Campaign guide plight of the tuatha (1) 39

Campaign Guide
they tend to be devoted in their worship of the goddess.
Those who feel they have been wronged frequently
offer up prayers asking the goddess to enact retribution,
often violent in nature. Most sailors offer up prayers to the
goddess with the hopes that she will ignore their passage
across her seas and oceans. Those who have recently suffered a catastrophic loss often offer up prayers thanking the
goddess for the lesson she has taught them.

Gods of the Ostmen Isles
There are over a dozen gods and goddesses that make up
the Laeradrn Pantheon that is worshiped by the residents
of the Ostmen Islands. As life in this region of the world
is considered harsh by most who were not born to it, the
Laeradrn divinity are said to be the reason for not only the
Ostmen’s survival, but their flourishing.
Most Ostmen respect the gods and guide their daily
life by the actions and desires of these divine beings. The
stories of their gods exploits teach lessons about when it is
the right time to fish, when planting and harvests should
occur, and what an honorable action is in a given situation. This manifests in many ways even outside of worship.
For instance, a common phrase used to refer to a funerary
procession is a “marching stag” in reference to the great elk
stag Doutharorth, who is said to have brought death to the
realm of mortals. Another example is when a structure is
built from stone instead of wood; the builder is said to have
“raised a mountain for Volsung.”
One practice held in common by all priests of the Laeradrn Pantheon is the act of blackening the areas around
their eyes with a powder made either of coal or charcoal.
Both substances are considered to have been gifts from the
gods and are thought to be fire in its solid form. The act of

covering their eyes with this dust is believed to bring light
to their mortal eyes so that they can better see the actions
of the divine around them, actions often obscured by the
darkness of the mortal world.
Below is an example of two gods from the Laeradrn
Pantheon, or rather two aspects of one god.

Balar
Titles: Seawalker, the Rage Within, the Eye of Fury, King
of the Fomoire
Portfolio: ocean deapths, the fomoire, destruction of
land
Typical Worshipers: fomoire; sailors; those seeking
destruction

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Typical Worshiper Alignment: CN
Domains: Chaos, Destruction, Madness, Strength, Water
Subdomains: Rage, Ferocity, Flotsam, Insanity, Oceans,
Protean
Favored Weapon: Battle axe
Minor Ritual: Eating a whole live squid.
Sample Blessing: “The blood in your veins is as the sea,
may its flow wash away all that stands in your way.”

Symbol of Balar
The ocean is a torrent of violence and chaos. Its waters
bring death to those land dwellers who consume it and
they forever wash away lands edge with their ebb and flow.

As it is with the oceans of Aeliode, so it is with the god
Balar. Balar is a god in the throes of madness, and this
madnesstogether and form communities to celebrate their
divine deformities. As a group they are known as fomoire.
Not all who utter prayers to Balar are consumed with
his brutal madness however. Many an Ostmen warrior
will be heard whispering a prayer to Balar on the eve of
great battles, just as sailors invoke his name during terrible
storms at sea. Though they do not devote themselves to
the god, they do respect his power and his domain. They
understand the daring and glory that can be theirs by
bringing out small portions of the god that beats in their
own hearts. Care is taken to not draw his attention too fully
lest his madness take root in the soul.