Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder: Weird Frontiers (online, OpenRPG, Wednesdays)

[Arkhandus]

Hey folks. This'll be the new recruiting, information, discussion, and notice-posting thread for my online Pathfinder campaign, Weird Frontiers. Currently running on Wednesdays from 5 to 9 or 10 pm Pacific, on the Unshaped server. Our group is mostly full, but a few people have come and gone so we occasionally have 1 or 2 openings, as we do now. The OpenRPG forums are closing down sometime soon, so any new recruitment or notices will probably be done here.

Current party composition is a male half-orc Ranger (Synjin), a male ophiduan Ranger/Nomad Psion (Metaxo), a male human Oracle (Gabriel), a female human Soulknife (Nelwyn), and a female half-elf druid (Misty). Our male human Fighter, Orishi, female halfling Shaper Psion, Lilyan, and male ifrit Paladin, Niqal, and female aasimar Ranger, Evangeline, each had to drop out at some point due to real-life matters, but may perhaps return whenever their schedules clear up again or whenever they feel up to it. The party is searching the continent of Azagan now but new PCs can join them as former members of other expeditionary groups from Rhivia, or as Azaganian natives just looking to help (and a share of the treasure).

Below will follow re-postings of the info and guidelines from the original thread on the OpenRPG forums.

Char-Gen Rules (Updated before, but needs another update soon):

Starting level (or ECL) for new PCs is 10th, with 90,000 XP (fast progression) and 72,000 GP for starting wealth, putting you roughly halfway to 11th. You may spend up to half of your starting wealth on an item (a change from the original allowance for this campaign at lower levels, where folks could barely afford any but the cheapest magic items), so long as you leave some coin left for basic supplies (rations, waterskins, bedroll, backpack, belt pouch, flint and steel, etc.). You will need to buy basic supplies; your characters will be traveling A LOT and often in strange or remote places. Also, you may want to buy any important magic items right at char-gen, since you'll have little, if any, chance of picking them up during play (see below). Your PC will also have a free clothes outfit as noted in the PF Equipment chapter.

Maximum Hit Points for 1st-level, plus half the maximum from each Hit Die beyond that (or you can roll each extra HD on the game-server in front of me; choose for each HD beyond 1st-level; if you roll less than half for any given HD, then you must take half the maximum result for your very next HD). Base ability scores will be determined with Pathfinder 25-point-buy (epic fantasy). Hero points from the APG/PFRD are being used, so PCs start with 1 hero point, but I'm not sure yet if I'll allow the spells and items related to hero points (the feats are OK). Traits from the APG/PFRD are being used as well, so PCs start with 2 Traits; there are no "Campaign Traits" available in this game, and some other Traits may be renamed to fit the setting.

Any alignment (except chaotic evil) is fine, but evil PCs won't be allowed if anyone plays a Paladin. And evil PCs cannot be treacherous, self-absorbed backstabbers (chaotic neutral PCs can't be crazy, either); they have to be capable of teamwork, and must have a plausible reason for wanting to see the group's mission through to the end (even evil people tend to have some friends, family, or other loyalties). Refer to the intro at the bottom of this post.

Allowed Rulebooks/PDFs:

The Pathfinder Reference Document (the online PRD)
Pathfinder Core Rulebook
Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide
Pathfinder Bestiary I-III
Pathfinder Ultimate Combat
Pathfinder Ultimate Magic
Pathfinder Advanced Race Guide
Psionics Unleashed
Psionics Expanded
Limited material from The Tome of Secrets (Adamant Entertainment)
Various "Genius Guides to:" (SuperGenius Games PDFs)
Untapped Potential: New Horizons in Psionics (Dreamscarred Press PDF)
Various "The Mind Unveiled" PDFs (Dreamscarred Press)
Races of the Mind PDFs (Dreamscarred Press)
A few High Psionics PDFs (Dreamscarred Press)

Campaign and setting are custom, but the rules will be pure Pathfinder with a dash of 3.5 material, and a houserule here or there for any particularly broken classes, feats, etc. For instance, I'll be imposing some kind of restriction or drawback on Summoners to tone down their utter brokenness. Most characters shouldn't have any HRs to deal with; it's just a few options that I'm considering a balance-fix for. You don't need to worry about learning much of the setting, either, as it'll be fairly basic aside from the strange regions the group will be exploring and searching in their quest.

We'll be using the Pathfinder core rules, and some of the Advanced Player's Guide material included in the PFRD. And a few things from the Tome of Secrets, like races and classes, but I'll need to tweak/HR the ToS classes a bit to fix them. As well as some material from SuperGenius Games, like the Shadow Assassin, Time Thief, Races of Wind and Wing, Races of Hoof and Horn, etc. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, PSIONICS! Yes, this campaign will heavily utilize psionics, primarily from the Psionics Unleashed core psionics book for Pathfinder, as published by Dreamscarred Press with Paizo's input. You can find the PDF for sale easily enough on the Paizo, Dreamscarred Press, or RPGNow websites, if interested. Likewise for the SGG PDFs if interested in them.

Some other (3.5) psionics material from Dreamscarred Press will also be utilized, with some tweaks by me to adapt those bits and pieces for Pathfinder. I'm considering a minor limit on how many power points a psionic PC/NPC may have available at once; maybe double their manifester level at maximum, with the ability to refill that reserve with points from their overall total as a full-round action, maybe a minute or hour of meditation.

Now, YOU DON'T NEED TO USE PSIONICS, but it will significantly enhance play and your immersion in the game if you do use psionics in this campaign. Most notably because the party will rarely encounter magic-wielders and will rarely find any magic items beyond initial character creation, let alone any place to buy or trade for them (no magic shops; you'll only find a rare few individuals in the campaign who have a limited selection of magic items they're willing to trade away or are capable of creating). The VAST MAJORITY of non-mundane loot and market goods in the campaign will be psionic, so you'll be sorely disappointed if you expect to stock up on magic scrolls, potions, wands, staves, rods, armor, weapons, or wondrous items. Your group will be seriously hampered in some situations if they do not have any psionicists. In fact, your overall mission may well be doomed to failure if none in the group has a decent grasp on psionics.

Perhaps more importantly to many, you will have few chances to pick up any kind of magical classes beyond initial character creation; there may be a few opportunities during the campaign where you can find someone or something to train/bless/whatever you for a magical PrC, or where you could learn a magical base class from an NPC or fellow PC, and there may be a few that you could just acquire naturally (such as Dragon Disciple for any spontaneous arcane casters that have dragon-blood in their family, and some contact with dragons to awaken that draconic blood; I will likely update the gem dragons from MM2 for Pathfinder in this campaign, and metallic/chromatic dragons may show up briefly in the campaign). Prestige classes will have some kind of appropriate roleplay requirement in this campaign; not too much, but enough that they'll actually be more prestigious than just "guy with a few levels of wizard and a few metamagic feats."

Minor Psionics Houserule: The Psicraft skill will be used instead of Spellcraft for psionic matters in this campaign, so replace Spellcraft on any psionic class skill lists with Psicraft. Same function, different name. Psionics and magic are different enough that they ought to require different skills to ID accurately, and Psionics Unleashed already uses Knowledge (Psionics) for other psionic purposes, so I don't know why Psicraft wasn't used in it.

Psionic Power Houserules: No more than one Astral Construct power may be manifested at any given time under an individual's control; further attempts to manifest Astral Constructs by that individual, even through items, simply do not function (wasting nothing but an action). I will add any other psionic power houserules here if the need arises, but this is the only one that has come up in the campaign as important for game balance.

Aegis Houserules: As written, the Aegis class from Psionics Expanded just gets too much power and flexibility compared to core fighters and such, so in this campaign the Aegis has the following houserules. Firstly, they must expend a use of Reconfigure as an additional cost each time they activate Cannibalize Suit. Secondly, each use of Reconfigure or Cannibalize Suit costs 1 power point (expending 2 uses of Reconfigure for Perfect Merger costs 2 power points). Thirdly, their Damage Reduction is halved, rounded down (DR 1/- at 2nd-level, DR 2/- at 8th, DR 3/- at 14th, and DR 4/- at 20th-level). Finally, the Aegis receives only 1 Customization Point per level for their Astral Suit in this campaign. These changes at least keep them from being drastically tougher and stronger than Fighters, making the class more reasonable in power.

Alchemist Houserule: In this campaign, the Mutagens created by Alchemists only grant their effects for 1 round per class level when used, or 1 minute per class level after gaining the Persistent Mutagen class feature. Alchemists may extend the duration by one step (1 minute per Alchemist level without Persistent Mutagen, or 10 minutes per Alchemist level with it) by taking the new General feat "Extended Mutagen" and may take that feat a second time to extend the duration by one more step (up to 1 hour per Alchemist level if they have Persistent Mutagen).

Cavalier Houserules: Cavaliers will not gain any extra uses of the Tactician feature beyond 1st-level in this game, except for any they may acquire from taking copies of the Practiced Tactician feat listed in Ultimate Combat. In this campaign, the Challenge class feature of Cavaliers will not automatically improve beyond 1st-level, but instead Cavaliers must select the new General feat "Greater Challenge" in order to advance their Challenge bonuses; Greater Challenge will be selectable a maximum of once per 4 Cavalier levels in total, and each copy of that feat will increase the Cavalier's damage bonus and Order-specific bonus with the Challenge feature by +1. These changes bring Cavaliers closer to Fighters in power, though Cavaliers retain a clear advantage through their Mount and greater skills, which are hopefully at least slightly compensated for by the minor behavior restrictions of their Edict.

Cryptic Houserules: As with the Aegis, the Cryptic class printed in Psionics Expanded is drastically more powerful than core classes. In this campaign, Cryptics only gain an Insight at every 4th level in the class, instead of every two levels, and they get only 1 Insight at 20th-level instead of 2 (they still get a Supreme Insight ability though). The class features of Evasion and Rapid Defense are changed into Insights that are not gained freely but instead are simply available for selection like any other Insights. Thirdly, Enduring Defense only doubles the total daily duration for Altered Defense instead of making it unlimited. Finally, the Cryptic's manifester level in this campaign only equals 1 + half of his or her Cryptic level, rounded down, +1 more manifester level starting at 7th-level, and +1 more manifester level again at 13th-level (so they meet the minimum manifester level required for powers of each level available to them).

Dread Houserules: The Dread class likewise needs some reduction in power to balance out somewhat with core classes. In this campaign, the Dread class only counts half their level in the class (rounded down) when determining the damage bonus of their Devastating Touch and their number of daily Terror uses. Secondly, Dreads only get high base Will saves in this campaign, not high Reflex saves (so their base Reflex save equals their base Fortitude save). Thirdly, Twin Fear only functions when creatures within 10 feet suffer the shaken, frightened, or panicked conditions (instead of 30 feet). Finally, the Dread's manifester level in this campaign only equals 1 + half of his or her Dread level, rounded down, +1 more manifester level starting at 7th-level, and +1 more manifester level again at 13th-level (so they meet the minimum manifester level required for powers of each level available to them).

Gunslinger Note: For now I don't think Gunslingers need any houseruled adjustments, but it's possible I might notice some problem with their Deeds that might need tweaking. The Daring Act optional rule for recovering grit points WILL NOT BE USED since it sort of mirrors the rule for gaining Hero Points, which are already in use for this campaign.

Inquisitor Houserules: In this campaign, the Inquisitor class must expend 2 uses of Judgment in order to apply their Second Judgment, or 3 uses of Judgment when using Third Judgment as well. Inquisitors are roughly similar to Clerics in power or only slightly weaker, but they are still stronger than Bards and it is difficult to determine where their overall power level should be, given their relative advantages and disadvantages.

Magus Houserule: The Magus class from Ultimate Magic actually seems somewhat weaker overall than the Bard in Pathfinder, given their few skill points and small arcane pool, so for now I'll tentatively houserule them as getting one free copy of the Extra Arcane Pool feat as a bonus feat at every 4th level in the Magus class.

Marksman Houserules: The Marksman class is just slightly overpowered as-written, so the following houserules apply in this campaign. Marksmen have low Will saves in this campaign (same as their Fortitude saves), instead of high Will. Also, Marksmen count only half their level in the class (rounded down) towards their daily uses of Wind Reader.

Ninja Houserules: Ninjas in this campaign do not get Poison Use and Light Steps for free, but instead each of those become Ninja Tricks with no prerequisites. Light Steps is supernatural instead of extraordinary, furthermore. This is the simplest and least-troublesome fix for the Ninja's clear superiority over Rogues, without gimping them.

Psychic Warrior Houserules: Just two minor things I think the Psychic Warrior needs changed for balance purposes, though I may yet decide to reduce power points for most manifesters at some point. The durations of Pathweaving and Eternal Warrior are reduced to 5 rounds instead of 5 minutes.

Oracle Houserule: Oracles in this campaign will count only half of their class level toward the benefits of Revelations they have acquired, to a minimum of 1st-level, but they can select the same Revelation a second time in order to apply their full Oracle level when determining that particular Revelation's effects.

Samurai Houserules: Samurai will not gain any extra uses of the Resolve feature beyond 1st-level in this game, except for 1 extra use at 9th-level and another at 17th-level (with Greater Resolve and True Resolve), or by choosing copies of the new General feat "Increased Resolve" which can be selected multiple times and increases the maximum number of Resolve uses per day by 1 each time; Increased Resolve would simply require the Resolve feature as a prerequisites. In this campaign, the Challenge class feature of Samurai will not automatically improve beyond 1st-level, but instead Samurai must select the new General feat "Greater Challenge" in order to advance their Challenge bonuses; Greater Challenge will be selectable a maximum of once per 4 Samurai levels in total, and each copy of that feat will increase the Samurai's damage bonus and Order-specific bonus with the Challenge feature by +1 (such as the amount of DR from Order of the Warrior). Furthermore, Honorable Stand only lasts until the end of the encounter, or until 10 minutes have passed, or until the target of the Samurai's Challenge is defeated, whichever comes first. This keeps them reasonably close to Cavaliers in the campaign.

Soulknife Houserules: The Soulknife as-written is too strong and flexible compared to core fighter-types, so I'm making a few tweaks to it here. From now on, Soulknives in this campaign get low base Will saves instead of high Will, and Psychic Strike can only be used freely (charged) up to 3 times per day + the Soulknife's Charisma modifier. Further uses of Psychic Strike cost 1 power point each time it is charged.

Summoner Houserules: Summoners in this campaign will have the following changes to their Eidolon class feature to put them more in line with bards and druids: Eidolons will have their armor progression reduced to +0 at 1st-level, +1 at 2nd/3rd/4th-level, +2 at 5th/6th, +3 at 7th/8th/9th, +4 at 10th/11th, +5 at 12th/13th/14th, +6 at 15th/16th, +7 at 17th/18th/19th, and +8 at 20th-level; while Eidolons will have their Evolution Pool progression reduced to 1 point per Summoner level excluding every 5th-level (so 1 point at 1st-level, 4 points total at 4th/5th-level, 8 points total at 9th/10th-level, 12 points total at 14th/15th-level, and up to 15 points total at 19th/20th-level). Whine if you like, but I've seen Summoners in play and I've compared their stats against the closest counterparts, and they ARE overpowered as-written so these nerfs are the only way I'll allow them in my own game; their Eidolons will still be superior to animal companions but not so overwhelmingly after this.

Tactician Houserules: The Tactician class is seriously overpowered as-written in Psionics Expanded, so the following houserules are necessary to tone it down. The Tactician in this campaign gets bumped down to a d6 Hit Die and a low Base Attack Bonus, like a Psion. Furthermore, adding other creatures to the Tactician's Collective now costs 1 power point per creature, cumulative for each creature beyond the first at any given time (so it costs 1 power point to have 1 ally in the Collective, 2 power points to add a second ally, 3 power points to add a third, etc.). The Collective feature now only functions for up to 1 hour at a time, after which all other creatures in the Tactician's Collective are dropped from it unless the Tactician pays enough power points to renew the Collective (which simply adds another hour to the duration at that point, after which the Tactician must renew it again or let the Collective end). Tacticians in this campaign cannot maintain a Collective unless conscious and able to take mental action, not dazed, stunned, frightened, panicked, under a Confusion effect or similar, unconscious, comatose, or dead. Hopefully these tweaks will suffice to bring the class in-line with other full-manifester or full-caster classes.

Vitalist Houserules: As written, the Vitalist class is rather overpowered like the Tactician in many ways, which necessitates some powering-down. Firstly, Vitalists in this campaign must expend one of their Transfer Health uses for the day as an additional cost to activate Steal Health, Pulse, or Steal Life. Secondly, Vitalists must pay 1 power point each time they activate Transfer Health, 3 power points each time they activate Steal Health, or 13 power points each time they activate Steal Life. Thirdly, they do not gain the capacity for ranged attacks with Steal Health automatically, but instead may gain it through the new Psionic feat "Ranged Health Stealing" which simply requires a minimum of 7th-level in the Vitalist class (it is not free). Furthermore, adding other creatures to the Vitalist's Collective now costs 1 power point per creature, cumulative for each creature beyond the first at any given time (so it costs 1 power point to have 1 ally in the Collective, 2 power points to add a second ally, 3 power points to add a third, etc.). The Collective feature now only functions for up to 1 hour at a time, after which all other creatures in the Vitalist's Collective are dropped from it unless the Vitalist pays enough power points to renew the Collective (which simply adds another hour to the duration at that point, after which the Vitalist must renew it again or let the Collective end). Vitalists in this campaign cannot maintain a Collective unless conscious and able to take mental action, not dazed, stunned, frightened, panicked, under a Confusion effect or similar, unconscious, comatose, or dead.

Witch Houserule: In this campaign, Witches cannot use their Hexes more than once per day per Witch level, in total, and Major Hexes count double towards this limit while Grand Hexes count triple toward it. They're more powerful than Wizards as-written, due to their number of Hexes and ability to use most of them virtually at-will, so this limitation should at least mitigate that power difference.

Basic Campaign Info:

The Player Characters will start out as experienced adventurers of varied backgrounds, from different countries, organized by leaders of their home countries and tasked with finding a legendary artifact from a far-off land across the sea. The continent where the PCs hail from, or at least most of them (since a few PCs might be emissaries from the other continent), has been ravaged by war and left vulnerable. And an ancient, terrible evil is rising to finish the job the wars left half-done......

But the people of the main continent haven't faced this threat before, so they have no idea how to fight it, especially with their own militaries and magical resources all but depleted. Their only hope is a legend from the eastern continent, a distant and mysterious land that sailors have only had sporadic contact with. Those sailors brought back stories from that distant land, stories that include mention of an artifact wielded by the eastern continent's ancient leaders, against otherworldly invaders eerily similar to what those on the main continent now face......

And so the leaders of the main continent's remaining countries have decided to send out many of their most-capable countrymen to scour the eastern continent for the artifact, or for any easterners with the knowledge and power to repulse the ancient evil descending upon the main continent. Your PCs will be one such group sent on the search, one of the first in fact.

(Edit: The party has traveled to Azagan at this point, so that's where new PCs will be entering, either from another Rhivian expeditionary group or native Azaganians interested in traveling with the foreigners.)

The main continent used to be dominated by religious and arcane organizations, but now has only a small amount of magic still in use. Psionics has been around for a long time, but was rare among inhabitants of the main continent and there was little psionic lore available there for the past several centuries. Now psionics is making a minor resurgence on the main continent, and it has long been the dominant force on the eastern continent where the PCs will be going. Whereas many on the main continent once believed psionics to be a rare talent inherited only be a few people, recent contact with easterners has begun to spread rumors that anyone can develop such power with the right training, study, and focus, just like wizardry.

Final Notes/Suggestions:

You'll need a reasonably mixed party; some kind of frontliners, some kind of ranged attackers, some kind of scout/sneak, some kind of wilderness-guide, some kind of socialites, some kind of blaster, some kind of healer, some kind of information-gatherer, some kind of utility-person, some kind of lock-picker or door/chest-buster, and some kind of trap-disarmer or trap-springer. Ought to have some kind of psionicists among them. You will not be able to fight your way through every situation, nor sneak/talk your way through everything, either (nor can you just avoid the parts where one solution or the other doesn't work). I'm looking for about 6 players.

I will provide more-specific details on the campaign and setting when I have the time, and I'll be posting a character sheet template sometime around then as well. Everyone will need to use that character sheet template when submitting characters, and must submit them in this thread; I don't care if you use something else for your own reference and your own macros or char-gen or whatever, but I intend to keep organized notes on the entire party and their adventures, so I'm not bothering with any sheets posted on other websites, or in different formats.

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Something important I forgot when first typing that up. The primary reason that magical classes/items will be rare during play is that the wars on the main continent have been as much religious conflicts as territorial ones, and magic-wielders of all sorts were heavily employed by the militaries of the warring countries. So in the first few decades following the end of those wars, the people have come to resent mages, priests, zealots, and warmongers.

Wizardly libraries, bardic colleges, temples, shrines, and similar edifices have largely been destroyed or vandalized, leaving little for any new generations of mages or priests to learn from. While military academies and similar places have also been destroyed and fallen into disfavor, it's a lot easier for the remaining warriors of each country to train others directly, and less of the public resentment has been directed towards the average soldier or militiaman. Although a few decades have passed and the magical arts have slowly regained a small measure of respectability, there are still very few mages and priests remaining on the main continent to share their lore. Many magic items from the time of the wars have also been destroyed or buried, so there aren't many of them left to go around.

The World:

The world is known primarily as Mhavareth, to those on the main continent, itself called Rhivia by many of the inhabitants. Mhavareth is an Earthlike world with a yellow sun called Hevelior (or simply "the sun"; common myths of Rhivia say that Hevelior devoured the old sun, Rhisol), and a grayish moon called Lunelle (or just "the moon"). A year on Mhavareth is 280 days long, divided into 10 months of 28 days each on the Common Calender of Rhivia; each day is 24 hours long and each week is 7 days, as on Earth. The year starts with the first full moon of spring, as Lunelle completes a lunar cycle every 28 days, signalling the start of a new month. The common names for the months, from first to last, are simply Spring's Start, Spring's End, Summer's Start, Midsummer, Summer's End, Autumn's Start, Autumn's End, Winter's Start, Midwinter, and Winter's End. Weekdays are simply referred to by number; Firstday, Seconday, Thirday, Fourthday, Fifthday, Sixthday, and Seventhday.

The distant continent the party will be exploring/searching is known as Azagan and very little is known about it. But I will provide a few details about it to anyone who plays a native of that continent.

The Common tongue, also called Planar Common, is widely used across Mhavareth as a trade language, brought to this world by extraplanar merchants ages ago. The Great Beyond cosmology outlined in the Advanced Player's Guide (and the PRD, under Planar Adventures) will be used in this campaign. Racial tongues are used among many nonhumans, and Druidic persists among the druidic remnants across Rhivia. Other languages used on Rhivia include:

Rhivian (the language of an old empire that once dominated much of the continent, commonly spoken in the center of the continent),
Toran (spoken by people across the Crimson Tors in southern Rhivia),
Zanji (spoken by the Zanjin people of eastern Rhivia),
Vanderglotten (used in Vanderheim and among related tribes),
Loricaean (used across the Loricaean Isles and western coasts),
Esarro (on the Esarroccan Peninsula of the southwest),
Baratti (spoken in northwestern Rhivia and across northern islands),
and Dejarim (dominant in the southern deserts and savannahs of Rhivia).

These regional languages may be selected as bonus languages for high Intelligence by any character, and humans (including half-elves and half-orcs) learn one regional language for free (in addition to Common). Non-humans may substitute one regional language for one of their race's automatic languages.

 

[Arkhandus]

The western continent of Rhivia

More details on the main continent (Rhivia) will be added later.

Lands of Rhivia:

Anas'arequi: The westernmost country on the Crimson Tors, Anas'arequi holds a dozen towns and villages scattered across the Anas'uqi Canyon, centered on the capitol city of Xequ'anas. With well-built structures of stone or mud-brick, the Anas'arequi (as the people are also known) are sophisticated and possess great knowledge of mathematics, engineering, and astronomy. They use windmills to grind their grains, telescopes to observe the heavens, and mechanical water-clocks that track the time even more precisely than Baratti clocks. Although still somewhat primitive by other Rhivian standards, working with wood and stone rather than metal in most cases, the Anas'arequi are an old and wise collection of tribes that have managed to maintain peace with most of their neighbors. They still have conflict with their western neighbors, however, who have been converted to Dosaredios over the years and begun fanatical invasions of other Toran tribes like the Anas'arequi. This puts a strain on Anas'arequi warriors, but the Anas'arequi Nation remains steadfast and devoted to the Great Spirits of the ancient Toran faith. Like other Torans they have a healthy respect for nature, and their spellcasters tend to be shamanic sorts.

The people of Anas'arequi are mostly Toran humans of tan complexion with dark hair and dark eyes, tall and lanky in stature. They speak their own dialect of the Toran language mixed with elements of Auran, as their ancestors once maintained good relations with the djinn who ruled part of what's now Dejarinnar, and modern Anas'arequi contnue to have peaceful dealings and alliances with air-elemental creatures like arrowhawks, sylphs, and air weirds. Anas'arequi also maintains friendship with giant eagles from nearby eyries. Local wisemen and wisewomen always learn the Auran tongue and sometimes Sylvan, before learning any others besides Common and Toran. The Anas'arequi Nation occupies a thin strip of fertile fields, rocky caves in the canyon walls, and lightly-wooded hills at either end of their territory, while the mighty Chehuaqotl River runs the entire length of the canyon. Their houses often have rooftop gardens, making the most of their limited space in the Canyon. Watch-towers and observatories mark the edge of their territory atop the Anas'uqi Canyon walls. Each Anas'arequi tribe is lead by elders and a chieftain, with a great chief chosen among them having limited authority over their town. The Nation as a whole is simply governed by chieftain councils.

Barattegia: A fairly-large, predominantly-human country in the northwest of Rhivia, the Sterling Kingdom of the Glorious Barattegia has held power over that region since the fall of the Rhivian Empire. Founded and ruled by a family of aasimar, the Barattegia clan, this kingdom expanded rapidly at first and gathered many Rhivian colonials as well as native barbarians to its banner. The Barattegian dynasty mixed Rhivian culture with the native culture of the region to assimilate the varied northwestern peoples with a single identity as the new center of high culture, upward mobility, progress, equality, and enlightened ideals. While the reality of Barattegian rule was far less than what was promised, it nonetheless brought many people into the fold and attracted many immigrants from destitute or war-torn parts of the collapsing Rhivian Empire. The Barattegian kingdom has had its own share of troubles between periods of growth and prosperity, but has been a bastion of civilization and progress in the frosty northlands.

This country occupies the northern edge of the Rhivian continent west of Vanderheim, including the western banks of the Bitterbrine River and Bitterfrost Sea, and even a few habitable islands in the northern Sea of Eternal Ice. Barattegia also stretches along the western edge of Rhivia, southward into the Greenvale Mountains, a short mountain range with lush valleys and many fine Baratti vineyards. The southeastern border is rougher and more of a crescent, with the hobgoblin realm of Hozgrakorix spearing deep into Barattegia's southeast, slowly gouging out more territory from the Barattegian kingdom while enslaving more of its people. Bloody wars have wracked the southeastern parts of Barattegia as well as its coastlines, with Vanderheimer vikings striking out each summer along the seas and rivers. These wars and barbarian raids have severely depleted Barattegia's dwindling military resources and manpower, leaving only a dozen or so capable defenders in each Baratti city, town, or outpost, with a few more in the last few Baratti castles yet to crumble under siege.

The capitol city is Lantereaux, built within and around the ever-expanding castle of the ruling monarchy, Chateaux Barattegia. More of a palace than a castle, the inner walls and main keep of Chateaux Barattegia is a marvel of engineering and opulance, with high, fluted towers, gold- and silver-capped minarets, painted white and green walls, a legion of masterfully-carved and individually-unique marble gargoyles carved along each crenellated stretch of wall, vast arrangements of stained-glass windows depicting various religious and historical scenes, elaborate arches and flying buttresses, massive halls, large and beautiful gardens, and over a dozen artfully-crafted fountains both indoors and out. Several long, outer walls surround the keep from centuries of urban expansion, each designed with a more defensive purpose in mind. Lantereaux sprawls around part of the Saint Clemens River that flows north from the Greenvale Mountains, namely the river-system along the Bellesaire Plains.

The rest of Barattegia covers the White Stag Forest in the southwest, the Torrent Hills near the western coast, the Silver Hills of the north, the Bleak Precipice canyon of the southeast, the Bitterswell Floodplains near the middle of the country, the Windlash Tundra in the northeast, parts of the Frostweb Forest in the east, the Bastion Islands of the north, and the Stark Islands of the northwest. The kingdom's citizens include humans, gnomes, halflings, elves, and even a few dwarves. Local humans are fair of skin but have widely varied features, hair, and eye color, due to a mix of Rhivian, Vanderheimer, and other bloodlines. The dominant religion is Rhivian Pantheism, with Hevelior's church as the most-powerful force in the country besides the crown. However, the Golarion Pantheon also has a small but notable following in the northern and western parts of the country.

The ruling monarch is always a king of the Barattegia aasimar clan, though their bloodline has severely thinned over generations of interbreeding with humans. Rumors abound of Barattegian clansfolk seeking out azata, archons, guardinals, or devas to mate with and strengthen the clan's semidivine bloodline, even seeking out half-celestials in other parts of the world to mate with, but the royal family vehemently denies such rumors. The current ruler is King Laurent Barattegia, a handsome middle-aged man of blue eyes, fair skin, and blond hair, with traces of sterling silver in his hair and thin mustache as the only apparent signs of his distant aasimar heritage. His wife is Queen Cecilia Duvalle-Barattegia, a slightly younger and better-looking woman of similar complexion, eyes, and hair, rumored to be a distant relative. They have two young children, their daughter Lauretta and son Raphaello. Various lesser lords and ladies of human, elven, dwarven, or gnomish families rule over the other provinces of the kingdom, but the King has supreme authority in most matters of state, controlling a larger military and the most-powerful port-city in the nation.

The people of Barattegia are known as Baratti and speak the Baratti tongue, which draws heavily from the Celestial, Elven, Gnome, Rhivian, Sylvan, and Vanderglotten languages but with its own distinct differences. Some words are recognizably close to those in the base languages, but so many northwestern lingos and dialects were used in Baratti's development that it's impossible to understand more than a few fragments without properly learning the Baratti language itself. Those regional dialects and lingos were subsumed into Baratti, so they're no longer used in their original forms. Everyone in Baratti territory now just speaks the Baratti tongue itself, the Common tongue on occasion, and sometimes a racially-specific language they picked up again from foreigners or old writings. Baratti has its own script, though loosely based on Rhivian script and bits of others.

Cenebrelhuin: A wood elf country spanning the Greater Fogwood forest of northeastern Rhivia, bordering some of the former Zanjinhon territories to the east and Vanderheim territories to the west, while bugbears, orcs, and trolls menace their southern border in the Lesser Fogwood. The Greater Fogwood is a massive thicket of brush, pines, oaks, and yews, so it's a great source of bowmaking and carpentry material, but also quite chilly for most of the year. The Cenebrelhuin Principality is a reclusive society of loosely-allied wood elven clans, living up among the trees and generally distrustful of outsiders, though more welcoming to elven visitors.

While their lifestyle is somewhat primitive, living in small communities lead by the elders of each family with one noble family at the head of each community (the noble families are simply those with a trace of divine heritage in their ancestry), Cenebrelhuin elves are fairly civil with one another and with any guests. They trade food, furs, and occasionally lumber or crafts for metal goods, primarily trading with other elves but occasionally gnomes, halflings, or other nature-respecting races. A few Cenebrelhuin clans make their homes near the forest's edge and have slightly greater contact with humans, but the general attitude of Cenebrelhuin is somewhat hostile to nonelven trespassers. Cenebrelhuin elves venerate Alvaryn to some extent, but also worship Mhavara and a variety of minor elven deities. Some near the border with Zanjin territories revere Morigami and practice a loose form of Zantaoism. Some in the western edges of the Greater Fogwood have taken up worship of Cayden Cailean, Erastil, Shelyn, Gozreh, Nethys, and Gorum from the Golarion pantheon.

Corinaitus: The small Corinaitus Kingdom of central Rhivia dominates a few old Rhivian cities and towns along the Bright Plains between Kalynyral and the ruins of Rhivalius. Corinaitus is ruled by King Sevalius Tomarius Corinaitus III, a stern and practical half-elven man of middling years, average looks, and little grace. His wife Phenesaria died when the capitol city, Centrava, was suddenly invaded by magic-wielding bugbear assassins from Voregranixor, the goblinoid country to the east. Several key military and political leaders in Centrava were slain that day, including several members of the royal family and their staff, before royal guardsmen and the court wizard finally cornered and slew the assassins. Lacorinaios Desyrynion is the King's trusted advisor and court wizard, an elf from Kalynyral, with distant familial ties to the King's elven ancestors.

However, the Corinaitus ruling family is not predominantly elven, nor is the country's populace. Most residents are humans of Rhivian descent, while the ruling monarchy was founded by human descendants of an ancient Rhivian senator from this region. Though the kingdom was only founded a few hundred years ago, with three ruling kings and two ruling queens so far, it was the Corinaitus clan who united the feuding people of this old Rhivian province after centuries of disorder in the wake of Rhivia's fall. Before the first King Sevalius Tomarius Corinaitus, the family had some other name, now long abandoned. The last ruling Queen, Valeserian Aleata Corinaitus, fell in love with an elven bard from Kalynyral several decades ago and bore him a son from their short tryst, though the bard later departed when he grew tired of the old and poorly-maintained city of Centrava. While the Queen wrangled him into a brief marriage, the bard has never returned from his travels and is presumed dead. The laws of the country require the ruling monarch to be of the original King Corinaitus' bloodline, so only a human, or a half-elf like the current King, can take the throne. Sevalius III has ruled for decades now, since his mother passed away.

The Corinaitus Kingdom is a mildly prosperous country with an agriculturally-driven economy, and strong remnants of ancient Rhivian influence, including language and religion. However, some elements of other cultures have been adopted over the centuries before and after this old province reunified into a country. Merchants and entertainers from other lands frequently pass through the Bright Plains. Militarily, the kingdom is of average strength, with just over a dozen experienced knights, a thousand or so militiamen, and a few mercenary companies with cavalry in reserve.

Crathnorthog: A small Rhivian city at the southeastern edge of Vanderheim and alongside the Lesser Fogwood forest, Crathnorthog was renamed by an assembly of half-orcs from different tribes. These half-orcs conquered the few remaining residents of the ruined city (once known as Lanorinostica, according to old Rhivian maps) over a century ago and have managed to hold onto the ruiins for generations now. While full-blooded orcs from the Lesser Fogwood, and human clans from Vanderheim, occasionally strike at Crathnorthog, the resident half-orcs have held firm and reinforced the city's old fortifications. Other half-orcs occasionally hear about this one small haven for those of their kind, and sometimes manage to survive the journey to become part of this true-breeding half-orc community.

Though built on the Hellthicket marshland, Crathnorthog is fortified with stone walls and a few stone buildings, partially rebuilt with stones stolen from other towns several miles away. Most buildings in the city are old, fancy Rhivian timber structures or newer, shoddy wooden huts made by half-orcs. Some particularly-clever half-orc residents have figured out how to make new cement of the same kind once used in ancient Rhivia, so they've mortared the rebuilt stone walls fairly well, and they've also rediscovered the medicinal properties of local herbs. While trade is almost nonexistent between Crathnorthog and other communities, the half-orcs aren't hostile to merchants; their marshy home is just largely ignored by those who aren't trying to raid it. There's little of value in the city or its surroundings, anyway. Resident half-orcs generally speak the Orc language as well as Common and usually either Rhivian or Vanderglotten. They're mostly agnostic but some residents venerate Vanigor, Inahari, Lahurias, or Reveksor, and a few revere Torag, Gozreh, Pharasma, Gorum, or Rovagug of the Golarion pantheon.

Dejarinnar Sultanate: This is the oldest remaining country of southern Rhivia, outlasting the Rhivian Empire but only due to its relative isolation, and it was founded a few centuries later than ancient Rhivia. Dejarinnar is a hereditary monarchy ruled by a male Sultan or female Sultana, based on who's born first (and survives long enough) to the reigning monarch in each generation. The current ruler is Sultan Zarif Mulhazarak al-Dejahi, an elderly man with dusky skin, bright blue eyes, long black hair and beard, now graying. Sultan Zarif is a bitter old warmonger with numerous battle scars, including a lame leg and one ruined eye now covered with an eyepatch. His potential heirs are more numerous than the women in his harem, and quite a lot of court intrigue in the capitol of Dejaruk revolves around the schemes of Zarif's offspring trying to eliminate one another as rivals.

The royal Dejahi family is descended from janni, nomadic genies who occasionally visit the region. Before the Dejarinnar Sultanate unified the region, it was split up among several other genies staking their claims on the Material Plane, ranging from djinn to efreet, even marid and shaitan genies, but this came to an end when their long conflict finally drew the attention of the gods, who banished the genies. This divine intervention only allowed most genies to remain on the Material Plane while called or summoned by other people there, and the gods destroyed most items or magic-wielders in the area who were capable of any significant summonings. This allowed the native humans to fight amongst themselves and eventually govern themselves, with the Dejahi family rising to power after a few centuries. Their mix of janni blood granted them slightly greater power and longevity than pureblooded humans.

Dejarinnar is the strongest military power in the south of Rhivia, but weaker than it has been in a long time thanks to Sultan Zarif's warmongering. Dejarinnar has few allies now, surrounded almost entirely by enemies. The country spans the length of the deadly Hashanavarya Desert in south-central Rhivia, as well as the Kheheshna Savannah near the eastern coast, and the Mugarafi Hills at the southern edge of the country. Dejaruk lies near the eastern end of the desert, along the banks of the Salakye River that serves as Dejarinnar's primary lifeline, supporting a vital strip of cropland amidst an otherwise-harsh and arid desert.

Dejarinnar trades mostly in salt, spices, metals, and precious stones, importing food, drinks, and lumber. Its military is almost exclusively comprised of cavalry forces, including pegasi riders as well as regular horsemen, but Dejarinnar also commands a few riverboats and seafaring ships, generally inferior to those of greater seafaring nations like Zanjinhon, Loricaea, Barattegia, or Vanderheim. They also employ a fair number of arcane spellcasters and a few psionicists, as well as a powerful order of assassins, mysterious and feared by many abroad. The Dejarinnar Sultanate also employs a type of land-owning noble mercenary unique to southern Rhivia, known as the jannisars, the closest southern equivalent to knights.

Natives of Dejarinnar and most of southern Rhivia are known as Dejarim, speaking the Dejarim language that originated in Dejarinnar. The Dejarim tongue has minor similarities to the elemental tongues spoken by genies, but mixed with old human tongues of the region that have since been forgotten. Most natives of the area are humans, with dwarves and ophiduans as small minorities in a few corners of the region. Kobolds are a common menace. Most Dejarim are not very religious seeing as it was the gods who banished their genie masters (who had treated them relatively well aside from using humans in battles between rival genies), but some follow Dosaredios Dualism or Rhivian Pantheism, and a few draconic cults are found here and there. Dejarim revere genies and consider them semidivine, but only Dejarim who devote themselves to a deity can wield divine magic.

Estravico: The last pure remnant of the old Reino del Esarro, Principado del Estravico is a small country along the base of the Esarroccan Peninsula in southwestern Rhivia, bordering the Molten Sea to the northwest and the Shallow Sea to the southeast. Estravico spans the Campos de Maiz de Oro, a broad plain of corn fields just north of the peninsula, to the Colinas Carmesis hills northeast of the peninsula, as well as the Selva de Ebullicion, a hot and humid jungle on the peninsula itself. It is a hereditary monarchy closely tied to the church.

Estravico clashes often with its neighbors to the north, on the mainland, and on the peninsula in the southwest. Their last war was the Crusada de la Luz against the Calevarian Barony to the north, a small country that Estravico destroyed in their 'holy war' against the Rhivian pantheists of the Barony last year. Although Estravico won the war and left burnt ruins in their wake, they suffered heavy losses themselves and unexpectedly suffered an incursion from Diaborrosan cultists hiding deep in the Selva de Ebullicion. The cultists destroyed many homes and burned many crops before they, too, were defeated, leaving the Principado del Estravico in a fragile state. Even with the spoils of war, Estravico was short on food that year and many of its caballeros (noble-born warriors, skilled swordsmen and mounted lancers) and mosqueteros (riflemen, usually noble-born as well due to the high cost of firearms) came home to find nothing but ashes and rubble where their houses once stood.

This left the Principado in worse shape even as they spent their spoils on importing food and rebuilding homes. Now many of its soldiers are dispirited and living in squallor, while Principe Glorio Masenado is busy trying to fend off Loricaean pirates with his depleted navy so that he can try and bring in more food for his soldiers to retain their loyalty. The commoners are already on the verge of revolt themselves, as the Principe confiscates most of their remaining crops to feed his soldiers. Rivals to the south and northeast also threaten Estravico's fragile new peace.

Estravico holds true to old Esarroccan traditions and maintains what's left of the old kingdom's structures, including the old and extravagant Esarro capitol of Ciudad de Oro (now Estravico's capitol) along the Rio del Oro river at the edge of the Colinas Carmesis and Campos de Maiz de Oro. At the same time, Estravico has adopted newer technology from Barattegia, such as muskets, pistols, cannons, and mechanical clocks. Barattegia is one of the few countries Estravico trades with, despite the "heathen" practices of the Baratti people. Estravico trades gold, precious stones, iron, lumber, glasswork, art, and musical instruments for food and other goods, though it used to export food instead of importing it.

Like its predecessor, Principado del Estravico is a country of fervent devotees to the Dosaredios religion, namely the worship of Domirrodios the True Lord. Estravicoles (people of Estravico) are usually religious zealots and oppose other faiths with gusto, to the point of violence against followers of Diaborrosa or any other deities or spiritual philosophies besides Domirrodios. Residents of Estravico are primarily of the Esarroccan human ethnicity, with swarthy skin, broad faces, slightly large ears, black hair, and dark eyes, while the men tend to be rather hairy. Estravico also has many halfling residents across the plains and a few dwarven residents in the hills, as Domirrodios' faith urges the Esarroccans to treat other people well and spread the faith of Domirrodios to others. The primary language of the region is Esarro.

Grandheim Kingdom: A small kingdom southeast of Vanderheim, founded by Rhivian humans with mixed Vanderheimer lineage. Grandheim Kingdom is only a few centuries old, now ruled by King Markos Eisenbracht, an ugly man of middling years made even uglier by the scars of war since the Grandheim invasion and conquest of the Weisslund city-state 10 years ago. Weisslund sits upon the edge of the Weissenstein salt flats at the southeastern edge of Vanderheim, providing a lucrative salt-trade for Grandheim now that they've taken over. King Markos has no heirs, except for his young cousin Duke Rickard Eisenbracht, who currently governs Weisslund for the King.

The capitol of Grandheim Kingdom is the city of Grandheim itself, several miles southeast of Weisslund, though several smaller towns and villages also lie under Grandheim's control. Besides the corner of Weissenstein they control, the rest of Grandheim Kingdom occupies lightly-forested hills and a few small farms. The Kingdom trades salt, precious stones, silver, and a small amount of lumber for imported foodstuffs, wines, ales, and iron. Grandheim Kingdom is a warlike country with a beautiful landscape and architecture as grand as its name, built upon older Rhivian structures and newer buildings funded by the spoils of war. The country has a small order of knights, the Grand Knighthood, with various noble titles, though numbering only about a dozen knights since the Weisslund war. Each of Grandheim's knights commands a force of two or three dozen militiamen at present, most of them green recruits. People of Grandheim generally speak Vanderglotten, with Rhivian considered the high speech of the nobility there. They have a few shrines and one temple to the Rhivian Pantheon.

Huachiqatla: This small country of miners and fishers lies along the eastern edge of the Crimson Tors, in the Huali'pachu Hills and along the Qoachi'qapla Coast on the Sunrise Sea. Huachiqatla has few hunters and warriors but outfits them rather well with metal armaments, while selling iron and silver from their mines to make the Huachiqatla people rather wealthy on average. Although venerating the Great Spirits of the ancient Toran faith, the Huachiqatla tribes are not as devout as some other Torans and they see nothing wrong with major mining operations on their land. Their buildings are mostly built of stone and are quite well-fortified, while great stone walls protect their communities and of course their mines. The tribes have maintained a hold on half a dozen small towns since founding their country centuries ago, shortly after the fall of ancient Rhivia, and they have no capitol but instead pass leadership between their member-towns every generation as the previous generation's leader dies or retires. Each town is lead by the chief of its strongest tribe, and they hold great competitions every five years to determine who should have the right to lead. Huachiqatla's populace is comprised entirely of Toran humans, speaking their own region's dialect of Toran.

Kalynyral: This high elven kingdom lies along an oxbow bend of the Lynwyveris river in central Rhivia, midway between Rhivalius and the southern edge of Vanderheim. An ancient elven territory, Kalynyral and its surrounding woodland, the Senralisan forest, has never been conquered though often invaded by neighboring goblinoids, orcs, and humans. Partly thanks to Kalynyral's diplomatic efforts and alliances with various other elven communities as well as a few human communities, Kalynyral also maintains a strong military specialized in archery and offensive arcana, albeit greatly diminished over thousands of years in conflict with enemies of the elven people.

While the kingdom managed to maintain its autonomy during the Rhivian Empire's reign over the surrounding countryside, Kalynyral was forced to pay tribute to the Rhivian emperors for several generations in order to avoid a disastrous war for the elves against overhwelming odds. Since that empire's decline and collapse, however, Kalynyral has prospered once more and fiercely maintained its independance. Recent wars with orcish hordes coupled with yearly raids by vikings from Vanderheim have worn down Kalynyral's military to a scant few dozen warriors and a handful of battlemages, though most residents of Kalynyral (numbering in the thousands) are trained in fencing and archery to at least a small extent. The current monarch is Queen Sorivalian Kalynyral, who has reigned for two centuries since her father, King Tavrynalyros Kalynyral, fell in battle against the last great hobgoblin invasion. Queen Sorivalian's consort is King Lowylyrian Arvestriex, the slightly-older patriarch of the Arvestriex noble family in charge of Kalrystryl's docks. Kalrystryl is the capitol city built around the center of the Lynwyveris river's oxbow.

Kalynyral maintains trade in food, wine, honey, silk, and lumber for various metals from human merchants and others in the region, even dwarves on occasion. The elven kingdom has several beautiful villages and cities scattered about the forest and riverbanks, with numerous bridges of exquisite craftsmanship. Most buildings in the kingdom are built of wood, but there are also several stone edifices as well. Kalynyral has a modest population of half-elves, but they are treated with a mixture of distaste and pity for their human heritage. A few half-elves manage to reach positions of respect and prestige in Kalynyral, typically by proving themselves among the Arcane Archers of Kalynyral or the Kalynyralin Eldritch Knights. Kalynyralins worship Alvaryn almost universally, with Alvarynite temples found in every Kalynyralin community, but a few venerate other deities, even Cayden Cailean, Erastil, or Nethys of the Golarion pantheon after contact with missionaries from the north.

Loricaea: A small seafaring country scattered about the Loricaean Isles to the west of Rhivia, amidst the Molten Sea, so-named for its innumerable volcanic islands and underwater volcanos. Loricaea also occupies a small portion of Rhivia's mid-western coastline around the Naios Peninsula, and part of the Olympian Spires mountain range. The Federation of Loricaean Isles is a loosely-knit collection of independent city-states, towns, and villages who live by democratic principles. Each community is governed simply by popular vote of the local heads of household; although only land-owners in the Federation may vote, the country has fairly loose and simple laws that suit the freedom-loving Loricaeans.

While known all across Rhivia as some of the greatest seafarers around, so much so that ancient Rhivia copied their ship designs for its navy, Loricaeans are also some of the most notorious pirates ever seen. Their sturdy, well-armed ships are crewed by dozens or hundreds of men, employing both oars and sails for any weather. However, Loricaea also does a fair amount of sea trade in fruit, precious metals, obsidian, pumice, diamonds, fine art, and exotic dyes for lumber, marble, foreign foods, wine, spices, and iron.

The Loricaeans have little in the way of real military power, just a lot of seafaring marines, and their shortage of iron means they rely on brass or bronze for most weapons, armors, shields, and other metal instruments. Their primary soldiers are hoplites in medium or heavy armor with heavy shields and spears, short swords, or javelins, while Loricaean pirates tend to carry smaller shields and leather armor. Loricaeans often clash with sahuagin and other sea-monsters, while their volcanic homeland sometimes destroys their towns, forcing some islands to be abandoned for decades or centuries.

The largest city-states of Loricaea include ancient Lorica itself, which occupies an entire island by the same name, as well as Seronitoa, Hevarestes, Phauthos, Cerevales, Oclarens, and Naios on the mainland. Loricaeans are mostly humans, but they also include many halflings and a small number of gnomes. Loricaea is also one of the few countries to have peaceful relations with giants in their vicinity, trading and debating and partying with local giants. Cyclopes still threaten them on some islands, but Loricaeans are known to sometimes employ ogres or merrows on their ships, treated like regular crewmates. Loricaeans speak their own language, and Loricaean humans tend to be bronze-skinned with dark hair and eyes, often with a pronounced nose and brow, but not as hairy as most other humans. Loricaeans practice whatever religions they feel like, including whatever they pick up from sailing abroad, but most are fairly irreverent and free-spirited. Philosophy and debate are more common.

Navaxaqotl: A country of tribal warriors and great hunters, Navaxaqotl lies at the eastern end of the Chehuaqotl River where it starts in the Himaxaqotl Mountains. The Navaxaqotl Nation has long been an ally of the peaceful Anas'arequi and some lesser tribes nearby, but has often been at war with tribes to the east, northeast, and southeast. Navaxaqotl holds several mountain villages and a few towns in the Qelaxa'chihaqua Plains to the south, with the small capitol city Navaqalichiqan based on Mount Xaqotl. With similar stone and mud-brick architecture to their friends in the Anas'uqi Canyon, Navaxaqotl are only slightly less advanced and prefer traditional lifestyles and hunting more than agriculture, though they still maintain a few corn farms and livestock herds. Like the Anas'arequi to the east, they have a fair supply of gold and iron from their territory but the Navaxaqotl are less inclined to mine for it, so they often trade with their neighbors while the Navaxaqotl hunters/warriors devote their time to more martial pursuits. The spoils of war tend to be a common trade resource for them, and Navaxaqotl often wear trophies of their victories. They favor axes, clubs, spears, and bows, wearing light armor or no armor but often carrying shields, and Navaxaqotl are skilled horsemen.

The Navaxaqotl Nation is organized like their western neighbors, though they have a high chieftain in Navaqalichiqan that rules like a monarch. Leadership is still based on the overall strength of each family and their chieftain, but the great chiefs of each town and the high chieftain of the capitol are mostly-hereditary positions with only rare opportunities for other families to seize control. Elders handle most bureaucratic and political matters while younger men and women do the fighting and physical labor, but most chieftains enter those positions in their prime while they're still capable of leading warriors into battle at the forefront. Most people of Navaxaqotl are humans of Toran lineage, and speak their own dialect of Toran, but it is not unknown for half-orcs and even half-ogres to live amongst them as respected warriors. The orcish and ogrish clans of the Himaxaqotl Mountains are almost attractive by human standards, some quirk or mysterious ancestry lending them a less-hunched and less-bestial appearance along with similarly less-savage temperament. Navaxaqotl are fervent believers in the ancient Toran faith of the Great Spirits, so their few spellcasters are generally shamanic in nature.

Ochaqui'hotliqan: A Toran human nation of modest size in the eastern parts of the Crimson Tors, the Federation of Ochaqui'hotliqan is a collection of a dozen villages and nearly as many small towns loosely governed from the capitol of Ochapla'qachi upon Mount Ochala. The Federation spans several mountains in the Qahotli'chaqa range as well as the broad and fertile Pachu'qalatli'tichu Valley where vast cornfields grow. Largely peaceful and content with their territory, the Ochaqui'hotliqan are somewhat-recent converts to Dosaredios Dualism and the worship of Domirrodios. While they accepted Domirrodiosan missionaries from Estravico over a century ago, the Federation has maintained much of its old culture, governance, and traditions other than minor changes to suit their new religion. They have refused to go on the warpath for the Domirrodiosan church but do peacefully urge neighboring Toran tribes to convert for their own safety and religious salvation.

The Federation of Ochaqui'hotliqan relies on farming and modest silver-mining operations to maintain its strength and prosperity, hiring mercenaries to do most of the border-patrolling and keep rival tribes or other hostile groups from invading, while natives focus on their agricultural, mercantile, and artistic pursuits. They maintain only a small force of warriors and hunters, but with one mostly well-kept secret up their sleeves: the Ochaqui'hotliqan have an unusual number of sorcerers born among them, who can employ their magical powers in defense of the Federation if any foreigners or upstart mercenaries try to take over the seemingly-vulnerable country. The local populace is comprised of equal parts Toran humans, halflings, and gnomes. They use a mix of architectural, clothing, and artistic styles from their Toran heritage, halfling residents, gnome immigrants, Esarro traders, and Dejarim traders. They speak Toran only slightly more often than other languages.

Rhivia: This ancient empire has fallen apart and all that remains of it now are ruins and cultural elements that remain among many of its former territories, including the Rhivian religion and the Common Calendar. The empire once covered much of the main continent, itself now called Rhivia. The former capitol is Rhivalius, now a haunted ruin at the center of the continent.

Seronaxica: A small but strong city-state controlling the tip of the Esarroccan Peninsula, Seronaxica occupies the southwestern corner of the Gran Selva jungle and has a massive shipyard in the middle of its long docks. Seronaxica commands a large navy of fast, well-armed ships that ply the Molten Sea and Shallow Sea in search of enemy ships to assault and plunder. They've stolen cannon and firearm technology from Estravico while whittling down the Estravicole navy, and even Loricaean pirates are hesitant to face down Seronaxican ships in a fair fight.

The Ciudad-Estado de Seronaxica is a sprawling, heavily-populated city of practical wooden structures, with a few key buildings constructed of stone during the reign of the old Reino del Esarro that once dominated the peninsula. While not as beautiful or opulant as Estravico's capitol, Seronaxica is well-supplied and well-guarded, with a large population of elves and half-elves lending magical support to its border patrols and naval vessels. Though still primarily human in population, of Esarroccan lineage, the Seronaxicans live mostly in harmony with their elven neighbors and respect the elves' dominion over the northern half of the Gran Selva.

Though devoted to worship of Domirrodios, Seronaxica is less fanatical than some of its northern neighbors, and more accepting of other faiths. While still opposed to cults of Diaborrosa and other evil cults, the Seronaxicans have a relatively small number of priests and follow a looser interpretation of the Palabra de la Santa than others on the peninsula. They still practice the militant aspects of the religion, but not so much in opposition to other faiths as instead a tradition of maintaining strong, active efforts against threats from other lands, sending out naval units or guerilla units to sabotage or "warn off" enemies by keeping them on the defensive. Seronaxica is only aggressive towards those who've tried to invade or raid it, however; primarily other Esarroccans and a few mainlanders.

Seronaxica was one of the first territories to rebel against the old Reino del Esarro, and its leaders have been elected from among the city-state's populace ever since. The current mayor, or Alcalde, is Ricardo Sancarlo of the Mariners' Guild. The city council is lead by representatives of each major local guild. The city-state trades a small amount of lumber, food, wine, and crafts, particularly carpenters' work, as well as the occasional ship, while importing metal for its forges. The official language of Seronaxica is Esarro.

Toraniquatlihotl: The ancient Toraniquatlihotl Empire has been nothing but ruins for several centuries now, leaving only ruined cities and steppe-pyramids across the Crimson Tors. The origin of the Toran language that remains in use among all people of the Crimson Tors, Toraniquatlihotl had risen to power a few centuries before Rhivia only to fall as soon as the Rhivians grew strong enough to invade the region. They were unable to hold it effectively, however, and constant rebellions made the Crimson Tors a battleground until the Toran tribes finally freed themselves during the Rhivian Empire's decline.

Once free, the various tribes of the Crimson Tors claimed their own lands as separate communities, forsaking the old alliance that had formed the Toraniquatlihotl Empire originally. Since then they have remained disparate tribes with little unity, and much strife over grievances both old and new. All that remains of Toraniquatlihotl is a few ruined structures where great cities once stood, like the capitol Maruchi'toranitxu upon the great mountain Toraniquatl, tallest and broadest of the Crimson Tors, located between Navaxaqotl and Toraxaqehochitlan. While the region once dominated by Toraniquatlihotl is referred to as the Crimson Tors, it is actually several different territories linked by proximity and similar geological phenomena. Mostly a range of mountains, hills, canyons, valleys, and mesas, the Crimson Tors are marked by the distinct reddish hues present in their rock formations, resulting from a high concentration of iron ore and iron oxide (rust). The region is also notable for having substantial deposits of gold and silver. Humans and dwarves are the most significant residents besides monsters, orcs, and ogres.

Toraxaqehochitlan: A powerful country along the central Crimson Tors, occupying the scrubland and woodlands of the Qehochitla Mesa as well as the Pechiqaratli Valley north of there, Toraxaqehochitlan rests upon gold-rich and iron-rich lands that they mine extensively. This makes them the wealthiest and best-armed country on the Crimson Tors, as most of their neighbors are less-advanced or simply unwilling to exploit nature so heavily. Converted long ago to the Dosaredios religion and worship of Domirrodios, Toraxaqehochitlan has been a scourge to its animist and pagan neighbors and was rather warlike even before that. With no decent farmland in their territory and only a few struggling farms, Toraxaqehochitlan raids neighboring lands for food quite regularly and uses gold to buy more food when necessary.

Although armed with weapons, armors, and shields of steel, including scalemail and breastplates for most of their warriors, Toraxaqehochitlan has never had a very large population across their half-dozen villages and even the small capitol that lends the country its name, built at the northern edge of Qehochitla Mesa. They build with stone and imported woods, mostly using the style of their Esarroccan allies in Estravico. A few steppe-pyramids remain nonetheless, converted to Domirrodios shrines with a few decorative additions, stone facades, and so on. The government of Toraxaqehochitlan is now a theocracy where the high priest of Domirrodios in each village runs his or her village with absolute authority, and the most-holy priest of Domirrodios in the capitol city has authority over all other high priests in the country. Holy warriors appointed by the church lead each village's military, and only holy warriors can lead each warband within those militaries. People of Toraxaqehochitlan speak the original Toran language but many also learn Esarro. The populace is comprised mostly of Toran humans, but includes a small number of dwarves.

Vanderheim: This sprawling expanse of scrubland, marshes, forests, and highland moors is located in north-central Rhivia and borders various other countries. Vanderheim is inhabited by human clans, known collectively as the Vanderheimers, who have no real unity or formal government. Each clan wars with others in the region and occasionally allies with a few other clans to invade other countries for pillaging and expanding their territory. They live primitively in general, but have great skill at metalworking, smithing, and smelting, so their arms and armor are quite well-made. Vanderheim clans live in wooden longhouses or peat- and sod-built huts, with stone buildings for smithies and small castles. They trade occasionally with other clans or other countries, but mostly just raid and pillage whatever they need.

Their homeland makes for poor farming and hunting grounds, so they inevitably go a-viking downriver into other lands for pillaging. This, of course, makes Vanderheim rather unpopular with other countries and occasionally results in massive losses for one or both sides when the clans go a-viking. Vanderheimers are capable seafarers with their longboats, and sometimes make long voyages downriver into the eastern or western oceans to explore and plunder new realms where nobody expects such an invasion. They do, however, get along well with dwarves in the hills. The leaders in Vanderheim clans are simply the best warriors, titled Jarls if they control a large territory or Laird if they control only a single town or village. Vanderheimers are tall, often burly, free-speaking humans of fair skin, blue eyes, and blond or red hair, occasionally black or brown hair from intermarriage with foreigners. The men are often quite hairy and often sport thick beards, and wear their hair somewhat long (shoulder-length hair is common, while women often sport even-longer hair; both men and women have a tendency to braid their hair to some degree).

The Vanderheim territory includes much of the coast along the inland Bitterfrost Sea, at the northwestern corner of Vanderheim. A few clans near the southern edges of Vanderheim, amidst rivers and forests, have built small cities or taken over cities left behind by the Rhivian Empire of old. These cities are ruled by Grafs, if peaceful (though even those cities have at least a defensive militia, lead by a Herzog), or a Kaiser in the case of the military city-state Archenburg. People of Vanderheim or those who've migrated elsewhere from that land speak the Vanderglotten tongue, and typically venerate the Rhivian pantheon of deities, though a few practice other religions depending on where they live, such as the Rocha clans of southeastern Vanderheim who practice Esarroccan Dualism, while a few of the northernmost tribes, calling themselves Weissdrachenvolkers, worship white dragons and draconic deities. There's also a substantial number of Vanderheim clans that have been converted over the last few centuries to worship of the Golarion deities, mostly in the central and northern reaches of the country.

Zanjinhon: The oldest of the eastern countries upon the continent of Rhivia, Zanjinhon is now but a shadow of its former glory, a small and fractured empire clinging to the last vestiges of greatness. Now surrounded by small feudal domains that once belonged to the Zanjnhon Empire, it is a war-torn coastal country that survives only on meager agriculture and a brisk sea trade with distant lands. Zanjinhon has a strong warrior tradition and strong naval tradition, but recent wars have dwindled its army down to a few hundred warriors, most of them peasant ashigaru, lead by a few dozen remaining noble samurai. The Zanjinhon navy is nothing more than half a dozen small warships now, and a dozen or so merchant vessels. The capitol city of Zanjinhon is Zantenkin Toshi, a heavily-fortified but beautiful city decorated with gold, in the eastern foothills of the Yama-no-Tenshi mountain range.

The ruler of Zanjinhon is the elderly Emperor Kaizan Hohiro, who has only one surviving heir, Kaizan Shugino, his youngest son. Shugino's older brothers and sisters perished in the last two wars of the region, the Kubarakonji prefecture's war of secession and the Arenogami Akujin war, in which cultists and their allies among the daimyos of what used to be southern Zanjinhon waged war on the Imperial family and their samurai, aided by conjured oni and other agents of Arenogami, in a bid to topple the empire and bring about a new age of "freedom and equality" to the region (but really just anarchy and free reign for oni to rampage in that corner of the Material Plane). The last major conflict before those was just the latest Vanderheim invasion, 20 years ago, which ended poorly for both sides.

Below the Imperial family are the few samurai families that still serve them, diminished in numbers by the many wars of recent centuries. There are also the kannushi and budoka, or priests and monks, who are considered to be of roughly equal status to the samurai but without any military or political ranks and privelages. Below them are the peasant ashigaru, families of militiamen with less wealth and less training than samurai but still quite formidable and respectable, serving under samurai commanders. Then there are the rest of the peasants, the heimin who work for a living. Honor, face, and the code of bushido are important in Zanjinhon. People of Zanjinhon and its former territories are known as Zanjin, and they speak the Zanji language. They are olive-skinned with dark hair and eyes, with a notable slant to their eyes that seems almost elven.

Zanjin peoples generally worship the Kami of the Zantao religion, but wars of the last few decades have lead many to lose some faith in the Kami. It is an animist religion and philosophy, quite different in its teachings, practices, and beliefs than the Rhivian religion (foreign deities are considered nothing more than rogue Kami to believers of Zantao). Most territory in the Zanjinhon region is mountainous or hilly terrain, though fertile from frequent coastal rainstorms. The lowlands are marshy floodplains, and forests dot the hill-country. A desert stretches across the southern plateau at the edge of Zanjin territory, where barbarians and outlaws dwell.

Organizations:

Only a few small temples and academies remain to provide formal religious or arcane training, scattered in remote places. And only a few other small organizations or academies remain to train warriors or assassins. These remaining organizations are as follows:

To be added at some point

 

[Arkhandus]

Rhivian religions, and Rhivian pantheon details

Religions of Rhivia:

There are 5 major religions across the continent of Rhivia. The most-prevalent is Rhivian Pantheism, which includes the 23 major deities detailed below in the Deities of Rhivia section, as well as various lesser demigods, saints, hero-deities, archangels, archfiends, and the like.

There's also the Draconic Quintet of 5 dragon-deities detailed in the Draconic Deities section below, venerated by dragons and other reptilian creatures worldwide, though also revered by some individuals of other races who covet the power of dragons, or who possess a little dragon blood in their ancestry.

Many people of the Esarroccan Peninsula and along the Crimson Tors follow a dualistic religion known as Dosaredios, which has slowly spread to a few pockets of civilization elsewhere. Refer to the Dosaredios Deities section below for details.

The dominant religion of eastern Rhivia is Zantaoism, primarily practiced in the Zanjin territories, and it includes worship of various minor divinities known as Kami in addition to the 9 major deities known as Gami or O-Kami, detailed in the Zantao Deities section below.

Finally, the Golarion Pantheon, as described in official Pathfinder materials, also has a small following among the northern peoples of Rhivia, as visitor deities more closely involved with a different Material Plane but meddling with Mhavareth on occasion.

Deities of Rhivia:

HEVELIOR, the Sun-Eater, the Bright Lord, Sky Tyrant
Male Greater Deity
Symbol: Golden sun-disk emanating triangular red rays, with a toothy smile but no face
Home Plane: Utopia
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: The sun, gluttony, ambition, rulership, victory, power, renewal
Worshippers: Druids, duelists, farmers, herders, nobles, hunters, gluttonous monsters
Cleric Alignments: LE, LG, LN, N
Domains: Law, Nobility, Repose, Strength, Sun
Favored Weapon: Bite or morningstar
The Rhivian sun-god, Hevelior, has long been worshipped on Rhivia since the middle of the ancient Rhivian Empire. Legend says that it was around that time when Hevelior rebelled against his father, Rhisol, the original sun-god of the Rhivian pantheon, and devoured the old sun-god. This is known in Rhivian legends as the Day of Dual Dawns, when the second sun rose and overtook the first, both flaring brightly and blinding many people before the first sun was consumed, leaving only the second sun to continue its arc across the sky each day. This is a holiday to Heveliori, the faithful of Hevelior, but a day of mourning for followers of Lunelle, Mhavara, and Ashalla. It is celebrated (or mourned) on the 1st day of Summer's Start, and it is said that the summer of the event was especially hot and terrible as Hevelior first asserted his new power. Smaller celebrations for Hevelior are held on the last day of Summer's End, and a more sober observance is held on the last day of Autumn's End to beseech Hevelior for enough warmth to keep the winters mild.

Hevelior's body is said to be the sun itself, but he can also manifest another form when desired, that of a tall, muscular, humanoid man with swarthy skin, rippling hair of reddish-gold flames, eyes of pure gold, pearly white teeth, and handsome but severe appearance. He is always seen or depicted with a broad smile, but often in a smug, mocking, or threatening manner, and occasionally in a mirthful or benevolent style. He wears minimal robes of molten gold, along with a necklace made from some of his father's ivory bones. Hevelior wields a flaming gold morningstar in battle, called Heatdeath, embedded with spikes made from Rhisol's ivory bones.

Hevelior himself is worshipped as the bringer of light and warmth, vital to agriculture, hunting, and herding due to his role in keeping plants alive and growing. He also wards off some of the horrors of the dark and cold like Rhisol once did, providing succour from undead, lycanthropes, and other creatures who fear the light of day or who lose their power during the day. He also promises renewal and rebirth for the worthy, but harsh retribution to all who wrong him and his faithful. Hevelior is a patron god of feasts and endorses gluttonous behavior, helping others hunt or harvest plentiful food near times of feasting. Hevelior is also the patron god of noble families, their privelages, ceremonies, honor, and laws, particularly those of royalty. Other leaders also seek his favor before many endeavors.

Priests of Hevelior must be noble-born and are never given divine gifts by him unless they have the blood and upraising of nobility or royalty. Heveliori priests oversee many noble and royal ceremonies, including duels. Hevelior's priests often help build, manage, and guard granaries or other food-storage facilities so their communities will have enough to eat. They also guard and scribe legal documents, as well as scribing and delivering royal proclamations, besides guarding nobles and royals themselves and serving as dueling proxies in some cases. Adventuring Heveliori might seek out lost royal treasures or might simply be seeking power and prestige for themselves.

Clerical vestments are white togas with varying amounts of cloth-of-gold trim or gold accessories depending on the individual's rank within the Heveliori church, though small or moderate amounts of red are also favored by some. Priests of Hevelior go by the rank of neophyte when studying and preparing for higher duties, then acolyte after passing certain tests to become a full-fledged priest, flamen after becoming an accomplished and recognized champion of the church abroad, archon after becoming the confirmed (and thoroughly-tested) head of a shrine or temple, hierarch if they pass the harsh trials for regional leadership, and finally primarch if they become leader of the entire Heveliori church. There are also minor and major sub-ranks for all below the primarch, such as acolytes major who manage other acolytes and neophytes. Heveliori priests pray at dawn.

LUNELLE, the Moon Maiden, the Mourning Virgin, Night Queen
Female Greater Deity
Symbol: Gray moon-disk with a 4-pointed, undulating, black star at the center
Home Plane: Limbo
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Portfolio: The moon, darkness, mourning, reflection, insanity, change, rain, storms
Worshippers: Druids, farmers, herders, widows, virgins, rebels, thieves, lycanthropes
Cleric Alignments: CE, CG, CN, N
Domains: Chaos, Darkness, Liberation, Madness, Weather
Favored Weapon: Claw or starknife
This moon goddess of Rhivia has had a mixed history and was once considered quite respectable for worship, while those blessed with Lunelle's divine gifts were once viewed with awe and reverence. She was the favored daughter of Rhisol, and was a reflection of him in many ways. Lunelle was also briefly betrothed to the original Rhivian god of night and winter, Noctavian. It is said that before Rhisol's death, all lycanthropes of Rhivia were noble, majestic, blessed creatures with Lunelle's favor, while creatures of the dark were once fearful of her moon's light. Once Rhisol was devoured by Hevelior and Noctavian was slain by Ravik, Lunelle fell into an insane, mournful rage and lashed out, causing all kinds of mayhem, even for her treacherous brother Hevelior. Her rage was spent quickly, however, and she looked for other ways to spite Hevelior and Ravik, as well as those who did nothing to save Rhisol or Noctavian.

Now Lunelle is seen as the source of madness and depression in others, spreading her own misfortune, and she is the patron goddess of lycanthropes and other creatures who dwell in the dark or hunt at night. She has become the queen of darkness and no longer protects people from anything that goes bump in the night. Goddess of the moon and stars, she also holds some small dominion over portents and astrology, but Lunelle is also the patron goddess of other mourners, virgins, and innocent maidens, often sympathizing with such people and lending them some aid (or occasionally, the release of a swift death). She is revered by thieves and rebels for her dominion over night, darkness, and change. Lunelle is fickle now and manipulates the weather, conjuring storms whenever her mood sours, and rain is said to be Lunelle's own tears. Farmers and herders offer prayers to her whenever they need rain or to beg for the end of monsoons. Lunelle is also associated with mirrors and other reflective surfaces.

Lunelle is the moon itself, but also manifests a second, humanoid form when desired. Her humanoid form appears to be a tall, graceful, beautiful woman with a regal bearing. She has pearly skin, flowing hair composed of absolute darkness, robes of flowing silver and starry voids, but dull eyes of pure gray, black claws for fingers, and rotten black fangs for teeth. Dark mists issue forth from her mouth when she speaks, and she often speaks in babbling near-nonsense, acting unpredictably. When she fights, she forms a jagged, flickering blade from the spark of a newborn star, a starknife called Dying Ember, which darkens and crumbles to dust after use.

The faithful of Lunelle are known as Lunellans and they're fairly rare, generally distrusted by most folk in polite society, but her priests often attend funerals and provide what comfort they can to the bereaved, even paying for the funerary services and burial when they show up (so it's considered terribly rude to mistreat or reject them when they attend a funeral, despite the Lunellans' otherwise poor reputation in civilized lands). Lunelle's priests also assist farmers at times and some run orphanages, asylums, monasteries, or nunneries, where the abandoned, disgraced, hopeless, or insane can find some solace. Some are thieves or otherwise part of a criminal organization. Her priests are known simply as brothers or sisters, without rank, though generally the most-experienced or most-gifted ones manage her temples and other establishments. Lunellan priests wear simple robes of black and gray, often with hoods, veils, or both, and sometimes adorned with the peculiar star-pattern of her holy symbol. Lunellan priests pray at nightfall or midnight.

MHAVARA, the Earth-Mother, the Green Lady, Mother Nature
Female Greater Deity
Symbol: Green disk with a white halo, an 8-pointed red star above, and a blue drop below
Home Plane: Purgatory
Alignment: Neutral
Portfolio: The elements, nature, seasons, stability, eternity, rebirth, the cycle of life
Worshippers: Druids, rangers, farmers, herders, hunters, widows, undertakers, fey, plants
Cleric Alignments: CN, N, NE, NG, LN
Domains: Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Repose, Plant, Water, Weather
Favored Weapon: Sickle
The primary creator and nature-deity of the Rhivian pantheon, Mhavara is the even-tempered mother of Hevelior, Lunelle, Ashalla, and Calistrienne, as the wife of the former sun-god Rhisol. While she mourns her husband's death, Mhavara is much more subdued than most of the other deities, and has deeper insight into the nature of reality as one of its primary creators. She teaches that the world is eternal and that all things pass with time, even death itself, giving way to new life and new order. Death and change are necessary for life and growth, and her faithful believe firmly in reincarnation, even for dead gods. Mhavara is both harsh and gentle, depending on the time of year, encouraging balance and moderation, but not stagnation or indecision.

Mhavara's body is the world itself, and Rhivians named the world Mhavareth after her, but she also manifests a humanoid aspect at times. In her humanoid aspect, Mhavara is a stout, earthy, matronly woman with dirt-encrusted dusky skin, blue-green pools of water for eyes, cloudy hair, a fiery tongue, and robes of plantlife complete with flowers and thorns. She wields a sickle in her rare clashes with other deities, a weapon that constantly changes between different elemental forms and materials, called Nature's Fang.

Followers of Mhavara are referred to as Mhavarans and are most often farmers, herders, or others who make their living off the land. Shrines of Mhavara are found in practically every farming community across Rhivia, excluding a few places where other religions are dominant. Temples to the goddess are quite rare, however, and her priesthood is quite scattered with little hierarchy. Her priests are usually druids or rangers, and even Mhavaran clerics are little different. Their ranks are simply those of the world's druidic order, which is itself simply divided into aspirants (priests in training), initiates (the average priests), heirophants (the senior priests who have acquired significant divine magic from Mhavara), and the arch-heirophant who holds limited leadership over the entire druidic and Mhavaran order.

Priests of Mhavara wear simple robes of brown or gray, with some sort of decorations incorporating red, white, blue, and green. Heirophants tend to wear more color than initiates, and the arch-heirophant wears a distinctive living crown of green, slightly thorny vegetation with flowers of red, white, and blue, the artifact Crown of Nature bestowed upon the first arch-heirophant by Mhavara herself. Mhavaran priests pray at dawn, noon, or dusk (their choice upon initiation into the order). Mhavarans celebrate each solstice and equinox, as well as the first day of each harvest and the first day of spring thaws, but have no major holidays.

ASHALLA, the Life-Giver, the Guardian, Lady of Mercy
Female Greater Deity
Symbol: Upright golden scepter entwined by flowering vines, in front of a silver shield
Home Plane: Nirvana
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Life, mercy, defense, security, nature's bounty, natural beauty
Worshippers: Druids, rangers, fighters, alchemists, farmers, herders, hunters, guards, wardens
Cleric Alignments: CG, LG, N, NG
Domains: Animal, Good, Healing, Plant, Protection
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
The Rhivian goddess of pure good, Ashalla is the daughter of Rhisol and Mhavara, as well as the former betrothed of Hevelior. Firstborn of the Rhivian deities, after the original triumvirate of Rhisol, Mhavara, and Noctavian took form. Mother of Paladia, Vanigor, Gabridea, and Oramina, she broke off her ties with Hevelior after he betrayed Rhisol. Ashalla is a forgiving and benevolent goddess, but she stands firmly against evil and wickedness, so she refuses to associate with Hevelior any longer. She has battled Ravik often, seeking to quell the rising tide of evil since Rhisol's demise, and she likewise battled Noctavian a few times before that. Ashalla is most-celebrated on the 1st day of Spring's Start, as life returns to the land after winter's withering grip loosens, and this day is known as Ashalla Ascendant. Another major holiday of the Ashallan faith is the 1st day of Autumn's Start, known as Harvest's Harbinger, as people celebrate the beginning of the most important harvest-time before winter, throwing feasts open to everyone and accompanied by much singing and dancing.

Ashallan ceremonies and celebrations are always bright, vigorous, and positive affairs, displaying the energy and joy of life, while showing thankfulness for all that the participants have, never dwelling on what they don't. Even Ashallan funerals attempt to be optimistic and cheerful for the dearly departed returning to Ashalla's gentle care, and her Glorious Golden Halls in Nirvana. The goddess' ceremonies, rituals, and celebrations always involve singing and dancing, with uplifting lyrics and upbeat tempos. Her priests are usually present at births in their communities and perform blessings upon any newborn, praising Ashalla for the new life brought into the world, congratulating the mother, and doing whatever they can to prevent or overcome any complications in the birthing process. Ashallan priests also attend the construction or repair of fortifications to bless them for successful protection of the community, and they protect sites of natural beauty as well as blessing crops or herds of livestock, helping others maintain a healthy crop or healthy herd. They search the wilderness for medicinal or otherwise-beneficial herbs, as well as entreating with fey creatures for peace. They exorcise restless spirits and protect people from undead or necromancers.

Ashalla herself appears as a tall woman of perfect, statuesque beauty, with skin of silver and long hair of purest gold. Her eyes are emeralds and her voice so melodiously beautiful as to make mortals weep in joy. She wears robes woven with golden threads taken from her own luxurious hair, and an always-fresh laurel wreath around her head. Her face is never less than radiant with a beaming smile and a gentle look in her eyes. Even Ravik has never managed to make her truly angry or vengeful, only disappointed and stern, yet still smiling, even if only in pity. Lush green vegetation grows from Ashalla's arms, legs, and shoulders, entwining about her limbs and robes, always flowering and pleasantly fragrant. Ashalla wields a long golden scepter entwined with vegetation, just like her holy symbol, and she carries a silver shield as well but no armor. The scepter is called Bounty, and the shield Mercy.

Shrines or temples of Ashalla are found in most communities where the Rhivian Pantheon is revered at all. They are bright and roomy places with good acoustics and good floors for dancing, decorated with gold and silver where possible, or at least potted plants. Priests of Ashalla wear loose white and yellow robes, allowing for plenty of freedom of movement given the energetic dancing involved in Ashallan ceremonies. The robes of high-ranking priests may be woven with cloth-of-gold instead of yellow-dyed fabric. Each rank of priest above the lowest priests is adorned with ever-greater amounts of golden and silver jewelry. Priests of Ashalla use the same ranks as the Heveliori priesthood, due to the close ties between them in the early days of Rhivia. Ashallan priests pray at either dawn or noon, their choice which upon entering the priesthood.

RAVIK, the Blood-Reaper, the Ravager, Lord of Death
Male Greater Deity
Symbol: Scythe dripping blood, superimposed over a humanoid skull
Home Plane: Abaddon
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Portfolio: Death, sacrifice, vengeance, pillaging, opportunism, vice
Worshippers: Barbarians, fighters, rogues, thieves, assassins, raiders, soldiers
Cleric Alignments: CE, LE, N, NE
Domains: Death, Destruction, Evil, Trickery, War
Favored Weapon: Scythe
This Rhivian god of death and wickedness is the antithesis of Ashalla, her arch-enemy and a foe of nearly all other goodly or neutral deities. However, he maintains loose ties with Hevelior, whom he partially corrupted into betraying Rhisol and devouring the old sun to take its power (though Hevelior was always prideful and ambitious), as well as Surekkal, whom Ravik spawned from a shred of Lunelle's essence after battling her and also some of Noctavian's lingering essence, after Ravik betrayed and slaughtered that deity. Ravik himself was born of Noctavian's essence as the old god of night and winter split off the worst parts of his nature in the deal for Lunelle's hand in marriage. Before the ceremony, however, Ravik took form and slew his unwitting creator from behind, reaping Noctavian's divine essence and tearing the weakened god asunder. Ravik took on more of the slain god's power for himself, though some scraps were salvaged by Lunelle instead. Ravik has consorted with Calistrienne and spawned other evil deities.

PALADIA, the Lady of Laws, the Just, Perfect Knight
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Golden scales balancing a longsword and a rune-covered tablet
Home Plane: Heaven
Alignment: Lawful Good
Portfolio: Paladins, justice, honor, truth, laws, perfection, family, righteousness
Worshippers: Paladins, fighters, monks, guards, soldiers, judges
Cleric Alignments: LG, LN, NG
Domains: Community, Good, Law, Protection, War
Favored Weapon: Longsword
The Rhivian goddess of perfection and righteousness, Paladia is widely revered and invoked across most of Rhivia by those who seek justice and truth. She is honor incarnate and the antithesis of deceit, never misleading and never brash. Paladia strictly follows any agreement and always keeps her word, unequivocating. She is the origin of all paladins on Mhavareth, the essence of all that they stand for, though not all paladins worship her. It is only the purity of their hearts and the justness of their actions that she requires. Paladia was the first deity to teach mortals on Mhavareth about law, justice, and honor. She has also become known as a goddess of family values, familial bonds, and family honor, a devoted matriarch of her own household with several demigods and lesser deities born after her marriage to Vanigor ages ago. Paladia is the firstborn daughter of Hevelior and Ashalla, favored by both, though she cannot abide her father's betrayal of Rhisol and thus Paladia has severed ties with Hevelior.

Paladia appears as a tall, lightly-muscled woman of great beauty and noble bearing, with long, luxurious silver hair, flawless golden skin, pure blue eyes, and a perfect figure. Her every move exudes grace and power, while her voice is melodious and strong. She never conceals her true form or nature from others, wearing simple gray and blue garments that do nothing to hide her otherworldly beauty but simply protect her modesty and present a sense of humility. She needs no finery to enhance her appearance, and Paladia rarely bothers to wear jewelry or fancy garments, preferring humble garb. The Perfect Knight is never seen without her elegantly-simple longsword at her side, an intelligent and dignified magic sword named Justice, which possesses all the powers of a Holy Avenger and more. In battle she wears a distinctive, highly-articulated suit of mithral full plate armor with a few small pieces of golden trim, along with a mithral kite shield bearing her holy symbol in gold inlay.

The Lady of Laws is celebrated on the 1st day of Spring's End as well as the 1st day of Autumn's End, known respectively as Gathering Day and Glory's Day. Gathering Day is reserved for family reunions and similar get-togethers, along with prayers to Paladia and offerings of food and drink to the needy, with homeless or lone individuals invited to share in the family feasts. Glory's Day is dedicated to the celebration of justice and righteousness, with marching bands and military parades as well as public chants and hymns to Paladia, followed by ceremonies honoring the paladins, leaders, magistrates, guards, constables, and detectives who administer justice within each community. Paladia is also honored and invoked regularly at court proceedings, council meetings, constabulary investigations, and the beginning or end of heroic endeavors. She is easily the most-active goddess of the Rhivian pantheon, always busy organizing patrols or forays by the celestial archons under her command, spending time with her divine family, hunting down evil-doers to punish, observing heroic quests and matters of justice in the mortal world, answering the petitions of those few mortals who manage to visit her Golden Citadel in Heaven, sending her avatars or servants to aid mortal heroes, or battling evil deities and fiends herself.

Paladia's temples and shrines are built as miniature versions of her Golden Citadel, with the same basic shape but fewer rooms and smaller in scale. Paladian shrines look like miniature castles holding just a single room with a set of golden scales that serve as the altar, though anchored in place by metal bolts and divine magic. Temples of the Just are the size of large houses or small forts, with a large central chamber for religious services and several side-chambers of various kinds. A few of these side-chambers are courtrooms for local judges or Paladian priests to hear cases and pronounce judgments, with a small judge's office beside each courtroom. A few other chambers are small jail-cells for criminals awaiting trial, while others are small studies where books of law, criminal records, and religious or heroic lore-books are stored securely. Each temple has a few small, private confessionals, a few priestly living quarters, a few small guest-quarters for visiting paladins or priests, a small sleeping-chamber for the poor, a vestry for storing religious items, a storage chamber for mundane supplies, a kitchen and mess hall, and a small patients' room for sick or injured people to be taken while awaiting treatment. Paladia's temples are surrounded by beautiful courtyards with gardens and military training grounds of some sort. Her shrines and temples are generally built with white and yellow stone or at least painted wood, along with stained-glass windows and usually some gold and silver decoration, though a small amount of gray and blue is also used in her structures. They are generally sturdy and can be used as fortifications to some degree.

Priests and priestesses of Paladia wear simple gray robes with blue trim in keeping with the humble aspect of their goddess, but they also wear a small amount of silver, electrum, gold, or platinum jewelry based upon their rank. Novices are given the title shieldbearer and serve as assistants to other priests, paladins, or knights until earning full priesthood. Those who become full-fledged priests or priestesses are known as stalwarts, while experienced priests and priestesses are known as honorable stalwarts. Shrinekeepers and temple-leaders are titled glorious stalwarts, while the senior assistant of a temple-leader is known as a righteous stalwart. Regional leaders are called bastions, and the overall leader of the priesthood is the glorious bastion. A shieldbearer is marked by the silver medallion they wear with Paladia's holy symbol on it. Stalwarts wear an electrum medallion emblazoned with their goddess' holy symbol, while an honorable stalwart wears one with gold trim and a golden symbol on it. Glorious stalwarts wear golden medallions with platinum symbols of Paladia on them, while righteous stalwarts simply wear golden medallions etched with Paladia's symbol. Bastions wear platinum medallions etched with Paladia's holy symbol, while the glorious bastion wears one with gold trim and a golden symbol inlaid upon it.

Paladins and other holy warriors of the church are known by different titles. Novice paladins are simply known as paladins, while experienced ones with authority over a few others are known as honorable paladins, and their superiors are called righteous paladins, while the leaders of each paladin-legion are known as glorious paladins, and the leader of them all is known as the grand paladin. Novice paladins devoted to Paladia simply carry her holy symbol, but those of the honorable paladin rank wear a silver bracer embossed with Paladia's symbol. Righteous paladins wear an electrum bracer of that sort, while glorious paladins wear a golden one, and the grand paladin wears a platinum bracer bearing Paladia's symbol. Other holy warriors are known as shield-knights, with their lieutenants called honorable shield-knights, their captains known as righteous shield-knights, their commanders called glorious shield-knights, and the overall leader of those holy warriors is the grand shield-knight. Shield-knights wear a torc around one upper arm, with a kite shield shape on the side that bears Paladia's holy symbol. The torc is silver for most shield-knights, with gold trim and an inlaid golden symbol for honorable shield-knights. Righteous shield-knights wear an electrum torc, while glorious shield knights wear a golden torc, and the grand shield-knight wears a platinum torc. Paladins have authority over other followers of Paladia with equal or lower rank, while priests have authority over holy warriors with equal or lower rank. Followers of Paladia pray at dawn.

GORIN, the Forge-Father, the Hammer, Stone Sentinel
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Iron hammer striking a gray stone anvil, flames spraying from the impact
Home Plane: Heaven
Alignment: Lawful Good
Portfolio: Forgework, stonework, mining, strategy, tactics, honor, dwarves
Worshippers: Paladins, fighters, smiths, jewellers, miners, guards, dwarves
Cleric Alignments: LG, LN, NG
Domains: Artifice, Earth, Fire, Law, War
Favored Weapon: Warhammer
One of the Three Lords of Law who emerged shortly after Mhavara, Noctavian, and Rhisol, Gorin is an ancient deity born from the raw essence of cosmic order and creativity. Having forged the dwarves and various other creatures to serve his purposes in ancient days, Gorin's followers contend that he was the first creator of mortal life and the inspiration for all others thereafter. Certainly dwarves have worshipped Gorin on the continent of Rhivia for as long as anyone can remember, and many folk of other races have felt the call of the forge to practice Gorin's arts. The Stone Sentinel is a thoughtful and patient deity, who has taught combat tactics and military strategy to gods and mortals alike so they can defend themselves and their homes. He is also a patron of miners, sculptors, masons, and jewellers, having some dominion over elemental earth and inspiring artisans to create ever-greater monuments, fortifications, homes, and works of metallic or crystalline art.

Gorin's true form is apparently a vaguely-humanoid mass of stone, metal, and crystal, but often takes the form of a burly, brown-skinned, gold-haired dwarven man with a prodigious beard and molten metal eyes, wearing iron or steel armor with a gray tunic, and carrying an oversized iron mallet. A common exclaimation of wonder or surprise among dwarves and other Gorinites is "By Gorin's golden beard!" A common curse uttered by his followers is "The Hammer break you!" or "The Hammer crush all fools..." Gorin's signature hammer is a rune-engraved masterpiece known simply as the First Hammer, said to crush diamonds and adamantine on impact but never breaking Gorin's enchanted stone anvil, the Anvil of Creation. Gorin breathed life into the first dwarves with his Grand Forge's bellows after giving them a drop of his own molten blood. Gorin does not get along well with most other deities but neither do his dwarves get along well with other races. He has a sort of understanding with Farador and Bharabzeel, his fellows among the Three Lords of Law, while sharing some degree of camaraderie with the honorable goddess Paladia, the mighty Vanigor, the gold-loving Haliyane, the dutiful Oramina, and the inventive Magaryx. All others annoy, confuse, or infuriate Gorin.

The Forge-Father has many temples and shrines across Rhivia, though non-dwarves often have only shrines to Gorin, with most of his temples built in dwarven communities. They are often built in the shape of an anvil on its side, with offices, workshops, priestly quarters, and vestry on the sides at the back of the temple, while a large hall occupies the center. The altar is always a block of stone shaped like Gorin's anvil and carved with runes. Shrines are usually just a smaller version with nothing more than a small meeting-hall and an altar. Gorin's temples and shrines are always built of stone and have stone roofs, though sometimes built with stone shingles over wooden or metal beams. They might be fancily decorated with displays of fine stonework carvings and intricate metalwork, or simple houses of worship for humble folk. But these structures are always built to last for millenia, sturdy enough to remain standing under all but the most potent of siege weapon or monster strikes, with thick iron or stone doors and steel-shuttered iron-barred windows (or windowless). Some temples of Gorin rest atop high ground as rallying points and centers of defense for a community, even built up into small fortresses.

Gorin teaches the importance of self-defense and combat training to protect one's home, livelihood, and creations. He also teaches the importance of both pride in one's work and respect for the work of others. Honor and integrity are key to any Gorinite's image and self-worth; a dishonored individual is utterly worthless to any followers of Gorin, unworthy even of their time and attention, ignored and ostracized. Honorable conduct and respect for worthy, sensible, or clever foes are important to Gorinite military doctrine. Gorinites are steadfast allies of Paladia and her followers, including all paladins regardless of faith. Zanjin samurai and kannushi also share great respect for and with Gorin's followers, though they call Gorin "Kami-No-Tetsugojin" and consider him to be an unusual Kami rather than a true deity.

Gorinite holidays are few but fall on the 2nd day of Spring's Start, the day of the summer solstice, and three days around the winter solstice. The 2nd of spring is called the Lighting of the Forge, a celebration of the new year, new life, and acts of creation, with much dancing, singing, music, and drinking, plus contests of art and craftsmanship. The celebration of the summer solstice is known as Forge Day, celebrating the gifts of fire and smithing with solemn prayers, offerings, and religious ceremonies followed by a more cheerful feast of roasted foods around great bonfires, finishing with a contest of short duels to display combat prowess and finely-forged armaments. Gorinites celebrate three days around each winter solstice as the Festival of Fortitude, which opens each day with prayers and contests of strength or endurance, followed by strategic board games and similar competitions of tactical skill, then duels and a grand melee, with drinking and eating contests each evening.

Gorinite priests wear simple gray tunics and a leather blacksmith's apron or a suit of armor, with a helm or necklace bearing Gorin's visage, black or brown boots, and black or brown gloves. They look more like smiths, soldiers, or laborers rather than priests, but a few distinguishing features mark their different ranks. The lowest-ranking priests are known as stonefellows, with junior and senior ranks denoting those who are particularly-far from promotion yet or rather close to it. Greater priests with important duties or achievements are known as stonefathers or stonemothers, while the high priest of a Gorinite temple or shrine is known as a stonespeaker. Those with authority over all temples or shrines in a region are known as senior stonespeakers, while their aides are known as junior stonespeakers. Warriors of the faith, who march under the orders of a stonespeaker or senior stonespeaker, are known as forge-warriors and are lead by forge-captains. Paladins dedicated to Gorin are known as forge-wardens. The central figure of the Gorinite church is the forgemaster, who commands a large force of forge-warriors and forge-captains in defense of Gorinite communities and their allies, but he also has nominal authority over forge-wardens.

Junior stonefellows wear a gray hood or mantle, while full-fledged stonefellows have no such accessory, and senior stonefellows wear golden armbands or wristbands. Stonefathers and stonemothers wear a gold circlet or heavy gold necklace of interlocking plates. Stonespeakers wear a cloth-of-gold mantle or hood, while junior stonespeakers wear a cloth-of-gold belt or waistband, and senior stonespeakers have cloth-of-gold woven into patterns and trim on their gray tunics along with a mantle or hood. Forge-warriors, forge-captains, and forge-wardens simply wear a single piece of gray clothing with cloth-of-gold trim, in addition to a badge or mantle bearing unit insignia and gold trim for forge-captains. Forge-wardens usually carry a golden scabbard or similar item to indicate their status as something between stonefathers, stonespeakers, and forge-captains in rank. The forgemaster wears gilded and ornamented (but functional) full-plate armor of adamantine with a cloth-of-gold tabard, artifact-armor forged by Gorin himself in ancient times and bestowed upon the greatest of his followers. The Forgemaster Harness is perhaps the most-powerful suit of armor in the world, protecting Gorin's chief priest against practically every form of harm imaginable. Never has a forgemaster of Gorin fallen in battle against any but the mightiest of demons or dragons, and rarely even that. Gorinite priests pray at dawn or dusk, their choice which upon entering the order.

VANIGOR, the Resplendent Champion, the Glorious, Proud Master
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Burly golden man standing atop a mountain, with blue and silver lance raised
Home Plane: Nirvana
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Athleticism, might, challenges, hope, glory, vanity, destroying evil and ugliness
Worshippers: Barbarians, bards, fighters, monks, athletes, leaders, paramours
Cleric Alignments: CG, LG, N, NG
Domains: Charm, Glory, Good, Nobility, Strength
Favored Weapon: Lance
A mighty deity who is always the first to charge into battle against evil forces, Vanigor is widely worshipped across the former territories of the Rhivian Empire and neighboring lands. He is the patron god of sports and other competitions, along with jousting, tournaments, and gladiatorial combat, an old favorite of the Rhivian Empire. Most often referred to as the Glorious, Vanigor is ever seeking greater glory through valorous deeds, victorious battles, and tackling the greatest challenges in the Multiverse. Though not as mentally gifted as he is physically adept, Vanigor is nonetheless full of pride and boasts that he is the greatest of deities, always challenging other gods to contests of arms, strength, speed, endurance, skill, or wits, often including drinking contests. The Rhivian word 'vanity' is derived from Vanigor's name, and he is certainly the most handsome of the Rhivian gods, always preening and showing off. But for all his vanity and ego, the Resplendent Champion is a righteous god honored for his dedication to vanquishing evil and removing ugliness from the world.

The second child of Hevelior and Ashalla, Vanigor is both the younger brother and husband of Paladia, the only goddess perfect enough to earn his admiration and devotion. While other goddesses have sought Vanigor's attention, he has been surprisingly faithful to Paladia for millenia. They have several children among the lesser deities and demigods of the Rhivian Pantheon, though Vanigor is a far less dedicated parent than Paladia. Vanigor maintains an alliance with Gorin, Alvaryn, Gabridea, and Haliyane, including a friendly rivalry with Alvaryn and Gorin, while often challenging Farador and Magaryx to contests of strength, wits, or strategy. He is a foe to all evil deities, especially despising Shekeshnareth and Reveksor, while also coming into conflict with Calistrienne and Surekkal sometimes.

Appearing as a tall and burly man with golden skin or sometimes just well-tanned, Vanigor has luxurious, shoulder-length black hair and sapphire-blue eyes, with a statuesque and noble visage. Despite his many battles, Vanigor never suffers any scars or crippling injuries, either due to pure skill or some divine regeneration. He wears a gleaming mithral suit of lorica segmentata armor, in the ancient Rhivian fashion, or occasionally a suit of full plate like modern knights of Rhivia's successor-states, but he is just as likely to be seen unarmored with little more than a waistcloth and sandals. The armor is only worn for armored competitions or when battling evil deities. The Resplendent Champion is always adorned with some amount of gold and silver jewelry, often including a princely crown or circlet studded with gems, primarily blue sapphires. He is a master of every weapon and fighting style imaginable, but most often fights with his beautifully-adorned blue and silver lance, Vanquisher, which is said to possess special properties for overcoming every kind of defense. Vanigor always wears royal-blue garments, though often including some decorative white trim or designs.

Though he spends much of his time battling evil in the Outer Planes and Inner Planes, Vanigor does visit the mortal world often to witness or participate in competitions or wars, independently or on the side of a righteous ruler, though typically incognito with a fully-concealing suit of armor. Vanigor also appears on occasion to mortals in need of aid during epic battles with the forces of evil. Most of the time he just sends a minor avatar for any of these purposes, but the Proud Master visits the Material Plane directly on rare occasions to aid mortal champions or train a promising mortal. Oftentimes he just shows up briefly to inspire mortal heroes and give them hope for victory, helping them turn the tide of battle before he departs to resume his own battles against evil. Mortal warriors often pray to Vanigor for strength and courage in battle, or pray for his intervention in a losing fight. Attractive individuals sometimes pray to Vanigor to let them age gracefully and maintain their good looks well into old age. Couples expecting children sometimes pray that Vanigor will bless their unborn children with beauty, strength, and skill.

Temples of Vanigor are rare, but small shrines are found in many communities with Rhivian Pantheon devotees. These shrines take the form of a small fighting-ring surrounded by elaborate stone pillars, supporting a domed roof of stone, concrete, brass, or wood in the poorest communities. An elaborately-carved, circular altar lies at one end of these shrines, and any shrinekeeper who can afford it will adorn the shrine with gold and silver decorations along with blue pennons or blue paint. Temples of Vanigor are simply a larger form of this basic structure, with side-chambers and possibly multiple domes or just slightly-triangular roofs over the side-chambers. Temples also maintain a Record of Heroes inscribed on stone tablets and kept safely locked away, with a public copy on display around each temple, listing famous heroes and their great deeds for all to see. The roof of a well-made Vanigori shrine or temple often has stained-glass windows depicting scenes of victory, battle, wrestling, or simply Vanigor's holy symbol. Some temples are actually gladiatorial arenas, whereas other places may just have shrines near their arenas.

Vanigori priests are always athletic and physically-fit individuals, overseeing athletic events and training as well as other competitions and sometimes martial training. They are known as challengers when low-ranking initiates, beginning as junior challengers and eventually becoming senior challengers when they are shrinekeepers or assistants to a temple's leader. Those leaders are known as masters, and regional leaders are grandmasters. Adventuring priests or paladins of Vanigor are called champions if they have achieved similar power and prestige to masters, or grand champions if they have achieved the same renown as grandmasters. Most Vanigori priests go adventuring on occasion, though.

There is no central leader of the Vanigori faith, but instead one member of the faith earns the title of supreme champion each year in the annual Contest of Champions, held during the last two weeks of Summer's End. This is the only holiday dedicated to Vanigor, since he is already honored frequently during other competitions and military campaigns throughout the year. The Contest of Champions has various athletic and martial contests open to everyone, but includes a tournament that is exclusively for devotees of Vanigor, competing for the title of supreme champion. The title carries with it great authority within the faith, but any grandmaster can override a supreme champion's orders if the supreme champion tries to command too many of their temples; it is mostly a title of prestige that ensures the supreme champion will be remembered for millenia, as the winner's name is inscribed on each Vanigori temple's Record of Heroes. The grandmaster of central Rhivia presides over each Contest of Champions, which is typically held at one of various tournament grounds in that region.

The faithful of Vanigor generally wear some blue and white or blue and yellow garment, while priests and paladins of Vanigor wear a blue mantle or cloak with a silver or golden holy symbol for a brooch or amulet. Higher-ranked followers wear more gold and silver jewelry along with wearing more blue garments, but there are no strict guidelines. The supreme champion is awarded several thousand gold pieces worth of coin, gems, and jewelry, along with an elaborate trophy and an enchanted, gold-and-silver necklace known as a Supreme Champion's Badge, bearing Vanigor's holy symbol in gold, silver, sapphires, and diamonds. The Supreme Champion's Badge confers various benefits upon its wearer, and magically transports itself back to the supreme champion if lost or taken away, but likewise transports itself back to the presiding grandmaster for each year's Contest of Champions at the beginning of that holiday. Vanigor himself created the Badge, and may personally strike down anyone so brazen as to attempt stealing it or preventing it from reaching a new supreme champion. Paladins of Vanigor are rare but not unheard of, with a more amorous and competitive bent than other paladins. All of Vanigor's priests and paladins pray at either dawn or noon, chosen upon joining the faithful.

HALIYANE, the Wayfarer, the Extravagent, Lady Luck
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Winding trail of gold coins leading to a blue-crescent horizon, against a circular green field
Home Plane: Nirvana
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Trade, prosperity, fortune, travel, exploration, support, vigor, halflings
Worshippers: Rangers, rogues, merchants, gamblers, explorers, couriers, halflings
Cleric Alignments: CG, LG, N, NG
Domains: Community, Good, Luck, Protection, Travel
Favored Weapon: Handaxe
While most folk of Rhivia wish for good fortune from Lady Luck, she is a fickle and curious goddess who wanders everywhere and rarely lingers. Haliyane bestowed this same wanderlust upon many of her chosen people, the halflings, along with granting them a bit more luck than other races. Though it is believed that Ashalla gave life to halflings, they are nonetheless favored most by Haliyane and she often receives their devotion in turn. Patron goddess of all explorers, wanderers, and other travelers, the Wayfarer is worshipped by most Rhivian merchants, couriers, sailors, and caravan guards, though some devote themselves more to other deities like Ashalla, Alvaryn, Farador, and Oramina. Also known as the Extravagent, Haliyane is goddess of wealth and successful business, so there are many gamblers, bankers, and nobles who pray to Haliyane. She is a very supportive goddess by nature, showing up where she's needed and lending aid or good luck at just the right time, while setting up chains of events that may lead to fortunate outcomes for those in need.

Appearing as a humanoid woman or child of varying ages, Haliyane takes a different form each day but often chooses a halfling or human form. She may appear with blonde or black hair on any given day, with eyes of blue, green, amber, or brown, sometimes speckled or each eye a different color. Haliyane typically has fair or well-tanned skin, occasionally freckled and usually with minor imperfections to make her look more normal, even portly or muscular at times, but she usually appears pleasant or attractive in some way. She may even have eyes, hair, fur, skin, or scales of blue, green, yellow, tan, or brown when assuming the forms of other races like lizardfolk, gnolls, orcs, kobolds, or the like, though she only occasionally takes the form of evil humanoids. Haliyane rarely takes the form of an old woman, but when she does it's always a reasonably-fit elder with travel-worn features and well-tanned skin. She wears modest garments when trying to blend in with mortals, but the rest of the time she appears with plenty of expensive jewelry and expensive clothes.

On the few occasions she bothers to fight anything, she brandishes an intricately-engraved handaxe with a golden handle and a crescent-shaped, blue-steel axehead, adorned with a large emerald at each end of the handle. The axe is known as Waymaker, and can cut down trees or walls or most monsters in a single stroke, gleaming brightly with every chop to blind foes. However, it's primarily a defensive weapon, deflecting projectiles and even many magical attacks away from Haliyane. As the daughter of Gabridea and Alvaryn, Haliyane is a whimsical goddess but not so impulsive or wild as her parents. Once a mere demigoddess or lesser goddess, Haliyane found her own way to rise in power and significance among the Rhivian Pantheon, becoming a widely-known and revered goddess by the middle of the Rhivian Empire's reign. There are many tales about how she achieved this, but they vary widely and Haliyane leaves it a mystery for others. She gets along with Oramina most of the time but also causes some headaches for the goddess of fate, who is probably the only one that truly knows how Haliyane rose to power.

Haliyane is a friend to all but the most accursed creatures, and despite her goodly nature, even visits good fortune upon the wicked and amoral, trying to befriend anyone and everyone she meets without discrimination. When she finds anyone in need of aid or a change in fortunes, she can't help but take pity on them and lend a helping hand. She tries to sway evil deities to curb their evil activities, and lends support to other goodly deities, but rarely joins their fights. Haliyane's priests say that even the wicked may have a change of heart if only they had some friends or if a few good things would happen to them. Still, most of her faithful are not so willing to do favors for unscrupulous people. Her priests do lend aid to the unfortunate and downtrodden, though.

Haliyanean temples are found in many communities across Rhivia, and always have a small homeless shelter built into them, along with having a few small rooms available for rent to travelers. Temples of Lady Luck also have a stable on one side, and a gambling den on another, making them both useful and entertaining for the community. The main hall of these temples is relatively small, as Haliyanean religious services are short and simple, but there are also priestly chambers on the second floor and a well-guarded vault below every temple. These temples are often richly decorated. Roadside shrines and frontier shrines are even more common, consisting of little more than a small wooden or stone shelter with a circular altar in the back, carved with Haliyane's holy symbol.

Priests of Haliyane simply go by the title of initiate, with an addition based on their rank. Inexperienced priests are called initiates of the way, adventuring priests (those who are not tied to any temple) are initiates of the horizon, senior priests and shrinekeepers are called initiates of gold, temple leaders are initiates of prosperity, any regional leader in the Haliyanean faith is an initiate of the vista, and the overall leader among Haliyane's faithful is the initiate of wonders. The faithful wear varying amounts of gold jewelry depending on rank, though the poorest laymen just wear a bit of yellow and green. The initiate of wonders wears cloth-of-gold robes with blue trim, and green patterns like winding trails and natural scenery. He or she also carries a ceremonial, solid gold handaxe with a crescent blade called the Axe of Wonders, created by Haliyane herself and imbued with various magical powers, as well as being unnaturally hard and lightweight for something made of gold. Haliyane's faithful pray at dawn for her blessings, when the sun begins its journey through the sky each day.

ALVARYN, the Artful Dodger, the Harmonious, Dream Duelist
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Hazy, pale-green swordsman wearing a billowing, blue cape
Home Plane: Elysium
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Portfolio: The arts, music, song, dance, finesse, subtlety, dreams, archery, fencing, sailing, elves
Worshippers: Bards, fighters, rogues, entertainers, artisans, sailors, scouts, skirmishers, revelers, elves
Cleric Alignments: CG, CN, NG
Domains: Air, Chaos, Good, War, Water
Favored Weapon: Rapier
Springing forth from the dreams of other gods long ago, Alvaryn is the Rhivian god of wishful thinking, lofty goals, fine arts, and grace. He created elves to promote the arts and other noble pursuits, as well as simple entertainment and making merry, though partly based on the dreams of Mhavara and Rhisol regarding the creatures they had considered filling the world with. Thus the great similarities between elves and other humanoids, as well as fey. Alvaryn supports the teaching and use of artful, graceful combat styles, particularly fencing and archery, while instilling a strong sense of protectiveness in his followers. Mobility and defense are more important than offense in Alvarynite teachings, as he believes in the need for survival and creation, with martial arts as simply a means to that end. Vigilance and wit are highly respected among Alvarynites, just as with artistic or musical skill. Grandiose dreams and creativity are encouraged. Sailing is also favored by Alvaryn, and his followers say that this has something to do with the way people are inspired or enthralled by the open sea and the rhythmic sound of the waves.

Singing and dancing are always part of Alvarynite ceremonies, and usually moderate or copious amounts of wine. Celebrations of Alvaryn are held each year in the Festival of Fine Arts at the end of spring, lasting three days with much drinking and dancing as well as displays of artwork and musical skill, while shorter ceremonies are held at the start and end of martial tournaments, sailing trips, archery contests, fencing contests, or duels. Alvaryn is a well-loved deity and respected by many for his combat prowess as well, having defeated Farador, Reveksor, Tethariel, and Lahurias at different points (or at least fended them off successfully, usually by running away as those deities' followers tell it). He comes into conflict with evil and stubborn deities at times, but usually avoids fighting them unless challenged to a duel. Alvaryn was not always a match for them, but instead subtly gathered divine power from the hopes and dreams of other deities for long ages, and has learned how to exploit weaknesses through this insight into the minds of others.

Alvaryn's true form is a mystery, but he usually appears to others as a tall, regal elf with pale skin and hair, wearing a blue cape, mantle, or cowl along with pale green clothes and other colorful garb. This sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish Alvaryn from his priests, which is intentional. He is known to produce a shroud of mist or heat-haze around himself when fighting or sneaking about, making it difficult for enemies to locate him, and Alvaryn wields a razor-thin rapier of solid blue ice known as Crystal Grace, said to be formed of raw dreamstuff and changing suddenly to surprise foes. The blade becomes a bow with an infinite supply of crystalline arrows at a moment's whimsy from Alvaryn, but he prefers to wield it up close as a rapier. Alvaryn's own body seems to flow like water at times, and he has never been caught or held by any foe or trap. The Harmonious gets along with many other goodly deities and is also on good terms with Magaryx, who gifted elves with magical talent. The two often engage in contests of wit and games of strategy. Alvaryn has had amorous but sporadic relationships with Gabridea and various mortals or demigods, spawning the occasional new demigod or quasi-deity as well as Haliyane, who found her own way to achieve respectable divine power.

Alvarynite priests wear colorful gowns or tunics made for dancing, always incorporating green and blue, often in scarves, capes, mantles, or gloves. Junior priests are called dreamworkers, while senior priests are dreamweavers, and shrine-keepers or temple-leaders are known as dreamsingers. Dreamworkers wear jewelry adorned with malachites and lapis lazuli, at least a ring or bracelet, while dreamweavers wear jewelry bearing blue quartz and green jade. Dreamsingers wear jewelry accented with sapphires and emeralds. Musical or artistic ability are at least as important as magical gifts when it comes to advancement in the Alvarynite priesthood. Shrines of the Dream Duelist are circular, domed structures held up by a few pillars with a small, beautifully-crafted altar at the center, usually surrounded by a broad enough floor to allow for a little dancing around the altar on special occasions. Temples are similar but larger affairs, with full walls and a meeting hall that doubles as a ballroom and feast-hall at different times. Stained-glass windows upon the walls and ceiling, combined with colorful murals on the floor of a temple, depict various scenes of Alvaryn and his deeds or those of his followers. Priests of Alvaryn pray at dawn or dusk, their choice which after becoming a priest.

GABRIDEA, the Lovely Trickster, the Sorceress, Lady Caprice
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Square-cut ruby with violet feminine eyes and a subtle smile
Home Plane: Elysium
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Portfolio: Love, beauty, mystery, mirth, fickleness, games, schemes, magic, gnomes
Worshippers: Bards, rogues, sorcerers, jesters, tricksters, courtiers, gnomes
Cleric Alignments: CG, CN, NG
Domains: Chaos, Charm, Good, Magic, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Dagger
Widely revered and cursed across Rhivia, Gabridea is the fickle goddess of love and beauty as well as other mysterious forces like magic itself. A joyous and optimistic deity, she adores parties, games, jokes, puzzles, tall tales, and other social activities. Passion and compassion are essential parts of her nature. Her followers often gossip and share jokes with anyone else who'll listen, while some of her faithful prefer games, puzzles, or pranks. The gnomes are Gabridea's favored creations and show the same love of life as their goddess, though not all gnomes choose to worship her. The Lovely Trickster's fondness for mysteries, tricks, and schemes make her a favored patron for some people who just spend a lot of time plotting elaborate schemes or trying to gather or protect secrets. Many bards and sorcerers owe their magical powers in part to Gabridea's favor, just as they often owe their natural charisma or beauty to the Sorceress.

Gabridea is a capricious goddess who can turn spiteful at the slightest provocation or foul mood, and Lady Caprice is a fierce fighter when roused to anger, having wounded many an evil deity before with Heartbreaker, her ruby-pommeled, curved dagger. It is said to inflict grievous injuries and permanent, crippling despair with even the slightest touch. However, Gabridea is a loving goddess first and foremost, so she rarely injures anyone beyond the occasional near-harmless prank or a light slap. Gabridea loves everyone and just about everything, though to varying degrees, so she often shows compassion towards evil or stubborn deities and mortals as well as the more-agreeable sorts. She flirts with nearly everyone and has had brief relationships with most other deities she has met, though just friendly towards some like Ashalla, Farador, Haliyane, Hevelior, and Paladia. Ashalla and Hevelior are her parents, while Paladia is her elder sister, Haliyane is her daughter, and Farador is too stubborn for even Gabridea to loosen him up. Alvaryn is her most-frequent lover and favored paramour, but Gabridea never commits to any long-term relationship.

Always appearing as a beautiful young woman or pretty little girl, Gabridea tends to choose human or gnomish forms most often but rarely assumes the same exact form more than once. She tends to be fair of skin, bright-eyed, and bright of hair, but has also been seen at times with dark hair, dark eyes, or dark skin, and occasionally even assumes the form of hairy or scaly creatures like minotaurs, kobolds, centaurs, or locathah. Most often she has violet eyes or red hair, and those colors are often used for her eyes, fur, or scales when in appropriate forms. Gabridea often wears a hooded cloak, a voluminous robe or dress, a veil and headwrap, a partial mask, or similar garb to conceal some of her features and lend herself an air of mystery, but her clothing always accentuates at least one or two of her attractive features. Bright colors are always part of her garments, and fancy jewelry is likewise a standard component of her outfits. Red, violet, and similar hues are always included, while her jewelry always has at least one ruby and at least one amethyst or violet garnet, along with some amount of gold and silver. Heartbreaker is always by her side, though usually in a concealed sheath.

Shrines dedicated to Gabridea are found in many Rhivian communities, and are built of reddish-hued woods or otherwise warm-colored woods with a few stone pillars, and usually a stone roof adorned with a mosaic depicting the goddess. These are simple one-room structures with a square, stone altar, though the building itself is often circular, crescent, or oval-shaped. Gabridean temples are much less common and have more stonework, often marble or the like, and typically have more mosaics along with stained-glass windows in the walls and roof. Her temples always have several alcoves or small side-chambers where lovers can meet with some degree of privacy, but they also tend to have a small study/laboratory in the back for mages to conduct a bit of research or work on magic items. Gabridea's priests often create magic items for sale, and are somtimes multiclassed as arcane spellcasters. The clergy has simple rules and only provides short religious services. Prayers and rites to Gabridea are performed before many romantic or comedic endeavors, such as before courtships and marriage proposals, or before a great prank is attempted. She is celebrated and invoked at weddings, where her priests usually preside over the marriage ceremonies and help organize them. Wedding anniversaries are often celebrated with a short party that includes offerings and prayers to Gabridea for continued happiness (or positive resolution of any marital problems).

The goddess is also honored on three different holidays, related to her different aspects: the Lovely Trickster is celebrated on the 15th day of Spring's Start, while the Sorceress is given reverence on the 15th of Winter's Start, and Lady Caprice is offered appeasement on the 15th of Summer's End. These are known as Lovers' Day, Enchanters' Day, and Jesters' Day, respectively. Lovers' Day is celebrated with gifts to loved ones and spending quality time with those loved ones, accompanied with prayers and offerings of sacred wine to Gabridea in the morning and evening. Enchanters' Day is for honoring magical individuals and the magical gifts of the Sorceress, with magic-wielders offering discounted magic items and magical favors for people, while nonmagical people are expected to visit, praise, and provide gifts to any local magic-wielders who serve their community; the goddess is also honored on Enchanters' Day with solemn prayers and material offerings. Jesters' Day is set aside for celebrating those who provide humor and entertainment, often with gifts of food and drink, as well as praising the skill of tricksters and game-makers, with many folks spending a few hours of the day playing games, but Jesters' Day also includes a somber evening of prayers and sacrificial offerings to appease Lady Caprice and anyone else that may have been mistreated in the past year (it is customary to provide a small gift to those the individual has wronged and ask forgiveness on Jesters' Day).

The followers of Gabridea are referred to as Gabrideans, and the clergy are known by familial titles. Most of Gabridea's clergy is female, but men are accepted as well with less frequency. Senior priests are called mother or father by any follower of lower rank, while the lowest-ranking initiates are called brother or sister by their peers and lay followers. Gabridean priests refer to their fellows of equal rank as brother or sister, likewise, while lower-ranked priests or lay followers are called son or daughter. The formal titles held by Gabridean clergy, however, are as follows. Newly-trained members of the clergy are formally known as novitiates of the 1st mystery, while full-fledged priests are initiates of the 2nd mystery, mid-ranking priests are greater initiates of the 3rd mystery, shrine-keepers and temple-leaders are high initiates of the 4th mystery, regional leaders are known as grand initiates of the 5th mystery, and the highest-ranking priestess of Gabridea is the grand high initiate of the final mystery.

Only women are eligible for that most-prestigious and mysterious position in the hierarchy, and only Gabridea herself chooses when any member of the clergy is worthy of advancement in rank. Each rank in the clergy requires completion of a mysterious ritual and challenge of some sort, ordained by Gabridea when she chooses an individual for advancement. Those who fail the challenge or ritual are executed for their shame and to preserve the secrets of Gabridea's holy order. Only Gabridean priests or priestesses of higher rank know what rituals and challenges are required for each stage of advancement, and the goddess hides this knowledge from anyone who tries to glean it from the minds of her clergy. Her faithful are sworn to secrecy and can never reveal her secrets unwillingly (even under magical or psionic influence), while those who attempt to do so willingly instead perish immediately from Lady Caprice's mysterious powers (though even they are said to arrive in Gabridea's domain on Elysium for their prior faithfulness). While the lowest ranks of her clergy learn mostly mundane secrets (often about the ways of love and trickery), there are also magical and dangerous secrets learned at higher ranks in the priesthood. Gabridean initiates are reputedly great lovers.

Gabridean clergy members are identified by the red sash, bandanna, or mantle they wear, often stitched with the holy symbol of Gabridea. Their holy vestments vary slightly in different regions based on cultural influences, but are either loose-fitting robes accompanied by hoods and veils or instead tight-fitting partial robes that accentuate the wearer's most attractive features. Red and violet are the primary colors used in these robes, but other bright colors are also mixed in. Gold and silver jewelry are common among the priesthood, especially gem-studded pieces, with rubies, amethysts, rose quartz, and garnets preferred. Initiates of the 2nd mystery wear a silver pin adorned with rose quartz, while greater initiates of the 3rd mystery wear gold pins inlaid with garnets. Any high initiate of the 4th mystery will wear a gold amulet with a single ruby, whereas a grand initiate of the 5th mystery wears a gold necklace with several small rubies. The grand high initiate of the final mystery wears an artifact known as the Periapt of the Final Mystery, a giant ruby on a golden necklace forged by Gabridea herself and filled with mysterious powers. Gabridea herself (or an avatar) conducts the ritual to induct that champion of her faith into the position, bestowing the Periapt upon them if worthy. Priests and priestesses of Gabridea pray at dawn or midnight, their choice upon joining the clergy.

 

[Arkhandus]

The Rhivian pantheon (continued)

SUREKKAL, the Discordant Dreamer, the Anarchist, Herald of Chaos
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: A chain in the midst of shattering, held at both ends by shadowy hands
Home Plane: Limbo
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Portfolio: Anarchy, rebellion, dissent, freedom, deception, manipulation, theft
Worshippers: Bards, rangers, rogues, anarchists, revolutionaries, thieves
Cleric Alignments: CE, CG, CN, N
Domains: Charm, Chaos, Liberation, Luck, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Flail or heavy flail
A whimsical Rhivian deity of pure chaos and roguishness, Surekkal is notorious as the Anarchist yet revered by freedom-fighters. Created by Ravik from portions of Lunelle's and Noctavian's stolen divine power, Surekkal has been a rogue element among the Rhivian deities since his creation. A loner and renegade spreading dissent among gods and mortals alike, Surekkal steals power and valuables from anyone he can, which has elevated him to the level of most other Rhivian deities in power. The Anarchist spreads subtle lies and sows distrust between leaders and their followers, even his own priesthood, keeping them on their toes. Although this sabotages his own worshippers and their goals at times, it is simply an essential part of his nature from the moment he was created with stolen essence.

Nonetheless, those who offer praise and sacrifices to Surekkal (particularly stolen goods) or who engage in his favorite activities are likely to be accepted into his divine realm of Dreamhold in Limbo, where they can steal and rant and demolish all that they wish, as the morphic nature of that realm continually rebuilds itself at Surekkal's whim. Despite the immoral nature of some activities favored by Surekkal, the Herald of Chaos is not truly evil, merely paranoid, crazy, and disruptive. He is also a patron of those who love freedom or whimsy, and he supports scheming politicians that would shake things up or overthrow the old leadership (even if he might turn his forces against them once they seize power and become the new tyrants). Freebooters, mercenaries, and some adventurers pay homage to Surekkal as the Discordant Dreamer, following their whimsy and going wherever fortune and opportunity lead them.

There are no holidays devoted to Surekkal, as he dislikes such predictable events, but many a thief, schemer, bandit, or pirate offers up a prayer of thanks and a small share of the spoils (as a donation to the nearest shrine or Surekkalite priest) after a successful heist, scam, mugging, or raid. Shrines of Surekkal are always small, innocuous affairs hidden as ordinary shacks, pawn shops, curio shops, cave-dwellings, or the like. Only a hidden symbol of the breaking chain is to be found as proof of the shrine's true purpose, and sometimes the presence of a priest or small group of them (an anarchist cell) in plain clothes when the priests aren't off executing some heist or scheme of their own. The altar of a Surekkalite shrine is always something innocuous like a table or firepit, which nobody would suspect to be consecrated to the Herald of Chaos. There is no ranking system among priests and they just allow the most-clever or most-commanding among them to lead in any given situation. Surekkalites rarely carry anything more than a small wooden symbol that can be easily concealed. They tend to wear some gray or black clothing but otherwise just try to blend in with local fashion. Priests of Surekkal may pray at either dawn, noon, dusk, or midnight, whichever they prefer each day, but they cannot pray for spells (and renew other priestly abilities at the same time) until at least 24 hours after the last time they did so. The Herald of Chaos dislikes predictable routines.

Surekkal himself is said to be nothing more than a shadowy cloud of raw chaos-stuff, never constraining himself to any single form for long, but he does occasionally appear as a nondescript male with plain features and plain clothing, whose only telling feature is a hypnotic, compelling voice. He may appear to be of any race and any age, but often appears to have some black or gray features such as hair, eyes, or clothing of such shades. He usually materializes a gray, smoky flail from his essence when engaging in combat, though other weapons are also used on occasion. The flail is known as Shadowbreaker, and said to inflict not only waking nightmares upon its victims but also spawns monsters from their shadows, by tearing holes into the Plane of Shadow.

Surekkal has come into conflict with many other deities, but counts Lunelle, Calistrienne, Tethariel, and Reveksor as nominal allies, in that he rarely interferes with them or their followers and shares some affinity with them in certain matters. He pities Lunelle as his mother of sorts, and he enjoys some of the destruction and chaos wrought by Calistrenne or Reveksor, who in turn simply don't mind Surekkal's schemes and ranting. Tethariel and Surekkal have a tempestuous romance of sorts, insofar as either has any concept of romance or affection, and have spawned various demigods in their on-and-off-again relationship. Surekkal's interactions with Gorin, Farador, Bharabzeel, and Delurinae are much more violent and disruptive by contrast, while Lahurias and Surekkal are the bitterest of rivals. Those two (and their followers) will stop at nothing to interfere with or destroy one another. Hevelior, Ashalla, and Paladia are often pestered by Surekkal's activities but have less to worry about from him, given their power and convictions.

CALISTRIENNE, the Wailing Witch, the Fury, Thunder Banshee
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Dark cloud striated by lightning and swirling wind, with furious red eyes
Home Plane: Limbo
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Portfolio: Thunder, wind, natural disasters, bitterness, fury, havok, wandering
Worshippers: Barbarians, druids, rangers, rogues, pirates, the scorned
Cleric Alignments: CE, CG, CN, NG
Domains: Chaos, Destruction, Strength, Travel, Weather
Favored Weapon: Greatclub
The Rhivian goddess of foul weather, disasters, and fury, Calistrienne is favored by barbarian tribes and mean-spirited druids, while her aspects as a wanderer and mistress of the wind make her favored (or feared) by sailors and rangers. Others driven by bitterness, anger, or vindictiveness tend to pray for aid from Calistrienne, while some folks pray for Calistrienne to spare them from disasters or bad weather. Daughter of Mhavara and Rhisol, but never close to either of them, she has been rebellious from the beginning and chafed under Rhisol's restrictions. Her attitude has gotten her into plenty of trouble and she has grown bitter from the favor and attention lavished upon her siblings. She has consorted with Ravik on occasion just to spite her parents and siblings, spawning twisted and villainous deities that continually vex her kin. Calistrienne has little to do with her children, however, and has no true allies, though Ravik and Surekkal share some affinity for her destructive moods and rebellious nature. Calistrienne is mother of Shekeshnareth, Tethariel, Reveksor, and Delurinae. She once sought after Vanigor but was spurned by the vain, goodly deity.

Calistrienne appears as a stormcloud with glowing red vortices for eyes, as represented in her holy symbol, but she also takes the form of a frightening banshee, a glowering old lady, or an attractive young woman covered in tattoos of wind, clouds, lightning, tornadoes, whirlpools, and fissures. She always has wild black hair (often stirred by a constant breeze or gusts) and red or brown eyes, in her humanoid forms, wearing gray, white, black, and sometimes blue, violet, red, or silver. Her voice is high-pitched at times, or thunderous when enraged. When a violent mood strikes her, and it often does, she brandishes a massive, spiked greatclub of lightning-blackened wood that crackles with lightning and unleashes a peal of thunder with every hit. The club is known as Storm-Smasher and every impact it makes upon the ground opens a fissure, while every blow stricken against the water's surface produces a waterspout, and it can generate whirlpools underwater or whirlwinds in the air when swung around in circles. Many storms are thought to be battles between Calistrienne and other gods or demigods.

Her priests are known as stormbrothers or stormsisters when newly-initiated, thunderguards if acknowledged as battle-champions of the goddess, stormwardens if they are the leaders of a temple, or windspeakers if they've completed a pilgrimmage to every known temple of Calistrienne and received the blessings of the stormwardens. Stormwardens have authority over their own temples, while windspeakers have the greatest authority abroad, whereas thunderguards only have authority over stormbrothers and stormsisters. There is little else to their organization, given the chaotic nature of their goddess and most of her followers. Temples are few and far apart, but smaller shrines of Calistrienne are somewhat common and generally tended by whatever Calistriennean priest might be in the area at any given time. Shrines are just stone slabs surrounded by a few stout pillars and engraved with symbols of the goddess, exposed to the elements. Calistriennean temples are simply larger versions of that design, with a roof over part of the many-pillared structure but still an open hole over the altar, flanked by small rooms for the priests and religious paraphernalia. The temples are often built on high ground or on raised platforms where storm surges won't flood them, though small channels are carved into the floors to allow water to flow out, but these temples are usually located by the shore of lakes, seas, or oceans, or in high places where storms are common.

Priestly garb is nothing more than loose robes of gray and black, striated with patterns of white and blue, often hooded and sometimes veiled against dust-storms or the like. Silver jewelry is common among the priesthood, while thunderguards, stormwardens, and windspeakers also wear some red adornment such as rubies, red garnets, or red scarves. Stormwardens also wear at least a little bit of purple, such as amethysts, violet garnets, or a purple mantle. Windspeakers often wear sapphires or other blue gems, in addition to a hideous mask lined with rubies around the eye-slits. Thunderguards who are also stormwardens or windspeakers might wear more red, while stormwardens who are also windspeakers might wear more purple. Calistrienne is said to live in the Grand Tempest amidst Limbo, a swirling maelstrom large enough to swallow continents and surrounding a small, ever-changing island at the calm spot in the eye of the storm. Her divine realm is a dangerous place for dangerous people, always drifting across Limbo and causing trouble for that Plane's other inhabitants. Calistriennean priests must offer prayers, pleas, and homage some time between dawn and noon each day to beg for her favor.

MAGARYX, the Stoic Scrivener, the Arcanist, Guardian of Lore
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: An open scroll covered in violet runes, flanked by silvery golems
Home Plane: Purgatory
Alignment: Neutral
Portfolio: Magic, divination, understanding, cleverness, invention, math, reason, ego
Worshippers: Alchemists, bards, sorcerers, wizards, artificers, scholars, architects, clerks
Cleric Alignments: CN, LN, N, NE, NG
Domains: Artifice, Knowledge, Magic, Rune, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
Description forthcoming

INAHARI, the Spore Child, the Orphan, Sun Princess
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Small yellow spark, amid a black tunnel speckled with fungal blooms
Home Plane: Purgatory
Alignment: Neutral
Portfolio: Light, mutual aid, loss, desperation, misunderstanding, fungi, life from death
Worshippers: Rangers, rogues, hermits, orphans, the poor, farmers, fungus creatures
Cleric Alignments: CN, LN, N, NE, NG
Domains: Community, Healing, Plant, Repose, Sun
Favored Weapon: Unarmed strike
Born from the last shred of Rhisol's divine essence when Hevelior devoured the old sun god, Inahari drifted away as nothing more than a tiny spark unnoticed by Hevelior. When the spark found a host later in the corpse of Noctavian, it took root and began to grow, drawing on what little remained of Noctavian's petrified divine essence. Inahari sprang forth and wandered the divine realms after that, leeching divine energy slowly and quietly from other deities for sustenance, occasionally getting caught and narrowly escaping their wrath. Eventually she found support from Mhavara and Lunelle, and helped Lunelle get a measure of revenge on Ravik in return. She leeched divine power from Ravik to strengthen and stabilize herself, but her leeching off of goodly deities has caused her trouble as well. The Orphan hides in different corners of Purgatory and the Transitive Planes, while her own small divine realm (the Soulspark Caverns, where the souls of the dispossessed, the faithless, and rejects end up) is always drifting about below Purgatory's surface.

Inahari has a kinship with fungal creatures and predatory plant creatures, like shambling mounds, but she receives offerings or worship from some farmers, beggars, criminals, and other folk of meager means or destitution. Underground fungus-farmers pray to the Spore Child as well, and she seems to have been readily adopted as the patron goddess of the myconids and other fungal creatures. She is also the patron of subterranean explorers and scavengers, such as dwarven or spriggan rangers. Although one of the youngest deities, little over a millenium in age, Inahari has been quick to seize opportunities and morsels of power wherever she can find them, gaining followers on the Material Plane with her active efforts to gather the lost, the desperate, and the poor into her priesthood. Many of her priests are poor individuals that the Orphan has visited and given aid or comfort to, including mortal orphans. They are tasked with spreading Inahari's message of acceptance and hope, providing aid to the needy, but also with destroying the undead, pests, and other foul creatures who make peoples' lives difficult.

Inahari is one of the most-active Rhivian deities on the Material Plane, since she has little to do with any other deities and avoids any involvement in the politics, schemes, or wars of the gods. She often appears as a young girl of whichever race is prevalent in the area, or the same race as whoever she is showing up to assist, wearing rags or moldy garments woven from plants. Inahari generally appears pale and dark-haired, but her eyes are always a bright, warm hue like amber, orange, red, or bright purple, and she wears almost exclusively gray, green, brown, and black garments. On rare occasions she appears as a fancily-dressed young princess, but only when dealing with noble-born, wealthy, or arrogant people whom she is not likely to persuade in her usual, humble guise. The Sun Princess is a direct inheritor to Rhisol's place in the pantheon but her unusual and parasitic origins as a goddess make her ill-suited to try commanding any of her kin as Rhisol once could have, let alone attempting to challenge Hevelior. Instead she simply tries to turn mortals to her cause and make them more charitable, more community-focused and less self-absorbed.

The Sun Princess believes in trade and repaying favors, so she has developed a small church of bankers and merchants amongst her priesthood. Her temples are few and far between, but largely just appear to be banks and trading halls, with only subtle hints in design and ornamentation that mark the buildings as consecrated to Inahari for her faithful. The actual temple areas are carved out beneath such structures in their basements or sub-basements, made to resemble natural caves with a flat-cap mushroom-shaped altar, inset with gold depicting the jagged spark of Inahari in her true form. When her followers die, they are buried in branches of these caves where fungus grows, interred in alcoves where the fungus can decompose their rotting husks and return them to the earth while their souls join Inahari in the Soulspark Caverns, where they await rebirth through the grace of the goddess. Inaharian holy texts, few and meager though they are, claim that one day Rhisol himself will be reborn from Inahari and retake his rightful place as lord of the gods, rewarding the faithful who supported his Orphan.

While temples of the Sun Princess are few, shrines of the Orphan and the Spore Child are more numerous and found in isolated or abandoned areas, and occasionally underneath orphanages or right next to subterranean fungus-farms. These shrines are simple and often made from scavenged materials, serving as meeting places for the faithful and as places to seek aid or healing, tended by priests with humble origins who generally try to blend in with locals. Regardless, priests of Inahari have no formal vestments and are only expected to wear a mantle of vegetation for the occasional ceremonies, which are simple and to the point. Priests are known simply as brothers or sisters, and hold authority only over their individual temples, shrines, or flocks. When there are multiple priests gathered in a temple or the like, they may refer to the local leader as a senior brother or senior sister while the least-experienced members may be called junior brothers or sisters. Inaharians have no holidays and their ceremonies are generally solemn, held around birthdays, marriages, funerals, and other important events in their personal lives. Priests of Inahari pray at dawn or dusk.

FARADOR, the Strict Lord, the Enforcer, Absolute Magistrate
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: A bronze fist gripping the bottom of an iron square, with 4 crossbars
Home Plane: Utopia
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Discipline, structure, tradition, oaths, order, hard work, control, strength
Worshippers: Fighters, monks, soldiers, knights, rulers, bureaucrats, laborers
Cleric Alignments: LE, LG, LN, N
Domains: Law, Nobility, Protection, Strength, War
Favored Weapon: Unarmed strike or heavy pick
Another of the Three Lords of Law, Farador emerged at roughly the same time as Gorin and Bharabzeel from the essence of raw cosmic order, making him one of the eldest Rhivian deities and only loosely related to any others. Farador is the incarnation of pure law, discipline, and structure, getting along only passably with his fellows among the Three Lords of Law, who embody a mix of order and good or evil instead of the pure law of Farador's existence. The only deities that Farador accepts as nominal allies are Hevelior and Oramina, besides honoring his oaths of non-interference with Bharabzeel and Gorin, his brothers. The Strict Lord clashes with all other Rhivian deities to some extent, and his followers likewise have difficulty getting along with most other folks. Farador brooks no disobedience or disorder among his fellows or those who serve him, and he wages an eternal war with the forces of chaos. Naturally, his greatest foes are Lunelle, Surekkal, Calistrienne, Reveksor, and Delurinae, though he also fights with Alvaryn and Gabridea despite their tendency to flee or stay out of his way whenever possible.

Farador always appears as a stern-faced, brawny, humanoid man made of bronze, wearing a steel breastplate, an iron crown with four sides, iron bracers, and iron greaves. He carries a hefty, solid-steel pick-axe called Enforcer's Might, which petrifies and shatters whatever it strikes. He rules over his divine agents and the souls of his followers from the Iron Throne at the center of his domain, the Halls of Perfect Order in Utopia.

Farador teaches the importance of strength in mind, body, and spirit, the need for strong convictions and the will to fight for them. A weak mind is vulnerable to deception, corruption, and control, so Faradori (followers of Farador) must exercise their minds with study or debate while considering situations from all angles to avoid making a hasty or emotional decision. Farador and his followers ought to control their own actions and the course of their own lives, but should also respect traditions and the existing structure of society, working hard in whatever role they have while striving for advancement or at least perfection in their trade. Farador's scriptures say that men and women should pursue management positions in their businesses, communities, guilds, or countries, but without neglecting their place in society lest discord arise and undermine their authority within the family or community. Those with authority should use it wisely and not allow emotions to cloud their judgment. They have a responsibility to serve and protect those beneath them in society, in the organization, or in the family.

Oaths should be kept and followed faithfully, for uncertainty and disorder arise when oaths are taken too lightly, so followers should avoid swearing oaths they may not be able to keep. Self-discipline and physical prowess are to be respected by Faradori, for those who have mastered their bodies are not slaves to their baser instincts nor are they likely to fall under the control of weaker men. Weakness of body leads to poor health, a poor work ethic, and vulnerability to other dangers or unworthy rulers, so Faradori cannot be lazy or overly bookish. Only strong leaders deserve their positions of authority, and Farador teaches that such leaders must be obeyed for the sake of societal order and national or communal strength. War is inevitable so long as chaos is allowed to hold sway over people, Farador says, so his followers should be determined in fighting the spread of chaos, even going to war when necessary for the greater cause of universal order and eventual peace.

The Absolute Magistrate expects most disputes to be resolved peacefully in courts of law, or with contracts and treaties, or with simple deals between men and women of honor, but the Enforcer has no compunction against duels or warfare when necessary. Frequent meditation, and frequent supplication at Farador's shrines and temples, are expected of his followers for the sake of their spiritual well-being, reaffirming their convictions, and maintaining a clear head for rational decisions. Difficult or complicated matters should be given thorough examination and consideration, but decisive action should be taken when the immediate situation is too chaotic and dangerous for that much thought.

Farador has only one holiday dedicated to him, Magistrate's Day on the 28th of Autumn's End, when rulers, judges, and other leaders are honored alongside the god of ultimate law. Magistrate's Day is a solemn holiday of chanted prayers, offerings, introspection, and community exercises to show unity or discipline, followed by a martial display, and finally an athletic display of wrestling matches in a more-exciting but still-orderly celebration of strength. Temples of Farador are found in most major Rhivian cities while shrines to the Absolute Magistrate are located in many smaller towns or fortresses. They are simple, blocky structures with square pillars and windows, austere and functional with iron gates and iron-barred windows, very defensible in the event of an attack on the community. Inside they have a few bronze decorations, including an altar forged of bronze plates in the shape of an upraised fist, while colorful stone murals on the floor, ceiling, or walls of some temples depict military victories over chaotic foes such as goblins, orcs, elves, barbarians, minotaurs, or demons. Farador's temples only have a main hall and offices for the resident clergy or magistrates, as the faithful are expected to attend community services at the proper times rather than offering worship or seeking counsel individually at random times. His shrines are just smaller versions of these structures, a bronze altar inside a small stone chamber.

Priests of Farador are known as consuls, while those in training are adjutants, and the leaders of temples are adjudicators. There are junior and senior consuls inbetween these ranks, based not only on divine gifts and adherence to scripture but also on knowledge of laws and customs. An adjudicator must know all local laws and customs as well as the scriptures of Farador, though he or she may consult written records of the material when finer details are important. Each region's temples and shrines are managed by a senior adjudicator, while the church of Farador as a whole is overseen by the high magistrate as appointed by Farador himself through divine decree. His clergy wear dark gray robes with orange or yellow-orange trim and bronze ornamentation, with a bronze circlet or torc upon their heads. Adjutants wear a bronze skullcap instead, while the high magistrate wears a heavy bronze crown. Consuls wear a bronze torc around one arm while senior consuls wear them on both arms. Adjudicators wear a small bronze mantle, while senior adjudicators wear a bronze belt in addition. Priests of Farador must pray at nightfall, as all Farador's followers are expected to be productive workers of some sort during daylight hours.

ORAMINA, the Handler of Fates, the Visionary, Divine Prophet
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Orange, feminine eye gazing out from a misty field, with horses for eyelashes
Home Plane: Utopia
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Prophecy, planning, quests, sojourns, racing, beasts of burden, civility, duty
Worshippers: Oracles, rangers, advisors, quartermasters, stablemasters, teamsters, equestrians
Cleric Alignments: LE, LG, LN, N
Domains: Animal, Community, Knowledge, Law, Travel
Favored Weapon: Shortbow
A Rhivian goddess of fate and travel, Oramina is predominantly worshipped by people in caravans and those merchants who organize them, but she is also widely-venerated by equestrians, horse-trainers, and others who use beasts of burden. Courtly advisors, military strategists, and rulers offer prayers to Oramina when planning any significant endeavor, mission, or plot. Bureaucrats and town guardsmen also offer the occasional prayer to Oramina for aid in their jobs or relief from burdensome duties. Daughter of Ashalla and Hevelior, she is a distant goddess that has little interaction with her divine family and less with mortals. Oramina has minor, peaceful ties to Magaryx, Farador, and Haliyane, whom her followers are expected to show some degree of respect toward.

Impartial and more aware of the inevitability of Fate than anyone else, Oramina dispenses advice or warnings to people and monsters of all stripes, whether good, evil, lawful, chaotic, or neutral. The Handler of Fates does what she can to steer events towards peaceful or steady outcomes, but her influence over Fate is quite limited. She is said to witness the unraveling Threads of Fate for each creature and object in the world, viewing the vast Tapestry of Time that they form. But even the Divine Prophet can only inspect a few people's Fates at once, and interpret the meaning of those points where they are interwoven with other Threads of Fate. She is said to have been sullen and withdrawn even at birth, foreseeing what Fate held in store for her parents and grandparents but unable to communicate it at first, born last and only shortly before Hevelior's betrayal of Rhisol.

Oramina feels it is her duty to inform others of their Fate, or at least those parts that seem most-disruptive to normal life, but she has difficulty reading the Fates of other divinities, which supposedly appear blindingly-bright or exceptionally-dark in the Tapestry of Time. She is said to find her only joy in riding her divine mare Ephaestia across the Fated Fields, Oramina's divine realm in Utopia. Oramina herself is often depicted with the metallic-bronze horse at her side or carrying her about, often in racing poses. The goddess appears as an adolescent girl or young woman with orange eyes, flowing auburn hair, pale or lightly-tanned skin, and plain features often in a calm, neutral expression. She wears simple gray robes, often hooded, with a white belt and brown-leather riding boots. Some depict her as an elderly crone with gray hair, a guise she has used only on rare occasions. Oramina carries a rune-engraved shortbow called Inevitability, which never misses its mark under any circumstance and has been known to take out the eyes of unruly demigods. However, the Divine Prophet rarely involves herself directly in any conflict, and has never been harmed as she always knows when and where trouble will come from.

Temples of Oramina are few and small, usually including a stable and a large, fenced yard. Small shrines are more common and found in many settlements across Rhivia, often near one of the gates into town. They are simple and functional structures with a small common room for religious services and meetings, a wooden or stone block serving as the altar (generally with a brass or bronze bowl upon it, or a carving of the goddess' symbol). They occasionally have smaller side-chambers or alcoves for individual prayers before smaller altars and icons of the goddess. Each shrine or temple is a square-shaped building with a rounded pillar in each corner, often including a skylight over the common room for stargazing. Oramina's priests are usually wanderers who only serve at any given temple or shrine briefly. They wear practical clothes for travel instead of formal vestments, though many keep a simple hooded robe of gray (with white and brown accessories) for the occasional ceremony, such as blessing a race horse or when called upon for guidance by a local ruler. The only holiday for the Oraminan faith is on the night of the 1st new moon each spring, a solemn ceremony offering thanks to the goddess for her insights, and seeking omens among the stars for the year to come. Oraminan priests pray at dawn or midnight, their choice upon entering her service or upon first receiving her gifts.

Oraminan priests only distinguish themselves with a prominent orange decoration such as ribbons, a headband, a cape, or a sash. Many wear some kind of brass, bronze, or copper jewelry, but they avoid the ostentatiousness of gold, silver, platinum, gems, pearls, and such. Only holy symbols or magic items they carry might be of such valuable materials, and Oraminans try to be humble, pragmatic savers. Others call them miserly, but they simply know the importance of saving for retirement or disasters. The Handler of Fates may favor her worshippers, but she doesn't reward poor planning. Fortune favors the prepared, as her followers are fond of saying. Cooperation and civil behavior are also important in Oramina's teachings, as they often lead to better outcomes and minimize violence. Oramina prefers orderly, structured Threads of Fate as opposed to tangled, chaotic ones. Her priests have no ranking other than simple seniority, with the oldest or most-experienced priests having limited authority over their younger peers, though the roaming priests rarely have any need for leadership.

BHARABZEEL, the Silver-Tongued Devil, the Dominator, Red Tyrant
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Scimitar slashing down on several small, cowering, bloody humanoids
Home Plane: Hell
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Portfolio: Domination, pride, exploitation, contracts, toil, coercion, torture, hobgoblins
Worshippers: Fighters, monks, rogues, tyrants, overseers, negotiators, torturers, hobgoblins
Cleric Alignments: LE, LN, NE
Domains: Evil, Law, Nobility, Trickery, War
Favored Weapon: Scimitar
This ancient Rhivian deity of conquest and ruthless order predates all but the eldest of gods, as one of the Three Lords of Law that formed from the organization of raw, cosmic order into paragons of its three aspects. Bharabzeel is essentially the brother of Gorin and Farador, with whom he shares only a nominal treaty to avoid direct interference with one another and their creations. The Silver-Tongued Devil always honors contracts, but only in the loosest manner possible without breaking them. Breakers of contracts are sometimes cursed to "Receive Bharabzeel's only mercy," which is a swift death.

LAHURIAS, the Foul Mistress, the Wretched, Shadow Sovereign
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: A seemingly-fanged cave-mouth, the dark maw speckled with tiny green eyes
Home Plane: Hell
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Portfolio: Envy, disease, poison, scavenging, theft, skulking, spying, sabotage, traps, shadows, caves, extraction, oozes
Worshippers: Assassins, bards, rangers, rogues, grimlocks, duergar, deep dwarves, deep gnomes
Cleric Alignments: LE, LN, NE
Domains: Artifice, Darkness, Earth, Evil, Law
Favored Weapon: Slam or whip
Description forthcoming

SHEKESHNARETH, the Entropic Lord, the Disintegrator, Soul Collector
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Greatsword lying on its side, atop a burning corpse
Home Plane: Abaddon
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Portfolio: Sloth, gluttony, entropy, decay, corruption, execution, power, ruin, ambushes, bugbears, gnolls
Worshippers: Barbarians, bards, fighters, rogues, sorcerers, wizards, executioners, bugbears, gnolls
Cleric Alignments: CE, LE, N, NE
Domains: Death, Destruction, Evil, Fire, Magic
Favored Weapon: Greatsword
Description forthcoming. Son of Calistrienne and Ravik.

TETHARIEL, the Wicked Mistress, the Gatherer, Lady of Illusion
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Profile of a beautiful woman's face, exhaling a cloud concealing a hazy dagger
Home Plane: Abaddon
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Portfolio: Lust, greed, secrets, seduction, debauchery, treachery, surprise, clouds, illusion, spiders, scorpions
Worshippers: Barbarians, bards, fighters, rogues, dark elves, ettercaps, aranea
Cleric Alignments: CE, LE, N, NE
Domains: Air, Charm, Evil, Knowledge, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Dagger
Description forthcoming. Daugher of Ravik and Calistrienne.

REVEKSOR, the Rampant Demon, the Brute, Lord of Slaughter
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Eight bloody, crossed battleaxes in a circle
Home Plane: The Abyss
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Ruthlessness, recklessness, hatred, deceit, rampages, brutality, goblins, orcs
Worshippers: Barbarians, fighters, rogues, goblins, orcs
Cleric Alignments: CE, CN, NE
Domains: Chaos, Evil, Strength, Trickery, War
Favored Weapon: Battleaxe
Description forthcoming. Son of Ravik and Calistrienne.

DELURINAE, the Lady of Wrath, the Tempest, Sea Witch
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Kraken flailing about with three tridents
Home Plane: The Abyss
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Wrath, fear, devastation, pillaging, sadism, suspicion, brinksmanship, seafaring, pirates, sea monsters
Worshippers: Barbarians, fighters, rogues, pirates, torturers, raiders, krakens, sahuagin
Cleric Alignments: CE, CN, NE
Domains: Animal, Chaos, Destruction, Evil, Water
Favored Weapon: Trident
Description forthcoming. Daughter of Calistrienne and Ravik.

 

[Arkhandus]

Other deities of Rhivia

Draconic Deities:

DRACOVA, the Wyrmfather, the Elemental Scourge, Dragonking
Male Greater Deity
Symbol: Front view of a flying dragon, exhaling a cone of fire, lightning, icicles, mist, and rocks
Home Plane: Purgatory
Alignment: Neutral
Portfolio: Dragonkind, reptilians, fertility, supremacy, gems, unbridled natural forces
Worshippers: Druids, rangers, sorcerers, dragons, lizardfolk, troglodytes, kobolds
Cleric Alignments: CN, LN, N, NE, NG
Domains: Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Magic, Nobility, Plant, Water
Favored Weapon: Bite or unarmed strike
Description forthcoming

RUKARRMAKOR, the Dragon of Devastation, the Wicked Wyrm, Ravenous Hunter
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Rampant black, red, and white dragon, devouring a fleeing mammoth
Home Plane: The Abyss
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Black dragons, red dragons, white dragons, hunger, hunting, torture, wanton destruction
Worshippers: Black dragons, red dragons, white dragons, lizardfolk, troglodytes, kobolds
Cleric Alignments: CE, CN, NE
Domains: Chaos, Destruction, Evil, Fire, Strength, Water
Favored Weapon: Bite or kukri
Description forthcoming

PARUZZEKRION, the Dragon of Domination, the Storm Serpent, Opulant Overlord
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Blue and green dragon prowling along the ground, trailing lightning, exhaling smoke
Home Plane: Hell
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Portfolio: Blue dragons, green dragons, plotting, subtlety, deviousness, oppression, wealth
Worshippers: Blue dragons, green dragons, lizardfolk, troglodytes, kobolds
Cleric Alignments: LE, LN, NE
Domains: Air, Earth, Evil, Law, Trickery, War
Favored Weapon: Claw or falchion
Description forthcoming

SENEVORIX, the Dragon of Wisdom, the Shining Serpent, August Lord
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Glittering, sleeping dragon of bronze, gold, and silver
Home Plane: Heaven
Alignment: Lawful Good
Portfolio: Bronze dragons, gold dragons, silver dragons, couatls, wisdom, grace, resplendence
Worshippers: Bronze dragons, gold dragons, silver dragons, couatls, lizardfolk
Cleric Alignments: LG, LN, NG
Domains: Air, Fire, Good, Knowledge, Law, Water
Favored Weapon: Claw or spiked gauntlet
Description forthcoming

GANATERRAX, the Dragon of Revelry, the Merry Wyrm, Melodious Dragonet
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: A dancing dragon of brass and copper, splashing wine from a jug
Home Plane: Elysium
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Portfolio: Brass dragons, copper dragons, lillends, freedom, the arts, humor, revelry
Worshippers: Brass dragons, copper dragons, lillends, lizardfolk
Cleric Alignments: CG, CN, NG
Domains: Charm, Chaos, Earth, Fire, Good, Liberation
Favored Weapon: Bite or unarmed strike
Description forthcoming



Dosaredios Deities:

DOMIRRODIOS, the True Lord, the Holy One, Supreme God
Male Greater Deity
Symbol: A rearing white stallion silhouette against a red-orange sun, with two crossed sabers behind
Home Plane: Nirvana
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Good, light, righteousness, mercy, life, creation, prosperity, the sun
Worshippers: Bards, druids, fighters, swashbucklers, farmers, merchants, crafters
Cleric Alignments: CG, LG, NG, N
Domains: Animal, Glory, Good, Healing, Plant, Protection, Sun, War
Favored Weapon: Saber (scimitar)
Description forthcoming

DIABORROSA, the Defiler Queen, the Defector, Corruptor
Female Greater Deity
Symbol: Drawn bow and arrow, piercing a heart that bleeds black, against a gray moon
Home Plane: Abaddon
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Portfolio: Evil, darkness, treachery, corruption, the moon, disasters, ruin, theft
Worshippers: Barbarians, bards, fighters, rogues, assassins, thieves, bandits, spies
Cleric Alignments: CE, LE, NE, N
Domains: Charm, Darkness, Death, Destruction, Evil, Trickery, War, Weather
Favored Weapon: Shortbow (any)
Description forthcoming



Zantao Deities:

MOEGAMI, the Mother of Creation, the Divine Phoenix, Sun Empress
Female Greater Deity
Symbol: Red sun-disk with a spiky yellow halo, and a rampant white bird in the center
Home Plane: Heaven
Alignment: Lawful Good
Portfolio: Fire, heat, light, magma, the sun, forges, creation, leadership, honor, courtesy
Worshippers: Alchemists, artificers, fighters, monks, paladins, nobles, artisans
Cleric Alignments: LG, LN, NG
Domains: Artifice, Fire, Glory, Good, Law, Nobility, Sun
Favored Weapon: Unarmed strike
Zantao teaches that the world is eternal, going through cycles of creation, destruction, and reincarnation. Whenever the world is destroyed, the Kami simply rebuild it from the primal elements scattered across the void, giving each soul a new place in each new incarnation of the world itself. And chief among those Kami is Moegami, the Mother of Creation, who is ever the first to gather the elements together, order them in her forge to form a new world, and rekindle life in each new incarnation of the world. The Sun Empress gives light and warmth to the world from her glittering palace in the Sun itself, which is the purest manifestation of her power.

Moegami herself manifests in the form of either a dazzling phoenix, with feathers of gold and silver ablaze with flames in all colors of the rainbow, but chiefly blazing with pure white light, or instead appearing in the form of a beautiful woman with skin like porcelain, eyes of gold, hair of flames, and robes of red, yellow, and orange, wearing a delicate silver crown or hairpin. Moegami needs no weapon, as her very touch can burn almost anything to ashes in an instant, if she so chooses. As the Divine Phoenix she battles evil and chaos while kindling stars to life, then as the Sun Empress she organizes and leads the Kami. Moegami also teaches mortals about honor, laws, obligations, the code of Bushido, and Zantao, supposedly. Most importantly, she teaches mortals to make fire and forge tools, while smiting the corrupt, irreverant, or wanton with volcanic eruptions, according to Zantaoist mythology.

Celebrations honoring Moegami are held on the days of the solstices and equinoxes, but the most important holiday associated with Moegami is the first day of spring, known as the Day of First Sun as it celebrates both the return of warmer days and the kindling of the Sun early in each reincarnation cycle. These days are celebrated with many torches, lamps, lanterns, and candles, fireworks displays, colorful banners, dancers twirling about red and yellow scarves, feasts with hot meals, and symbolic sacrifices of fire, incense, curry, gold, and sake rice-wine. Moegami is praised and given offerings when babies are born, as well as at many noble and imperial functions such as coronations, promotions, and duels. Moegami is also given prayers and offerings by smiths when new forgework begins or finishes.

Most of Moegami's clergy are priestesses (miko), but she occasionally chooses a pious and honorable male priest (kannagi) to receive her blessings. Moegami has many shrines in Zanjin territories, and most believers in Zantao keep a miniature shrine (kamidana) to Moegami in their home, near the fireplace. Shrines of Moegami are always constructed of stone, metal, and/or ceramics, never flammable materials, and they always have open spots or windows for the sun to shine in at dawn, noon, and dusk. Her clergy wear robes of red and yellow with white trim or white patterns, along with the black eboshi hat of all Kannushi, using implements of gold and silver in their prayers and services; even the poorest follower of Moegami will carry at least a tiny silver holy symbol, rather than offend her by using a symbol made of wood or other materials. Priestesses will often give away such gold or silver tokens to those who cannot otherwise afford them. High-ranking clergy wear more-elaborate and decorative robes, but jewelry is rare among them; it would be unseemly to flaunt such wealth.

Zantaoist clergy are known as Kannushi, while the faithful in general are referred to as Taojin. Given the nature of Zantao, there is no particular term for followers of any particular Kami or O-Kami, as they all pay respects and homage to many Kami and O-Kami at different times. Those who chiefly worship Moegami may give little respect and few prayers to Kagegami or his ilk, for example, but there may still be situations where they nonetheless invoke his name or another's. Some large Zantaoist shrines contain many smaller shrines to various Kami and O-Kami. Believers in Zantao may respect deities of other religions or bear a strong distaste for them and their singular demands on worshippers, but Zantao teaches that other deities are simply wayward Kami who have sought greater power and prestige among mortals, outside the normal hierarchy of the heavens.

KAGEGAMI, the Father of Discord, the Shadow Terror, Moon Emperor
Male Greater Deity
Symbol: Black orb dripping crimson blood
Home Plane: The Abyss
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Darkness, shadows, the moon, deception, stealth, envy, lust, greed, pride, rage
Worshippers: Barbarians, fighters, rangers, rogues, sorcerers, wizards, assassins, thieves
Cleric Alignments: CE, CN, NE
Domains: Charm, Chaos, Darkness, Evil, Madness, Trickery, War
Favored Weapon: Short sword
Description forthcoming

MIZUGAMI, the Sister of Storms, the Wanderer, Rainbringer
Female Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Frothing, blue-white waves crashing upon a beach, carrying a shark aloft
Home Plane: Limbo
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Portfolio: Water, cold, ice, rain, snow, storms, fickleness, seafaring, trade, freedom
Worshippers: Barbarians, rangers, rogues, seafarers, merchants, farmers, fishers, bandits
Cleric Alignments: CE, CG, CN, N
Domains: Chaos, Liberation, Travel, Water, Weather
Favored Weapon: Spear (any)
Description forthcoming

YAMAGAMI, the Paragon of Strength, the Steel Guardian, Mountain Father
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Four adjacent mountain peaks of gray and white
Home Plane: Utopia
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Earth, mountains, caves, stone, metal, crystal, mining, strength, endurance, persistance, discipline
Worshippers: Fighters, monks, laborers, soldiers, mountaineers, jewellers, athletes
Cleric Alignments: LE, LG, LN, N
Domains: Earth, Law, Protection, Strength, War
Favored Weapon: Bastard sword
Description forthcoming

SHINIGAMI, the Estranged Lord, the Gatekeeper, Marsh Warden
Male Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Green-runed stone archway with an iron portcullis, held up by a bogged skeleton
Home Plane: Abaddon
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Portfolio: Death, the underworld, marshes, gateways, passage, barriers, runes, renewal
Worshippers: Fighters, rogues, wizards, guides, travelers, guards, assassins, thieves
Cleric Alignments: CE, LE, NE, N
Domains: Death, Evil, Repose, Rune, Travel
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
Description forthcoming

HEIGENGAMI, the Mother of Fields, the Harvest-Princess, Silk Empress
Female Lesser Deity
Symbol: A tanned woman in white silk robes, standing amid rushes and rice
Home Plane: Purgatory
Alignment: Neutral
Portfolio: Plains, fields, roads, small plants, agriculture, family, fortune, opportunism
Worshippers: Fighters, rogues, mercenaries, farmers, gamblers, merchants, nobles, overseers
Cleric Alignments: CN, LN, N, NE, NG
Domains: Community, Luck, Plant, Travel
Favored Weapon: Kama
Description forthcoming

KAZEGAMI, the Lord of Wind and Thunder, the Enigma, Windsinger
Male Lesser Deity
Symbol: Several arrows in flight, crossed by lightning, against a cloudy field
Home Plane: Elysium
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Portfolio: Air, wind, mist, power, mystery, entertainment, celebration, inspiration
Worshippers: Rangers, rogues, sorcerers, wizards, artists, entertainers, geisha
Cleric Alignments: CG, CN, NG
Domains: Air, Chaos, Good, Magic
Favored Weapon: Longbow (any)
Description forthcoming

MORIGAMI, the Tamer of Beasts, the Forest Maiden, Wise Huntress
Female Lesser Deity
Symbol: Green-robed woman wielding an axe, riding atop a prowling tiger
Home Plane: Nirvana
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Forests, large plants, growth, animals, life, hunting
Worshippers: Fighters, rangers, healers, woodsmen, carpenters, cavalrymen, hunters
Cleric Alignments: CG, LG, NG, N
Domains: Animal, Good, Healing, Plant
Favored Weapon: Battleaxe
Description forthcoming

ARENOGAMI, the Lord of the Wastes, the Master of Secrets, Void Seeker
Male Lesser Deity
Symbol: A sphere with a brown lower half and a gray upper half
Home Plane: Hell
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Portfolio: Wastelands, deserts, emptiness, the void, stillness, silence, secrets
Worshippers: Fighters, monks, rogues, wizards, spies, thieves, assassins
Cleric Alignments: LE, LN, NE
Domains: Destruction, Evil, Knowledge, Law
Favored Weapon: Heavy mace
Description forthcoming

 

[Lwaxy]

Looks interesting. Too bad I'm in Germany and thus the time is wrong for me (and partly collides with another game).

I'd love to see a Story Hour about this campaign though.

 

[Shushoni]

Hey, interested in joining this if/when you get an opening. Hoping this char isn't too clash-y with what you've got so far.




Pathfinder: Weird Frontiers Character Sheet:

Character Name: Ezekiel Ahi
Race: Dhampir , Alignment: LN , Patron Deity: N/A (Atheist/Non-Worshipper if possible)
Class Levels: Samurai 8
Character Level: 8 , XP: 42,000 , Next Level: 50,000 total
Age: 92 yrs., Height: 5 ft. 7 in., Weight: 143 lbs., Male/Female: M
Eyes: Brown , Hair: Black , Skin: Caucasian/Lightly Tanned
Languages: Common, Zanji

Strength 18 (+4), Dexterity 14 (+2), Constitution 15 (+2)
Intelligence 10 (+0), Wisdom 10 (+0), Charisma 12 (+1)

HP / Maximum: 69 / 69 , Nonlethal: 0 , DR: 5/Magic , SR: 0
AC: 19 (+2 Dex, +0 dodge, +0 size, +7 armor, +0 shield, +0 natural, etc.)
Touch AC: 13 , Flat-Footed AC: 17
Fortitude +8 , Reflex +4 , Will +2 , Initiative +6, Hero Points: 1

Base Attack Bonus: +8
Melee: +12 (+8 BAB, +4 Str, +0 size)
Ranged: +10 (+8 BAB, +2 Dex, +0 size)
Combat Maneuver Bonus: +12 (+0 BAB, +0 Str, +0 size)
Combat Maneuver Defense: 25 (+8 BAB, +4 Str, +2 Dex, +0 size, +1 Misc, +10)

Favored Class: Samurai (+8 HP, +0 skill ranks)
Size: Medium , Space: 5 ft., Reach: 5 ft., Speed: 30 ft.
Type (Subtype): Humanoid (Dhampir)
Racial Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Dex , +2 Cha , -2 Con , -0 X
Other Racial Qualities: Dayborn, Darkvision 60', Low-Light Vision, Manipulative, Negative Energy Affinity, Resist Level Drain, Undead Resistance
Advanced Traits: Deft Dodger, Charming

Feats: Blood Drinker, Endurance, Imp. Initiative, Weap. Focus/Spec. (Katana)

Skills:
Acrobatics +6 (8 ranks, +2 ability, +0 class, +0 other, -4 armor)
Bluff +12 (6 ranks, +1 ability, +0 class, +5 other, -0 armor)
Climb +6 (1 ranks, +4 ability, +0 class, +1 other, -0 armor)
Diplomacy +1 (1 ranks, +0 ability, +0 class, +0 other, -0 armor)
Intimidate +5 (1 ranks, +1 ability, +0 class, +3 other, -0 armor)
Ride +2 (1 ranks, +2 ability, +0 class, +0 other, -4 armor)? (Hero Labs says this, but not sure I understand.)
Sense Motive +9 (6 ranks, +0 ability, +0 class, +3 other, -0 armor)
Linguistics +1

Platinum Pieces: 0, Gold Pieces: 255 , Silver Pieces: 4 , Copper Pieces: 0
Load: 76.68 lbs., Light: 116 lbs., Medium: 233 lbs., Heavy: 350 lbs.
Maximum Load: 350 lbs., Push/Pull: 1750 lbs.

Gear:
Cephi: Keen, Flaming, +1 Katana (+3 Equivalent)
Wakazashi
Composite Longbow (+4, 20 Arrows)
Steel Lamellar Armor: +1 Invulnerability (+4 Equivalent)
Bandages of Rapid Recovery
Wand of Inflict Light Wounds
Ring of Sustinence
Masterwork Backpack
Bedroll + Blanket
Belt Pouch
Caltrops
Climber's Kit
Flint & Steel
Silk Rope

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Light, Medium, Heavy, Shields, Simple, Martial, Katana, Naginata, Wakazashi
Other Class Features:
Ride Mount
Animal Companion Link
Resolve
Challenge
Warrior's Skills
Honor in All THings
Weapon Expertise
Mounted Archer
Banner
Way of the Samurai

Spellcasting Class: X , Caster Level: X , Concentration: +0
Spell Save DC: 10 + level (list ability here)
Spell Slots: X 0-level, X 1st-level, X 2nd-level, X 3rd-level, X 4th-level,
X 5th-level, X 6th-level, X 7th-level, X 8th-level, X 9th-level
Prepared Spells: X
Spells Known: X

Manifesting Class: X , Manifester Level: X , Concentration: +0
Power Points / Maximum: XX / XX , Power Save DC: 10 + level (list ability here)
Powers Known: X

Appearance:
Short, unkepmt hair and a firm posture make this short man out to be a veteran soldier despite his younger appearance. Scars that crisscross his face (and indeed, the rest of his body)prove as evidence of his violent past and bring more attention to his face than his cold, brown eyes. Though, his slightly longer canines may A long, dark cloak covers his darkened, battle-scarred steel armor.

Background/Personality:
Born of a Vampire father and a female mother, Zeke had a rough life growing up in Zanjinhon, never having many friends, in part because of his abnormal aging. Once he became old enough (in fact looked old enough) he joined the Zanjinhon military. Throughout his long career, he earned a position among the Emperor's chosen few Samurai.

Through a combination of his harsh childhood, long years, and wartime service, Zeke has become rather uncaring. Despite this, his pride and honor for his service remain intact as well as his loyalty to his Emperor. Usually having a hard time relaxing, in his time not spent following his Lords orders, he secludes himself in his small, run-down shack.

Notes:
A somewhat hermit-ish personality that I would plan on expanding and opening up throughout the course of the campaign.

Attacks:
Cephi: +14/+9 melee for 1d8+1d6 Fire +7 damage (15-20/x2 critical, reach 5 ft.)
Pyra: +13/+8 melee for 1d6+7 damage (18-20/x2 critical, reach 5 ft.)
Unarmed strike +8 melee for 1d3+7 damage (20/x2 critical, reach 5 ft.)
Composite Longbow: +10/+5 ranged for 1d8+4 damage (20/x3 critical, increment 110 ft.)

 

[SirNiqalTheExcitable]

Character Name: Sir Niqal the Excitable
Race: Ifrit , Alignment: LG , Patron Deity: Father Sun
Class Levels: Sacred Shield Paladin 9
Character Level: 9 , XP: 50,000 , Next Level: 71,000 total
Age: 85 yrs., Height: 6 ft. 0 in., Weight: 165 lbs., Male/Female: M
Eyes: Yellow , Hair: Fiery , Skin: Red
Languages: Common, Hesate-Sula

Strength 13 (+1), Dexterity 18 (+4), Constitution 10 (+0)
Intelligence 10 (+0), Wisdom 10 (+0), Charisma 20 (+5)

HP / Maximum: 59 / 59 , Nonlethal: 0 , DR: 0/X , SR: 0
AC: 30 (+4 Dex, +0 dodge, +0 size, +8 armor, +8 shield, +0 natural, etc.)
Touch AC: 14 , Flat-Footed AC: 25
Fortitude +11 , Reflex +12 , Will +11 , Initiative +6, Hero Points: 1

Base Attack Bonus: +9
Melee: +10 (+9 BAB, +1 Str, +0 size)
Ranged: +13 (+9 BAB, +4 Dex, +0 size)
Combat Maneuver Bonus: +10 (+9 BAB, +1 Str, +0 size)
Combat Maneuver Defense: 24 (+9 BAB, +1 Str, +4 Dex, +0 size)

Favored Class: Paladin (+9 HP, +0 skill ranks)
Size: Medium , Space: 5 ft., Reach: 5 ft., Speed: 30 ft.
Type (Subtype): Outsider (Native)
Racial Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Dex , +2 Cha , -2 Wis
Other Racial Qualities: Fire Resistance 5, Burning Hands 1/day as a spell like ability, Fire-Starter: Anytime the ifrit causes a creature to catch fire, he gains a +1 morale bonus on the next single attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check that he makes in the next round. The ifrit only gains this bonus the first time he causes a particular creature to catch fire; subsequent times the creature catches fire provide no bonus.
Advanced Traits: Natural Born Leader, Reactionary

Feats: Improved Shield Bash, Two weapon fighting, Saving Shield, Shield focus, shield slam

Skills:
Sense Motive +8 (5 ranks, +0 ability, +3 class, +0 other, -0 armor)
Ride +10 (5 ranks, +4 ability, +3 class, +0 other, -2 armor)
Climb +5 (6 ranks, +1 ability, +0 class, +0 other, -2 armor)
Knowledge (Religion) +5 (2 ranks, +0 ability, +3 class, +0 other, -0 armor)

Platinum Pieces: 0, Gold Pieces: 129 , Silver Pieces: 5 , Copper Pieces: 1
Load: 50 lbs., Light: 50 lbs., Medium: 100 lbs., Heavy: 150 lbs.
Maximum Load: 150 lbs., Push/Pull: 750 lbs.

Gear:
+4 Chain Shirt, 16,250 gp, 25 lbs*
+5 Heavy Steel Shield, 25,170 gp, 15 lbs*
Muleback Cords*
Ring of Sustenance, 2,500 gp*
Light Crossbow, 35gp, 4 lbs*
10 crossbow bolts, 1 gp, 1 lb*s
10 fire bolts, 500 gp*
Short Sword, 10 gp, 2 lbs*
Light Mace, 5 gp*
3 War Trained Light Horses, 330 gp
Weapon cord for shield, 1 sp*
20 sheets of rice paper, 1 gp
10 pieces of chalk, 1 sp
10 pieces of charcoal, 5 gp
10 flasks of acid, 100gp*
2 Flasks of alchemist's Fire 40 gp,*
30 flasks Alchemist's Fire, 600gp, 1 lb each
10 flask's of lamp oil, 1 gp *
30 flasks of lamp oil, 3 gp, 1 lb each
1 lb of garlic, 1 sp*
2 flasks of alchemical solvent, 40 gp*
4 Alkali Flasks, 60 gp*
10 Tindertwigs, 10gp
Hammer, 5sp
45 pitons, 45 sp
Bedroll, 1 sp
Winter Blanket, 5 sp
Small tent, 10 gp
Hanging Tent, 20 gp
45 Bear Traps, 90 gp
200 ft. of hemp rope, 4 gp
200 ft. twine, 4 cp
Crowbar, 2 gp
Drill, 5 sp
2 sets of Waxed Cotton Earplugs, 3 cp
Flint and steel, 1 gp
Grappling Hook, 1 gp
4 Flasks of holy water, 125 gp
Shovel, 2 cp
Whetstone, 2 cp
1 torch, 1 cp*
4 torches, 4 cp, 1 lb each
*Carried
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Simple, Martial, Heavy Armor, Shields
Other Class Features: Aura of Good, Detect Evil, Bastion of Good +8 3/day, Divine Grace +5, Lay on Hands 4d6 9/day, Mercies: Fatigued, Diseased, Exhausted, Aura of Courage, Divine Health, Holy Shield +7 for 8 rounds, Divine Bond: Shield, SR 13 for 9 minutes 2/day, Aura of Resolve,

Spellcasting Class: Paladin 9 , Caster Level: 9 , Concentration: +0
Spell Save DC: 10 + level+5 (Cha)
Spell Slots: 4 1st-level, 2 2nd-level, 0 3rd-level, 0 4th-level,
Prepared Spells: Level 1: Challenge Evil, Compel Hostility, Knight's Calling, Sun Metal
Level 2: Zone of Truth, Communal Protection from Evil,
Spells Known: 0

Manifesting Class: 0 , Manifester Level: 0 , Concentration: +0
Power Points / Maximum: 00 / 00 , Power Save DC: 10 + level (list ability here)
Powers Known: X

Appearance:
An extremely handsome man with bright red skin and fiery hair, wearing a holy symbol around his neck, gleaming chain shirt, shiny black codpiece and shiny black riding boots, emblazoned with his holy symbol. His Large steel shield also bears his holy symbol.

Background/Personality:
Nicholas is always ready to help and protect those in need. Over his years protecting pilgrims, healing the sick, and bringing criminals to justice, he has learned to temper his fiery nature with a strict religious code. He views himself as the fire of justice, banishing the darkness of savagery and evil. He is extremely confident and never backs down from a challenge, but also tries to avoid conflict with those he does not consider evil.

Attacks:
Full Attack:
Shield Bash +10/+5 melee for 1d4+1 damage (20/x2 critical, reach 5 ft.)
or:
Short sword +6/+1 melee for 1d6+1 damage (19/x2 critical, reach 5 ft.)
Off-hand Shield Bash +5 melee for 1d4+0 damage (20/x2 critical, reach 5 ft.)
Standard Attacks:
Shield Bash +10 melee for 1d4+1 damage (20/x2 critical, reach 5 ft.)
Short Sword +10 melee for 1d6+0 damage (19-20/x2 critical, reach 5 ft.)
Light Mace +10 melee for 1d6+0 damage (20/x2 critical, reach 5 ft.)
Unarmed strike +10 melee for 1d3+1 damage (20/x2 critical, reach 0 ft.)
Light Crossbow +13 ranged for 1d8+0 damage (20/x2 critical, increment 80 ft.)
Thrown Alchemist's Fire +13 ranged touch for 1d6 fire damage and 1 splash(increment 0 ft.)

I found a place on paizo.com where James Jacobs posted this:
Tracking right or left handedness isn't something we bother with in Pathfinder. The ONLY time an attack is considered an off-hand attack is when you make an attack with a second weapon in the same round you make an attack with a first weapon.
If you have a longsword in your right hand and a shield in your left, and you only attack with a shield bash in a round, that shield bash is NOT considered an off-hand or secondary attack for that round.
It's a relatively easy bit of house rules to institute handedness, though, if you're looking for that level of additional detail... but that's not a level of detail we want to assume for the core game.
I can't link it because I haven't made 10 posts yet.
Which seems to indicate I can shield bash as my primary attack, as long as it is the only weapon I fight with that round.

Is this going to be the only thread for this game?

 

[Arkhandus]

Character Sheet Template

Please use this format when submitting character stats (just copy and paste the form).

Pathfinder: Weird Frontiers Character Sheet:

Character Name: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Race: XXXXX , Alignment: XX , Patron Deity: XXXXX
Class Levels: XXXXXXXX
Character Level: 6 , XP: 15,000 , Next Level: 23,000 total
Age: X yrs., Height: X ft. X in., Weight: X lbs., Male/Female: M
Eyes: XXXXXXX , Hair: XXXXXXX , Skin: XXXXX
Languages: Common

Strength XX (+0), Dexterity XX (+0), Constitution XX (+0)
Intelligence XX (+0), Wisdom XX (+0), Charisma XX (+0)

HP / Maximum: XX / XX , Nonlethal: 0 , DR: 0/X , SR: 0
AC: 10 (+0 Dex, +0 dodge, +0 size, +0 armor, +0 shield, +0 natural, etc.)
Touch AC: 10 , Flat-Footed AC: 10
Fortitude +0 , Reflex +0 , Will +0 , Initiative +0, Hero Points: 1

Base Attack Bonus: +0
Melee: +0 (+0 BAB, +0 Str, +0 size)
Ranged: +0 (+0 BAB, +0 Dex, +0 size)
Combat Maneuver Bonus: +0 (+0 BAB, +0 Str, +0 size)
Combat Maneuver Defense: 10 (+0 BAB, +0 Str, +0 Dex, +0 size)

Favored Class: XXXXX (+0 HP, +0 skill ranks)
Size: Medium , Space: 5 ft., Reach: 5 ft., Speed: 30 ft.
Type (Subtype): Humanoid (XXXXX)
Racial Ability Score Adjustments: +0 X , +0 X , -0 X , -0 X
Other Racial Qualities: X
Advanced Traits: X

Feats: XXXXX

Skills:
XXXXX +0 (0 ranks, +0 ability, +0 class, +0 other, -0 armor)
XXXXX +0 (0 ranks, +0 ability, +0 class, +0 other, -0 armor)
XXXXX +0 (0 ranks, +0 ability, +0 class, +0 other, -0 armor)
XXXXX +0 (0 ranks, +0 ability, +0 class, +0 other, -0 armor)

Platinum Pieces: 0, Gold Pieces: 16,000 , Silver Pieces: 0 , Copper Pieces: 0
Load: 0 lbs., Light: 0 lbs., Medium: 0 lbs., Heavy: 0 lbs.
Maximum Load: 0 lbs., Push/Pull: 0 lbs.

Gear:
XXXXX (0 GP, 0 lbs., basic details)
XXXXX (0 GP, 0 lbs., basic details)
XXXXX (0 GP, 0 lbs., basic details)
XXXXX (0 GP, 0 lbs., basic details)
XXXXX (0 GP, 0 lbs., basic details)
XXXXX (0 GP, 0 lbs., basic details)
XXXXX (0 GP, 0 lbs., basic details)
XXXXX (0 GP, 0 lbs., basic details)
XXXXX (0 GP, 0 lbs., basic details)
XXXXX (0 GP, 0 lbs., basic details)

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: XXXXX
Other Class Features: XXXXX

Spellcasting Class: X , Caster Level: X , Concentration: +0
Spell Save DC: 10 + level (list ability here)
Spell Slots: X 0-level, X 1st-level, X 2nd-level, X 3rd-level, X 4th-level,
X 5th-level, X 6th-level, X 7th-level, X 8th-level, X 9th-level
Prepared Spells: X
Spells Known: X

Manifesting Class: X , Manifester Level: X , Concentration: +0
Power Points / Maximum: XX / XX , Power Save DC: 10 + level (list ability here)
Powers Known: X

Appearance:
XXXXX

Background/Personality:
XXXXX

Notes:
XXXXX

Attacks:
XXXXX +0 melee for 1d8+0 damage (20/x2 critical, reach 0 ft.)
XXXXX +0 melee for 1d8+0 damage (20/x2 critical, reach 0 ft.)
XXXXX +0 melee for 1d8+0 damage (20/x2 critical, reach 0 ft.)
Unarmed strike +0 melee for 1d3+0 damage (20/x2 critical, reach 0 ft.)
XXXXX +0 ranged for 1d8+0 damage (20/x2 critical, increment 0 ft.)
XXXXX +0 ranged for 1d8+0 damage (20/x2 critical, increment 0 ft.)
XXXXX +0 ranged for 1d8+0 damage (20/x2 critical, increment 0 ft.)

 

[Synjin]

Updated
Pathfinder: Weird Frontiers Character Sheet:

Character Name: Synjin
Race: Half-Orc , Alignment: NN , Patron Deity: MHAVARA
Class Levels: Ranger 10
Character Level: 10 , XP: 93090 , Next Level: 105000 total
Age: 21 yrs., Height: 6 ft. 4 in., Weight: 262 lbs., Male/Female: M
Eyes: Brown , Hair: Red , Skin: grey/green
Languages: Vanderglotten, Common, Draconic, Orc

Strength 15 (+2), Dexterity 18/20 (+4/+5), Constitution 15 (+2)
Intelligence 13 (+1), Wisdom 14 (+1), Charisma 9 (-1)

HP / Maximum: 75 / 75 , Nonlethal: 0 , DR: 0/X , SR: 0
AC: 25 (+4 Dex, +0 dodge, +0 size, +7 armor, +3 shield, +1 natural, etc.)
Touch AC: 14 , Flat-Footed AC: 21
Fortitude +10 , Reflex +12 , Will +5 , Initiative +5, Hero Points: 3

Base Attack Bonus: +8/+3
Melee: +10/+5 (+6 BAB, +2 Str, +0 size)
Ranged: +13/+8 (+7 BAB, +5 Dex, +0 size)
Combat Maneuver Bonus: +12 (+6 BAB, +2 Str, +0 size)
Combat Maneuver Defense: 26 (+6 BAB, +2 Str, +5 Dex, +0 size)

Favored Class: Ranger (+0 HP, +10 skill ranks)
Size: Medium , Space: 5 ft., Reach: 5 ft., Speed: 30 ft.
Type (Subtype): Humanoid (Orc)
Racial Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Dex , +0 X , -0 X , -0 X
Other Racial Qualities: Dark Vision, Intimidating, Orc ferocity, Weapon Familiarity
Advanced Traits:
Devotee of the Green: Knowledge: Nature,
Resilient

Feats:
Animal Affinity,
Deadly Aim -3/+6,
Improved Critical Longbow
Point Blank Shot,
Precise Shot,
Rapid Shot
Self-sufficient
Armor Proficiency (Light)
Armor Proficiency (Medium)
Endurance,
Martial weapon Proficiency all
Shield Proficiency
Simple Weapon Proficiency
Manyshot

Acrobatics +5 (2 ranks, +5 ability(Dex), +0 class, +0 other, -2 armor)
Appraise +2 (1 ranks, +1 ability (Int)+0 class, +0 other, -0 armor)
Bluff -1 (0 ranks, -1 ability(Cha), +0 class, +X other, -0 armor)
Climb +10 (2 ranks, +5 ability(Dex), +3 class, +X other, -0 armor)
Craft Bows +12 (6 ranks, +1 ability(Int), +3 class, +2 other, -0 armor)
Diplomacy -1 (0 ranks, -1 ability(Cha), +0 class, +0 other, -0 armor)
Escape Artist +3 (0 ranks, +5 ability(Dex), +0 class, +X other, -2 armor)
Fly +3 (0 ranks, +4 ability(Dex), +0 class, +0 other, -2 armor)
Handle Animal +13 (6 ranks, -1 ability(Cha), +3 class, +2/+5 other, -0 armor)
Heal +11 (4 ranks, +2 ability(Wis), +3 class, +2 other, -0 armor)
Intimidate +7 (3 ranks, -1 ability(Cha), +3 class, +2 other, -0 armor)
Knowledge: Geography +12 (6 ranks, +1 ability(Int), +3 class, +1 other, -0 armor)
Knowledge: Nature +12 (6 ranks, +1 ability(Int), +3 class, +1 other, -0 armor)
Linguistics +2 (1 ranks, +1 ability(Int), +0 class, +0 other, -0 armor)
Perception +17 (7 ranks, +1 ability(Int), +3 class, +6 other, -0 armor)
Profession: Cook +9 (4 ranks, +2 ability(Wis), +3 class, +0 other, -0 armor)
Ride +11 (3 ranks, +5 ability(Dex), +3 class, +2 other, -2 armor)
Stealth +14 (3 ranks, +5 ability(Dex), +3 class, +0 other, -2 armor)
Survival +15/+19 (7 ranks, +1 ability(Wis), +3 class, +2/+5 other, -0 armor)
Swim +6 (3 ranks, +2 ability(Str), +3 class, +0 other, -2 armor)


Platinum Pieces: 200, Gold Pieces: 2096 , Silver Pieces: 599 , Copper Pieces: 397
Load: 64.5 lbs., Light: 0 lbs., Medium: 0 lbs., Heavy: 0 lbs.
Maximum Load: 0 lbs., Push/Pull: 0 lbs.

Gear:
Masterwork Cold Iron Battleaxe 320 GP, 6 LBS, Back holder
Flint and steel 1 GP, 0 LBS Belt Pouch
Mirror, small steel, 10 GP, 0.5 LBS Belt Pouch
Whetstone, 2 CP, 1 LBS Belt Pouch
Whistle, Signal, 8 SP, 0 LBS Belt Pouch
Masterwork Kukri, 308 GP, 2 LBS, Belt Sheath
LongSword, 15 gp, 4 LBS, Belt Sheath
Longbow Composite (str +2) +1, 2600 gp, 3 LBS, efficient Quiver
Arrows 60, 3 gp, 3 LBS, efficient Quiver
Clothing, Explorer's Outfit, FREE, 8 LBS, Equipped
Pouch, belt (empty), 1 gp, 0.5 LBS, Equipped
Mithral Chainmail +1, 5150 gp, 20 LBS, Equipped
Masterwork Buckler, 165 gp, 5 LBS, Equipped
Efficient Quiver, 1,800 gp, 2 LBS, equipped
Handy Haversack, 2,000 gp, 5 LBS, equipped
Amulet of Natural Armor +1, 2000 gp, 0 LBS, equipped
Artisan's Tools, masterwork (Bow Making), 55 gp, 5 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Bedroll, 1 sp, 5 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Blanket, Winter, 5 sp, 3 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Clothing, Cold-Weather Outfit, 8 gp, 7 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Clothing, Traveler's Outfit, 1 gp, 5 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Clothing, Traveler's Outfit, 1 gp, 5 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Fishing net, 25 sq. ft., 4 gp, 5 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Mug/Tankard, clay, 2 cp, 1 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Mug/Tankard, clay, 2 cp, 1 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Rope, silk (50 ft.), 10 gp, 5 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Rope, silk (50 ft.), 10 gp, 5 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Sack (empty), 1 sp, 0.5 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Sack (empty), 1 sp, 0.5 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Waterskin 1 gp, 4 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Waterskin 1 gp, 4 LBS, Handy Haversack Main
Potion of Cure Light wounds x 4, 200 gp, 0 LBS, Handy Haversack Side Pouch 1
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds x3, 900gp, 0 LBS Handy Haversack Side Pouch 1
Fishhook x10, 1gp, 0 LBS Handy Haversack Side Pouch 1
Food- Rations, Trail (per day) x 20, 10 gp, 20 LBS Handy Haversack Side Pouch 2
Animal, Horse, Heavy , 200 gp, Horse
Animal Gear, Bit and bridle, 2 gp, 1 LBS Horse
Backpack, masterwork, 50 gp, 4 LBS, Horse
Food- Animal Feed (per day)x 20 1 gp, 200 LBS Horse
Saddle, military, 20 gp, 30 LBS, Horse
Saddlebags, 4 gp, 2 LBS, Horse
Hammock, 1 sp, 3 LBS, saddle bag
Iron pot, 8 sp, 2 LBS, saddle bag
Saw, 4 cp, 2 LBS saddle bag
Shovel, 2 gp, 3 LBS, saddle bag
Tent (small), 10 gp, 20 LBS, saddle bag
Silvered Dagger, 24 gp, 1 LBS, Boot Sheath
Dagger, 2 gp, 1 LBS, Belt Sheath
Potion of Neutralize Poison
Ring of Sustenance
Eyes of the Eagle
Longsword +1 Bane (Magical Beasts)

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies:
Armor Proficiency (Light)
Armor Proficiency (Medium)
Martial Weapon Proficiency –All
Deadly Aim
Point Blank shot
Precise Shot
Shield Proficiency
Simple Weapon Proficiency-All
Improved Critical (Long Bow)


Animal Affinity
Other Class Features:
Animal Companion Link,
Enemies: Humanoids (Goblinoid) (+4 bonus),
Enemies: Magical Beasts (+4 bonus),
Enemies:Giants(+2bonus)
Orc Ferocity (1/day),
Share Spells with Companion,
Terrains: Forest (+4 bonus),
Terrains: Mountains (+2 bonus)
Track +5,
Wild Empathy +9
Woodland Stride
Evasion


Spellcasting Class: Ranger , Caster Level: 3 , Concentration: +4
Spell Save DC: 11 + level wis +1
Spell Slots: 0 0-level, 2 1st-level, 0 2nd-level, 0 3rd-level, 0 4th-level,
Prepared Spells:
Calm Animal
Charm Animal

Appearance:
A glance beneath the dark cowl of his cloak reveals a face hideously scared by fire. The left side of his face is scarred to the point no hair will grow. His deep brown eyes peer out of the scar tissue. The right half of his head is covered with a thick red brown hair grown out to shoulder length and tied off in a pony tail. Synjin is dressed for the woods; his heavy Woolen cloak hides most of masterly crafted set of Mithral Chainmail. His left hand is incased in an archers glove his right is bare. About his right wrist is a Manacle.

Synjin is a 6’4” tall 262 lbs

Background/Personality:

Born in the dark of winter, his mother the daughter of a merchant was raped in an orcish raid on their small village. His earliest memories are of Pain and abuse. His grandfather sold him off as soon as he was weaned from the to a slaver in a larger town. Synjin was purchased and as soon as he was able was put to work in the kitchens of a Laird. He worked hard or was beaten, sometimes was beaten anyway. He lived this life until one day in an accident he was badly burned across his face and arms. He spent 2 weeks on the verge of death, it was here at the age of 12 he met the first person he would ever consider friend, a hunter in the Lairds employ. The Hunter named Zed had recently watched his own son die and in a fit of remorse took the wounded half orc under his wing. Synjin was soon learning the ways of the woods and training as a ranger. His natural dexterity made him a good ranger and hunter. Synjin has worked hard to overcome his upbringing, but he still carries everything he owns with him. Synjin has left the employ of the Laird and now travels the world seeking a place he will fit in.
Synjin is a at home in the woods, he avoids civilization when he can. When required by either need or employment he keeps his head covered by his cloak or the cowl of his Armor. He is a hard worker and works well as a team member.

Notes:
Animal Companion
KYND CR 3
Male Hawk
NN Small Animal
Init +3; Senses Low-Light Vision; Perception +8
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +1 size, +3 natural, +1 dodge)
hp 40 (+3)
Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +4
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 10 ft., Flight (80 feet, Average)
Melee Bite (Hawk) +3 (1d4/20/x2) and
Talon x2 (Hawk) +3 x2 (1d4/20/x2) and
Unarmed Strike +3 (1d2/20/x2)
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 6
Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 19
Feats Dodge, Flyby Attack, alertness
Tricks Attack [Trick], Come [Trick], Defend [Trick], Down [Trick], Fetch [Trick], Guard [Trick], Seek [Trick], Stay [Trick]
Skills Fly +5, Perception +12, Stealth +11
Languages
SQ Attack [Trick], Come [Trick], Defend [Trick], Down [Trick], Evasion (Ex), Fetch [Trick], Guard [Trick], Seek [Trick], Stay [Trick]