The pantheon of Asvelgoth wasn’t built to mimic the standard fantasy template. There are no gods of war, love, or harvest. Instead, these are deities of ideas—abstractions made divine through survival, adaptation, and philosophy. This choice was intentional.
Asvelgoth is a self-contained, isolated city rebuilt after cataclysm. According to legend, it was destroyed by religious zealots—servants the old gods. Whether this story is true or not, it left a permanent scar on the city’s collective soul. In response, the survivors rejected divine passion in favor of divine purpose. The result was a new religion focused on rebuilding: a pantheon of thinkers, testers, judges, and innovators. These are the Gods of the Reformation, and their faith is rooted in pragmatism, structure, and the ideal of preventing the past from repeating itself.
In the game world, this new faith supports the ruling nobility and the arcane academy. Religion here isn’t just a cultural flourish—it’s institutional, quietly omnipresent, and subtly political. Other gods may exist, but they are considered foreign, even dangerous. Official temples, relics, and divine spells all channel through this curated pantheon. These gods are distant and mysterious, leaving GMs the freedom to portray them as philosophical forces, silent watchers, or hidden manipulators.
Ultimately, this pantheon is a tool for GMs and players to understand the mindset of Asvelgoth’s citizens—especially those in power. It offers a window into a society that rebuilt itself not through prayer, but through principles. Whether your character reveres these gods, questions them, or rejects them entirely, their influence is inescapable.
The church of Asvelgoth
The Church of Asvelgoth stands as the central religious institution in the city, devoted not to a single deity, but to the Pantheon of the Reformation as a unified force. While each god possesses distinct philosophies and commands their own clergy, the dominant religious authority remains the Church itself—a coalition bound by purpose, survival, and civic unity.
At the head of this sacred body is the Patriarch, spiritual leader and highest authority of the Asvelgothian faith. From the grand Cathedral of the Reformation, nestled in the city’s noble quarter, the Patriarch oversees the faith’s direction and its influence across both civic and arcane affairs. Beneath the Patriarch serve the bishops—senior priests who lead the more narrowly focused temples and cults dedicated to individual gods. While most bishops yield to the Patriarch’s guidance, some push against the boundaries of hierarchy, asserting more independence than doctrine permits—especially in the case of secretive cults like Alashk's or action-driven followers of Brumhensko.
Though individuals may align with a specific god in moments of need or in accordance with profession or temperament, citizens of Asvelgoth largely revere the pantheon as a whole, seeing each god as a vital piece of a greater system. It is common for prayers to be directed to one god in the morning, and another at night, depending on the concerns of the day.
The Church once held a second major cathedral near the edge of the Park District, accessible to the working poor. However, that sacred site was destroyed in a great fire nearly forty years ago, and has remained abandoned since. Its loss is still whispered about in low tones by the elder faithful, and its ruins are sometimes visited by wandering priests seeking forgotten truths.
Gods of asvelgoth
| Name | Title | Alignment | Domains |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ternusla | God of Out-of-the-Box Thinking | Neutral | Knowledge, Trickery, Arcana |
| Korliss | God of Optimization | True Neutral | Craft, Knowledge, Order |
| Alashk | Goddess of the Unknown | Neutral | Shadow, Void, Arcana, Silence |
| Heverett | God of the "What If" | Chaotic Neutral | Luck, Chaos, Randomness |
| Theraxis | God of Merit | Lawful Neutral | Justice, Strength, Leadership, Order |
| Brumhensko | God of Harnessing Evil for Good | Neutral Evil | Evil, Protection, Liberation |
| Femea | The Tester | Neutral | Inspection (homebrew), Knowledge, Repose |
The Book of the Reformation
Chapter I: When We Had No Gods
In the days before the Burning, the City of Wonder stood as a light upon the deep places of the earth.¹ Her spires were etched with runes no man remembereth, and her vaults were filled with the wisdom of stars.² The winds bent to her will, and flame and shadow were but tools in her grasp.³ Lo, the folk thereof were not as other folk, for they walked amid powers that the old gods themselves had scarce bestowed.⁴
Yea, her arcanists spake to storms, and her scribes did bind truth to stone.⁵ Hunger was banished, and ailment undone.⁶ Her streets were lit by unseen suns, and her bridges touched the skies.⁷ Many there were who called her blasphemy, and yet more who named her the New Dawn.⁸ She wanted not for glory, nor for marvels.⁹
But behold, from the west there arose a murmuring of dread.¹⁰ A host clad in zeal and silence came forth, bearing no banners, save the wrath of forgotten gods.¹¹ These spake not debate, nor suffered parley, for they feared the pride of men and the fire of the arcane.¹² And the heavens, long still, did stir.¹³
Then came fire upon the gates, and plague upon the fountains.¹⁴ The sky turned against her children, and the marvels they had wrought were turned to ruin.¹⁵ The high towers crumbled, the wise perished, and the city was made ash.¹⁶ No sword could hold, for the wrath was not of men, but of heaven’s own decree.¹⁷ Thus did the old gods answer the cry of the zealot.¹⁸
And the survivors, few and broken, rose from among the bones and smote the earth in bitterness.¹⁹ “Woe unto us,” they cried, “for the gods have made war upon the works of our hands.²⁰ Shall we bow to such as these? Shall we offer praise to those who hath undone us?”²¹
Then turned they from the temples, and cast down the idols of their fathers.²² They spake no prayer, nor made sacrifice.²³ But with trembling limbs and weary breath, they took up hammer and stone and began to build anew.²⁴ The wall rose once more, and the fires were rekindled—but the hearts of the people were hollow as the graves they digged.²⁵
And it came to pass, in the silence of their labor, that a new whisper was heard.²⁶ Not in thunder, nor in vision, nor in tongues of flame.²⁷ But in thought, and toil, and in the sigh of one who lay sleepless beside their work.²⁸
For the gods of old had turned away, but the hunger of men endureth.²⁹ And the void they left cried out to be filled.³⁰
Then arose the Reformation.³¹
Chapter II: Of the Coming of the New Gods
And in the days that followed, the people toiled without light.¹ Their hands did shape stone, but their minds wandered as sheep upon a blasted moor.² For though the city did rise again, the soul thereof was yet adrift.³ And man, though he denieth the gods, shall ever seek the shape of the divine.⁴
Then came stirrings in secret, as a breeze that moveth behind the veil.⁵ Not one voice, but many; not from on high, but from within.⁶ And these were not of fire nor command, but of guidance subtle and strange.⁷ They spake not of dominion, but of understanding.⁸ They descended not, for they were already among the people, unbidden and unseen.⁹
First was known Ternusla, God of Out-of-the-Box Thinking, who openeth that which was thought shut, and uncovereth that which is buried beneath reason.¹⁰ His voice is heard in the hour of desperation, when the path is closed, and the hand faileth.¹¹ He doth not command, but asketh, *“Hast thou tried another way?”*¹² His sign is the eye in the chest, and his temples are built where thought hath triumphed.¹³
Next came Korliss, God of Optimization, who setteth one thing beside another and judgeth which shall endure.¹⁴ He blesseth the builder, the planner, the scribe.¹⁵ Where he walketh, waste is abhorred, and each gear findeth its turn.¹⁶ His worshippers write in ledgers and carve upon stone, *“Let none labor in vain.”*¹⁷
Then emerged Alashk, Goddess of the Unknown, whose voice is silence, and whose face is hidden.¹⁸ She dwelleth in the void where thought feareth to tread.¹⁹ Yet she is no terror, but comfort in shadow.²⁰ She blesseth those who question, who seek the hidden path, who know that not all must be known.²¹ She is the veil and the invitation.²²
After her came Heverett, God of the What If, child of chaos and kin to possibility.²³ He stirreth dreams and throweth wide the gate to the improbable.²⁴ His laughter is the sound of dice upon wood and the breaking of chains.²⁵ His followers leap, and the path formeth beneath their feet.²⁶ They speak not of fate, but of chance well met.²⁷
Then appeared Theraxis, God of Merit, whose gaze discerneth the true from the false, the worthy from the undeserving.²⁸ He asketh not for bloodline, nor title, but for deed.²⁹ He crowneth the one who earneth, and forgetteth the one who expecteth.³⁰ His temples are courts, his priests are judges, and his altar is the sword raised toward the stars.³¹
Thereafter came Brumhensko, God of Harnessing Evil for Good, whose presence is feared yet needed.³² He gathereth that which is forbidden and bindeth it with will.³³ He treadeth where others flinch, and maketh safe the poison when wielded aright.³⁴ His word is peril, and his gospel, restraint.³⁵ His mark is the morningstar, bloodied but righteous.³⁶
Last was known Femea, The Tester, who speaketh not, yet revealeth all.³⁷ She cometh to weigh, to measure, and to strike.³⁸ Her rod doth not bend. Her silence is judgment.³⁹ The unworthy she doth not curse—for they are beneath her notice.⁴⁰ But the true, she guideth ever forward.⁴¹ Her temples are narrow, her altars without flame.⁴²
And lo, the people knew not when these gods had come, nor whence.⁴³ For they were not made in a moment, but in many.⁴⁴ In need, in toil, in dreams and reckoning, they were called forth.⁴⁵
Thus did the Covenant deepen, and the new gods walk unseen among the stones their people raised.⁴⁶
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