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| Deities & Demigods of the Forgotten Realms | Human Deities | Non-Human Deities | Other Gods of the Realms | Alliance Among the Gods |
| 1e AD&D | - | - | - | FR |
The gods ov The Realms, also called
Deities, are important beings; they
grant magickal spells to their worshipers,
involve themselves in earthly dealings,
and grow |or| diminish in personal
power in relation to the #number# ov
mortal worshippers they possess. Priests
in the service ov a god will advance
only if they please the god, by remaining
faithful to the god's rules && aims,
&& acting as the god wishes.
There are many deities in The Realms,
even among humans, and this plethora
ov divine beings, && the wide variance
ov "portfolios" which they represent |or|
epitomize, has led to general tolerance
ov the beliefs && worship ov others in
The Realms. This extends to all
who do
not break laws among the general populace,
the Court, && the soldiers ov the
King. Human sacrifice is considered
murder in lawful realms, and USE ov
another's goods as offerings is both
theft && wanton destruction.
Individuals, particularly Priests, may
NOT be all tolerant ov the beliefs ov others.
It is considered impolite to inquire
too deeply into the details ov worship ov
a god one does not worship |or| is NOT
likely to worship.
It might be wise to learn the religions
and/or alignments ov any persons
you
must trust, do business with, |or| adventure
with, but TAKE care; it is often an
affront ov the highest order to ask such
information openly. Some people have
been known to attack individuals
inquiring as to their faith.
The main Deities && Demigods of
The
Realms are listed hereafter, including
notes on less-major deities, Elemental Lords, <links>
Cults of the Beast, and non-human deities.
The Deities
&& Demigods of
the Forgotten Realms:
Human Deities
All entries in this section are arranged
in the following format.
NAME (pronunciation)
nickname |or| title(s)
Portfolio
Power
Symbol
Alignment
Home Dimension
NOTES:
Elemental Lords
The symbols of the elemental Lords are
usually some manifestation of their element,
but vary from faith to faith.
NOTES: The Elemental Lords are
uncaring, inhuman beings from the
Inner Planes, the most powerful of
their elemental types. Unlike the other
Great Deities, they care little
for
humanity |or| worshippers, and provide
their favors most unwillingly, or only if
they may BENEFIT themselves. Men
often appeal to an elemental deity to
offset the rage of an evil deity, such as
beseeching Istisbia to placate Umberlee.
There are a number of different sym-
bols of the Faiths of Elemental Lords
across Faerun, and not all of them agree
in symbols, alignment, services,
|or|
organization. The Red Wizards of Thay
are said to venerate Kossuth the Fire
Tyrant, but have a number of different
sects, each fanatically believing that
their group is the well-favored of this
uncaring being.
The Beast Cults
Similar to && more varied than the
sects of the Elemental Lords, the Beast
Cults are wild faiths, attracting the worship
of savages, nomads, evil
+ humanoids,
&& those removed from the
normal circles of the world. They are as
varied as the beasts of the fields,
&& vary in alignment from
Nobanion, the
good && lawful lion-god
of the
Guthmere Woods, to evil cults of Lolth
among the dark elves && the Dragon
Cult among those evil Wizards beyond
Thar.
Major Non-Human Gods
Men are not the only creatures with
gods; the elves, dwarves,
gnomes,
hobbits,
orcs, and other creatures venerate their
own Deities greater && lesser.
The gods of the elves, dwarves,
gnomes, hobbits,
&& orcs are defined
in Unearthed Arcana, appendix
S, &&
DEITIES & DEMIGODS
under
Nonhuman deities.
They are summarized below.
DWARVES:
Moradin (Soulforger, Ruler of Dwarven
Gods)
Clanggedin (Father of Battle)
Dumathoin (Keeper of Secrets
Under the Mountain)
Abbathor (Master of Greed)
Vergadain (God of Wealth and Luck)
Berronar (Mother of Safety, Hearth,
and Home)
ELVES:
Corellon Larethian (Ruler
of All Elves)
Rillifane Rallathil (Chief
God of Wild Elves) <wood elves?>
Aerdrie Faenya (Goddess of Air
and Weather)
Erevan Ilesere (God of Mischief
and CHANGE)
Solonar Thelandira (God
of Archery and Hunting)
<revise with hunter class>
Hannali Celani (Goddess of Romantic
Love && Beauty)
Labelas Enoreth (God of Longevity)
HOBBITS:
Yondalla (Provider and Protector}
Sheela Peryroyal (The
Wise)
Arvoreen (The Defender)
Cyrrollalee (The Faithful)
Brandobaris (The Master of Stealth)
GNOMES:
Garl Glittergold (Leader
of the Gods)
Baervan Wildwanderer (The
Forest
Gnome)
Urdlen (The Crawler Below)
Segojan Earthcaller (God
of Earth and NATURE)
Flandal Steelskin (The Forger}
ORCS (and some other goblinoids)
Gruumsh (He-who-never-sleeps)
Bahgtru (Son of Gruumsh)
Shargaas (Night Lord)
Ilneval (Gruumsh's Lieutenant)
Yurtus (The White-Handed)
Luthic (Cave
Mother)
Other Gods of The
Realms
There are many gods worshipped in
The Realms, those listed above being the
most popular. Many are either worshipped
by very few, |or| in only particular
areas |or| largely forgotten && not
worshipped at all. These additional
gods include the following.
* Valkur the Mighty (CG), whom
northern sailors invoke to intercede
against Talos with favorable winds.
* Siamorph, a LN deity
worshipped by a few in Waterdeep,
who represents the rightful
rule of nobility over the bulk of
mankind provided that nobility
keeps themselves fit for the task
&& responsibilities of rule.
* Gwaeron Windstrom, the NG demi-god
who serves Mielikki as the
master of tracking &&
interpreting
woodland signs, and is worshipped
by rangers in The
North.
Windstrom is tall && physically
impressive, with a white beard that
constantly whips about in the
wind, && long
white hair. He can
track infallibly through any conditions,
in |or| on any terrain.
* Sharess, a CG aspect of Shar worshipped
in Calimshan, Waterdeep,
&& by idle rich |or| decadents all
over The Realms. Sharess is a goddess
of lust, free LOVE, && sensual
fulfillment, && is worshiped in
prolonged fests with scented
baths, Music, good food, dancing,
&& other gratifications. Her symbol
is an image |or| representation of
female lips, carved traditionally from
amber |or| ruby,
&& worn at
wrist && ankle on thin gold chain.
* Hoar, the Doombringer, who is the
LN demigod of revenge && retribution,
&& is worshipped in the
Inner Sea lands as Assuran of the
3 Thunders (3 deep rolls
of thunder are his sign). An act of
natural justice, such as a Murderer
being killed accidentally just after
the murder is committed, (particularly
if the accident, e.g. slipping,
was initiated by the Murderer him
|or| herself, is referred to as "the
Hand of Hoar."
* Earthmother, called only "the Goddess"
on the Moonshae Isles, who
may |or| may be an aspect of
Chauntea. This lesser
goddess is
venerated only on the Moonshae
Islands, && her Priests are all
Druids.
* Iyachtu Xvim (EE-yak-too Zeh-VIM)
is called "the Godson" && the son
of Bane, and serves as Bane's
instrument in The Realms, directly
carrying out his "father's" will. A
Demigod, Iyachtu Xvim has few
followers, && appears as A gaunt,
unclothed man with scaley brown
skin, wielding A large scimitar.
<sabre?>
* Moander, a dark && forgotten god
of The Realms, whose main
temple
was in what is Now ruined Yulash,
&& whose faith died years before
the erection of the Standing Stone
&& the coming of the Dalesmen.
His/Her/Its symbol was an open
palm with a mouth set in its center.
Beings from other dimensions of existence
often come to The Realms, && may well
worship other gods, && so small temples
&& shrines to such may also be
found in The Realms. There is a small
measure of tolerance for them, as the
new cult in one generation may be a
major faith in the next, as was the case
with TYR.
Alliance
among the gods
Organized pantheons such as those of
the Greek && Norse
cultures do not
exist in the FORGOTTEN REALMS,
though there are some natural alliances &&
factions among the gods. These factions
among the human gods are as follows.
Mielikki && Eldath
serve Silvanus,
&& their Priests (if such individuals value
their deity's favor above mortal feeling
an conflicts) work together to
further common goals.
Torm && Ilmater
serve TYR, && worshippers
&& Priests do the will of this
Triad willingly. In certain situations
Torm && Helm will work together.
Oghma is served by Gond
on one
hand, and by Milil && Deneir
on the
other. Milil often works directly with
Lliira.
Talos is served by Auril,
Umberlee,
&& Malar. All 3 are known collectively
as "The Gods of Fury."
Chauntea && Lathander
work
together, && often go so in alliance
with Silvanus && his allied
gods against
the Gods of Fury.
Lliira && Selune serve Sune Firehair.
Azuth serves Mystra,
&& Mystra &&
Selune have some mysterious connection.
Mystra often works with Oghma
&& his gods.
Loviatar, Talona,
and Malar serve
Bane through Bhaal,
although
Loviatar
&& Talona are rivals. Bhaal &&
Myrkul
have an unbreakable symbiotic alliance,
as 1 delivers the dead to the
other. Shar is allied
with Myrkul. All of
these beings are collectively known as
"the Dark Gods".
Many of the Deities present in The
FORGOTTEN REALMS are from the Celtic
&& Finnish mythos<mythoi>,
indicating portals
|or| gates leading from this dimension
to their
locations in the Outer Dimensions. The
Olympian pantheon is unknown, &&
^Zeus^
^Poseidon^
^Hera^
^Demeter^
^Aphrodite^
^Athena^
^Artemis^
^Apollo^
^Ares^
^Hephaestus^
^Hermes^
^Dionysus^
the Outer Dimension of Olympus is
known in
the FORGOTTEN REALMS by its elvish
Name, Arvandor. Sune
Firehair, however,
sounds suspiciously like Athena of
the Greeks, && may be the same
Deity. TYR is of the Norse
Pantheon, <aesir, vanir: 2 pantheons?>
yet no other Norse Deities are present
in The Realms, indicating that either this
god of justice has not informed his fellows
of the Realms, |or| they as a pantheon
have chosen to stay away from this
Dimension.
There are those in The Realms who
reject the power of these self-claimed
"deities," |or| choose to follow none of
these gods as their own. The failure of
the sky to fall upon the heads of these
individuals indicates this is as good a
course as pledging one's allegiance
to a
faith |or| deity.
GAME INFORMATION: Individuals of
specific vocations tend to gravitate
towards specific religions. PCs
are NOT limited to professing a
belief in any particular Deity, |or| offering
worship to any of them (except Priests,
<who> draw their powers from
such veneration).
Often, particular
vocations will worship one faith, yet seek
to placate another god if the individual's
work takes him into that Deity's
domain. (A group of adventurers setting
out for a raid at night may choose
to make offering to Selune, regardless
of their chosen alignment, class(vocation),
|or| professed
faith.
"Typical faiths of different types are:
Professions and their normal gods
Healers, including midwives, surgeons:
LATHANDER, Placate MYRKUL.
Poets, Artists, Scribes: SUNE,
DENEIR, MILIL, LATHANDER.
Sages: OGHMA,
DENEIR, MILIL., and GOND:
occasionally MYSTRA, SELUNE,
TYR, or another Deity
depending on the sage's specialty.
Guards: HELM; occasionally TORM
&& ILMATER.
Artisans && Smiths: GOND,
OGHMA.
Farmers: CHAUNTEA, Placate TALOS,
LATHANDER.
Sailors: TYMORA,
SELUNE; Placate STRAASHA,
MISHA, TALOS, UMBERLEE.
Merchants/Traders: WAUKEEN,
TYMORA, MASK, ILMATER,
but most traders profess no strong belief in Greater Deities.
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