Pantheon: Goliath Deities

Pantheon: Goliath Deities

This post describes goliath deities from Races of Stone.

Kavaki

Greater deity
Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: a pair of ram horns

Home plane: Arborea

Portfolio: goliaths, competition

Domain (-30%): ram-related animal spells, spells that improve physical characteristics, protection spells

Worshipers: goliaths

Kavaki is the creator and guardian of the goliaths, guiding them safely from alpine meadow to snowy mountain peak and back again. Cave paintings often depict him as a massively muscled goliath with curled ram horns emerging from his head.

            Dogma: Honor your goliath heritage, compete fiercely, and act for the good of the tribe in all things.

Kuliak

Demigod
Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: black ram horn

Home plane: Arborea

Portfolio: the dead, exiles

Domain (-30%): necromantic spells, water spells

Worshipers: exiled goliaths

When they speak of her at all, clerics of the goliath pantheon say that Kuliak was once the deity of mountain springs, but the other deities spurned her when she overslept and forgot to lead the goliath tribes to water. Now Kuliak is venerated only when a goliath dies. Additionally, exiled goliaths find comfort in Kuliak’s tale, and many worship her rather than the rest of the goliath pantheon. Kuliak looks like a rail-thin, starving goliath.

            Dogma: Spare no effort to rescue exiled goliaths from danger and keep them safe. Lay goliath spirits to rest, protect goliath burial grounds.

Manethak

Intermediate deity
Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: deer footprints

Home plane: Arborea

Portfolio: hunting, lore

Domain (-30%): animal spells, knowledge spells

Worshipers: goliath hunters

His clerics say that Manethak guides goliaths to the best game, although he teaches that “Each goliath must throw the spear himself.” Manethak’s followers contend that the search for game is the most important part of the hunt, and that the best hunter is the one who knows the most about his prey. When the hunt is over, Manethak’s followers are the first to share what they’ve learned around the campfire. Manethak looks like an elderly goliath, but he is always depicted hunting, leaping, or performing some other action that leaves no doubt he’s still spry.

            Dogma: Hunt down monsters that threaten goliaths. Seek lost lore of the goliaths and artifacts of bygone ages. When leaving a community always teach somebody to be your replacement after your departure.

Naki-Uthai

Lesser deity
Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: double fishing hook

Home plane: Arborea

Portfolio: mountains, climbing, bravery

Domain (-30%): spells that improve physical characteristics, spells that grant bravery, earth spells, spells that help climbing, jumping, or soften falls

Worshipers: goliaths, climbers

Whenever goliaths reach a summit, pass, or high point safely, they offer thanks to Naki-Uthai, paragon of bravery and deity of climbing. Naki-Uthai is known for having arms that hang down to the ground—all the better for reaching high handholds. Goliaths consider it heretical to depict Naki-Uthai descending rather than ascending.

            Dogma: Naki-Uthai urges his followers to push themselves to the limit and fear no great height or narrow ledge.

Theleya

Intermediate deity
Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: a handful of strawberries

Home plane: Arborea

Portfolio: growth, fertility

Domain (-30%): plant spells, healing spells

Worshipers: goliaths, healers, gatherers

The goliath deity of fertility and growth, Theleya is given credit whenever a healthy baby is born or a particularly rich patch of berries is found. Theleya’s clerics are often a tribe’s best healers, midwives, and tent-mothers. Theleya is generally depicted as a pregnant goliath holding a gourd-rattle full of seeds.

            Dogma: Always tend to the wounded and the sick. Anything that endangers the fragile ecosystem that the goliaths rely on is of paramount concern to Theleya’s followers. The goddess often bids the followers to halt large-scale mining, overharvesting of timber, and the encroachment of civilization into goliath migration paths.

Vanua

Lesser deity
Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: a flaming mountaintop

Home plane: Arborea

Portfolio: natural disasters, misfortune

Domain (-30%): harmful earth spells, weather spells, misfortune spells

Worshipers: goliaths

It is said that Vanua is behind every avalanche, hidden crevasse, and sudden winter storm. Vanua is also responsible for countless pranks against deity and mortal alike. Stories of Vanua’s schemes are common in goliath folklore. While Vanua has a cruel, capricious streak, he’s not evil. Vanua appears as a pale white goliath with fiery eyes.

Dogma: Only through misfortune and hardship will the goliath people grow stronger.