A Divine Trio

Her silver gaze painted argent upon the sea, 

her eyes alone could pierce that storm-strewn expanse,

light carrying song into the fathomless deep. He

who dwelled there was by love exposed and thus

confounded. Moon and wave, wedded by knowledge that

neither would nor ever could be tamed

by the other, but were equal in stillness and in wrath.

Her hurts he healed, his lament she took up

and made it new. He who feels all of time and weeps for

its passing knows now the pull of tides, the turning of 

all circles, the great and the small.

A translation of part of "The Birth of Kaenor", an ancient lyric.

As the first instalment on the deities of Verkhün, I’m going to introduce two of the most beloved – and possibly misunderstood – first-echelon powers: Allusenne, the Moon-Goddess and Dironseptu, the Lord of the Sea, and their son, Kaenor. These deities are considered as developed for RMFRP, but I will provide a link in the near future to a document covering their RM2 incarnations. I have also included Pathfinder information regarding their domains and subdomains in the current post. Deity-specific feats, obediences, boons and traits may follow.

ALLUSENNE

Chaotic Neutral

Allusenne is Goddess of the Moon and presides over all that springs from the lunar realm: emotions, the body, the deep roots of the psyche, cyclical change, ebb and flow of power, dark and fey magic. Although her followers can be – and still are in some areas – castigated as practitioners of evil, this is inaccurate: their magic is more primordial and very threatening to those who privilege the coolly rational, but it is not evil, unless the intent behind its usage is evil. Allusenne and those who worship her understand that emotion precedes and dominates reason, and that true power resides in the surrendering to one’s own emotions and controlling those of others. Often, physical pleasure is a pathway to this kind of mastery and thus many of Allusenne’s more ‘sophisticated’ worshippers are often committed sensualists, hedonists or aesthetes. Those followers of Allusenne from the lower ranks of society tend not to follow such a rarefied path, concentrating instead on the visceral roots of lunar power: birth and midwifery, and the body in its various stages. Allusenne is the wife of Dironseptu and has many offspring (not all by her husband).

Areas of Influence: the Moon, Tides/Cycles, the Body (including birth and death), Powerful Emotions/Moods/Responses, Lycanthropy, Physical and Aesthetic Pleasure.

Primary worshippers: although Allusenne is more popular amongst women, her worship is widespread across genders, races and cultures. She is most often called upon by ‘wise women’, physicians, artists, those unfortunates afflicted by lycanthropy, expectant mothers and midwives.

Priestly Templates & Spheres: Priests of Allusenne use the Moon, Fertility or Arts spheres and the Pure Channelling template. They are not required to take any training packages.  

In addition, they gain the following bonuses: +25 to Control Lycanthropy, Midwifery and Frenzy.

Pathfinder Sub/Domains: Art, Captivation, Chaos, Moon, Night, Pleasure.

DIRONSEPTU

Neutral

Dironseptu is the master of the oceans with their life-giving power, beauty and violence. He is thus also the overseer of the dark, cold depths that conceal shipwrecks and horrendous devouring beasts and of mists and fogs that befuddle the mind and conceal danger. Although many shorebound regard Dironseptu as a Wilder God, he is not: he is one of the Co-creators of the World, and a great and venerable figure. His ambiguous reputation stems from the vast and many-faceted nature of water itself. Although vital to life, it can also kill. In the form of vapour it is deceptive and dangerous. It has been said by ancient philosophers that all things arise from water: followers of Dironseptu would concur, but also add that all things also return. Ultimately, this leads thoroughgoing worshippers of Dironseptu – like those of Achabdiyos – to posit that all reality is one.

Areas of Influence: The Ocean, Dreams, Drugs/Poisons/Medicines, Meditation, Self-sacrifice, Loneliness.

Primary worshippers: sailors on the high seas, dreamers, apothecaries, hermits, renunciates, exiles, poets, martyr-types, the gloomy and the lonely.

Priestly Templates & Spheres: Priests of Dironseptu may use either the Pure Channeling, Channeling/Mentalism or the Channeling/Essence templates and may access one of the following spheres: Literature/Poetry, Mystery, Oceans, Redemption, Subterfuge or Wisdom. They are not required to take a training package.

In addition, they gain the following bonuses: +10 to the Artistic•Passive category. They also gain a +10 to Brewing, Prepare Poisons, Alchemy, Prepare Herbs, Dream Lore and Meditation.

Pathfinder Sub/Domains: Dream, Medicine, Memory, Oceans, Redemption, Solitude.

KAENOR

Chaotic Neutral

Kaenor is the master of the coastal seas. He is the son of Dironseptu and Allusenne, and partakes of the mysterious – and slightly untrustworthy – nature of both his parents, although he leans more towards the occasionally violent and emotional character of his mother. He does chafe at the rule of Zajepurti, and has been known to rebel from time to time. Although he is usually restrained by the gentle influence of his father, he is drawn to the freedom-loving Wilder Gods, and may one day join their number for good.

Areas of Influence: Coastal waters, Waves, Fishing Voyages, Shipbuilding & associated crafts, Weather (in coastal areas only). Kaenor’s rule is deemed to end out of sight of land.

Primary worshippers: all those who dwell on the coasts and depend on the coastal waters for their livelihood.

Priestly Templates & Spheres: Priests of Kaenor must use the Semi-Channelling template and may access one of the following spheres: Oceans/Rivers, Weather or Prosperity.

In addition, they gain the following bonuses: +10 to Swimming, Foraging/Fauna Lore/Flora Lore (Ocean Coasts & Banks) and Weather-watching. They also gain a +15 to Base Spell Casting rolls on the Closed Channelling list Weather Ways when in Kaenor’s domain (i.e. at sea but in sight of land). Rope Mastery; Sailing; Rowing; Boat Pilot and Crafting (Net-maker, Sail-maker, Boatwright, and Bone-carving) are all developed as Everyman skills.

Pathfinder Sub/Domains: Artifice, Chaos, Flotsam, Oceans, Storms, Weather.