Deities

Kord the Undying
Kord the undying, master of perseverance and tactics, the steady hand that guides craftsmen, and the god who warmed the lands. He is predominantly worshipped by humans, dwarves, and golieths, each of whom claims him to be one of their own.

Legend states that Kord lived as a slave when Giants ruled over the Frostbit Coast. He worked his way up as a craftsman and helped architect the great forge of Craig Nor. Having built the damn thing, and knowing every copper pipe that tracked through the mountain, Kord developed a plan to manipulate the forge's steam to launch surprise attacks on the Giants holding Craig Nor. Having driven the Giants out and taking the forge for themselves, Kord outfitted his band of goliaths, dwarves, and humans with arms and armor still legendary today.

They pressed their advantage, but a rogue javelin pierced Kord's armor on the battlefield. Seeing his forces panic as he bled out - with his dying breath - Kord willed his soul to fuse to his suit of armor. He rallied his troops and drove the frost Giants from the lands.

He returned home to Craig Nor victorious but without a purpose. The hollow suit of armor he now occupied felt alien and cold in the northern lands. Kord took a gambit. He entered the fires of the massive forge and let his armor dissolve into it. As it melted, he wished to be one with his masterpiece. As the top of his helm melted, the forge released a bellow of steam and the frozen lands were made fertile.

Symbol: A helm, melted at the bottom

Soul Forgers
A cult of Kord that shows their devotion through the process of mending and repairing those that are broken.”Gholon is only ever as strong as our least fortunate”. The cult was founded in Ol Gholon, which still functions as the order's central point of operation.

Ghol the Behemoth
Not commonly worshiped outside of Gholon, the citizens of the duchy have elevated their former king to a demigod status, after his passing, that champions boldness and guardianship. Followers believe in doing what is right, regardless the personal cost, and that strength comes from unity and community. The faith formed initially from a minor cult guarding the former King's ever-flaming standard. The cult gained prominence when it rode north, carrying the banner, to hold back the northern incursions. The legion of was waylaid in a rocky pass, and outnumbered twenty to one, by a horde of knolls headed south to ravage the newly established kingdom. Legend holds that a miracle occurred when the centurion, one of the last thirty out of the original hundred still standing, drove the banner into the ground in order to defend one of his comrades. Survivors of the battle spoke of the clouds parting and a phantom legionary force descending upon the battlefield from the sky. The soldiers that survived were spell touched by the event, becoming the first Aasimarians.

The centurion, and the surviving legionaries, heroic return was celebrated in Ol Gholon. The centurion, Korivian Bride, was elevated to a Count for his role in saving the kingdom. He used his estate to fund a memorial to his fallen comrades by building a fortress to defend the mountain pass where they fell. Ghol's standard was stored within the main tower. When invaders approached, it was raised within the tower, its flames forming the beacon that warned the realm of northern intrusions.

Symbol: A flaming banner

Knights of Beacon
The Order of Beacon was initially formed as a cult charged with the guardianship of relics belonging to the former king. The fortress established by Korivan Bride that became known as Beacon quickly gained prestige and renown among the Gholian nobility. With many lords sending their sons and daughters to serve, the fortress quickly began functioning as a military training academy, thus forming the Order of Beacon.

Rhiga, the Madness Below
The entity of death, the depths, and madness that was worshiped by miners held as slaves by the giants. Early practitioners were believed to have snapped from madness due to the grueling conditions in the mines, though some whispered that the faith began when some found old carvings within the deeper pockets of the mine. The faith, however, took off like a wild fire, with practitioners preaching the salvation of Rhiga's impending apocalypse. Rhiga is believed to be the voice that comes in the deepest of places or the darkest of dreams.

Symbol, a skull with a single eye in the middle

Bleak Walkers
The mysterious cult that has reemerged from the depths to preach an ever coming doom. Rumors suggest that the cult is using ancient tombs and crypts in Windskeep, Ninth, and Aeyr to perform Rhiga's rites.

Diera, Mistress of Spiders and Song Birds
The goddess of spiders and song birds, and the master of trade, possess an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Her followers, through trade, academics, and craft provide for her endless appetite through discovery. Diera's goal is to bring light to the world and know all there is. Her missionaries build schools to educate small peasant hamlets. Her clerics manage shrines that act as guilds for trade, that her code helps facilitate. Diera is one of many elven gods that has gained prominence amongst human merchants and nobles.

Symbol: A Crow with the eyes of a spider

Librarians of the Grove
The cult is composed of members of the Dryad's Grove and other such elven libraries. Service within the order is for life and in most cases afterlife. Membership therefore is fairly exclusive, keeping to those willing to make this sacrifice. Natural death serves as an initiation step within the order, with members eventually transcending from a kith existence to one as a dryad. This state attunes the former member with the forest, and thereby with every book within the library. This allows them to serve as perfect librarians, given their remarkable ability to remember all volumes and content stored within the library.

Amharites
Amharitism is the adaptation of the Dieraian faith on the Frostbit Coast. This branch of the faith has adopted significantly more structure than the elven counterpart, forming a 'Confucian-esc' hierarchical system based off of the roles necessary for administrating the faith's trade branches and academies. The faith is overseen by an Innate who is chosen from the Council of Wisdom. Members of the Council serve as advisors to high nobles living in Ashford Isle, Duchy of Ior, and Duchy of Nim't. Elevation and placement within the order is determined through exams held every 8 years that can only be taken by those who have held lower educator posts. Those posts are filled by graduates of the academy or esteemed foreigners.

Prerodyna, the Reclamation Queen
Prerodyna, the Reclamation Queen rules over what was and what will be. Elves worship her as the mother of the fey wilds and the embodiment of nature itself. She oversees natures' return and reclamation of land tainted by kith, upholding the necessary balance to creation and life. She is a popular deity among elven druids, rangers, and those who see civilization as a force for destruction. She holds her court in the deepest reaches of the fey wilds.

Symbol: A crown made of antlers and vines

Ohotian, Lord of the Endless Hunt
Elves believe that Ohotian is the first son of the Reclamation Queen. He embodies the spirit of the hunt. the eternal dance between predator and prey, and the will to survive. His followers believe that one at all times is both the prey and the predator and that only through struggle can they hone their senses and sharpen the claws and avoid their fate for one more day. They believe that Ohotian honors the cunning, the bold, and fierce. The faith is especially popular in militant elven circles.

Symbol: A panther chasing its tail

Kalanthye, the Eye of the Storm
Elven songs tell tales of Kalanthye once walking the lands among them as a common mortal mage during the times of struggle. The elves were on the brink of destruction but Kalanthye found a way into the Elemental Chaos. There, she drank from the primordial pools, absorbing its power and fueling hers. Songs tell of her driving the threat back but being forever altered by her sacrifice. Unable to safely contain the power on the mortal plane, the now goddess exiled herself to the Frostfell. There, on an empty plateau of ice, the warrior monk meditates, channeling excess energy to her followers. Elves see Kalanthye as the mother of wild magic and storm sorcery. She embodies selflessness, ambition, and the wild nature of storms and fires.

Symbol: Ball lightning bursting into flames on a plateau of ice