Fleshing out Eupharas' Dragon Pantheon

The Dragon Pantheon:
Yeah, it's one of those corny dragons and elements kind of thing. Let's start by just explaining things using a legend that, in one for or another, is in almost any Eupharan history book. TRYING TO BE AS CORNY AS POSSIBLE HERE.

---At the beginning of the world the elements of the infant world of Tarsius raged unchecked across the land. The earth would not settle into place, the waters swirled and raged, the winds blew wild in every direction, and fire engulfed all it could. This turbulence at the beginning of the world was led by elementals, endless in number and given shape by the great magics trapped inside the infant world, recklessly exercising their power over their young and unshaped surroundings. Life had no place in such a world.
---The first of ancient beings, the dragons, had grown wise and powerful. Through their understanding of the magics trapped inside Tarsius they had grown the ability to exercise control over the elements themselves. They decided to calm the raging world. Fafnir the Flamefather, the great red wyrm presiding over all dragonkind, called to his side Naelyan, queen of black dragons, Grael, king of blue dragons, and Sairyss, king of green dragons. Together the four mighty wyrms cut down swaths and swaths of elementals until the planet's magics were exhausted from giving them form.
---The quaking earth settled into the vast lands of the world. The violent waters settled, leaving the oceans and rivers flat. The wild winds calmed, ceasing to wreak havoc on the surface. The raging fire calmed, sinking to the dark depths of the earth.
---It was through the wisdom and power of the ancient dragons that the platform for life on Tarsius was created.

That's not where things end, though. There is another story that tells where the four big special landmarks in Eupharas come from. It's not as worked out, but basically Fafnir goes nots (LOLHI I'M DEATHWING) and starts destroying everything. In the end the other three decide to destroy him. Fucker's ridiculous, so it takes the combined effort of Naelyan, Grael, and Sairyss to take him down. The three themselves are so exhausted that they also pass away by the end of things. Where Fafnir's body fell an ever-active volcano takes form. Where Naelyan's body feel a giant river began to flow, and swiftly cut its way to the ocean. Where Grael's body fell and great mountain, taller than any other on Tarsius, takes form. And where Sairyss' body fell a giant ever-whirling sandstorm appears.
The four major cities (other than the capital) are built around these. Nir is a town built at the base of Mount Vulnir, using the flames of the volcano to fuel its forges. Yan is a port town built at the mouth of the Nael River. It's known for trade and, well, fish. Ael is a mining town built in and on Grekal Mountain. It's the most successful of the four because of the vast riches that the mountain contains. Yss is a trade town which is probably the most unique. It's built in several layers in a giant circle around Sairza, the sandstorm. It uses the storm's rapid, circular winds as a course of transportation. More on that later. It's big thing is the manufacturing of prana for Eupharas. It's easiest there for a number of reasons.

As far as worshiping dead gods goes, you don't. The dragon's eldest children take their places. Succeeding Fafnir and inheriting the title of Flamefather is his eldest son, Taalnir. Succeeding Naelyan is her eldest son, Goryan. He is also given the title Watercaller by his followers. Succeeding Grael is his eldest daughter Raael. She is also the title Earthshaper by her followers. Succeeding Sairyss is his eldest son Yiindyss. He is also given the title Windwalker by his followers.
Information for worshiping them is below:

Taalnir the Flamefather:
Chaotic Good
Domains: Dragon, Scalykind, Good, Fire, Courage, and Renewal
Favored weapon: Greataxe

Goryan the Watercaller
Lawful Good
Domains: Dragon, Scalykind, Good, Water, Healing, and Ocean
Favored weapon: Quarterstaff

Raael the Earthshaper
Neutral Good
Domains: Dragon, Scalykind, Good, Earth, Strength, and Metal
Favored weapon: Warhammer

Yiiindyss the Windwalker
Chaotic Good
Domains: Dragon, Scalykind, Good, Knowledge, Mind, Air, Magic, and Trickery
Favored weapon: Dagger

You can also worship Fafnir, which is quite honestly a bad idea. It's quite looked down upon. There are cultists who believe that he's still alive deep in Mount Vulnir, through. Fafnir is Chaotic Evil and his domains are: Dragon, Scalykind, Evil, Fire, Madness, and Wrath.

Let's get this started right!

I'm throwing this blog up because of Tarsius' normal host, the SoloHandle forums, being down. This is pretty much just going to be a copypasta from the forum posts since I was smart enough to save them in a Word doc.

Getting straight to the meat! Go go!


Well, let's get the world setting into place first. Prototype political map GO.



This is a world of strong separation by race. They obviously intermingle, although some relationships are much better than others. To make things easier, and since I still haven't thought of that much, I'll just do quick descriptions for now.
On top of the core pantheon of gods that can be found in the PHB, an additional pantheon of dragon gods exists in this world, and dragons don't act as usual with chromatic/metallic types and alignments. More on that later.

TIPHARAS:
Tipharas is one of the two human nations, known together as The Twin Empires of Pharalan. Their story can come later. Tipharas is a nation of strong rule by its king, King Tarsus, and his bloodline. They are the much more military of the two nations, and spend much of their resources simply increasing their might. Not many other nations are very comfortable with this. Another way that they differ greatly from Eupharas is their philosophy of magic. In Tipharas magic is outlawed to the common man. It is only to be used for the crown, and as such only members of the military and nobles are allowed to use it. If a common man wished to practice magic he must enroll in the Tipharic army. To make matters worse, anyone caught practicing magic without a permission is punished by imprisonment or worse, depending on the type and purpose of the magic. The rules were far less strict before the latest king took his throne, but as of late the punishments have gotten so much worse that there are rumors of people being put to death for casting a light spell.

Wee Jas is often revered as the deity of the empire, although there are worshipers of others. Anyone who worships one of the dragon gods is quite rare. Most people who decide to worship them simply relocate to Eupharas.

EUPHARAS:
Eupharas, the other of the two Pharalan Empires, is the more peaceful and beloved of the two nations. It is also rules by a king, King Eupric, but the royal line of Eupharas is much more loved and respected by its people. It doesn't bother with a military past what is needed to protect its own people, and trusts most towns with its own guard to take care of itself, only really extending its own forces to its four largest towns, Yan, Ael, Yss, and Nir. There are four giant landmarks in Eupharas that are a little special: a giant volcano named Mount Vulnir, the Nael River, a giant sandstorm named Sairza, and Grekal Mountain. Each of the aforementioned cities is built on or around each one of the landmarks. We'll develop more on those later. Eupharas, unlike its twin, encourages anyone who would like to to practice magic. It is largely a land of freedoms of all sorts. As such magic thrives throughout the land and is commonly practiced.

Religion in Eupharas is special compared to most other places. There is a dragon pantheon that the vast majority of Eupharans worship, all of which are good. They need their own section, so nothing too descriptive here. Worshiping deities other than the dragons isn't looked down on in particular, but it's uncommon nonetheless.

KECIL:
Kecil is a large island nation off of the west coast of Tipharas that belongs mostly to the Halfkings. As it doesn't share its borders with anyone by being placed in the middle of the Tarsian Sea, it's a relatively isolated and peaceful place. (I haven't thought up anything special for it yet)

Yondalla, unsurprisingly, is most commonly worshiped there.

DORENLAURË: (door-in-low-ray)
Dorenlaurë, "Land of Gold" in their own tongue, is the land of the Elves. Many of its inhabitants affectionately call their lands [i]Dor En Leben Aearsenglor[/i], or "Land of the Five Golden Seas", as a large portion of its citizens live on or near the coast, which they boast borders the most beautiful seas in the world. It 'owns' five seas, two to the north that it shares with Tipharas, two to the south that it shares with Bulnd-Hugn, and one in the center that borders only its own lands. A place where magic is practiced by almost the entire populace, the Elves are most proficient in its use than the other races. This most importantly leads to their discovery of prana, a way to crystallize magic, which is used commonly in Elvish technology. The decision of its Council of Elders who rule the land to share the secrets of prana with Eupharas has led to great tension between Tipharas and the two nations.

Although in current times Corellon Larentian is most commonly worshiped, a good number of more peaceful Elves worship Pelor. Dorenlaurë was originally named in his honor.

TULIA:
Tulia, the land of the Gnomes, is the smallest of the inland nations. As it shares its borders with four of the six other nations, it has historically been caught in the middle of conflicts, leading to the Gnomes becoming wary of making alliances. (I haven't thought up anything special for it yet)

Garl Glittergold, unsurprisingly, is most comonly worshiped here.

FUT'MUNDAS:
Fut'Mundas, literally meaning "The Strongest Throne" in Orcish, is the land of the Half-Orcs. It is a land consumed by conflict, very similar to ancient Pharalan. The conflict in this case is the Su'Laug (meaning "evil eye" in Orcish), who gather worshipers of Gruumsh, causing chaos for the throne and its followers, who worship Kord. The current monarch, Highthane (Needs a name fuck), spends most of her resources on suppressing the chaos that the Su'Laug cause. Bounty hunters from all over the world come to Fut'Mundas to receive her coin for the heads of members of the Su'Laug, as they have even tried to overthrow the crown in recent times. This civil war is ripping the lands of Fut'Mundas apart, and have been for hundreds of years. In her fear, the Highthane recently requested aid from Eupharas, Dorenlaurë, and Buldn-Hugn, and act which was seen by many as distasteful in that it shows weakness in the throne.

Although the Highthane, her family, and her followers worship Kord, the chaos that almost constantly grips the land is a testament to the large number of Half-Orcs that worship Gruumsh.

BULND-HUGN:
Bulnd-Hugn is the land of the Dwarves. In their tongue it roughly means "The Blue South." Its lands comprise mostly the frozen tundras of the south, and was originally only that, but conditions grew harsher. Even the hearty tunneling Dwarves were beginning to find it hard to inhabit. Through the generosity of Dorenlaurë and bargaining with Tulia they obtained more lands to the north. The youngest of the northern lands of Bulnd-Hugn, the lands that are now below Fut'Mundas, were not acquired so easily. In old times before the Highthane's bloodline took its hold in Fut'Mundas it was won with an ancient war. Followers of the Highthane hold no grudge against the Dwarves, but members of the Su'Laug find it a disgusting offense despite its age. The northeastern borders of Bulnd-Hugn are constantly harassed by Su'Laug, leading to stress between the Dwarves and Half-Orcs. Because of this the Dwarves were the first to answer the Highthane's request for aid.

Most Dwarves, unsurprisingly, worship Moradin.

NARAG-LUH:
Also named by the Dwarves that once tried to colonize it, Narag-Luh means "The Black North" in the Dwarven language. For reason similar to their moving north out of the frozen south of Bulnd-Hugn but on a much larger scale, the attempt failed. It is a frozen wasteland that no one touches, and has been that for for the longest.