The Gods

There are, as all know, three Clans of the Gods. These are the Night Lodge, the Sky House, and Those Who Stand Apart.

The title for a priest is “Siar” (SHAR), meaning speaker.

The Night Lodge

The Night Lodge are old gods who came to Mawr with the Five Kings - the Brothers - and their clans. Those Who Stand Apart may have come with the Kings, but may have already been here among the races of Mawr. They know the ways of the peoples of the Five Kingdoms - hell, they may have invented them.

Bel

Bel is Honor, Glory in Combat, and Victory. His color is White. Often called the “Fair Slayer”, also a title for heroes who dignify themselves through combat. Bel’s white standard is raised before any battle and the parties negotiate their war honorably. White flags and white outfits are common in training areas. All those who work with their hands on the gear of battle or face battle themselves pay homage to Bel, and wear some white in his honor.

A Speaker of Bel is a diplomat, a trainer of warriors to defend the kingdom, a traveling arbiter of contests and sacred combats, a tryer of witches, and the scourge of the wicked.

Macháin “mu-HAHN”

Macháin is mistress of the Fílidh (bards) and all poets and singers and artists. It is she who invented Language and gave speech to the races of the world. Any servant of hers who learns to read the trapped souls of the written word is immediately forsaken by her. Her colors are red and violet, and tartan. She is sometimes called “The Singer”, or “Old Woman History” or Siar na Siaraí, “Speaker of Speakers”.

It is rare for Macháin to choose a Speaker. All Bards (Filidh) are her Speakers; they are bound to her Laws of Hospitality, they are bound to tell the truth of what they see and hear. They are bound to answer questions honestly. They are trained in diplomacy - which is to say - lying without lying beyond the skill of most of the People to manage. A question in their training is: if the Story (the Lie) is indistinguishable from the Truth, isn’t it more important to inform rather than relay simple facts?

Dána “DAWN-uh”

Dána is the Luck whom all alternately curse or praise. Her color is silver. She’s called the Gambler, and the Doxie. It is said that the one who can marry Dána will gain the great secret treasures of Mawr, and that the one who gives the goddess luck will be fortunate all the rest of his days. Dána is said to visit the foremaths of tragedy, adorned with a silver circlet; she is said to attend the funerals of the unfortunate wearing silver earrings and a silver torc. It is said that to be kind to a woman wearing silver on the road will bring Dána’s eye to your own misfortunes. Dána’s eyes are either pale blue, silver grey or white.

A Speaker of Dána adorns herself in silver. She might run a gambling house; she gives blessing and curse alike at the direction of an internal moral sense. Speakers of Dána are sought to bless the transitions of life: birth, adulthood, marriage, widowship - everything but Death; that is the province of Ddurn in whose shadow there is no fortune.

Ursean “ur-SEAN”

Ursean is a Wanderer, an explorer of every Road and Way. His color is brown, and his symbol is the open door, and is used often for public houses along the paths of Mawr.

He is called the Doorkeeper, or the Stumbler. Ursean guides those under the gods’ gaes or blessing toward the Ribbon, and causes the ways of Mawr to reject others unfit for the gods’ benefice: the kind of person who could get lost on a clear day in his home town. Ursean loves mead, and it is said to be fortunate for travelers to buy mead for dirt-stained persons on the road.

A Speaker of Ursean is a traveler - someone whose feet can’t root in any one place. A servant of Ursean guides and blesses journeys - literal or metaphorical. They can officiate naming ceremonies, adulthood ceremonies, guild membership ceremonies, clan leadership rites, crowning, even wakes, in the face of Ddurn’s novitiates. A Speaker of Ursean could just as easily guide a group of fugitives through a terrifying wood as guide an enterprise to fruition.

Druys and Ventain

The lover pair of Druys, Goddess of Fertility and Ventain, God of the Hunt keep sacred the natural sites of Mawr, and are, it’s said, the source of all mortal urgings. Their color is green and horn. Sacrifices of horn and evergreen bough are burned to them by all who walk in the wilderness or seek to take of the Lovers’ many get. They can take any shape or form, and often draw travelers into trouble with the Bright Ones in lonely places.

Speakers of Druys and Ventain are hunters and gatherers; they are masters of the wilderness and the wildness of beasts untamed. No Speaker of the Twins would have power over a tame hound, but could raise or manage the madness of a hog into the wildness of a boar or vice-versa. Speakers of Druys and Ventain are guides for mortals in the wilds of the world. Garbed in lordly cloth or untested leathers, there is a vibrant, wild, sexual presence to them. They would not be chosen for a ball, but would be hailed for years as the life of it. They would be the delight of a reel and dance on when others have flagged.

The Sky House

Foraoise’s Abbey of Dawn

The powers of the Sky House are fundamentally different than the Night Lodge - newer, nearer, both more and less human. Some say they came to Mawr from the South, some say they trailed after the 5 Kings who came, and allied with them after their arrival in Mawr.

Gaudr

Chief among the sky House is Gaudr, Lord of the Lighted Vault of Heaven. He is said to be the child of Las (the sun), the Eye of Light. His is the care of the daylit world, the wrangling of the nature and vices of humanity to ensure the continuance of the world as delight to both Heaven and Earth. His colors are lapis and solar yellow.

He is pictured as a paternal warrior astride a great white horse, bearing a sword, with a brilliant light behind and all around him.

Speakers of Gaudr are shepherds of community, leaders, supporters of enterprise to improve the fate of humankind. Speakers of Gaudr are volunteers in grass-roots enterprises, they are those who rise up to protect the innocent and hold at bay the wild difficulties of Arcodd’s world.

Gaer

Gaudr’s wife is Gaer, Mistress of Clear Day and Gentle Rain. She was birthed in a difficult time to give surcease to those who labor under the open sky. Her colors are pale grey and grey-blue, and her symbol is the rain drop. Small clinics that support women across the kingdoms are staffed by the Skilled, the Talented and the Called, marked by the subtle rain drop symbol.

Speakers of Gaer are fertility practitioners, birth coaches, advisers to farmers, leaders of the festivals of planting and harvest.

Their get are Pronabbyn, Naur and Baer.

Pronabbyn

Pronabbyn is Goddess of the Dawn. Her province is renewal, hope, and the Sight to see over the lip of time and understand the shape of things to come. She is the holder of the last hope, the last guide in the dark and the one waiting when all others have gone.

A Speaker of Pronabbyn is a motiationsal speaker, a bringer of hope. a hero who stares fearlessly into the dark knowing dawn must come at last and lay all machinations bare. The colors of Pronabbyn are rainbow and the pale yellow of dawn.

Naur

Naur is the Storm Queen. Her metal is lead and her color is the deep grey of storm-filled skies, often with a bright blue-to-white color flashing through it. Hers is the keeping of the secrets of the wide world. She uses storms to drive the unworthy from their goals and prevents the coming together of those who seek destruction.

A Speaker of Naur is a storm chaser, a weather forecaster, a sailor, a diplomat or soldier who moves to end conflict before it truly begins. They are the ones who understand how things build up, and how they pass away.

Unig

Unig is Mistress of Winter and the Queen of Ice. She is the rest and the quiet, the stillness of the world. When her power moves over the land, even the plants and animals take their rest - only the old, strong trees stand watch during that time, and she favors evergreens and pine trees the most. Her element is sap, her symbol is the snowflake, and her color is the white of snow and the blue of ice. She is one who helps keep the world in balance, and her power is often called upon to keep the world from being overrun by those who would destroy it.

A Speaker of Unig is a mountain guide, a cold weather survivalist, a winter festival organizer, the caretaker of a retreat lodge or the mistress of a cloister dedicated to peace and recovery in body and mind.

Solas

There is also fierce Solas, the personification of Light. He is often pictured with the sun on the horns of his helmet, a sword whose hilt is gleaming Godsblood, and bracers lined with blue seametal. Solas walks into battle without shield, but uses water and air themselves to protect him, the sun shining always on his back as he fights.

Solas is the one who brings the light of day to the world, and the last one on the battlefield as the light fails and the darkness advances. His metal and color are purest gold.

A Speaker of Solas is a trainer of warriors, a leader of honorable men, an investigator who plumbs the depths beneath the surface of Arcodd, the leader of a holy mission, the spiritual guide for those who seek enlightenment. They are the ones who bring light to the world in practical ways, and they are often called upon to help those in need.

Baetha

Solas’ wife is Baetha, Mistress of growing things. Her purview is the natural daylit world - open fields, plains, scrub.

There is a rivalry between Gaer and Baetha for the praise of those who work the land. Gaer provides the weather and the rain that make plants flourish; but Baetha is the germination of the seed, the split of flower and sprout. Their husbands do not help this dispute by their long tradition never to meet face to face. The Vaulted Heavens and Light Itself it is said cannot be personified together, and should that happen, some great change that the Nightwings both long for and fear will come to pass.

A Speaker of Baetha is a botanist, a plant breeder, a seed saver, the keeper of a Gods’ Grove. They are the ones who help with blights, with the infection that kills trees, with invasive beetles, with the weeds that take over the fields. They are the ones who help the world grow, and they are often called upon to help those in lack and in need of plenty.

Those Who Stand Apart

These gods take no part in the affairs of night and light, but wander the invisible strands of the world, tending to their own interests and needs. Perhaps once they were part of the Night Lodge, but something has distanced them from the others. Perhaps they are the first gods, and the Night Lodge and Sky House are their children. Perhaps they are the last gods, and the Night Lodge and Sky House are their grandchildren. Perhaps they are neither, but something else entirely.

Ddurn

Ddurn is lord of the Grey World where spirits walk, keeper of the boundaries of the Bright World where the Beautiful Ones come from, and steward of the dead.

He’s called the Grey Wanderer, the Bedsetter, the Uninvited Guest.

One aspect of Ddurn is The Stranger on the Road - a figure wreathed in white or pale gray robes. It is always best to invite the Stranger to walk with you - even if they do not speak. It is said that kind company may give the Stranger something They need, and they will allow you to keep walking your own road, instead of the final one into the Grey Lands…

His color is grey, and he is said to be the only true friend of all that live.

A Speaker of Ddurn is a funeral director, a hospice worker, a grief counselor, a spiritual guide for those who are dying or those who are left behind. They are the ones who help the living and the dead find peace, and they are often called upon to help those in mourning.

Mabinown

Mabinown is the Free God, who changes all he touches. Mabinown is called the Facemaker, the Masked King. When things among the people of the Five Kingdoms become stale, when life loses its sheen, when sorrow - or joy - are too great, Mabinown walks the earth, sowing the seeds of change great and small. Those interested in revolution invite Mabinown with painted masks and colorful displays of feathers. Those trying to stave off change try to appease Mabinown by burning beautiful things and creating transitory moments of beauty.

Mabinown’s color is a melted slate of rainbow colors, and his symbol is a mask in wild color.

There is a festival of Mabinown in the spring, when the first flowers bloom and the first birds return. It is a time of change, of new beginnings, of hope and departure. Those who do NOT wish to be visited by Mabinown are advised to mount wild decorations, to launch lavish parties full of music and dance, and to burn beautiful beautiful things in the fire of the festival. Those who wish to be visited by Mabinown are advised to do the opposite - to keep their homes and lives simple, to avoid the festival, and to live in quiet contemplation of the world around them.

Súil

Súil was the hope of Reunion of light and dark, child of Macháin and Gaudr, but died in the coming of her twins:

His symbol is a circle with light and dark on one side like seeds without an eye, and a slash of color across them.

Ternir

Ternir is the spinner of prophecy, told in the grey light of Pronnabyn’s Dusk; he does not himself understand the future, but instead is made up of it so that even as he intends simple things, he creates for others visions of what will or may come to pass. Ternir was locked in a prison under the earth, it is said, by the greatest of the Sorcerer Kings for his interference in the plans of the Five Peoples. It is said that in this process, Ternir spoke - one of the few known times - with intent and malice against the King; and so the prophecies bound the King, but gave him strange powers of the future itself which it is said have yet to unfurl themselves in the light of Gaudr’s days.

Ternir’s color is the red of fine thread, the sun’s last light on water. He’s called the Spinner, the Mute, the Prisoner.

A Speaker of Ternir is a weaver of sacred textiles, a spinner of prophecies bound in wool, a storyteller who speaks of possibility, a prophet, a seer. They are the ones who help others understand the future, and they are often called upon to help those in need of guidance.

Ciánan

Ciánan is the Seer, who knows each secret. It was he who trapped the language of Macháin in writing, binding wisdom for the future. Macháin took one of his eyes for this offense, and has enjoined her fillidh from having anything to do with his arts. After this, it is he who bestowed the Eye upon the People, the awareness of how Arcodd exists, how her power moves and flows, and is therefore responsible for the birth of the Magic Arts. Ciánan is especially praised in Cahál, which takes its name from him.

His color is the green and green of the eyes of the Kings, and his symbol is an eye or a blinded eye. He’s called the Seer, the Rebel, the Blinded Eye.

A Speaker of Ciánan is a scholar, a librarian of a secret cache of knowledge, a teacher of the written word, a keeper of secrets. They are the ones who help others understand the past, and they are often called upon to help those in need of knowledge.

Speaker of the Gods

(Siár na Tuatha an Scéil - Speaker of the Children of the Word)

The Night Lodge identify as the Children of the Word or more lyrically as the Words of the Tale. They say other gods are the same. Macháin has said it in her burning triple voice in which she can speak no falsehood.

The Day House says that their connection to Las, the Eye of Light in the heavens, gives them the ability to radiate their own light into mortals just as Las does to Arcodd, bringing life wherever it touches.

When humans (and it has always only been humans, as far as anyone knows) are “touched by the Gods”, the become Speakers (Siaraí). The voice of their God is close or near. Sometimes it’s the chorus of a pantheon. Most often, they are given a Gaes to accomplish, and once they do, they continue on with the God’s power while they serve their intrepretations of the God’s purposes. .