Deities of Ara

I've written in previous posts about Arandish clerics and sword-clerics, enticed you with the forthcoming elementalist class, and even mentioned a few ancient Noffellian deities, but now it is time to put forth, in broad terms, most of what I know about the principal deities worshipped in Ara.

Note that the deities discussed in this post do not constitute a comprehensive list of the available gods to be worshipped in Ara; in fact, I would personally allow clerics adventuring in Ara to follow whichever deity they choose, be it from Deities and Demigods, from this list, or even made up.  This post provides information about deities commonly worshipped in the Lands of Ara, a few of whom are culturally specific to certain kingdoms or regions (e.g., Noffel).  Adventurers in Ara can surely find temples to almost any god or worshippable thing within the walls of the Free City of Kaladar; but outside that city, full-blown temples to anything besides local deities or those entities specifically designated below are probably rare.  If an individual player wanted to make an argument for why some other deity might be widely known throughout Ara, I'd hear the argument out; but until then, I would say that while any deity may be worshipped and may provide clerics and sword-clerics with their spells, only those gods discussed below (and those I may discuss in future posts, e.g. the deities of the Mizarian people) may be assumed to be widely known or followed by any statistically significant group in the Lands of Ara. 

By the way, I am a big believer in making deities / gods / goddesses a proactive part of the gaming campaign, ESPECIALLY if there are clerics in the party or involved as NPCs.  There are some very insightful comments on this subject over at Chicagowiz's old guy rpg blog. 

I also like religious factional wars as story material, whether it be different temples vying for power in an urban setting like Kaladar, or a The Stand-esque end-of-the-world duke-it-out between good and evil forces that takes place in a remote, hidden evil crypt.  I specifically love the idea of the undead and the mortal races fighting it out on a grand scale -- hence the powerful necromantic vampires and Noffellian Sword-Clerics who inhabit Ara.  In fact, when Dave and I developed Crimson Blades of Ara, the homebrewed FRPG that used the Lands of Ara as its setting, we did not include a cleric or priest class (or, since CBOA was a skill-based system, I should say we did not include cleric-ing or priesting skills); we instead made the primary "religious" battle on Ara that between the undead and these badass mortal undead-fighters whom we called "palladins."  I definitely wanted to carry this palladins vs. vampires motif forward into my Labyrinth Lord conversion, but in order to avoid confusion vis-a-vis the popular AD&D "paladin" class, and because I think of our Arandish undead-fighters as being a bit closer to a priest/cleric than a fighter, I re-dubbed the old CBOA "palladins" Sword-Clerics of Frey in this, their latest iteration.

Anyway, on with the Arandish deity descriptions:

Frey
Frey, god of the mountains and iron, is the most widely worshipped deity in Noffel, and is held to be the principal deity of the Noffellians.  Noffellian clerics -- be they "regular" clerics or Sword-Clerics -- all follow Frey.  Frey has a huge (if spartan) temple in the Noffellian king’s capitol city, Highgate.

Zapar
Zapar, god of the waters, was the principal deity of ancient Noffel and may be the oldest god still actively worshipped in Ara.  Nowadays, Zapar has few bona fide clerics (if any), but he does have many witch doctors and shamans loyal to him (see “Tribal Spell Casters,” DMG p. 40), and Noffellian sailors and fisherfolk all pay their respects to the sea-god. 

Minar
Minar, god of copper, was worshipped by the ancient Noffellian tribe called the Minars, who migrated to the mountainous region now called  Minoch circa Old Calendar year 171.  It is thought that the ancient Minochian culture, along with worship of Minar, vanished at the time of the unexplained Great Catastrophe of Minoch in Old Calendar year 787; most present-day Minochians either worship local village gods, are agnostic, or give reverence to Awra, the creator-sorceress.

Aldor
Aldor, goddess of the wood, is now worshipped exclusively by the Aldorian elves of northwestern Ara.  (Though some human rangers and druids privately pay their respects to Aldor when passing through certain northern Noffellian wooded areas.)

Targos and Syrna
The practice of elementalism most likely began in southern Telengard around Old Calendar year 1520, almost seven hundred years before the birth of Awra.  Elementalist practitioners believe that their powers come to them by the will of two ancient gods, Targos, god of earth and fire, and his sister Syrna, goddess of wind and water.  Worship of these deities probably originated in ancient Noffel (though they are not mentioned in any surviving texts) and came north with the
early Telengardian settlers.  The four branches of elementalism, earth, fire, wind, and water, are divided into four different sacred Orders, each somewhat removed from the other.  These Orders call themselves The Servants of Targos (earth), The Warriors of Targos (fire), The Holy Followers of Syrna (wind), and The Children of Syrna (water).  Non-elementalists, especially those living in northern Arandish lands like Telenagard, Delzar, and northern Achelon, acknowledge Syrna and Targos and pray to them occasionally, but may also revere other gods alongside them, something an elementalist would never do.  Worship of Targos and Syrna is less popular in southern Ara.

Cryonax, Elemental Prince of Cold

Cryonax
I mentioned some while ago that Cryonax (Fiend Folio p. 31) was coming to Ara.  I have always loved Cryonax -- what's not to love about an incredibly powerful yeti-thing with tentacles for arms? -- and once I started brainstorming ways to convert the Lands of Ara into old-school D&D terms, I soon hit upon the idea of creating an evil order of elementalists who worship Cryonax. Whereas the original Crimson Blades of Ara RPG only had four types of elementalists and two elementalist deities, i.e., the brother / sister team Targos and Syrna, who for the most part cooperate with each other, I thought: what if there are some Evil Cold Elementalists who worship the terrifying demigod Cryonax and fucking HATE the mamby-pamby elementalist followers of Targos and Syrna?  Wouldn't that set the stage for yet another MAJOR RELIGIOUS FACTIONAL WAR??  Huzzah!!

Awra
Awra's history has been recounted elsewhere, but she is a widely revered and worshipped figure in Ara, perhaps the most popular in all Ara.  Rodians revere her (and depict her as a Rodian), as do most human magic-users and enchanters (who depict her as human).  Many Arandish natives refer to her (in awe) as "the creator-sorceress" and fear to speak her name aloud. Awra is believed to have fought the ancient Noffellian gods, particularly Frey, sometime around Old Calendar year 2287; according to many, Awra won, dethroning the old gods, but Noffellians insist that Frey triumphed, beating Awra back and driving her out of Noffel.  In any case, Awra is called “the arch-sorceress” or simply “the witch” in most areas of Noffel, and is despised by almost all Noffellians.  She is widely believed to have given up her human form long ago, and now mainly roams Ara (when she does at all) in gold dragon form. 

Here are the gaming stats for Awra when she appears as a gold dragon:

Awra as Gold Dragon (LL p. 70)
# Encountered: 0 (1)
Alignment: lawful (good)
Move: 90’ (30’), Fly: 240’ (80’)
AC: -2
HD: 11
Attacks: 3 or 1 (2 claws, 1 bite, or breath)
Damage: 2d4 / 2d4 / 6d6
Save: F11
Morale: fearless
Hoard Class: XV
XP: 3600+
Awra casts spells as a 20th-level magic-user and a 20th-level cleric, and she knows every possible arcane and divine spell ever invented.  She can (and should) have additional magical abilities available to her at will at the GM's discretion. 

Other Deities
Besides the various deities listed above, ancient dragons -- especially particularly powerful dragons like Krakko -- are often worshipped in Ara by so-called Dragon Priests and their followers.  Of course, demons are often worshipped as well, as are local gods and spirits of the forest etc.

Arandish Arcana Part I of III – Early History

Arcane and Divine Magic in Ara

Divine magic is assumed to have been around since the earliest days, for humans have always worshiped deities and received healing and other powers from them.  Witches and shamans still practice their own form of tribal clerical magic (see “Tribal Spell Casters,” DMG p. 40) in many remote regions of Ara, and clerics loyal to a wide variety of Arandish and non-Arandish gods proliferate throughout the Lands of Ara.  There is one specialist class of cleric found in Ara, the Sword-Cleric of Frey, which will be described in a forthcoming post.

The origin of Arcane magic in the Arandish region, on the other hand, can be historically pinpointed to one key event: the emergence of arcane powers amongst the Aldors, a tribe of ancient Noffel, in Old Calendar year 294 (see this previous post).  Although the Aldors themselves widely believed their magical abilities came to them through the will of Aldor, Goddess of the Wood, the Aldors’ ability to use magical powers not specifically granted via prayer frightened the other tribes of Noffel, and in time the Aldors migrated from the southern human lands to the northern forests now called Aldoria.  The Aldors have subsequently come to be called elves.

Awra, Arlon, Arlanni
The Noffellians who exiled the Aldors from Noffel were not to be rid of Arcane magic so easily, for around Old Calendar year 2219, a young-seeming woman named Awra came before the Noffellian council of elders and demonstrated that she could generate light spontaneously by speaking a few words aloud.  The members of the Noffellian council were amazed, and took Awra to be an unknowing descendant of the Aldors, though Sawith, Learned Scribe of Kaladar, has recently proven that that lineage is unlikely.  Apparently the council took no action against Awra at this time, and let her return home.

Awra lived most of her early life deep in the Great Western Swamp, and after her initial visit to the Noffellian council, she returned to the Swamp to increase control of her powers and to develop many of the magical arts we know today.  Sixty-five years later, by Old Calendar year 2284, Awra’s presence and activities in the swamp came to the attention of the Noffellian Senate; by this date she was probably over one hundred years old, and she had taken on Arlon and Arel as her two principal apprentices.

As was documented in a previous post, in 2288, escaping persecution by fundamentalist Noffellians, Awra departed Ara on the ship Tarandis, making landfall on the forested island of Suhl in 2289.  During and after Awra’s departure, anti-arcane sentiments and laws ran at an all-time high pitch in Noffel, prompting Awra’s apprentice Arlon to move out of the vicinity of the Great Western Swamp to the north.  It is believed, due to a later entry from Arlon’s journal, that Awra’s other principal apprentice, Arel, remained in the Great Western Swamp to develop and teach her own style of magic-use called White Path, an arcane art now considered lost.

By Old Calendar year 2331, Arlon resurfaced in northern Ara and began teaching the arcane arts, establishing formal schools of magic in Telengard and Achelon by 2342.  Arlon and his associates taught magical theory, spellcasting (magic-using), enchantment, and the basic principles of summoning.  By 2378, Arlon, satisfied that his schools were running well, left them in the hands of his students and retreated into the northern mountains to further his study of summoning and other esoteric arts.

Back in the Great Western Swamp, early in the year 2426, Arel gave birth to her son by Arlon—a son conceived during a visit of Arel’s to the House of Arlon between 2420 and 2425.  When this son was born, Arlon came to Arel’s dwelling in the Swamp and together they named the child Arlanni.  Once he was old enough, Arlanni began learning the Arcane arts from his mother Arel, whom he stayed with in the Swamp.  Arlon returned to the northern mountains

The Old War
The Old War between Telengard and Achelon started in 3002 as powerful magic-users who had learned their craft from Arlon et.al. struggled for magical dominion over northern Ara.  This was to be the most destructive and protracted war in Arandish history; it would last over ninety-seven years, from 3002 until  3100.  In 3098, a small group of  Telengardian magicians, led by a magic-user named Sarkon, set forth to find Arlon in the northern mountains, hoping that the great teacher will be able to help put and end to the war.  Sarkon and comapny found Arlon, and together they returned to the south.  It is believed that Arlon sent word to Arel, requesting her aid as well.  By 3100, with the help of Arel, Arlanni, and Arel’s White Path magicians, Arlon and Sarkon were able to subdue the most powerful Telengardian and Achelonian necromancers and summoners, imprisoning them in a magical tower of Arlon’s creation.  This black tower, called Mornlyn, is rumored to exist in a hidden location in central Achelon to this day.

Having neutralized the ringleaders of the Old War, Arlon established the White Council in 3101, to instill order into the practice of the arcane magical arts in Ara.  Furthermore, at this same time, the New (or Arlonian) Calendar was begun, signifying that the era when atrocities like those of the Old War might occur had passed.  After the establisment of the Council system, Arlon and Arel, the last living apprentices of Awra, set forth on their Last Wanderings.  They are thought to have journeyed together over the northern passes into Novellan, never to be seen again in Ara.

Arlon’s Council system regulates human arcane magic use throughout the Lands of Ara to this day.  Magic-users and enchanters are permitted to join the Council and use magic openly and legitimately in Ara (except perhaps in Noffel), while the Dark arts, including necromancy and shadrach, are outlawed completely (see forthcoming post on forbidden magics).  The original White Council consisted of eight magic-users (including Arlanni) and six enchanters, with Sarkon of Telengard as First Councilman.  In New Calendar Year 610, Sarkon of Telengard died or vanished (the historical records are unclear which), and Arlanni took over as First Councilman of the Arandish White Council, a position he holds to this day. 

Next installment: The Council System of Ara!

Pre-History of Noffel pt. III of V

by Sawith, Chief Scribe of Kaladar

Awra
Awra may well be the single most influential individual in all of Arandish history.  Yet little is known of the circumstances of her birth or childhood.  History does not reveal the names of her parents nor the name of the particular Noffellian tribe into which she was born.  The year of her birth is commonly thought to lie somewhere between 2180 and 2184, but given the unusual length of her life (over three hundred years) and the lack of available information concerning her early days, even this range is considered speculative.
Awra was the originator of most Arandish arcane magical arts, including spellcasting, rodian Illusion, summoning, and most of the so-called Dark Arts, which were later banned by Awra’s famous apprentice, Arlon.  It is said that there exist many long-forgotten styles of magic that Awra conceived and used in the height of her power, but this, like so many of the stories that surround this person, cannot be conclusively proven.
Awra’s rise to public prominence began in or around the year 2219, the last year of Tandar’s reign as king of Noffel.  This was a turbulent year in Noffellian politics.  Tandar had three children: two sons and one daughter.  All three were beyond adolescence and therefore eligible to rule, but Ormin, who from the earliest days had been a great advisor to the king, felt that the Noffellian people should be empowered to choose their own ruler through a process of election.  Many felt that this was a great idea; but many others adhered to the old tribal way of leadership passing down through family lines.  No historical record shows Tandar as having any particular view on this matter.  If he had, there might not have been so much confusion in the aftermath of his unexpected illness and sudden death in the fall of 2219.
Some historians contend that Ormin poisoned Tandar in order to clear the way for the formation of a Noffellian Senate, a vision that he actualized a little over a decade later. But Tandar was a much-beloved king, and acting as the agent of the popular monarch’s untimely demise would have been an extremely risky and uncharacteristic move for the deliberate, cerebral Ormin.  Far from wishing to further this (likely inconclusive) debate, I merely wish to set the stage for the entrance of our principal character.
Despite the long-passed King Tarandis’ hopes to the contrary, none of his own subjects had ever developed any unusual powers like those possessed by the departed Aldors—until Awra.  In the final days of 2219, the young woman came before the Noffellian council of elders and demonstrated that she could generate light spontaneously by speaking a few words aloud.  The members of the council were of course amazed, and took Awra to be an unknowing descendant of the Aldors (so their written record shows).  However, with Tandar’s recent demise and the question of the succession looming in their minds, the council asked Awra to return to them in a few months, at which time the nature and possible usefulness of her power could be discussed in fuller detail. 
Awra did not appear before the Noffellian tribal council ever again.
It is not for many decades that the name of Awra resurfaces in historical records, in the journal of one Yagbath of Scythmoor, a wise woman who lived a recluse’s life in a cave on the southeastern fringes of the Great Western Swamp.  She writes:

. . . and shortly after mye evening fast, lo! a WOMAN did slog thro the rushes and reeds and appeer at the entry to mye home.  A tall ladye, hare was brown and eyes peercing blue.  Coted with muck from hed to foote, so Iye did invite her to staye and wash hersself, and share mye nighly meal.  She did accept, and stayed with me all that night, and tolde me the most [illegible] . . . that she dwelt in the marshes, and had indeede donne so for many a yeer.  For what purpose, Iye asked she.  Said she, developping mye powers.  Which powers be these, Iye asked she.  And she did chant words, quite of quick, and of an instant Iye myeself did riyse up from the log where Iye sat and flewe through the trees.  Like a batt or other byrd, Iye sweres it so.  When Iye did return agin to the erth, this yung ladye did tell me she could move water also, or shape raw erth with hers minde, or make hersself flye as well.  Who be ye, Iye asked she, in wunderment.  Said she, mye name is Owra.

Though no recognizable dates are given in Yagbath’s journal, it can be determined from other textual references that this entry was probably written in the late summer or early fall of the year 2265.  Though many scholars and most elementalists maintain that this journal entry does not prove that Awra was an elementalist -- Yagbath does not report seeing Awra perform elementalist feats, only hearing her claim to be able to manipulate water and earth -- I am inclined to believe that she had at least begun work in this field, and was probably a master spellcaster by this date as well.  We certainly know that by the year 2284, when the Noffellian Senate became aware of Awra’s presence, she had fully developed the arts of spellcasting and enchantment, plus who knows how many other minor powers and abilities.
It is also certain that by 2284, Arlon was apprenticed to Awra and was living with her in the swamps.  Though Arlon would not begin his own journal until 2286, a report submitted to the Senate by scout captain Bandos, who led an expedition into the Great Western Swamp in 2284, tells us:

. . . we found a hermit calling himself Awra, living in a hovel at the south edge of the swamp.  With him were a few young women and men, all called him ‘master’ and behaved solemnly in his presence.  All of these persons—Awra included—appeared to be in good health (bodily and mentally), and living here of their own will.  After filling our water skins, we left them.

The gender of the pronouns used in Bandos’ writing is not ambiguous: the scout definitely believed that Awra was a man.  No historian that I know of has yet been able to offer an adequate explanation for this anomalous report—but the name he used is also unmistakable. 
I surmise that by this point Awra had begun to pass on her knowledge of the magical arts to this select group of young people.  I also believe that had not the Senate chosen to call her into their presence to explain her activities to them, she might have continued training people in seclusion for many years, and never have come into direct conflict with the government and people of Noffel.  But call her they did, and in early 2286, she appeared before the Senate and the king.  It is believed that Arlon was with her at this fateful meeting, though not Arel, the First One’s other famous disciple.
At this time the King of Noffel was Karldoc, a born warrior (and not to be confused with Prince Karldoc the Mad, of our own era).  Karldoc was renowned for his boldness in battle, his quick temper, and his deadly prowess with a sword.

[Continue to Part IV]