(as created by David Weber for his 'Oath of Swords' series, and... er... fiddled with by Mel. Anyone who's read 'Oath of Swords' and/or its sequel 'War God's Own' is going to notice a few significant changes here...)
The Gods of
Light
Orr All-Father: Often
called 'The Creator' or 'The Establisher', Orr is considered the creator of the
universe and the king and judge of gods. He is the father or creator of all but
two of the Gods of Light and the most powerful of all the gods, whether of Light
or Dark. His symbol is a blue starburst.
Orfressa: According to
Norfressan theology, Orfressa is not a god but the universe herself, created by
Orr even before Kontifrio, and she is not truly 'awake'. Or, rather, she is
seldom aware of anything as ephemeral as mortals. On the very rare occasions
when she does take notice of mortal affairs, terrible things tend to happen, and
even Orr can restrain her wrath only with difficulty.
Kontifrio:
'The Mother of Women' is Orr's wife and the goddess of home, family, and the
harvest. According to Norfressan theology, Kontifrio was Orr's second creation
(after Orfressa, the rest of the universe), and she is the most nurturing of the
gods and the mother of all Orr's children except Orfressa herself. Her hatred
for Shigu is implacable. Her symbol is a sheaf of wheat tied with a grape
vine.
Khalifrio Orfressa: 'The Lady of the Lightning' is Orr and
Kontifrio's first child and the goddess of elemental destruction. She is
considered a Goddess of Light despite her penchant for destructiveness, but she
has very little to do with mortals (and mortals are just as happy about it,
thank you). Her symbol is a forked lightning bolt.
Chesmirsa
Orfressa: 'The Singer of Light' is the second child of Orr and Kontifrio.
Chesmirsa is the goddess of bards, poetry, music and art. She is very fond of
mortals and sometimes shows a mischievous sense of humor, but is usually
strangely melancholy -- which affects a lot of the music created by her bards.
Her symbol is the harp.
Korthrala Orfro: Called 'Sea Spume' and
'Foam Beard', Korthrala is the third child of Orr and Kontifrio. He is the god
of the sea, love, hate, and passion -- and also war, though he seems to forget
that most of the time. He is a very powerful god, if not over-blessed with
wisdom, and is very fond of mortals. His symbol is the net and
trident.
Chemalka Orfressa: 'The Lady of the Storm' is the fourth
child of Orr and Kontifrio. She is the goddess of weather, good and bad, and has
little to do with mortals. Her symbol is the sun seen through
clouds.
Torframos Orfro: Known as 'Stone Beard' and 'Lord of
Earthquakes', Torframos is the sixth child of Orr and Kontifrio. He is the lord
of the Earth, the keeper of the deep places and special patron of engineers and
those who delve, and is especially revered by dwarves. His symbol is the miner's
pick.
Norfram Orfro: The 'Lord of Chance' is Orr and Kontifrio's
seventh child and the god of fortune, good and bad. His symbol is the infinity
sign. (Oddly enough, seven is THE unlucky number in
Norfressa...)
Semkirk Orfro: Known as 'The Watcher', Semkirk is
the eighth child of Orr and Kontifrio. He is the god of wisdom and mental and
physical discipline and, before the Fall of Kontovar, was the god of white
wizardry. Since the Fall, he has become the special patron of the psionic magi,
who conduct a merciless war against evil wizards. He is a particularly deadly
enemy of Carnadosa, the goddess of black wizardry. His symbol is a golden
scepter.
Lillinara Orfressa: Known as 'Friend of Women' and 'The
Silver Lady', Lillinara is Orr and Kontifrio's ninth child, the goddess of the
moon and women. She is one of the more complex deities and extremely focused.
She is appealed to by young women and maidens in her persona as the Maid and by
mature women and mothers in her persona as the Mother. As avenger, she manifests
as the Crone, who also comforts the dying. She dislikes Hirahim Lightfoot
intensely, but she hates Shigu (as the essential perversion of all womankind)
with every fiber of her being. Her symbol is the moon.
Tolomos
Orfro: 'The Torch Bearer' is the tenth child of Orr and Kontifrio. He is the
god of light and the sun and the patron of all those who work with heat. His
symbol is a golden flame.
Toragan Orfro: 'The Huntsman', also
called 'Woodhelm', is the eleventh child of Orr and Kontifrio and the god of
nature. Forests are especially sacred to him, and he has a reputation for
punishing those who hunt needlessly or cruelly. His symbol is an oak
tree.
Silendros Orfressa: The twelfth and final child of Orr and
Kontifrio, Silendros (called 'Jewel of the Heavens') is the goddess of stars and
the night. She is greatly reverenced by jewel smiths, who see their art as an
attempt to capture the beauty of her heavens in the work of their hands, but
generally has little to do with mortals. Her symbol is a silver
star.
Hirahim Lightfoot: Known as 'The Laughing God' and 'The
Great Seducer', Hirahim is something of a rogue element among the Gods of Light.
He is the only one of them who is not related to Orr (no one seems certain where
he came from, though he acknowledges Orr's authority . . . as much as he does
anyone's) and he is the true prankster of the gods. He is the god of merchants,
thieves, and dancers, but he is also known as the god of seductions, as he has a
terrible weakness for attractive female mortals (or goddesses). His symbol is a
silver flute.
Sorbus Kontifra: Known as 'Iron Bender', Sorbus is
the smith of the gods. He is also the product of history's greatest seduction
(that of Kontifrio by Hirahim—a 'prank' Kontifrio has never quite forgiven), yet
he is the most stolid and dependable of all the gods, and Orr accepts him as his
own son. His symbol is an anvil.
The Dark Gods
Phrobus
Orfro: Called 'Father of Evil' and 'Lord of Deceit', Phrobus is the fifth
child of Orr and Kontifrio. (Oddly enough, he is often cited as the reason why
_seven_ is considered unlucky... and nobody seems to notice the contradiction.)
No one recalls his original name; 'Phrobus' ('Truth Bender') was given to him
when he attempted to wrest rulership from Orr and was cast out of the Light
Gods. Following that defeat, Phrobus turned openly to the dark and became the
opening wedge by which evil first entered Orfressa. He is the most powerful of
the gods of Light or Dark after Orr. His symbol is a flame-eyed
skull.
Shigu: Called 'The Twisted One', 'Queen of Hell', and
'Mother of Madness', Shigu is the wife of Phrobus. No one knows exactly where
she came from, but most believe she was, in fact, a powerful demoness raised to
godhood by Phrobus when he sought a mate to breed his own pantheon to oppose
that of his father. Her power is deep but subtle, her cruelty and malice are
bottomless, and her favored weapon is madness. She is even more hated, loathed,
and feared by mortals than Phrobus, and her worship is punishable by death in
all Norfressan realms. Her symbol is a flaming spider.
Fiendark
Phrofro: The firstborn child of Phrobus and Shigu, Fiendark is known as
'Lord of the Furies'. He is cast very much in his father's image (though,
fortunately, he is considerably less powerful), and all evil creatures owe him
allegiance as Phrobus' deputy. Unlike Phrobus, who seeks always to pervert or
conquer, however, Fiendark also delights in destruction for destruction's sake.
His symbols are a flaming sword or flame-shot cloud of
smoke.
Krashnark Phrofro: The second son of Phrobus and Shigu,
Krashnark is something of a disappointment to his parents. The most powerful of
Phrobus' children, Krashnark (known as 'Devil Master') is the god of devils and
ambitious war. He is ruthless, merciless, and cruel, but personally courageous
and possessed of a strong, personal code of honor, which makes him the only Dark
God the Light Gods actually respect. He is, unfortunately, loyal to his father,
and his power and sense of honor have made him the 'enforcer' of the Dark Gods.
His symbol is a flaming steward's rod.
Sharna Phrofro: Called
'Demonspawn' and 'Lord of the Scorpion', Sharna is Krashnark's younger,
identical twin (a fact which pleases neither of them). Sharna is the god of
demons and the patron of assassins, the personification of cunning and
deception. He is substantially less powerful than Krashnark and a total coward,
and the demons who owe him allegiance hate and fear Krashnark's more powerful
devils almost as much as Sharna hates and fears his brother. His symbols are the
giant scorpion (which serves as his mount) and a bleeding heart in a mailed
fist.
Krahana Phrofressa: 'The Lady of the Damned' is the fourth
child of Phrobus and Shigu and, in most ways, the most loathsome of them all.
She is noted for her hideous beauty and holds dominion over the undead -- some
of them, at least; she's the weakest of the Dark Gods -- and rules the hells in
which the souls of those who have sold themselves to evil spend eternity. Her
symbol is a splintered coffin.
Carnadosa Phrofressa: 'The Lady of
Wizardry' is the fifth child of Phrobus and Shigu. She has become the goddess of
black wizardry, but she herself might be considered totally amoral rather than
evil for evil's sake. She enshrines the concept of power sought by any means and
at any cost to others. Her symbol is a wizard's wand.
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