Crowding the Pantheon

A companion piece to our Fantasy Entertainments edition

The cosmopolitan nature of Forsbury has caused some “outside” gods to be included in the Dinsthain pantheon in Forsbury.  This often causes issues when clergy trained in Parnania try to come to Forsbury.  They see the Forsbury practices as heresy because of the inclusion of additional gods.  Forsbury citizens sent to study in Parnania soon learn to keep their mouths closed while in Parnania.  They believe the Parnanian schools are too mired in tradition to accept things that have been “learned” over the last couple of centuries.  They believe that their religious scholars have made new discoveries and have surpassed the Parnanian schools, but to admit that would be a quick ticket out of the seminary.

While these heresies have not caused any open clashes between the two Velesan cities, the priesthoods know they are on shaky ground.  At issue is the fact that many of these other gods do exist, even if they belong to “foreign” pantheons.  For the Parnania churches to deny their existence risks the wrath of these gods, yet to include them risks angering their own gods.  Meanwhile, in Forsbury, the acceptance of these gods dilutes the worship of the local gods, which will never be met with favor.

This also shows how the Forsbury religious folks tend to be a bit more practical than their Parnanian neighbors.  In Forsbury, priests may make small offerings to rival gods - going along to get along.  Meanwhile the worshippers and clergy in Parnania are more inflexible, refusing to break with their traditions, even if it means angering a god or three.  As can be seen, both these attitudes come with their risks.


This post was written as part of the recently released The Miscellaneous Anniversary Edition aka All About Everything Else, the latest in our Small Bites editions.  Every other Small Bites book looks deeply at one subject, a character archetype, a race/monster, a style of questing, or some other role-playing/world building subject.  This one is showcasing small items that didn’t make it into earlier editions, mainly due to size.
We hope we’re getting you interested.  If you want to see the World Walker edition for FREE!! click the link here.  If we’ve hooked you and you want to get the full 60 pages of content in the Game Masters’ edition, click here.