The eighteen deities of the Lightbringer Pantheon have guided, shaped and manipulated the lives of mortal beings since time immemorial. Though all these beings share a common heritage as children of the Elders, the nine Gods of Heaven and the nine Daedra Lords have been engaged in an endless struggle for supremacy for almost as long as mortal religion has existed.
The Gods of Heaven
Beings of light and energy, the gods (and their counterparts, the daedra) can also take physical form. They draw their magical powers (predominantly) from the actions of those who do works in their service; a burnt sacrifice to Yajiit, for instance, siphons power from the animals sacrificed (and to a lesser extent, from the worshippers) and transfers it to the goddess for her own use. The gods need a regular supply of energy, received in a way that is in keeping with their sphere of influence, in order to survive in their noncorporeal form.
Most of the gods will perform services for mortals who have pleased them in the past, but these services are rarely (if ever) without cost. Akkala, for instance, will do difficult healings, and Velena will grant enhanced beauty, but they require a period of service or some sort of quest in exchange for their assistance. A god can only grant favors that lie within his or her sphere of influence.
Each god has his or her own modus operandi, as well as a distinctive "aura" that surrounds them; this aura can be discerned by the Lightbringers and other magically-perceptive individuals, even if the god itself is not visible. (Technically all living creatures possess an aura, and these can also be discerned; here "distinctive aura" refers to an aura which is markedly different from that of a mortal being and can be identified as such.)
The gods are neither omniscient nor omnipresent — though some, such as Kammoloth and Artela, have observers everywhere.
Spheres of Influence
Kammoloth, King of the Gods: Hearth and home, celebration, hospitality.
Akkala: Healing, purity.
Artela: Nature (mutualistic aspect), mercy.
Dokorath: War, honor, valor.
Dvalin: Weather, agriculture, wine.
Samekkh: Wisdom, knowledge, light.
Velena: Love, beauty, truth.
Wvelkim: The sea, marine life, sailing.
Yajiit: Fire, the sun.
Servants
All of the gods and goddesses of the pantheon except Yajiit have at least some children. Those children, in turn, have had children, and so on, so that the Nine Heavens have been filled with millions of the gods' divine progeny. These celestials form a hierarchy, in which beings of noteworthy success and talent can be "promoted" into more powerful forms:
| Gods of Heaven | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celestial Princes | Fates | ||||||
| High Archons | Muses | ||||||
| Archons | High Nymphs | ||||||
| Devas | Eladrins | Kerubs | Neriads | Nymphs | Sylphs | ||
| Glimmers | |||||||
The Daedra Lords
The gods' (mostly) sinister counterparts, most of the daedra lords draw power from chaos, violence, evil, or selfish actions.1 At one time the gods and the daedra lords were allies against the titans, but they soon fell to fighting among themselves once their common enemy was defeated. When Kammoloth called on Lucien to create the Lothanasi Order, the daedra lords were removed from the officially recognized pantheon, and the gods' servants were forbidden to give them worship.2
Unlike the gods, the daedra lords usually have no distinctive aura: they most often take physical form to deceive mortals, so they do nothing to attract suspicion that they are anything more than mortal. Only when they have been discovered — or make their strike, drawing power from their victims — do they manifest an aura.
The daedra will grant favors, as well, but their price is almost always dangerously high; the immortal soul is a particular favorite of several Daedra Lords, especially Agemnos. The Lightbringers are discouraged from making deals with daedra unless it cannot be avoided. While worship of the daedra is forbidden by the Order, it is still practiced overtly in Nasoj's Giantdowns and in secret here and there throughout the Midlands.
Spheres of Influence
Ba'al, Prince of Daedra: Revelry, debauchery.
Agemnos: Avarice, ambition, the acquisition of wealth.
Klepnos: Madness, trickery, knowledge.3
Lilith: Nature (predatory aspect); lycanthropy; the undead.
Nocturna: Dreams, omens, the crossing between life and death.
Oblineth: Ice, winter, the void.
Revonos: Rage, murder, treachery.
Suspira: Lust, desire, hedonism.
Tallakath: Sickness, pestilence, death and dying.
Servants
Like the gods, the daedra lords have many descendants. These so-called fiends sort themselves into a hierarchy that is a dark reflection of that of the celestials:
| Daedra Lords | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daedra Nobles | ||||||
| Nephilim | Dream Walkers | |||||
| Mariliths | Dread Nymphs | |||||
| Balrogs | Wraiths | Incubi | Succubae | Dark Nymphs | ||
| Imps/Gremlins | Hell Hounds | |||||
| Whispers | ||||||
d20 Notes
The eighteen deities of the Pantheon represent the full spectrum of moral and ethical alignments allowed in the d20 RPG system:
| Lawful Good | Neutral Good | Chaotic Good |
|---|---|---|
| Akkala | Artela | Velena |
| Dokorath | Kammoloth | Yajiit |
| Lawful Neutral | Neutral | Chaotic Neutral |
| Samekkh | Dvalin | Wvelkim |
| Oblineth | Nocturna | Klepnos |
| Lawful Evil | Neutral Evil | Chaotic Evil |
| Agemnos | Lilith | Revonos |
| Ba'al | Tallakath | Suspira |
Each of the entries for the deities will include notes on his/her alignment, divine rank, granted domains, and weapon of the deity (which also indicates the deity's favored weapon). Feel free to incorporate these deities into your own d20 campaign; the information listed under "d20 Notes" for each deity is considered open-source content.
