==== Pantheon of Vorus ==== [ [[Religions]] ] The Pantheon of Vorus is the official religion held in [[South Vorus]]. The Voran Pantheon consists of 12 deities who are in charge of the world and who have intrigue and mystery between them as well. Non-priestly followers of the pantheon do not follow a single deity, but rather worship different gods from the pantheon at different times, as appropriate. That said, most have a favoured deity with whom they have the most interaction. Priests of the pantheon always follow a specific deity, but do not compete with one another. Thus, despite the rivalries between, say, Raya-Thu and Aex, priests of these deities can get along. Possibly not warmly over the theological differences, but they recognize that each has their place, a favor generally not extended to gods of other religions. ==== Tenets of the Faith ==== Followers of the Pantheon of Vorus do not have many formal requirements placed upon them by their religious beliefs. The faithful visit temples not out of an obligation for regular visitation and in fact, shrines and temples do not generally offer communal services. Rather the faithful make specific, individual arrangement with the different deities. For example, a farmer who's wife is visiting her sister several days travel away might go to the shrine of [[Aelus]] to pray for her safe return. He would bring a chicken from his farm and have it sacrificed at the shrine by a priest. In exchange for the sacrifice, Aelus would then protect his wife and ensure her safe return. Priests pay a key role in helping the faithful ensure they are with the correct deity for their request and that their sacrifice is reasonable for the request they are making (a chicken is appropriate to protect a farmers wife during a trip, but it might be too little to ensure victory in a duel, for example). Priests are also the ones who carry out the sacrifice itself. Sometimes deities break deals that were concocted at a temple. For example, the farmers wife might still get robbed during the trip. In such a case, someone likely made the Gods a better offer. For example, the person who robbed the farmers wife may have offered a great sacrifice to [[Shami]]. Then Shami and Aelus may have reached a deal in turn to have the wife robbed, but not killed. Sacrifices do not have to take the form of animals. Incense and candle burning is a common sacrifice for minor requests, and other sacrifices include food, herbs and spices, slaves and jewelry. Not all sacrifices are appropriate - a sacrifice that is overly valuable for a minor request or one that is unfitting for the relevant deity might not just be rejected, it might offend the God to whom it is offered. Priests can offer helpful advise to avoid such problems. As a special option, priests may ask for favors on behalf of someone else. Thus, the farmer might ask the priest to request the safe return of his wife instead of himself. This is especially useful when the farmer has in the past offended [[Aelus]], who might therefore be more inclined to honour a deal with the priest than a deal with the farmer. In such a case, the farmer would pay the priest in addition to the sacrifice itself, usually a single gold piece, though it depends on the priest and the request (highly positioned priests have more favor with their deity and therefore can ask more for the service). ==== Relations with other Faiths ==== Unlike the [[Ecclesia]] faith, the Pantheon of Vorus demands no religious conversion. It does not deny the existence of other Gods, however it holds that the [[Spirits of Nature]] are unreachable for mortals and therefore there is no use in worshiping them and that the [[Ecclesia]] God has delusions of grandeur thinking himself the only true God. ==== Religious Presence in the city of Duirt ==== The Pantheon of Vorus does not maintain large temples, as religion simply is not as big as it is in [[Eccles]]. Rather, there are various shrines scattered all over the [[East Quarter]] where the Gods can be prayed to and where sacrifices can be made. Each deity has at least one small shrine in the city, and some have several. Priests of the faith often stay with a specific shrine, but this is not required - there is no general religious authority that dictates the lives of priests and instead they are free to move to a different shrine, travel the world or bring religion into people's homes as they see fit. ==== List of Voran Gods ==== ^^ Deity ^^ Title ^^ Domains ^^ Favoured Weapon ^^ Alignment ||[show:details] || [[Aelus]] || The Seafarer || Evil, Ocean, Travel, Water || Trident || Neutral Evil ||Deities: || [[Aex]] || The Watcher || Good, Knowledge, Protection || Quarterstaff || True Neutral || || [[Alurt]] || The Mage || Air, Law, Magic || Shortsword || Lawful Neutral || || [[Ekal]] || The Witch || Plant, Storm, Sun, Weather || Quarterstaff || Neutral Good || || [[Mythos]] || The Keeper || Animal, Community, Nobility || Quarterstaff || Lawful Neutral || || [[Ovusa]] || The Dragontamer || Chaos, Fire, Scalykind || Lance || Chaotic Good || || [[Qzia]] || The Deep || Earth, Luck, Rune || Heavy Pick || Lawful Neutral || || [[Raya-Thu]] || The Thinker || Charm, Madness, Mind || Dagger || Neutral Evil || || [[Shami]] || The Trickster || Healing, Liberation, Seafolk, Trickery || Dagger || Lawful Neutral || || [[Temperia]] || The End || Darkness, Death, Repose || Sap || Lawful Neutral || || [[Wsaryi]] || The Creator || Artifice, Creation, Destruction || Light Hammer || Lawful Good || || [[Wutysa]] || The Slayer || Glory, Strength, War || Greataxe || Chaotic Neutral ||[/show]