Any discussion first and foremost needs to take two factors into account. The first of which is the nature of the dragon rulers of the land.
The second and equally important is the history of the land. The dragon rulers are all powerful on the supercontinent of Mashapaloopa. Unlike other parts of the world, they have carved out empires of Dragon Cities, each covering thousands of square miles. An uneasy truce exists between most of the dragons as over the centuries most of the weaker dragons have been destroyed, leaving only the truly powerful left to rule. These dragons are not typical dragons listed in any reference books – they are forces of natures with the powers potentially rivaling those of the gods. Each dragon has an omniscient sphere in which it is simultaneously aware of everything happening in its territory a t all times. The degree to which a dragon can focus or will focus its attention is the only question. Their intelligence is alien and there is no relating or conversing with one of the dragon rulers in any meaningful way for mortals.
While some dragon rulers have great tolerance for normal dragons (viewing them like we might view pet dogs and cats), Si’Nassapherion has explicitly expressed that she thinks of the lower forms of normal dragons as insults of creation and has zero tolerance for their presence in her lands.
Where these great dragons came from is tied largely into the history of the land.
The history of the world, called Camoray, is largely known and covered well in myths by scholars. The world is roughly 1400 years old. It came into being with a rough birth, with many races appearing over the first few hundred years from previous worlds. As cities would form out of nothing in the first few centuries, individual histories were warped and wracked. Powerful beings like the gods, the city dragons, and various powerful individuals like Emperor Falcron emerged first and were the first to regain large portions of their memories from their previous worlds.
The birth of Camoray came into being when powerful magics were used to remove the human world of Pyrideon from their home universe to this universe in an attempt to flee an enemy they referred to as the Great Threat. After dragging Pyrideon across several planes of the multiverse, the planet finally appeared in this universe where a primitive jungle world filled with primal magics already existed. That world was known as Nakir.
Both Pyrideon and Camoray were destroyed in the merging and a new world, this world, was born. The merging of worlds is often referred to as Coalescence and it is now roughly 800 years past that time. (AC is the common denotation). While most died during this process, more powerful entities did survive. Sometimes it has been more of a concept of a city which had existed which survived more so the city itself. Much of what would survive of Pyrideon would end up on the continent of Arisilon on the opposite side of the planet while much of what was the jungle world of Nakir would end up being mashed up into what is now Mashaloopa.
A note on the great dragons of Mashapaloopa. Few believe they came from either Pyrideon or Nakir but possibly from some third world such up in Coalescence.
With these two factors covered, it is much easier to explain magic and in turn priesthoods in and around Chrailis.
In Mashaloopa arcane magic is largely individual and a result of long hours of research. Schools are secretive. While magic trinkets and such exist, most magic resides in the hands of select practitioners. Masters of various crafts might have skill specific magics but that is about it. There is a certain awe and fear which exists when dealing with powerful spell users. As has been previously mentioned, the Arcane Guild does have contact with the rest of the world, so the most powerful wizards do have access to the great libraries and academies in Brynthia over in Arisilon. So for them, an understanding of magic is more academic.
Divine or Channeled magic is another matter. The 13 gods are largely associated with the lands of Arisilon as they came from Pyrideon. While they have presence in this land and their various aspects are served to some degree, the influence of the gods is largely negligible for the society at large. In practical terms, the clergies of the 13 gods (only 10 of which operate in the city) rarely display any political leanings. Very seldom will you find much more than a 3rd level spell cast. This all has to do with the gods intentionally choosing to stay out of the affairs of Mashaloopa. While they are probably more powerful than any of the dragon rulers, this has never been tested.
The lack of divine magics from the gods is more than made up with the other forms of Channeled magic which comes from the remnants of the primal magics which existed in Nakir. Nakir had hundreds if not thousands of elemental forces and nature spirits. Many of these powers were destroyed in Coalescence. However, some are merely dormant and can still be tapped into. Tales exist of a few of these dormant spirits being woke up only to possess their users while other tales exist of elemental furies arising and coming back into a semi-consciousness of pain and rage requiring a concerted effort to put down. When this happens, Si’Nassapherion will sometimes arise and destroy not only the disturbing force but also the offending parties who woke it up. With the numbers of spirits and elemental forces which exist, there is no type of registry or list of those which do exist. New ones occur every few years, usually with only a handful of followers who define the nature of their power source. Unless the spirit actually wakes up, who is to say its followers are wrong.
And as has been asked, it is unknown if Si’Nassapherion or any of the other dragons can channel magic. Occasionally small cults will pop up claiming to worship Si’Nassapherion. These cults never last long, never amount to much, and the magics they use are small in nature. If she can channel magic, she currently chooses not to do so.
And so – for game terms.
If you want to channel divine magic from an elemental or primal magic source, then do so. If you want to design certain tendencies, taboos, fetishes, etc. for this source, do so. I might use it for game terms later on. The only stipulation is it can’t be a power which due to your story will disrupt the game. E. g. I serve a spirt force followed by thousands with large temples. However, make up whatever you want along the line of mythos – I serve a vengeance spirit prophesized by visions only I can see to rise up someday in a great whirlwind of death and destruction which will eventually see halflings as the only true rulers left in the land. If you do - you may be the only one who believes it.
While what is shown largely holds for the city, as you get out in the wilds once can see actual spirits return to life scattered throughout the lands with pockets of jungle elves worshiping a single nature spirit or a small number of nature spirits.
As for the gods and their presence in the city. Their worshipers are pantheistic and usually give observance to multiple gods, though they might devote themselves primarily to a single god with which they identify with.
The Good Gods
Stengard – The god Law and Justice. Protection and Guardianship are also common themes. He is often clad in silver armor and appearing as a muscular aged man. He is a warrior god, invoking armed protection. In the city, his worship is small and isolated as the people of Chrailis don’t have much use for a LG god imposing order in an already orderly city. He has only a handful of temples around the city which often substitute as courts of law. A silver helmet or a field of silver scale. While he is Lawful Good, he is also seen as the leader of the gods.
Radok – A weather god (not storms) and a god of farming and crops and the earth. He is usually depicted as a stout man dressed in brown leathers. Many farmers follow him as well as those on coastlines. Sailors, especially those who fish, often give observance to his weather aspect. Other worshipers include dwarves, gnomes, and craftsmen who work with metals. Because he is so often associated with metal work, his symbol is a large hammer with or without an anvil. Of the gods, he has a lot of followers consisting of laborers. His priesthood however is small, most of his worship is private and personal. What temples he has are usually in the outer city or in the surrounding countryside.
Valshin- The Goddess of healing, mercy, and suns. While she isn’t often depicted, when she is it is in the form of a young mother. Her priesthood is by far the most extensive with temples all over the city. Her priests practice healing and various medical services all over the city. The sun aspect is seen more in imagery than anything. Her images and symbols always include the three suns. The priests are of Valshin are adamant pacifists with one exception – they view unlife as abhorrent and have several powers and abilities which aid in the destruction of the undead.
Borollo- The god of magics, death, and mysteries. Always seen as a stern bearded man in a long robe, he is often worshipped by those seeking insight in the arcane magics. His death aspect is not so much of one associated with the afterlife as more with the journey from life to the afterlife. He is prayed to for safe travels and quick painless deaths. His colors are gold and black, with his symbols being a black cobra with gold etchings – sometimes wrapped around with staff. He has a few secretive temples around the city, most of them near house of magical research. One of his temples is actually a renowned library of magical tomes.
Josca – The goddess of war, honor, personal combat, and beauty. Her image is always that of a beautiful woman, whether she is clad in armor or not. The war of which she is goddess is that of organized and efficient warfare in defense of a nation or land. She is not the goddess of rampage or aggressive destruction – though the results can be similar. Due to the nature of Chrailis, it is the Rangers who mostly follower her as they see in her common ground a great protector of their charges.
Her beauty aspect is that of physical beauty which arises from symmetry in well planned works of art. However it also has a strong flair for vanity due to her Chaotic Good nature. She is known for being hot headed and easily offended. Her symbols are a blue scepter or a silver scepter with a large sapphire in its head. Most of her war temples are actually training grounds around the outer city while in the City Center her temples are devoted to beauty. She is not a goddess of love – though many worshippers will attribute this to her mistakenly because of her beauty aspect. (edited)
The Neutral Gods
Yahalla- The god of knowledge, history, arts and crafts (technology). His colors are orange and yellow and he is worshipped mostly be tradesmen, scribes, and scholars. What temples he has are usually found near libraries and many of his followers are the information gatherers of the region. Note: Magic users usually prefer to worship Borollo or Slinjetto for guidance in those matters. Many artists and performers also give thanks and worship to Yahalla, seeking inspiration from him. His symbol is a feather quilled pen.
Kristor- She is the goddess of time and fate. She is always depicted as a lean, strict and rigid older woman with no emotion. Her worshippers are scant, though many with chant quick wards in her name to influence fate (similar to ‘knock on wood’)such as ‘Kristor look away’. She has no temples and what priests she has are far and few between. Her priests are mysterious, secretive and highly enigmatic. Best just walk on the other side of the street and not make eye contact else you incur the evil eye. Her symbol is an hour glass with all the sand in the bottom. For reasons unknown, some jungle elf tribes give considerable time in her worship.
Sanderal – the god of thieves, luck, good times, and debauchery. Gamblers often call out to him as to revelers and party goers. He has a significant following in the aristocracy, little in the middle income strata, the a decent showing in the underbelly of society. While he is a god of luck, it is a precarious luck given only to those who take wild chances and to fools. As such, many will speak for protection from Kristor over asking Sanderal for his favor. He doesn’t have temples, be he does have locations dedicated to parties and gambling around the city. His color is purple and his symbols are dice, usually two.
Torya – the goddess of nature, love, passion, and fertility. She is probably the most respected and revered of all the gods in the vicinity of Chrailis. Her images always depict her as a slight woman with hair the color of a season. Her nature (plant and animal) aspects are often revered by druids, rangers, and those who live in the wilds. While most farmers worship Radok, those who herd animals often follow her instead. She is a favorite of young couples newly in love and newly wedded couples seeking children. In some ways, she is more a goddess of life than Valshin. Her colors are green and her symbols are a twig (usually holly) with berries. Her places of worship range from groves out in the jungles to small shacks in the city parks.
The Chaotic God
Slinjetto: – She is kind of a catchall goddess whose theme is Chaos. Under her sphere falls water, fire, magic, and war. Her worship is mostly found only along the coast of Dawn lake. Many of the smaller orc villages worship her singularly ignoring all the other gods. Due to her aspects of water and chaos, many who work on the waters of Dawn Lake with some of its storms that blow in will bow down to her over Radok. She is also a fire goddess, though that gets very little in the way followers in this area. Her symbol is a phoenix pendant made of silver with blue and red stones inset to provide decoration.
The primary reason she has such a small following is she is largely associated with dragons. Most normal dragons actually think of her as their goddess – a great dragon in human form fooling the foolish mortals. Due to this attachment, Si’Nassapherion has been known destroy Slinjetto’s priest with no provocation. (
The Evil Gods
Ramian Fax – the leader of the evil gods, the god of darkness, evil, and vengeance. He personally has no dealings in the city and as such there are not priests of his present. Few ever give him worship or call on him, and when they do its usually in some vengeance inspired rage. His name does get taken in vain frequently in several curses.
Letheria- The goddess of Pain, Vice (Lust), and Cold. She has followers, however they are far too secretive to reveal any common knowledge of their activities. Her symbol is a dagger made of jagged ice.
Grethello- The god of Disease, Death, Ugliness, Murder, and Hate. He has absolutely no following in the city. Due to the disruptive nature of his clergy, any professing to follow him are quickly eradicated. Only fools or the really desperate even call up him.
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