Mythology

Before the worlds were born, there was the Mother Sun and the Father Sun. Each culture names these figureheads in their own way, but they are still the Mother and the Father. There is much history between the Mother and the Father, but in short they created the many worlds and stars in the sky, then they brought life to the worlds. They did this in generations. The first generation are the first creations of people and animals brought forth by the Mother and Father. This includes the Fae and many of the elder creatures such as the Dragons. As the Mother and Father expanded the worlds, they created the second generations, which includes more conventional creatures such as the various folk and domesticated animals.

However, all was not well between the Mother and the Father, and as time stretched on they grew apart, cultivating their own worlds and people. But Father Sun was not content, and he coveted the happiness of Mother Sun and her worlds, and was jealous of the attention she paid and received from her creations. It seemed that no matter what Father Sun created, he was unable to match the joy that Mother Sun seemed to find in all that she wrought.

Many different stories have been documented telling what happened, but in the end the results are clear. Father Sun's jealousy led to rage, and he consumed his own worlds and creations, becoming what we now know as the Hollow. Mother Sun continues to shine in the sky as the Hearth, providing warmth and love upon her creations.

Alignment and Tuning

Although the Father and Mother created all things there are many pantheons of demi-gods aligned to either the Father or the Mother who are the primary face of most religions, acting on behalf of either the Mother or the Father.

There are divine figures in most cultures, working on behalf of the Father or Mother sun for the sake of the people. Some times these are intelligences who communicate with their people, sometimes these are forces of nature. All divine figures interface with the gestalt of the universe acting as a filter for the people of faith to receive miracles and other divine influences. What is important about all divine figures is that every spirit is aligned to this gestalt, regardless of if it is an animal, person or the spirit of a tree. This alignment works through the pantheons to tie back to either the Mother, the Father or one of the four elements (Earth, Fire, Water and Air). A key part of that alignment is a binding with a true name. Because of this true names have power, not just in binding but also in empowering. Simply speaking the name of a divine figure empowers that figure, so names are always used cautiously.

Alignment in FC is a bit more broad than the conventional D&D facets. The approached used by Wyrmstone is that Alignment is effectively tuning oneself to a divine power. In Wyrmstone alignment does not represent a moral code. However, many divine powers may have a moral code which they wish you to behave like, in order to be aligned to them. Straying from this moral code may cause the alignment to break.

All intelligence powers are aligned, indirectly or directly, to the Hearth or the Hollow. There can be levels of indirection, for instance a priest is aligned to Daochean (Patron of Battle, Protection and Defense), and Daochean is aligned to the Hearth. Thus, the priest is also indirectly aligned to the Hearth. By default all intelligent powers have spirits (or spark) and all spirits are aligned in this manner. If a spirit is not directly aligned to a Deity, they are aligned to either the Hearth or the Hollow. It is possible for an intelligence to also align to one of the four elements: Earth, Fire, Water and Air. However, this is less common.

It is also possible to simply align to a pantheon, or effectively a collection of divine powers acting with a single common doctrine. This is the common practice in the Elven lands, where Temples are created espousing certain ideals (Such as the Temple of the Lotus Blossom), and the priests align to the Temple not necessarily to the individual divine powers embodied by the temple. In fact is it not uncommon to find a deity represented in multiple Temples, each with slightly different doctrines.

Divine and Arcane casters

Both Arcane and Divine casters tap into the gestalt or Aether to cast spells. However, the methods used are different. Because of this, an Investigate/Identify(INT) check vs the Target's spellcrafting bonus can be used when watching a spellcaster cast a spell to determine if they are Arcane or Divine.

Pantheons

The Elves of Liunonda approach Theology mainly from a spirit-worship perspective. While named deities (the Tian Shen) exist in Celestial theology as controllers of fate and intermediaries to the creation gods, more emphasis is placed on appeasing and bargaining with the countless local spirits covering many facets of elemental existence; every river has an attendant spirit, every forest has a legion of spirits, even the flames and stones have a spirit (aligned as an element), and so forth. These are all collected into a single doctrine as preached by the various Temples across Liunonda.

In counterpoint, the people of the Court of the Jade Crown have such defined Houses that pervades all of their culture, the religions are also centered around the Houses. Each house has its own ethos revering ancestors, ancient dragons and the elements. These are managed by the priests of the house. A Priest from the Jade Crown is aligned to one of the houses.

The humans of Ra'niah ascribe to a single pantheon, but how it is worshiped varies. There are two notable churches which approach these deities differently. The High Church of Telma places the Mother Sun at the head of the pantheon with all of the divine figures as Saints to her. There is a single Prelate at the head of this church, which is centered out of Telma and controls the entire Telman Continent as Regents of the Telman Empire. Counter to the High Church is the Council of Arachaeli. Currently in exile in Corlis, the Council also worships the Mother through her Saints. It is structured in a balanced senate-style approach to the pantheon, where each individual sect around a saint holds seats on the Council for the Church.

Regardless of the convoluted hierarchies of the churches, priests of the Ra'nian churches regularly worship multiple deities serving as intermediaries between the church membership and the entire pantheon, shifting their immediate reverence according to the current circumstances.

One divergance from the Ra'nian pantheistic view of the gods are the Falo. Each tribe of Falo has its own traditions of mojo intertwined with talismans and rituals to appease the greater powers, collectively this form of divine magic is known as Mauloo.

Conversely, the dwarves of Shahan are fierce monotheists, worshiping only Shahan. They believe that Shahan created his own world, their promised land, outside of the influence of Mother or Father Sun. As such, it circles neither the Hearth or the Hollow, instead standing proudly apart.

Like the Shahani, the Nar of what is now the Web worship a single deity, in this case the goddess Qu'ulsis. There are a few of her children who have become Nar Immortals. Like deities themselves these Immortals can be approached and worshiped directly, as part of a makeshift pantheon, although they always acknowledge Qu'ulsis as the supreme Nar deity.

The Rootwalkers of Ra'niah have different sets of beliefs, some focused on Father Sun and others venerating the primary trees of creation. They have decided to agree to disagree when it comes to cosmological or spiritual matters.

The Harrowed are the bitter dark collection of Deities who are instead associated with the Father Sun. These deities are feared throughout all of the worlds. Although they are not publicly worshiped in any good society, there are secret cabals and cults found across the worlds who still revere them. They are generally considered bringers of death, pestilence, and fear.