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Description
Vertraj, Lord of Knowledge. The Master of Promises, the Arbiter of Power, the Scholar-God. The Pact, the Oath, the Covenant, the Mage-King. The All-Knowing, the Seer of the True Path, the Librarian of the Void. The Vast Book, the Blind Eye, the Knowledge Eater. The Erudite Oblivion, the Great Perception, the Final Prognostication, the Uncomprehending.

These names are just a few of the endless titles granted to the ancient deity Vertraj, a being commonly placed as the Lord of Knowledge. Much time has passed since any such god has been actively worshiped and, coupled with the Purges, most of what we know now of this idol comes from conjecture and esoteric texts.

We know he was called both an agent of freedom and a tyrant bent on enslavement, a duality we find often mirrored by the society of those who once worshiped the figure. Some texts claim that Vertraj uplifted their people, though whether he merely was instrumental in their progress toward civilization or the actual being who somehow physical uplifted them through his own actions remains murky at best. The most any scholar has been able to work out from these strange texts is that Vertraj, as a god, is likely modeled from the age-old tribal leader who united the ancient tribes.

The point of enslavement seems to stem from the mythical capabilities of the being. From what we can gather, there were many over the years who sought to barter with Vertraj for knowledge or power. The god was more than gracious in these dealings, but there were always strange stipulations that were stated in convoluted or twisted ways. Sometimes the being would require a physical brand to show fealty. Other times it seems the brand would be placed upon the psyche of the person themselves.

What reason the deity had for these "brands," or, indeed, what they were is a fact we cannot recover. As to what the fealty entailed, sadly, we cannot ascertain this either. It is likely, however, that these stories have something to do with the tribal tattooing traditions of the Wairosi peoples that came from the West many years prior.

This comprises what little knowledge we have of the Lord himself. What his dealings were and what they might involve is long since lost to us, even with the few texts allowed. Perhaps there is more out there waiting to be discovered so that we may restore our understanding of the ancient Lord and his brethren. The only bit of information left that remains to us is the title by which his followers were named: the Cognizant.

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Gallisine, Lord of Deceit. The Prince of Treason, the Smiling Knife, the Seditious Joke. The Traitor, the Plot, the Lie, the Intrigue, the Jester of Revolt. The Mutinous Clown, the Treacherous Buffoon, the Perfidious Joker. The Liege of Duplicity, the Dancing Schemer, the Cackling Conspiracy, the King of Two Faces.

Gallisine has many names and so many among them name him a liar and a sower of discord. The allusion appears to be of a duplicitous nature, as in showing two faces or bearing two masks. In this case, the deity seems to be both a fool and a traitor, a patron to betrayers.

By what accounts there are, Gallisine was a cheater, a trickster and a liar. They called him the Fools' God and the intellectual disowned him. However, there was something more beneath. Those who fell into the god's good graces found themselves privy to plots, schemes and grand conspiracies of treason. Regardless of the face, though, there appears to have been one factor consistent through all of the being's many faces: a healthy, if perhaps twisted, sense of humor.

There is a bit of difficulty in the god's identity, however. The texts are inconsistent on both an identity and a mode of change. Some say he was a normal man who could change his face as easily, perhaps more so, than another changes clothes. Other accounts say he was more traditional, a normal jester who merely changed masks to fit the occasion. Regardless, many texts say there was a reason jesters and their like were eliminated from many courts.

Many of the stories tell of the deity's cunning and affinity to jokes, intermixing the two to create wildly imaginative plots of intrigue and deception. However, they often make a point of ensuring that it is understood that Gallisine is not a being of murder or madness; there are other gods for that. Gallisine is a being that can entertain a nation by day and tear it apart by night.

This comprises the vast majority of our knowledge about this creature of legend. A trickster, a liar and a wily deceiver. However, he had a large following at one point. Those who were led by this strange deity were called the Harlequins.

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The Ebonlord, Lord of Memory. The Lost Hero, the King of Shadows, the Obscuring Shroud. The Moon-Dweller, the Eater of Dreams, the Champion's Bane. The Encroaching Shade, the Father of the Night, the True Umbra.

The Ebonlord is a truly strange entity for a number of reasons. First, it is that any reference to his name is made in direct reference to a lack of name- either that the deity never had a name or, the more extreme version, the god himself ripped his name from the memories of man sometime in the distant past.

There is little anecdotal evidence of the Ebonlord's dealings, even considering what little we know of the others of his ilk. He is called a master of shadows and memory, able to contort and twist the pathways of light and truth. Men would come to him to have their minds eased of pain and guilt, to assuage the dark emotions raging within. Some texts seem to call this a necessity, stating that without this duty that something terrible could befall the world.

The Ebonlord was, by accounts, a dark and dire being who presided over a prestigious land. He was proud and haughty, but one day found himself betrayed by the men he trusted. This seems to have prompted the Lord to retract his goodwill and rip his name from the hearts of men, and to cloud their minds of his deeds. Forever afterward, where once his followers were revered as champions, they instead became reviled as saboteurs. These followers are called now the Forsaken, men and women whose fealty to their dark Lord has caused their identities to be ripped from them.

-----

Rakestlos, Lord of Suffering. The Sting of Pain, the Shadow of Strife, the Soul of Madness. The Twisted God, the Burned Flesh, the Slashed Eye, the Weeping Sore. The Death of Life, the Living Death, the Tortured, the Tormented. The Sundered Body, the Rent Mind, the Paradigm of Tribulation.

An interesting and storied being, Rakestlos is catalogued not as one being but as three. They are known as Rakar, the Sting of Pain, Rikest, the Shadow of Strife, and Eslos, the Soul of Madness.

Each had their own strange dealings with men, though many stories still speak of a collective being rather than these three distinct deities. For all intents and purposes, they appear to have been the proprietors of pain and suffering, doling out strife and hate wherever joy and happiness was too prevelent.

Each member of the triad was the controller of a certain aspect of human suffering. Rakar was physical torture, Rikest was emotional torment and Eslos was spiritual death. Pain, strife and madness were worked together upon some great tapestry of mortal flesh to uphold cosmic order.

Those who pledged fealty to these fell gods underwent disfiguring and crippling tortures to emulate their Lords. These men and women are known as anchorites, but are more often known by the Paradigm.

Description
Vertraj, Lord of Knowledge. The Master of Promises, the Arbiter of Power, the Scholar-God. The Pact, the Oath, the Covenant, the Mage-King. The All-Knowing, the Seer of the True Path, the Librarian of the Void. The Vast Book, the Blind Eye, the Knowledge Eater. The Erudite Oblivion, the Great Perception, the Final Prognostication, the Uncomprehending.

These names are just a few of the endless titles granted to the ancient deity Vertraj, a being commonly placed as the Lord of Knowledge. Much time has passed since any such god has been actively worshiped and, coupled with the Purges, most of what we know now of this idol comes from conjecture and esoteric texts.

We know he was called both an agent of freedom and a tyrant bent on enslavement, a duality we find often mirrored by the society of those who once worshiped the figure. Some texts claim that Vertraj uplifted their people, though whether he merely was instrumental in their progress toward civilization or the actual being who somehow physical uplifted them through his own actions remains murky at best. The most any scholar has been able to work out from these strange texts is that Vertraj, as a god, is likely modeled from the age-old tribal leader who united the ancient tribes.

The point of enslavement seems to stem from the mythical capabilities of the being. From what we can gather, there were many over the years who sought to barter with Vertraj for knowledge or power. The god was more than gracious in these dealings, but there were always strange stipulations that were stated in convoluted or twisted ways. Sometimes the being would require a physical brand to show fealty. Other times it seems the brand would be placed upon the psyche of the person themselves.

What reason the deity had for these "brands," or, indeed, what they were is a fact we cannot recover. As to what the fealty entailed, sadly, we cannot ascertain this either. It is likely, however, that these stories have something to do with the tribal tattooing traditions of the Wairosi peoples that came from the West many years prior.

This comprises what little knowledge we have of the Lord himself. What his dealings were and what they might involve is long since lost to us, even with the few texts allowed. Perhaps there is more out there waiting to be discovered so that we may restore our understanding of the ancient Lord and his brethren. The only bit of information left that remains to us is the title by which his followers were named: the Cognizant.

-----

Gallisine, Lord of Deceit. The Prince of Treason, the Smiling Knife, the Seditious Joke. The Traitor, the Plot, the Lie, the Intrigue, the Jester of Revolt. The Mutinous Clown, the Treacherous Buffoon, the Perfidious Joker. The Liege of Duplicity, the Dancing Schemer, the Cackling Conspiracy, the King of Two Faces.

Gallisine has many names and so many among them name him a liar and a sower of discord. The allusion appears to be of a duplicitous nature, as in showing two faces or bearing two masks. In this case, the deity seems to be both a fool and a traitor, a patron to betrayers.

By what accounts there are, Gallisine was a cheater, a trickster and a liar. They called him the Fools' God and the intellectual disowned him. However, there was something more beneath. Those who fell into the god's good graces found themselves privy to plots, schemes and grand conspiracies of treason. Regardless of the face, though, there appears to have been one factor consistent through all of the being's many faces: a healthy, if perhaps twisted, sense of humor.

There is a bit of difficulty in the god's identity, however. The texts are inconsistent on both an identity and a mode of change. Some say he was a normal man who could change his face as easily, perhaps more so, than another changes clothes. Other accounts say he was more traditional, a normal jester who merely changed masks to fit the occasion. Regardless, many texts say there was a reason jesters and their like were eliminated from many courts.

Many of the stories tell of the deity's cunning and affinity to jokes, intermixing the two to create wildly imaginative plots of intrigue and deception. However, they often make a point of ensuring that it is understood that Gallisine is not a being of murder or madness; there are other gods for that. Gallisine is a being that can entertain a nation by day and tear it apart by night.

This comprises the vast majority of our knowledge about this creature of legend. A trickster, a liar and a wily deceiver. However, he had a large following at one point. Those who were led by this strange deity were called the Harlequins.

-----

The Ebonlord, Lord of Memory. The Lost Hero, the King of Shadows, the Obscuring Shroud. The Moon-Dweller, the Eater of Dreams, the Champion's Bane. The Encroaching Shade, the Father of the Night, the True Umbra.

The Ebonlord is a truly strange entity for a number of reasons. First, it is that any reference to his name is made in direct reference to a lack of name- either that the deity never had a name or, the more extreme version, the god himself ripped his name from the memories of man sometime in the distant past.

There is little anecdotal evidence of the Ebonlord's dealings, even considering what little we know of the others of his ilk. He is called a master of shadows and memory, able to contort and twist the pathways of light and truth. Men would come to him to have their minds eased of pain and guilt, to assuage the dark emotions raging within. Some texts seem to call this a necessity, stating that without this duty that something terrible could befall the world.

The Ebonlord was, by accounts, a dark and dire being who presided over a prestigious land. He was proud and haughty, but one day found himself betrayed by the men he trusted. This seems to have prompted the Lord to retract his goodwill and rip his name from the hearts of men, and to cloud their minds of his deeds. Forever afterward, where once his followers were revered as champions, they instead became reviled as saboteurs. These followers are called now the Forsaken, men and women whose fealty to their dark Lord has caused their identities to be ripped from them.

-----

Rakestlos, Lord of Suffering. The Sting of Pain, the Shadow of Strife, the Soul of Madness. The Twisted God, the Burned Flesh, the Slashed Eye, the Weeping Sore. The Death of Life, the Living Death, the Tortured, the Tormented. The Sundered Body, the Rent Mind, the Paradigm of Tribulation.

An interesting and storied being, Rakestlos is catalogued not as one being but as three. They are known as Rakar, the Sting of Pain, Rikest, the Shadow of Strife, and Eslos, the Soul of Madness.

Each had their own strange dealings with men, though many stories still speak of a collective being rather than these three distinct deities. For all intents and purposes, they appear to have been the proprietors of pain and suffering, doling out strife and hate wherever joy and happiness was too prevelent.

Each member of the triad was the controller of a certain aspect of human suffering. Rakar was physical torture, Rikest was emotional torment and Eslos was spiritual death. Pain, strife and madness were worked together upon some great tapestry of mortal flesh to uphold cosmic order.

Those who pledged fealty to these fell gods underwent disfiguring and crippling tortures to emulate their Lords. These men and women are known as anchorites, but are more often known by the Paradigm.