The Alphabet Gods

The Elvish alphabet takes its letter names from some of the greater deities, who were all well-known when the alphabet was created. Most of these gods are good and are (or were) widely followed, as otherwise they wouldn't have a letter named after them. The Elvish alphabet has changed over time, with letters added or removed as gods appeared or disappeared. The alphabet hasn't had to change for thousands of years, although some of its gods have gradually fallen into relative obscurity. People who pray to one of these gods can find themselves rewarded with minor benefits like a confidence boost, a spark of guidance, or a slight boost to their strength, which can be all the difference in the world. These gods can also empower mortals, granting magic in exchange for good deeds and faithful service. Any resemblance to European alphabets, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The listed symbol(s) are not the only way to write each letter, but they’re the symbols generally used to represent each god.

Short table:

Name	Description
Alpha, α	Written language, writing.
Beta, β	Spoken language, speech
Gamma, Γ, γ	Death (not evil)
Delta, Δ, δ	Love (all kinds)
Epsilon, ε	Family, home
Zeta, ζ	Seasons, harvest, farming
Eta, η	Medicine, healing, (public) health
Theta, Θ, θ	Artifice, crafting, warforgeds
Iota, ι	Night, trickery, shadows
Kappa, κ	Unknown
Lambda, Λ, λ	War
Mu, μ	Magic (literally Mystra)
Nu, ν	Nature, life
Xi, Ξ, ξ	Luck, superstition
Omicron, ο	Industrialization
Pi, Π, π	Sun, justice, fairness, life
Rho, ρ	Bodies of water, storms, swimming, boating
Sigma, Σ, σ	Humans, adaptability
Tau, τ	Charity, virtue
Upsilon, υ	Sky, astronomy, wind
Phi, Φ, φ	Science, materialism (the philosophical viewpoint, not consumerism)
Chi, χ	Commerce, mercantilism
Psi, Ψ, ψ	Psychic stuff, psionics, irreligion
Omega, Ω, ω	Unknown (evil)

More details:

Name, symbol(s)	Alignment, quick facts	Details
Alpha, α	True neutral, female, emerald dragon. Colors: Tan, black (ink, parchment).	Followers: often scribes, authors, wizards, lawyers, librarians Alpha, much like her husband, Beta, works to ensure that written languages stay relatively consistent across the world and over the years, to try to ensure that you can still read old books or books from distant countries, and Alpha expects her followers to help with this task. Alpha is not a prescriptivist, and simply wants to facilitate written communication. Alpha was not the one who decided to name letters after gods or put herself at the start of the alphabet; the elves decided to name letters after gods, and put Alpha at the start of the alphabet because she is the god of written language. Praying to Alpha is known to help followers with writer's block, proofreading, and editing.
Beta, β	True neutral, male, crystal dragon. Colors: Black, teal.	Followers: often orators, bards, diplomats, singers, politicians, actors. Beta, much like his wife, Alpha, works to ensure that spoken languages stay relatively consistent across the world, so that all dialects or accents of a language are mutually intelligible, and Beta expects his followers to help him with this. Beta is not a prescriptivist, and just wants to facilitate verbal communication. Beta created the Common language, and is responsible for ensuring that it continues to be the world's Lingua Franca. Praying to Beta helps with oration and occasions where being eloquent is important.
Gamma, Γ, γ	Neutral good, female. Race unclear, seemingly changes. Color: Black.	Followers: often clerics, paladins, morticians. Gamma's domain is death and dealing with death, as in day of the dead celebrations, remembering lost loved ones, mourning, or funerals. Gamma loathes undead or those who kill innocents, and her followers are quite adept at causing undead or murderers to become dead. Gamma and her followers often use imagery containing scythes, the color black, and other edgy stuff; the letter Γ is styled after a scythe. Praying to Gamma can help comfort people dealing with death.
Delta, Δ, δ	Neutral good. Is a bismuth dragon, sex or gender unknown. Color: Crimson.	Followers: often clerics, regular people. Delta represents all kinds of love, including romantic love, platonic love, love for family members, pets, cute things, hobbies, loving one's country, etc. Delta is the only known bismuth dragon, but myths imply that others exist.. Delta is friends with Tau, and Delta's followers typically get along well with Tau's followers. Praying to Delta often gives people the happy feelings^TM.
Epsilon, ε	Neutral good, male, gnome. Colors: Brown, gold.	Followers: All sorts of common people. Epsilon probably does boring shit like help people refinance their mortgage, choose comfy furniture, and other stuff that does not involve beating the crap out of bad guys. In math, epsilon usually means "a small positive number, like 0.00001" so I was like "haha I should make Epsilon be a gnome, because gnomes are small haha." Praying to Epsilon probably helps with boring shit like picking the right color to paint the living room, remembering to childproof all of the cabinets, or remembering what groceries to buy.
Zeta, ζ	Chaotic good, male, tabaxi. Colors: Gold, blue	Followers: often druids, farmers. Popular among eladrin. In 103 IE, the Lehmer Empire considered advancing clocks, hourglasses, and sundials by an hour during the summer to make sunset be later in the day. The plan was quickly scrapped after a host of angels appeared over Bates, the Lehmer capital, warning that Zeta strongly disapproved of this so-called "daylight savings" plan. Zeta's followers were very active during the Smothering, preventing many people from starving. People often pray to Zeta for a good harvest or for the seasons to otherwise go well, but so many people do this that it's hard to say how much it accomplishes.
Eta, η	Chaotic good, female, elf. Colors: Amber, white.	Followers: often healers, doctors, clerics, people connected to domain. Eta encourages healthy living, including exercising, taking the stairs, eating healthy food, workplace safety, and taking breaks for self-care. Although Eta respects the wishes of her followers who swear medical oaths, she does not care for any such oaths. Blackmail, forcing people to take their medicine, and breaking the kneecaps of snake oil salesmen are all fair game. Praying to Eta can help heal people, be it the person giving prayers or others who that person wishes to heal.
Theta, Θ, θ	Neutral good, female, warforged. Colors: Black, gold.	Followers: often artisans, artificers, smiths, artisans, warforged. Theta predates the existence of warforged on Perlin, and likely gave mortals the secrets to their creation. Theta cooperates a lot with her husband, Phi, and there is a significant overlap between their domains and followers. Praying to Theta can help people with inventing things or craftsmanship, and she sometimes provides guidance to warforged in need.
Iota, ι	Chaotic neutral, male, halfling. Colors: Black, purple.	Followers: Often detectives, thieves, rogues, paladins, clerics. There is a lot of contradictory information about Iota, which isn't surprising for a god of trickery. Iota seems to appreciate the irony of having followers who try to sneak about at night and other followers who dedicate themselves to catching those who sneak about at night.
Kappa, κ	Not evil	Very little known. Presumably still exists, as otherwise this letter would probably be retired.
Lambda, Λ, λ	True neutral (it's complicated), male. Probably human, some inconsistency in depiction. Colors: Red, brown.	Followers: often people associated with war, including soldiers, generals, spies, quartermasters, weapons makers. Lambda's domain is almost all things war. Lambda's champions may be on both sides of a war, as Lambda does not care for the cause of the war or how the war is fought, provided that nobody is committing war crimes. Lambda expects his followers to oppose anybody who commits war crimes, and only cares for people involved in wars, not spectators. Praying to Lambda can help people to be braver, stronger, or more cunning, as needed.
Mu, μ	Neutral good, female, human. Colors: Blue, white.	Followers: often spellcasters and people who want arcane knowledge. Has evidently died and been replaced a few times, nobody knows what's up with that. At some point Mu started also going by the name Mystra. Praying to Mu doesn't seem to have any direct benefits, but her followers tend to have good luck finding arcane knowledge or doing magic.
Nu, ν	Chaotic neutral, male, half-elf. Colors: Green, brown.	Followers: often druids, some clerics, nature/animal lovers, hermits who live in nature. Nu is a nature god. He dislikes pollution and likes environmentalism, public parks, gardens, greenhouses, zoos, field trips to the zoo, and generally being exposed to nature. Some of Nu's followers summarize Nu's philosophy by telling people to "return to [a simpler society in which we are in touch with nature, similar to the society of a] monke[y]." Nu understands that society often has to move nature out of the way, but disapproves of animal cruelty or excessive destruction of nature. Nu is often depicted wearing only a fig leaf, and the other gods evidently think he's weird because of this and try to avoid him. Nu often feuds with Omicron over pollution and environmental destruction. Prayer to Nu can help with tending to plants, provide comfort or guidance to people surrounded by nature, or provide comfort or guidance to people who are distraught because they're away from nature.
Xi, Ξ, ξ	Chaotic neutral, female, halfling. Colors: Purple, orange.	Followers: Often gamblers, clerics. Often called "Lady Luck," Xi likes lucky talismans encourages people to use them. Xi likes the number 20 and dislikes the number 1. For whatever reason, she also dislikes protective talismans involving bears or honey. She teaches that different people gain luck from different things. Praying to Xi can result in above-average luck, but is uncommon. Instead, Xi sometimes rewards the use of good luck charms and following of omens. For the most part, she does not tell people what omens or talismans to use, teaching that different things work for different people. Xi is known to feud with Eta, Phi, and Psi, who accuse her of encouraging superstition. Phi also accuses Xi of not understanding probability or statistics.
Omicron, ο	Neutral good, male, dwarf. Colors: Red, black (fire, metal).	Followers: often industrialists, blacksmiths, industrial workers and miners. Omicron likes people involved in mass production and industrial efficiency. Omicron often feuds with Nu over pollution and environmental destruction. Prayer to Nu can help invigorate workers or improve the quality of industrial work or design.
Pi, Π, π	Neutral good, male, human. Colors: Gold, red (sunrise)	Followers: very common, often clerics, paladins, farmers, common people. Pi is a sun deity whose champions want to make the world a better place and vanquish evil. Pi is kinda sorta seen as "first among equals" with his peers. You know the drill.
Rho, ρ	Chaotic good, female, brass dragonborn. Colors: Green, blue.	Followers: often sailors, fishermen, aquatic peoples, farmers. Rho is easy-going and cares little for complicated ceremonies or rituals. She encourages her followers to engage in a peculiar sport called "surfing" which involves swimming out from a beach with a flat wooden board and using the wooden board to ride a wave back to the beach. Praying to Rho can help with seasickness, lung capacity, and opening your eyes underwater. Farmers and sailors often pray to Rho for good weather.
Sigma, Σ, σ	Neutral good, female, human. Colors: Red, white (everyone is made of flesh and bone)	Followers: often humans, half-humans, people who live around humans or have human-like adaptibility. Sigma likes humans and people who live with humans, and tries to protect and help them as long as they aren't doing evil things. She just likes humans, thinks they're pretty great, and wants them to be safe and happy. Several people who are unfamiliar with common have accidentally referred to a human man as a "Sigma male," causing them to immediately experience symptoms ranging from severe headaches to spontaneous combustion; for unclear reasons, Sigma abhors this term. Praying to Sigma can confer various minor benefits, but there is no specific pattern behind these benefits.
Tau, τ	Neutral good, female, tiefling. Colors: Purple, white.	Followers: often clerics, paladins, do-gooders. Particularly popular among tieflings. Often called the "Tiefling Angel" and depicted with angelic wings, Tau is very wholesome and wants you to be safe, happy, and the best person you can be. People praying to Tau often feel a sensation similar to a warm hug, and Tau often sends her followers to answer the prayers of people in need.
Upsilon, υ	Neutral good, female, aarakocra. Colors: Sky blue, dark blue.	Followers: relatively uncommon, often people who fly, (via wings or by riding something), astronomers, astrologers, sailors, people who live in windy places. Upsilon values independence, and teaches that there is no greater symbol of independence than the sky. Her domain and values are strongly aligned with those of Tarbos Bataar; the region is windy and mountaineous, has many aarakocra, and its inhabitants strongly value their independence. Because of this, she is widely worshipped there, and many of her followers come from Tarbos Bataar. She, like many of her followers, can be very haughty, believing that people who have no desire to experience the world above the clouds are dull. Prayer to Upsilon can influence the wind and clouds, potentially leading to clearer or stormier conditions, as needed.
Phi, Φ, φ	Neutral good, male. Humanoid, species unclear because always depicted in armor. Colors: White, green.	Followers: relatively uncommon, often artificers, specialized artisans, wizards, scientists, mathematicians, philosophers. Phi cooperates a lot with his wife, Theta, and is known to be friends and colleagues with Psi, Mu, and Eta. Phi's followers are often perfectionists who might spend decades working on a theory, breakthrough, or magnum opus. He is credited with the discovery of crop rotation, modern hygiene and germ theorem, immovable rods, and bags of holding. Phi does not care about worship or religion. Some of his followers pray to him, but others just concentrate on the problem they need help with and the fact that he could help them with it. Either way, his followers sometimes receive useful knowledge.
Chi, χ	Lawful good, male, half-orc. Colors: Ultramarine, Tyrian purple.	Followers: often traders, bankers, merchants, magnates. Chi, often depicted with a top hat and monocle, is the god of (relatively) ethical commerce. Chi smiles upon those who, motivated by greed, ambition, or charity, ceaselessly try to enrich themselves, with some caveats. Chi values working hard in order to enrich yourself, not enriching yourself by exploiting others. Furthermore, Chi only values money made within the bounds of the law, and abhors thieves, fraudsters, and racketeers. Having made your fortune, Chi expects philantrophy; Chi's wealthy followers are expected to make tithes to charity. There are many who dislike Chi's followers, considering them to be greedy and selfish. Praying to Chi can help with negotiating, haggling, and delaying bathroom breaks.
Psi, Ψ, ψ	?? good, female. Humanoid, species unclear because always depicted in armor. Colors: Purple, silver.	Followers: rare, often people with psionic powers or irreligious people. Sometimes called the "Apostate Goddess," Psi believes that gods aren't morally superior to mortals or inherently deserving reverence or worship, and that it's better for mortals to have faith in themselves rather than in gods. Because of this, she has few followers and cold relations with many of her peers, but she is friends with Phi. The shape of the letter ψ is because she wields a trident-like weapon. Psi's few followers typically see her as a role model or teacher. Praying to Psi typically causes a headache and confers no benefits, but people who concentrate on a question for Psi sometimes receive an answer.
Omega, Ω, ω	Evil, male.	Evidently very evil, often fought against the good gods. Omega shows up in various myths, but the myths mostly describe the people who were fighting Omega and don't give much detail about Omega himself. Presumably still exists, as otherwise his letter would probably be retired.

Some archaic letters have been removed from the alphabet, as the gods they represented are no longer active one way or another.

Digamma. Evil, female.	Probably no followers, was killed at some point in a climactic battle. Little information available.
San. Good, female.	Probably no followers, somehow quit or retired. Little information available.
Koppa.	Probably no followers. All we know is that there was a letter for a god named Koppa.
Sampi. Lawful good, male. Was a dwarf.	Domain: (Rule of) law, justice, bureaucracy, civil service, logistics and administration. Probably no followers, but his domain is still popular, and many of the other gods work to ensure that Sampi's domain is still taken care of. Sampi was killed in a climactic battle, related to the one that killed Digamma. Sampi's symbols are still popular among judges, lawyers, police, and civil servants.