Building Merithaya: The Gods

Florus, Warden of Vernal Dawn

Estevan passed through the flowering archway and entered the temple of Florus, his hands fiddling nervously. Through the slowly falling petals of cherry blossoms and the grasping vines of wisteria, he could begin to make out the statue of the deity ahead, gazing down with gentle eyes over the gathering congregation. The large crystal effigy portrayed its subject in their mortal form, flowing hair tumbling over robed shoulders, a crown of flowers surrounding their antlered head and a cloak of leaves down their back. As usual, Florus had been depicted with an array of young creatures around their feet, signifying their domain over the start of life, Spring, and nature at its creation. Seeing the figure with their hands spread wide in welcome, Estevan bowed his head with the rest of the worshippers, beginning his prayer for his family’s happiness in the year ahead.

The first of the four gods of The Season’s Court is Florus! Those of you who read the previous post may notice a subtle name change here - I tend to do this a lot early in the building process as ideas change and develop. In this case, I wanted to move away from common “mortal” names, as well as making it sound a bit more “god-like”.

As might be expected for a deity representing spring, there is a lot of flower and nature imagery going on here. I expect Florus to be the main god associated with the natural world (and by extension Nature clerics) in Merithaya, as spring is a time for growth and renewal of the natural world. A god like this may have many appearances depending on context - perhaps some more animal like in form, a humanoid “mortal” form, and maybe a more symbolic form - depending on who is worshipping them. In this small sample, I’m envisioning a temple in one of the main cities, during a spring festival - the temple bedecked in flowers and offerings, with the locals making prayers for a bountiful and happy year ahead.

Temples to Florus have floral decor, as expected, with clear pools and open air quadrangles surrounded by cloisters. Statues of Florus are often crystalline to catch the low spring sun and scatter it into many colours, further enhancing the bright and dreamy aura of the buildings. In smaller shrines found in villages or lesser towns, perhaps a simple garland of flowers around a figurine of the deity are all the formal trappings required, with priests preferring to perform their rituals in nature itself.

In game terms, I expect Florus to be the main god for nature and life domain clerics, but perhaps also trickery clerics (there’s a strong fey vibe with this god, so a cleric around “The Joys of Spring” could fit this). For the same reason, they would be the primary god of Fey creatures and farmers, and I could imagine one of Florus’s court being delegated the oceans and seas? (I’m currently thinking there are lesser gods and spirits under each “seasonal” deity, that have more specific responsibilities, but that idea is a WIP!)

Solin, Ruler of the Summer Sun

Linette winced as Solin appeared before her, her joy at seeing her patron temporarily subdued by the pain in her head - the searing light that emanated from the deity piercing her mind. As her eyes adjusted, she could see the familiar figure, today in their incorporeal form - a fiery halo framing a ball of shimmering golden light - a vast difference from the strong golden haired figure in a flaming cloak she had met in previous visions. A powerful yet kindly voice surrounded her.

“Well done, my trusted servant. You have performed admirably, and by your brave actions the lands are safe again. You truly are the strongest of my paladins, which is why I know you will have no trouble with this next task I must put before you.”

Linette bowed her head in thanks, wondering what form of quest the Ruler of the Summer Sun would have for her this time…

The next god in the pantheon is Solin. Solin is going to be one of the primary gods in the hierarchy - I plan for the Summer/Sun and Winter/Moon deities to be the “rulers” of the Season’s Court, with Spring and Autumn as their attendants, and then other minor spirits beneath. This means Solin is going to be one of the more powerful (and most worshipped) gods in Merithaya - with their form being more mysterious than that of the more “approachable” gods. I imagine that Solin normally doesn’t want to approach their followers in a mortal form - in the above example, they appear as a fiery sun rather than in their humanoid form - although for more trusted and respected worshippers and followers perhaps on occasion they make an exception, as they have done for Linette in the past here in this sample.

The imagery here is probably no surprise - lots of fire, suns, and light!

Solin’s primary focus is the Sun, heat, light, and summer - so clearly light domain clerics are going to find a home here! With the fire association, forge clerics most likely look to Solin too (or at least one of their helper spirits responsible for the forge). In a more abstract way, War clerics also probably look to Solin (the “heat of battle”) as do Arcana clerics under this Solin’s purview as Ruler of Summer - as midsummer is a time where magic is often at its peak! Solin would be worshipped by many - soldiers, farmers and outside workers generally, mages, and many others would be found in the temples of Solin. Solin’s temples are constructs of gold and marble - grand edifices to the god some see as the mightiest of all, presided over by priests in ornate robes of white and gold.

Ahayir, Steward of Autumn’s Song

Runi carried the tottering pile of books toward the library, revelling in the cool autumnal air. A maple leaf drifted down in front of her, then suddenly upwards as a breath of wind snatched it, until it settled once again on the shoulder of Ahayir’s statue outside the door of the Sanctuary.

A sombre looking figure of granite, with their belt of russet-painted leaves, the most impressive part of Ahayir’s statue was the representation of the Book of Year’s End in their hands, each leaf delicately painted to a different colour of dried foliage. Runi loved this statue, particularly the book, representing as it did the wealth of knowledge that Ahayir gathered and protected. The gaze of her deity was always a comfort, wise eyes looking out over the Sanctuary that was her home, full of the satisfied sadness of a task completed, a book written, a year ending.

Ahayir (formerly Ourtoma) has a different feel again. The concept here came from working backwards - I was trying to fit in most of the common D&D cleric domains into this new pantheon to ensure I wasn’t being too limiting in the design, and was a bit stuck on the Knowledge domain, as it didn’t have an obvious seasonal connection that I could think of. That was, until I realised the connection between the “leaves” of a book, and the falling leaves of autumn! This actually comes together really nicely - the imagery of a god that gathers in completed works like leaves produced from a tree of knowledge and creativity - the autumnal year’s ending celebrating and representing a project finished, a task completed, a work fulfilled.

Similarly to the other gods, the imagery here is probably expected - leaves, autumnal fruits and seeds, red/brown/deep gold colours. The Book of Year’s End is a key part of the imagery, seen on all representations of the deity in some form - a large bound tome, where each page is literally a tree’s leaf covered in writing, art, and other content the god deems worthy of collection. Temples to Ahayir are more subtle than some of the other gods - often incorporating vast libraries and stores of knowledge. At harvest time, they become centres of harvest festivals, with crops gathered, artworks created, and other projects completed and offered in thanks to the deity.

As this concept is based around Knowledge domain clerics, they will find a home here. A god for librarians, scholars, and academics - as well as a god that farmers look to at harvest time. Order clerics seem to fit into this too, as the orderly collection of knowledge and the completion of projects seems to fit their remit. With the ending of the year, certain Twilight clerics might find a place in the worship of Ahayir, particularly in their aspect of endings, although they might be more comfortable with Ahayir’s wintery relative…

Nocti, Monarch of the Winter Moon

The cold, harsh wind battered Seren as he pushed through the dark night, hoping he would be in time. Suddenly, the looming shadow of the temple appeared out of the blizzard in front of him, the large hooded statues of Nocti casting imposing figures in the flickering torch light. Coming closer, Seren could begin to make out details - the statue on the left featured moon phase detailing on Nocti’s robes in their aspect as the Moon deity, whereas the rightmost statue showed a more fierce jagged outline, a figure of ice and snow to guard the winter.

Seren passed between the two statues and into the pale light of the temple interior, making a prayer to The Monarch of the Winter Moon that the priests here would be able to grant him the aid he so desperately sought.

Nocti is the last of the “main 4” of The Court of Seasons - Moon deity and ruler of the winter season, ice, snow, and storms. Nocti is also the patron of the dead, the shepherd of the end of life that guides souls back into the eternal cycle of renewal. All these are very thematic for a winter and moon deity, and complete the set of seasonal gods! One thing to note here is that while Nocti has rule over the night in their role as the moon deity, they are not really associated with darkness as such, as the moon still casts a pale light over those it looks over…

Similarly to Solin, I imagine Nocti has many forms - perhaps a more human appearance in their role as the deity of the moon, with lunar symbology featuring on their robe and cloak; whereas in their wintry aspect they may appear as a more abstract form - a wild storm cloud, an eternally fractal pattern of ice, or something similar.

Domains here are going to be no surprise - Grave, Tempest, and Death are all in Nocti’s purview. Twilight clerics may also worship Nocti as ruler of the night. Peace may feature here too - the stillness of a winter’s day contrasting against the fiery summer War domain, perhaps? As for worshippers, those that operate under the light of the moon such as thieves and other denizens of the underworld might worship Nocti, as would some sailors who seek protection from winter’s storms. People may also visit Nocti’s temples in times of war, to bring peace and cool minds to those who seek to gain dominion over them. The temples themselves feature cold granite stone and glass, illuminated by crystal lanterns that give out a pale white light in homage to the Nocti’s moonlight.

The Starry-Eyed Exile

Heed my warning, those who venture out into the darkness, not to draw the many eyes of The Starry-Eyed Exile, for to do so is to surely court disaster. Once their gaze is upon you, creatures of ill omen will forever be your shadow, so never journey the night without the gaze of Nocti to protect you…

The fifth sibling of The Season’s Court, who was banished for trying to interfere with the creations of the others in some way, The Exile is the final “main” god of Merithaya’s pantheon. Their domain is darkness, nights with no moon, and all the demons, devils, and other monsters that lurk in that shadows. They are nameless since their exile, unable to return until they are forgiven by the rest of the court, and the memories of the gods are long…

Unlike the others, The Starry-Eyed Exile is limited in what they can do to the world directly. However, their priests are still found influencing events around Merithaya, working to nudge the workings of the world to their patron’s desires…

And that’s our pantheon! There’s obviously still lots of details to add and fill in, but this gives us enough that we can have an understanding of how they might have influenced the world when we design it - this whole process is very iterative, as it’s hard to design continents and cultures without the gods that formed them - but similarly it’s difficult to design gods that feel like a part of the world if you’ve already made all the decisions about how countries act. This means you can expect to see these designs evolve as we work on the rest of the world - but we have plenty here to get started with!

It also means we now have all the global things we need for now! Next time we’ll start focusing in on one continent, and begin designing that - initially designing the landscape, before diving into countries, cultures and all the fun things like that - definitely subscribe if you want to follow along on this journey, there’s lots of content to come soon! I aim to make one post at least every 2 weeks at the moment, but hopefully more often than that.

Also feel free to leave comments if there’s anything in particular you want to focus on, or look at first! See you next time!