The Divinity of Grimoria
PSYDON - THE ALLFATHER
AND SO, HE WEEPS. NOT FOR YOU. NOT FOR I. BUT FOR IT ALL.
The Divine Father of all things good and holy, the creator of Grimoria and its people. Said to have been slain a hundred years ago by the Dark Necromantress Zizo, His death brought about untold death and calamity.
His worshippers are often members of the older races of Grimoria (dwarves, elves, dragonkin and Aasimar) or those whose hearts are filled with love, reminiscence and the desire for peace. These worshippers do not believe Him to be dead, rather in a restless slumber. They believe the Ten are His Saints, which was once true ere his demise.
The Otavan Inquisition, the old Naledi and the Zybantine Empire are the largest worshippers of His Word, though the people of Avar are wont to bow to Psydon as well. His symbol is that of a three-pointed cross known as the Psycross, representing the virtues of compassion, piety and brotherhood.
He is also known as the Allfather, the Weeping God, or the One.
ASTRATA - ABSOLUTE ORDER
THE UNSUNDERED: Astrata 2:8 - "For the blood that runs through thy veins is blessed by I alone, thou shalt be regarded as kings"
The Fourth of the Old Diecian Council of Saints, Astrata was born to a humen warrior, one of Psydon's most devout. She was trained by the Allfather to act as a divine peacekeeper, to keep the races of the world in check and safe from the evils within and without Grimoria. She created the Pact of Nobility, blessing certain bloodlines with divine right to rule; though it is because of this that some say She gave the foul gift of ego to man. Astrata also infused the light of the sun with holy power, weakening the evil and the cursed under its purview during the dae.
Her worshippers are often those of this noble caste, righteous warriors and religious zealots. Their tenets are simple: to keep the peace, to ensure the land is led by the worthy, and to destroy the nitecreechurs that plague Grimoria.
The Holy See of Grenzelhoft, while worshipping the Ten as a whole, is by and large controlled by the worshippers of Astrata, with the title of Grand Pontiff of the entire order being held solely by Astratans. Queen Samantha of Ferentia is a devout Astratan as well; the Holy See having a presence within every major settlement on the island. Her symbol is a six-pointed star, representing the Sun in its glory.
She is also known simply as the Sun (though she is an Aasimar, not literally the sun,) the Sun-Mother, or by Ravoxians and those who defy her Order as the Sun-Tyrant.
NOC - THE FATHER OF SECRETS
THE UNSUNDERED: Noc 4:11 - And so the ley-line was torn through, the Naledi drinking deep of the mana within. PSYDONIA had gained the gift of magic.
The Fifth of the Diecian Council of Ten, Noc is Astrata's divine twin; though where Astrata was taught of leadership and warfare, Noc eschewed the blade entirely for the quill. He defied the Allfather's will, leaving the Celestial Throne of the One to wander Grimoria instead, learning of the land and its people. He gathered His knowledge within a chamber of the Celestial Throne known as the Vault of Secrets. It was also through Noc that the war-scholars of Naledi learned of the Arcyne, the Father of Secrets gifting mortality with magic.
His worshippers are exclusively those possessed of violent intellect; erudite scholars, earth-shattering mages and wizened leaders who do not bow to the ley-man. They tout the calming sanctity of nite, something unheard of to Astratans who believe the moonlight brings only nitecreechurs and misery.
His symbol is that of the crescent moon, which Naledi war-scholars can be seen representing through their gilded staves. A common misconception is that Astrata and Noc are one being known as the Twinned-God, though this is a falsehood. However, the two comprise a unity known as the Equilibrium of the Eclipse, and their respective metals of gold for the sunlight and silver for the moonlight can be alloyed to create Eclipsum.
NECRA - THE UNDERMAIDEN
THE UNSUNDERED: Necra 4:4 - "I bid thee this one choice. Learn to come to terms with thy lyfe and death in the world above, and be granted a second chance. Stagnate, and wander with me forevermore."
Necra was Psydon's firstborn child; Her purpose was simple, to undo the effects of the reality-corrupting Primordial Rot that had gathered as a result of a time of ceaseless conflict between the Elven citystates of ancient Grimoria. Born to a snow elf (a diaspora of the Elven race that was banished to the mountains following the end of the Great Woodwars) Necra was trained to shepherd the souls of the dead and taught a long-lost ritual to pull all Forgotten spirits who wandered the world into a new plane of reality: the Underworld.
She was granted a servant in the form of the Carriageman, a multi-limbed entity that passed judgement on the Forgotten to have them reborn. This divine rebirth is only granted by those who passed the Trial of the Forgotten, which legends state involve finding a Spirit Coin to pay for the Carriageman's Toll within the endless woods of the Underworld.
Her worshippers are often isolationists and hermits; those who prefer the company of silence to their fellow man. Necrans are highly opposed to the revival of the dead by other followers of the Ten, and shun the Deadites formed by the Rot believing the souls of those who turn are trapped within the decaying corpse until it is released through a second death.
Necra's symbol is a gilded skull, with the most devout of Her children wearing these as a grim reminder of the fate that befits all who wander Grimoria. They often wear veils and hoods over their heads, reflecting the Undermaiden's form: that of the Veiled Lady.
DENDOR - THE TREEFATHER
THE UNSUNDERED: Dendor 3:1 - The First Druid celebrated heartily with the grove, the beasts howling to the moon in joy, and the sons and daughters of the wild joining in tandem.
It is not known who the First Druid was born to, but the Allfather granted him with the task of nurturing and protecting all things natural in the world; from rolling grassy plains, teeming forests and even the most arid and desolate of deserts. The First Coming of the Rot had caused the wilds to erupt into chaos, and it was Dendor's divine task to tame them and bring them into unity once more. To further this aim, He created the first druid groves, entrusted to humens and elves with great love for nature, and eventually the species that would be known in time as the wild-kin by blessing beasts with wisdom and love.
His followers are many: farmers, elves, wild-kin, hunters, so on and so forth. Wherever one travels to, one constant will always be that the people will defer to Dendor. Most important of all are the Druids, who protect the wilderness as He once had.
Dendor's symbol is the beast's claw, representing His unfortunate descent to madness and the primeval bestial instincts within all. The Treefather would find Himself grow jaded and stagnant as Man's reach over the world spread, even as his children in the wildkin grew more and more and split into species like the Tabaxi and Lupians. This would reach its crux after Psydon's death, where the Treefather lost his mind entirely. The wild He had laboured to protect and tame lost control as well, and now His creations and His devout are regarded with mistrust.