Lord Caro, God of Nobility

Lord Caro, along with his wife, represents the head of Galician pantheon. Galicians believe anyone can be noble, for it is manners that makes a man. Caro was not born noble, he became noble. Nobility is central to Galician’s believe system.

Order of Heritage

While Galicians do not believe in aristocracy, however, they have strong sense of their blood. Your family is sacred, and Lord forbid, should anyone offend it, you will not take that lightly! You will demand satisfaction! Family stays together!

Blood is thicker than water.

You should be proud of your blood. You should not hide who you are. Obscuring your race or background is often seen suspicious – things reserved for spies and dishonest folk. Maybe this is why you see such diversity in Galician cities – diametrically opposed to what you might see in elven kingdom. People do not judge your origins, they judge your “shame” of it.

It is common practice for people (with decent amount of gold in their pocket) to have their "nobility" "confirmed" by historians and scholars. Historians often do not forge documents per se, but chances are some of your grand grand parents were related to some noblewoman somewhere… their job is to find the connection. Being a noble is popular ‘sport’ in Galicia and people often brag about it.

Order of Speechcraft

Having manners is important. It is important not be blunt, to be on point and strike true with your words. The art of acting in civilised manner and yet delivering poisonous and toxic comments is art deeply respected by Galicians. Caro himself was master of this, and indeed, it earned him his place as a head of the pantheon.

Do not be mistaken – it does not mean polite! You are expected to voice your concerns. Loudly! But you better do it with grace of an angel, dexterously and wit-fully. Caro himself provoked Duke Nicolo into action once – and so the legend was born. Nicolo could not be a passive bystander anymore.

Domains & Symbol

Neutral good, Symbol is raven.

Lady Mea, Goddess of Luck

Luck, randomness, and fortunate circumstance. Some call it destiny; some say it’s just the way of nature. Galician see it as the mood of lady Mea. Erratic and volatile, it can change any moment. You should enjoy while you can. If you happened to be cursed with bad luck – know it will not last long. Lady Mea is wife to Lord Caro. She was enthralled by his speech and manner, and Caro enjoyed her at her best and soothed her nerves when things went sideways. They make for a lovely couple. Some say they are the luckiest pair there is… and well, they might be right.

Lady Mea is said to have influenced many of the historic events in favour of one nation or the other. In many stories she influences the outcomes in rather unpredictable manner. Oddly, it always comes out better in the end.

Justice

Not many cultures have gods dedicated to principle of justice – god of righting the wrongs. Although there almost always is someone in each pantheon, who ends up with this ‘duty’. For Galicians, that someone is Lady Mea.

They believe that there is some innate fairness in randomness. In luck. For starters, it is the literal will of god. But also, unpredictable. Indisputable. Luck cannot be engineered, rigged, or persuaded. It just is.

Therefore, some Galician courts can be settled by Trial by coin where person charged by a crime can give jury a coin to flip. The outcome of this flip decides their fate. (Obviously, jury will keep the coin in any case). If this one is to be spared, Lady Mea will interfere. Otherwise, he shall have a fair trial.

Wheel of fortune

Galicians rarely envy other people’s luck and fortune. And seldom they get angry for bad luck. They know that the wheel of fortune is always turning and sometimes, you will get to be the lucky one. Someday, the lucky ones will suffer bad luck. Eventually, everybody gets their turn.

The wheel is turning, my friend – Galician saying, a common reaction to jealous person.

One in million

One of the most common tropes in Galician literature is so called 1 in 1 000 000. When something is said to be rare and almost impossible – it is guaranteed to happen.

Hero often stacks the odds against their favour, just to achieve this effect. Some say it is Mea rewarding the bold ones, those not afraid to risk.

And people often do this in their everyday lives. They stack odds against themselves – either to have bragging rights if they actually succeed or in hopes of Lady Mea rewarding them for their actions.

Domains & Symbol

Chaotic good, Symbol is a dove.

Duke Nicolo, God of Violence

You are to act if you see wrong doings. You are to rise and strike against evil. You should not stay quiet, bite your time, and suffer the injustices. Get angry! Act now!

Duke Nicolo was once just a shy and passive nobleman. Many were making fun him. But one day, Lord Caro himself has provoked him into action – he showed him the truth and power of anger. Once, when the jokes were too hard, when they humiliated his mother, that was the day everything changed. He took his rapier and impaled one guy, stabbed an eye out of the second offender and severely injured tree others. Nobody was making fun of him ever since.

And he continued to voice his concern and fought for them fiercely. His resolve and hot-hotheadedness became a legendary force of good – no evil witnessed remained unchallenged, no wrong-doings punished.

Order of courage

In Galicia, hot-headedness and violence goes hand in hand with courage and resolve. One is rarely seen as courageous and brave when one is not angry.

Whereas as Ragnarians see bravery in choosing the hard and difficult path, Galician see the path of violence as the heroic and just one. Many think of Galicians as impulsive folks, but on the other hand, they handle violence on the receiving end way more gracefully than any other nation (in general, that is). They rarely get offended for violence and sometimes even see it as an opportunity to prove oneself.

Order of anger

Naturally, violence is fuelled by anger. This is by no means a bad thing. Anger gives you power, resolve and will. It is not uncommon for Galicians to challenge each other to duel (although rarely a fatal one) over otherwise petty reasons.

Lack of scars is a scar of its own – Galician saying, meaning no scars imply a coward.

Heroic deaths

Many cultures have developed notion of a heroic death. For Galicians, it is dying in battle for one’s beliefs or nation, in front of as many people as possible. There is no glory in dying alone.

Dead man’s cape

There is semi-secretive organization founded in Galicia called Dead man's cape. It is told that they are vigilantes, operating outside the law (if needed), rooting out any wrongdoings they see. They are akin to an urban legend, they are the folk heroes of Galicia… of course, nobody is quite sure who or where they are exactly.

Domains & Symbol

Chaotic good, Symbol is an eagle or sharp talons. 

Exiled Dottoressa Savia, Goddess of Treachery

Having a healer figure in your pantheon is not that original idea… but having an evil healer figure- that is the Galician plot-twist. Jokes aside, the Exiled Savia represents all evil of Galician pantheon. The cowardice, biting your time, plotting, and scheming, licking your wounds, flattery and the list goes on.

While Savia was (and is) physically weak, make no mistake, she is probably the most dangerous god of this pantheon. In fact, that is the reason she became exiled – for the treacheries and plots she hatched, for the danger she posed to the rest.

There are many stories, where Savia, still part of the pantheon, served as a doctor for Lord Caro. She often used her looks to make other underestimate her, and then her intellect, magics and poisons to influence the stories “behind the curtain”. In most cases, these plans were foiled by one of the other gods.

Dottoressa Savia is also known as the Doctor of Lies or Exiled Healer.

By the Exiled – Galician swear word

Order of Poisons & science & magic

As the court doctor, Dottoressa Savia was in unique position of being well-educated in arcane arts, natural philosophy, and poisons. For many Galicians, this is way of fighting is the way of cowards. While Galicians use battle mages on the battlefield, they usually form standalone units, rather than mixing them in with other platoons as, for example, Ragnarian armies tend to do. The result is that the Galicians mages tend to either provide suppressive fire, or work as shorter-range artillery.

Order of Scheming and planning

Poisons naturally bring schemes and plans in. Planning, patience imply inaction. Inaction is a vice. And thus, many see this as a cowardice, but some do succumb to the promise of avoiding bloodshed. To guarantees of magic, to the slowness of poisons. To the cold calculations.

Order of Flattery

Lying is not bad by itself. There are ways to lie, which Galicians would not find wrong. This mostly involves insults and provocations. But flattery is planned, calculated and manipulative. It is this kind of lies Galicians hate. And the abuse of beauty and appearance go in similar vein, falling under this order.

Order of Medicine

As mentioned, Savia is a healer. A good one at dead. Some say she can rise dead, and thus necromancy is deeply wrong in Galicia. Otherwise, healing is controversial, and although there are doctors and healers, it is mostly a private affair.

Oddly enough, other cultures borrowed the symbols and techniques and Savia became somewhat globally associated with the noble art of medicine.

Domains & Symbol

Lawful evil, Symbol is two interlocked snakes. 

Beautiful Contessa Belfante, Goddess of Love

One of the lesser gods of this pantheon is the beautiful Belfante. She plays the role of the matchmaker in the court of this pantheon. Nothing brings her more joy than a lovely couple – and she can be often found helping romantics or blessing couples at weddings. But beware, when this ever-cheery woman suddenly becomes angry or sad – she is a force to be reckon with.

And similar is the Galician view on love. They help make it happen when they can, they consider themselves helpless romantics, but they understand that sometimes, it hurts. They can see that sometimes love is just not possible, and it is better to suffer than to press on. In fact, many Galician plays are themed around this very concept, where heroes cannot be together for a reason, and when they do try, bad things happen. Probably the most popular play (in all of Laurasia) is Maid that loved written by Lanzo Soteire, specifically about this.

Domains & Symbol

Neutral good, Symbol is a small silver egg.  

Inspired Don Fino, God of Passion

Fino is father of the beautiful Belfante. Once, he used to be a regular everyday noble. But everything changed once he became a father. He got inspired by the always-smiling Belfante and he learned to enjoy life more. He learned to see beauty in all things.

Passion for Galicians has way different meaning than for other cultures. For Galicians, passion is synonymous with pleasure and hedonism. The “happy-go-lucky” approach. While Fino may not be the most powerful god, he certainly is one of the most popular ones. Galicians do not really buy into the idea of wars, duties, and all that jazz. They just want to eat a good meal, drink a glass of wine, and have a good night. Some say that the Galicia was not invaded and tugged into a war because it is surrounded by mountains, and overall getting to Galicia during war is a good deal of pain. But the truth is, Galicia, as a nation, is just incredibly lazy one – getting it to recognize things have changed is just not worth it for that piece of land.

Order of Art

Art is taken very seriously in Galicia. It is common for Galician nobles to even hire artists to paint paintings for them, which they then publish as their own. Of course, everybody knows this, but that is the way of things.

Galicia is also home to many classics, especially when it comes to theatre. While Elves probably invented the idea of staged play, Galicians perfected it. Their plays are famous all around the Laurasia. Everyone (almost) can quote lines from Soteire’s plays.

Order of Pleasure

Food and alcohol have almost religious importance in Galicia. Well, they actually do during Fino’s feasts, but that is different matter altogether. Anyway, having a good meal is important, and in Galicia it is a social event. You are expected to talk at lengths with your peers while you eat. Consequently, Galicians became renown alcoholics, and their alcohol tolerance is legendary.

Outdrink a Galician – Lynxian proverb, means to try an impossible and succeed.

Order of Harmony

Also jokingly called the Order of Laziness. This order is dedicated to sleep. Sleep is important to Galicians, and people do not take it lightly when you wake them in the middle of the night for nothing.

Sleep is the natural doctor to Galicians. It is the place you heal your wounds, regain strength, and clear your head.

Domains & Symbol

Chaotic neutral, Symbol is a feather, usually of vibrant colours.  

Ingenious Cavalieress Divitia, God of Trade

Divitia is essentially a more polite and good version of Savia. They both possess strong wits and considerable brainpower. The difference is in how they use it.

And that showcases how the intellect is meant to be used (from Galician standpoint). You are not supposed to hurt people, to manipulate them or tricking them. The intellect on itself is not a bad thing, the way most people us it is.

Divitia is said to have engineered the very first sail, and is a patron of sailors and merchants, which is a prime example of wits in action – inventions for the good of everyone.

Order of Wealth

Many do not think of Galicians as geniuses, but when you add coin into the mix, they suddenly are the best strategists in the world. They calculate the most efficient routes, cost of supplies and the market distortions in fractions of a second.

Galicians treat money very seriously. It is goal worth of its own – it is they way you test your mettle. You try your skill, intellect and if you are worth it, Divitia will reward your ingenuity.

It should then not come as a surprise that theft is serious crime, with a hefty price attached to it. There are some exceptions, but thieves are not only relieved of their left hand, but they also suffer a lifetime of condemnation. You do not cheat at this game!

Order of Travel

Travel is adventure and opportunity. Many Galicians travel for sake of travelling. It is common for kids wanting to be sailors and travelling merchant can often be seen sharing stories at the local tavern.

While Galicians are by no means survivalists (like Normen or Nomads), they are capable of traveling long distances and accumulate stories and wealth along their journeys.

Galician corvettes

Galician merchant vessels are the fastest ships there are in Laurasia. While Brytens may have the most powerful navy, and Nordmen the most reliable sailors, nobody gets to Kolkia from Galicia faster than Galician merchants.

Galician military ships also opt-in for speed and deploy hit and run tactics rather than raw strength.

Order of Craftsdwarfship

As mentioned before, intellect by itself is not evil. It can be used for good and profit. That is how it is meant to be used. Many Galicians take pride in inventions they make and protect their IP – in fact, the idea of patents was founded by Galicians. This contrasts with Ragnarian view, where there is no such provision for engineers, and thus, Galicia enjoys a steady influx of brilliant minds from Ragnaria.

Domains & Symbol

Lawful good, Symbol is a golden or brass owl.

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See also:

• Republic of Galicia - Wealth, intrigue and politics - the cornerstones of Galicia