Gods of the World: Matuipan

Those who come across statues sculpted in the very barks of the trees or mountainsides in the valleys know already whose faces they are: Matuipan, the Endbringer. While being neither male or female, Matuipan is the divine herald of violence.

In the piercing eyes of Matuipan, however, violence takes the form of necessary endings: an interruption in the flow of things so that other things can start anew. It is unclear how they came to represent such an ambiguous aspect of violence, but their worshippers generally affiliate themselves to numerous doctrines that sometimes contradict each other, resulting in a rather chaotic theological state of affairs.

It is said that Matuipan was the original Endbringer, the one who would bring an End to the world itself so it could be born again stronger from the ashes of its prior existence. Among some peoples, they reside in a plane called Kingdom of Ends, while some say Matuipan committed the ultimate violence through which they attained illumination: they took the fall in the Aberon Road and ended their own divine life.

Besides Endbringer, the deity is also known as the Linecutter, the Reconnecter and the Keeper of Judgment, though each of these aliases is attached to very specific lore depending on the civilizations that thus worship them.

Places of the World: Talarissa Island

Talarissa is an artificial island constructed entirely of boats, ships and floating towers (otherwise known as townships) located by the Western Banks of the Dalmodil Bay. It is infamously known as the lair of unsavory figures of the underground of Malimar, and currently led by the towering mob boss and ringleader known as Mascharenha, Queen of Scoundrels. Those who visit Talarissa are in for a tough ride if they do not know where they are getting at, and invariably leave a little bit lighter than they had arrived.

While perennially under a state of semi-anarchy, Talarissa is led by whoever powerful rogue raises through the echelons of its chaotic hierarchies, and thus all institutional authority hinges on the fickle comings and goings of these leaderships from time to time. An exception to that seems to be the Coin & Order Bureau, a bureaucratic league of scribes, arbiters and trademakers that constitute the bureaucratic wing of Talarissan society and that can be generally trusted in all matters related to the flow of wealth and the putting up of commissions.

A visitor who reaches Talarissa, besides having to watch their purses very closely, will see that its narrow streets and hundreds of bridges and canals all lend to a wondrous cityscape, with people crisscrossing buildings made entirely of boats and a general buzz of excitement and flair derived from its colorful citizens. Nearly every good can be found in Talarissa Island for the right price, which is not necessarily coin. In fact, islanders tend to look forward to receiving payment in the guise of favors, rumors or information, which makes for a very volatile market.

Among some of its points of interest, one could look out for Talarissa Tower, the central township where Mascharenha resides with her younger brother, Meschorra; the Undertow, a prestigious and very much exclusive underwater bar that runs inside a submarine ship; and one of the many Sneak Attack taverns, which some say belong to a secret society that controls all of the alcoholic business in Malimar.

Gods of the World: The Lucky Thousand

The Lucky Thousand refer to a myriad of deities that are worshipped in the city of Dólmen, East Malimar. Traditionally depicted as irreverent small entities without a face, they can be found all over the city, generally with colored garlands over their necks or offerings of food and wine before them. Their worship, however, lacks organization, and has become part of the local folklore, with Dolmenians usually praying for as many as dozens of different deities in hope of gaining the upper hand in any kind of business.

The reasoning behind such worshipping practices, however, is deceivingly simple. Dolmenians believe that the strongest any given Lucky One gets, more likely they are of becoming more capable of making wishes and prayers come true. Thus, a believer will do their best to please a Lucky One in order to get what they want. Of course, it is hardly known how to please any of the Lucky Thousand, and such an ordeal has always been subject of intense discussion among the peoples of Dólmen.

Since the oldest of the Lucky Thousand figures are generally considered to be very similar to the Guardian of the Royals in the way they were hewn, it is believed that their worship comes from the very first peoples who have ever set foot in the Eastern Banks of the Dalmodil, lending to speculation that the worship of the Lucky Thousand is perhaps the oldest creed to be found in the region.

Places of the World: Dólmen

Far across Dalmodil Bay lies the most influential Province of Malimar: Dólmen. Home to most of the coin that flows through the region, Dólmen is the place where the wealthy meet to decide the fate of anything that can be bought or sold for a decent price in all of Malimar.

Upon visiting the city, any wandering ship will soon come under the Guardian of the Royals, a staggering humanoid statue standing 100 feet high that extends a welcoming hand towards incoming merchants willing to make a living under its conspicuous gaze. Its features, while wildly indistinct, hint of the pragmatic approach to dealing with peoples and backgrounds: everyone can earn coin in Dólmen, as long as they have something of value to offer.

Its inner harbor is capable of holding thousands of ships big and small, and its shores are permanently bursting with sellers and buyers eager to do business with anyone who sets foot in the port. Brightly colored streets crisscross the city through ample, wide pathways that are always filled with people, noises and goods, with all of them leading to the single building-monument that alone stands in the very center of Dólmen: the Tower of the Stone, the place from where all decisions are made and all rules are enacted in the city. It is surrounded by a thick wall and peppered with beautiful ornamental trees known as Shevashla, the Trees of the Infinite. Their small leaves, gleaming with shades of purple and gold, make them one of the most distinctive sights in all of Malimar.

Dólmen, however, is also known for being extremely strict regarding two professional types: thieves and mages. The Dólmen Polincrat is mostly responsible for surveilling and punishing any attempt at stealing, pickpocketing and any such activity in the city, while also keeping a tough stance on the open practice of magic and trade of arcane items. Perhaps because of this policy, powerful people who earn money from unsavory business usually tend to their affairs from Talarissa and do not bother coming to Dólmen, while spellcasters of any kind are doubly careful when dealing in magic. For that reason, mages must generally be authorized and certified by the Chamber of Coin, which gives out permits to any such spellcaster who intends to take residence in the city. Nonetheless, the commerce of magical items remains strictly forbidden, and those who wish to seek them must look for them in neighboring Provinces.

Gods of the World: Matacórnia

 It is said that the first Tiefling to ever have lived was born from Urgal. There, in the depths of the hot fires of the earth, Matacórnia, the First Horn came to existence and thought of populating the land. Seeing herself alone in the fiery storms of Urgal, she tore her left horn from her head and made a husband. With that husband she laid and bore many children, though her husband was unable to withstand her heat and melted to oblivion.

It was thus that all Tieflings came to be, looking up to the First Horn and calling her All Mother while seeking shelter and refuge from the wilting storms of Urgal. In the mirror image of their progenitor, Tieflings are born with stubbles that later develop into horns and have burning lava running through their veins.

Despite being a mythic figure in Tiefenkind folklore, the Tieflings see the All Mother as a common ancestor instead of a divine presence, and there is no organized religion or worship throughout the Terratarium.

The Fall of Qellerion

After his exile, Qellerion sought refuge in the Underground to escape the terrible wrath of his twin. There he founded a new conclave of his kind, in what had been previously known as the Sea of Trees of the Underground, now simply known as the Underwoods. The conclave was named Qellatamísi, the Green-under-the-Green.

In Qellatamísi, life thrived under the natural power of Qellerion, still a Fistborn, but also for some other reason: in his escape from Feyland, Qellerion stole a blooming seed from the Queenstree and swallowed it in, fearful that Qallantë would notice. As he established himself in the Sea of Trees, he threw it up and carefully planted it in the forest, as he saw that the soil was good and that the forest had a primeval force upon it that would do it good.

With time and effort from Qellerion, the only Queenstree to ever exist in the Underground grew wild and lush, drawing strength from the richness of the land, from the vibrancy of the air and from Qellerion’s own life force. With the Queenstree, Qellatamísi grew beautiful and defiant, a rebellious memory of Feyland and one that started to attract peoples from the Elvenkind itself. Elves soon came to see for themselves the Queenstre that blossomed without sunlight, and its exquisite bioluminescence that some said could light up the whole forest. Most of those visitors were people who had already been appalled by the gravity of Qellerion’s punishment, but soon others came, first to visit, and then to stay. With the arrival also of their long separated siblings, the Shadowkind, Qellatamisí grew strong and beautiful during some time under the quiet rule of Qellerion.

Qallantë, however, was not pleased. As soon as she heard that Qellerion was thriving despite of his punishment, and upon knowing that part of her people had been living there, and, even worse, that he had stole a precious seed from the Queenstree, she decided to act. Taking the disguise of a wandering Elf, she went to the Underground and visited Qellatamisí. It is said that she was stricken by the glow of its Queenstree, and that for a moment she forgot all about the deeds she was about to commit. She spent a few days in awe, walking down the woodstreets, admiring the works of Elvenkind and Shadowkind alike, and sometimes even humming quietly the tunes of the musicians that perked themselves on branches and bridges for the audience around them to enjoy in their daily lives.

Thirty days she spent there, but on the thirty-first day, when she was about to leave, she saw her twin brother walking by, his immense, horrid arachnid figure moving gingerly with his many sharp feet over the smaller Elves, and she saw their joy and admiration in contemplating her brother, instead of loath and pity, as was meant to be with the punishment she had passed down.

She could not take it. While newly convinced that to ruin Qellatamisí would be too unspeakable a deed to commit, from her voice sprung a curse that only Qellerion could hear, and as he did, slowly all the peoples who lived there in the city were transformed into half-elves, half-spiders themselves, in a fateful mimicry of the builder of the place they came to love. If you love him so much, you can own up to that love, she thought.

Qallaantë then vanished from sight, and never again returned to the Underground. When stories were told that every Elf who visited Qellatamisí was turned into a fearful spider, people from Feyland cried for many days, for they could never contemplate the light of its Queenstree and for the loss of their loved ones who had been dwelling there. Qellatamisí quickly became a story to be avoided until it faded into the dark corners of Elvenkind history.

In the Sea of Trees, Qellerion took in many of those who now shared his curse, though many fled from the forest or put an end to their lives. As much as Qellerion lamented their fate, he decided to move on, thankful that Qallantë had taken pity on the Queenstree for the very least. 

It was then that to talk about Qellatamisí was to talk about strange creatures that roamed the forests of the Sea of Trees, who wielded strange magic and that could spin a thousand webs in the blink of an eye. Tales of people who adventured there and never returned slowly grew in the mouths of travelers, and very little was known about the dark Spider King who transformed all who crossed their borders into spidery servants.

Unfortunately, that was not the end of the woes of Qellerion, the Green Hand. With time, he noticed his body changing from male to female, when he became capable of bearing eggs. She then smiled with joy upon the prospect of having offspring, but after a number of attempts she realized all of her children were born under the shadow of her curse. The strange city of Qellatamisí was kept and loved by those who became known as the Spiderfolk, part sentient descendants of Elvenkind, part non-sentient descendants of other creatures that unknowingly crossed the borders of the Sea of Trees.

With time, another threat came that took away that which the Spiderfolk most cherished: their Queenstree. The circumstances of that event are still immersed by a thick shroud of mystery and will not be told here. What matters is that Qallantë was tied with the primeval power of the Queenstree, and as it fell, so was finished the hold of her spell. Without the force of the Queenstree, and with the growing bitterness of her own feelings, Qellerion let the Sea of Trees dwindle, the city of Qellatamisí turn into ruin and see her people reduced with time and age. Sentient Spiderfolk could only produce any offspring by the sheer power of the Queenstree, and with her gone, only Qellerion could lay children to populate what was once the pride of the Underground. 

By then, stories started to spread of Qändiran, the Eater of Elves, who devoured anyone who dared enter her domain, slayed the Queenstree and who sit in her lair deep within the Underwoods.

Gods of the World: Tirano, the Many-Toothed

Tirano, also known as the Many-Toothed, the Fang of the Seas or the Waveweaver is a deity that rules over the salt waters, sailors, boats and fishery. Tirano is generally represented as a humanoid shark, but can also take the form of a feathered dragon, a gargantuan sea turtle or a crystalline crab. It is one of the most popular deities in the Western Coast, with a number of dedicated shrines, churches and festivals throughout the Surface. It is said that all living beings of the oceans were born from a single meeting between the Waveweaver and Ybe, the Many-Limbed, and that the first among them were the Craucoas themselves.

While Tirano is often associated with more mundane aspects of the seas, the deity is subject to a number of tales related to its unmatched power and fickleness. There are many stories in which Tirano either destroys or protects without any perceivable reason, which has lent him the penchant of a capricious or unreliable god.

Regardless of the myths surrounding its nature, many pray to Tirano to fill their nets with fish and to bless their travels by the sea, though the manner with which people do so varies according to the most current belief or most prestigious church at the moment. Sea turtles and crabs, for example, can be either considered a worthy sacrificial offering or holy animals to be protected at all costs, which often leads to arguments or even conflicts, depending on the region of worship. Sharks, however, are generally held in high regard and seen as his favorites.

Image sources (from left to right): Figure 1, Figure 2.