Chapter 226

I sat down in the private room next to Morrigan who was already nose deep into a book. It looked like the others hadn't returned yet and were still browsing the shelves. Morrigan had fewer books than I thought she would but she was eager to get to reading now that she has some time to dedicate toward it.

"What do you got there?" I asked her.

She looked up from her book and smiled. "A book on advanced magic theory. It's interesting but... maybe not all that practical. How about you?"

I showed her the book I had found on the gods. It was a bit shorter than most of the other ones in the room but it was more of a brief that gave a small amount on most of the gods rather than anything in depth. It seemed to be aimed at pointing others in the right direction for additional research rather than providing much on its own. It was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for though.

She nodded. "Smart, with everything going on you should make sure to learn everything you can about them."

"That was the idea."

She smiled. "I'll leave you to it then." Without waiting for another response she put her nose right back in the book she was reading, which made me chuckle a bit.

I cracked my own book open and looked at the first section titled: The Major Gods. The gods in this section would either be the most powerful, the most worshiped, or both. The beginning of this chapter reminded the reader that in most cases the gods aren't mutually exclusive, people can be followers of multiple gods or none of them and still receive their blessings and benefit from their temples. The book also specified that followers are not interchangeable with more specific roles such as priests or paladins, even though those specific roles are always followers of the god they represent. After skimming through this beginning part, I gathered that the number of each of the gods' worshippers contributed to their power a lot but that wasn't always the only factor that made them strong or why they were considered 'major' gods.

Case in point, the very first god listed was Charon.

The God of Death, usually depicted as an old man or an animate skeleton by those who have claimed to have seen him when they were close to death. Unlike most gods, he has very few followers. The only ones known to follow him are assassins and occasionally demon cultists, though he is not known for supporting demons based on the word of other gods. He occasionally gives people the mark of death, a powerful god mark that magically makes attacks from the marked much more powerful. It is considered a crime to have the mark of death in every civilized country. Despite the god of death's few followers, he is considered to be the strongest of the gods after he killed Erimikai and destroyed the domain of war during the War of the Gods.

Pretty basic, I moved on to the next entry.

Sielfrie, The Lady of Nature and Decay. This god is most often worshiped by elves, druids, nature mages, and others who are heavily invested in the natural world. She is usually depicted as a beautiful elf with sharp eyes, wearing dresses that reflect the current season. Sielfrie is often theorized to either be the strongest god or second strongest god behind The God of Death since their domains overlap much more than most other gods. Unlike The God of Death, Sielfrie had many worshippers across the known world making it possible that she may be stronger. Sielfrie has told her worshipers in the past that those who die without burial fall into her domain while those who are given proper funerary rights belong to The God of Death. Counter-intuitively however, Sielfrie is very strict about her followers providing funerary rights to others, both in the cities that she operates a temple in and in the wilderness. It is speculated that there is some connection and agreement between Sielfrie, The God of Death, and Velenthel, the Goddess of Life and Reincarnation surrounding the souls of the dead. None of these gods have confirmed how this process works despite reincarnation falling within Velenthel's domain. There are many rituals and feasts dedicated to Sielfrie, especially in elven and beastfolk cities, predominantly surrounding the changing of seasons. The worshippers of Sielfrie do not view Decay as a negative aspect of her domain, rather as a part of the cycle of nature, however, worshippers of other gods and the general populace generally disagree.

I remembered Charon mentioning that the Lady of Nature and Decay owed him a soul after I had technically given Cliff a funeral with the coins I placed on his eyes. I hadn't heard much about her since but I'm not surprised that elves were associated with a goddess of nature. I haven't heard much speculation one way or the other on whether or not she could be associated with the Tamin Church though.

Moira, The Goddess of Fate and Future. This god is most often worshipped by select tribes of beastfolk, mages who use forms of divination magic, and those who claim they have been personally aided by this Goddess. She is usually depicted as a human woman who wears a dark blue cowled robe that hides her face. Not much is known about this Goddess' personality as their priests tend to be very secretive about their rites and forms of worship. This god is known to influence events for those she deems worthy of, in either the past or future, and is generally looked at favorably by the general populace. There are temples dedicated to Moira in most large cities where people can visit and pray for future success, ask for glimpses into the future, or receive advice from her priests and priestesses. Though she has fewer followers than most other gods in this section, her domain is considered very powerful and even holds sway over most other gods with the notable exception of Fortuna, the Goddess of Luck and Fortune. Their domains are diametrically opposed to each other and this often puts their followers at odds. Followers of Moira are not allowed in any church or gambling den belonging to Fortuna's followers, and followers of Fortuna are magically unable to enter a church belonging to Moira. It is for this reason the two goddesses are considered to be enemies of each other, though neither side openly acknowledges the reason behind their hostility. Of the two, Moira is considered more powerful, however, Fortuna's domain is far wider reaching and extends much further past the people who directly worship her in her temples. It is said that anyone who wishes for luck can be influenced by Fortuna, compared to Moira who is much more selective with those she deems worthy of her attention.

Fortuna, The Goddess of Luck and Fortune. This god is most often worshipped by gamblers, adventurers, soldiers, and explorers. She likely has fewer priests and priestesses than most gods in this section but her influence is much wider than most other gods from people outside of her direct worship. Fortuna is always depicted as a young human woman in her teenage years, though her attire varies wildly from depiction to depiction. The most well-known depiction is the one that is associated with her temples, as every temple bears a similar statue of her in its courtyard or central building. Stories of her interaction with mortals suggest that she has a playful personality and enjoys teasing those who interact with her. She enjoys games of all sorts and will often bless people who come up with new popular games, even those that do not involve gambling. Her temples are less focused on worship, service, and advice than all other gods, but she personally appears before mortals much more often than most other gods, only behind Sorsette, The Goddess of Knowledge and Innovation. It is not uncommon for there to be holidays or celebrations centered around Fortuna but these tend to be local celebrations and while none of these holidays are directly sanctioned by the temples of Fortuna, they do often sponsor events and festivals as a general practice. In addition to her temples, nearly all gambling dens are dedicated to her. This brings a lot of wealth to her temples and is why her temples are so widespread, even in small towns, and how they can afford to sponsor so many events around the world. Fortuna is either viewed very favorably or very negatively depending on who you ask and is the most polarizing of the gods. Some adventurers swear that they only survived a deadly encounter by Fortuna's grace, others curse her after their lives were ruined at one of her gambling dens.

It was interesting to see the goddesses of fate and luck to be at odds with each other, but it made sense. If Moira is considered an enemy of Fortuna, and Fortuna is associated with the Tamin church, then perhaps the Goddess of Fate and Future would be worth approaching. It seems unlikely that she would be working with Fortuna if they are at odds with each other.

Velenthel, Goddess of Life and Reincarnation. This god is most often worshiped by healers, various tribes of beastfolk, adventurers, and commoners. Velenthel is usually depicted as a tall motherly woman of all races. Unlike most gods that prefer one or a few specific forms, Velenthel is most likely to appear as the same race as the one she chose to appear before. Her personality has been described as wise and motherly as her physical representations would suggest, though she rarely appears before people herself. Velenthel easily has the most followers of any god mostly due to her popularity among the common folk. Velenthel is one of the most reliable ways to receive access to healing magic as a commoner and even many nobles choose to receive healing from Velenthel priests and priestesses due to their reputation for phenomenal skill with healing magic and access to rare fertility and virility treatments. As a result, she is one of the most positively viewed goddesses.

This was the goddess Sorsette mentioned as having wiped my memory during reincarnation. I'm not sure what to make of this goddess. From the description, she seems like she would be unlikely to work with the Tamin church due to her connection with commoners and some tribes of beastfolk. Sorsette wasn't able to give me a guarantee that she wasn't working with them but it seemed as if she hadn't really suspected Velenthel to be among them either. Other than mentioning that some tribes of beastfolk follow her there wasn't any information on how she viewed beastfolk. I shrugged and carried on.

Bollide, God of Pathfinding and Exploration. This god is most often worshiped by explorers, pathfinders, adventurers, hunters, and some beastfolk tribes outside of the Zarcuda region. Bollide is nearly always depicted as a tall tigerkin beastfolk that wears darkly colored leathers and hides, armed with a longbow. He rarely speaks to his followers directly, choosing instead to appear in moments of great peril for his followers. There are countless stories both real and fictional of Bollide appearing just in time to save someone from certain death while exploring somewhere new. It's generally believed by his followers that he does not appear for someone more than once on a single expedition and he does not appear for people who unnecessarily put themselves into danger or explore unprepared. Despite taking the form of a beastfolk himself, the tribes of Zarcuda do not agree with his zeal for exploration and trailblazing since most of the cultures within the Zarcuda region are more focused on tradition and community. Bollide represents the lone wolves and the black sheep of the beastfolk, empowering them to find their own path and search out new places to settle and explore. Bollide has temples in most major cities outside of Zarcuda and the Northern Greens though for obvious reasons the presence of his temples tends to be focused on frontier towns. He is not the most heavily worshiped god but his worshipers, including his priests and priestesses, tend to be individually stronger on average than most people and especially more than other priests, priestesses, and paladins of other gods.

This entry was interesting. Could Bollide be part of the Tamin church as a form of revenge for his followers' treatment by the tribes of Zarcuda? Though, the Tamin church tends not to discriminate between beastfolk, treating them equally as poorly, and it would be rather odd for a god that takes the form of a beastfolk themselves to secretly be a part of the gods that are cooperating for the Tamin church...

Sorsette, Goddess of Knowledge and Innovation. This god is most often worshiped by scholars, mages of all types, crafters, adventurers, avid readers, and world travelers. The likelihood that you are reading this very book in one of Sorsette's many libraries across the world is quite likely. Sorsette is usually depicted as a silver-haired Elven woman wearing purple colored robes or other dark colors. Of all of the gods, Sorsette is the most likely to appear directly before a mortal and the only reason for her differences in depiction is because of her own occasional inconsistent appearance among those she appears before. She is most likely to appear before mortals that she deems have made great contributions toward new research or the development of new magic, however, she is also known to appear before others as her whims dictate. She is most likely to appear to people within one of her libraries and it is also speculated that she likes to pose as a member of the library staff, you may have already spoken to Sorsette without having even known it! Sorsette is one of the most well-known gods across the world and has a library in most large cities. After the War of the Gods, she agreed to no longer hold any paladins and even her priests and priestesses are barred from channeling her divine power. Despite this, Sorsette has large numbers of followers spread out across the world constantly trying to develop new magic, learn more about the natural world, create new things, and preserve knowledge anywhere it can be found. Sorsette is very protective of world travelers and is the most likely god to shelter them when their ideas create conflict within the world. Visiting one of her libraries is usually free, though in some countries she is forced to charge for access or membership to operate within local laws. Membership to one of her libraries can be more difficult to gain but is usually within reach of most people if they are diligent enough in their studies, higher tiers of membership are only available to people who discover things or are able to contribute to the preservation of knowledge in some way. Sorsette is considered one of the wealthiest gods but that wealth is usually represented through her assets and land rather than her holdings in coin like Fortuna.

I smiled. It looks like this writer had a lot to say about Sorsette, I already knew most of this and I've met her myself. There was more but it's probably better to skip the rest of her section and continue on to the other gods I'm not familiar with.