Bandits don't make good Heroes

by tetrapod

A down-on-his-luck bandit finds himself wandering the northern province of Skyrim, searching for opportunity in this harsh land wracked by civil war - but little does he know that his life is about to take a turn far beyond his wildest nightmares. In which a singularly unheroic man is forced to don the mantle of Dragonborn, and everything that entails.

16. Lore Corner 1

tetrapod's Lore Corner (1)

AN: This chapter is something I threw together for fun and has no bearing on the main narrative. Consider it an optional interlude.

This is heavily based on 'The Nords' Totemic Religion,' which is itself based on early TESV design notes. The original text can be found on The Imperial Library, UESP, Reddit, and elsewhere. As always, thanks for reading.

- tetrapod

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A Compendium of Traditional Nord Deities and their Relations to Those of the Imperial Cult

And Associated Writings

as compiled by Vellir of Yorgrim, 4E 194

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The religious beliefs and traditions of the Nordic nation have been intrinsically intertwined with those of the South-Men of Cyrodiil ever since the days of Saint Alessia herself, three thousand years ago in a time of legend and myth. Imperial Cyrodiilic religion has made significant inroads into the province of Skyrim over this incredibly vast span of years, with the only notable reversals being periods of deliberate persecution such as that which took place during the reign of Ysmir Wulfharth – and vindicated before gods and men was he for doing so.

If we are to delve into this weighty topic, then we would do ourselves rightly by starting at the very beginning.

The Imperial Cult has its origins in the foundation of the Alessian Empire, the First Empire of Man raised upon the ashes of the Cyrodiilic Ayleids, who were destroyed or driven into ignoble exile. At that time the Nords were young and newly-come from Atmora, and their gods differed greatly from those of the Elves – and so dreadful was the subjugation of the Nedes under their cruel overlords that they had long since adopted the Elven gods as their own. Saint Alessia saw this as truth, and knew also that her people needed the Nords as allies against the savage Elves, for even in those days they were wise and mighty in their force of arms.

So it was that Saint Alessia crafted a synthesis of the Nordic and Elven pantheons to better mollify her people as well as her allies. Thus was conceived the Imperial Cult, an agglomeration of Mannish and Merish characteristics that birthed a hybrid pantheon, neither Nord nor Elven, but both. These are the Eight Divines that we know today.

In Skyrim they are called the Foreigner Gods by some. But more on that later.

The Imperial Cult swiftly grew in influence and soon held sway over much of Tamriel in the First Era. The monotheistic doctrines of the Alessian Order contended against it for a time, but after the War of Righteousness the teachings of their prophet Marukh declined dramatically and were supplanted. And so the Eight Divines gained believers all across the continent, from the Blackwood to Shornhelm and from the Valus Mountains to Woodhearth.

And in those days – and even today – the South-Men of Cyrodiil considered the Nords to be their fellow believers, the adherents of a fundamentally identical religious tradition with different names for their gods and little more variation than that. The Nords do not consider this perspective to be incorrect, but nor is it wholly correct either. For the Divines of the Cyrods, Bretons, and other foreign Men are the gods of Old Atmora at their core, but the Elvish qualities with which they've been tainted are unmistakable. The Cyrods believe nearly all gods to be akin to their own and thus equally acceptable to worship in Tamrielic society – it isn't for naught that the Imperial City is called the 'City of a Thousand Cults' – but the Nords are of a different mind. Nord gods are for the Nords, and for all Men. Other gods are little more than devils and demons, held with wary disregard at best and outright fear at worst. And yet among their own gods there are some which the Nords fear likewise. But more on that later.

This state of affairs continued throughout the Interregnum and the Second Era, but it was in the dawn-days of the Third Era that the winds of change blew upon Tamriel. Tiber Septim, whom the sons of Old Atmora call Talos Stormcrown, was sanctified by the blessed breath of Shor and Kyne and charged with the holy task of raising up the scattered nations of Men into the Third Empire of Tamriel. He conquered every land that his gaze fell upon at the head of his Red Legions and none could withstand the might of his Storm-Voice. And so it was that a true son of Kyne and Old Atmora ascended to the White-Gold and rose to godhood, taking his rightful place among the Divines and rendering them Nine, and thus greater than ever before.

But make no mistake that it was the Nords even in those days who worshiped Talos Stormcrown with the greatest reverence. He is the Hero-God of Mankind, the Dragonborn Conquering Son who defeated the Snake of Death and overcame the world. He is the greatest of the Nord gods both old and new, the glorious herald of the next turning of the cycle.

Yet so it was that the South-Men of Cyrodiil adopted the holy name of Tiber Septim as their own and sat his successors upon the Ruby Throne – but they were not his blood-descendants in truth, rather being those of his brother through whose veins the ichor of the gods did not flow. For these reasons, it should come as no surprise that the Imperial Cult gained considerable traction in Skyrim over the course of the Third Era.

The Nine Divines captured the hearts of many sons and daughters of Old Atmora, turning them to the ways of the South-Men of Cyrodiil and engendering them to adopt their customs. Some of the lesser cities of Skyrim were overtaken by Cyrodiilic influences, those of Falkreath and Whiterun, and also Solitude and Snowhawk. And so too was Markarth also, which hosted the Imperial College of the Voice – a nest of blasphemous vipers who could hiss but not Shout, by all accounts – and yet it was more cosmopolitan than the rest, called home by all manner of barbarous Men, Beastfolk, and even Mer.

It was the Old Holds, those more isolated by mountain and snowy waste from the rest, where the sons and daughters of Old Atmora held true to the ways of their ancestors. For Falkreath had long been held as a Cyro-Nordic prefecture of Colovia, and Whiterun became known as the Imperial City of Skyrim, and Solitude and Snowhawk were adopted as strongholds of the Cyrodiilic Septims, who though not true sons of Atmora nonetheless carried the blessings of Talos within them, and so restrained the Lords of Oblivion from visiting their cruelties upon the races of Man and Mer and Beast.

But it was in the Old Holds of Skyrim – the Old Kingdom – where the gods of the Nords retained the full breadth of their influence. Windhelm and Winterhold were among the greatest cities of the north, the City of Kings and the Hearth-Home of Ysgramor ere his building of Saarthal long ago, and even today still stand proudly among the most populous – though Solitude and Markarth have since surpassed them. And though Windhelm was held by the Imperial Legion as a garrison, and though Winterhold became home to many Dunmer in the Third Era, still they retained their illustrious heritage and grew into unfaltering bastions of the old Nord faith. And worthy of mention also are Riften and Dawnstar, each illustrious in their own right and yet with a lesser history than the others.

However, a Hold is not comprised only the largest city which rests within its territory, but also of those resilient folk who inhabit its far-flung mountains, plains, valleys, and marshlands. Though the cities of Skyrim changed much in the Third Era, the land itself did not, and nor did the Nords who populated it. For even as the western cities became more alike to those of Cyrodiil and High Rock, the sons and daughters of Old Atmora who dwelt among the wilderness and herded the cattle and tended the fields were not themselves so easily swayed. And before much time had passed, their similarities with the Nords of the Old Holds had become greater than those who were their own neighbors but chose to adopt the Imperial Cult.

As with any, this state of affairs was not to last forever. For the Empire of Men has declined precipitously in the decades and centuries following the Oblivion Crisis, where the hosts of the dread lord Dagon descended upon Tamriel by the hundreds of thousands. Every province and every city trembled before the might of Oblivion, but we were not abandoned to suffer this unenviable fate alone.

In his boundless mercy and love for mankind, Talos Stormcrown assumed his true form as the Dragon-King and vanquished Dagon in fiery battle, manifesting through his servant Saint Martin Septim in whom the blood and spirit of Old Atmora flowed true. And thus was the Oblivion Crisis brought to a close with fire and glory.

Two centuries have elapsed since that dark time, and many things have passed away. Snowhawk is much reduced from its former glory, and so to is Whiterun, and so to is Winterhold – though that hoary city which was once the capital of all Skyrim still stands strong today through many trials and tribulations.

And the ways of Men have changed in these days of darkness, and not quite so many hold to the ways of the South-Men of Cyrodiil anymore. For even as the Empire has pursued ill-conceived war against the Men of Skyrim, there are still many in both east and west who hearken back to the gods of old, to Shor and Kyne and their kindred.

And so it is in the present day that Skyrim is a land of many gods, not only of Nord and Imperial, for even the Dunmer and Reachmen and Orcs keep their own council where such things are concerned. Across far-flung Holds and in many cities, the temples of gods both old and new may be found standing alongside one another, not always without contention, but it cannot be said that the sons and daughters of Old Atmora are lacking in mercy. And yet it is an undeniable truth that Nord gods alone are right for the Nords, and though foreign gods are accepted in the Old Kingdom, and though many Nords adhere to their ways, it will always be the warriors and councilors of Shor and their wives and their daughters that hold fast within the hearts of Ysgramor's children. It is they who are reflective of the deeper revelations of the world.

Unlike the practitioners of the Imperial Cult, the Nords once followed a totemic tradition in the years when they first sailed from Old Atmora, and each god carried with them a sacred animal to symbolize their nature. Although this practice is not observed with such reverence as it once was, it still bears significance in the present as an intrinsic reminder that the gods are who they are, and cannot be changed by Elves or Men – for do the wild creatures of Kyne's creation alter their ways for the whims of mortals?

So too is this an irrefutable truth – that the gods are cyclical in the same fashion as the world. The world is a cycle, with an end and with a beginning and with a middle, turning ever upon itself unto the next. There are some gods who came before the cycle, there are some who now rule over it as worthy chieftains and chiefesses, there are some who dare to threaten their designs, and there are some who will come after. This is the way of the gods, as laid down by the sons of Ysgramor in ancient days long before the Divines of the Imperial Cult were first conceived by mortal minds.

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The Dead Gods warred against the enemies of Man and were slain during the previous cycle to bring about the present. They have no temples built by mortal hands and nor do they need them, for they dwell in the halls of Sovngarde, the greatest temple of all, and there preside over the ranks of the valiant dead.

Shor, the Fox – God of the Underworld. He was the patron of Men at the beginning of the world. The Elven gods conspired against him and tore out his heart, condemning him to the eternal afterlife of Sovngarde – and so it is that the chieftain of the gods became the god of the slain. For he is the warrior-king who led the Nords of old in glorious battle against their Elven oppressors before his doom was at hand. He is also a wily trickster who opposed the Elven gods with cunning and wit, though ultimately his nature is that of benevolence. As a Dead God, he has no ordained priesthood and isn't worshiped in any formal capacity, but nonetheless is still highly venerated by the Nords. Though priesthoods of Shor did exist historically, they were assimilated into those of Talos during the Third Era, for Ysmir Talos took on the mantle of Shor.

Important oaths are often sworn in Shor's name, as to dishonor him would be to dishonor his sacrifice for the sake of all Mankind. Nord heroes and Clever Men – that is, mages – are sometimes able to solicit blessings of Shor that allow them to visit Sovngarde while they yet draw breath, usually in the form of dreams and visions. They bear a symbol upon their brow that displays their accomplishment to all with eyes to see, and they are considered to be titular priests or priestesses of Shor from then on – and this symbol is a stylized fox head that rests lightly upon their skin, which when exposed to the rays of the sun or the brightness of the stars will shimmer with the ghostly hues of Aetherius. This is an exceedingly ancient art however, and much clever-knowledge has been lost even in the last two hundred years. At the time of this writing, I know only of a single man yet living who has received this gods-given blessing, and his name is Skardan Free-Winter of Windhelm.

Tsun, the Bear – God of Toil, Feats of Strength, and Trials against Adversity. He is a shield-thane of Shor, mighty and grim, but was slain defending him from the Elven gods. He is not actively worshiped. He's dead and requires no such veneration. However, he is still held in high regard in the same manner as Shor. He guards the Whalebone Bridge that leads to Sovngarde and tests the prowess of all souls who seek entry. He is also the patron of berserkers and those who love battle for its own sake.

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The Hearth Gods keep watch over the present cycle and are the most venerated deities in Nordic religion, save for one. The temples of the Hearth Gods aren't like those of the Imperial Cult. As Hearth Gods, their temples are always home to someone rather than empty 'hearthless' mausoleums. In temples of Kyne, Mara, and Dibella, the highest-ranking female of the home acts as the high priestess.

Kyne, the Hawk – The head of the Nordic pantheon, a position she inherited from Shor her husband. She is Goddess of the Storm, the Blessed Warrior-Wife and widow of Shor, and she sheds eternal tears for her husband unjustly slain. She is the favored deity of warriors and the Mother of Men who breathed life upon the Throat of the World at the dawn of creation. She is often called 'the Kiss at the End,' for she guides the souls of the honorable dead to Sovngarde. She first taught the Nords to use the Thu'um, her Storm Voice, though some legends say that it was instead Kyne's daughters who acted as her surrogates. The Forest of Dreams, a somewhat ambiguous alternative afterlife to Sovngarde or perhaps merely a subsection, is considered to be her Aetheric domain. Sanctuaries to Kyne are sometimes built on mountain peaks and other high places that allow her followers to listen for her Voice. The greatest of these is High Hrothgar upon the Throat of the World, the highest peak in all of Tamriel. Her priestesses are skilled in the healing arts.

Mara, the Wolf – Goddess of Family, Fertility, and Agriculture. She is a handmaiden of Kyne. In the Imperial Cult, Mara is the benevolent and loving Mother of the Empire, but to the Nords her sphere is more naturalistic. She is the Wolf, both loving and brutal, wisely cautious and impulsively fierce. She isn't a mother for her family as the Imperials believe, but rather a matriarch for her clan, making use of ancient wisdom and mysteries as the sacred guardian of the home. Like the Wolf, she is both ferocious and subtle as she protects her progeny of descendants – that is, the Nordic nation. She carries the magical wisdom of past generations, and for that reason the Nords sometimes call her the Witchmother. In that vein, temples of Mara are the halls of old and important witches. They act as diplomats, mediators in domestic disputes, and assist the general populace in a variety of other mundane and arcane ways. Some but not all are healers like the priestesses of Kyne.

Dibella, the Moth – Goddess of Beauty, Art, and Music. The second handmaiden of Kyne. She has a dozen different cults that vary greatly from one another, some of which are devoted to women, some to artists, bards, and other aesthetics, and a rare few even to less societally acceptable things such as erotic instruction. Silver is considered sacred to Dibella and she's sometimes called 'the Silver Moth.' Houses of Dibella are presided over by priestesses chosen from among the wives of important men. This differs from the Imperial tradition of selecting Sibyls from among teenage girls through divine revelation.

Stuhn, the Whale – God of Ransom, Fraternity, and Justice. He is the brother of Tsun and a shield-thane of Shor. Stuhn is an avowed warrior deity who fought against the Elven gods at the beginning of time, though unlike his chieftain and his brother he survived into the present. He first showed Men the benefits of taking prisoners of war. Priests of Stuhn are warrior-monks and arbiters of the law, and their temples double as courthouses in Nord society. Slavery was also once the domain of Stuhn, but the practice declined precipitously during the days of the Second Empire and has since fallen out of favor.

Jhunal, the Owl – The Rune God. His sphere is knowledge, wisdom, and hermetic orders. He is the foremost of Clever Men and the creator of language and mathematics. Jhunal is venerated by those who value scholarship, history, and invention, but is also revered by warriors who wish for a strong mind and the knowledge to carry them through battle. The Priesthood of Jhunal isn't large or particularly popular among the common folk, but is nonetheless the epicenter of magecraft for followers of the Nord gods. Sanctuaries of Jhunal are comparable to the Schools of Julianos of the Iliac Bay, though they're also more akin to hermetic orders.

In both historical and contemporary Nord culture, the magical arts are simultaneously deserving of reverence and a source of fear. The divine right to practice magic, as laid down in the Green Tablet Steps of the Rune God, is restricted to those considered to be true wizards in Nord society. Wizards – or Clever Men, as they are sometimes still known – are defined as those who have accomplished one of two things: They must either be ordained members of the Temple of Jhunal duly vested with all the rights and responsibilities their position entails, or they must have gained entry into the College of Winterhold – that esteemed and ancient institution founded in ages long past by Shalidor, one of the greatest Clever Men to ever walk Tamriel. This is in stark contrast to the Imperial perspective that any individual learned in the magical arts is perfectly within their rights to use said magic wherever and however they please, so long as their actions do not violate Imperial Law. The Mages Guild was once recognized by some Nords as an acceptable alternative, fraught with Elvish and Imperial influences though it may have been, but it was dissolved in the aftermath of the Oblivion Crisis and no longer exists in the modern day. Priests of Jhunal sometimes travel across the land to teach reading and writing to all they encounter, a practice they believe brings honor to their god.

Sai, the Lucky – The God of Luck. He is the personification of the Nord nation's good fortune. Though Sai isn't worshiped in practice, he is held in high regard by all who wish to garner his favor. A Nord might say 'Sai bless you' or 'Sai go with you' as a means of wishing good luck to another. He is heavily associated with wolves much like Mara the Witchmother, and Nords sometimes believe wolves to be harbingers of good or bad fortune as a result. It's for this reason that Nords are so staunchly opposed to killing wolves without need, for they are the chosen avatars of not one god but two, and the god of fortune at that.

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The Testing Gods threaten the Hearth, and so they must be closely watched. They are not worshiped or held in benevolent reverence, but rather are placated at need. Among their number, only Orkey is given the honor of temples and a priesthood by the Nords, as he is the god of mortal death. Where the Princes of Oblivion are concerned, few in number are the Nords who would dare traffic with their kind.

Orkey, the Snake – God of Mortality and Death. The Nords believe that they once lived as long as the Elves, but this ended when Orkey first appeared. Through heathen trickery he fooled them into a bargain that bound them to the count of winters – and if the legends are to be believed, they at one time had a lifespan of only six years due to his foul magic. It was Shor who came to the Nords' aid and removed the curse, casting most of it instead onto the nearby Orcs whose lifespans were summarily reduced. The priesthood of Orkey maintains the Halls of the Dead and diligently ensures that the deceased are properly consecrated, cared for, and entombed. They know that they serve a fickle god.

Herma-Mora, the Woodland Man – The Daedric Prince of Forbidden Knowledge, also called the Demon of Knowledge and the Gardener of Men. He tempts men astray with dangerous wisdom and the means to fulfill their hidden desires, and though his wisdom is true enough, it is of a nature that inevitably inspires regret. 'Do not believe everything you hear out in the forest. The Woodland Man may lead you awry.'

Mauloch, the Spurned – The God of the Orcs, monsters, and oathbreakers. He tests the strength of the Nords by sending his servants, the Orcs and other lesser creatures, to wage war against them. He is heavily associated with Orkey, and some traditions even conflate the two.

Hircine, the Huntsman – The Daedric Prince of the Eternal Hunt. Those who accept his offers of lycanthropic power are barred entry to Sovngarde upon their deaths, for one cannot live as both man and beast. His supposed blessings are merely veiled curses, and he seeks to deceive and ensnare those who are weak-willed with promised gifts of strength they did not rightly earn.

Dagon, the Destroyer – The Daedric Prince of destruction, natural disasters, and voracious ambition. A reoccurring villain in Nord legend, he was once known as the Leaper Demon King before being brought low by the World-Eater at the beginning of the world – or perhaps the ending of the last. He perpetually seeks to destroy the Nord nation in ways both large and small but has been thwarted every time so far. His most recent attempt was the Oblivion Crisis, when his Black Armies invaded all of Tamriel – but he was hindered once more by the benevolent intervention of Ysmir Talos the Dragon-King, who donned his true form in the mortal plane to defeat Dagon and drag him back into Oblivion.

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The Twilight Gods will usher in the next cycle of the world. They are highly revered by the Nords – both positively and negatively – as they are the incarnation of the cyclical nature of existence, the harbingers of the Last War at the end of days. And it is in this Last War that the Nords will march alongside the Dragon-King into the maw of fiery death itself, and thus earn for themselves the honor and glory of entry into Shor's hall in Sovngarde where they will dwell evermore in eternal bless.

Alduin, the Firstborn of the Dragon – Alduin World-Eater is the eldest spawn of the primeval Dragon-God, and his duty is to consume the world at the time of its appointed end. The World-Eater is varyingly characterized as either a ravaging firestorm that annihilated the previous cycle or as an enormous wyrm that physically consumed it. In either case, he extinguished the old world to enable the creation of the new, just as he will destroy the current one at the end of time. In somewhat paradoxical fashion, Nords therefore see him as both the harbinger of the apocalypse and a creationist deity. Is it wrong to burn away a forest to make way for new growth? Alduin is venerated on the winter solstice, when offerings are made to keep him at bay for one more year. As the Dragon that gnaws on the bones of the world, he is traditionally a god to be placated and feared. The World-Eater is also the source of many common superstitious practices that are performed during events of cultural significance – the Nords do everything they can think of to stave off his awakening.

Talos, the Dragonborn God – The Hero-God of Mankind, the Dragon-King. The Nords call him Ysmir, the Dragon of the North. Once a mortal man called Tiber Septim by some, he conquered all of Tamriel and founded the Third Empire of Man coinciding with the advent of the Third Era. Upon his death, he ascended to godhood as Talos Stormcrown and took his rightfully earned place among the gods. The end of each cycle of the world is said to be preceded by the Dragonborn God, a god that did not exist in the previous cycle but whose presence indicates the current cycle is drawing near to its end. Talos is the youngest of the gods but also among the most important. He is the Dragonborn Conquering Son, the first new god of this cycle and the breadth of whose power is consequently unknown. The Nords invoke his blessing for many things in the same manner that they swear many oaths upon Shor. Of all the gods, he will be the one that assuredly survives whole into the next cycle.

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The Foreigner Gods are those that have been imported from other cultures and traditions, and which inevitably retain some taint of the Elves or the heretical Alessian Order. Essentially, foreign gods are for foreigners. Some of these gods are the same or similar in both Nordic and foreign traditions, the most noteworthy of which are the Hearth Gods – although they are far more important to the Nords than in the Imperial Cult. Somewhat contentiously, many Nords believe that it was Talos the Dragonborn, Martin Septim's forefather, who lent his aid to defeat Dagon during the Oblivion Crisis instead of Imperial Akatosh.

Akatosh: The Nords no longer revere the Time Dragon as they once did in ancient days. Tales of the genocidal devastation of the Dragon Wars have been passed down in legend even to the present. The Dragon totem 'Akatusk' was cast aside in favor of the Hawk, which is Kyne, and hasn't been worshiped since. The Nords are perplexed and disturbed by the Imperial Cult's emphasis on the importance of Akatosh and regard this as a fundamental misunderstanding of the cosmos, indeed one that could even cause cataclysmic disaster due to his close association with Alduin the World-Eater. How fortunate is Tamriel that the Nords are so diligent in their efforts to prolong the World-Eater's slumber? And yet all the while, the South-Men are doing their utmost to gain his attention! Any mention of Akatosh in a traditionalist Nord's presence will likely bring a muttered invocation for the World-Eater to stay asleep in response. It's worth mentioning that Akatosh has seen some dissemination into Nordic religion over the centuries, but only among heavily Cyrodized Nords. Alduin is considered to be the firstborn of the Time Dragon and not the same deity as some Cyrods mistakenly believe, having been shed from the skin of the Time Dragon by Heaven itself.

Kynareth: She is a pale imitation of Kyne, watered-down and weakened to fit the mold of Cyrodiilic civilization. They even removed her from her rightful position as chiefess of the gods! They dishonor her sacrifice as the Warrior-Wife who weeps for the slain.

Mara: The Mother of the Empire is a pale imitation of the Witchmother. Loving and bountiful, but also pandering and weak. She lacks all the qualities that would otherwise make her worthy of her traditional iconography as the Wolf.

Dibella: The majority of Nords don't take issue with Imperial Dibella. There are few differences save for the particular features of her various cults.

Stendarr: He is a pale imitation of mighty Stuhn, but not to the same extent as other deities listed here. The two are similar in most ways, especially where justice and mercy are concerned, though Nord mercy looks somewhat different from the Imperial. Why should their enemies be released without cost or punishment rather than paying the weregild or submitting to honorable capture? They lost!

Julianos: He is very similar to Jhunal, though the Imperials often insist he's more 'sophisticated.' He is the Cyrodiilic god of academics but not the Nord god of raw unrefined knowledge. Some Nords take issue with non-Nord mages calling themselves wizards if they aren't priests of Julianos, since true Nord mages and Clever Men must almost always necessarily be priests of Jhunal.

Arkay: The fact that the Cyrods choose to so honor the god of death is very strange to the Nords. The Cyrods consider Arkay to be the benevolent defender of mortality, but among Nords he's a much more ambiguous entity. Orkey is entrusted with the remains of the dead but is also partially responsible for death in the first place. Why in the world should he be thanked for so grievously reducing the mortal span of years?

Zenithar: He is a corrupted imitation of Tsun. Tsun is the personification of strength and overcoming insurmountable obstacles, but the Cyrods turned him into little more than an outlet for their base greed! A god of merchants indeed! Disgraceful!

Shezzar: A pale imitation of Shor to the nth degree. He is the greatest defender of mankind, and yet the Cyrods indulge the Elves by reducing him to a glorified footnote, merely one of a thousand cults! Despicable! At least the Colovians honor him somewhat adequately.

Talos: At one time the Cyrods gave him all the praise and adulation he rightly deserves as the patron god of their Empire. Now they turn their backs against him in favor of the damn Elves! Truly, they are a craven lot.

Magnus: The Nords call him Magnar, the Sun. He fled from the Elven gods in the war before days, tearing the hole of the Sun through the sky in his cowardly rush to escape. He is a craven god unworthy of admiration. Indeed, neither the Imperial Cult nor the Nords hold the sun in particular reverence, as solar worship is a uniquely Elven practice. Among the nations of Men he is honored only in High Rock, a practice passed down from the time of the Direnni Hegemony in the First Era.