Daria, the cunning Goddess

Daria is the chief goddess of Ragnarian pantheon. She is the goddess of cunning. It is her who turned Nilos against Xene, her sister, when she found out they were plotting against her. She is to go-to girl when other gods need help to settle their bills. Ragnarians believe that cunning / smarts is chief virtue. They believe that outsmarting your opponent and tackling the impossible odds by turning the tables in your favour is heroic and ‘divine’.

This features in lot of their stories and legends, where hero is tasked with the impossible but by changing the conditions or tricking the task, emerging victorious.

It is one of the greatest honours to win a battle despite being greatly outmatched, outfoxing your opponent with but your wits.

Order of Strategy

Some of the greatest strategist come from Ragnaria.

Most professions are expected to plan and strategize no matter the job – from janitor to artist – you are expected to have set working hours, know what you will be doing tomorrow, next week or even month. That is obviously not true, but Ragnarians tend to portrait themselves this way.

What do you mean you don't know whether you'll be free, what happened?

Order of Illusion, Lies & Treachery

Hiding your intention meanwhile enacting your grand plan. Daria herself is master Illusionist. Setting traps, fooling others – anything to outfox those who oppose you! Bonus points if you do not have to lie!

Order of Guidance

Know your enemy well! Seeing through the veil of enemy plans, knowing how to turn them against your adversary and you shall enjoy the blessing of a god.

People all over Ragnaria tend to enjoy listening to seers for guidance and pieces of knowledge. As opposed to pretty much the rest of the world, Ragnarians have a bit more pragmatic approach to seeing into the future. They are not that interested in what the future might hold for them, but they rather seek to eliminate luck from their lives. Do not know what the weather will be to plant your crops accordingly? Thinking of a place for your new store? Wondering about where you should go fishing next week? Go to the seer! He shall guide you… if you are, indeed, trying to get rid of that pesky randomness.

Domains & Symbols

Lawful Neutral; Trickery, Knowledge, Light; Her symbol now is foxs tail

Dikastos the judge, God of Justice

Dikastos settles the disputes and casts judgement on those who wronged the law. It is he who judged Xene for her crimes against the rest of the Pantheon. As he is the only one who has a handle on his son, Nilus – the cost of crossing Dikastos might get brutal… literally.

Law and justice are always taken more to the letter than to the spirit. Hence, you are quite likely to get out of sticky situations if you are careful enough. Or smart enough! You managed to scam 10G from a traveler? Good job!

Every rule can be broken, every law can be violated… but only at the cost. Are you willing to pay it? Can you afford to be in Dikastoss debt?

You cannot cheat Dikastos. Ragnarian saying, said when someone tried to bend the rules but it back-fired

Order of Law

The idea of civic law, that men should rule men, is paramount for Ragnarians. The gods reward enforcing and following rules and do not mind if you bend them to your liking…

Ragnarian have by far the most rigorous laws in all of Laurasia. This is largely due to citizens often trying to outsmart the law and ‘criminals’ take great pride in finding loop-holes in the law, though the Ragnarian government usually fixes them rather quickly.

Lawyers are highly honoured and often depicted as skill-based profession for their ability to twist the laws in ones favour. However, once you break the law, you are expected to face the consequences. You tilted the tables too fast, now its time to pay the costs.

Crime & Cheating & breaking rules

Did you break the rules, breach your contract or did you cheat at the game of chess? If you got caught, you now must face consequences. Ragnarians do not frown upon breaking the rules themselves if you accept the consequences without a fuss. They see it as part of the game. Many Ragnarian games feature special rules when you catch someone cheating or breaking certain rules. You ARE expected to cheat in most games!

However, if you do breach the contract but dont follow the breach clause, if you broke the law but wont face the justice – this is highly outrageous behaviour for Ragnarians. You are going to be punished. Harshly. Their judgement is usually not proportional to the crime committed and their reactions tend to be over the top. You attacked our outpost? WAR! You broke your promise? I am not talking to you for the rest of your life!

Promise shard – cost of breaking promises / breaching contracts/ violating law. e.g.: I promise to get her back. I shard 50 G for that!

Domains

Lawful good; Knowledge, Light, Order; Symbol is a twig (usually made of copper)

Sophronia the healer, Goddess of Patience

Dikastos wife, Sophronia the healer is goddess of patience. She calms his temper and reminds him not to cast rushed judgements. She is the voice that soothes even the wildest winds. In fact, she is the reason Xene was granted mercy and allowed to stay in the Pantheon.

Ragnarians hold patience as virtuous. He who can wait for right time to act. You think before you act. If you wait you may be rewarded by gods. Biting your time and suppressing your primal urges. Measure twice, cut once. Wait out the storm!

Depriving yourself of earthly pleasures is often seen as a “healthy” act. They see asceticism as a form of detoxification or curing a disease. Similarly, self-sacrifice is seen as moral behaviour.

Order of Healing

Time is the greatest healer. People believe there is a connection between inactivity and healing. Doctors and physicians usually prefer to treat a patient while sleeping to ensure the best effects of their procedures. Ragnarian healers are believed to be calm. Clerics of Sophronia are often deployed to front-lines during war times for their mild temper and ability to keep their head cool despite the chaos around them.

Patience is the greatest healer

Order of Protection

While keeping watchful eye on your fellows, it is important to stay vigilant. Do not drop your guard, not even for a second! Are you not a proper person? Be patient!

Guards and lawmen are perceived as “low” but honourable profession. It is a kind of job people of Ragnaria do not like, do not enjoy doing, but anyone doing it is a respectable and righteous person. They are the unsung heroes of the empire. The empire stands and falls on these men and women. At least that’s Ragnarian view of things.

You are a true sentinel!

Domains & symbols

Neutral Good; Life, Light, Protection; Symbol is jar of water

Xene the unpredictable, Goddess of Chaos

Darias' “evil” sister, black goddess, Xene is goddess of chaos anger and luck. Xene once plotted with Nilus to overthrow Daria. It was not a bad plan and if she were more patient, thing might have been different. She acted out of passion, recklessly and without a thought – and that costed her dearly. Xene is now outcast among the gods.

Ragnarians deem chaos and luck as vice. One does never rely on luck for it never comes out the way you wanted. Lucky person is plotting with Xene, the dark goddess. Acting on your primal instincts, being unpredictable and chaotic – that is the way of a coward and immoral person.

You would be suspicious if you relied on luck and was successful. You might even attract the attention of guards in extreme cases! On the other hand, if you lost your bet you would not be exactly considered intelligent – people would have “we told you so” attitude.

Black is associated with Xene and bad luck.

Order of Anger & Recklessness

Acting out of passion, ignoring your common sense, or acting out in rage is considered unwise at best. Angry people are mad! The mad person and angry person are the same thing! Even the phrase “being mad (angry)” comes from Ragnaria. The only difference is that anger is temporary… mostly.

However, there is value in the raw strength unbounded by sanity and reason. And to some… that's enough.

Order of Luck

Luck is blasphemous! Those who seek a favour of good luck spread chaos in the intricate order of the world. They lack the skills and so they cower to luck, beg a favour from a goddess desperate for worshipers. She will gladly exchange their loyalty for an opportunity to wreak havoc.

However, as Xene is unpredictable and impulsive a blessing of luck never lasts.

Gambling

Gambling in Ragnaria is seen as a disease. And meanwhile games themselves are popular in Ragnaria, they draw a thick line between gambling and playing games. It is not about the money or promise of fortune. Ragnarian games mostly a contest of skill of some kind. There is (almost) no luck involved. It is you versus the system… or someone else. Gambling on the other hand… a ritual of foul gods!

Order of Nature

World is by default lawful in Ragnarians view. Laws of physics, everything has a meaning, there is an underlying system which you can take advantage of. However, there is a corruption to it – chaos, luck, and unpredictability - nature.

Whereas we seek to regain the order, nature seeks to wreak chaos into our lives. Nature is meant to be tamed! While you would find parks and such in Ragnarian cities, they would be maintained regularly to keep miss nature in check. Animals are rarely spared and are seen only as means to survive. Ragnarians do not believe in rights of unintelligent life.

Domains & symbols

Chaotic Evil; Death, Tempest, Nature; Symbol is crystal shard

Tarasios the relentless, God of Courage & Bravery

Tarasios, son of Saba, is the god of courage and bravery. Many plans of Daria relied on Tarasios resolve and bravery. Many of the Ragnarian stories would end up way differently if it hadn't for him.

For Ragnarians, bravery is making the difficult choice. Taking the harder route. As one famous Ragnarian poet once said: “I took the road less traveled by – and it made all the difference”.

You could have brute forced in, but you decided to wait, you hatched a plan, bit your time. You did not do the easy thing!

Heroic deaths

People of Ragnaria value their lives. They do not like sacrificing themselves and its rare… even in stories. The heroic death is the one you terminally screw your adversary. Ideally, they wont even realize it! Bonus points if you save your folks in the process. “Curious is the trap-makers art…”

Order of Honour

Ragnariars believe a hounarable person is bound by personal code. The nature of the code is not that important. Consistency is what matters. Following the code even during difficult times, especially when the code dictates against your desires. It is common in Ragnarian epics to see heroes struggling to follow their code. But in the end, Tarasios will reward the stalwart ones! Honourable is the lawful one!

Order of Tenacity

There is value to getting things done. Having resolve and determination to carry on, keep pushing forward is bold. Not giving up, staying true to your cause! That is the high road! Ragnarian are often seen stubborn. Once they set their mind to something – they will get it, they will not stop until they are done. Sometimes they take it too far...

Nowadays, Ragnaria enjoys an era of peace, as most aggressions are answered with declaration of war. And once they are in the war... they will not yield. Giving up is rarely an option. A change in strategy or an unexpected blow – perhaps, but conceding? Never! Rather be defeated completely!

Order of Duty

One cannot live a proper Ragnarian life without responsibilities. They are usually proud of their jobs, their ties. They have a strong sense of duty. They think of themselves as small heroes, doing their job, taking part in something larger. Gods reward those who work, those who stay true to their cause!

Domains & symbols

Lawful good; War, Order, Light; Symbol is rock (ideally quartz)

Nilus the brutal one, God of Violence

Son of Dikastos and Sofronia, Nilus is a god of Violence. He is the one who dishes out punishment and enacts will of his father. Meanwhile not being popular god of the Ragnarian pantheon, often seen as necessary evil, Nilus is one of the most powerful gods of this pantheon.

There is power in violence, and a great one, but one must be careful to use it.

Order of Harm

There is value to life. And you should steer away from harming anyone even yourself. For those who chose to thread the path of harm will be harmed as well. To wield the power of Nilus, one must know his curse.

Torture is forbidden in Ragnaria and using harm in general is seen as laziness. You could have thought of something better if you tried. But sometimes, times are desperate…

Order of Vengeance

There will be ones who break the rules, who snapped the laws in half and refuse to face the consequences. Imperfection of the system – chaos and unpredictability will always be a part of life. Those will be punished for their blasphemy against the gods!

The concept of revenge is not strange to Ragnarians and they draw a clear line between anger and vengeance. Vengeance is targeted, controlled and persistent. Fight fire with fire! Retaliate in kind!

Order of War

Also known as the last order.

Violence is the last resort option. However, it is an option. A necessary evil, a way to resolve conflicts where the other options have failed. Violence has power and is seen as silver arrow– a way to end any conflict. But it should be used wisely, for everything has a cost…

Domains & symbols

Neutral Evil; War, Tempest, Death; Symbol is a burning twig

Saba the sage, God of Knowledge

Saba, the father of Tarasios, is the God of Wisdom and Knowledge. Saba is the one who showed others the new ways. He forged the Nilus sword, brewed Xenes potion and tailored Darias cloak. He is the oldest god, but he represents the new – necessary change of progress. Being smart and intelligent correlates with respect in Ragnaria. Sages, teachers and librarians are all well-respected professions.

Order of Science & Discovery

Engineering is significant part of the Ragnarian culture. There are often contests for artisans and scientist to show off their inventions and contraptions. Unfortunately, the brightest minds often emigrate to places such as Acaadia, where they can better apply their intellect. It is believed that tinkering and engineering something new is a form of art, that the motivation should come from you. Similarly, as artist should create art for sake of art – you should do research for sake of joy of doing research. Hence, it is rare scientist and engineers to be paid for their inventions.

However, those folks are often good engineers or civic mages – kind of invention of Ragnarian kingdom. If you are good at tinkering, you are likely good at repairing stuff. And there is a lot of stuff to repair!

Often whole cities have integrated machines and magic into their infrastructure. Ragnarian cities tend to be technologically advanced compared to other parts of the word. However, this cannot be said about villages…

Travel

Travel, especially on land, is quite often associated with adventures and/ or discovery. Expedition and such. It is mostly seen as a positive thing – journey is often more important that the destination. It is rarely considered as necessity, although it often is just that. Mages, noblemen and other high-ranking individuals are often expected to embark on some sort of expedition. This probably the number one fact why Ragnaria does not have that many mages, despite having seemingly good conditions for raising them.

Order of spreading knowledge

Ragnarians also believe that acquiring knowledge is virtuous. They associate nobility, wealth, and social status with knowledge. As a noble you are expected to be well-educated. Most of the current noblemen are wizards or clerics and often possess considerable magical powers.

Knowledge has value in Ragnaria. In fact, it is common to pay in gold, or favours for it. It is almost never seen as bribery to leak intel. Those who spread knowledge freely are viewed as generous and charitable.

Order of Arcane & Lore

Arcane and history goes hand in hand for Ragnarians. Despite having education rooted to their culture, Ragnaria. Ragnarian libraries often hold exhaustive records of various events and lore. Their chronicles are second only to Acaad or Elvish libraries. Despite Ragnarians have respect towards the arcane arts, only small fraction of their force (military and civic) consists of battle mages or other spellcasters.

Domains & symbols

Neutral Good; Arcana, Forge, Knowledge; Symbols is feather (usually blue)

---

See also:

Ragnarian empire - Nation of conquerors, strategists and spies.