GODS AND BELIEFS
The people of Keridwyn worship a vast pantheon of deities whose stories have shaped civilization for thousands of years. These gods are usually depicted as idealized humanoid beings partially formed from radiant energy, storm, shadow, flame, or spirit. Though their names differ between cultures and eras, scholars believe many modern gods evolved from far older human religions whose origins have long since been lost.
Their myths portray them as emotional, imperfect, compassionate, wrathful, jealous, and deeply involved in mortal affairs. Some inspire hope and prosperity. Others tempt the desperate toward ruin. Temples, shrines, sacred festivals, and ancient rituals dedicated to them can be found across nearly every civilized land.
Despite centuries of worship, undeniable proof of the gods has never been found. What some call miracles, others dismiss as advanced magic or coincidence. Yet even in an age of scholars and spellcraft, faith remains one of the strongest forces in the world.
“The gods reveal themselves not through certainty, but through the questions mortals cannot stop asking.”
Benevolent Deities
Commonly worshiped throughout the Keridwyn Empire
Lo — God of Craftsmanship, Music, Art, Competition, and Charisma
Lo is beloved by artisans, performers, inventors, duelists, and dreamers alike. He is depicted as a charismatic wanderer who moves among mortals in disguise, delighting in acts of creation and mastery. Legends claim Lo can learn any skill after seeing it only once.
Stories of mysterious strangers defeating master musicians, blacksmiths, or painters are often attributed to Lo secretly testing mortal ambition. Taverns throughout the Empire are filled with tales of impossible performances followed by the performer vanishing before dawn.
Lo values passion above perfection. Failure means little to him if the effort was genuine. He despises stagnation, laziness, and fear of self-expression. To followers of Lo, life is meant to be experienced boldly and creatively.
Artists frequently dedicate their greatest works to him before unveiling them to the public. Some believe inspiration itself is the whisper of Lo guiding mortal hands.
Symbols: Harp, blacksmith hammer, artisan tools
Colors: Dark green, gold, white
Virtues: Passion, generosity, devotion, confidence
Elements: Air
Favorite Gear: Rapier, lyre, smithing hammer, wine glass
Lorielle — Goddess of Travel, Astrology, and Diplomacy
Lorielle is worshiped by travelers, merchants, diplomats, navigators, and explorers. She is portrayed as a radiant woman with silver hair that drifts like starlight and eyes filled with constellations.
Small shrines dedicated to Lorielle can be found near crossroads, bridges, harbors, and city gates. Travelers often leave offerings of coins, flowers, or bread before long journeys in hopes of receiving safe passage.
Her followers believe Lorielle guides people toward the meetings and discoveries destined to shape their lives. Diplomats and negotiators frequently invoke her name before peace talks or important agreements.
Astrologers claim the movements of the heavens are messages written by Lorielle herself, though interpretations of these signs rarely agree.
Symbols: Stars and constellations
Colors: White, blue
Virtues: Empathy, hospitality, tact
Elements: Earth, Gravity
Favorite Gear: Quarterstaff, sextant, saddle
Gyixus — God of Death and Winter
Gyixus is both feared and revered as the gentle guide of the dead. He is commonly depicted as a cloaked shepherd carrying a lantern through endless snowfall while leading lost souls safely toward the next life.
Unlike darker death gods feared throughout ancient history, Gyixus does not represent cruelty or suffering. He embodies endings, remembrance, acceptance, and the peace that follows hardship.
Families across the Empire often light black candles during winter to honor departed loved ones. Funeral rites dedicated to Gyixus focus not on despair, but gratitude for the life once lived.
Yet legends also warn that Gyixus brings swift death to tyrants, oathbreakers, and those who twist the natural cycle of life through forbidden means.
Symbols: Scythe, shepherd crook
Colors: Black, blue
Virtues: Remembrance, gratitude, forgiveness
Elements: Necrotic, Time
Favorite Gear: War scythe, shovel, blanket
Ghaxen — God of Birth, Harvest, and Fertility
Brother to Gyixus, Ghaxen represents renewal, growth, healing, and the return of life after hardship. He is often depicted as a strong young boy carrying grain or standing barefoot in fertile fields beneath the summer sun.
Ghaxen is believed to guide souls into new lives after Gyixus shepherds them from the old. Some myths describe the brothers working together endlessly — one closing the door of death while the other opens the door of rebirth.
Farmers pray to Ghaxen for healthy harvests and mild seasons. Midwives, healers, and physicians often dedicate their work to him as well.
His faith teaches that life is precious because it is temporary, and that compassion is among the highest virtues mortals can possess.
Symbols: Cornucopia
Colors: Orange, yellow, light brown
Virtues: Compassion, preparedness, joyfulness
Elements: Radiance, Earth
Favorite Gear: Sickle, scalpel, cart
Morendwyn — Goddess of Order, Law, and Justice
Morendwyn is the patron deity of judges, lawmakers, rulers, mediators, and those burdened with responsibility. She appears in myths as many things — warrior, mother, magistrate, queen, and even humble merchant.
Her teachings emphasize balance, moderation, wisdom, and the importance of preserving civilization even when personal sacrifice is required.
Unlike many gods who encourage grand public worship, Morendwyn values private reflection and disciplined living. Followers often keep small meditation chambers within their homes dedicated to contemplation and self-accountability.
She is respected even by those who do not worship her directly, for many believe society itself could not survive without the principles she represents.
Symbols: Scales
Colors: Silver
Virtues: Justice, integrity, temperance, wisdom
Elements: Gravity
Favorite Gear: Bolas, javelin, chains, quill, gavel
Vestri — Goddess of Luck, Fate, and Whimsy
Vestri is portrayed as a graceful young weaver whose enchanted loom weaves the threads of mortal destiny. Her followers believe chance itself bends subtly around her whims.
Gamblers, adventurers, performers, and hopeful romantics often pray to Vestri before taking risks. Some legends portray her as the lover of Lo, while others describe them as eternal rivals constantly attempting to outwit one another.
Vestri is unpredictable. Some say she favors the bold. Others insist she simply enjoys watching mortals gamble everything on impossible odds.
Because of her fickle nature, her temples are often lively places filled with music, storytelling, games, and celebration rather than solemn ritual.
Symbols: Loom, needle and thread
Colors: Gold, purple
Virtues: Wonder, imagination
Elements: Air, Umbral
Favorite Gear: Sling staff, paint brush, loom, dice
Laranis — God of Protection and Light
Laranis is depicted as a towering knight forged from radiant fire. He represents sacrifice, duty, discipline, and the defense of those unable to defend themselves.
Many paladin orders and military protectors dedicate themselves to Laranis, believing strength exists to shield others rather than dominate them.
Ancient battle stories claim blazing warriors carrying shields of fire have appeared during desperate last stands, turning defeat into victory before vanishing without a trace.
Laranis teaches that courage without compassion is meaningless, and that evil must be confronted directly rather than ignored.
Symbols: Shield and fire
Colors: White, red
Virtues: Loyalty, purpose, respect, reliability
Elements: Fire, Radiant
Favorite Gear: Shield, lantern, mantle, drums
Forbidden Deities
Outlawed throughout most civilized nations
Theritan — God of Death and Undeath
Theritan is regarded as the corrupted reflection of Gyixus. Where Gyixus grants peace to the dead, Theritan seeks to imprison souls within endless suffering.
He appears in stories as a skeletal wanderer, a black wolf with glowing eyes, or a giant crow perched among graveyards and battlefields.
Necromancers, death cults, and those obsessed with immortality often worship Theritan in secret. Entire kingdoms have collapsed after rulers attempted to use forbidden rituals tied to his name.
Possession of his symbols is illegal throughout much of the Empire.
Symbols: Crow
Colors: Black, purple
Elements: Necrotic
Favorite Gear: Claw, spiked collar, human-skin leather
Navren — God of Decay
Navren revels in collapse, corruption, ruin, and the slow erosion of all things. He is depicted as a gaunt shadow with impossibly long limbs and a smile filled with broken teeth.
Unlike gods who pursue destruction through violence, Navren delights in gradual decay — rotting empires, corrupted ideals, failed relationships, plague, addiction, and hopelessness.
His followers infiltrate institutions, spread disease, sabotage stability, and tempt virtuous people toward moral collapse.
Many scholars believe civilizations inevitably rise and fall because Navren’s influence can never truly be erased.
Symbols: Sand
Colors: Black, yellow
Elements: Time
Favorite Gear: Flail, hourglass, disease
Muramen — God of Nightmares, Poison, and Madness
Muramen is described as the darkness that exists between stars. Brother to Lorielle, he represents the terror hidden within the unknown.
Where Lorielle guides travelers safely beneath the heavens, Muramen waits for them to become lost.
He is blamed for nightmares, insanity, paranoia, plague, and strange whispers heard during the deepest hours of night. Scholars who study forbidden knowledge too deeply are often said to have “gazed into Muramen.”
Cultists of Muramen are commonly poisoners, manipulators, plague-bearers, and scholars driven mad by cosmic truths mortals were never meant to understand.
Symbols: Snake, dagger constellation
Colors: Purple, blue
Elements: Mind, Gravity
Favorite Gear: Dagger, poison, hallucinogens
Beliefs and Religions
Faiths and philosophies outside the central pantheon
Goblin Religion — The Great Flame
Goblin spirituality centers around the belief in the Great Flame — a primal force believed to exist within all living things.
Goblin shamans teach that every religion merely interprets the Great Flame differently. Because of this, Goblins are surprisingly tolerant of foreign beliefs and rarely engage in religious conflict.
The sole exception is the belief that Dragons are gods, which Goblins reject completely.
Orc Beliefs
Orcs believe the world is inhabited by countless spirits tied to rivers, storms, mountains, beasts, ancestors, and battlefields.
These spirits are not viewed as good or evil, but as powerful natural forces deserving respect.
Orc shamans seek guidance through visions, ritual hunts, meditation, and communion with spirit animals.
Dragon Beliefs
Ancient Dragons believe Dragons themselves are divine beings destined to rule lesser races. Kobold culture inherited this belief almost entirely unchanged.
Among many Dragon societies, worship and political authority are inseparable. Obedience to powerful Dragons is viewed not merely as law, but as sacred duty.
Demon Beliefs
Demons believe existence itself was created by a higher being that feeds upon conflict, suffering, and struggle for entertainment.
Because of this, Demons intentionally create chaos and prolong wars in hopes of appeasing whatever force governs reality.
Some Demon philosophers even believe peace is unnatural and dangerous.
Angelic Beliefs
Angels believe the gods worshiped by mortals are merely powerful vassals serving a far greater creator beyond mortal comprehension.
Some Angels openly serve specific gods, while others merely acknowledge them as lesser administrators of the cosmos.
This belief often creates tension between Angelic scholars and traditional religious institutions.
Cinnsearad
Cinnsearad is the belief that ancestral spirits continue watching over their bloodlines long after death.
Rather than praying to gods, practitioners honor their ancestors through remembrance, offerings, stories, and the preservation of family traditions.
To followers of Cinnsearad, forgetting one’s ancestors is among the gravest possible sins.
Linias
Derived from ancient Gnomish philosophy, Linias teaches that thought itself shapes reality.
Followers believe concepts gain power through collective belief and that enough minds focused upon a single truth can force that truth into existence.
According to Linias philosophy, gods may exist because mortals unknowingly created them through faith.
Traditional religions consider the philosophy deeply controversial.
Cult of Drathnaz
Drathnaz was once believed to be a heroic summoner who protected villages from terrible beasts. In truth, he was an Angel manipulating events through illusion magic while presenting himself as a savior.
Centuries later, hidden cults devoted to Drathnaz still survive in isolated towns and forgotten settlements.
Followers obsess over heroism, glory, sacrifice, and the protection of children. However, their increasingly extreme interpretation of morality often leads them to commit terrible acts while believing themselves righteous.
Cultists claim to hear whispers guiding them toward acts of “necessary heroism,” even when those acts bring suffering to innocent people.
