The Faith of the Twelve, as it is commonly abbreviated, is the formalized faith in most “civilized” human-centric cultures.
(Druidic circles, tribal societies, non-human cultures or even some far-off rural villages might have quite different opinions on divine matters.)
It is, however, still a faith codified by humans trying to make sense of the divine, so only the gods themselves can tell how much it truly describes divine reality.
Most humans accept the fact that all twelve of the gods rule certain aspects of their life, but depending on their personality, station and occupation, tend to revere certain gods more than others.
Besides the twelve “main” deities, the canonized faith also recognized several demigods with specialized domains.
All twelve “main” deities at a glance:
- PRAIOS (Gryphoon): Law, Light, Order, doesn’t like arcane magic
- RONDRA (Lioness): Honorable combat, Chivalry, Storms
- PERAINE (Corn): Farming, Healthcare
- TRAVIA (Goose): Home, Family, Marriage, Food
- BORON (Raven): Death, Sleep, Mental Health, abhors the undead and those who raise them
- FIRUN (Polar Bear): Nature, Hunting, Winter
- EFFERD (Dolphin): Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, Rain
- INGRIMM (Anvil): Craftsmanship, Fire
- PHEX (Fox): Money, Trickery, Luck
- RAHJA (Mare): Wine, Horses, Arts, Sensual Pleasures
- TSA (Lizard): Childbirth, Growth, abhors violence (all her clerics are strict pacifists and often vegetarians)
- HESIND (Snake): Knowledge
Deities of great importance to daily life
PRAIOS (Gryphoon)
Praios is the deity of the sun, light, truth, order and law.
Praios has a rather antagonistic relationship to arcane magic – in the darker past, witch burnings were often justified with this.
Since most human cultures are feudalistic, nobility often justifies their right to rule as “Praios-given”. Due to this close relationship and powerful noble patrons, the church wields considerable political and financial power.
Praios is especially revered by rulers, members of court and those who have to enforce the law. He is also called upon to witness oaths and testimonies.
Members of the church tend to be righteous, very adhering to the letter of the law and are strictly forbidden to lie.
His symbol is the sun.
Besides the main church, there are three well-known Orders associated with Praios:
The Smiters
A small, but rather fanatical military Order of mage hunters. The church is loathe to let them off the leash, but when necromancy and demons run rampart somewhere… they do get stuff done.
Virtually all of them are paladins.
The Inquisition
Despite the historically tainted name, the Inquisition is not in the business of witch burnings (there’s the Smiters for that) but serves as the investigative arm of the twelve-fold curch, investigating crimes that go against the “divine order” – mostly large scale demonology and necromancy, but also sacrilege and heresy.
The Ucuriats
An order of messengers. Barring divine magic, this is how all the temples stay in contact with each other. Their messengers are considered sacrosanct and harming them during their duties is rumored to bring about immediate divine punishment.
PERAINE (Corn)
Peraine is the goddess of health, harvest and honest farming labor.
Especially for farmers in rural areas, she is the goddess that rules almost all aspects of their lives.
Her temples are also places of healing, many sick people tend to pilgrimage (or are brought) to them.
Members of the church tend to be always busy (Peraine abhors idleness), dressed in plain but serviceable robes and always try to help honest folk.
Her symbol is an ear of corn.
INGRIMM (Anvil)
Ingrimm is the god of craftsmanship and fire.
Craftsmen of all kinds adhere to him and his temples often include workshops. It is widely accepted that the dwarves revere him as their main creator god under a different name.
His clerics are forbidden to put out fires, (but don’t have to stop others from doing so).
His symbol is the anvil.
PHEX (Fox)
The Fox is the god of coin, commerce, trickery and luck.
A common saying is “help yourself and Phex will help you”. Another is “If you think you’ve made a good deal with a servant of the fox, better count your coin twice afterwards. And your fingers. And your relatives.”
He is commonly revered by merchants of all sorts, but also by gamblers and even by some of the more money-driven mercenaries. Since it is generally accepted that the Trickster respects a clever heist, he’s also worshiped by thieves, cut-purses and con artists, but violent crime is anathema to him.
Those versed in the less than legal arts (and those who listen to rumors) know that, in addition to the his public temples (which are places of commerce), many larger cities also have hidden Phex temples.
Unsurprisingly, the views of his followers tend to often clash with those held by the church of Praios.
“Official” members of the church tend to be pragmatic and clever, but “incognity” members are rumored to exist – laymen and clerics that hide behind a cover identity to further the Trickster’s goals.
His symbol is the fox.
KOR (Manticore)
Kor is “only” a demigod, generally considered the offspring of a more violent affair between Rondra (the goddess of honorable combat and storms, see below) and an ancient dragon.
The good of bloodlust, also called the Laughing Reaper, he is mostly a niche good, revered by all those who enjoy the rush of the fight for it’s own sake (insert your stereotypical barbarian here).
However, he has also become the default good for those who deal in violence but whom his more chivalry-minded divine mother would not only touch with a ten-foot-blade: Gladiators and mercenaries.
While Kor worship barely existed at all in the Realm up to a few years ago, the presence of so many mercenaries has made his faith well-known by now.
Members of the Manticore’s church are almost exclusively veteran soldiers, mercenaries or adventurers and are often called upon to mediate in mercenary matters or hired as straight-out mercenaries themselves. Since they’re called to accept any and all dueling challenges, they basically never die of old age.
(The head of their church is determined by a process of elimination. Literally.)
Asking someone to discuss something “Kor-style” is a request to settle an argument by violence.
Deities with more “niche” Domains
RONDRA (Lioness)
The Lioness is the goddess of honorable combat, chivalry, bravery and storms.
Most knights and many honorable fighters of all sorts worship her, along with the occasional high-minded soldier. Her church explicitly disdains mercenaries, but does not consider them “evil”.
She is often called upon to witness duels.
All members of her church are skilled in combat, often extremely so – pursuing mastery of the blade is considered a holy calling. Followers of the Lioness will go to great lengths to challenge, prove and improve themselves – it is not uncommon for them to deliberately handicap themselves before engaging “lesser” foes.
Servants of the Lioness consider it their duty to protect those who should not need to protect themselves, especially all forms of civilians.
The church looks upon all forms of stealth and ranged weaponry with disdain – the crossbow is especially reviled, since it is considered a dishonest weapon.
Her symbol is the Lioness.
BORON (Raven)
Boron is the deity of death, sleep, silence and of the calm mind.
The church of the raven is responsible for maintaining virtually all graveyards in the “civilized” realms, but they also maintain several cloisters that serve as asylums.
Clergymen are always dressed in black, somber and very quiet. Since silence is considered a virtue to the Raven, they will only speak when absolutely necessary and in as few words as possible.
Since they’re generally considered a bit spooky and deal in matters of death and insanity, most people try to avoid dealing with servants of the Raven – but this is a matter of fear and respect, not of revulsion.
The Raven abhors necromancy and all forms of undeath. Therefore, the curch also maintains a strong order of paladins whom’s sole purpose is to fight those: The Order of Golgary.
His symbol is the broken wheel, which also is the common form for gravestones.
HESIND (Snake)
Hesind is the goddess of knowledge.
She is revered by scholars of all sorts, including wizards. Her temples often maintain libraries – but whether those are accessible to the public depends on the temple (and maybe the size of the donation). Opinions on whether knowledge should be taught or controlled differ throughout her church.
She is the patron deity of the organized wizard’s guilds.
Her symbol is the snake.
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