Pantheon: The Six-And-One

[Zeropoint]

This is my first attempt at a pantheon for my homebrew fantasy world. Critique, steal, or mock as you see fit.

 

The Unseen and Uncreated made the world for a reason or reasons which the Unseen and Uncreated did not see fit to reveal in full. To carry out the Divine Plan, the Unseen and Uncreated created the gods and gave them guidelines engraved in steel plates. The writings on these plates has never been revealed to mortals.

 

The Divine Plan seems to indicate that the cosmos exists for the benefit of mortals. Over time, some of the gods came to resent this, and sought to work for their own benefit and enjoyment.

 

The Six-And-One:

 

The Triple Goddess: Maid, Mother, and Crone

She/they is/are in responsible for the continuation of life and society. Not flashy, but as the patron deity/deities of families, birth, children, and the hearth, very important. Created Elves to take care of plants. Element: Earth, which endures and sustains.

 

The Reader

She protects the steel tablets of the Divine Plan, and is convinced that she's the only one who really understands them. Commonly depicted with glasses and four arms (one for each tablet). She created the Formics*, apparently to have someone who would sympathize with her. She is the patron deity of Being On The Same Page and Doing Things By The Book. Can't stand the Trickster. Element: Light, which illuminates.

 

The Trickster

He's the god of change, of chance, of things not being like they were a while ago. He does not acknowledge the distinction between the serious and the humorous, and seems to view all of existence as a single, elaborate cosmic joke which he takes seriously. Thinks the Reader is a stuck-up geek who's missing the point. The only consistent factors in his appearance are his glasses and his grin. Created Humans because he thought they'd be interesting. Element: Water, which is never the same twice.

 

Note: both the Reader and the Trickster are completely dedicated to the fulfillment of the Divine Plan as they see it, and share a deep underlying respect for each other. They just don't understand each other and butt heads a lot. Don't expect either of them to admit that respect, though.

 

Death

All mortal lives must end, and Death makes sure that this happens as smoothly as possible. She allowed herself to be killed so that she could understand the mortal experience, and of all the gods is the most sympathetic to mortals. Appears as a sadly smiling female of the same species as whoever is looking at her. Element: Darkness, which conceals and allows rest.

 

The Triple God: Smith, Sage, and Judge

As the Smith, god of all forms of creation, whether art, science, or industry. Any who labor to make the world a better place are his children. As the Sage, he records what is and remembers what was, and strives to understand the relations of all things. As the Judge, he delivers harsh justice to that which fails to measure up. His/their domains are creation, sustaining, and destruction. Husband(s) to the Triple Goddess. Element: Fire, which forges, warms, and consumes.

 

Destiny

Everything that happens fits together into a pattern. He's the one who understands it, and maybe even guides it. He's a bit aloof from the others, but his insight is valuable. Commonly depicted looking into the distance. Element: Air, which touches everything but is never seen.

 

The Stranger

One day, the other gods noticed that he (she?) had been standing there for a while. No one knows where the Stranger came from: some say he was created at the same time as the other gods, but avoided notice at first. Others say he was created later, after the conflict started. Still others say that he was already there, or that he came from Somewhere Else. In any case, the Stranger is an impartial observer, noticing everything, and saying little. The Stranger's neutrality allows synthesis of otherwise incompatible viewpoints. Universally depicted as a figure in a hooded cloak which allows no view of his face. Element: Void, which is obviously important, even if no one really knows why.

 

 

*Formics: a race of insectoid beings which live underground. They have four arms and four legs. They don't think like the mammal races do--the good of the hive is their first and last concern.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Pantheon: The Six-And-One

 

Looks solid so far. Do you have any ideas about this pantheon's mythology, or how its adherents worship?

[Vanguard00]

Re: Pantheon: The Six-And-One

 

I like all the descriptions thus far except for maybe the two triple deities. Having two of 'em seems a bit...I don't know. Unwieldy, maybe. Contrived, I guess. I dunno.

 

Okay, a few minutes later, now. The Triple Goddess is fine and dandy. I like her/them. There's both literary and mythological bases for her. The Triple God, however, is the one that doesn't sit right with me. If anything he should simply be an All Father type of god. Smith, Sage and Judge aren't the most commonly associated aspects, either.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do indeed like all the ideas. It's just that Triple God thing that's kinda buggin' me. But it's just my opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt (preferably followed by a shot of Patrón).

[Zeropoint]

Re: Pantheon: The Six-And-One

 

Not really, at the moment. I'm working with the assumption that these are the major (first-generation) "good" gods, and that there is a group of "evil" gods and a group of neutral gods as well. (Stealing a page from Tolkein: "evil" = "not acting in harmony with The Plan")

 

It seems that before I can determine how their followers will worship them, I need to figure out how the gods interact with the world. I know pretty much what Death does--whenever someone dies, she's there to explain things, and to comfort them; to help them come to terms with the transition. She's also there to enforce The Plan if someone tries to run*. Furthermore, she dislikes undead, particularly sapient undead**. Liches--mortals who have figured out how to keep their soul in their body after dying--are special targets of her ire.

 

Given this, I think that most people wouldn't want to think about her very much most of the time--we mortals are rather attached to our lives, while we have them. Those who were nearing the end of their lives might pray to her, either for a little more time, or for an easy passing, or for an end to suffering. Hmm. Now that I think about it, folks might pray to her for solace in general, because she's demonstrated that she really understands and cares about mortal suffering.

 

Worship of the Triple Goddess, on the other hand, would be much more wide-spread. Everyone who had a mother knows what she's about, and I'd expect to find a small shrine in her honor in pretty much every household. People would gather at her temples to thank her for the bounty of the earth in autumn, and to pray for blessings for the fields in spring.

 

Somehow, it seems like I had this stuff worked out more than I thought I did. Strange.

 

In more general terms, people have a general understanding that there's a Plan for the world, and if everyone follows it, things will be better than if they don't. Exactly what that Plan is, is pretty vague, but it seems to have something to do with contributing your own individual talents to the great tapestry of mortal existence, to the benefit of all involved. History bears this out in that those who start to consider only themselves frequently come to bad ends, and invariably cause harm and suffering to those around them. (are shades of my own philosophy showing here?)

 

Since the gods are all working together to keep things running smoothly, people will acknowledge all of them, praying to each of them as they have specific thanks or requests. Some people will feel a particular connection with one god, and give more attention to that one, but no reasonable person would deny the existence or power of the others.

 

One major difference between my world and most fantasy worlds is that there are no "divine casters". Of course, some priests are also sorcerors, but they cast spells the same way anyone else does. Divine assistance is either much more subtle (your crops grow a little better than they otherwise would have, it's a little easier to stay calm than it should be, some guy you don't recognize makes a pithy comment that happens to contain the key to a problem you've been working on) or more overt (a full-blown angel appears and puts a holy smackdown on a maurading demon) than that.

 

I guess I'll post more when I have it.

 

Any thoughts that people have would be appreciated.

 

Zeropoint

 

EDIT: Darn, forgot my footnotes.

 

* The souls of the dead are granted three sunrises and three sunsets to make their peace with their fate before moving on, although they are not required to wait that long if they don't want to. Ressurection is technically possible during that time, albiet difficult and highly irregular. After the soul has moved on, however, it takes a straight-up Miracle to bring someone back. Some people either can't understand that they're dead, or refuse to accept it, and try to escape and continue existing on the mortal plane. Death is responsible for tracking them down and taking them in, which she doesn't really like doing.

 

** Non-sapient undead, like your garden-variety zombies and skeletons, aren't a big issue with Death because (in my world) they don't actually involve the soul of the departed. She finds them irritating and feels that they tarnish her reputation, though. Liches, on the other hand . . . don't get her started. They're deliberately flying in the face of her part of The Plan. She considers this a personal affront.

[Zeropoint]

Re: Pantheon: The Six-And-One

 

I like all the descriptions thus far except for maybe the two triple deities. Having two of 'em seems a bit...I don't know. Unwieldy, maybe. Contrived, I guess. I dunno.

 

Okay, a few minutes later, now. The Triple Goddess is fine and dandy. I like her/them. There's both literary and mythological bases for her. The Triple God, however, is the one that doesn't sit right with me. If anything he should simply be an All Father type of god. Smith, Sage and Judge aren't the most commonly associated aspects, either.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do indeed like all the ideas. It's just that Triple God thing that's kinda buggin' me. But it's just my opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt (preferably followed by a shot of Patrón).

 

To be honest, I see that as a weak point, too. What I was going for was a creator/sustainer/destroyer motif, but I don't think I captured it very well. I specifically wanted a group of three male, three female, and one that didn't quite fit, and put in a triple god to balance the triple goddess. That may not have been necessary.

 

I should note that the Stranger is stolen from George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series, and the idea of a triple god comes from him, too.

 

Zeropoint

[Vanguard00]

Re: Pantheon: The Six-And-One

 

How 'bout...um...three brother gods, each with their own aspect (smith, sage and judge, or whatever), and have each of the brothers be married to one aspect of the Triple Goddess. She moves from house to house (i.e. her representative stars/moons/whatever move across the night sky) as her aspects ascend and descend.

 

Okay, yeah, it needs work but that was just off the top of my head.

[Erkenfresh]

Re: Pantheon: The Six-And-One

 

I knew I was picking up a tinge of Song of Ice and Fire in there.

 

I would have to agree that the triplets are a bit odd. In Feast for Crows, that one dude talks about how the Cobbler blessed him with tough feet. Then he proceeds to explain that the Cobbler is one possible aspect of the Smith. Maybe that's what your going for, I'm not really sure. But, if that's the case, you could make the alternate aspects much less known to the common population.

 

Think also of Catholicism where we believe in the Holy Trinity. It's comprised of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are all three unique parts and yet all one at the same time. I can't explain it, but it's beyond human comprehension. However, a similar thought may apply to your pantheon.

[Zeropoint]

Re: Pantheon: The Six-And-One

 

I thought about this a little more, and I've decided to drop the "triple god" thing. Instead, we'll have The Smith, who creates things according to The Plan, and destroys things that don't fit The Plan. His element will still be fire.

 

This gets the creator/destroyer aspect that I wanted, without cluttering things up with another three-for-the-price-of-one deity. I'm dropping the "sage" part completely, because it seems to unnecessarily duplicate functions of the Crone and the Reader (a name I'm not sure about. the Keeper?)

 

 

I would have to agree that the triplets are a bit odd. In Feast for Crows, that one dude talks about how the Cobbler blessed him with tough feet. Then he proceeds to explain that the Cobbler is one possible aspect of the Smith. Maybe that's what your going for, I'm not really sure. But, if that's the case, you could make the alternate aspects much less known to the common population.

 

Think also of Catholicism where we believe in the Holy Trinity. It's comprised of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are all three unique parts and yet all one at the same time. I can't explain it, but it's beyond human comprehension. However, a similar thought may apply to your pantheon.

 

I seem to recall that that particular priest stated that just as the Cobbler is one aspect of the Smith, the Smith is in turn one aspect of a single deity, who has chosen The Seven as a means of revelation to humanity.

 

Hey, some more thoughts just crystallized in my head: While the Reader and Death (AKA "The Lady of Sorrow) are gods that happen to be female, the Triple Goddess is explicitly a goddess OF the female, in various aspects. The Smith (my version) then becomes to some extent a specific god of the male. Together, they provide the complete create/sustain/destroy cycle. What this says about my subconscious views of gender roles, or gender roles in my campaign world, I don't feel like exploring at the moment.

 

I've also got a nice symmetry going, with two trios and three pairs: three male, three female; the husband-and-wife pair of the Smith and the Triple Goddess, the squabbling siblings of the Reader and the Trickster, and Death and Destiny, united in . . . um . . . their view of what must come. That might need some polishing. Doomed lovers?

 

And, of course, the Stranger. What exactly is he doing there, anyway? Is he an univited guest, or does he have some important but undisclosed role to play? It's just too mysterious . . .

 

Anyway, I think this is taking some kind of useful shape. Thanks for the input, guys. I hope this stuff can be useful to someone, if only as interesting food for thought.

 

Zeropoint

[Erkenfresh]

Re: Pantheon: The Six-And-One

 

The Stranger could be anything:

- A spy for the evil gods

- The diety of balance, nothingness, or neutrality

- A creation by the other gods as a side effect of other creations they've done

 

I could go on, but I'm tired.