Dwarven gods

The dwarves have a much more intimate religious tradition. Although they do recognize three primary deities, the majority of dwarven worship is directed towards the spirits of their noble forebears. That is to say that any given dwarf will recognize the three main gods, but most of his or er devotion will be given to the ancient progenitors of his clan or hold. In this way, heroic and venerable dwarves can be objects of great respect after their deaths, and slowly become minor local gods, although ancestor worship is less formal than a true temple and will not have a specific clergy as that is restricted to the gods of the dwarven people as a whole. These deities are briefy described below.

• Hendurs: Although the dwarven pantheon is far less heirarchical than the human gods, Hendurs could be considered the primary god and patron of the dwarven people as a whole. His primary area of concern is that of crafting and hence proficiency; age and wisdom, and wealth. These three things being of paramount importance to all dwarves he is a very well respected god.

• Kerdic: Kerdic is the dwarven god of war and is also the manifestation of the absolute fidelity of the dwarf. Kerdic represents the unquenchable fury of the dwarf who is wronged, as well as the implacable nature of the hold when engaged in conquest. As he is also the epitome of loyalty he holds sway over the concept of friendship and alliance, and is often invoked when negotiating or engaging in a business deal.

• Aella: Aella is the only major dwarven goddess and her realm is that of hearth and home. Although she is a domestic goddess and is most often thought of as a nurturing and peaceful entity, her wrath is legendary when her family and home is threatened. Indeed in dwarven legends it is Aella who delivers the deathblow of the great serpent Galuagh as he stands over the badly injured Kerdic.

I will try my best to finish up the rest of the humanoid pantheons today. Next I will be touching on the gods and spirits of the elves and after that we will finish up human religions with a fe notes about the pantheons of the western and northern peoples, as well as a few words on specific gods of the gnomes and halflings.