Warning: This content is heavily based on Greyhawk Canon but it is different and is a draft version used in The Grey League Podcasts.
The imprisonment of Tharizdun gave The Aetherics time to weave a more intricate and full tapestry and create celestial pantheons who would further shape the world. From the dawn of time, the celestial siblings embarked on a journey of creation and guidance and their influence spans continents, shaping cultures, and civilizations, while their presence echoes through the ages, leaving a permanent mark on the world they helped shape. However, the first Celestial to be created before anyone other is one shaped into existence by the Dark Lord Tharizdun.
Join us as we traverse the realms of the divine.
Tharizdun, empowered one deity
The arrival of Incabulos into the universe of Oerth is shrouded in mystery, befitting his enigmatic and fearsome nature. He is a Primordial Entity of Suffering, shaped and empowered by the malevolent influence of Tharizdun at the moment of the Dark God’s banishment. As Tharizdun was cast into the void, fragments of his nihilistic energies seeped into the fabric of existence, corrupting it with a lingering curse. From this blight upon creation, Incabulos emerged—a grim and eternal reminder of the darkness that Tharizdun sought to unleash.
In the early days of existence, as the gods turned their attention to the shaping of mortal life, Incabulos grew in power. He became the embodiment of mortal fears and weaknesses, thriving on the inevitability of suffering that comes with life. Where mortals faced famine, disease, or nightmares, Incabulos was present, a shadow lurking in their despair. He did not merely bring these afflictions; he was their very essence, the primal force that ensured no joy could exist without sorrow to counter it.
In a sense, Incabulos is Tharizdun’s curse upon the world, an agent of endless misery and destruction born from the chaotic void. Unlike his progenitor, who seeks the annihilation of all things, Incabulos revels in the slow decay, the creeping terror, and the prolonged agony that precedes destruction. His power is not in finality but in the torment that precedes it, making him an eternal scourge upon existence.
Beory, goddess of life, birthed to six deities
Her eldest children, Berei, Rao, and Allithur, implored their mother for a purpose within her universe. They voiced concerns that the multitude of animals populating her realm had no need for them and that Beory's evolving world seemed to lack a place for their existence. In response to their pleas, she granted them freedom—a solitary opportunity to create, hoping to assuage their discontent. Together, they devised humanity and in the end, those who were not influenced by the other Celestials became known as the Flannae Tribe.
Berei bestowed upon them the wisdom of agriculture, the importance of familial bonds, and the essence of home. Allithur instilled in them ethical principles, imparted cultural traditions, and fostered an understanding of respect, laws, and rituals. Rao endowed them with the gift of reason, a catalyst for discourse, which in turn would pave the path to peace and ultimately, serenity.
Her second children were Celene and Luna who became an integral part of the eternal cycle that influences Oerth’s seas, and the first humans worshipped them almost instantly.
Her final offspring was Obad-Hai, who emerged from her very being and discovered his purpose from the instant of his inception. He nurtured all the fauna and flora that thrived within his mother's domain, extending his care even to creatures that others might label as monsters. Revered by humanity as the Father of Summer, the Horned Hunter, and the guardian of the land, Obad-hai is worshipped for his benevolent stewardship.
What is the influence now in 576 of the Common Year:
Rao stands as the deity who has endured through time, rising to become a prominent figure in the pantheon and the world at large, whereas Berei, Allithur, Celene and Luna linger in the background, revered only within the broader Pantheon and not individually.
Obad-Hai also remains a widely venerated deity, revered by numerous cultures as the god of nature and a patron deity of the Flan people. He continues to play an active role in the world of Oerth.
Beory is revered only within the broader Pantheon and not individually.
Procan, the Storm Lord fathered five deities
The tempestuous nature of the Storm God fuels a fervent desire to spread his chaotic influence throughout the world. He ventured to the domain of the primordial Queen of elemental air, Akadi, who bore him five children.
The four wind gods Atroa (spring winds), Sotillion (summer winds), Telchur (winter winds), and Wenta (autumn winds) facilitated the spread of plant seeds, regulated temperatures, maintained wave action, etc. Overseeing these four progenies is their fifth sibling, the formidable sky-god Velnius, whose influence extends over the world's weather patterns.
Their collective efforts have profoundly shaped the world itself, exerting a unique influence on humanity by instilling in them a deep-seated urge to explore the farthest reaches of the globe. Those humans who heeded this call to venture beyond familiar lands separated from the main tribe, giving rise to what is now known as the Oeridian tribe.
What is the influence now in 576 of the Common Year:
The Sky God Velnius is revered as an individual deity, while the four wind gods are collectively worshipped across the world as a singular entity known as The Velaeri, and revered only within the broader Pantheon and not individually.
Procan himself has been increasingly worshipped in the last 1000 years.
Lendor, Lord of Time, Lord of Time, spun a myriad of deities
The Lord of Time, a venerable and ageless dragon, observed the unfolding changes with growing unease. Despite the existence of rules governing creation and the balance between good and evil, he could only perceive chaos, which unsettled him deeply. With patience, he enlightened more and more humans, revealing that an organized path founded on study and knowledge could bring about balance and growth. Those who heeded his guidance separated from the main tribe, forming what is now known as the Suel Tribe. To continue guiding these enlightened humans, he summoned from the ever-turning wheel of time three deities to aid the Suel on their journey to order.
Wee Jas was the first deity to break free from the wheel and through her teachings enabled the early Suel to establish a functional code of laws which grew over the millennia into a very lawful society. Lendor empowered her with another portfolio - magic - and she taught the Suel how to create magic in a controlled manner. The human tribe became extremely adept under her guidance. The humans however caused the Twin Cataclysms with their power of magic and death and suffering was rampant. Overjoyed with his protege's work, Lendor again instructed her to bring order and empowered her with a Death portfolio. Her responsibility falls on securing the dead, not being responsible over death itself however. Thus she became Death's Guardian, the steward of the dead who teaches the correct rite over the physical corpses and guiding the spiritual force to the after life. She also compels the Suel to comprehend, rather than fear, the connection between magic and death.
Despite his efforts, the wheel did not always grant Lendor's requests and in the myriad of lesser deities that came forth to aid the Suel people, many were of a chaotic disposition. (These Lesser Deities are listed in a later Chapter under Pantheons.)
The second deity to emerge was not lawful but the chaotic god Norebo, bestowing upon the Suel the gift of luck and the willingness to take risks for greater wealth and prosperity. Embracing the gamble of life could lead to unforeseen riches beyond imagination.
One of the lesser deities to break free from the wheel was Phaulkon, the god of Air, Wind, Clouds, Birds, and Archery. He too was a chaotically aligned deity and laid a base for the Suel Warrior caste. He was however not strong enough to lift the Suel people to their proper place and he was overshadowed by his own son—the chaotic war god Kord—who emphasized strength and perseverance. Lendor viewed his grandson favourably and is, in fact, the only known deity capable of pacifying Kord's legendary rages. The original Suel tribe maintained a balance between lawful societal structures and various chaotic elements. Their soldiers invoked chaotic-aligned gods for strength, while martial priests stood alongside them, offering guidance on honourable behaviour in battle to secure a favourable afterlife. Their society prioritized law, history, tradition, and magic, while also embracing competitiveness and the notion that the strong and fittest deserved to rule over the weak.
The original Suel tribe maintained a balance between lawful societal structures and various chaotic elements. Their soldiers invoked chaotic-aligned gods for strength, while martial priests stood alongside them, offering guidance on honourable behaviour in battle to secure a favourable afterlife. Their society prioritized law, history, tradition, and magic, while also embracing competitiveness and the notion that the strong and fittest deserved to rule over the weak.
What is the influence now in 576 of the Common Year:
Wee Jas and Kord remain to this day worshipped across Oerth (not only by those with Suel heritage).
The Suel Pantheon is still worshiped in countries with mostly pure Suel bloodlines.
Istus, Lady of Fate
The lady of fate, foreseeing the actions of the other Aetherics, imbued humans with a strong belief in destiny and individual fate. Certain human tribes, guided by their destinies, united under the principles of Time, Life, and Death, as well as the concepts of Law and Chaos, and Good and Evil. These tribes merged into what are now known as the Bakluni tribes, whose myths assert that Istus shaped the world and the fate of the universe through her actions and deeds, and that it is impossible to deviate from one's predetermined path within the tapestry of fate. The fate Istus weaves for an individual is not one of domination. Rather, she gives rise to a person and an individual, and they must make their way through her tapestry as best they can.
Istus, unconcerned with progeny, focused solely on her role in weaving the fabric of destiny. She knew it was the Bakluni's destiny to summon their own deities and create their pantheon. However, the web of faith was briefly touched by a dark tendril of the Elder Evil (Tharizdun) and in that micro second a tremble of insanity was injected and consequently released. This became a thorn in the work of Istus, a thorn that grew in divinity due to the collective fears and anxieties of mortals, coalescing into a divine entity that personifies the unpredictability of life. Ralishaz, the god of ill luck, misfortune, and accidents, emerged from the chaos of the universe with a singular purpose—to embody the unreliable nature of fate and chance. From minor mishaps to catastrophic calamities, Ralishaz's touch can be felt in every stroke of ill luck that befalls mortals.
What is the influence now in 576 of the Common Year:
Although not actively concerned with Oerth’s inhabitants, Istus is widely worshipped.
Ralishaz is worshipped across the human cultures.
The Celestial children: Incabulos, Rao, Berei, Allithur, Celene, Luna, Obad-hai, Velaeri (Atroa, Sotillion, Telchur, Wenta), Velnius, Wee Jas, Norebo, Phaulkon, Kord and Ralishaz.
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Note: Feel free to comment on my version on religion in Greyhawk. Just keep in mind that it is a draft version for now and that I mean to have an alternate version then the canon.
Next: Greyhawk Faiths Part 3: Creation of the Pantheons
EDIT NOTE: while working on my Deity video on Incabulos, I had to make an edit to the Celestials. A whole new section has been added at the start: Tharizdun, empowered one deity
EDIT NOTE: I have adjusted various paragraphs for readability purposes and minor tweaks but have made bigger adjustments in the whole Lendor section.
I am enjoying these articles. I seem to find trouble finding clear breakdowns with intriguing backstories for the Greyhawk deities in the old original published, official TSR material. Articles like this are thus extremely helpful while also being evocative. Thanks!