Faiths of Sublanarya: Gods of Felterra (Bung, Durel, Far Ray Nuff) Bonus: Lyssa the Rabid

 BUNG THE SMILING GOBLIN

"All monsters are not monstrous: If they have a mind, they can be taught. If they have a heart, it can be softened. If they have soul, they can be saved."

Bung was a goblin born in the Great Spine of Felterra. He was born on the path of the monster-- to fight to kill to survive.

Goblins short and violent lives and die meaningless deaths. The highest purpose of a goblin is to die for the leader or to become the leader. They do whatever it takes, without any philosophy or morality, to just make it out every encounter. They're reviled by society and they revile society. They are treated like monsters and they become monsters. And, if not for fate, Bung would have become a monster too. Eventually, he would've been killed by a rival goblin, a hungry creature or a bored adventurer. Goblins don't live long lives or die of natural causes.And Bung would've died too. He was attacked by a random adventurer and left to die. That's when he was saved a wandering monk and nursed back to health in their monastery.

The monks accepted Bung, they treated him like a brother, they shared their wisdom and, as his body grew stronger, so did his heart and mind. Eventually, Bung decided to stay and learn as much as he could from the monks. Eventually, word got around of the monster sage and goblins from all over the mountains, those desperate to learn or have their problems solved, sought Bung out. He made his home on the top of the mountain and, after much meditation and contemplation, he attained enlightenment and became a living idol.

He taught the monsters, not just goblins but orcs, ogres and all monstrous humanoids that were willing to seek out peace, that they need not submit to their baser nature. He taught that through compassion, through education, through charitable acts, through hard work and through suffering, even a monster can become a person and all people deserve to be saved. Adherents of Bung are found throughout Felterra, using his simple lessons to inspire themselves and their actions, as they seek to abandon the greedy and violent lives of their ancestors. For this reason, goblinoids can be found in Felterra's greatest city, practicing their discipline, and hoping to prove themselves worthy of respect and trust from other peoples.

BUNG

Title(s)  

The Pacifist, The Role Model, The Green Guru, The Smiling Goblin, The All-Friend

Pantheon(s)

Naryan

Power Level

Lesser Deity

Alignment

Neutral Good

Symbol

A smiling face

Realm

Elysium

Portfolio

Peace, redemption, balance, tame monsters, charity

Domains

Life, Protection

Worshipers

Goblinoids, pacifists, monstrous peoples, outcasts, vegans

Favored Weapon

Unarmed Strike

Holy Day(s)

Bung Festival

DUREL THE COLLECTOR

A library made of amber crystal has been seen by scholars rising out of the deepest depths of the ocean and sinking into the dunes of the desert in Felterra. The library is said to hold more scrolls, more tomes, more valuable artifacts, more priceless treasures, more powerful magicks, more collected specimens and more mysteries than all other collections of the mortal plane combined. It even has books that contain entire demiplanes.

It's master is said to be a great amber dragon who guards the treasure trove jealously. He is Durel, the immortal, ingenious and implacable collector, and he will greet those that find their way into The Library provided they impress him with their knowledge, provide him with a gift to add to his collection and, most importantly, earn his trust. He is willing to borrow out items, sometimes even using his power to create temporary copies of items, to aid would-be colleagues in exchange for increasing his collection.

But thieves? Well, there is always room for more specimens in the Zoological Wing.

DUREL

Title(s)  

The Amber Dragon, The Librarian, The Knowledge Hoarder, The Draconic Academic, The Book Wyrm

Pantheon(s)

Naryan

Power Level

Greater Deity

Alignment

Neutral

Symbol

An hourglass in the claw of a dragon

Realm

The Library

Portfolio

Knowledge, treasure, collections, history, preservation

Domains

Knowledge, Arcana

Worshipers

Dragons, magic users, scholars, writers, collectors

Favored Weapon

Staves

Holy Day(s)

Bung Festival

FAR RAY NUFF THE COSMIC JOKE

Sometimes what doesn't kill you doesn't make you stronger. It makes you...stranger.

In the case of the deva Fah Ray Nuff, his final mortal incarnation was driven to mad impulse by the intense visions of the future. His visions were not merely a gift from the gods but a temporal side-effect of his future meddling in time and space. Fah Ray Nuff was an adventurer.

He tried to help his friends. Even when they didn't want his help. Even when his madness caused him to do terrible things. Through a series of misadventures initiated by the Dice of Many Things, he and his friends nearly destroyed the great city of Beniro and threatened the very fabric of reality itself. But via self-sacrifice in the final battle against the transdimensional entity the Murder of Crows, Far Ray Nuff fulfilled his destiny and achieved a higher state of being.

His purpose is still a mystery. For now, he is a curious god that uses his powers for his own amusement.

FAH RAY NUFF

Title(s)  

The Cosmic Joke, The Chaos Mage, The Mad Prophet, The Purple One, The Pancake God

Pantheon(s)

Naryan

Power Level

Lesser Deity

Alignment

Chaotic Neutral

Symbol

A stack of pancakes

Realm

Terra Nada

Portfolio

Madness, whimsy, randomness, glee, stupidity

Domains

Arcana, Trickery

Worshipers

Magic users, fools, beggars, anarchists, rabbits

Favored Weapon

Staves

Holy Day(s)

-

LYSSA THE RABID

When the Primordial Ouranos was struck down by his own son, Kronos, his blood rained down from heaven. Born from this brutal betrayal was Lyssa, the embodiment of madness and rage, she is the progenitor of mental illness among the mortals of Narya, especially the sort that cause violence like rabies. It is Lyssa that is called upon by the gods who seek to punish mortals for their wrath by causing them to misdirect their rage.

LYSSA

Title(s)  

The Rabid Goddess, Furor, The Redblood, The Twisted Knot, The Biter

Pantheon(s)

Naryan

Power Level

Lesser Deity

Alignment

Chaotic Evil

Symbol

A twisted knot of snakes

Realm

Limbo

Portfolio

Madness, suffering, violence, confusion, disease

Domains

Death

Worshipers

Mentally ill, caretakers, ill wishers, dogcatchers

Favored Weapon

Spiked chains

Holy Day(s)

-

Faiths of Sublanarya: Aequitas the Invisible Hand

Aequitas is the daughter of the prince and the stolen bride responsible for the War of the Golden Apple. The apple that Erys had created was imbued with divine powers that could tempt jealous gods to compete for the attention of a mere mortal and so, when consumed by the pregnant bride, she gave birth to a girl who was as radiant as gold. Her beauty rivaled that of any god or goddess and so it was that the gods take turns wooing the unimpressed goddess, Aequitas.

The result of a war that devastated the mortal realm, as the gods wooed Aequitas they gave her so many treasures that she became the very goddess of wealth itself, and her personal collection is a testament to her wealth. It is said that she lived in a heavenly realm with seas of gold. Despite the strife that greed causes, Aequitas is a goddess that promotes peace. While merchants compete with each other, those who pray to Aequitas believe the market is best when merchants follow rules of conduct and ethics, when contracts are upheld, and when the trade is fair. 

So valued is the goddess's peaceful presence that many banks have statues in her honor, often depicted holding a balanced scale with coins on one side and a heart on the other, and they also print currency with her visage.

There is also a famous story in which Aequitas taught a wealthy king a very important lesson about greed and priorities.

King Midas of Izbarda was the wealthiest king in all of the mythical sea of Geleda. And yet, no amount of wealth seemed enough for the god and his greed pushed him to overtax the people, force his armies to fight profitable wars, and to turn the markets in the favor of the crown. Greed had turned the kind-heart of a king into that of a tyrant.

One day, a satyr with golden horns, hooves and fleece was found in the garden of Midas. The satyr had become drunk and passed out from his festivities. The guards of the king went deal with the intruder but, upon recognizing the satyr as a servant of the trade goddess, the king commanded them to take care of the satyr. The satyr was given a place to sleep and given good food & drink upon waking the following morning. Aequitas came to collect her companion and, when she did, she asked Midas to name his reward.

Midas had seen the satyr turn the roses he had slept upon into gold and asked for that power. Aequitas warned him that the power should only be used lightly before giving him the golden touch.

The king ignored her warning.

King Midas turned his entire palace estate to gold: every brick and tile, every door and mirror, every piece of furniture and decor, every tree and bush, every bit of every into glorious and vibrant gold, all the while he grinned like a maniac with insatiable avarice in his heart. It seemed his greed was boundless as he turned everything to gold. He forgot and ignored the goddess's warning.

As the king sat before his dinner feast, all carried out golden dishes and accompanied by golden goblets and pitches of wine on a golden table cloth covering a table of gold, he rested and basked in the radiance of his work. His daughter, upset that her roses had lost their scent and became hard to the touch, came to he father to plead with him to obey the goddess's warning and use his gift more carefully. As he reached out to comfort her, he accidentally embraced her with the golden touch and, to his horror, she turned to gold.

He cursed the gods and begged for help from his servants. To his anguish, he no longer could control his golden touch. When the servants saw that their king had turned his own daughter into gold, they abandoned him. He was left in his palace, surrounded by his wealth, and soon he began to starve for, though the kitchens were plentifully stuffed, every piece of food he pressed to his lips became gold too. He had chose to disobey the goddess's warning.

And so the king would've died, wasting away in a tomb of gold surrounded by useless trinkets and treasures, and haunted by the visage of his own daughter. His heart was heavy and he wished to take his own life. And, as he suffered for his greed, he may have gone mad with anguish but his wails and curses and begging rants aimed at Aequitas were answered.

The goddess returned and asked the king what he wanted now. The king begged to have the goddess's gift taken back. She explained that taking away the golden touch was easy enough but it would not undo his handiwork. He begged that he would trade away his riches, his crown and even his life to just see his daughter returned to her living form. This seemed to please Aequitas.

She told the king to take everything from the palace, every piece of gold, every golden statue, every golden bench and brazier, and every golden brick and tile, down to the sea and toss them into it at once. The king obeyed. Midas threw all of his riches into the sea, every coin and every treasure, until the place his palace had stood was but dirt and rock. Lastly, he was told to take his daughter to the sea and to set her in the shallows. The king had grown weary but he dragged his daughter's golden form to the sea and collapsed just short of the tide. He feared he had not been strong enough, that his greed had done him in, and that he would die having failed his daughter. But the gods took pity upon him and fair Delphina washed a wave over him and his golden daughter.

His daughter pulled her father's head up into her bosom, crying and laughing, and the king realized that no treasure in the world was worth the simple pleasures of life.