| "For have a look: Those
blasphemists and assassins, those pillagers and poisoners and what else
is out there hiding as human beings, those impenitent and careworn, who
do not know remorse or repentance will never find the key to open the doors
of paradise because Boron will not let them."
(quoted from "The twelve divine paradises" from Alrik of Angbar, at last printed in the Arkanian Courier, Praios, 17 Hal) Be they as mighty as they wish, the Arkanian princes are not the makers of destiny or history, not the sake of the world and its people. A variety of different gods reigns land and life. Those divine powers take their power from faith, but they are not idols or imaginations, they are real and powerful and sometimes they show themselves to the believers or more often they efefct their miracles and change Arkanian history. The most spread belief is the faith in the Twelve Gods, who are Praios (Sun, Power, Order), his brothers Efferd (Rain, Ocean, Sailing), Boron (Sleep, Death, Drugs), Firun (Hunt, Winter, Ice), Phex (Trade, Thieving, Stars), Ingerimm (Fire, Forging, Dwarves) and their sisters Rondra (War, Lightning, Thunder), Travia (Hospitality, Marriage, Peace), Hesinde (Arts, Science, Magic), Tsa (Renewing, Youth, Birth), Paeriane (Plating, Curing, Fertility) and Rahja (Love, Wine, Ecstasy). These gods are worshipped in Bornland, Middle-realm, the Lovely Filed and in many other countries and cities of Arkania, even the dark Al'Anfa. The months or moons of the year are known after the names of the Twelve Gods. The nomads of the desert, the Novadi, believe in the one-god Rastullah, the people from the island of Maraskan worship Rur and Gror or some in newer times Borbarad. |
Between all these gods - at their side a series of semidivien entities - there may be disputes, sometimes even bloody fights, but together they have their antigod in a mystic creature, calle the Nameless or the God without a Name. And he has got a great deal of followers, because he equips them with wealth and power, that are other gods cannot or do not want to spend. And although elves do not have a great belief in gos since they do not follow anyone but themselves they fear the Nameless, whom they call "Child of the Rats". Temples and houses for worship determine the skyline of most of the Arkanian cities and your hero should begin early enough to follow one of them. There is no sense to live a life as an atheist or agnostic in Arkania, because the evidences for their existence are obvious. Very soon the heroes will find out, that there are situations in Arkania when only the help of the gods might lead them into the right direction out of the eveil. It much more atmospheric to think about the blinding ray of Praios who strikes down an ogre, who is just beginning to swallow you alive than to explain any kind of sudden salvation by random. So as a player you should thank your gamemaster for enabling a nice gaming venue, but as a hero you should wander to the nest temple of Phex or Rondra and give a donation to the ordained priests and to thank the gods... And a last words of the gods from the translator. Borbarad is roaming the world for some twenty months now, some people say he is the grandchild of Hesinde and Phex, we do not want to comment on that. The problem is, the gods did not find any usefulness in striking against Borbarad till now, so not any harm for the people is also a harm for the gods and means that they care. Perhaps some of them, (Tsa and Travia are our only salvation), even do care, but there are others who are mightier than them, unfortunately. |