Fire Deities of the Elemental Tetratheon

Yesterday I described the earth deities of the Tetratheon, today I describe the fire deities.

I did have a couple surprises while working on this. The biggest one was while I was working on Sjajan. Originally my focus was in a different direction, but while trying to figure out what her servants might be called and exploring words associated with sun and light my brain went something like, “shining, shiny… no, shinies… Kaylee!” and I ended up completely rewriting the description to incorporate some elements of my favorite Firefly character.

God of Fire

Spaljivan

• Domains Fire, Sun, Knowledge, Nobility
• Alignment Neutral Good
• Chosen Weapon Battle axe
• Symbol Flaming crown

This god of fire guides mortals and leads the gods, fractious though that relationship can be.

Fire is a tool used by mortals, and Spaljivan is often among them unseen. Almost any fire or flame could be a means of reaching him.

His holy places are always warm. In the cold lands they are well-heated with fires and braziers, in warmer lands large windows allow the passage of light and warmth.

Daily prayers are offered at dusk when new fires are often lit for light and warmth.

Mortal servants of Spaljivan are known as Brands, for the mark they wear of their god.

It has been said he manifests as a man with black hair and burning eyes, or as a fire elemental, a man wreathed in flame.

Aspects of Spaljivan

Sjajan

• Domains Sun, Fire, Glory, Artifice, Good, Luck
• Alignment Neutral Good
• Chosen Weapon Pistol
• Symbol Parasol

This goddess of the sun brings joy and industry and good fortune to those who know her.

Her holy places are filled with light and warmth. Crafters of all sorts, especially smiths and inventors, can be found working on new devices.

Daily prayers are offered at noon, of course.

Mortal servants of Sjajan are known as Sunlights, both for their association with the sun, and for their often irrepressibly cheerful demeanor.

She is believed to manifest as a female paladin with golden hair and golden armor, or as a work-marked engineer or crafter.

Syvetlos

• Domains Knowledge, Fire, Law, Artifice, Healing, Rune
• Alignment Lawful Neutral
• Chosen Weapon Staff
• Symbol Lens, magnifying glass, or spyglass

This androgynous deity is consumed by the need for knowledge, and is always exploring means to learn more.

Syvetlos’ holy places are full of knowledge. This might take the form of books, of rune-carved walls that can act as meditative foci, of well-made experimental devices, or many other forms.

Daily prayers are offered during a regular study period, but the time varies by person. Prayers often take the form of a litany used as a mnemonic, associating new information being learned with other teachings of Syvetlos.

Mortal servants of Syvetlos are often known as Seekers, for their incessant explorations and need for discovery.

Syvetlos manifests infrequently, but most often as a smooth-faced youth of indeterminate sex, always asking question and curious about the world.

Gespedi

• Domains Nobility, Fire, Chaos, Magic, Healing, Luck
• Alignment Chaotic Neutral
• Chosen Weapon Light mace
• Symbol Spilled wineglass

This god is fairly representative of nobility in the tetratheon’s culture, a wizard with little discipline, largely focused on his own interests and leaving the tedious bits to others. In spite of this, things tend to work out fairly well, perhaps because so few have enough ambition to try to overpower everyone else.

Gespedi’s holy places are well-furnished and comfortable, and rarely at all organized. Religious rites more often resemble parties and galas than formal ceremonies.

Daily prayers are offered at irregular times, sometimes just when the one praying remembers to do it, but most often when the one praying wakes and wishes the room would stop spinning and that his eyes would return to their normal size.

Mortal servants of Gespedi are known as Revelers. They are consistent and fervent in their religious duties.

Gespedi probably shows up at his religious rites frequently, but there is no consistent description of what he looks like nor reliable witnesses in any case.

Associates of the Fire Deities

Vestina

• Domains Artifice, Sun, Knowledge, Animal
• Alignment Lawful Good
• Chosen Weapon Longbow
• Symbol Crossed scroll and builder’s hammer

Vestina is a lesser aspect of Spaljivan and a close associate of Sjajan. She shares Sjajan’s passion for technology (and other, more personal passions). Where Sjajan favors experimentation for the sake of invention, Vestina delves into deeper understanding of devices and how they can be applied to greater effect.

Her holy places are found near Sjajan’s and often share space, and their followers commonly work together to devise new creations and find uses for them.

Daily prayers to Vestina are offered at noon for largely pragmatic reasons, and when followers of both goddess are present are usually done together.

Mortal servants of this goddess are known as Architects or Engineers, finding practical purpose for inventions to the greater good.

Vestina has been known to manifest as a female paladin with silver hair and silver armor, bearing a silver bow. She has also been known to appear as an architect or builder, not nearly as dramatic in appearance but often much more useful.

Ravneza

• Domains Healing, Knowledge, Nobility, Death
• Alignment Neutral
• Chosen Weapon Spear
• Symbol Spear surrounded by lilies

This goddess of healing is a long-suffering companion to Gespedi. Just as many nobility delegate the administration of their demesnes to trusted ministers and seneschals, Gespedi dumps much of his work on Ravneza.

Her shrines are found in most noble houses of the Tetratheon culture, accessible to the administrators of the demesnes and their staffs and typically overlooked by the nobility and their families. They are havens for the sick and injured, and for the dying, and are available to all who need their services.

Daily prayers to Ravneza are offered at dawn, in preparation for a new day’s service.

Mortal servants of this goddess are known as Seneschals, providing service to others.

Ravneza has manifested in the past as a highly-capable servant meeting previously unaddressed or unanticipated needs, and as a nurse offering healing and easing passage of the dying.

Namaran

• Domains Luck, Sun, Nobility, Trickery
• Alignment Chaotic Good
• Chosen Weapon Rapier
• Symbol Dice or other gambling implements.

This god of luck is Ravneza’s brother, and somewhat of an irritant to her because he encourages, abets, and amplifies Gespedi’s behavior. Namaran does, however, generally steer Gespedi away from more harmful consequences of his revels (harmful to others, that is), and helps distract Gespedi from being overly interested in things he’s not qualified to deal with.

His shrines are usually adjunct to Gespedi’s, almost invariably including some element of chance or gambling. The games are fair; it appears to be impossible to cheat. However, they do tend to favor players who take bigger chances.

Daily prayers to Namaran are offered at dusk, when the games begin.

Mortal servants of this god are referred to as Daredevils because of the risks they take and the attraction they draw.

Namaran manifests with Gespedi at times, often to steer him to more harmless activities. He usually seeks to disarm potentially violent situations with humor and wit because of the greater social cachet. After all, with his grace, skill, and good luck, there would be no challenge and thus nothing to gain by defeating someone in a duel.

Closing Comments

As much as GreyKnight makes fun of me for it, I really like that this exercise takes me places I didn’t plan to go and gives me results I didn’t expect.

Now I just have the deities of air and water to complete. And the goblin pantheon to rework (starting tomorrow), the halfling pantheon to flesh out, and a few other little things.

It’s coming, though. Hopefully I’ll have drafted the remainder of Polyhedral Pantheons by the end of the month.