Shaefev and Zaerel are said by their priests to be the parents of the twin gods, though neither Yaalasar not Mocaeis's religions pay honor to the parents of their god.
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
The Decline of Mocaeis
The war of the gods was a long and brutal affair, from a mortal perspective if not a god's perspective. Much knowledge and history of the gods was lost as a result of that great war, especially in relation to the god of mischief and his twin sister, the goddess of valor, though Mocaeis especially was one to keep his secrets, even from the other gods.
Saturday, March 27, 2021
Session 13--Chores for Myhanor
Traveling By Foot
The trip to Castle Orosa is either 464 or 654 miles long, depending on the roads taken, which comes down to either a minimum of 29 (most direct) or 41 (by road)days. However, everyone bought horses in Myahnor, which brought the rest of the trip down to 16 days total. They have traveled 7 days and a total of 228 miles. They decided to go to Nylana before they go to Castle Orosa.
Myhanor
Further inland, the change hasn't been so obvious—the Woaden Sea doesn't extend this far, and the few creatures that have moved in are non-threatening so far; the only monsters to have shown up are Scaled Hares, which like to rub against livestock and pur, and which also feed on carrion. They can be annoying, but not overly problematic.
The tanner: Scaled hares have been getting into his tannery and eating his raw skins. He is willing to actually sell his four horses if the party helps him exterminate the hares
The village elder (of Myhanor): A werewolf has been attacking the village, and just last night killed a young couple's toddler. He gave his horses to the party in exchange for them killing the werewolf. Thalia paid for the couple's funeral expenses, and they gave her a donkey in gratitude for her kindness and for helping to kill the werewolf.
War Monks of Zaerel
A battalion of War Monks bearing the Raining Sun of Zaerel as their banner show up, near enough to be a problem wherever the party is at the time. The squad is led by a priest of Zaerel, and initiated an attack on sight. Only the priest survived the attack
Saturday, March 20, 2021
Sunstone Elementals
Sunstone Elementals are exactly the same as regular earth elementals except that they are formed entirely from sunstone. Only a single point on their body is charged, but it moves across their whole body at random. This charged spot is extremely weak, and if hit the whole elemental will turn to dust that floats away.
Woad Elk
Giant Elk from the Woaden Sea that hunt in packs. They have three eyes with red cat-like pupils and a mouth that opens too far and is filled with razor sharp teeth.
Skottler
Skottlers are dog sized creatures with six legs that can walk on water and scour the sea for prey and carrion.
Session 12
The party escaped the palace of Thelsinosa and immediately went to see how the ship fared. They found it sunk halfway to the sea floor with two holes in the hull, but otherwise intact.
The king of Thelsinosa tried to pray to Shaefev by making a saltwater pool. Shaefev manifested, but was unable to communicate effectively.
Eli was present, and immediately went to check out the Woaden Sea. He was immediately attacked by Hunting Deer, and soon after Earth elementals and War Trees joined the fight.
The fight went very poorly for the party. Levi and Kurik both only narrowly avoided being stomped to death by war trees.
The king was torn in half and thrown back into the sea; the party were able to stealthily make their way through the city. Jaqam, lord of bards, and bard of lords, found Thalia and revealed himself as her oldest brother, saying they need to get back to their home.
Session 11
The Sea Priest
After the cavaliers were well out at sea again a priest of Shaefev arrived. He told the cavaliers that his hearkener has sent him, and that if they should succeed in their quest a terrible calamity shall befall the world. He invites all aboard to repent and give up the task of Mocaeis, or face the wrath of Shaefev. The crew were wary of the sea priest and were determined to do as he said, as was Levi. Amisha persuaded the priest that Errol Flynn had the Hearkener's Wine, and he left Levi his spear as a token for Yaalasar's Hearkener before seeking out Errol Flynn.
Thelsinosa
Upon their arrival in Thelsinosa, they will be stalked by Enicha. She will eavesdrop until she knows what they're up to, and will immediately reveal herself to offer help. She has surprising knowledge of the castle and its defenses, without having the actual experience of having gone in anywhere.
Location Notes
The city is almost entirely elven. There is a tiny slums in the sewers where non-elves are more prominent--primarily humans and halflings. The buildings are tall and graceful, even regular homes have two floors, and there isn't a door in town that isn't three feet taller than necessary, with artistic glass and metal insets in the extra space. The city is small compared to Orosan cities, but it dwarfs its inhabitants. The people here are snooty. This is also the home of the rangers guild, and ranger pairs are common throughout the town.
The castle itself is breathtaking. It features statues of stately elves in place of gargoyles, pouring pitchers of water into the street when it rains; there are flying buttresses, alcoves with heroic statues of Zaerel and elven heroes, and stained glass windows abundantly placed. It also has a strong wall with rangers patrolling it.
Dead, Rumored, and Minor Gods
There are more gods than worshipped in the mortal pantheons (and not all races and peoples honor the same pantheons). This is a list of some that are not typically included in the common pantheons, as well as Isald, who died and was thereafter excluded from the pantheons.
Isald
The Deity of Velg
The Triplet Muses
Issald
The Dead God of Fire
Issald was killed in the last war of the gods, which Isald himself instigated. His motives were unknown, but his eye was crucial to his own downfall. As he and Yaalasar camped in Velf to wage war on the Orcish tribes, Luzak snuck in to their camp and stole Isald's Eye, using the piece of the god to create a powerful artifact that allowed her hearkener to see his weakness.
The remaining gods and their armies pushed Isald and Yaalasar back up to Ulbam, where Issald was slain and the war ended.
Luzak
Goddess of Knowledge
Luzak first arose out of the first words engraved in stone, coming forth as a soft mist that rose from the impressions in the stone tablet. She applauded the efforts of elf who carved it, and offered to teach him logic, writing, and to access the arcane channels, if he would be the first hearkener and spread her knowledge amongst mortal kind. Thus religion was born with Luzak, and she taught the gods as well as mortals.
Luzak is described as a beautiful raven haired woman with rounded ears, which is explained by her priests to mean that she has the form of a human woman, but came into being before humanity arose—however, the description of rounded ears and human form had become traditional. Many of her priests speculate that being a goddess born of written language, she is not actually a woman at all, so to describe her as an elf with round ears no more inaccurate than calling her a human, or even a dwarf or orc.
Luzak was vital to the ending of the last war of the gods, sneaking into the war camp of Isald and Yaalasar to pluck out Isald's eye. She turned the eye to stone and imbued it with some of her own power, allowing the her hearkener to use it to see the weakness of whoever he chose.
Luzak had lost her memory of her husband Vovaenis in the Forgotten War of the Gods and tended to to flirt with with men and treat women as sisters until she regained her memories in the War of Traia. While she doesn't laugh or joke loudly, both then and now, she has a quick wit and an appreciation for well worded language. Before her memories returned she wasespecially attracted to Saurians, the first race her husband created.
The priests of Zaerel, while not outrightly rude or hostile towards Luzak or her priesthood, tend to have disdain for the goddess and her priests, and once we're known to say she slept with her hearkener regularly, but this is generally understood to be part of the elitist attitude held by the priesthoods of the individual gods.
Luzak stealing the eye of Issald was vital to Issald and Yaalasar losing the last war of the gods, causing Yaalasar to hate Luzak. The priests of Luzak believe that there is more to it than simply the sting of Yaalasar's pride at losing, and the priests of Yaalasar will initiate a duel often without warning if asked about the topic.
Luzaks temples are more like open libraries, designed for the writing and studying of tomes. Priests are required to teach any who wish to read and to understand mathematics. All books are available for any to read, the only exception being personal books of her priests and books written by Luzak's own hand, kept in the Sacrarium of the temple. All truly advanced nations have at least one temple of Luzak.
Zaerel
Goddess of Skies and Truth
When she reached adulthood, Zaerel was appointed by her father (Shaefev) to look after the other gods. She took this to mean that it is her place to rule them and establish order both amongst the gods and amongst mortals. Soon after she met Jousus, she married him, and they established the rule of heavens and the law of elves.
Shaefev
Shaefev is the oldest of the gods and creator of the world, though he does not claim a position of authority over the other Gods. He is the father of Zaerel, though they never speak, and he allows her and her husband, Jousus to guide the gods. He is aloof and keeps to himself, tending the creatures that live in his seas and taking little note of most of his worshippers.
Shaefev is the only god who offers immortality to mortals, despite his general indifference towards them. That said, only his most devout followers are granted this blessing, and it typically comes in the form of being changed into a great sea creature. The greatest and father of the leviathans, for example, was once an elf named Inak Solspur, and can easily be summoned by calling his elfin name while at sea. However, he typically eats those who summon him, and it is assumed that that is the sole reason he answers the summons.
The first law of the priesthood is that they may not leave the sea. Land, or even vessels of the land (meaning ships) are forbidden. Temples and churches of Shaefev are always built on the shore so that the entire building is flooded by a minimum of one foot of water. Priests of the order sleep in submerged net hammocks, if they find themselves unable to sleep in the sea directly. The high priests and hearkener live their lives almost entirely out in the open sea, only occasionally visiting these shore-side structures.
About--Please Read
This site is a collection of world lore and story information that your characters would know/remember; there are still secrets from you, and some things in this "wiki" are false, as this is the information that you and your characters have, not a comprehensive list of every fact in this world.
That said, this will be my primary worldbuilding program, so there is also a large amount of information that your character won't know (but could find out about!) that ist rue about the world. So feel free to use this wiki as you will, just make sure to take everything with a grain or two of salt.
A good rule of thumb is that if it relates more to the people, wildlife, and geography of the world rather than to story, it's definitely good. Otherwise, it's your best guess. Leave a comment on anything confusing please!
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