The Faerunian Pantheon

in Gods and Outsiders

The deities of Toril take an active interest in their world, channeling power through their clerics, druids, rangers, paladins, and other worshipers and sometimes intervening directly in the affairs of mortals. At the same time, they plot, war, intrigue, and ally among themselves, between themselves and powerful mortals, and with extraplanar beings such as elemental rulers and demons. In this they resemble their mortal worshipers, for to an extent deities are defined and shaped by their worshipers, their areas of interest, and their nature—for many deities are actually mortals who have gained the divine spark. Because they lose strength if their worship dwindles away and is forgotten, deities task their clerics and others to whom they grant divine spells with spreading their praise and doctrine, recruiting new worshipers, and keeping the faith alive. In exchange for this work and to facilitate it, deities grant divine spells.    

Worship

A weaponsmith might take Gond as his patron deity, but also pray to Tempus, Lord of Battles, before attempting to forge a fine sword. During a difficult forging or when striving to make a blade lucky for wielders, the same smith prays to Tymora. A weapon forged for guardians would involve prayers and offerings to Helm. A weapon to be wielded for justice (an executioner’s blade, perhaps) would be dedicated to Tyr.   Most people of Toril worship more than one deity on a daily basis, even if they dedicate their lives to one patron deity. Some folk of Faerûn believe deities are akin to awesomely powerful mortals and are therefore prone to foibles, tempers, and the haste, mistakes, and emotions of mortals. Others see them as beyond mortal flaws or mortal comprehension. Overlaid on these extremes are beliefs as to whether deities like to intervene in mortal affairs daily, at crucial junctures, on whims, or to further mysterious or stated aims—or whether they remain aloof, influencing mortals only in subtle, hidden ways or through dream visions or cryptic auguries. With these widely varying views come a correspondingly wide range in practices of worship.   With that said, many folk make offerings both to deities they revere and appeasement offerings to deities of markedly different alignment and interests from their own to ward off holy vengefulness, spite, and divine whim. The simplest offering to a deity is to toss a few coins into a temple bowl or make another suitable offering (blood to Tempus or Malar, for example, or particular sacred or token objects to most other deities) while a plea is murmured. The formalization of this practice is the payment of a set temple fee to clergy of the deity to be appeased, who either provide the payer with a short prayer to be performed at an auspicious later time or perform a rote prayer for the payer.    

Patron Deities

The deities of Faerûn are deeply enmeshed in the functioning of the world’s magical ecology and the lives of mortals. Characters of Toril nearly always have a patron deity. Everyone in Faerûn knows that those who die without having a patron deity to send a servant to collect them from the Fugue Plane at their death spend eternity writhing in the Wall of the Faithless or disappear into the hells of the devils or the infernos of the demons.