OVERVIEW

As has been stated in other places on this site, the way the world of Lacrysia functions is heavily linked to the pantheon; from the natural world, to life and death, and even the very nature of magic.

The gods themselves "live" and spend most of their time on another plane of existence, referred to simply as "The City of the Gods" by a majority of Lacrysia's denizens. It's a place that few mortals have ever seen before with their own eyes, but it's said that each god has their own sector of their own design, from which they can command their angels and interact with the mortal world to varying degrees of intensity. Gods are creatures just as mortals are, and have a physicality, personality, and personal beliefs, though they may not manifest the same way as one may see in mortals.

In addition, in every god has a "throne" that they occupy, which encapsulates a domain they are worshiped for by the mortals of Lacrysia. For example, the current holder of the Throne of Justice is the Warden. If a god were to die, or beliefs held about them by the mortals who follow them were to change, their throne would become abandoned until the position is filled by another god or other such entity. A god cannot hold multiple thrones- while they may have associations with other domains, the throne they occupy encapsulates the core of their being and the beliefs they embody most strongly. An example of this would be the goddess Ymori. The people of Sanctuary of Rose worship her as a goddess of love, but her chief domain is Undeath.

The Upper trinity of gods, including The Night, Callista, and Aphelia are absent from the City of the Gods and are immutable and timeless. They do not occupy thrones, nor are they affected by the beginning and end of cycles. Lower gods derive a portion of their power from the light bestowed upon them by the first flame, while the Upper trinity are entirely divorced from the First Flame. Despite this, all gods, no matter their position in the heirarchy of divine, inherit a large amount of power from the mortals who worship them.

Mortals influence the gods nearly as much as the gods are capable of influencing them. The power of human emotion cannot be overstated, as this is the driving force between the godly thrones and the scope of a god's abilities. Without enough belief, even if a god is a holder of a portion of the First Flame, they can easily fade into obscurity. While most gods rely on the power of mortal's love and devotion, fear and hatred can be equally powerful. At the end of the day, the purpose of the gods was always to service mortals. As such, in addition to gaining power from belief, gods are often molded by them as well. Symbols attributed to each god will influence the god's appearance, and the doctrine's of mortal's religion surrounding a god can influence their personality and personal beliefs.

Below is an overview of each of the gods of my pantheon, and the most widely accepted symbols and domains associated with them, as well as a brief description.

UPPER TRINITY

The Upper Trinity, as described before, is the title given to the three most powerful and most ancient gods of the pantheon who are attributed to creation and the basic functions of mortal life. Absent from the City of The Gods, they instead exist directly above the mortal earth and make up the sky. These gods are sometimes referred to as "The Distant Gods" as a unifying trait between the three of them is their lack of proper communication with mortals.


THE NIGHT

The Night is the god of creation, sometimes referred to as the Mother. She is associated with the night sky, and the darkest portions of Lacrysia that can be found, such as the deepest ocean and caverns. It is considered a sin and unholy to attempt to depict her in any form. She is the physical representation of nothingness as the potential for creation, or the concept of "potential energy." While other gods are easily proven real, her existence is often debated by religious scholars, as she has never utilized any of her (supposedly massive) godly power to influence the mortal world at any recorded point in history.


CALLISTA

Callista is the first goddess to have graced Lacrysia, long before the first Cycle. She is believed to have created all dragons, who were her first children and fashioned in her image, and later gave life to mortals. She is worshiped by these mortals as the goddess of Life and vitality, and is frequently associated with motherhood in any form it may take. Additionally, she is strongly associated with the passage of time since she is the oldest of all gods and the Sun is


APHELIA

Aphelia is the goddess of The Moon, death and prophecy. Most denizens of Lacrysia believe her presence brings death, and as such, she is more observed more with a fearful reverence than true worship and devotion. There are not many religions that follow Aphelia, and those who do are often outcasted and seen as cultish and strange.

CORE PANTHEON

The core pantheon makes up a majority of the pantheon familiar to mortals, and is the entirety of the City of the Gods. The Core Pantheon is headed by the Warden, who sets the tone for the future of the Pantheon at the Cycle's start and ensures that things run smoothly according to their rule.


THE WARDEN

As always happens, a new Warden was needed at the beginning of the last cycle, but this time things happened a bit unusually. Legend says there were once two Wardens- The current Warden, whose name is lost, and Nastya. Their exact relation to each other is unclear, but it's believed by most that they were twins. After a series of conflicts between the two, Nastya was knocked from the role, and they accepted their position below the Warden in the pantheon. The two are at each other's throats constantly.

The Warden is the most powerful god in the core pantheon, who is wholly dedicated to principles of justice and maintaining order. She, as all other prior Wardens, has instated herself as the ruler of divinity and works very hard to ensure every god is kept in line, even going so far as to create a trio of divine Executioners; former mortals whose sole duty is to kill rogue divine. She upholds the Divine Law, and stops at nothing to ensure the safety of mortals from the exploitation of gods above them.


NASTYA

Nastya is the twin sibling of the Warden, who imbibed the First Flame at the same time as her sister. By technicality, they are both equally heir to the title of Warden, but when she attempted to rule alongside her sister, they found they simply could not get along. Their beliefs were too fundamentally opposed to one another, even before their ascension to godhood. The Warden had Nastya killed by one of her Executioners, who skinned her alive. However, for whatever reason, she did not die.

In her life, she was a witch, who believed in the use of a knowledge as a means of connecting with people. She strongly believes in the good of magic, especially when used as a tool for good. She was formerly seated in the throne of Knowledge, but had that throne forcefully taken from her by Mensis early on in the Sixth Cycle, which lead to the ascenscion of Zhenya. Many describe Zhenya to be like an adoptive child to her.


ZHENYA

Rather new god, still in need of development!


EPIPHIEL

Epiphiel is a god with two forms. One is a young adult, clad in armor and weapons, passionate for battle, while the other is the same person as a child, afraid and barely clinging on to life. As a soldier, he is bloodthirsty, calculating, and ruthless, and represents retribution for those done wrong as well as violence in the name of what he believes to be right. As a child, he is traumatized and scared, and reflects the suffering that comes from those violent conflicts. He is both the one who is hurt and the one who is hurting.

While the god himself was not exactly born from mortal will alone, the vacant throne that begged to be filled in the City of the Gods was. Epiphiel was the unfortunate child to be forced into that position and grew up too soon. When worshiped, the aspect of him represented changes depending on what you're praying for. Oftentime, those attempting to win a war will invoke the older Epiphiel, while those war-weary and weak will lament and pray to his younger self.


YMORI

Ymori is the goddess of Undeath, and one of the youngest in the pantheon. It is believed she was once the lover of Nettle, queen of hell, who imparted to her the knowledge of necromancy as a form of love for those around her. Believers of Ymori (who are often thought of as sinful cultists) might even say; "What is the act of preserving and bringing back someone dear to you from the brink of death but an act of love?" She is also commonly associated with plague and rot, and as such, is another god who is commonly feared than truly worshiped.


MENSIS/NETTLE

Mensis was a mortal who, at the start of the Sixth Cycle, forcefully ascended to godhood and seized the throne of Knowledge from the goddess Nastya. She had a very short-lived reign in the City of the Gods, where she was quickly dethroned by the Warden for breaking the Laws of Divine. She was, however, too powerful to be killed, and the Warden had her Executioners dismember her and dispose of her body parts before banishing her remaining phsyical form to Hell, where she remains imprisoned to this day. The name "Mensis" is used to refer to her during her time as a mortal and in the City of the Gods.

"Nettle" is the name she is referred to as Queen of Hell. It did not take long for her to utilize her cunning and her intellect to manipulate the denizens of the lawless abyss to look up to her as their ruler. She is in a state of constantly seeking retribution on those that cast her down "unlawfully" and desperately wishes to escape.

GODS OF NATURE

HALESIA

Halesia is the first god of nature born to Callista and Aphelia. He is a representation of the importance of death to the cycle of life and the calm before renewal. As their first born, he was entrusted with the important task of serving as a vessel for the mortal underworld and guiding the souls of the dead where they needed to go.


ZEA

The second god born to Callista and Aphelia. Zea is the god of life's eventual stagnation and wind down to its end. He represents maturity and appreciating what you have while you have it. Zea is also about abundance, and the ways in which a stable community can provide it.

Zea is a very two-faced god. While he acts rather respectfully day-to-day in his duties as a god, he lives a sort of "double life" as a masked trickster. He likes to pull pranks and make bad deals with his fellow divines and wreak minor forms of havoc on the residents of the City of the Gods, as well as unsuspecting mortals. He is also the patron god of the theater and is always depicted wearing a mask.


HELIA

Helia is the third born of Callista and Aphelia and represents the celebration of life. He has a minor association with the weather, especially those storms that come with summer, and has a love of extravagent parties and festivals. Along with Primula, he is associated with the healthy growth of plants. He is also the patron god of non-magic healers/doctors. There isn't much to say about Helia- he's ironically one of the more mature gods of the four siblings and doesn't cause much trouble.


PRIMULA

Primula is the youngest of Callista and Aphelia. She is the embodiment of youth, and a representation of birth and renewal, as well as the time of your life where you are learning and growing. She is the patron god of children, and is the god one would pray to when seeking protection from illnesses and bodily harm. Similar to Helia, there isn't much to say about Primula, as she's not one to stir the pot- though she can be very playful and loves a good prank.