Athania

Athania is a polythiestic society -- meaning that most of the people believe in and pay homage to several gods. To the people of Athania, there are six gods that control all life under the sun. These gods are Silvaria, Goddess of the Earth; her sister Wystina, Goddess of the Forest; Zoltair, Lord of the Seas; the father of the gods, Asu, whom is Lord of the Skies, Sun, Moon, and Stars; Nagesh, Father of Death, and Pandora; Maid of Misfortune.

The gods play an active part in the day to day affairs of Athania. Not only do they have worshippers in general, but each god has an active church, and a number of clergymen dedicated to following, preaching, and expanding the influence of that god throughout the land. Furthermore, it's not uncommon for the higher ranking priests to have special abilities and powers -- similar to a wizard or a sorceror. But the priest's powers are derived from the worship of their god, and that god usually exacts unconditional and complete service in return. I'll describe briefly each god, and the followers that god tends to attract. I'll also touch briefly on the major clergy of that god, and any special powers that are known to be granted to the priests of that order.

Silveria

Probably the most common religion in Athania is Silvanism. The Silvanists worship Silvaria, Goddess of the Earth. Also known as the Earth Mother, Silvaria is the god of peasants and farmers -- the commonfolk. It is for Silvaria that the farmers bury the first bushel of crop that they harvest each year, in return for her generosity. The priests of Silvaria wear brown robes tied with a rope belt. The color of the belt represents the priest's station within the church -- white for the novitiates, green for the acolytes, and finally yellow for the high priests. Among the special powers granted to priests of Silvaria are the ability to grow a wall of vegetation and plantlife within the space of a few minutes; to conjure forth creatures of mud and earth to fight by the side of the priest if she is in peril; and to actually change the structure of stone such that the priest can literally pass right through it.

Wystina

Wystina is the Goddess of the Forest, and is known by her followers as The Emerald Lady. Not only is she protector of the trees, but actually she is the deity of all wildlife in general. Hunters, trappers, and traders all pay homage to Wystina, for it is only with her blessing that they may take game from the woodlands and plains. The priests of Wystina wear common clothing, but are almost always dressed in something with shades of green. The ceremonial garb of the priests are green silk hooded robes and sandals. There are no temples to Wystina per se, for she is a wildland deity, and it is in the wilds that the priests gather to worship her. It is not uncommon to come across a Wystina service within a grassy meadow or a clearing in a forest -- usually a few dozen or so people sitting on the ground and listening to a soft-spoken priest. The priests of Wystina have an uncanny ability to commune with nature. They can listen to the song of the wind, which carries the voices of the trees, and thus communicate with the forest itself. It is also said they can hear the thoughts of most animals, and in cases where the animal is intelligent, even give them simple suggestions -- for a Wystina priest would never command an animal to do anything.

Zoltair

The seafaring folk worship Zoltair, Lord of the Sea -- also known as The Old Salt Man. Zoltair is a fickle god -- as equally likely to grant favor as misfortune. The people who make their living on the sea know this -- and respect and revere him for it. The fishermen, the merchants, even the pirates -- all pay their respects to Zoltaire. When a calm day suddenly turns into a ship-breaking squall with the wind so strong it rips the breath from your mouth and tears your mainmast clean from the deck -- you know you have offended Zoltair. Like Wystina, you will find few temples to Zoltair -- but there are plenty of clergy. Usually each ship will have a priest of Zoltair as a regular part of the crew. The priest has no function on the ship save one -- to bring the blessings of Zoltair upon the ship and her crew. And this is not a trivial task, for the priest of Zoltair is in possession of some amazing abilities with respect to the sea. The priest can actually change the weather for better or worse slightly -- making the breeze blow on a becalmed day, or reducing a gale that would tear a ship apart to merely a storm that the ship has a chance to weather. Furthermore, the Zoltairian priest has a feel for the ocean. He can detect reefs or sandbars hidden beneath the surface of the water, allowing captains to steer clear of them. He can judge the depth of the ocean simply by putting his hand in it. Finally, it is said that a Zoltair priest can never drown as long as his faith is strong -- for the blessing of his god actually allows him to breathe under the water, as if he were a fish.

Asu

The father of the gods is Asu, Lord of the Skies, Sun, Moon and the Stars. Just as Silvaria is the god of the commonfolk, so Asu is the lord of the nobility. Known as the Lightbringer, Asu is worshiped by the upper crust of society. The fashionable, the noble, and the gentry all gather once a week to gossip, socialize, and mingle under the guise of paying homage to the Lord Asu. There are numorous temples to Asu throughout Athania -- especially in the larger cities. However, the clergy in service to Asu take the job of paying service to Asu very seriously -- for as the father of the gods, he is also perhaps the most powerful -- and for those that are truly dedicated to expanding his influence, he can be most generous. For instance, the priests of Asu can create light out of thin air, calling it forth at will -- as little as a flicking candle to as bright as the noon day sun. If the priest is in peril, he can cause any one single object to literally burst into flame -- this includes people. The higher ranked the priest, the larger the object he can cause to burn. Finally, the priests of Asu have the power of levitation -- the ability to suspend themselves or an object of their choice in the air -- even to lift it and move it slowly from one place to another.

Nagesh

The god of death is Nagesh -- sometimes referred to as The Dark One. Nagesh is powerful in his own right -- for it is he that presides over the afterlife and the unliving. It is said that when you die, your spirit passes into Mortania, the realm of Nagesh. If you have been truly good in life, you may be allowed to pass through Mortania and go to Nevania, where your spirit will dwell the rest of its days in joy and harmony. But if you have not, you will remain in Mortania forever, a slave of Nagesh and his minions. Those that worship Nagesh do so in the hopes of being granted positions of power and dominence in the realm of Mortania when they die. There are numerous temples to Nagesh throughout the land -- dark, wretched buildings where the priests practice horrible rituals with human sacrifices in deference to their god. While the priests of other faiths may have the ability to turn or command undead, only the priests of Nagesh can actually create undead. That is, to actually cause the corpse of a man to rise up out of the grave in the form of a zombie, or to cause the ancient bones of a long dead soldier to suddenly spring to life and fight again. Additionally, the priests of Nagesh have a number of other powers that befit their dark nature. The priests can actually drain the life out of another living being, by holding their victim's head between their hands, and add that life force to their own. And it is said that the higher level priests can actually cause a man's heart to stop beating out right with but a single spoken word. Nageshian priests have both clerics and soldiers within their ranks. The clerics usually wear black robes embroidered with a large red starburst -- the symbol of their god. The soldiers, referred to as black paladins, wear black platemail and usually wield a long sword and a black shield emblazoned with the same symbol.

Pandora

The final deity in the Athanian pantheon is Pandora, Maid of Misfortune. She is the goddess of ill luck and bad weather. When you open up your storage shed and find redwelt mites have infested your entire wheat crop -- or when milk less than a day old goes sour -- this is Pandora's handiwork. Only women are allowed within the clergy of Pandora -- and it is a requirement that they be beautiful beyond belief even to enter. The Priestesses of Pandora will often cast aside hopeful entrants to their order, deeming them unworthy based solely on their appearance. The Priestesses of Pandora are called Ladies of Misery, and they delight in bringing such to all they encounter. Usually dressed in scant clothing that leaves little to the imagination, they will seduce, bribe and trick their way into people's lives, and then inevitably do something to cause that person irreperable harm or humiliation. The priestesses of Pandora can actually change the nature of chance events -- making them either more or less likely -- depending on which way in their mind will cause the most damage. For example, say a farmer is in the tavern one night gambling. His luck is down, and he has literally bet the farm. If the farmer loses, he loses his farm, everything. But say that farmer also knows that if he loses the farm, he is also free of the debt that accompanies it. And that debt is such that the farmer actually desires to lose. A priestess of Pandora could see straight into that farmer's heart and know that the farmer perceives that losing would be to his benefit. If the priestess were present during the gambling, you can believe that he would win every hand. Beautiful, devious, and treacherous -- that is a Priestess of Pandora.