from the North during the end of the last age. Towering above all, he is an everlasting symbol of might and constitution. His great spine holds back the boreal winds and the Pale Death from collapsing upon the rest of the continent.
Since the founding of Rime before the days of Kalayan the Conqueror, Kang has hosted mother-lodes for all manner of precious ores mined and traded across the Lemurian city-states and beyond. Even the civilized folk acknowledge his sacred nature, since he "blesses" them with so many important resources: copper, tin, coal, iron, salt, lead, marble, limestone, sandstone, gold, and silver.
The barbarian tribes of the Lands of Long Shadow shame the mining of Kang as desecration, weakening his integrity and poisoning rivers sourced from his runoffs. Moreover, the mines are not the only caves beneath him; there are older spaces within the mountain that shamans warn should not be disturbed. Tremors, cave-ins, and strange echoes are just the tip of the horrors that miners face in the bowels of the mountain god.
The Pale Death
The Pale Death
Symbol: None
Alignment: None
Portfolio: Apocalypse
With the source of its winter-sorcery and necromancy unknown... it returns.
The Other Gods
Long before the gods of Lemuria and Atlantis or even the myriad spirits of the natural world came into existence and assumed their places, primordial powers—evil, ancient, inhuman, chaotic—came to the young planet and established their alien dominion over land, sky, and sea. Only the most fearless (or foolhardy) of sages study these creatures, but from these scholars a few terrible names are known. These Great Old Ones include:
Cthulhu. The Caller in the Deep.
Dhuoth. The Giver of Eyes.
Hastur. The King in Yellow.
Ithaqua. The Wind-Walker.
Lorthnu'un. Lord of the Golden Chalice.
Nyarlathotep. The Crawling Chaos.
Tsathoggua. The Sleeping God.
Yga-Ygo. The Dweller in the Dreams.
Yog-Sothoth. The Key and the Gate.
Driven into hibernation in the desolate places of the world or exiled to the far reaches of time and space, the Great Old Ones hunger to return and reclaim what was once theirs. Some who bargain with these beings do so in search of power, some are degenerate tribes that cling to their monstrous gods, and some are vile cultists who pray for the end of all existence. Few indeed dare to name these Other Gods aloud, but that does not mean they are not worshiped.
Worship, Beliefs, and Devotion
The gods of Thule are more secretive or aloof than those of many places. This is not a land where gods move mortals like chess pieces or appear in shining visions to direct their followers to take on quests or launch crusades. A priest in Thule is generally left to their own devices and determines the nature of their service on their own.
Most people in Thule spend little of their concern on matters of the soul, mortality, or the afterlife. Most city-dwellers are not terribly religious; the idea of seeking eternal salvation through faithful service to a deity simply isn’t a part of most cultures. Instead, pious citizens observe rituals and make minor sacrifices more as a matter of participating in civic culture (and perhaps invoking a little good luck) than as a matter of seeking favorable treatment in the thereafter. Piety and moderation are the virtues of good people, and good people need fear nothing that awaits after death.
Some holy texts state that gods can reward their loyal servants or punish the very wicked, but these are usually portrayed as bounded fates—a great traitor may be sentenced to spend an age in Nergal’s black hells, or a courageous hero may be chosen to feast at Tarhun’s table the day they fall in battle. But if the writings of Thule’s religious scholars are to be believed, most souls simply depart the world on death, and the gods have limited power or interest in decreeing otherwise.
Cultists and Magic
Divine magic is rarely seen, and is every bit as secretive and mysterious as arcane magic. In Thule, cultists don’t just pray for spells; they gain their magical powers when they are initiated into the deeper mysteries of their chosen deity’s worship. To put it another way, once a priestess of Ishtar is initiated into the tenets and secrets of Ishtar’s cult, she may be invested with the ability to use magic, considered a fraction of Ishtar's power. What she does with those powers after that point is up to her.
Because cultists can only be judged by the observable actions they take, it is far from certain that any given cleric is serving their deity faithfully. Cultists, like all other mortals, are fallible and corruptible, and their magic has no special divine imprimatur that makes it holy or good. Magic in Thule is mysterious and not well understood, and Thule’s cults are nothing if not mysterious.