Chapter 227

"How are your studies coming?" Morrigan asked as I set the book down for a moment.

I scratched the base of my horn. "There's a lot of information to take in. I've already learned a lot. Some on the gods I hadn't heard of before, like Bollide, and more on the gods that others have mentioned to me before, like Velenthel. It doesn't look like I'm even halfway through yet."

She nodded. "There is a lot to remember. And most don't even know all of the minor gods."

I rubbed my face before turning back to Morrigan. "A librarian is helping me find a book to help me identify languages for [Sightspeak]. He asked me if I would like to translate a book for him into English, my original tongue. In exchange, he said he would give us a copy of the book for me to translate and some payment for it. I'm not really sure what to look for, would you like to pick out a book that you think the two of us would both enjoy? Oh, and he said the more common or popular the book is, the better. "

Morrigan perked up at that. "Really? I'd love to!" She turned to scan over the books she had gathered but shook her head. "Let me go find something else, I'm sure I can get something that would be great!" She excitedly jumped up and left the room, on the hunt for a book. Her enthusiastic reaction made me chuckle.

Raya and Mimi were sitting in the corner together with a book between them. Raya was reading to her while she sat there staring at the pages without blinking. She was soaking up the information like a sponge. From a distance, it looked a little creepy but Raya hadn't noticed, she was just enjoying helping her out and treating Mimi like a little sister.

I smiled at the cute sight and went back to the book I was working on.

Morkinnen, God of Love and Beauty. This god is most often worshiped by commoners, artists of different disciplines, beastfolk, prostitutes, and the occasional noble. Morkinnen is most often depicted as an attractive lithe human man, a handsome muscular human man, or a man of other various standards of beauty, varying most when appearing not as a human. While he takes many forms both in his depictions and the rare times when he reveals himself to mortals, he always takes the form of a male. His personality is usually described as friendly, gentle, and caring, however, he has been known to appear before people who do not share his beliefs, giving him a reputation of being argumentative and petty. Though there are many stories of Morkinnen appearing before people, his priests generally consider most of these claims to be fictional stories from commoners that cannot be corroborated. It is unclear how often he visits mortals in person but it is likely less often than Fortuna or Sorsette but more often than many of the other gods. Morkinnen is most often associated with marriage, as a majority of commoners and nobles are wed in ceremonies dedicated to him, hoping for blessings of sustained love. Commoners who would not normally have the funds to have a marriage ceremony are often supported by his church, either through waived tithes to his church for use of their venue and priests, or even through direct support through coin set aside for this purpose through donations. Morkinnen has no issue with polygamy or same-sex marriages and his churches have come into conflict with governments or communities that ban these practices by performing these ceremonies anyway, even when it is illegal or considered morally reprehensible to do so. In such cases, he has even appeared in person to protect the new couple and help them escape from persecution, though that is exceptionally rare. Under no circumstances does this author suggest that it is a good idea for you to be wed in a church of Morkinnen where it is unsafe for you to do so. Morkinnen protects few people in such cases and especially will not if this is done intentionally to draw him out. Morkinnen's churches are also one of the few that openly welcome prostitutes, do not look down on them for their profession, and offer them services that other churches may deny. This makes Morkinnen very popular among them. Morkinnen's churches are among the most spread out of all the gods, and he most likely has the second most followers of all of the gods behind Velenthel. It is not uncommon for small towns to only have a single temple dedicated to Morkinnen, as his church's presence can help support all of a town's weddings as well as offer services such as healing, though to a lesser extent than Velenthel. Most towns that start as frontier towns with a temple dedicated to Bollide are later repurposed to temples of Morkinnen when they are abandoned for new places to explore. As a result, followers of Bollide are welcomed into temples of Morkinnen as if they were their own followers and given any of the services a traveling priest or paladin of Morkinnen may receive. It is not clear if this scheme was created by the two gods themselves or if their priests have come to an agreement independent of the gods, but neither god has stopped the long-held practice and the two groups of followers consider themselves to be close friends.

Morkinnen's section was rather long but it was one of the most interesting so far. Half of his section had a lot to do with his church's symbiotic relationship with Bollide's churches. In a way that made Bollide more appealing as a potential ally and reduced his chances to be cooperating with the Tamin church in my eyes. Though, I suppose that if not even Sorsette knew which of the gods associated with the Tamin church, it's possible for Bollide to hide it from Morkinnen as well. It didn't seem likely to me though, even after my speculation that this could be some kind of retaliation against the tribes of Zarcuda. It would be odd considering Bollide's ties with the beastfolk outside of Zarcuda. It was also a bit concerning that this section said that beastfolk were among his common worshipers but it didn't talk about Morkinnen's adversarial relationship with the Tamin church. They've been around for a long time so I'm pretty sure it was an intentional omission. I shook my head and started to read the next section.

Tellis, God of the Harvest and Determination. This god is most often worshiped by farmers, laborers, adventurers, beastfolk, and commoners outside of the major cities. He is always depicted as a beastfolk man, either a horse-kin, bull-kin, ox-kin, or other beastfolk considered to be related to "beasts of burden," though emphasizing that aspect is considered rude, especially among his followers. He is one of the more active gods in terms of giving his blessings and boons to others, but he rarely appears before anyone. In the few cases he has, it has almost always been one of his priests, paladins, or other organizational members of his temples. Unlike most of the other gods considered to be major gods, Tellis has very few temples despite his relatively large number of followers. Instead, he accepts offerings and tithes for bountiful harvests and other boons from simple shrines that farmers set up near their crops. While a majority of his followers are farmers, other people find value in his other aspect, determination. A well-timed blessing or boon from Tellis can push someone through a dangerous trial as an adventurer or help someone through an important deadline as a laborer. Tellis looks favorably on people who push their limits to achieve something, even if it's as simple as pulling a plow through their field into the night.

There wasn't much to say about this one. It's interesting that the god of the harvest is a male in this world. Harvest gods were often depicted in pop culture as female fertility idols or similar things, Velenthel seems more similar to that than this male god of the harvest. This god seems like a god of working really fucking hard. There isn't much here to tell me what possible relationship he could have with the Tamin church other than he himself is depicted as a beastkin, so they likely wouldn't approve. He seems more focused on mortals than most of the other gods.

Allerella, God of Justice and Balance. This god is most often worshiped by city and town guards, bounty hunters, elves, and nobles. They are sometimes depicted as a human man with long black hair and other times depicted as an elven woman with long blond hair. In human cultures, law enforcement and justice are primarily handled by men, and in elven cultures, law enforcement and justice are primarily handled by women, likely explaining the divide in how they are represented since this god isn't known to appear before mortals. In either case, the depiction is regional and the priests that follow this god even disagree internally on which is the true depiction. Allerella has temples in every city that is large enough to have an organized guard and most trials are judged by one of their paladins or priests. Even in cases where someone else judges a trial, such as a mayor or noble, there will always be a priest or priestess present to ensure that trials are free from corruption or lies. Allerella is well respected among the common people, if not truly liked. Allerella is most loved by guards as the god is known to provide frequent blessings and boons to them, especially in dangerous situations. Allerella's justice is not quite as simple as following the law, it is more focused on fairness and truth rather than the justice of any specific offense. Crimes that can be said to disrupt balance and increase inequality between two parties tend to be clear-cut in the church's view. Offenses such as murder, theft, destruction of property, and violation are always viewed as abhorrent to their church. For that reason, those crimes are nearly universally enforced even when the specific laws vary.

Allerella is a god that seems like they would be quite neutral at first glance but considering her connection to the law and nobles is so strong, that makes her a bit more suspicious to me than some of the others that I've read so far. Slavery is often used as a punishment in this world and this god has no apparent connection to beastfolk the same way others do which makes her seem like she wouldn't have any trouble fitting in with the rest of the Tamin church. The only thing that makes me pause is that the Tamin church comes off as a violent group, so it would strike me as odd if this god allowed the Tamin church to do some of the things I've heard them do. I've been told they murder same-sex couples, but that would be against Allerella's 'justice.' I don't know enough of the nuance of her teachings to come to any conclusions yet.

Kaelarai, Goddess of the Hunt and Serenity. This god is most often worshiped by hunters and trappers, adventurers, elves, and martial artists. She is usually depicted as a tall and thin elven woman with blue-grey skin. The few times that she has appeared before a mortal, she was described as quiet and calm, only appearing to give instructions to her head priests when they needed her guidance on her teachings. Nothing else is known about her personality. Outside of elven-held lands, most of her temples only exist in major cities. Like Tellis, Kaelarai also accepts tithes and offerings in exchange for blessings at small shrines that hunters set up, reducing the number of active temples that are necessary for her to offer blessings to her followers. Her first domain is rather straightforward, Kaelarai gives many blessings and boons to hunters and trackers as long as the hunters know not to hunt their game to extinction. This is one of the largest responsibilities of her temples, to use their powerful scrying magic to track the population of edible game and monsters. However, the tracking of monsters is for security purposes rather than maintaining a proper food source. Her other domain, serenity, relates to her teachings about the mind, self-control, and meditation. These teachings go hand in hand to promote a hunter that has both the skills and proper mindset to be effective in any situation.

An interesting goddess, she seemed like a mix of Artemis from Greek mythology and a yogi from ancient Indian traditions. There wasn't anything to go on in terms of any connection with the Tamin Priests though. She has some connection to the elves but that doesn't really say a lot since the Tamin church isn't quite as hostile to elves as they are to beastkin.

Ralethi, God of Smithing and Protection. This god is most often worshiped by smiths of all types, adventurers, soldiers, and other crafters. He is always depicted as a muscular human man with dark onyx skin. He occasionally appears before crafters while they work and gives them tips and suggestions to improve their craft. Despite his appearance often leading to ruined crafts due to the unexpected appearance of the god or through the resulting nervousness of the smith, smiths always find this to be a sign of good fortune. Ralethi is said to have a cheerful and boisterous personality, quick to laugh or to swear as his mood takes him. He usually has a temple in most major cities where smiths can trade wares and information and where young men and women look for apprenticeships with more experienced smiths. His churches also offer talismans and other tools related to his other domain, protection. The protection Ralethi offers extends to many different fields and his temples are a favorite among soldiers and adventurers looking to live longer than their fellows. While not outrageously expensive, many of the things the church sells can be higher cost than other options, but they are known to be reliable and trustworthy. As expected, Ralethi favors people who protect others and fight on the front lines. A boon or blessing received from him is likely to save the life of the recipient many times over if they are intelligent about how they fight.

Not much to say on this one, I'm almost surprised this one wasn't a dwarf based on the way things have been going. A god of smithing and protection is an interesting combination. I wonder if Tenna could tell me more about how she sees him. There isn't much here that could relate to the Tamin church either. I shrugged and kept on reading.

Felketh, God of Adversity and Strife. This god is only worshiped by demon cultists and other people with a preference for personal strength over morals. This god is rarely depicted with any specific avatar, instead, he is more associated with specific forms of symbology such as eyes, waves, slimes, and demonic images. He is not known to appear before people, however, the only people he may appear before are unlikely to share this information with others due to the nature of the people who worship him. Felketh is the god of demons and monsters, all demons and monsters are believed to be the result of his influence. It is appropriate to note that this does not include dangerous magical beasts, only monsters that drop mana cores. It is also assumed that Felketh is responsible for the creation of dungeons, but despite the potential danger these places have on nearby towns and cities, it is illegal in most countries to destroy these places due to their value in exploiting them for their resources. Felketh's domains are adversity and strife, it is for this reason that there has been some argument from scholars that Felketh plays an important role in strengthening the populace through levels and mana cores. However, this idea is unpopular due to the sheer number of people who are killed by monsters every year. Despite having a small number of followers, Felketh is considered one of the most powerful gods. It has been theorized that his power comes from people unwillingly interacting with his domains, from the number of monsters that exist in the world, or both. Followers of Felketh may try to lure you with promises of demonic power or other ways of gaining strength, but these powers often come at great cost and the banishment from civilized society if discovered. It is heavily recommended not to trust anyone who offers you such a deal and to report them to the local guards at all costs.

No surprise here when it comes to Felketh. In a way he's directly comparable to Satan, even down to being the 'adversary' and his relationship with demons. It makes some amount of sense that it would logically follow that Succubi would ordinarily be associated with him, though this world's concept of demons is a bit... exaggerated. I'm glad that I don't have anything to do with him and I count this world lucky that they didn't get a psychopath instead of me... Lucky. Is this a coincidence or yet another intentional nudge by Fortuna? I think I'm going to constantly wonder about being manipulated by her anytime anything works out in my favor...

That covers all of the major gods of this world, though there is a brief note at the bottom that reminds the reader that Erimikai, the God of War and Destruction, was a former major god that perished near the end of the War of the Gods and that he won't be covered in this book. I closed the book and set it aside. There was a lot to take in. Is it possible that the two others working with the Tamin church are minor gods? I'm not sure. I could look through the information on the minor gods too but I don't feel up to it yet. I'm going to need some time to digest all of this...