Alsherok

The deities of Alsherok represent the forces of good, evil and neutrality that constantly watch over the land through their devoted followers. While those of evil alignment seek to destroy life and subjugate the lands around them, the goodly deities seek to restore order and prevent those dedicated to evil from accomplishing their goals. The neutral deities seek only to hold and retain the tentative balance between good and evil throughout the world. Who will succeed? Only you, the adventurers and heroes of the land can determine that fate.

At level ten and above, your player character will be able to dedicate himself or herself to a particular deity. Keep in mind that although devoting to deities seems like a pretty good idea, you do not need to devote if you don't want to. Adhering to the behavior suitable for a follower of that particular deity is also very important, so choose a deity that best suits your character. Reading the help files or these webpages about the deities helps a lot. And when in doubt, ask around. The friendly immortals and players of Alsherok are more than happy to provide information if they can.

The deity system in Alsherok is controlled by favor points. You favor reflects on how much your deity favors you. It can increase if you follow the principles and guidelines of your deity, and decrease if you go against your deities wishes or set alignments. If you ever deviate from your deity's chosen alignment, you will suffer a penalty for some actions. A high favor gives you better chance rolls and weapon bonuses, while a low favor penalizes you. You can also trade in favor points by using the supplicate commands to call upon the powers of your deity to aid you in times of need. Favor ranges from -1000 to 1000. To use the supplication function, you must type in 'supplicate x' where x is one of the special supplication abilities which you can call upon. You may supplicate for 'corpse', which retrieves your corpse when you die, 'recall', which sends you back to his or her recall point, 'object' which summons a mighty object from your deity and 'avatar' which calls upon your deity to come and help you in a battle. You can also type the command 'remains' to show you how far decayed your corpse is. This is useful if you are currently out searching for your corpse and want to know how long you have till it disintegrates. Naturally, this command also requires the use of some of your favor points.

When you are ready to devote to a deity, you must first type 'devote none' and then 'devote deityname'. Devote allows you to devote yourself to a deity. If you leave your deity for another, your favor is set to -1000 and you are blinded for a period of time.

Ortheus is the old Midgaardish God of Death, the Dead, and Undeath. His following was never a popular one in Midgaard, but nevertheless it managed to survive. His priests commonly turned themselves into undead creatures before they died. Ortheus himself appears as a huge wraith, so black he sucks up the light, with red eyes. He hates the High Elves and will reward those who slay them in his name. Favor is also rewarded to those who generally spread death to other creatures except the undead whether with the use of weapons or with destructive magics. Devotees of Ortheus are restricted to alignments between -50 to -1000 and most devotees gain an innate ability to resist life draining attacks.

Thingal, once a mortal, is called the Savior of Maldoth, the Dragonslayer, and the New God. He is the patron god of Maldoth, and to those who dwell there. Thingal in his mortal life was a member of the Midgaardish army, and when the Devastation came, he slew the only dragon to fall that day. Thus his followers hate all Dragonkind. Rallying the people, he led them east through the hills, where they founded the city of Maldoth. Soon after the city was completed, he ascended to the heavens as the newest God. Thingal's favored race are the Humans and he punishes those who harm them. All followers of Thingal are restricted to alignments between +650 and -650. Thingal looks upon those of his followers who help others with healing and protection magics in a favorable light and he bestows a resistance to fire attacks upon them.

Nol-Thadr, also called the Lurker and the God of the Dry Depths, was the Midgaardish god of the underground and exploration. His faith was a surprisingly popular one among the Cartographer's Guild, who worshiped him over all of the Graecian gods. Nol-Thadr does not favor nor hate any one race above the other as one's race have no bearing on his field of exploration. Followers of this deity are rewarded when they kill, steal from, or successfully backstab their opponents. To help them in their explorations, Nol-Thadr bestows the ability to scry upon all his followers. All devotees of Nol-Thadr are required to remain between alignments of +650 and -650.

Mithgilran the Grey Wanderer is the old Midgaardish God of Knowledge and Life. His priests wander the lands in search of knowledge and aiding those who need their healing arts. They are dressed in grey robes and carry walking staves with a wolf's head. In the time of the Devastation of Midgaard, legends tell of a large grey wolf with amber eyes which was baying at the dragons as they descended upon the city, and the worshipers of Mithgilran fled towards the wolf and were led to safety. Not a single dragon attacked these people, as though they were kept back by the baying of the wolf. The people were led south to the coast of the Misty Sea where today stands the town of Greyhaven. The people believe the wolf to be their god, Mithgilran. It can be said that Mithgilran's enemy is Ortheus. All followers of Mithgilran are required to remain between the alignments of +1000 to -300 and they are rewarded with his favor when they slay the foul undead or when they aid others with healing or protective spells. For this purpose, followers of Mithgilran are conferred the ability to resist energy based attacks. However, Mithgilran favors the High Elves above all else and will be angered if his followers ever take the life of a High Elf.

Gol-Hokth, also known as The Deliverer is the God of the people of the underground city of T'leth. It is said that Gol-Hokth carved the entire city from the caverns with a mere look. Legend also has it he was responsible for personally delivering his people from the clutches of the evil Cthulhu near the end times of their old city. Not much is really known about the religion and society of T'leth, though it is said their archives contain detailed accounts of the Prophecy and the Deliverance. Followers of Gol-Hokth must adhere between alignments of +1000 and -150 and they are rewarded whenever they aid others with spells or otherwise. He also rewards his followers who slay worm-kin such as the giant worms that infest the tunnels outside of T'leth. For this purpose, Nol-Thadr give his followers the powerful ability to resist cold based attacks. However, he frowns upon stealing and will disfavor any of his followers who steal from others.

Laeral Dayspring, Goddess of Magic is well revered throughout the land. Not only is she responsible for the workings of all forms of magic, some even say she helped breathe life into most of the races during the creation of time. Her very essence gives the land the magic of life. Her worshipers consist of many different goodly races, from the Humans and Elves to the Pixies. Her followers are mostly magically inclined and they travel the lands, working their good magic. Legends say that Laeral Dayspring once assumed mortal form as a Half-elf maiden and helped found the magical city of Palainth. Hence, most of the Palainthian citizens regard her as their patron goddess and protector. Because of their adaptability and spirit in the face of all odds, Laeral feels most connected with the Half-Elven kind and punishes any of her followers who harm the Half-Elven kind. However, she does reward those who kill Orcs in her name especially if they use magic to smite the foul race. She also rewards those who use healing and protection magic in the aid of others. As an act of love to her devotees, she bestows them with the boon of an innate resistance to electrical attacks. All followers of the Goddess of Magic are required to remain between alignments of +1000 to -300 throughout their lives.

Meia Quickquill is the daughter of Mithgilran the Grey Wanderer. Inheriting her father's love of knowledge, this relatively young deity has taken on the mantle as the Goddess of Knowledge and Learning. Her devotees seldom stay in one place, ever wandering the Lands on journeys of discovery. Through her blessings, a sanctuary for her worshippers has been consecrated and established beneath Bywater. Called The Abecedarium, it is a centre for the gathering of knowledge as well as teaching of young wayfarers, that they may fare better on their life's journeys. There, some of her most dedicated priests have given up their wandering life to devote themselves to the tutelage of youthful adventurers. Respecting the Lands, Meia welcomes all wanderers as her devotees, asking only that they should constantly seek fresh knowledge. However, she loves all beings and detests sacrifice. Instead, she prefers that corpses be buried, and aid rendered whenever possible to all who are in need. Lady Quickquill also favours the dragons above all others for their wisdom and love of learning.

The God of the Alatian peoples, Rothnor has been their protector and guide for eons. His first appearance was as a cult in the shadowy distant past. It said among the people of Alatia that Rothnor saved them from a great cataclysm, bringing them to a new land, where they prospered.

The father of the Graecian gods and the head of their pantheons, Zeus is a deity of thunder and lightning and strength. He makes his home in the clouded peaks of the mount of Olympus that rises far above the city of Graecia. He is highly famed for his shield, the Aegis of Zeus, and for his tendency to toss lightning bolts at those he dislikes.

The Spider Queen, the Dark Maiden, the Goddess of the Drow...Zeslavin is the one and only deity worshiped by the Drow. It was her who gave the Drow their dark magic and succored them when they were cast from the world of light by their hatred brethren, the high elves. She normally appears in one of two forms, as a giant spider or as a beautiful Drow maiden. She commands absolute obedience from her worshipers and deals harsh punishment to those who fail her. Stories tell of her turning her subjects into mutant spiders.

Raicen is the visage of hate...and love. It hates all that have tried to keep the Sahuagin suppressed, and it loves all of the Sahuagin people with a passion. It even gave up it's own mortality in a vain attempt to protect the Sahuagin from disaster hundreds of years ago. Due to the extreme self-sacrifice that Raicen exhibited in it's death, and the lamenting of the Sahuagin afterward, it ascended to a god status to continue to watch over it's people. Raicen lost all form of identity when it died, so it can no longer even remember it's sex of years ago. The only thing left in Raicen's mind now is the protection of the Sahuagin race, and vengeance against the humans that drove them underwater for good.

All violence is loved by Raicen, as long as it will make it's people stronger. If another Sahuagin gets in the way of the advancement of the cause, they are as good as dead. Death is Raicen's worst enemy, it remembers the time it spent in the dark void before it's ascension. Any brush with death is considered by Raicen to be tainted, and as such affects the way it looks at each follower. Much progress is being made in the Sahuagin reclaiming their right to live on land if they wish. Much has changed with the "Land Creatures" that has allowed them to start to accept the Sahuagin race. This does not curb the anger of Raicen, but in time even those fires might cool.

Flowing crimson robes and bleached spiked hair would be the way that most followers describe Cam's ghostly appearance. He is well known for listening to the prayers of his loyal followers.

A deity of old, Cam was forgotten long ago. After the discovery of a set of ancient temples and parchments, a small following has once again begun worshiping this temperamental god.

Though the ancient writings were unclear as to the exact nature of Cam, a few things were clear. His love for his followers is great, yet he is not slow to punish those that fall out of his favor. His punishments are not mild, nor are his rewards minor. His love for sacrifice was also known, but not just any sacrifice would do. He enjoyed watching the guilty be tortured and tormented until they died from sheer exhaustion. Many outsiders called him sadistic, but his followers defended him fiercely. He condones warfare as long as as it's not pointless. Honor and valor are rewarded, despite his alignment. The last thing to be discovered from the texts seems to be the destruction of his temples and people. Once humans invaded and started settling, they started forcing their religions on Cam's followers, claiming that their god was barbaric and that theirs was the right one to follow. They even went so far as to kill the followers that wouldn't convert. The last remaining followers prayed night and day for Cam to rescue them, but knowing that a god gets his power from his followers, they weren't surprised when they were found and executed a few days later. Cam watched in agony as his followers were slain, knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop the slaughter. He has waited for his chance to repay those that caused him so much grief and suffering, and he will reward any who follow him and do his will.