Building Merithaya: Part 3 - The Pantheon Overview
This is part of a series of articles where I'm building a world, for now called Merithaya, from scratch. Each article has a discussion of the process for designing the content, as well as an in-world description!
Now we’ve got the broad strokes done, we can start with some of the details! I’m going to stick with things that have “global” influence to start with, so we have a good idea of things that might influence cultures and landscapes when we get into designing countries. With this in mind, the first thing I’m going to look at is the deities of Merithaya!
Note: I was slow getting the post ready this week, so I’m now going to split it into two halves - a quick look at the overall pantheon this week, then an in-depth look at some of the deities involved next week!
A Seasonal Pantheon
As discussed in an earlier post, one of the things I wanted to build this world around was a pantheon based on the seasons. This works well as it keeps the number of major gods down to a manageable number (something I’ve traditionally let get a bit out of hand...) and it provides a really nice cohesive theme for the pantheon (which I think helps particularly in a TTRPG setting for giving something to base cool clerics/paladins/etc on).
An idea that came to mind while brainstorming this that would provide a nice bit of flavour (and to match natural phenomena) is to also link this to the sun and moon. The two principal gods can be the Sun deity who rules Summer, and the Moon deity who rules Winter. They then have two younger siblings, that maintain the transition period between the two major seasons - Autumn and Spring. This gives a fun family dynamic (which we can use to add conflict later) and also adds a lot of that flavour that can be used for quests, NPC details, and other bits and pieces!
So, with that idea in mind, let’s meet The Seasons’ Court!
In the before times, the world of Merithaya existed as a bleak rock in the cosmos, cold and dark.
One day, the twin deities of the Sun and Moon - Solin and Nocti - looked down at the rock they shepherded and took pity on those that lived in the darkness. They decided to bring light and life to the world, giving them sunlight in the day and moonlight at night, and imbuing the world with their divine spark to produce life of all kinds to enhance the lives of the Merithayans.
However, soon it became clear that there was a new problem. Those that lived below on this now verdant land were static and unchanging, unable to fully appreciate that which they had been given due to its everpresence. Solin and Nocti consulted with their brethren - together, they created a progression of seasons - Solin ruling summer, Nocti presiding over winter, and their siblings Flora and Ourtoma stewarding during the transition of spring and autumn.
This new cycle nourished and enhanced the nascent world, leading to the glorious variety of wonders that exists today. However, the final sibling, Astrala, looked upon the glory that his family had created without him with jealousy, and sought to intervene with his own misformed creations. The others banished him from the court, and now The Starry-Eyed Prince rules the darkness, his many eyes looking down at the wonders his family creates without him…
There’s lots to build on here! As usual at the moment, the names aren’t final, but I really like the idea of a family of deities that divide their responsibilities with the turning of the year, rather than by domain - and we can still associate domains with these themes if we need to (for example for D&D clerics, I expect a Life Domain cleric could be associated with Flora, deity of spring, or a Tempest Domain cleric with Nocti, deity of winter).
The family structure also gives us some interesting story aspects - I could imagine conflicts between the religions of The Starry-Eyed Prince and the other deities of the court, for example.
The other fun dynamic that fits really nicely into a TTRPG story with seasonal deities is their powers can wax and wane with the times of year - imagine if clerics or paladins in this world get a bonus or special ability depending on whether or not their chosen deity has their zenith at the current time of year! It could lead to interesting time crunches to ensure they get quests complete before the season changes, or encourage downtime activities while waiting for the season to become more favourable. I’m still considering these mechanics, so that can be one for a future post when I’ve considered the world and its cultures further.
Next time - a closer look at some of these gods, and maybe even some religions that could follow them!