The Divinities
If there was one thing that ties the races of human and elf together, it is the Divinities. The names we use may differ, but the core is the same.
The Divinities is the pantheon of deities worshipped by the majority of Elves and Humans. While each language refers to them with different names, the core of the pantheon and many of the characteristics remain the same.
Structure
The pantheon is split into three 'tiers' - The Mother, the Singularities, and the Dualities.
The Mother
The Mother is the mother of all creation, and widely revered as the embodiment of all life and existence. She rarely interacts directly with Her subjects, as She is believed by many to be in a deep slumber. However, She does not ignore the needs of Her people, instead tasking aspects of Herself to cater to their needs.
The Singularities
The Singularities are the largest aspects of The Mother, and are each responsible for broad domains which affect Her creation. These domains have large amounts of overlap, so designed to ensure that no spot in Her possession was ignored. Unfortunately, this often causes the Singularities to come into contact with each other, arguing about who should handle certain issues.
The Singularities are Justice, Wisdom, Balance, and Charity.
The Dualities
The Dualities are further fragments of the Singularities, in command of specialised aspects of their domains. They come into even greater conflict than their forebears, often inspired by mortal quarrel.
Justice's Dualities are Vengeance and Mercy.
Wisdom's Dualities are Knowledge and Experience.
Balance's Dualities are Structure and Change.
Charity's Dualities are Independence and Solidarity.
Mythology & Lore
In the beginning, there was only The Mother. From Her body, she birthed the universe. From Her mind, she birthed the worlds. From Her heart, She birthed those who would inhabit Her creation. With what energy remained, She split Herself into four aspects, who could enforce Her will throughout creation. And as Her aspects watched upon Her, She fell into a deep slumber.
Her aspects spread themselves far and wide, exploring all that She had made. With Her energy and will deep within them, they set about nurturing creation and guiding them.
As Her worlds grew, Her aspects became overworked. They returned to The Mother for guidance. "What can we do?" They asked Her. In Her slumber, She could answer little. But Her divine light showered upon them, and they saw the way.
Together, they split themselves further, taking great care to not exhaust themselves as She had done. Forth came the eight Dualities, two for each aspect. With twelve aspects of The Mother to watch over Her creation, all was well.
Granted Divine Powers
An infrequent but well recorded benefit to extended worship of the Divinities is the ability to form pacts with them. This is most common with the Dualities, who are far more fickle than their forebears.
Forming a pact with a deity requires the mortal portion of the pact to reach out magically. This requires a reasonably high level of innate magic, and is not possible for all mortals. If the deity wishes to interact, they will 'connect' to the mortal, and begin a brief telepathic conversation. A pact must have two goals in mind - the goal of the mortal, and the goal of the deity. For devoted adherents and priests, their goals are often deliberately vague or long-term, to ensure that the pact lasts for a long time.
If the two members agree to the terms, a pact is formed. This confers upon the mortal many of the powers of the deity, albeit in a lessened form. The benefit for the deity is unknown, though it is believed they are unable to physically manifest without a willing human host.
While pacts are most frequently formed by devoted adherents, they are not exclusive to this group, and are very complicated.
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