Gods

In a fantasy campaign, immortal and powerful deities play a vital role, especially as mentors and beings of veneration for priests (clerics, paladins, and summoners). Gods are also key to culture, history, and setting. They create artifacts and monsters, seeking to influence the world and the mortals who live there. Indeed, the worship of mortals may well be the power that fuels the gods.

Game masters are, of course, free to use any pantheon of gods that they like. Here are the default gods for Labyrinths & Liontaurs, along with notes on history in the base campaign setting and on how they interact with the world. There may well be more and other gods, especially demigods, but these are the most notable.

God	Tow'choth'ah	E'aff'ah		Wech'in	Ee'tal	How'jath	Ay'ow		Yal	Lut	Eim
Emotion	Tranquility	Curiosity		Joy	Worry	Contempt	Anger		Resolve	Sorrow	Mirth
Alignment	N	NG		CG	LG	LE	CE		LN	NE	CN
Power	Greater god	Greater god		Lesser god	Lesser god	Lesser god	Lesser god		Demigod	Demigod	Demigod
Role	Father	Mother		Son	Daughter	Son	Daughter		Construct	Aberration	Outsider
Symbol	Moon	Sun		Rainbow	Cloud	Skull	Flame		Gear	Broken Heart	Asterisk
Ethos	Avoid extremes; celebrate nature and life.	Avoid cruelty; share knowledge and craft.		Never be stingy; enjoy surprises.	Never relax; protect the weak.	Never trust; always plan ahead.	Never show mercy; bathe in blood.		Speak only the truth; strive for justice.	Weep and despair; cry out in pain.	Carry on and keep laughing; delight in trickery.
Weapon	Scythe	Warhammer		Long Bow	Longsword	Heavy Pick	Flail		Morningstar	Whip	Starknife
Domains	Animal, Creation, Healing, Plant, Weather	Artifice, Community, Glory, Knowledge, Rune		Air, Chaos, Light, Love	Good, Protection, Travel, Water	Darkness, Earth, Law, Undeath	Evil, Fire, Madness, War		Magic, Time	Repose, Mutation	Charm, Luck
People	halfling	dwarf		elf	sphinx	gnome	orc		kobold	grippli	human

 

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Tow'choth'ah

Nicknames and titles: Nuncle Moon, The Gardener, Father Nature, Lord Judge, The All-Father.

Tow'choth'ah and E'aff'ah existed before the races of people, all agree, but no mortal knows if they created the multiverse, or the world, or just shaped it. The latter, at least, sages say, because it is known that the two greatest gods created plants and animals, monsters and people, working together. It is said that The Gardener created the halfling races to live in harmony with the land — many halflings indeed remain humble folk who are in tune with the seasons and nature, although a goodly number do not fit that stereotype.

In latter days, Tow'choth'ah chooses to remain aloof, working in subtle ways, allowing his priests (and indeed, almost all naturalists) to work as their hearts direct them. No divination reaches him directly, and seldom do his servants answer for him, unless there is a great imbalance that needs correction.

In one way only does the Lord Judge interact directly with every living creature at least once: he metes out justice to the souls of the dead, dispatching each to its deserved afterlife. The Lord Judge sees this is a duty, not a pleasure, and Tow'choth'ah cares little if souls escape the spiritual planes, or if mortals visit them.

Religion: Druids and clerics of Tow'choth'ah work closely together, primarily in agricultural settings where people live close to the land. Their temples always have gardens, and in addition to prayers, they offer teachings and wisdom about agriculture and husbandry. Still, with their secret language and nature lore, druids tend to look down a little on their brethren, if in a kindly way.

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E'aff'ah

Nicknames and titles: Lady Kind, Wisest, The Maker, The All-Mother. The Hearth-Keeper

Together, E'aff'ah and Tow'choth'ah made the beings of the world, with the All-Mother driving ever-forward, creative and curious, and the All-Father restraining her greatest extremes. Early on, she saw the exponential power of bringing to life beings that themselves were crafters, so she made the race of dwarves to follow her great example of exploring, learning, and making.

The Wisest is still the most curious, and so she remains deeply invested and involved in the world, as different from her husband in this as day is from night. She is active through her servants, the angels, and straightforward in her divinations, although she thinks that her followers should be able to figure out the easy questions on their own.

Religion: E'Aff'ah is loved by sages, scribes, and artisans; explorers and community leaders; many dwarves revere her as mother. A common depiction of her in dwarven halls is of a beautiful woman's face, bare of lip, with a thin line of beard all around — for she is the sun, and her rays surround her visage. Her temples are centers of learning and art, libraries of lore, where knowledge of craft is kept and given freely. Almost every hearth in every home has a small sun carved into the mantle for her blessing.

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Wech'in

Nicknames and titles: Wonder-Worker, Master of Marvels, The Dancer, The Highest Elf, Skylord

The eldest son of E'aff'ah and Tow'choth'ah, Wech'in is their masterwork. Glad of heart, kindly, and generous, he delights in flight and dance, the giving of gifts, and encountering the unexpected. Fundamentally unserious, he sees no reason to get all worked up, as he often says to his sisters. Long ago he made the elves to share his love of the natural world and the amazing creatures and places in it. Indeed, he is known to have traveled in disguise among elves, leaving gifts before he moves on. Many yuletide sorcerers revere him.

Religion: Skylord temples always offer hospitality to travellers, often acting as hostels. The innkeeper clergy seldom stay in one place for long, eager to see new sights and wonders in the world (though to an elf cleric, a stay of ten or twenty years may be a brief one). They often charge the lowest rates to travellers, happy to offer accommodation in exchange for new stories, or for a performance. Followers are happy to rejoice with those having celebrations, but, alas, they have little to say to those who grieve.

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Ee'tal

Nicknames and titles: The Ship Liege, Suzerain of Mortals, The Righteous, The Sword of Peace, Champion Defender

Ee'tal is the opposite of her elder brother in so many ways, for she is serious, seldom smiling, concerned about the dangers of the world, protective of innocents, worried about the problem of evil, and seeking to order things to ensure safety and prosperity. Her ministry is defense and rulership; she made the sphinx race to protect and rule and put everything in the right place. To her sorrow, the Orc War saw the end of the sphinxes, and she was little consoled when almost all the other people of the world rose up for vengeance and to end the orcs. (The elves alone did not come to battle, a failing that the dwarves have never forgiven.)

The world of Labyrinths & Liontaurs consists of archipelagoes and islands, large and small. Early on, Ee'tal taught mortals the mastery of ships and navigation, the better to bond nations together and defend against dangers. Sailors adore her, and call to her for protection on water.

In her role as protector of the weak and innocent, Ee'tal has earned the worship of paladins and good-hearted fighters. It is through these followers that she acts in the World, and through archons who serve her; she has been burned after her direct intervention through the sphinx, and she stands back now, unwilling to spark another Orc War.

Religion: Righteous Temples are cathedrals and fortresses, monuments to the collective efforts of worshipers as well as places of refuge in danger. More of her priests are militant clerics and paladins, ready to take up arms when necessary. Her highest level followers are advisors to kings, or serve as kings in their own right, seeking to encourage orderliness and good living for all.

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How'jath

Nicknames and titles: The Law-Giver, The Tyrant, The Delver, The Undead Laird, The Earth-Master

In ages past, How'jath saw the magical power of gemstones, and he created gnomes to burrow deep and find them. The gnomes were created to be magical and to be slaves, but while the world was still young, they rebelled, sought aid from his mother, and left his service. How'jath is still the god of the underworld, but most of his gnomes have left the deeps in order to live better lives free from his tyranny.

Contracts and laws, governance and courts are his provenance, and he carries himself with honor, refusing to cheat at the games he has himself created. Indeed, as a master planner and plotter, he seldom would even benefit from cheating, as he is the genius of plots and planning. How'jath is never kind and seldom merciful — he keeps others to their words and oaths as he holds himself to his.

As master of earth and darkness, How'jath holds dominion over things that are buried, including the undead and unspeakable monsters of the under-deeps. For his love of gems, some dwarves honor him, especially as Law-Giver and Earth-Master.

Religion: In some places, How'jath is respected and invoked at courts, legal settings, and council-chambers, and his temples are crowded with those who seek orderliness and strength. In other places, he is held in the same contempt that he shows to all others. He cares not. If he loves anything, he loves the law, but he doesn't love the people governed by laws.

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Ay'ow

Nicknames and titles: Battle-rager, Death-bringer, The Mad Queen, The Vicious Flame, The Burninator

Beyond rationality, Ay'ow delights in torture, killing, violence, and anger for no reason other than love of destruction. The Mad Queen is both angry and insane! To spread death and inflict pain, she created the race of orcs and pitted them against the sphinx, exterminating them all! In vengeance, the other peoples of the world banded together and killed the orcs. Since then, restrained by her mother and father, Ay'ow has been content to stand back and inspire mortals to rage and war, and to delight in torturing the souls of the damned.

Hers is the fire that destroys, the flail that smashes, the needle that torments. There is nothing loving or redeeming in her, and people of good faith fear to say her name.

Religion: There is no organized religion for Ay'ow, but wherever a priest seeks power through blood and burning, Ay'ow is quick to offer her blessing. Wherever a summoner calls on her, she sends a demon to encourage ruin and madness. Sometimes barbarians and fighters will call for her aid on the eve of battle, for her prowess in war knows no equal, and she is cunning in her craziness.

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Yal

Nicknames and titles: The Universal System, The Administrator, The Agent of the Gods, The Ghost in the Machine

In the elder days before classes and levels, the sphinxes rivaled the gods in power and magic. With hubris in their hearts, the sphinxes created the race of liontaurs to act as their hands. So the gods did not intervene when Ay'ow launched her orcs to kill them, deeming the punishment just, and not expecting the sphinxes to be murdered to the last. In the wreck of the Orc War, the gods came to regret everything, and they collectively created Yal to be a solution.

The gods created kobolds to serve Yal as their agents on earth, instructing the races of people about the new System. Since then, kobolds may act behind the scenes on Yal's behalf, but more often, they have gone their own way, expressing their interest in devices and traps and mechanisms as a way of honoring the Ghost in the Machine.

Yal either is the Universal System, or administers it — scholars disagree. But the System, in bringing classes and levels to mortal people, has both empowered and limited them. Mortals have an easy path to greatness, but may not reach the height of the deities. That said, Yal is also the god with whom the most people interact regularly and easily, for it is Yal (or the Universal System) who meets you in sleep and describes your choices every time you level — and who offers you judgement-free options from which to select. Yal is just but unaligned and emotionless aside from devotion to duty. They were designed to teach and enlighten, having only and completely in their remit the functioning of the System.

Religion: The Church of Yal is more of a fan club than a traditional religion, because Yal is not responsive to prayers beyond the basics, and they exist not to gather worshippers or power, but to function as the gods made them to do. So the Church serves to gather System lore, to offer advice, to celebrate when you level, to comfort you when you are denied a prestige class. Priests of Yal often follow Yal's example of honesty and counsel without judgement. Some Master Loremasters honor Yal, even as they use System knowledge to hack the machine and go beyond intended limits.

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Lut

Nicknames and titles: The Weeping God, Chief Mourner, The Lash, Abomination

In a way, Lut is the child of Ee'tal and Ay'ow — the Weeping God rose spontaneously from the death of races and the calamity of war. Lut is a divine expression of overwhelming grief and sorrow, sadness so deep that it masters all else, pain so great that it cannot comprehend anything else. Lut is god of mourning, grief, and death, but not undead. He causes pain to himself in order to distract from emotional pain. He spawns aberrations and monstrosities to express his own state of mind. He created the grippli to croak in sorrow and hide in water, where tears cannot show.

Most of the other gods are embarrassed by Lut, reminded of their failings in the Orc War, but there is a strange friendship between Lut and Wech'in, who stayed out of the war. Only Wech'in can make Lut smile, albeit rarely, and for his part, Wech'in has come to understand the value of grief, the opposite of his own joyful nature.

Religion: Among the civilized realms, Temples of Lut are funereal places that care for the newly dead, who maintain cemeteries in sacred ground, who offer a place to mourn. Priests there are odd ones, known to use their own whips in self-mortification — when, grieving, you rip your clothes, put ashes on your face, and tear your own hair, you honor Lut. But there are also secret cults to Lut, wherein practitioners breed or serve abominations and aberrations, embracing the fluidity of flesh, the mutability of monsters. In his afterlife, Lut offers the souls of the dead unceasing pain, "comforting" the damned as he comforts himself.

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Eim

Nicknames and titles: Star Child, Trickery, The Laughing God, The Outsider

No one knows the origin of Eim. Was she a human who rose to divinity? The first human? A human leader who brought or led her race to the world from some other dimension or star? All that sages know for sure is this: humans arrived after the Orc War, and they were a surprise to everybody. At the beginning, elves welcomed them, though later the elves came to resent the fecund and callow newcomers. As for Eim, she seems to have regarded foisting humans on the world as a sort of practical joke, and her laughter is infectious.

Eim is the laughing god, and she likes nothing better than to charm her way into the hearts of others and then to prank them! Even her priests have come to expect tricks and jokes in her divinations. Despite her role as humanity's guide, most humans honor other gods, since few really appreciate Eim's sense of humor. Among other people, Eim has developed a bit of a following among gnomes, especially cleric/illusionists and other tricksters.

Religion: Eim has no organized church; indeed, the idea of such organization is anathema to her. Rather, her priests each act independently, sometimes leading a congregation, sometimes wandering from place to place. More than for most gods, fun-loving adventurers may honor her as a guide and muse.

Divine Diplomacy

There are not many gods detailed here, just one for each alignment, a bare minimum. Using the gods above as models, game masters should feel free to create any number of lesser gods and demigods, as suits the needs of the campaign. There could be gods of particular islands or cities, gods of specialized behaviors or cultural practices, gods of race and class and profession and avocation. Do not set up any heated or hated rivalries, though, because the gods no longer wage war on each other, having learned the tragic outcome of religious fanaticism and crusade.

We Are Family

It should be understood that alignment among gods is a suggestion more than a rule. Gods consider themselves beyond alignment. Family bonds are stronger, and the greater gods keep the peace. If conflicts arise, they are likely to be settled by the All-Mother and the All-Father in the name of family fidelity. That said, Ee'tal and Ay'ow are true enemies, and even though their parents keep them from open battle, their followers are known to attack each other on sight.

Intervention

Some gods are detached and aloof; others are engaged and meddlesome. All are limited by decree of the greater gods, but if a deity really wants to influence the course of events, there are ways. Game masters may use such interventions — dreams, unusually clear divinations, the actions of outsiders sent to the prime material plane to encourage and warn, etc. — though among headstrong PCs, such efforts have been known to backfire!