The Faiths of Baltia

Baltia is dominated by two pantheons of deities which reign side by side: The Old Gods, and the New Gods. Most individuals worship some combination of the two, though there are also a number of prominent heresies.

When the Cataclysm began, the first order of business for the Forgotten Chorus was to eradicate the most powerful potential enemies it would face. This meant the gods that reigned at the time were the first targets of its wrath, and even as they allied against this unprecedented threat, it would completely destroy them.

When the Chorus was defeated, the Heroes of the Cataclysm were left facing a void in the world of the divine that they were uniquely suited to fill, and thus 18 of them made the decision to ascend to godhood to act as the new divine beings maintaining the order and function of the world. They would become the Old Gods.

The balance carefully crafted by the Old Gods would be shattered with the return of Idakor, which would result in the rise of the New Gods. This dynamic would further skew with the Song of Rage, where half the Old Gods would die in the war with the Nameless One. Today, a delicate balance has once again been established between the deities, but for how long remains an unanswered question.

With the exception of the especially devout, most individuals tend to worship all or most of the Old Gods to some degree, and one New God that most aligns to the belief of the worshiper. This is due to the fundamental difference in what each Pantheon represents to each person.

The Old Gods are seen as similar to divine custodians, all equally necessary to ensure balance in the world and its continued function. The New Gods, meanwhile, each represent something more. They elicit a stronger reaction from their worshipers, but are less “vital” to the operations of the world itself.

This distinction is quite important for the gods. Each mortal soul constantly releases energy that flows to the gods they worship, granting them their power.

In a practical sense, the rituals conducted by individuals in the mortal world typically serve to redirect some of the energy created by the soul. For example, funeral services are usually devoted to the Merchant, and grant him power in exchange for the safe passage of the soul of the deceased. Combat training devoted to the Army will grant power to that deity, and is said to grant favorable odds to the most devout force.

Those who worship the Old Gods typically worship the pantheon as a whole in some way, with a few exceptions. This is due to the understanding that the Old Gods maintain the normal functions of the world, and thus are all equally in need of worship. Without this equal distribution, it is feared that the world's laws may unravel to some extent.

Of course, their are rivalries between the gods, and the more devout toward particular old gods one individual is, the more likely they are to exclude the enemies of their favored deities from their various acts of worship.

While mortals are inclined to spread their worship between Old Gods, there is no such inclination for the New Gods. Rather than maintain the normal function of the world, the New Gods instead represent ideological forces. As a result, worship of a New God is more of a philosophical or moral decision than a pragmatic one, and so typically only a single New God will find themselves subject to the worship of an individual mortal.

However, the worship that New God receives will typically be more dedicated and purposeful. While many mortals worship the Old Gods with the same enthusiasm they reserve for paying taxes, they're far more likely to truly believe in the message of a New God.

The Old Gods are composed of some of the Heroes of the Cataclysm and their allies, and their primary purpose as deities was to ensure the continued functioning of the world in the wake of the Cataclysm. In a way, they can be viewed as caretakers of the world.