Lore Pieces

Lore Pieces Dec 8, 2021 18:34:33 GMT

Post by Quirbles on Dec 8, 2021 18:34:33 GMT

THE PANTHEON OF OCTHOS.

"Eight, there were - born from symmetry, their influence alike in size and scope. As children of order, they set to work."

The Pantheon of Octhos, referred to in academic texts as Octheism, is the pervading and mainstream religion in the region of Parnassus. Though there are many pagan beliefs throughout the more uncivilized and unassimilated communities surrounding the capitol, much of the claimed territory for the Icarvian Empire worships the Eight, or Octhons. These Eight were considered to be chief among the most powerful of children birthed from Order-- and while there are a great deal of powerful beings that were considered to have been born during the Era of Creation, none possessed the same scale of plenipotential as the Octhons and, as a result, did not deserve the right to lay claim to the title of deity or god. According to Octheist rhetoric, beings of immense power that fall under the scope of Octhon description are mere aspects of a greater god, and should not be worshipped as separate entities-- merely a smaller sum of a greater whole upon the Pantheon.

Each of the Eight correspond to a specific metal or mineral, and are associated with an umbrella of concepts that define each god personally and thematically.

AURIS.

"The god of commerce, purity, excess and wealth."

Auris represents the prosperity of civilized society and the eventual Order of all things that is brought through wealth, trade, and standardization of currency; bankers, minters, and superstitious aristocrats routinely burn offerings and pay homage to Auris in exchange for good earnings and financial stability. Banks, controlled by the worshippers of Auris and temples of worship for the god, house multiple censer plates, each pure gold. Each "Gilded Moon", a sermon is hosted in which regular donations and alms are provided by the upper class to redistribute to the poor. Aurisian worshippers don gold-threaded robes and gilded masks; lotteries hosted in reflection of Auris' will grant significant financial windfall to a blessed few. "Auris smile upon you" is commonly said when paying one's dues; likewise, "Auris scorn you" is a common phrase of damnation.

Within the Temple of the Eight, Auris is represented by a statue of gold. He is a fair-skinned human, with blonde hair and eyes with yellow iris, refractive and brilliant. In some depictions, he is said to wield a set of golden scales; in others, an abacus.

FERROS.

"The god of labor, conquest, bravery, and smithy."

For the hardy and courageous, there is Ferros, an embodiment of mortalkind's industrious evolution and the Order that is born from imperialism and expansion. The core of worship to Ferros is the belief in imposition-- the imposition of will upon the world around one's self to manifest structure and stability. Much like a blacksmith is responsible for shaping the chaotic fires of the forge to their will, bending and tempering scalding materials to their need and vision, so too is a commander of Icarvian forces responsible for shaping the world and unyielding societies around them to the forces of Order. To rule with an "iron grip" is to rule with order, benevolence, and fairness, as the authoritarian disregard for law and autonomy is to birth chaos from the very heart of Order-- a blasphemous and heinous deed. Blacksmiths need not burn offerings for Ferros, as the smoke and vapors of their forge is tithe enough; military personnel and bloodsport fighters, by contrast, routinely sacrifice a portion of their winnings and bounty taken from conquest as a means of appeasing the chaos that their war may prematurely seed.

Ferros is not the god of war. He is the god of conquest and victory-- for to Order, warfare is merely a means to an end, a momentary risk of chaos to invoke Order in its stead. The end of war, after all, is chaos-- and victory, should Ferros show favor upon your vision.

Within the Temple of the Eight, Ferros is represented by a statue of iron. He is commonly depicted as a dwarven male, clad in armor and sporting a fully articulated metal arm-- the material of which is said to be made from tempered chaos itself.

CARBUNCULUS.

"The god of wisdom, age, tradition, and memory."

As the patron god of elders, historians, sages, and annalists, Carbunculus embodies the preservation of history and the wisdom that arises from past experience and age. "Verdant Aestheticism" is present throughout much of the architecture and matters that concern Carbunculus, and town sages that worship the Eight often burn offerings to receive good fortune and continued Order in daily affairs; "a green eye" is often said to describe a mortal who possesses abundant wisdom. Deeply-rooted traditions are preserved by the will of this god, and beings that reach a substantial age for their respective race are seen to be blessed by Carbunculus himself. Theologically, he is representative of the Order that is maintained with steady tradition, and the inevitable maturity and Order gained as one ages on the mortal plane.

Within the Temple of the Eight, Carbunculus is represented by a statue of turquoise. He is commonly depicted as an elven male, wizened and aged despite the immortality of his presence. A staff and leather-bound tome with a green-blue accent are commonly attributed as artifacts in depictions. Books of great historical importance are commonly marked with a turquoise spine to reflect this practice, and elders of Carbunculan worship commonly wield staves with embossed turquoise.

LAPRIZULA.

"The goddess of sky, truth, knowledge, and clarity."

Scholars of arcane and material studies who abide by Octheist faith most commonly choose Laprizula as their patron goddess. Those who are forever engrossed in the pursuit of knowledge and truth are said to be the most devout followers of her vision; she is most closely associated with her sister-god, Cuprus. Scholarly symposiums within the capitol gather in prayer to Laprizula to achieve orderly and productive discourse. Pillars of lapis are often placed within the entryways of colleges and scholarly buildings, as to enter a school is to enter the domain of her presence. Knowledge is, after all, to bring Order to the chaotic unknown and preserve the integrity of what is known. Clarity is to be upheld, and just as Laprizula is said to bring clear skies throughout the region of Parnassus, so too does she bring the clarity of mind and information to those who dedicate their lives to studious efforts.

Within the Temple of the Eight, Laprizula is represented by a statue of lapis lazuli. She is commonly depicted as an Aarakocran female, in the specific breed of a falcon-blood. Due to her close relation to the goddess Cuprus, she is attributed as being the light in her sister's lantern said to have burned away the night and create day in the Era of Creation. As for her own artifact, her left eye is said to be carved from the very notion of truth-- one looks outward, and the other inward, into the truest of selves to discern fact from fiction.

CUPRUS.

"The goddess of innovation, alchemy, arcane arts, and revelations."

Order is structure-- and there are few things that bring better structure than the civilized mind. Science was, and always will be, a defining force of Order in mortal life-- whether that be through arcane disciplines, material physics, or a combination of the two. To innovate is to prosper; to create is to pluck an idea from the depths of chaos and give it being. Cuprus, in all her infinite craftiness, is the goddess that most prudently rewards this creativity. What is Order, after all, without the young minds of the future to give it shape and purpose? There is a reason most instruments of the arcane and scientific alike are molded and shaped from copper, then, for tools made in her likeliness are tools that guarantee the success of Order and innovation alike-- for one is the other, and both concern her. To wear copper-framed glasses is to allow yourself to see as she would; it is to offer yourself to her revelations, and to prostrate yourself under her watchful eye. There are no offerings to be burned to Cuprus, for the inquiring mind is but enough to appease her divine curiosity.

Within the Temple of the Eight, Cuprus is represented by a statue of copper. She is commonly depicted as a female gnome. Cuprus is most often pictured alongside her sister-god, Laprizula, who is said to be the brilliant light in Cuprus' copper lantern. With her light, the goddess of innovation is said to light the way through the path of uncertainty, fated to discover that which eludes even the most sharpened of minds. A spyglass compliments her torch, and is strapped upon the hip-- ready at a moment's notice to uncover the secrets of mortal men.

ARGENOS.

"The god of haste, wit, humor, and luck."

Perhaps an unconventional representation of Order, but the domain of Argenos is said to represent a wholly mortal aspect of order-- the craftiness, survivability, and shrewdness of Order's creations. What is luck, if not an execution of a statistical improbability? Fortune is the intersection of opportunity and preparation, after all. It is for this reason that he is often a patron god of magicians, actors, and even thieves or gamblers-- though these few are often seen as heretical interpreters of an orderly vision, and are not recognized as legitimate. To be silver-tongued is to possess an inordinate charm in speech; thieves often line their gloves with silver thread to grant haste in their exploitative acts. Dice are cast in silver casing, and cards are treated with silver plating; to "tarnish" is to lose one's edge, to fade in both charm and wit alike.

Within the Temple of the Eight, Argenos is represented by a statue of silver. He is most commonly depicted as a male halfling. The two artifacts ascribed to his person are most commonly a set of dice, said to fall on whichever pair of numbers benefit the user the most; similarly, a silver-strung lute upon his back is said to play a different melody to each set of ears: a tune that most reminds them of good times, revelry, and joy.

PLUMA.

"The goddess of time, death, strength, and premonition."

Pluma is regarded as the goddess who is most bound to the tenets of Order-- for are death and time not the core of entropic principle, in the end? She is more a force of nature than she is a personified deity-- a shrewd maiden in the night, stalwart in her purpose. Hers is a necessary cycle in the eyes of mortals. To her followers, death is an event of celebration-- of revelry. Of indulgence and revelation.

And while Cuprus certainly hates her secrets, the revelations of Pluma are a different beast entirely. To share in her vision, her followers drink wine fermented within pots of her likeness. They imbibe themselves with her calcified essence and partake in great arcane rituals that many are not privy to observe, though the effects of such ministrations are plain for all to see in the public displays of their oracles. Those who are granted her blessing suffer quaking seizures and ramblings of madness-- though, in the end, they are the lucky few. Far luckier than their peers, who are not given access to knowledge of the future. As they lay sweating and tremored in their beds, they see sights not meant for even the most ascended of mortal souls-- and it is a burden they must bear alone. They are followers of true faith, and they are in communion with her absolute. They have drunk mercy from Pluma's cup, as have all the others in life who have died with languid suffering.

Within the Temple of the Eight, Pluma is represented by a statue of lead. She is most commonly depicted as a human female. Her artifact is but a simple chalice, born and cut from the same material as her statue. To drink from its edge is said to take a soul in every drop; each soul, a vision of the damned. Wade through these ghastly sights to find that which you seek-- though in the end, you will find only Order, in its geometric perfection and structured absolute.

No souls who partake from her cup, wherever it may be, are said to take a second drink.

GYRACUS.

"The god of emotion, guilt, penance, and absolution."

Despite the danger of chaos, its presence in mortalkind has been accepted as an inevitability. Gyracus, then, is an expression of this chaos-- an admittance of it, carved into the depths of Order to express atonement. Followers of Gyracus are the chaotic few that have since given themselves to a path of Order. They are emotional, pained beasts, once-scourge now rehabilitated and wracked with guilt-- but Order is not merciless, and so Gyracus is the shepherd of these lost and wayward souls. To be mercurial, after all, is to be stricken with an imbalance of feeling and soul. Anger runs with liquid chaos, and it stains the lives of those it touches-- and though these tormented few may be haunted by the actions of their past, they will find absolution-- as all mortals will-- in the Order of all things. They are flagellant, yet gentle-- violent, and yet kind. They are martyrs to Order-- those who bear the brunt of chaos to protect the lives of the innocent.

Within the Temple of the Eight, Gyracus is represented by a statue of quicksilver, the shape of his mercurial visage held in glass-- or perhaps the glass is what births the liquid, for he never seems to tire from crying his rage. He is commonly depicted as a Half-Orcish male. His artifact is a tempered knife, forged from the same glass that holds his mercury. Its handle is as sharp as its blade, meant to bite the hand of its user with every strike. Inexplicably, the knife is bound by the same laws as the statue, and bleeds quicksilver from its tip.

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