Danrae

Danrae Religion

The Danrae religion can be described as a combination of the medieval Catholic Church and Norse battle religion. They have traditional temples within most cities and churches or shrines in many towns and villages. Most Danrae churches are dedicated primarily to Odin and contain shrines to the other deities in the pantheon. The main temples of the Danrae are all located in the city of Trilain.

The high priest of Odin is always the Patriarch of the whole organization, supported closely by the high priestess of Frigga. The priests of Odin are the most numerous, worshipping, praying and paying homage to the other deities of the pantheon as appropriate. Second in power and influence within the structure are the various militant orders detailed under their respective deities below.

Danrae Religion Philosophy

Each of the deities in the pantheon have different aspects and clerics of Danrae deities may be of any alignment. For example some followers of Hel are chaotic evil and are known to bring plague and sickness as a way to purge the weak, but others are of good or neutral alignments and help heal the sick in her name. Followers of Tyr are almost exclusively Lawful, but there are good, neutral and evil clerics among his worshippers.

Danrae Pantheon

Odin "The All Father" - Symbol: A Watching Blue Eye

Odin's priests have the most temples and most widespread worship among the Danrae. Odin's wife is Frigga and all the other deities are his and Frigga's children.

Odin's sphere of influence is Authority & Rulership, his color is Sapphire, and his animals are the dragon, the wolf and the raven. Priests of Odin are expected to wear ring mail, and make burnt offerings as sacrifice.

Clerics of Odin have access to the following domains:

RPG	Allowed Domains (bold is a required Domain) and bonus abilities or restrictions
Pathfinder/D&D 3.5	War (Spear), Air, Knowledge, Strength
D&D 5th	War, Knowledge (Trickery), Tempest

Heimdal "The Bright God" - Symbol: A Curled Horn

Heimdal has several of his own temples, most notable is the militant order The Knights of the Horn, which is a group of clerics, fighters and paladins. Members of this order often act as bodyguards or security for important religious figures. The Knights of the Horn are headquartered in the city of Tilith. They have a long and bitter rivalry with the Tempus Knights.

Heimdal's sphere of influence is Protection & Opening of Paths, his color is white, and his animal is the eagle. Priests of Heimdal are expected to wear white plate mail, and make burnt offerings as sacrifice.

Clerics of Heimdal have access to the following domains:

RPG	Allowed Domains (bold is a required Domain) and bonus abilities or restrictions
Pathfinder/D&D 3.5	War (Greatsword), Good, Protection Spot is a class skill with a +2 bonus. At 3rd level priests of Heimdal gain a circumstance bonus of +3 to their AC when defending a portal against entry (in defense) or a person from attack (applies only to a non-combatant).
D&D 5th	War, Nature, Light

Tempus - "God of Strife and Fire" "Loki" - Symbol: A Flaming Hammer

Tempus is a three faced god, a god of war and blood lust in one aspect, of trickery in another, and blacksmithing and creativity in the last. All followers of Tempus have a great respect for blacksmiths, and are forbidden to cause them harm and will defer to skilled blacksmiths as if they were priests. Blacksmiths are often devotees of Tempus and mark their shops with his symbol. Clerics of Tempus consider smith shops to be holy paces. There are several major temples set up for him and the established militant order called the Tempus Knights. The Tempus Knights have a long and bitter rivalry with the Order of Sif and the Knights of the Horn. There is often political maneuvering and bloodshed between the orders. The order of Tempus Knights hold a somewhat different view of the afterlife than other Danrae. They believe that any enemy defeated in honorable battle will become their servant in Valhalla.

Tempus' sphere of influence is Fire, Blood-lust, Strife, and Blacksmithing, his colors are red and black, and his animals are the raven and the ox. Priests of Tempus are expected to wear leather vests and make burnt offerings as sacrifice.

Clerics of Tempus have access to the following domains:

RPG	Allowed Domains (bold is a required Domain) and bonus abilities or restrictions
Pathfinder/D&D 3.5	War (Battle Axe), Artifice, Destruction, Fire, Trickery (Knowledge) Bonus Smite Feat +2 Bonus to Craft Skills of Blacksmithing and Weaponsmithing
D&D 5th	War, Tempest, Trickery (Knowledge Smithing)

Tyr - "God of War and Law" - Symbol: Sword and Scale

Priests of Tyr, have set up a major temple to the deity. The Justicars of Tyr is a militant order made up of dedicated warrior priests who are often multi-class fighter-clerics or paladins. The Justicars are known to be primarily dedicated to law and not necessarily to justice. The Justicars are sometimes given authority by nobles to act as roving judges (judge, jury and sometimes executioner).

Tyr's sphere of influence is Law, War, and Justice, his color is gray, and his animal is the war-horse. Priests of Tyr are expected to wear black cloaks, and sacrifice crafted items.

Clerics of Tyr have access to the following domains:

RPG	Allowed Domains (bold is a required Domain) and bonus abilities or restrictions
Pathfinder/D&D 3.5	War (Longsword), Law At 3rd level they may substitute one domain spell with a Discern Lies spell. At 5th level they may substitute a 3rd level or higher domain spell with a True Seeing spell.
D&D 5th	War, Death, Light

Frigga - "The Hearth Mother" - Symbol: Falcon Plumes

Frigga has many smaller shrines and several convents set up to her alone. The priestesses of Frigga play a more supportive role in the hierarchy, being primarily dedicated to matters concerning women, the hearth and home. Priestesses of Frigga also have a connection to magic and foresight. Frigga is Odin's wife and the other deities of the mythos are their children.

Frigga's sphere of influence is The Home, The Harvest and Love, her color is sky blue, and her animals are all domestic animals, especially the cat. Priests of Frigga are expected to wear elaborate gowns (female) or go bare-headed (male), and make burnt offerings as sacrifice.

Clerics of Frigga have access to the following domains:

RPG	Allowed Domains (bold is a required Domain) and bonus abilities or restrictions
Pathfinder/D&D 3.5	Healing, Earth, Magic, Knowledge, Water
D&D 5th	War, Life, Nature

Hel - "The Crone" - Symbol: A Kris or Half Black/White Mask

Although Hel has shrines in most temples (in an attempt to placate her more than actual devotion), there is rumored to be an underground group of extremists who seek to spread and glorify the aspects of plague and death that she represents.

Hel's sphere of influence is Death & Disease, her colors are black and white, and her animals are the nightmare, the wolf and the rat. Priests of Hel are expected to wear black leather and make attend to the dying or act as executioners, humanely end suffering (Notes: Some flavor dealing with and observing death, replacing "human sacrifice". Clerics of Hel could be official executioners (both secular and ecclesiastical), or they might be healers that attend the terminally ill (not all aliments can be magically healed), they often keep records of the dead. Their "sacrifice" is to attend the dead and dying.)

Clerics of Hel have access to the following domains:

RPG	Allowed Domains (bold is a required Domain) and bonus abilities or restrictions
Pathfinder/D&D 3.5	Evil, Death, Destruction Immune to Disease.
D&D 5th	War, Death, Nature, Life

Sif - "Mistress of Battles" "Goddess of Luck" "The Maiden" - Symbol: An Angled Longsword

Associated with the Knights of the Horn, there is are temples dedicated to the warrior goddess Sif, Her temples are primarily established to help women. They boast one of the finest fighter training schools in the land, but men are not allowed into their halls. The militant order, the Order of Sif operates the largest of these temples.

Sif's sphere of influence is Skill in Battle, Good Fortune, and Purity, her colors are silver and white, and her creature is the Valkyrie and the Bluejay. Priests of Sif are expected to wear Chainmail, and make sacrifices of fine weapons.

Clerics of Sif have access to the following domains:

RPG	Allowed Domains (bold is a required Domain) and bonus abilities or restrictions
Pathfinder/D&D 3.5	War (any Sword), Luck, Travel A priestess of Sif may spontaneously substitute any domain spell with True Strike or Resistance
D&D 5th	War, Light, Knowledge (Soldier, Warcraft)

Lore - "Keeper of the Keys of Knowledge" - Symbol: A Feather on a Chain

Lore is the keeper of all knowledge, and as such is revered by many mages. All of Lore's temples are also libraries, and many of her priests are also sages. The priesthood has built a large library system, where it is actually possible to "check out" books, but they charge a steep price for their services. Occasionally a priest of Lore becomes "blessed" by the deity. The priest so blessed gains glimpses into the knowledge of Lore. Mortal minds cannot withstand this exposure and inevitably the priest will become insane. For this reason they are known as the Mad Avatars of Lore. Part of the duty of all Lore priests is to remain vigilant for signs of the Avatar in other priests and themselves. As soon as a priest is found to exhibit the signs of being an Avatar, he or she is taken into seclusion at the High Temple of Lore, where every word they speak is recorded for as long as the Avatar lives. Unlike other documented insane prophets, the Avatars rarely speak of the future, instead they speak knowledge. The utterances of the Avatars are said to be akin to selecting a book and page at random from some vast library and beginning to read. Knowledge spoken by Avatars has been as insignificant as a tax collectors log book, to as profound as the discovery that one of the past kings of Danrae was actually a woman, and an entire new branch of the royal line that existed from the ancestors of a child she bore in secret.

Lore's sphere of influence is Knowledge, Poetry, and Creativity, her color is purple, and her creature is the owl. Priests of Lore are expected to well tunics or togas and make offerings of knowlege (books, scrolls, reserch, etc.) to the temples.

Clerics of Lore have access to the following domains:

RPG	Allowed Domains (bold is a required Domain) and bonus abilities or restrictions
Pathfinder/D&D 3.5	Magic, Knowledge
D&D 5th	Knowledge, Trickery