Gods of Malachi

[The following post is copied from the relevant email.]

Hi folks, some of you are playing clerics and had questions about deities in this gameworld, so here's a rundown of the most important ones (common knowledge that all of you would either know or be able to find easily.) Clerics usually need to be no more than one alignment step away from their god (so if the god is lawful good, a cleric can normally only be LG, LN, or NG,) but anybody can worship any god or gods they want regardless of alignment (although they run the risk of getting smote or something if they keep praying to a god whose tenets they blatantly violate.)

Malachi is generally a very polytheistic world. Most people have one patron god they venerate predominantly, but others have two or more, and some have no particular religious affiliation and make offerings to individual gods only when it seems relevant to them. There are more gods in the gameworld than are previously defined by me, so you are also welcome (within reason) to make up one of your own. I am mostly steering away from real-world imports, so no Catholic priests or clerics of Zeus, et al.

If you don't like walls of background text, don't feel obliged to commit this to memory or anything. It's mostly only important if you're actually going to BE a cleric.

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The most important gods of Malachi you're aware of include:

1) Tallian
(LG), the sun god. The most broadly worshipped deity on Malachi. Nearly every community has devotees of Tallian in it. There's a lot of variance between Tallian sects, though all stress personal righteousness and venerate the sun. In some parts of Malachi the church of Tallian is more monotheistic, rejecting all other gods as unrighteous, but in most of the world, including the Duchy of Peraine where you are right now, the clergy of Tallian collaborate closely with other faiths. There is a church of Tallian in the Tyldon Hall district of Hastenport, uptown.

2) Raija
(NG), the earth mother. The most widely worshipped deity after Tallian. Her domains include agriculture and the family; she is often invoked in weddings, harvest festivals, etc. There is a temple of Taija in the Westmarket district of Hastenport.

3) Alayan
(N), the god of Death. The third major god of Malachi, like Tallian and Raija he is worshipped almost everywhere, but his cults are smaller and more specialized in many of them, sometimes relegated just to funerary rites (though he plays a more important role in regions with strong traditions of ancestor worship.) There is a temple of Alayan in the Docks district of Hastenport.

4) Altaris
(NG), the goddess of mercy and redemption. Churches of Altaris are known for their charity work and as places of asylum. There is a church of Altaris in the Grey Citadel district, headed by Sister Astilla.

5) Fantarin
(N), the god of magic and knowledge. Wiazards, sages, and occultists both good and bad often claim Fantarin as a patron deity. He is also known as the Lord of Shadows and the Great Mystery; his devotees are known as Seekers. There is a House of Fantarin in the Grey Citadel district, headed by Petros Alaric.

6) Sesharet
(CN), goddess of storms and the sea. Generally worshipped only in coastal areas, especially by sailors and fishermen. She has a reputation as a dangerous and unpredictable mistress, and her worship is marked by a lot of superstition. Her name is also rendered as Seshara or Seshareth. There is a temple of Sesharet in the Docks district of Hastenport.

7) Mara
(LN), goddess of honor and war. Her worship is especially popular among soldiers and police. "Mara" is one of the most common women's names on Malachi, due to the belief that the goddess sometimes smites those who dishonor her namesakes. There is a temple of Mara in the Tyldon Hall district of Hastenport.

8) Latham
(N) is one of several regional gods of trade and wealth. Latham is local to Peraine and is the patron deity of the Duke's family, so he is popular in the duchy, especially among merchants. There is a temple of Latham in the Westmarket district of Hastenport.

9) Dayanu
(CG), god of rain and change. He is depicted as Raija's husband and is primarily worshipped by farmers.

10) Jostand
(LN), god of hard work and success. He is especially popular among craftsmen. Jostand's dogma dictates that all people are inherently useful if they put their mind to it, so temples of Jostand tend to be rather socially inclusive.

11) Lyra
(CG), goddess of music and the arts. Worshipped primarily by bards.

12) Mikkei
(LE), goddess of vengeance. There aren't many temples or clerics of this fearsome deity, but she is often invoked in oaths, and taking her name in vain can have very negative consequences.

13) Rathak
(CE), the Trickster, associated with fertility and deceit. In mythology, he is known for shapechanging and a variety of socially inappropriate sexual exploits. Rathak is well known throughout the land but has few stylings of organized religion, or organized anything else. He is a being of pure chaos and may be helpful one moment and pointlessly cruel the next. He is said to be recognizable by his white left eye, which never changes color no matter what form he's in.

14) Lady Kell
(N), goddess of luck. Her worship is less common in the duchy of Peraine, but she is popular in some other regions. Despite being favored by rogues and gamblers, she is a rather grim and eldritch goddess usually depicted holding a balance.

15) Corrigar
(NE), god of pestilence and sorrow. People usually sacrifice to him to keep such ailments AWAY from their families, though there are presumably some cults out there actively celebrating pestilence.

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There are also lesser-known deities (like Tessera, who you came across last adventure, who was a goddess of dreams from an older era), cultic deities (like Sholaith, the idol from the elemental plane of earth you found Genevieve and Arthon worshipping), the deities of other races (Lolth, the drow goddess, is a rare example of one I just lifted straight from an earlier iteration of D&D), demon lords and old fey gods like the Morrigan who are worshipped by some people, mortals who ascended to demigod status and have a religious following, etc.

Hope that is interesting to some of you. Game on,

Laura