THE SOVEREIGN HOST

POWERS OF LIGHT

The people of Khorvaire acknowledge an extended pantheon of gods, all of whom are connected or related in some fashion. Some gods are loving and beneficent, some distant and unapproachable, and still others malicious and deceptive. Most people offer prayers to different gods depending on the situation and what sort of reply (if any) they hope for.                        

The Sovereign Host is a collection of the deities most commonly worshiped by the majority of the populace. On a daily basis, Khorvarians pray to the Sovereign Host as a group rather than to any one god.

The text below expands the domains available to clerics of the Sovereign Host by including domains from Complete Divine. Domains from that book are marked with an asterisk.

   Arawai is the sister of Balinor and the Devourer, and the mother of the Fury (see page 33). She is most often pictured as a female half-elf. Arawai is considered the deity of fertility, plant life, and abundance. She is especially worshiped by druids, rangers, farmers, sailors, people who wish to have children, and anyone who is concerned with weather or fertility.

Domains: Good, Life, Plant, Weather.  

 Favored Weapon: Morningstar.

God of Law and Knowledge Lawful Neutral                                                                           Aureon is the brother of Onatar, the husband of Boldrei, and somehow related to the Shadow. He is usually described as a gnome or human wizard. Aureon is the patron of wizards, sorcerers, and other arcane casters, and is worshiped by scholars, sages, librarians, and scribes.

Domains: Force*, Knowledge, Law, Magic, Mind*, Oracle*.                                     

Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff.

Balinor is the brother of Arawai and the Devourer. He is portrayed as either a burly human or a crude yet good-natured half-orc. Hunters, druids, barbarians, and rangers worship Balinor, and he is associated with hunting and anything having to do with animal life.

Domains: Air, Animal, Celerity*, Earth.  

Favored Weapon: Battleaxe.

God of Community and Hearth Lawful Good                                                                  Boldrei is the wife of Aureon, and is usually depicted as a commoner of any race. Boldrei is considered the protector of villages and homes, and prayers to her are carved into the cornerstones or rafters during the construction of any new buildings. Her name is invoked to bless marriages and newly appointed government officials.

Domains: Community, Good, Law, Protection.                                               

Favored Weapon: Spear.

God of Honor and Sacrifice Lawful Good                                                                              Dol Arrah is the sister of Dol Dorn and the Mockery. She is most often pictured as a human or half-elf knight shining with holy radiance. Dol Arrah is the deity of honorable combat, self-sacrifice, and sunlight. She is considered to be the patron deity of paladins, generals, and diplomats.

Domains: Glory*, Good, Law, Sun, War.                                                   

Favored Weapon: Halberd.

God of Strength at Arms Chaotic Good                                                                                 Dol Dorn is the brother of Dol Arrah and the Mockery, and is most often depicted as a heavily muscled human. He promotes bodily strength and martial training, and is considered to be the paragon of physical perfection. He is worshiped by soldiers, monks, athletes, and anyone whose life is devoted to building physical strength and resilience.

Domains: Chaos, Competition*, Good,Liberation*, Strength, War.                  

Favored Weapon: Longsword.

God of Trade and Wealth Neutral                                                                                           Kol Korran is the son of Olladra and Onatar, and the twin brother of the Keeper. He is described as a fat, cheerful human or dwarf in fine clothes. Kol Korran oversees all financial transactions, businesses, and places where great wealth is stored. His most devoted worshipers are merchants, moneylenders, landowners, thieves, and members of wealthy families.

Domains: Charm, Commerce, Pact*, Travel.                                              

Favored Weapon: Mace.

God of Feast and Good Fortune Neutral Good                                                                    Olladra is the wife of Onatar, and the mother of Kol Korran and the Keeper. She is pictured as a young halfling or an elderly human. Olladra is said to bestow luck and good health on those she favors. She is the patron deity of rogues, bards, entertainers, and gamblers, and is also venerated by innkeepers and hosts of large gatherings.

Domains: Feast, Good, Healing, Luck.                                                         

Favored Weapon: Sickle.

God of Artifice and the Forge Neutral Good                                                                   Onatar is the husband of Olladra and the father of Kol Korran and the Keeper. He is usually depicted as a dwarf smith. Not surprisingly, Onatar is revered by artisans, artificers, smiths, smelters, and anyone who makes things— especially dwarves and gnomes.

Domains: Artifice, Creation*, Fire, Good.                                                     

Favored Weapon: Warhammer.

The religion of the Sovereign Host is the dominant faith of Khorvaire for one very good reason: It conquered almost all competing religions by embracing them. The theologians of the Sovereign Host do not restrict their conceptualizations of the deities to a single image, but accept that Dol Dorn (for example) has revealed himself to different people in different times and places in very different ways. Rather than sending missionaries to convince the orcs of the Shadow Marches that Dol Dorn is superior to their war god, the church of the Sovereign Host simply accepts that both deities are the same god, and allows the orcs to call Dol Dorn whatever they wish. As a result, while orcs still appeal to their ancient god Garu-Umesh the One-Eyed in a few places in the Shadow Marches, among most orcs that ancient name has fallen into disuse—along with the primitive rite of putting out one eye of any orc who sought to become a priest. Ancient inscriptions suggest that Khorvaire once had a diverse religious landscape. The Ghaal'dar goblinoids who succeeded ancient Dhakaan had their own pantheon of sixteen deities, all but one of whom is now easily identified with a deity of the Sovereign Host or the Dark Six. At the same time, the ore nations of the west revered their own deities, the dwarves of the north held to their own traditions, and the primitive halflings of the Talenta Plains worshiped the nature spirits of earth and sky.

The first humans to come to Khorvaire brought their own pantheon of nine gods—the clear precursor to the Sovereign Host. As humans spread across Khorvaire, they identified their own deities with the more beneficent of the existing goblinoid deities. They also incorporated the malevolent deities into their myths, casting them as relatives of the Sovereign Host but renegades against their divine families—the Dark Six. This policy of faith-based inclusion seems to have had a limit, however, for one goblinoid deity found no place among either the Sovereign Host or the Dark Six. The name of this deity is lost—the humans apparently waged a relentless campaign to strike its name and visage from any written record they could find. A number of ruins dating from the period between the fall of the Dhakaani Empire and the triumph of humanity depict sixteen gods in orderly arrangement, but the face of one is always chiseled away. There have always been some who question this theology of inclusion and appropriation, holding as objective truth the fact that Dol Dorn and Garu-Umesh are two distinct entities. They believe that the old gods supplanted by or incorporated into the Sovereign Host have died or gone dormant with the ascendance of the Host. The inclusiveness of the Sovereign Host has made it Khorvaire's most successful religion, but it has never been the only religion. As much as the followers of the Host would like to believe that the Silver Flame is just an emanation of Dol Arrah, devotees of the Silver Flame don't care to hear it. Perhaps after several more centuries, the Silver Flame, too, will be assimilated—along with the Path of Light and even the Undying Court.