The Gods of Thireila

I am currently re-designing some of the aspects of Thireila. This article has not yet been reworked, but will soon be updated!

Today we're gonna take a closer look at the deitys of the World Thireila, which i presented last week. This post will feature specifics about the clerics of Thireila and as well as the detiled entry for one of the gods. others will follow within the next few months.

Thireila has seen many powerful creatures. Some mighty enough to claim the title god for themselves. The gods had powers far beyond imagination, not linked to the magic some weaker races wield. Those beings have shaped our world like none other, have sprouted and raised some civilizations, as well as they have brought doom to others. Some gods live in our realm, some have their own home in a distant plane, but most influence our world to this day. This Post will mostly focus on the Gods worshipped by humanity.

The Gods of the Human Race

The Gods that brought humanity into existence were among the first beings to wander this world. They spent centuries travelling and shaping the world, building friendships and rivalries among each other. The thirst for power lead the civilizations of Thireila towards magical experiments, which brought the first demonic invasion upon the world. The Gods could, after a long war, send the demons back to their home Ifrinn, but the damage was done.

The gods then proceeded to help fill the world with life again and brought forth the race of humans. As peace settled in and humans claimed the world the gods resigned from creating, as they fell enamoured with the humans and created avatars to live among them. Distracted by mortal pleasures the Hordes of Ifrinn could make their return.

The gods were overwhelmed by this army and as the full invasion began they could not stand their ground. After months of losses they struck one final plan: All Gods left combined their power to banish the demons once and for all. This Ritual lasted one day and shaped the world forever. The energies set free burnt land and cities. the living races had to pay a high bloodtoll but the attack hit the demons harder. Not many demons survived and those that did were without leadership and scattered across the land. The Plane of Demons was sealed again, but the gods were nowhere to be found.

As the world recovered from nearly beeing destroyed humans that lived by the rules and principles of the gods began to feel a power flowing through them. The gods were still alive but not among the living anymore. They became bodyless entities and the only way to impact the world they had left was to grant humans power to carry out their will. They became worshiped or feared but could no longer walk the land as they once did.

Those gods are the gods humanity worships today.

The Gods of Humanity
Lawful	Neutral	Chaotic
Imna - Goddess of Honor	Janu - God of Diplomacy and Secrets	Elyra - Goddess of Mysteries and Magic*
Parthia - Goddess of Justice and Nobility	Molyk - God of Creation	Hog - God of Beasts and Combat
Paturo - God of Wisdom and Age	Tirif - Goddess of Nature and Weather	Matho - God of Desperation and Hope
Ralwonir - God of Purity and Health	Tjorael - God of Hospitality and Alcohol	Olnoth - God of Pestilence and Illness
Torgej - God of Craftsmanship and Trade	Travendra - Goddess of Death and Fate	Shantu Sulfar - Goddess of Alchemy and the Moon
Vorlukay - God of the Undead	Urr - God of War	Zeyai - Goddess of the Sea

* Elyra has only few clerics and mostly acts as a patron to aspiring Magicians  

Clerics in Thireila 

The existance of the gods is not up for debate so the only question for most beeings is wheter they can identify with the ideals of a single god or a group of gods enough to worship them over all others. It is common for humans to follow the path of a god but some take it one step further and devote their entire life to a single god. Those people are called "clerics" and are able to summon the power of the gods.

Some clerics and faithful organize in churches or ordos but others find faith on their own. Not all people choose the god which they follow sometimes a god chooses a human to carry out his will. The Gods don't take the servitude of their followers lightly and reward them by helping them on their encounters and lending them powers. But a Human who abuses his powers or betrays his god might soon find out how the real wrath of his god can feel.

The importance of the churchs and gods varries on a regional basis, depending on the interest of the gods, the faith of the people there and the intents of the rulers. Some rulers even forbid the worship of specific gods. While the gods mostly lend their powers to humans some of other races have been able to follow their calling and join the ranks of the clerics.

Playing a Cleric 

 

Thireila hosts some changes to the way Clerics are played in Dungeon Crawl Classics. There are two major changes. Disapproval and Deity specific abilities. These changes all depend on the specific Godthe cleric follows. If no Entry for the god of the cleric has been released than these changes don't take place and the cleric follows the normal rules presented in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Book.

Deity Abilities

Each Deity alters the way of the core abilities in some minor or major way. Specifics are detailed in each gods entry. 

Deity Spells

Each God gives his clerics access to one or more spells only his clerics may use. These spells can be aquired once a cleric has a level high enough to learn spells of that level. Deity specific spells use a "Spells known" slot as normal spells do and a cleric does not have to learn them.

Deity Requests 

Each god entry comes with a table of six god specific deity requests. These can be used instead of the table in the core book or in addition to it. If combining both simply use a d16 and treat the results in these new tables as entries 11-16.

Disapproval

In Thireila the gods are more aware of the deeds of their faithful. So their punishment is more concrete. Every God has its own disapproval tables, which are divided into three categories. Lay on Hands, Turn Unholy and Spellcasting. Instead of rolling a Number of d4 equal to the result of the roll which caused disapproval, simply take the result and compare it to the table corresponding with the action, which caused disapproval. If the disapproval has come up as a result of a Divine Aid roll, then refert to the table best fitting to the request and deed.

Ralwonir - God of Purity and Health.

The Pure god, The savior of Mankind, the Helpful Hand. Ralwonir is all this and far more. He watches over the humans, protecting those, who follow the right path and are of pure heart. He rejects those who only thirst for power and fame, those who willingly put others at risk and those who have any malicious intent. His vision of humanity is a vision of humble, grateful, helpful and loyal beings and he will do everything to protect his faithful who are building this vision. Those who failed his Vision may have the chance of redemption, as Ralwonirs hopes for humanity are far too high to let people fall easily.

Deity Entry (click to open):
Ralwonir - God of Purity and Health

Welcome to Thireila

Most of Thireilas history lies buried in ruins. Before the wars there was a time of peace. Not peace all over the world. If all cultures have one thing in common, then it is their lust for conflict. But what brought our world close to death was no nation known to us. As the Hordes of Ifrinn rose from their home they brought death and destruction. The Demonlords and Archdevils easily dispatched most armies of our world and only the gods could save us, giving up their eternal bodies and banishing themselves from our realm. 

Welcome to Thireila. The world of demon ashes. This world is a setting for Dungeon Crawl Classic, which i use for most of my game sessions. While it might not differentiate itself too much from most DCC Settings, being a classic medieval fantasy world, it lies the simple groundwork easily to grasp, with enough depth to let players connect to the setting with ease.

History

 

Nobody really knows how old this world is. It has seen many civilizations rise and fall, as centuries passed by, leaving no one to tell the tales. But some tales outlast time itself. As magic was discovered the borders between the realms became only mere suggestion for the ancient wizards and war became horrific, as demons and devils joined in on the action. The ancient entities, we now refer to as gods, were among the most powerful to ever set foot on our realm. Nobody knows where they came from or how long they existed. 

In the early days of Thireila many species were created. Some were children of the gods, some just appeared on the face of this world. Those races of the first age were as diverse as they were powerful. The gods were excited about them but some feared they could rival them in power. As time passed, the ancient races discovered a new source of power to utilize. Magic. The wild and untamed energy of magic was as powerful as it was dangerous and only few of the gods could grasp it, as their power was something completely different.

Around this time rivalries and conflicts between the gods became more common. Wars were waged, Alliances were formed and broke, and the races of Thireila were forced into those without another chance. These conflicts all left their marks on this world and as the gods got carried away by their displays of power a new Threat emerged. A magical realm, Ifrinn, was discovered by the ancient mages and the barrier that kept those worlds apart got damaged by the experiments of the ever so curious wizards.

As the barrier lost its strength some of the inhabitants of Ifrinn made it into our world. Demons and Devils, beings of pure chaos and destruction, seeking to bring ruin to our world. Most gods were disgusted by those beings but a few aligned with them as they too sought chaos. The fight against the demons and their allies was short and those gods who could wield the magical powers tried their best at restoring the barrier to Ifrinn, but the punishment for those races who brought the Demons to Thireila was grave. Only few races of this time are still alive.

As time passed a new race emerged. Not created by a single god, but children of many the humans were different then those who came before them. Unlike others he humans acknowledged all the gods and were seeking their guidance instead of avoiding them. This led them to grow, building cities and keeps, founding nations and empires. And the gods rivalries calmed down, for a while.

As humanity grew in power they discovered more and more about the world and themselves. Most Gods were not opposed to the humans wielding magic, but quickly found out that they lacked the power and control to rival the mages of old. They thought, they could not tear down the barrier into the realm of demons, but they were wrong. Meanwhile the demons found other ways, breaking down the wall from their side and corrupting other races. The first to be corrupted were the elves of the black forest and they among many others joined them. As the gods noticed what happened it was too late.

The hordes of Ifrinn brought the biggest wave of destruction upon Thireila that was ever seen. The human empires fell within days and soon the Archdevils sat upon the thrones and the Demonlords killed every soul in their path. The gods had to save their world. In an act of desperation they performed a ritual, which changed the world forever. The ritual destroyed the hordes of Ifrinn nearly completly. The Leaders of the Invasion were torn apart by the ritual and only few demons remained. Humanity came close to extinction but survived, but the Gods themselves did not. At least not as they were before. Their bodies were destroyed and only their will remained alive.

Today, 300 years after the ritual, the barrier between the realms is as weak as it ever was, but Ifrinns hordes were stopped. Nobody knows if, or when, they will return but for now Thireila seems safe. The races of Thireila reclaimed some of the land, which was scorched by the Demons and Devils and the world slowly begins to recover. The gods are still there, but they lost most of their power. They gain some power through the faith and worship of those humans who still believe in their ways but it is only a shadow of their former glory.

The World of Thireila 

 

Thireila got twisted and damaged by the war waged with the Hordes of Ifrinn.

The place where human culture formally blossomed, the heart of humanity, lies now deep within The Ashes. This is where the Demons struck first. This desolate region is a demonic wasteland. Few humans still live there, and even fewer by their own will. Although the Demonlords where banished others claimed their place and the Ashes are still home of the demonic hordes.

What remains of the former Empire has fled to the south. Still run by the glorious empress and her bloodline, they hope to one day reclaim the Ashes and rebuild their reign.  Living in a hot region dominated by savanna and deserts the memory of fresh, green grass and the hope to one day return to such regions drives the people of the Empire. They are caught between desolation and hope, preparing for a war against the demonic hordes they can't possibly win.

The Free Realms were once part of the Empire but with the fall of the empire those with the power decided to keep it for themselves. No one rules the Free Realms. The Free Realms rule themselves. Kings, Barons, mighty mages, corrupt wizards, powerful traders and wealthy nobleman reign over their own land and conflict among each other is as frequent as conflict with the plundering hordes of the Ashes or the Traitors of the Land of the Fallen. 

Not all nations fought against the Demons. The Land of the Fallen once was the exile for enemies of the Empire. They quickly joined the demonic hordes and fell victims to the endless corruption. To this day they believe in the power the demons grant and plan to expand their reign, waging war against the Free Realms and the Empire.

The Wildlands have always been unconquered and remain so to  this day. Barbaric tribes wander through the land of snow and ice fighting for survival everyday. Some wonder what might lie buried beneath the ice, as ancient tales tell of long lost kingdoms ruling these lands.

In the northwest lies the Land of lost Hope. While the demonic siege has finally ended the, the corruption, ruining the ground and the people, slowly grows through the land. Sulfuric rain comes from the south and the rivers carry blood and acid. Their days are numbered and they know it.

The Eternal Coast has remained untouched. To the wonders of everyone, including the inhabitants, the hordes simply stopped and moved away. The coast is ruled by the Coastal Kings and has no real means of connecting to the remainder of the world. but they are safe. Somehow.

Far in the north there is rumored to be an island called De'thraga. Many ships have sailed there over the time but none have returned.

Religion

 

While there are many being of godlike powers, those the humans refer to as gods are of a special kind. While they lost their body during the war with Ifrinn their will is still strong enough to impact the world. Most Humans worship the gods and the gods may give their faithful some of their power, if it serves their will. Those gods are the gods which the humans worship.

Lawful	Neutral	Chaotic
Imna - Goddess of Honor	Janu - God of Diplomacy and Secrets	Elyra - Goddess of Myteries and Magic*
Parthia - Goddess of Justice and Nobility	Molyk - God of Creation	Hog - God of Beasts and Combat
Paturo - God of Wisdom and Age	Tirif - Goddess of Nature and Weather	Matho - God of Desperation and Hope
Ralwonir - God of Purity and Health	Tjorael - God of Hospitality and Alcohol	Olnoth - God of Pestilence and Illness
Torgej - God of Craftmanship and Trade	Travendra - Goddess of Death and Fate	Shantu Sulfar - Goddess of Alchemy and the Moon
Vorlukay - God of the Undead	Urr - God of War	Zeyai - Goddess of the Sea

* Elyra has only few clerics and mostly acts as a patron to aspiring Magicians

Playing in Thireila

This world is not a well defined place with established cities and routes. It is a backdrop towards your own creations and should be treated as such. If you want more than just a backdrop, why not "Roll out a region". This works especially well for the Free Kingdoms. Most Adventure modules can easily be placed in this world and i will post some plot hooks and modules in the future. Here are some general Suggestions how to improve upon this feeling.

- Literacy is hard to come by. Only characters with an appropriate occupation or an intelligence modifier of +1 or higher are able to read fluently. Characters with no intelligence modifier can read but slowly and badly. Reading a book is a task worth many years for those. Wizards will become literate over time, no matter how intelligent they are.

- Money is worth a lot. This is a general suggestion for DCC. Reduce all the monetary rewards and prices listed in modules and books by one step. For example 10 gold turn into 10 silver. This will keep gold a rarity as it should be, while also keeping the economy of the game working.

- Survival is not guaranteed. While many fantasy settings imply that food and shelter are given, settlements and even bigger towns struggle with providing this in Thireila. While the Free Realms generally have it better than the empire, the suffering of the people can be felt from small hamlet to big city.

- Magic is feared. Most commoners associate magic with demons and the unknown. If you are a wizard who openly and alone walks into a small hamlet, you should be expecting pitchforks and torches. At least in those regions close to the Ashes

What comes next

 

The next weeks will see many updates to this world and i will try posting something new every Friday. Next week we'll take a closer look at Religion and i will present some fleshed out gods. While this might not seem to be much more than a draft there will be more!

Until then... Goodbye

Rolling through Regions

Every Story needs to take place somewhere. This somewhere is not the entire continent, or world. It is a small region. Some landmarks, a few cities, some history, nothing more. Most Stories and Adventure Modules don't need a predefined world and DCC is built around the idea of creating the world from within. Taking the focus towards the individual places and persons.

This system i present you here will provide you with a randomized region for fantasy roleplaying. While some of the designs and ideas are directly catered towards Dungeon Crawl Classics, the regions provided here can easily used inside every fantasy setting or system.

A huge shoutout to Last Gasp Grimoire, which inspired this Setting with its amazing City and Village Generator.

Let's get started.

1. Prepare the Region.

We need some tools for creating our region. We need a normal piece of paper, some pens and dice. Specifically d4, d6 and d20. Which dice of which sort you take is up to you but for trying out the system i recommend 6 of each. Put all the d4, d6 and d20 on a pile or into a bag. Now we can start.

2. Roll the dice.

Pull a hand full of random dice out of the bag or from the pile. Throw them all onto your sheet of paper. Those refusing to land on the sheet of paper will have to find their way back on there. Just pick them up and place them somewhere or roll them again until they stay there. Every Die will represent something in the region. The d4 form the landscape, the d20 create the settlements and the d6 fill the region with places of interest.

3. Create the landscape.

Every d4 represents a big area of terrain. Take the die out and draw the landscape corresponding to the number rolled onto the map.

1 - Mountains
2 - Forest
3 - Lake
4 - Hills

The size of the landscape is up to you but if you can't decide. Reroll the d4. The number that comes up shows the diameter in inch. If landscapes overlap with other dice, then so be it. If a dice is close to the edge of the map you can expand the landscape out of the map. A Lake might become the sea by doing so.

4. Create Settlements

Every d20 is a settlement. The number rolled represents the size of the settlement. Everything below 10 has to be considered a town or smaller, while 11 or higher represent cities. Draw a Settlement of corresponding size and write the Number next to it. If you want a more in depth city creation look at the Optional Steps after this.

5. Create Special Places

Every d6 represents a special place. Higher numbers mean more important, mythical or dangerous places. There are two systems of which to choose. They obviously can be mixed without further adjustment.

5.1. Place Adventure Modules

This method replaces the d6 with pre made adventure modules. Every die represents the location at which a Module takes place. The recommended character level for the module equals the number rolled -1. Note that thiss will not provide with adventures for characters of level 6 or higher. Level 0 reffers to Funnel Modules, which are more or less specific to Dungeon Crawl Classics.

5.2. Place "Special Places"

Just get creative! Ancient ruins, secret wizard lairs, ruined chapels. The higher the number, the bigger the danger, the greater the reward. Within the optional steps, a set of random tables can be found which provide inspiration. If planning on using them, mark the number of the dice at the location.

6. Create Roads and Rivers

We begin with the largest settlement. If the Size of the Settlement (the number on the d20) is bigger than 10 connect it to 1d4+1 other Locations. This proritizes close settlements and big settlements over special places. If the settlement is "close" to the edge of the map, there is a 50% chance that one road will lead out of the region. For settlements with a size of 10 or lower, if they have no roads yet, create one. Afterwards, no matter how many roads there are, roll a die. At a odd number draw a road between the settlement and another random place.

Every mountain spawns 1d4-1 rivers. Also, there are 1d4-2 rivers, which spring from somewhere else or come from outside of the region A river begins at the spring and then flows towards a random place, be it a settlement a lake, or a special place. At every place reached roll for another one towards which the river will continue. Rivers will never go closer towards their spring. If all "valid" targets are closer to the spring than the previous targets it simply flows out of the map. Rivers crossing each other join up and become a single river.

7. Finishing touches

The map you have now is a rough sketch of your region. Giving names to places will transform it into a place to play at. If you don't wish to give more details to cities and special places, then you are done. If you want to do so, then either follow these optional steps or any other method you see apropriate.

Optional steps:

The following steps are not required in Order to create a functioning region. Often they have to be chosen in order to fit the narrative, but sometimes rolling them out can lead to more creative fun.

O1. Who rules here?

Every Region needs a Ruler. In order to determine the Ruler roll a d20 and add the size of the largest settlement ontop. Then consult the following table.

Things inside a settlement
Result	Who rules?	Modification
2 - 4	Anarchy. People here have somehow arranged with each other. Stranger might find the inner workings quite confusing.	none
5 - 8	Clans. Old families rule this land. They are not noble and not wealthy but their rule has been accepted by the people.	none
9 - 12	A Chief. A Warlord or some other form of archaic king rules here. His laws might be erratic but they work.	none
13 - 16	Rulers from the outside. Some Ruler from a distant land have all the saying in this land. There won't be any direct rule, just an embassy within the biggest settlement. Roll another d20 and add it to your previous roll. This determines the outside rulers.	Embassy in biggest settlement
17 - 20	Religious Leaders. This region is governed by the Church of (1d6) 1-2. A lawful god. 3-4 A neutral God. 5 A chaotic God. 6. A demon lord.	Add a Temple of the entity to every settlement
21 - 24	The Merchants Guild. Trade is the essence of this land, as it is owned by wealthy traders	Add a Merchants Guild building in every settlement
25 - 28	Place of the People. The People Rule over their own land. Decisions are made by (1d6) 1. an assembly, voted for by the people. 2. the rich and wealthy. 3. the military leaders. 4. the noble. 5. the oldest. 6. the literate and scholars.	Add a public meeting hall to the capitol
29 - 32	A mighty Person. This region is controlled by (1d6). 1. a powerful mage. 2. a powerful noble. 3. a holy person of a random god. 4. the child of a king. 5. a military leader assigned to this place. 6. a young rebel, who overthrew the old regiment (roll again to determine the former rulers)	Add a fortress befitting the ruler to the capitol
33 - 36	The Count rules. While neither as noble, nor as powerful as the king, the count and his family reign over all settlements in this region, with no one above them.	Add a Castle to the capitol
37 - 40	The King rules. A mighty King reigns supreme. Not only is this region under his rule, he also reigns over all the land surrounding it. This is the centre of a big kingdom.	Add a Castle or even a palace to the capitol

Note on the table: This table does assume, that humans are in charge, but if this is not the case by design, then there is a 10% chance of the ruler beeing a dwarf, elf or halfling. If  one of those rule the land there is a 50% chance, that the population mostly consists of his race.

O2. Give life to Settlements

Settlements are not well defined within this method. If you want to give them more Detail, then you can use the system provided here. You need to know the size of your settlement in order to use this system:

 - Determine Population.

Each Settlement is populated by about 50 * [size]² People. You can adjust the numbers for larger, big cities by increasing the power to the size to 3 or even 4.

 - Determine whats inside the Settlement

Settlements consist of more than just huts to live in. First of all. Every settlement has a building for those who reign there. To randomly determine other buildings or places of importance look at the list provided here. Roll a d20 for each entry. If you roll lower than or equal to the size of the town, then such a building is present within the town. A natural twenty never adds anything.

Things inside a settlement
Guilds	Temples*	Military	Shops
Guild of Magicians	Temples of lawful gods	Soldiers Academy	Legendary smith
Guild of Mercenaries	Temple of neutral gods	Walls**	Salesman for everything magic
Guild of Merchants	Temple of chaotic gods	Castle**	Thriving Black Market
Guild of Thieves	(Secret) Cults

 * Cities can have multiple temples. If your settlement gets a temple decide if it si for one or many gods. If it is for only one, then roll again for a temple of the same alignment, until you roll too high or run out of gods.

** Cities with a size of 11 or bigger automatically have walls around their centre. This adds another layer of walls. Also every city, ruled by a Chief, Count, King or anything similar automatically has something like a castle. This option then imporoves its looks or fortification.

O3. Randomize your mysteries

This little table can provide you with a randomized special area. You just have to roll a number of six sided dice, equal to the number rolled for the special place (between one and six d6) and compare it to the table. Reroll for each individual column. This tablehas four different entries that make each Place special. The Place itself, it's dominant feature,and its current inhabitants. You may roll twice for feature and / or inhabitants in order to give to place more character. Substract or add 1d6 on your second roll.

Random special place table
Result	Place	Feature	Inhabitants
1	Encampment	abandoned	Roll 2d6 instead
2	Swamp	forgotten	giant spiders
3	Forest	destroyed	humanoids
4	Town	overgrown	goblinoids and orcs
5	Graveyard	forgotten	beastman
6	Cave	corrupted	Un-Dead
7	Fortification	ancient	lizardfolk
8	Mine	gigantic	giants
9	Tower	trap-ridden	plants
10	Laboratory	submerged	elementals
11	Temple	covered in mist	cultists
12	Crypt	frozen	constructs
13	Arena	crystallic	magical [2d6]
14	Prison	glassy	fey
15	Ritual Site	unholy	Shapeshifters
16	Wreckage of a ship	sentient	demons
17	Labyrinth	mechanic	devils
18	Holy Site	flaming	dragons
19	City	gravity defying	giant [3d6]
20	Portal to another realm	toxic	Un-Dead [2d6+7]
21	Magical Tree	moving	mutated [3d6]
22	The Underdark	teleporting	spirits
23	Ancient Battlefield	demonic	vampires
24	Dragons Lair	cursed by a god	Creatures from the underdark
25	Treasure hoard	flying	[4d6] from another plane
26	Pyramid	ontop of another site	shadows
27	Corpse of a giant	shrinking	the child of a god and a demon
28	Portal to another Plane	pitch black	a unspeakable horror
29	Throne of a dead god	devouring	immortals
30	Inside a living creature	multi-dimensional	a crossbred between [2 * 5d6-1]
31	Birthplace of a race	from the future	the last of his race
32	Demonic Rift	made of pure gold	time travellers
33	A Cloud	place of negatives	a demon lord
34	Megadungeon	teleporting	a 10 000 years old mage
35	Portal to another time	older than time	a forgotten god
36	Home of a deity	extraplanar	chickens

 

O4. Hexcrawls

By throwing all the dice onto a Hexmap one can easily create a hexrawl out of this. I recommend taking more special places then and adding some coins or other markers at which random encounters will occur.