While any being that has worshippers may call him, her, or its self a god, the term refers most commonly to initiates of the Aurellis Logrus, who have the ability to bestow divine gifts either directly or through their priests. Roughly thirty gods are known to exist. Gods have the ability to receive communication from their priests and to observe what happens in the immediate vicinity of any of their priests at will. Gods whose names are not blackened or grey may make undeniable laws in the Empire of Eboracum by speaking them from the steps of the temple of the gods. Many Goa’uld are known to have called themselves gods on St. James.
Why are there gods in the Empire?
Reportedly, because Roland saw what had happened with Amber and Chaos and was of a mind that anyone who had such power should be constrained by some duty to do useful work with it. Therefore those who undertook the Aurellis became local gods…powerful, but with an “aspect”; a particular thing
they are responsible for. The people of the Empire pray to the gods and the gods there do take the calls, or their priests do.
What is the difference between a handmaiden, an emissary, and a priest?
A Handmaiden is a Donna – test tube life form with downloaded morals and goals from the host deity – basically a representative creature that explicitly and exactly follows the precepts of the deity.
An Emissary is a deity who chose to ascend and take an aspect that was already out there, and become a sub deity of that same aspect, thus placing themself under the main deity’s authority, but actually still being an independent entity.
A priest is just someone that is a follower/channeller of the deity’s aspect. If the aspect is there – they can contact it, and if not then they can’t.
What sorts of useful things can priests do?
While the list of potential benefits is theoretically unlimited, some gods have established a reputation for providing certain useful benefits, usually through their priests.
Mater Deorum Sian (Mother of the Gods, Guardian of Women): Priestesses may help anyone to discover the identities of their parents for a substantial fee. They may also bless a woman to never conceive a child unless she brings the man to a priestess of Sian, or performs an elaborate ritual with him.
Queen Divine Claire (healing): Initiates may provide healing.
Reichsführer-SS Divine Rupert- Herzog Von Bremen (communications): Priests will deliver messages and create Trumps for a fee.
The Divine Alastyr (travel/Pilots): Initiates provide Pilot Logrus transportation for a fee.
The Divine Larabelle (true love): Initiates will help find the requester’s True Love.
The Divine Lisu (secrets): Initiates create and provide access to secure storage vaults for a price which varies on an individual basis. They also act as confidential counsellors. No one has ever robbed one of their vaults or forced one of them to divulge confidential information.
What are blackened and grey gods?
Blackened gods are gods whose worship is outlawed in the Empire of Eboracum. While their godhood is acknowledged, worship of them is illegal in the Empire of Eboracum. Grey gods are officially disapproved of, but their worship is not illegal. Randol Yorke, Swayvanna(deception), and Larsen(thieves) are blackened. Marcelle was blackened before their death. Dorlan the Grey(the dead/underworld), Don Mathias Arnold(Godfather?), and Lucidia(oaths/pledges/noble sacrifices) are grey gods.
What gods are known to exist?
Roland (father of the gods), Dorlan (the dead/underworld), Randol Yorke(Federation?)
Gregory (law), Alastyr (travel/pilots), Morgan (pleasure), Marik and Maryse (war), Leyton (craftsmen), Medea (magic), Noelani (skies/storms/rain), Gaia (fertility/farming),
Seline (slaves), Phoebe (beauty/eternal youth), Georgina (vengeance), Tallia (huntress/wild), Lisu (secrets), Joscelin (channelling/seas), Lucidia (oaths/pledges/noble sacrifice)
Rupert(communication), Robert (truth, teaching), Rikart (protection), Andrew (knowledge/advocate of victims), Sian (motherhood/women), Claire (healing), Larabelle (true love), Swayvanna (deception)
Royce (free will), Don Mathias Arnold (Godfather?), Larsen (thieves)
Who is the Don?
Don Mathias Arnold is a Aurellian god who is known as one of the key organizers of crime in all of existence. He is said to have designed the handmaidens and to run many Shadows Inside.
While this is a helpful summary of Imperial worship, it leaves out a number of other elements.
Just as the Imperial Gods are comprised of powerful humans who have initiated to a power and taken an aspect, there are other powerful entities out there that have been around a lot longer. Some may have gotten their start in a similar way, others like the Gou’ald pantheons may have merely entered human religions because of their abilities and technology; but it is probably a good idea to expect that many of the ‘gods’ familiar to us from legends or active religious practices still may be extant and active.
Religion has a lot of baggage for many of us, it makes for a difficult subject for that reason. Many of us with negative experiences discount one religion or another based on those experiences. In this context that could be very dangerous.
As an example, my friend at mage college grew up all her life in the Empire. She had only exposure to local gods. When she moved to Casablanca, she was victimized by a demon that is familiar to those who study Christian demonology. She had no experience of or even belief in a human soul in terms familiar under that ideology, or at least not a serious one. She was easy prey for the demon, willing to engage in acts that jeopardized something that she only vaguely appreciated as a sort of local religious myth.
She quickly found out it wasn’t all hokum!
This isn’t to say Christian theology is right or even accurate, but it is to say that we should take careful notice of the other religious systems around us. Some of it may be bogus, some may be manufactured, some may be outright power manipulation on the part of the humans leading that religious group…but at the heart, there may be some fairly insightful, long term descriptions of entities and powers and concepts that are quite real.
Many of these religious traditions have been around for generations and have been in a position to collect information and observations for a long time. Once you sort out the observation from the dogma, you might find there is useable information. The Servants of the Light and Servants of the Dark sections make useful reading for this reason as they have long been documented by religious observers on St. James, although separating them from the window dressing we may associate with them in that religious context could be necessary in some cases.
The Aurellian gods aren’t the only players on the field. Nor are the monotheists.
Additions from those familiar with other systems might be helpful in this regard as observations and encounters occur.
Also, there has been an update in terms of Aurellian Gods’ sphere of influence. There was some sort of metaphysical change when Casablanca became a world that generates its own Shadows. While I do not understand the nature of that, what I do know is that it is possible to ‘pray’ to Aurellian Gods now on the Outside and get a response. Casablanca is a gateway for more than travel.
This was done to facilitate worship and ministry to Imperials on Casablanca that were used to relying on Imperial deities.
Trump users who may have previously thought the ‘Rupert Effect’ was not a concern on the Outside should discard that assumption, although many of them may have felt a natural caution due to the presence of other adepts on the Outside.