Minor Gods of the Lunar Lands

In a previous series of posts, I described the most prominent deities in my setting. But these are merely the most prominent deities. The Lunar Lands has innumerable gods, and just about every concept has its own patron. Though there may be a select few gods with relevant enough or broad enough portfolios to be worshipped just about anywhere, that is by no means an exclusive list.

In my opinion, pantheons do much more for the worldbuilding of a setting than they do for it mechanically. Gods are - or at least they should be - much more than just things that grant certain spells to clerics. The role of gods and religion in a setting influences its culture, its politics, its stories, even its metaphysics. Even if a god doesn't seem relevant for a PC to worship, it can still be useful for them to be detailed for the purposes of developing a setting. What are there cults like? What are their philosophies and their practices? What myths are they involved in? Did they shape any events in the setting? Answering these questions makes the gods a much deeper part of the world than something only interacted with for gameplay purposes, and it gives the world itself far more depth as a result. It can even be a source of some great drama and adventure hooks, and some interesting NPCs.

Here are three of the more obscure gods of my setting, ones that might not be worshiped by most PC clerics, but ones worth throwing into the background to liven things up regardless.

Camalos is the god of chivalry and knightly virtue. It is said that he devised the chivalric code to set out the rightful conduct and values of a noble warrior, and though all knights swear fealty to their liege, so too do they also swear an oath to Camalos, as the First Knight, to uphold his tenants. Usually, he is seen as the image of a perfect knight and the personification of chivalry, acknowledged by knights and paladins as a role model regardless of their patron deity; it is rarer for him to be worshiped in its own right - though the headquarters of every knightly order holds a shrine to Camalos, and he does have a small but devoted cult of his own.

The priests of Camalos take the chivalric virtues (such as valor in battle, honesty in all regards, respect for women, and deference to one's liege) as rules to live by, and often practice martial training. Curiously, although Camalos's monks and nuns are celibate, they are allowed (arguably encouraged) to pursue trysts with secret lovers, insofar as these feelings are not consummated, and insofar as no one else learns of such affairs - after all, chivalry holds that courtly love is the purest love of all.

• Camalos's holy symbol is a knight's helmet, sometimes displayed as a charge on a cleric's coat of arms.
• The leader of Camalos's cult is Patriarch Turias III, who presides over an abbey in the City-State of Lynnery. This monastery is built below a great cliff face, into which Camalos himself has carved the tenants of knighthood.
• Alignment: Lawful Neutral
• Domains: Order
• Oaths: Crown, Glory, Devotion
• Sacrifices: Rewards of knightly quests (beasts slain, treasures won, lances broken in a joust, etc.)

Gwennert is the god of dogs. All dogs worship him as their king, and he is considered the master of stray dogs who do not have a master of their own. As such, many cities have cults of stray dogs that gather in alleyways to pay homage to their patron. His cult preaches the values of absolute loyalty to one's master, something more valuable than life itself; a loyal follower must obey their master regardless of if it makes sense to do so, as the dog who waits for his master even after the master has died. Although his teachings make more sense to dogs, he nevertheless has a contingent of followers among other races, who see the relationship of a dog and its master as a reflection of that of a vassal to their lord.

As legend has it, Gwennert was once a mortal hound belonging to a knight, who was tasked with guarding his newborn son. One day, Gwennert's master found the hound covered in blood, and aghast at the sight that the dog had seemingly killed his child, slew him - only to find that the baby was alive in his crib, with a dead wolf laying at its feet. Mourning his dog's loyalty, the knight constructed a shrine where he was buried, and the other gods, it is said, elevated Gwennert's soul to the heavens to watch over all canine-kind (one heresy claims that the cult was started by that knight in order to memorialize the dog. If you speak dog, never claim as much when a dog can hear you). Because of this, Gwennert is sometimes worshiped as a protector god, and prayed to for safety of children or good luck in childbirth.

• Gwennert's holy symbol is the paw or nose of a dog, worn as an amulet.
• Gwennert's cult is led by a hound named Nosewise I. He resides at the shrine where the dog-god's body was buried, located in Vardessy outside the village of Harlesburg, and a shrine maiden named Reika acts as his interpreter. However, followers of the cult insist on the fact that the dog is the Patriarch, not the maiden, and she only delivers his revelations to the people.
• Alignment: Lawful Good
• Domains: Life, Peace, Nature. Or just play a Really Good Dog.
• Oaths: Redemption, Devotion
• Sacrifices: Bones

Usalia is the goddess of wrestling. She oversees all contests of grappling and is said to guide champions to victory, and it is common to open a wrestling match with a prayer to her. She favors those who have honest faith in their strength and show good sportsmanship to others. Most Pantheonists on the mainland consider Usalia to be the daughter of Kord, the god of strength, and she is largely revered within his cult. However, there is a particular mystery cult in Valossa that worships Usalia directly.

According to this cult, Usalia was actually born to a mortal family in the hills of northern Valossa, where she grew to become a champion wrestler, undefeated by any opponents. However, she would die suddenly of illness. Feeling her glory was yet unfinished, Usalia challenged Morthanos himself to a wrestling match for her soul; although he ultimately won, it was an epic battle, and one where she broke the reaper's leg. In response, she was granted a seat among the gods instead of being sent to the Land of the Dead. Valossan depictions often show Morthanos as walking with a limp for this reason.

The Valossan cult of Usalia is known for their practice of ritual combat, incorporating grand theatrics into mock bouts during rituals. Members of the cult wear elaborate masks and assume anonymous identities in public, only revealing their true face if bested in a match where they have wagered their mask; to unmask a follower in any other circumstance is one of the cult's gravest sins. Though these matches are largely staged, the members of the cult train in the arts of grappling, and it would be a mistake to underestimate one in battle. In fact, one of Usalia's most celebrated saints was a silver-masked paladin who performed many heroic deeds with his bare hands, including overcoming a coven of vampiresses and forcing a ferocious blue demon to do his bidding.

• Usalia's holy symbol is a laurel wreath, as would be given to a victorious wrestler (either an actual one or a depiction thereof). In Valossa, a wrestling mask is often used instead.
• Usalia's Patriarch is a masked half-orc known only by the name of Tiburon, who oversees a temple in the village believed to be her home as a mortal. He is revered as the strongest wrestler in Valossa and the champion of the cult. If one was to best him in the ring, he would grant his position to them.
• Alignment: Lawful Neutral
• Domains: Strength, or use a Monk or a Tavern Brawler Fighter to represent a cleric of Usalia.
• Oaths: Glory, Conquest
• Sacrifices: A portion of the winnings of a wrestling match, or the mask of a defeated opponent (these are hung in the temple).